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Rice Springs Farm
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CAVALRY CHARGE AT RICE SPRINGS FARM
The morning of October 13, 1864 brought the sounds of battle to Rice Springs Farm. The crash of the rifle fire, the thunder of artillery and the pounding of hooves echoed along the banks of Beech Creek as Union cavalry charged the Confederate line. Described at length in the official reports of Union Generals Kenner Garrard and Jacob Cox, this engagement between horsemen in blue and gray was overlooked by Civil War historians until 1993, when research into the story of the Rice House brought to light this interesting wartime saga. The capture of Atlanta by Maj Gen William Tecumseh Sherman's Federal Army on September 3rd left Confederate commander Lt Gen John Bell Hood free to maneuver. Resolving to strike Sherman's lines north of Atlanta, Hood rested his weary troops for nearly a month before marching toward Rome on October 1st. The Rebels struck first on October 5th at Allatoona Pass where Gen John Corse's valiant defense inspired the hymn Hold The Fort, I Am Coming. Foiled there, Hood took his army westward, to cross the Coosa River on a pontoon bridge on October 10th. That day, Hood instructed his cavalry to "move on Rome" with his cavalry division and threaten the Union garrison there. This would protect the Confederate line of communication as the army marched north toward Resaca. Unable to corner the Southern Army for a showdown fight, Sherman admitted that Hood's strategy baffled him: "I cannot guess his movements." The Northern commander marched his forces toward Rome, still hoping to catch the elusive Confederate. At Rome on October 12th, Sherman learned that Hood had marched north on the pontoon bridge, 10 miles west of the city. On that same day, Garrard's cavalry rode out the Alabama Road from Rome, pushing back the Rebels four miles before being stopped by artillery from the Southern horsemen who had planted two cannon near the Rice House. Garrard's orders for the next day read "General Sherman wishes you to ascertain if the enemy still holds the pontoon bridge ten miles below Rome near Coosaville." To reinforce this mission, Sherman sent orders to Cox, who was in charge of the 23rd Corps. They read "You will at daylight tomorrow move your command ... down the west bank of the Coosa to Coosaville ... five miles out you will find a division of cavalry under Gen Garrard, who has orders to do the same ... He reports only cavalry, two brigades, to his front. A quick, bold movement may save us much trouble in the future..." With just two brigades, Brig Gen William W Allen's Rebel cavalrymen on the banks of Beech Creek went to sleep that night without knowing what overwhelming Union forces they would face the next day; a full infantry corps and a division of cavalry, totaling more than 15,000 Yankees. Odds against the Confederates were probably 5-to-1. The sun had not yet risen on the morning of October 13th when Cox's blue-clads began tramping across the Oostanaula River bridge in downtown Rome, heading west out the Alabama Road. Cox was off to a good start. Watching them was Rome resident Reuben Norton, who noted in his diary, "At half past four this morning the Army commenced moving." Norton had seen his North Georgia hometown garrisoned by Union troops since a division of Sherman's army captured Rome in May. The Yankee force was large and the bridge was narrow; it took nearly five hours for the entire Federal Corps to cross, Norton wrote, "they continued moving until nine, numbering probably 20,000." Meanwhile, two miles to the west, Garrard's cavalry was mounting up, preparing to knock back the Rebel outposts between them and Beech Creek. As the infantry came marching up, Garrard reported the situation to Cox, and the two Union generals developed their plan. The horsemen would take the lead, and the soldiers on foot would be ready to back them up if they got into any trouble. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Sherman's headquarters was a lively scene, and the red-headed, Ohio-born general read reports from the field, issued orders to his troops, and fired off telegrams and messages in every direction. One of these messages went to Cox: "Proceed with speed to your destination, and work smart." This was typical of Sherman, a high-strung, impatient man whom one associate described as "boiling with ideas," while another observed the Ohio general "talks continually and with immense rapidity." In an eight o'clock message, Cox replied to Sherman, "Your dispatch received. Garrard fills the road ahead of me and is pushing on. My infantry is close on his heels. He finds some cavalry to his front, but no serious opposition yet." Little did he know that "the serious opposition" was still ahead, on a wooded ridge west of Beech Creek, overlooking the corn and wheat fields of the farm belonging to Fleming Rice. The Rebels, mostly Texans, had been encamped around the farm for two days. On October 11th, Confederate Capt Henry L Jones had signed a receipt for the purchase of 30 bushels of corn from Fleming Rice for $120. With their two cannon and tow brigades of cavalry, they waited on the ridge this morning in expectation of another fight with the Yankees, whom they had held back the day before. This day was different. With a full corps of infantry behind him, Garrard reached the ridge on the other side of the Rice farm - a little more than half a mile east of the Confederate position - and began deploying his men in woods on either side of the Alabama Road. The Rebels shelled the opposite hilltop, watching as more and more Union riders filed into line. Garrard later reported, "Large open cornfields lay between us and the enemy, who had formed a line beyond a creek on a ridge in the edge of some timber. Just as our line was about to emerge from the woods, the charge was ordered." The sudden Yankee advance caught the Confederates off-guard. Thundering across the fields around the Rice House, it took only a few seconds for the blue-clad riders to splash across the shallow creek and dash into the Rebel line. Taken by surprise, many of the Southerners mounted and escaped westward down the Alabama Road. Others surrendered, while a few put up a brief but courageous resistance, as Garrard reported, "The enemy stood firing his artillery up to the last moment, and the cannoneers used their pistols in defense of their pieces. The artillery, two pieces, was captured just as it was limbered up." This bold charge broke the Confederate line, which fled in a confused and disorganized retreat. Garrard reports, "The enemy was routed and pursued on several different roads. Their killed, wounded and captured, which fell into our hands, was over 70, but every pursuing party reported large numbers left wounded and killed on the roads and in the woods ... The loss on our side was 14 killed and wounded and between 30 and 40 horses. The enemy was completely routed ..." At four o'clock that afternoon in Rome, Reuben Norton wrote in his diary that the Yankees were coming back into town. "The Army are returning, and report having met the Confederates near Rice's about 5 or 6 miles on the Alabama Road; the fight continued several hours, resulting in the capture of about 60 men and 2 pieces of cannon from the Confederates." The fighting at Rice Springs Farm was over. Years later, Fleming Rice would show his children and grandchildren the holes in his house made by bullets fired during that cavalry charge.
The following information should help in following the sequence of events: Rice Springs Farm - Was located 4 miles west of the center of Rome at the intersection of present-day Highway 20 (Alabama Highway, extension of Shorter Avenue) and Barker Road. However, the house, built in 1854, was removed to Barnsley Gardens in 1994 where it is now used as The Rice House Restaurant. Allatoona Pass - Located in Bartow County, Ga. off I-75 at Exit 283, go east on Old Allatoona Road 1.5 miles, cross railroad tracks, go 1 mile, markers on left. This battle took place years before the city to the north, Cartersville, was founded. Resaca - Located about 6 miles north of Calhoun, the battlegrounds are located on both sides of I-75. Pontoon bridge, 10 miles west of the city (Rome) - Located close to the present-day Georgia Power plant. Beech Creek - Located west of Barker Road. Federals came from the area of the Lakeview Animal Clinic, then east. |