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Updated: June 3, 2025
He then sent forward Cheatham's corps with plenty of time before night came for Cheatham to have made a secure lodgement on the pike, or to have run over Wagner's division, the way it was strung out, if Cleburne's attack had been promptly followed up with anything like the vigor with which he had jumped on Bradley's brigade.
Leaving Murfreesboro on February 28th, marching through Shelbyville to Decatur, he arrived at Corinth, on March 24th, with twenty thousand men. General Bragg, with ten thousand well-drilled troops from Pensacola, had preceded him. General Ruggles, with a brigade, came from New Orleans; Major-General Polk, with General Cheatham's division from Columbus, with the troops that escaped from Island No.
Cheatham's division, on outpost on the railroad at Purdy and Bethel, under orders to defend himself if attacked, otherwise to assemble at Purdy, march thence to Monterey, and thence to position near Mickey's, did not leave Purdy till Saturday morning, and reached his position Saturday afternoon.
In fulfillment of Bragg's original design no doubt, Cheatham's division attacked on my left, while heavy masses under Hardee, covered by batteries posted on the high ground formerly occupied by my guns, assaulted my right, the whole force advancing simultaneously.
Uncandid statements have been made that Cheatham's divisions were moved around in a disjointed manner and without any plan. There was not only a logical plan but a successful plan, if it had been carried out, in the orders given to Cheatham's divisions. The other four divisions were halted south of Rutherford's creek, and fronted into line facing west towards the Columbia pike.
Three Brigades of the Sixteenth Corps were absent, the Sixteenth Corps having 5,000 men in a single line which received the attack of the four Divisions of Hardee's Corps, Hardee's left, Cleburn's Division lapping the extreme left of Blair and joining Cheatham's Corps which attacked Blair from the Atlanta front; and, according to Hood, they were joined by the Georgia Militia under General Smith.
I do not know how it was found out that they were at Jonesboro, but anyhow, the news had come and Cheatham's corps had to go and see about it. Stewart's corps must hold Atlanta, and Stephen D. Lee's corps must be stretched at proper distance, so that the word could be passed backward and forward as to how they were getting along.
But amid all the exciting occurrences of that eventful evening it is amazing that no inkling of that faulty situation seems ever to have entered the mind of any one of those veteran generals. Hood made a mistake, as stated by himself, in not taking Bee's corps on the flank march instead of Cheatham's corps.
Cheatham's corps of Hood's army pursued the wagon train and went into camp at Spring Hill, for the night of the 29th. Schofield retreating from Columbia on the 29th, passed Spring Hill, where Cheatham was bivouacked, during the night without molestation, though within half a mile of where the Confederates were encamped. On the morning of the 30th he had arrived at Franklin.
I saw a young boy about seventeen or eighteen years old, by the name of Wright, and belonging to General Marcus J. Wright's brigade, shot to death with musketry at this place. The whole of Cheatham's division had to march out and witness the horrid scene. Now, I have no doubt that many, if not all, would have gone without being forced to do so, but then you know that was Bragg's style.
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