The Ohio in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI

I finally took a tour of the "Battle of Franklin" (near Nashville) and famous Carter House. My tour guide was Thomas Cartwright, who did an excellent job.

The Battle of Franklin occurred on November 30, 1864. Very early in the day, the famous Carter House (mansion) was commandeered as the Federal Command Post and Headquarters. The Federal inner entrenchment was dug in line with the farm "office" and smoke house (only 60 feet to the south of the house).

While the battle raged, 23 persons found refuge in the rock-walled cellar, including 9 little Carter grandchildren (all under age 12). Here may be seen the battle scars which time has not erased. In 1951, 87 years after it earned its place in history, the Carter House was purchased by the state of Tennessee as a historical shrine.

The Union Army (under General Schofield) marching northward from Columbia and Spring Hill, reached Franklin very early on the morning of November 30, 1864. Before noon, the Union Army had dug their main line of entrenchments, 264 feet south of the Carter House.

About two o'clock in the afternoon, General Hood, commanding the Army of Tennessee, saw the entrenched Union Army two miles away and said, "We will make the fight!". There followed what has been called "the greatest drama in American history."

The battle continued from four in the afternoon until nine that night, with sporadic fighting until midnight(with no light after dark, except from flaming guns). It accomplished little, and destroyed the vitality, hope, and spirit of the Army of Tennessee.

The old Carter Smoke House bears scars made by both Union and Confederate Armies. Hundreds of minie bullet holes can be seen on this building. The initial entry hole is about the size of a large marble, and the exit hole is about the size of a human fist.

The Carter Farm House "Office" was used by a union and confederate soldier to escape the carnage. Both lived to fight another day!

The fighting was so bloody that streams of blood poured over the roads. People even died standing up (because the dead and dying bodies were up to the waist). 8,700 confederate and 5,000 union soldiers fought in close hand-to-hand combat 400 yards in front of the Carter House. They used everything from rifle butts, axes, sticks, and stones to beat each other to death.

The battle was described as a "cauldron of hell" with all of the chocking gun smoke, sulfur smell, and flashes of gunpowder in the night sky. The Carter House was riddled with bullets, and it took until 1897 for most of the blood stained floors to be cleaned up!

The Battle of Franklin had nearly 50% casualities in the 5 hour fight, with over 9,000 killed. 80% of the fighting occured at night. So many officers were killed, that the units were led by Captains and Lieutenants.

After the battle, the Carter House was used by the surgeons to saw off the many destroyed arms and legs. They threw them out the windows, to be later collected and buried. (In time of peace, the son buries the father; In time of war, the father buries the son).

The Carter House and Battle of Franklin is said to be haunted by ghosts. It was scarier to me than any Halloween Haunted House I have ever visited!

Here is the "Carter House" Poem: "Come visit the Old Carter House on Franklin's Battle Field, for here the South's great Cause was lost, and here her fate was sealed. Come visit the ancient battle scars, which time cannot erase; Come visit again the battle scenes, at this historic place."

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Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI
Re: Colonel Emerson Opdycke - 125th OVI