Civil War Supply and Strategy by Earl J. Hess

Author:Earl J. Hess [Hess, Earl J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Military, Strategy, Vehicles
ISBN: 9780807174487
Google: UePcDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: 2020-10-07T00:41:51+00:00

CARTERS CREEK AND RUTHERFORD CREEK AT COLUMBIA

Thomas sent scouts down the railroad to examine its condition farther south. They reported the first two bridges over Carter’s Creek as “but little damaged,” while the third bridge was “all gone but the debris,” which had washed up three-quarters of a mile downstream. The fourth bridge was down, but its debris remained in place, while the fifth bridge was destroyed, with a part of the wreckage in place. “Duck River bridge gone, but trestle on south side of the river complete to the bank of the river,” as Ramsey put it. The scouts found piles of timber between the third and fourth bridges and between the fourth and fifth bridges, evidence that the Confederates had begun to reconstruct those spans before the Battle of Nashville. A total of seven bridges had to be repaired over Carter’s Creek and four more over Rutherford Creek before the railroad could reach the Duck River at Columbia. It was estimated that task would take about five days, a crushing delay in following up a beaten enemy.49

The hard-working Eicholtz had no rest on December 23. Only the day after finishing the large railroad bridge at Franklin, his men began repairing the first Carter’s Creek span. The stringers were “burnt off the bridge,” and his men replaced them all day. Eicholtz started work on several bridges during the twenty-fourth, moving men to the second and third span, both of which they restored before nightfall. Other men found the fourth bridge completely gone. Eicholtz sent still others to start clearing wreckage at the sixth bridge.50

Now that locomotives and cars could run south of Franklin, Donaldson pushed supplies by rail from Nashville. He sent a quartermaster “to take charge of advance depot of army.” No sooner was the depot at Spring Hill opened than the quartermaster there began to complain that Federal soldiers were stealing his supplies. He called for troops to guard the depot from his own army.51

Eicholtz and his men continued working at a steady pace. They finished framing the sixth bridge over Carter’s Creek by dusk of December 26 and then started to place stringers in the dark. Wright was on the scene and reported to Thomas that the fifth bridge was finished except for laying the track. He planned to start reconstructing the first bridge over Rutherford Creek at dawn on the twenty-seventh and predicted it would be finished by the evening. A force of 300 workers who specialized in bridge building was on its way to the front, but the blockade of wheeled traffic at Spring Hill delayed their wagon train. Wright promised to push them on to the Duck River bridge at Columbia as soon as possible. But there was a blockage of wheeled traffic at Columbia as well. Schofield reported on December 26 that both pontoon bridges over the Duck River were frequently breaking due to heavy loads. Smith’s 200 wagons had not yet crossed, and the Twenty-Third Corps wagons were also waiting to move.

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