ully resisted from noon until dark can only be
conjectured. It is sufficient here to note that the delay of Hood's
advance very greatly diminished the force of his attack at Franklin,
besides making his arrival before that place so late that he could
not turn that position that day by crossing the Harpeth above.
The tenacity with which the crossing of Duck River at Columbia was
held was well rewarded at Franklin.

THE ADVANTAGE OF CONTINUING THE RETREAT

The question has been raised whether we ought not to have held our
position in front of Franklin after having repulsed Hood's attack
and inflicted such heavy losses upon his troops. General Sherman
himself impliedly made this suggestion when he expressed the opinion
that Thomas ought to have turned on Hood after his repulse at
Franklin; and General Jacob D. Cox, who had been in the thickest
of the fight all the time, with high soldierly instinct sent me,
by one of my staff officers, the suggestion that we stay there and
finish the fight the next day. A fight to a finish, then and there,
might quite probably have given us the prize. But the reasons for
declining that tempting opportunity for complete victory will, I
believe, seem perfectly clear when fully stated.

In anticipation of orders from General Thomas to fall back to
Nashville that night, the trains had been ordered to the rear before
the battle began, so as to clear the way for the march of our
troops, and to render impossible any interference by the enemy's
cavalry. Our ammunition had been well-nigh exhausted in the battle
at Franklin, as is shown by my telegram to General Thomas to send
a million rounds to Brentwood, thinking he might want me to hold
Hood there until he could get A. J. Smith's troops in position and
supplied with ammunition. If I had needed any such warning, that
given me by the general in his despatch,( 3) "But you must look
out that the enemy does not still persist," would have been sufficient
to deter me from fighting him the next day with my "back to the
river." Besides, it is not easy to estimate at midnight exactly
the results of a desperate battle then just terminated. But all
this is insignificant when compared with the controlling reason.
I had then fully accomplished the object (and I could not then know
how much more) for which the command in the field had for a time
been intrusted to me. My junction with reinforcements at Nashville