THE INVASION OF TENNESSEE.

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OVERTON’S HOUSE, HOOD'S HEADQUARTERS AT NASHVILLE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1884.

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the ground was obstinately contested, and atseveral points upon the immediate sides of thebreastworks the combatants endeavored to usethe musket upon one another, by inverting andraising it perpendicularly, in order to fire ; neitherantagonist, at this juncture, was able to retreatWithout almost a certainty of death. It was re-ported that soldiers were even dragged from one81 Je of the breastworks to the other by men reach-ing over hurriedly and seizing their enemy by thehair or the collar.

Just before dark Edward Johnson’s division ofj-'Oe’s corps moved gallantly to the support of Cheat-hatn; although it made a desperate charge andsucceeded in capturing three stand of colors, itord not effect a permanent breach in the line ofhe enemy. Unfortunately, the two remainingdivisions could not become engaged owing to the°bscurity of night. The struggle continued with^nore or less violence until 9 P. M., when skirmish-es and much desultory firing followed until aboutN M. the ensuing morning. The enemy then^ithdrew, leaving his dead and wounded upon the®ld. Thus terminated one of the fiercest con-!cts of the war.

Nightfall, which closed in upon us so soon afterie beginning of the battle, prevented the forma-1011 a nd participation of Lee’s entire corps on the® x treme left. This, it may safely be asserted, saved°hofield’s army from destruction. I might, withe< lual assurance, assert that had Lieutenant-Gen-®y a l Lee been in advance at Spring Hill the pre-l °us afternoon Schofield’s army never would havepas sed that point.

8 ^ l(VWn by Colonel Miifion’e official report, made ontivp P 1 of December, ten days after the battle, our elfee-alvv 8 , ‘Sfh was ; Infantry . 18,842; artillery, 2405 ; cav-fi'O] ’ 2306 ’— total, 23,053. This last number, subtracteda tot 30,000 ’ the strength of the army at Florence, showsy e tal 1088 fl '°m ah causes of 7547, from the (itli of No-the b<!1 ' to tlle 10t.li of December, which period IncludesCav ® u K a Scmcnts at Columbia, Franklin, and of Forrest’sof J l !' Tiie enemy’s estimate of our losses, as well ase uu mber of Confederate colors captured, is errone-

Major-General Cleburne had been distinguishedfor his admirable conduct upon many fields, and hisloss at this moment was irreparable. He was a manof equally quick perception and strong character,and was, especially in one respect, in advance ofmany of our people. He possessed theboldness andthe wisdom earnestly to advocate, at an early periodof the war, the freedom of the negro and the enroll-ment of the young and able-bodied men of thatrace. This stroke of policy and additional sourceof strength to our armies would, in my opinion,have given us our independence.

After the failure of my cherished plan to crushSchofield’s army before it reached its stronglyfortified position around Nashville , I remainedwith an effective force of only 23,053. I wastherefore well aware of our inability to attack theFederals in their new stronghold with any hope ofsuccess, although Schofield’s troops had abandonedthe field at Franklin, leaving tlieir dead andwounded in our possession, and had hastened withconsiderable alarm into their fortifications —whichlatter information, in regard to their conditionafter the battle, I obtained through spies. I knewequally well that in the absence of the prestige ofcomplete victory I could not venture with mysmall force to cross the Cumberland River intoKentucky , without first receiving reenforcementsfrom the Trans-Mississippi Department. I feltconvinced that the Tennesseans and Kentuckians would not join our forces, since we had failed inthe first instance to defeat the Federal army andcapture Nashville . The President was still urgentin his instructions relative to the transference of

ous, as will bo seen by my telegram of December lBtlito the Secretary of War:

“ The enemy claim that wo lost thirty colors in the fight atFranklin. We lost thirteen, rapturing nearly the samenumber. The men who Imre ours were killed on or within theenemy’s interior line of works.” J. B. II.

General J. D. Cox states in his “Franklin and Nash-ville” that the capture of 22 colors by Frilly and 10by Opdycke was oliicially reported and verified at thetime.— Editors.