A Southern account of the battle of Nashville.
Though it is nearly two months since the
battle of Nashville was fought, a Southern account of it is just published.
We find it in the
Atlanta Appeal, furnished by a writer who seems to know what he is writing about.
While it is very late to apply the antidote to the poison contained in the flaring accounts given by the
Yankees of this reverse, yet we give place to the account as a matter of history.
It shows that there has been no "rout" of
Hood's army, nor any demoralization in its ranks.
After describing the fight at
Franklin, the writer says:
‘
"At an early hour the next day the dead were buried and the wounded placed in hospitals, and we took up the line of march that evening in the direction of
Nashville.
We met with no opposition until we reached the vicinity of
Brown's creek, about three miles and a half from
Nashville, where we established our lines, resting the right of our infantry on the Chattanooga railroad and our left near the
Harding pike, and extending our right and left with cavalry to the
Cumberland river.
Our infantry line was well fortified, and upon our infantry flanks we were constructing small forts, to be manned with seventy-five or one hundred men each; but before the completion of these works, on the 15th instant, the enemy assaulted our extreme right and left.
It was for some time uncertain which was the demonstration and which the real assault; the assault upon our right resulted in a loss to the enemy, in killed and wounded, of about three hundred; and about 1 o'clock it became evident that the enemy intended to give us battle upon our left flank.
About half-past 2 o'clock he attacked the redoubt upon our left flank with overwhelming numbers, and carried the redoubt, capturing about seventy-five men and four pieces of artillery.
He then attacked the other redoubt, about three-quarters of a mile in the rear of the first, attacking it front and flank, and carried it, the men escaping to our line.
The enemy advanced about half a mile towards the left wing of our infantry line; here we held them in check until night closed in upon us and ended hostilities for the day.
General Hood immediately withdrew everything from the right of the
Franklin pike, massed his whole force on the left, established his line, and constructed strong rifle-pits in the course of the night, feeling assured that the enemy did not outnumber us.
’
"I have never indulged as high hopes of the results of a coming battle, because I was confident the Army of Tennessee had never had so good an opportunity for a great victory.
I had seen the Army of Tennessee encounter and whip the enemy with even greater disparity of numbers in the open field, and I did not believe it possible for three times our numbers to attack us in front and drive us from our fortifications.
"At half after 8 o'clock in the morning the skirmishing commenced, and at about 10 o'clock our line was vigorously assaulted with two, and in some places three, lines of battle.
The enemy was repulsed with great slaughter.
About 12 o'clock, we were assaulted again, and again the enemy was driven back.--About half after 3 o'clock our whole line was again assaulted, though not with the same vigor of previous assaults; but, unfortunately, our left centre gave way, and from that point division after division gave way in rapid succession to the extreme right, and the army left the field in confusion.
If our lines had stood fifteen minutes longer that day, the victory would have been ours.
"The ground was so marshy that our artillery upon the field was not brought off. We lost in the two days about fifty pieces, but our trains and reserve artillery had been sent back to
Franklin, and was, therefore, safe.
An ample sufficiency of artillery is left in our hands for all field purposes.
We have had no report of losses, in killed, wounded and prisoners.
I am satisfied that we did not lose, in killed and wounded, on the 15th and 16th, exceeding a thousand men, and a very small number of our men were captured by the enemy, except stragglers that he may have picked up on our retreat.
How many of these he may have gathered I have no means of telling.
"The army was rallied on the night of the 16th and morning of the 17th, and the retreat made leisurely and in order, bringing off everything but a few broken-down wagons, and the army is now going into camp at this place and the surrounding country.
I do not think that our losses in men will amount to any considerable number.
We found the people of
Tennessee delighted at our coming and ready, able and more than willing to furnish us with abundant supplies; and in tears at our departure.
Would to God it was in our power to relieve them at once and forever from the terrible oppressions to which they have been subjected for the last three years. But most of the disasters that our armies have experienced are justly chargeable to the fact that our army at the front has been too small, while our army in the rear has been entirely too large.
"If one half the men of the
Confederacy capable of bearing arms would cease to shirk their duty to themselves, their families and the country, and take their guns and come to the front, we could expel the invaders from our soil within six weeks time.
Will they do it?
If worthy of independence, they will; and the future must determine that question.
"After three years of hard campaigning, we find the Army of Tennessee back to
Corinth, from which place we moved in 1862.
It is true, the enemy has made some black marks through portions of the country, and left many monuments, in the shape of smouldering ruins and houseless chimneys, to remind us of his vandalism; but we are at
Corinth again, and the rebellion is no nearer crushed than it was when we were at
Corinth three years since."
