Part Twelve: Dawn
The Renewal of Battle
Once dawn broke the two sides remained in close proximity to one another on their flanks. At both Carter’s Crossing and the Lewisburg Pike the enemies came into view of one another and immediately opened fire. In the center, along the Columbia Pike, the armies were just out of sight of one another and the action there remained light.
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At the western crossing where the Federal cavalry had waited until dawn to attack the Confederates under Wheeler, the fighting began in earnest. A mad dash across the ford was repulsed by Wheeler’s entrenched men. Col. Robert Minty was wounded in the fighting and carried from the field. From this point forward the Federals were barred access to the southern side of the West Harpeth River. The only possible positive to come from the event, Rosecrans hoped, was that it might “serve to distract the Rebs that we may be in force in this area.”
At Carter’s Crossing the Federals did not retreat during the night as expected but had stayed in the same positions underneath the Confederate artillery. Bragg exclaimed that, “The best news of the morning is that the Federals failed to build any trenches during the night at Carter's Crossing, just some breastworks! Fire away!” Hardee was equally as surprised as Bragg and exclaimed back to the commander that, “My gunners are literally clapping their hands with glee... I honestly thought Thomas would be gone in the night. I am astounded he is still there.” Bragg shook his head and pondered, “What are they thinking?” Breckinridge, riding over to take a look for himself, agreed that, “They really did us a favor by staying there.” Hardee opened fire with his artillery and began to rip fresh holes in the Union ranks huddled beneath his guns across the river. Despite the slaughter, neither Rosecrans nor Thomas discussed the situation at Carter’s Creek at dawn. Rosecrans only sent a message for Thomas to keep up the fire on the Confederates as much as possible there.
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Along the Lewisburg Pike the two sides were uncomfortably near one another when dawn came. To Crittenden went orders to keep in line with McCook on his right while also refusing the left flank of the army. “It appears you are facing weaker Rebel units that are not likely going to launch a big push against you--nonetheless there may be bigger boys behind their frontline people,” Rosecrans wrote him. On the Confederates side, the expectation of a large Union attack in the center prompted Bragg to order Price to fall back to better defensive ground. But he would continue to hold the Lewisburg Pike ahead of Crittenden’s left flank. This left Crittenden to wonder why the Rebels were falling back on his front. “Maybe they are weak in the center,” was his guess.
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Only light fighting occurred along the Columbia Pike as McCook and Gorman advanced more cautiously as the Confederates remained just out of sight in the early morning dawn. On the left flank of the advance the men of Wood’s division leaped over abandoned Confederate breastworks built during the night but could not yet tell where the Rebels had formed their new lines. Only on the right flank of McCook's line, held by Thomas's division under Negley, was there any fighting. Negley's men discovered themselves to be fully exposed to the Confederate artillery across the river and came under a scathing fire. Rosecrans wrote to Thomas that he should, “pull back some with Negley’s division to get out of sight of the enemy guns along the West Harpeth River near the fords. Be ready to move forward when McCook and Gorman advance.” Bragg wrote that, “that division Thomas brought over on Polk's left didn't like what they saw and backed up.” Hardee guessed that the Yanks would come at them soon enough on Columbia Pike with their artillery leading the charge to clear the way for their infantry.
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Carter's Crossing
As Hardee’s guns opened on Thomas’s men, still huddled beneath the Confederate guns across Carter’s Crossings, the carnage was extreme. In just twenty minutes over 300 Federals fell while just a handful of Confederates were hit from behind their trenches. The Confederate generals watched in disbelief as the Federals continued to hold their untenable positions despite the obvious one-sidedness of it all.
Farther to the west, the Federal cavalrymen attempted once more to force a crossing of the West Harpeth River against Wheeler’s two entrenched regiments. They were again handily repulsed and then fled rearward in a rout. With their losses mounting there was little the Federal cavalry could do except fall back and concede that there would be no crossing the river at this point.
Back at the main crossing site along Carter’s Creek Pike the massacre continued. With each salvo of Confederate guns dozens of Federals were felled. Still, the Federals clung to their exposed positions near the crossing. Thomas could only watch in horror as his men were cut down. He wrote to Rosecrans to exclaim that, “My rifle and artillery fire have absolutely no effect on them!” A mile away, Hardee was telling Cleburne that, “I love it! I think our losses could be counted on one hand.” Breckinridge, seeing the slaughter through his looking glass, incredulously said to Bragg that, “I just can’t believe they are still there.”
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The Federals under the guns of the Confederates entrenched across the river suffered heavily at dawn.
Lewisburg Pike
Along the Lewisburg Pike both Price and Crittenden were under orders to disengage from the enemy. Neither seemed inclined to renew the battle at present as they spied each other across the bloody fields of the previous day.
Bragg wrote to Price that, “I don't see the Yanks launching an attack anywhere on your front. If the fighting continues in the center, later in the day we will advance northward on the Lewisburg Pike towards Franklin to put pressure on them.” Hardee agreed that a delay in advancing against Crittenden by Price was the wise move. “Crittenden appears to be shifting his front to assist McCook & the Dept of Arkansas troops by hitting Breckinridge’s Corps. Crittenden is spread out & that's very helpful to us - I think he's been given difficult orders to carry out - to hit Breckinridge's flank while still protecting the Pike back to Franklin. I would give Crittenden a bit longer at least to carry on with the transition before we attack.” Breckinridge, perhaps understandably since his corps was the one being attacked, urged an immediate attack on Crittenden’s left on the Lewisburg Pike. “I think an attack will force the Yankees to pull units away from the attack on our center. Or at least keep new units from helping.”
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But Bragg remained committed to the plan and ordered Price to maintain his position and allow events elsewhere to play out for longer before risking an attack northward along the Lewisburg Pike.
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Both sides have broken off contact along the Lewisburg Pike.
The Columbia Pike Attack
Starting at 6 AM the Union forces began a gradual advance against the Confederate lines blocking the Columbia Pike. On the Union right the men of Negley’s division advanced against the left flank of Cheatham’s Division which was supported by Ector’s Brigade of McCown’s Division. On Negley’s left came Hovey’s division of Gorman’s Wing. They moved against Cheatham’s front in the thick woods west of the pike. To Hovey’s left advanced McCook’s Wing just west of the Columbia Pike and southwards against Withers’s Division. To the left of McCook was Gorman’s other division under Steele who moved against Stevenson’s Division just east of the Columbia Pike. Lastly, to the left of Steele came Wood’s division of Crittenden’s Wing which moved against Preston’s Division. Altogether the Federals were bringing roughly 34,000 men against the Confederates north of the West Harpeth guarding the Columbia Pike. Against them the Confederates could field the two corps of Polk and Breckinridge with roughly 25,000 men.
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General Attack along the Columbia Pike.
On Negley’s right the Confederates had placed three batteries on commanding ground to sweep the area across which Negley’s men were moving. Thomas notified Rosecrans that, “My guys in the fields are being pounded by the Rebel guns across the ford.” Rosecrans replied that Thomas should draw back Negley out of the line of fire or risk his division being destroyed. The rest of the attack would carry on.
The Federal advance progressed more smoothly against the center and right of Cheatham’s Division. Hovey’s division struck the bend in the Confederate line and was soon involved in a fierce firefight attempting to break through. McCook’s Wing drove forward with as many artillery pieces and infantrymen as they could muster and began a steady buildup of pressure against Cheatham’s front. The losses in a handful of Confederate regiments was enough to cause three of them to drop their guns and rout to the rear ahead of the wall of Union soldiers steadily advancing. The holes in the Confederate line were quickly filled by units stretching out to the left and right a little further. Cheatham’s Division was without reserves to fill any gaps which were created in his lines. An artillery crew was also wiped out by the oncoming Federal soldiers and their guns left standing idle in the wooded tree line.
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Bragg reiterated his orders to Polk and Breckinridge to defend their lines as best they could ahead of the coming Federal onslaught. Only on the left flank of Cheatham’s Division were the Confederates confident of success as Negley’s division was already retreating away from the river. Hardee wrote to Bragg that, “I do believe that if we continue to dish out heavy enough casualties that the Yankees will not be able to attack much longer. Trading space for time and casualties seems like a wise move as we are pressed.”
Realizing that the battle was reaching its climax made Rosecrans more desperate to succeed along the Columbia Pike. He waved his legions forward and damned the Rebels with each breath. The Federals collided with the waiting Rebel lines and a large firefight and melee soon developed between the two sides. Although the Confederates managed to inflict heavy losses on the Federals – they kept coming.
Bragg viewed the action from nearby and mentioned to Breckinridge that, “It is clear to me that the Yanks are going for broke down the Pike towards the Columbia Pike crossing. There is no doubt that Polk’s and your corps, along with elements of Hardee's command, can put a huge hurt on the Yanks that have advanced. But Polk does have weak points and the Yanks have moved all their artillery up with most of it just behind their front line. Our forces will soon suffer from a huge amount of artillery fire. I really don't want to be left out in the open too long with Polk’s men taking the brunt of that. I want to punish them badly and probably retreat once their forces begin to press us harder. Things will likely get ugly for us before they get better.”
On the other side of the field, Crittenden was watching the action east of Columbia Pike and growing discouraged. “There must be a weak spot in their line or we’re finished,” he wrote to Rosecrans. But Rosecrans continued to press his commanders to continue their assaults in an all-out effort to break the Confederate lines.
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The fighting intensified on either side of Columbia Pike as the two sides grappled with one another. It was merely a question of whose men broke first. With the sun fully rising at 7 AM, the firing increased as additional men and guns on both sides added their supporting fire to the fighting. Confederate marksmen were able to wipe out a few Union artillery crews which had rolled their pieces right up against the Confederate lines. Not to be outdone, the Federals routed a few Confederate infantry units and kept pushing as hard as they could.
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But the toll for their attack was a heavy one. Heavy Union losses were wearing down the Federal army and their morale began wavering as the Confederate line refused to buckle. By 7:20 AM the Federal line had finally had enough. Eight Federal regiments broke away from the fighting and fled rearward in a rout. With his forces now disrupted and the momentum gone, Rosecrans knew that the fighting had to come to an end or he risked losing his entire army.
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Rosecrans made the difficult decision to break off the attack and fall back to Franklin.
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The battle was over. The Confederates had held.