Why am I interested in IN at Franklin? Personal connection, relatives in the 120th, 63rd and 80th Indiana regiments.

. Interest in the Union left flank Interest in McGavock Cemetery Lived in southern Indiana for many years, education from IN. Compiled by Kraig McNutt, September 2007, kwmcnutt@yahoo.com

Indiana Regiments at Franklin Indiana Regiments that fought at Franklin

Stanleys 4th Corps First Division - Kimballs 1st Brigade Kirby - 31st* and 81st* 2nd Brigade Whittaker - 35th 3rd Brigade Grouse - 9th*, 30th*, 36th*, 84th* Second Division Wagner 2nd Brigade - 40th*, 57th* Third Division Wood (not engaged) 1st Brigade 51st 3rd Brigade 79th and 86th * Indicates Jacobson mentions Coxs 24th Corps Second Division - Ruger 2nd Brigade 80th* and 129th* Third Division Reilly 2nd Brigade Casements 65th*, 124th* 3rd Brigade Stiless 63rd*, 120th* and 128th* Wilsons 4th U.S. Cavalry Corps Fifth Division Hatch 1st Brigade 11th Indiana* Sixth Division Johnson 2nd Brigade 6th Indiana * Indicates Jacobson mentions Guarding fords 91st and 123rd Indiana leaving Stricklands Brigade*

Summary of the 18 Indiana units at Franklin: Nine in Stanleys 4th Corps; Seven in Coxs 24th Corps; Two in Wilsons 4th Cav Corps

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

CSA regiments Stiless brigade faced at Franklin

Lorings Division
Scotts Brigade 27th, 35th, 49th, 55th, 57th Alabama and 12th Louisiana

Featherstons Brigade 1st, 3rd, 22nd, 31st, 33rd, 40th Miss., 1st Miss., Battalion

Stiles was supported by Ft. Granger and McNutt Hill guns

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Strategic-advantage of Stiless Brigade?
Isaac C. Clark, a musician for the 63rd Indiana Infantry [fought alongside the 120th], wrote the following account in his diary:
We marched all night. Arrived at Franklin, Tenn. in the morning. Here we halted, and built a line of works, and we thought (as the rebels seemed anxious for a fight) that we would try our hand on them at this place, so we made all necessary preparations. We had cannon placed along our line of works, about 50 yards apart, besides a number of well fortified forts, containing several pieces of artillery. At 4 oclock p.m., the enemy came, they drove in our pickets and made a desperate charge upon our works, but were driven back with a great slaughter, however this did not satisfy them, and they came again and again until they had made as much as 8 or 10 different charges upon our works. They took a portion of our works at one time, but they were immediately retaken by our men; they fought with a desperation worthy of a better cause. The battle lasted 7 hours; we retreated at 11 p.m. The enemy loss was reported at 8 or 10 thousand. Our regt., had helped build a great many lines of works during the war, but this was the first time that they had the privilege of fighting behind works during a general engagement.
Source: Reminiscences of an Old 63rd, Ind., Soldier By Isaac C. Clark Covington, Ind., Nov. 27, 1875

Israel Newton Stiles

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

CSA boys known buried at McGavock due to engagement with Stiless Hoosier boys? Lorings Division
Scotts Brigade 27th, 35th, 49th, 55th, 57th Alabama and 12th Louisiana
Featherstons Brigade 1st, 3rd, 22nd, 31st, 33rd, 40th Miss., 1st Miss., Battalion
Scotts Brigade - 15 Featherstons Brigade 68 31st MS lost the most, with 21 known buried; also the most of any regiment under Stewarts Corps. 35 MS regiments engaged at Franklin: highest KIAs were 8th (26), 31st (21) and 4th (20). At least 83 CSAs killed assaulting Stiless Brigade are buried at McGavock.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Description of accounts of battlefield engagement at Franklin
The 40th Mississippi, the Williams brothers

The Railroad Cut by the 120th Indiana

Devastation wrought by the Union artillery upon the Rebels George Estes, Co A, 14th MS writes about the expected battle Regarding the action the Mississippi boys saw

William Candace Thompson, 6th MS, writes of the action

Adam Weaver, 104th Ohio, writes as the battle takes place Indiana boys capture the 33rd MS Flag Col. Isaac R. Sherwood, 111th Ohio, wrote of Franklin later in life

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Description of accounts of engagement of Stiless Brigade The 40th Mississippi, the Williams brothers
The Williams Brothers of Co. C. 40th Mississippi. Lt. Joseph Green English Williams, age 24, and brother Lt. Enoch Henderson Williams, age 27. Joseph and Enoch . . . Each disappeared into the smoke of battle and they were later found locked in each others embrace. Joseph had lost an arm and Enoch had been shot in the stomach. Each had died holding the others wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Jacobson, p. 313 (CHA)

Shells from Fort Granger plunged to the earth, like fireballs from the sky, dealing death and miser. The 35th Alabama from Scotts Brigade suffered terribly. When the battle was over the regiment tallied some 150 killed and wounded, nearly one-half of its effective force. In Company B alone, out of twenty-one men who went into the battle, four were killed and thirteen were wounded. . . . . As Scott (Gen. Scott of Georgia) worked his men through the Osage orange brush, a shell detonated nearby and he was thrown to the ground . . . (Scott) was carefully carried to the rear. Jacobson, p. 320.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

The Railroad Cut by the 120th Indiana
Description of accounts of engagement of Stiless Brigade

The combat degenerated into utter brutality. In desperation some of Scotts and Featherstons troops attempted the impossible. The Osage orange abatis ended near the railroad where the tracks and cut ran along the Harpeth River. There the 120th Indiana held the extreme Federal left flank, but the regiment was unable to butt directly up against the river because of the railroad cut. When some of the Rebels got close enough to see this, they pushed into the cut just south of the Union line. Perhaps they thought some of the scathing fire might be avoided by diving into the railroad cut, or that the enemy flank could be turned in. Regardless, the decision was a tragic one. The 120th Indiana, commanded by Col. Allen W. Prather, held its ground and poured a torrent of fire into the rail cut. Israel Stiles and the Indiana troops deserved great praise for the heroic manner with which they executed their duty.
Jacobson, p. 321.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Description of accounts of engagement of Stiless Brigade Devastation wrought by the Union artillery upon the Rebels
Above the din Confederate officers could be heard screaming to their men, Press to the right! Reacting almost instinctively were the artillerists to the rear. Capt. Alexander Marshalls guns of Battery G, 1st Ohio Light Artillery enfiladed the cut with their fire. Marshall said he found the Rebels moving forward in strong force and on their hands and knees. His 3-inch pieces pumped canister and case shot down on top of the Southerners, blowing many of them to pieces. At the same time, two of the Napoleans from Lt. Samuel Canbys Battery M, 4th U.S. Artillery were moved closer to the railroad. There they swept the railroad and river-bank and decimated the enemy ranks. The destruction wrought by these two batteries, ten guns altogether, is difficult to comprehend. At the conclusion of the battle they had fired a total of 1,141 rounds, 796 from the rifled guns and 444 from the Napoleans.
Jacobson, p. 321-22

Post-war photo of Col. Allen W. Prather, 120th Indiana

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

George Estes, Co A, 14th MS writes about the expected battle
The 14th was part of Adamss Brigade, Lorings Division Our division was in the right of the Pike and on the top of a high ridge from where we could see all the movements of the enemy. The blue coats were busy fixing for us. We could see them by the thousands, shoveling dirt, cutting brush and bushes and making all kind of traps for us to march against. I was very much in hopes they would run again, but they kept on digging and seemed to be burying themselves behind their breastworks. I kept feeling more and more anxious about the kind of reception they were going to give us. We lay in full view of them till nearly sundown. Oh! What a day of suspense, and mortal fear. I could hardly content myself with standing or sitting for I fully realized the fact that many of us who were now alive and full of fond anticipation would in a very short time be laid low by the shells and shots of a relentless foe, and my anticipations were fully realized.
-The Civil War Years Revealed Through Letters, Diaries & Memoirs. Warwick, p. 189.

Estes survived the battle. Ten of Estess fellow 14 th MS are buried at McGavock.

Color Bearer Andrew S. Payne of the 14th Mississippi cut this emblem away from the rest of the flag when the 14th surrendered at Ft. Donelson and sewed the patch into the interior lining of his coat to keep it from falling into Federal hands. When Payne and his fellow comrades were paroled in October 1862 he returned the shield to his regiment.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Regarding the action the Mississippi boys saw . . .
Stiles and Casements men found a thick hedge of Osage about fifteen yards south of their position, an almost perfect natural abatis. They went to work cutting some of it down and using the refuse to extend its reach farther west until most of their front was covered by the prickly limbs. Along the line the boys topped the earthen walls with head logs for added protection. . . . Only a fool would attack such a position of strength.
- Patrick Brennan, The Battle of Franklin, North & South magazine, January 2005, Vol. 8., No.1: page 32.

Near the Harpeth River, Major General William Lorings troops could begin to see the looming Federal line protecting Reillys division. Bufords dismounted troopers and Brigadier General Winfield Featherstons Mississippians advanced between the river and the Lewisburg Pike, their line bisected by the Central Alabama Railroad. To their left, the Alabamians of Brigadier General Thomas Scotts brigade had fallen behind as they guided on the pike, the enemy artillery in Fort Granger contesting their advance. Suddenly, at a range of two hundred yards, the Federal artillery supporting Reillys line exploded, followed quickly by riflery from Israel Stiles and James Casements brigades, six regiments of battle-tested Indianans. In a blinding flash, the Confederate battle line shivered as Federal iron tore trough the rebel front. Of the carnage, one Confederate survivor remembered, Our troops were killed by whole platoons; our front line of battle seemed to have been cut down by the first discharge, for in many places they were lying in their faces in almost as good order as if they had lain down on purpose.
cont.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Regarding the action the Mississippi boys saw . . .
Featherstons boys recoiled from the impact then pressed for war, but fifty feet from the Yankee line they ran into the impenetrable hedge of osage. Grown to a stinging thickness by the locals to control cattle, the hedge line now provided a perfect barrier against the rebel assault, too high to surmount and too dense to winnow. The Mississippians came to a halt, searching frantically for a way through the natural abatis. As they did, they became little more than sitting ducks for the Indianans across the way. Only near the opening at the pike were the Yankees slightly tested. A pitifully small set of survivors planted two Mississippi flags on the earthworks, but they were almost immediately killed or captured. One survivor described it as a tremendous deluge of shot and shell . . . seconded by a murderous sheet of fire and lead from the infantry behind the works, and also another battery of six guns directly in our front. It was, he said, a scene of carnage and destruction fearful to behold. Featherstons right-most regiments crawled along the ground trying to find another way through the obstructions, but when they curled into the railroad cut marking Stiles left, the 120th Indiana plastered their van with musketry. Farther north, Battery M, 4th U.S. Artillery, began to spray the cut with canister, while Cockerills gunners in Fort Granger added their own plunging fire. Even a battery east across the Harpeth weighed in. Caught in the maelstrom were Bufords troopers, belly down on the banks of the Harpeth trying to escape the murderous sweep.
- Patrick Brennan, The Battle of Franklin, North & South magazine, January 2005, Vol. 8., No.1: pages 39-40.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

William Candace Thompson, 6th MS, writes of the action . . .
The 6th MS was part of Adamss brigade.

During the movement of this division the Federals had a battery planted on the right of Harpeth River that we could not reach, dealt great destruction to our forces, using grape and canister shot to great effect. Mowing down the Confederate troop, killing and wounding by the thousands, at the same time suffering from the galling fire from the Federal troop entrenched in front. I saw on the battlefield men lying in piles three deep, dead and wounded.
-The Civil War Years Revealed Through Letters, Diaries & Memoirs. Warwick, p. 57.

Adam Weaver, 104th Ohio, writes as the battle takes place . . .

Artillery is being placed near the gap of the pike and just a few steps away, the 6th Ohio, have placed a twogun battery. The battery was pulled by mules, which have been trained to lie down in action. The leader mule is called Mae Me and wears an old felt hat with holes cut in it for her ears to stick through. Lieut, Baldwin of the 4th Army Corps is the battery commander. It is a privilege and honor to serve along side this famed unit. These guns are called Napoleans, as you well know, a smooth bore, muzzle loading 12 pounder cannon. May God have mercy on the souls of the Rebel boys who must face the fire of these terrible cannons inside of 400 yard area, where they work best.
- The Civil War Years Revealed Through Letters, Diaries & Memoirs. Warwick, p. 95-6. Weaver did not survive the battle.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

The 12-pdr Napoleon Howitzer

Solid shot was round and its weight in pounds was used to indicate the caliber of the gun. For instance the Napoleon fired a 12 pound solid shot, and was some times called a 12 pounder. Sometimes it would be used against masses of troops and horses. Solid shot could be effective from 600 up to about 2,000 yards.
Source: http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/interp/napoleon.htm

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Description of accounts of engagement of Stiless Brigade Indiana boys capture the 33rd MS Flag
In front of the 128th Indiana, posted mostly east of the Lewisburg Pike, portions of three Mississippi regiments slashed their way through the Osage orange abatis and raced for the smoking breastworks. Men carrying the colors of the 3rd MS, 22nd MS, and the 33rd MS, were somehow able to ascend to the top of the enemy parapet. The flag bearers of the three regiments were wounded and captured with their colors according to Gen. Featherston. About fifteen paces from the works Lt. Henry Clay Shaw saw the color bearer of the 33rd MS fall with the flag. Shaw picked it up and scrambled to the parapet. As he tried to shove the staff into the dirt Shaw was killed, his body falling in the trench, the colors falling in the works. Jacobson, p. 322

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Col. Isaac R. Sherwood, 111th Ohio, wrote of Franklin later in life.
About 9 Oclock at night, when there was a lull in musketry firing, the wails of the wounded and the dying were heart-rending; but the smoke had settled on the field in front so dense that vision was obscured 100 yards away. I was then in command of the battle line of the brigade, as all officers of the brigade of higher rank had been killed or wounded. I gave the order to cease firing. Standing on our hastily constructed breastworks (about 4 feet high) I saw a gray figure approaching on his hands and knees moaning piteously. I jumped over the earthworks and pulled him over to our side, he lived only a few minutes. His last words. We are all cut to pieces Oh, God, what will become of my poor mother? He was from Missouri, General Cockrells brigade.
-The Civil War Years Revealed Through Letters, Diaries & Memoirs. Warwick, p. 201 This account, excerpted, appeared in The Review-Appeal, February 12, 1925.

In the fight at Franklin, out of 180 men engaged the regiment (111th OH) lost 22 men killed on the field and 40 wounded, many being killed by Confederate bayonets.
Cockrells brigade, Frenchs division, have 82 Missouri boys buried at McGavock.

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Most important things to know about Stiless Indiana/Illinois brigade: 1. Placed on the far eastern Union flank. 2. Protected by Harpeth River and Nashville-Decatur RR. 3. Protected by Osage orange abatis in front. 4. Supported by artillery at Fort Granger and McNutt Hill. 5. Sent 83 known AL and MS boys to McGavock Cemetery. http://indianaregimentsatfranklin.wordpress.com http://www.mcgavockcemetery.net http://www.battleofranklin.net

Indiana Regiments at Franklin

Pictures of Indiana soldiers who fought at Franklin
Cox was living in Darlington, Indiana, when he enlisted on January 30, 1864, as a 1st Sergeant and was mustered into B Co. IN 120th Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on May 1, 1864, and to 1st Lieutenant on September 30, 1864. Thomas Jefferson Williams enlisted in Co D 120th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on the 10th day of November 1863 to serve 3 years or during the war. He was born in 1845 in Gibson County Indiana, and died in 1935 and is buried in Gibson County, Indiana. T.J. Williams had two brothers and 38 first-cousins who fought for Indiana. Only three died in the war. Richard F. Barter was Colonel of the 120th Indiana. This regiment was organized in the winter of 1863 at Columbus, and was mustered in March 1, 1864. It left the state March 20, proceeding to Louisville, Ky., where it was assigned to a brigade with Hoveys division.