its logical finish
and many hundreds of Union soldiers were needlessly killed, wounded, or
captured; the army, on the crumbling brink of destruction, was saved by
the independent action of Colonel Opdycke, one of the brigade commanders.

In 1890 the _National Tribune_ published my article on the Battle of
Franklin, containing the same charges against Schofield that are made in
this pamphlet. Among many letters then received was one from General
Stanley in which he wrote that he was surprised at the accuracy with which
I had stated my points. One of the most important of those points was the
statement of Doctor Cliffe, which is confirmed by General Stanley's
official report:

From one o'clock until four in the evening the enemy's entire force
was in sight and forming for attack, yet in view of the strong
position we held, and reasoning from the former course of the rebels
during this campaign, nothing appeared so improbable as that they
would assault. I was so confident in this belief that I did not
leave General Schofield's headquarters until the firing commenced.

The headquarters mentioned were at Doctor Cliffe's house. In my personal
interview with him, I found him a very reluctant witness. He was evidently
proud of having entertained two major-generals and showed no inclination
to say anything against either of them. He had told his story to a few of
his intimate friends and one of them had repeated it to me. It was not
until I had told him what I had heard and who my informant was that I
could get him to talk. He then confirmed what I had already heard and
added a few additional particulars, the most important one being his
statement that Cox was at his house conferring with Schofield shortly
before the battle began.

A thousand copies of the _Tribune_ article were obtained and a copy was
mailed to every member of the Ohio Commandery and to many others,
including General Schofield. Many members of the Ohio Commandery were
residents of Cincinnati or Cleveland. At that time Schofield was
commanding the army and was a resident of Washington City. He took notice
of this article by getting Washington correspondents of Cincinnati and
Cleveland papers to write letters in his praise. Those letters contained
nothing to refute the specific charges made in the _Tribune_, but dealt in
glittering generalities about the important services rendered by Schofield
during the war. Moreover in his _For