CHAPTER Y.

BATTLE OP FRANKLIN.

The march of the National army from Spring Hill toFranklin was not seriously interrupted. Forrest’s troopersmade an occasional dash at the long wagon train, but onlyin one or two instances did they succeed in reaching it, andvery few wagons were lost. After seeing his columns fairlystarted, Schofield rode forward and overtook General Coxwith the advanced division just before the village of Frank-lin was reached. He had, about noon, urgently renewed hisrequest to Thomas to send a pontoon bridge to the crossingof the Harpeth River, but having received no answer, hespurred forward with his staff to see if it had arrived. Itwas not yet daybreak, and the division was ordered to massby the roadside to allow the trains to pass into the town.The division commander and his staff had halted at thehouse of a Mr. Carter, at the edge of the village (a housesoon to become the key-point of a fierce battle) and weretrying to catch a few minutes’ sleep upon the floor, whenGeneral Schofield returned,, much disturbed at finding thatno pontoons had come . 1 He ordered General Cox to as-

1 In the correspondence on file in the War Records office, no response to thesecond request for pontoons is found, and General Schofield informs the authorthat he received none. The same files do not contain any explanation of the de-struction of the boats at Columbia, and it would therefore seem that GeneralThomas must have continued to assume that they were available, notwithstandingthe strong implication of Schofield’s despatches. See Appendix D.

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