[337] but at the same time he was preparing for a forward movement by concentrating his army in the neighborhood of Murfreesborough. The troops that Granger had brought from Kentucky, which had been numerically increased by a reorganization of the various commands, formed a fourth corps under the name of a reserve. The largest portion of this corps, for the purpose of getting near the rest of the army, left Franklin and established its quarters at Triune.
Forrest, being informed of this movement, sought to take advantage of it and capture the small garrison of Franklin, which was reduced to two regiments—one of infantry, the other of cavalry. Granger had left this city on the 3d: early on the morning of the 4th the Confederates came to attack it. Starnes followed the Columbia road, and Armstrong, that of Lewisburg, on the right. The city, situated on the left bank of Harpeth River, which runs from south-east to north-west, was not intrenched, but commanded by a fort with a powerful armament which stood at the east, on the other side of the river, overlooking all the surrounding country. At the approach of the enemy the Federal cavalry proceeds to take position above the city, between the two roads, while the infantry, crossing the Harpeth, retires into the fort. Forrest's first attack is repulsed on the right and left, first by the fire of the dismounted Union cavalry, then by an aggressive charge which they make on horseback. But Armstrong, advancing with all his forces under the fire of the fort, which is cannonading him from across the river, penetrates into the city by way of the south, thus turning the positions of its defenders; at the same time the latter are again outflanked by Starnes and the artillery, which Forrest pushes forward by hand: they fall back upon the right bank, leaving Franklin in possession of the assailants. In order to render his success complete, Forrest has caused Armstrong to cross over to the same side a few miles higher up, so as to invest the Federals, cut them off from the Triune road, and possibly reduce them to surrender. But Granger, at the first news of the attack on Franklin, has sent Campbell's cavalry brigade, numbering four regiments, to succor the place. These troops arrive at the moment when Armstrong is preparing to surround the positions of the
