The Battle of Franklin seen through the eyes of a Union soldier in Stiles’ Brigade

What must have it been like to have been able to sit down with a first-hand participant of the Battle of Franklin, within minutes after the battle, and to get his observations?  Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine.  All we need to do is to read the authentic accounts from those who lived through it themselves to know.  One such lucky soldier was Lee Ewing from the 63rd Indiana Infantry.

It is these kind of first-hand accounts that far surpass accounts recorded in official reports, newspapers, and post-war recollections (some decades later).

Captain Addison Lee Ewing (Co I, 63rd Indiana) was on the far left Union flank at Franklin, serving in Stiles’ Brigade.  I have blogged on Ewing many times in the past.  Ewing was from Haubstadt, Indiana – near Evansville – and served throughout the entire war. He kept a personal diary faithfully, recording his observations and reflections every day. He also wrote home a lot.

Several years ago I was very fortunate to acquire a large collection of personal letters and documents that belonged to Ewing. I say fortunate, because there were many times when his personal papers and correspondence, that he kept with him while in the field, was nearly lost or destroyed.  I have three dozen or so letters by him and numerous documents like muster in/out rolls.

I also have a copy of his entire war time diary.  His current living descendants have been most gracious and magnanimous in providing me access and info on their ancestor.

I have examined and studied Ewing’s diary entries and letter content in which he specifically commented or described what took place at Franklin (30 Nov 1864) from his perspective.  For our purposes here I have distilled my comments by using a simple web tool called TagCloud to determine what words (or word clusters) were most prominent in Ewing’s diary and letters as he was commenting on his experience at Franklin.  One of the key values of this type of analysis is that it is fresh, unfiltered and as authentic as it gets.  Ewing recorded nearly 1,000 words related to his account and observations of the Battle of Franklin.

The main word cluster or semantic domain for Ewing was line or works.  This makes perfect sense.  The 63rd Indiana was on the far left Union flank, as one can see on the map. They were sandwiched between the 128th and 120th Indiana Infantries, respectively.  All part of Stiles’ Brigade, these Hoosier boys protected the far left Union flank, buttressed up against the railroad track and the Harpeth River. Stiles’ men would be assaulted by Loring’s Division, hundreds of Confederates from Scott’s and Featherston’s Brigades.

When Ewing and his men first arrived in Franklin in the early morning hours of the 30th he says that, “We drew rations and made coffee and was lined up in position where we proceeded to throw up temporary works as we often had done.”  Part of that temporary works, besides typical head logs, was the resourceful use of osage orange branches along this line.  Osage orange branches are very hard and prickly. They were often used as natural “barbed wire” for fencing and containing cattle at the time.  Ewing continues, “Our lines was extended from the Harpeth River above town to the river just below, and of a horse-shoe shape.”

Several hours before the battle started (about 4pm on the 30th), Ewing and several of his men were placed several hundred yards in front of the main federal line on picket duty. Ewing wrote in his diary on the 30th, “Myself and company however were placed out on picket and had dug some rifle pits to spend the night.”  However, the skirmishers of the 63rd Indiana did not have the opportunity to engage in typical pre-battle skirmishing action, as Ewing recounts, “There was no skirmishing by us, for the Rebs formed two lines of battle and came dashing out of the woods in fine style, a skirmish line in front and one in the rear.  I yelled to my skirmish line to fall back to the works and started myself.”

It probably took between 15-20 minutes for Loring’s men to reach the Federal position where Stiles’ men were.  Four Federal infantry units under Israel Stiles awaited the advance from Scott’s and Featherston’s units.  Ewing and his men made it back behind their works before the first Confederate charge from Scott-Featherston took place. Ewing describes the exact moment when that clash between the two armies took place, “When the advancing line came up within range the infantry behind the works, a sheet of flame leaped forth with death and wounds in it for hundreds of the brave men fighting for an ignoble cause.”

What took place for the next 3-4 hours in this area of the field can hardly be described as anything short of hellish. But let Ewing’s words serve as an authentic account of what took place, “The whole scene of action was soon covered with smoke that but little could be seen in detail.  For about a dozen times the Rebs was led to charge, only to be repulsed with great slaughter.  Many of their banners were planted upon our works with the most heroic determination but was met with as determined resistance.”