id="pgepubid00013"/>southeasterly skirt of the village, looking towards Bradley's position. Bradley's men very hastily had constructed weak barricades of rails or anything else they could lay their hands on. The 42d had such protection as was afforded by a rail fence.

Shortly before 4 o'clock, having completed his formation, Cleburne started to march across to the pike. His division consisted of four brigades, but one was on detached duty, and he had three in line—Lowrey's on his right, then Govan's, then Granbury's. First crossing a field in his front, Lowrey entered the extension of the woods that has been mentioned, and on emerging on the other side his right came in view within easy range of the 42d, and that regiment opened an enfilading fire, Lowrey's line being then almost perpendicular to the line of the 42d. It was this accident of Lowrey's right passing within range of the 42d that led to the failure of Hood's plan, which, up to that minute, had been a great success. When the 42d opened fire the two guns at the pike also opened, their fire crossing that of the 42d, and the 64th, running forward and intermingling ranks with the 42d, poured in their fire. When our fire had thus developed our position, out in those wide fields they could see just what we had. They pulled down the rims of their old hats over their eyes, bent their heads to the storm of missiles pouring upon them, changed direction to their right on double-quick in a manner that excited our admiration, and a little later a long line came sweeping through the wide gap between the right of the 42d and the pike, and swinging in towards our rear. Our line stood firm, holding back the enemy in front until the flank movement had progressed so far as to make it a question of legs to escape capture when the regimental commanders gave the reluctant order to fall back. The contact was then so close that as the men on our right were running past the line closing in on them they were called on with loud oaths, charging them with a Yankee canine descent, to halt and surrender; and, not heeding the call, some of them were shot down with the muzzles of the muskets almost touching their bodies. By the recession of the two regiments on the flank the rear of the four regiments in the woods became exposed. They were attacked at the same time by Forrest in front, and by Cleburne on their right and rear, and were speedily dislodged. The attack was pressed with so much vigor that in a few minutes after the 42d had opened fire Bradley's entire brigade was in rapid retreat towards Spring Hill, with Cleburne in close pursuit, and pouring in a hot fire. In falling back we had to cross the valley of a small stream, and I never think of our strenuous exertions to get out of a destructive cross-fire, while running down the easy slope leading to the stream, without recalling the story of the officer who called to a soldier making the best time he could to get out of a hot fire: "Stop, my man! What are you running for?"

"Because I have no wings to fly with," called back the soldier over his shoulder while increasing his efforts to make better time.

As we descended into the valley we uncovered our pursuers to the fire of the battery at the village, which opened with shrapnel shells, firing over our heads. General Stanley, who was in the battery, reported that not less than eight guns opened fire. As soon as Cleburne encountered that fire he hastily drew back over the ridge, out of sight. All pursuit with its accompanying direct and cross-fire having thus ceased, Bradley's men stopped running and walked on back to the vicinity of the battery where a new line was formed without trouble or confusion. When coming down the slope towards the stream Major Coulter, whose horse had been killed, was running a few feet in front of me, and I was just speculating whether my short legs could keep up with his long ones, when he called back over his shoulder: "Rally at this fence," meaning a rail fence we were approaching. I had a poor opinion of the fence as a place to attempt a rally, for we would still be exposed to a cross-fire, but wishing to obey orders I made for the strongest looking fence corner in my front, and, jumping over and stopping behind it, looked around to see if any concerted effort would be made to reform behind the fence. In my brief halt there I had some opportunity to observe the effect of our artillery fire on the enemy. I saw by the smoke where a number of our shells exploded, and they all seemed too high in the air and too far to the rear, for I could not see any men knocked down by them. No doubt the fear of killing some of our own men caused our gunners to aim high, and it is probable that the noise made by so many guns and exploding shells had more to do with stopping the enemy than the execution that was done. Their after-actions showed that they believed Bradley's brigade to have been an outpost; that our main line was where the battery was posted, and that so much artillery must have a correspondingly strong infantry support.

General Bradley reported a loss of 198 men in his brigade, nearly all of it falling on the three regiments on the exposed flank, the other three regiments falling back with light loss because their position had become untenable. He was disabled with a wound, and Colonel Conrad, of the 15th Missouri, then assumed command of the brigade. By the casualties in the 65th Ohio the command of that regiment devolved upon the adjutant, Brewer Smith, a boy only 19 years old, and possibly the youngest officer to succeed to the command of a regiment throughout the war.

A regiment of the 23d corps which had come to Spring Hill as a train guard, and was placed in support of the battery at the village, has persistently claimed that the salvation of our army was due to the heroic stand it made after all of Wagner's division had run away. In a historical sketch of the regiment occurs this statement:

"At Spring Hill the regiment had another opportunity to show its pluck. A division that had been sent forward in charge of the trains was drawn up to resist any attack the rebels might make while the regiment, being with the headquarters train, was ordered to support a battery so placed as to sweep an open field in front of the troops. The enemy, emerging from the woods, marched steadily up to the National lines, when the entire division broke and ran." That is pretty strong language in view of the battle record of Wagner's division, for of the four brigades out of all the brigades serving in all the Western armies, given prominent mention by Colonel Fox in his book on regimental losses as famous fighting brigades, two, Opdycke's and Bradley's, belonged to Wagner's division, to say nothing of the very awkward fact that the brigades of Opdycke and Lane were on the other side of Spring Hill, out of sight of Cleburne's attack, but it is seriously so stated—"the entire division broke and ran, leaving the regiment and the battery to resist the attack. Fixing bayonets the men awaited the onset. As soon as the enemy came within range they poured a well-directed fire into their ranks which, being seconded by the battery, caused them to waver. Portions of the retreating division having rallied, the rebels were compelled to betake themselves to the woods."

And in a paper on this campaign by a captain of the regiment, he relates how the officers of the regiment tried to stop the flying troops, and taunted their officers with the bad example they were setting their men; how the regiment opened a rapid, withering fire from a little parapet of cartridges which the officers, breaking open boxes of ammunition, had built in front of the men, and how their fire proved so destructive at that close range that it stopped Cheatham's men who then fell back and commenced building breastworks. In calling them Cheatham's men, did the captain wish to insinuate that