Even His Enemy Congratulated Him
from It Happened in the Civil War by Michael R. Bradley
Frank Baldwin was a modest man, but he was determined, and he would prove to the world that he was brave. He was so brave that even his enemies would congratulate him.
In September 1863 the Union army was facing a crisis. After successfully maneuvering the Confederate army under General Braxton Bragg out of Tennessee in July, Union General William Rosecrans had found himself defeated at the battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia. Now, as the summer turned to fall, Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland were trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union forces were gathering to rescue them, but the success of the attempt depended on the Union forces keeping control of the railroads, especially the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad that ran through Murfreesboro.
At Murfreesboro, Union troops had used hundreds of African-American laborers to build the largest earthwork fort ever constructed in North America, Fort Rosecrans. But even this massive fortification, with its huge cannons, could only protect a limited area. To ensure that the railroad stayed safe from Confederate raiders, small wooden stockades had to be built at every bridge the railroad crossed. In addition blockhouses of large logs were constructed at every culvert.
And the Confederates were coming! General Joseph Wheeler and several thousand rebel cavalrymen were riding hell for leather all across Middle Tennessee. They knew that if they could wreck the railroad thoroughly, the Union rescue attempt would be slowed so much that the Yankees in Chattanooga might be starved into surrender.
First Lieutenant Frank Baldwin was in command of Company D, Nineteenth Michigan. He was a veteran soldier, having first enlisted in 1861 when he was nineteen years old. Baldwin had been born in Manchester, Michigan, and attended the public school in the town of Constantine before enrolling in Hillsdale College. Dark complexioned, stocky, and of average height, Baldwin liked the army. Indeed he would go on to make a career in the military, staying in the cavalry when the Civil War was over, seeing action against the Indians in Texas and fighting guerrillas in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Now, at twenty-one, he found himself and fifty men manning a stockade overlooking a 200-foot-long trestle on the railroad 4 miles outside Murfreesboro. The stockade was constructed of squared timbers sunk 2 feet into the ground and standing 8 feet in the air. Loopholes at a convenient height allowed the defenders to fire at attackers while remaining under cover. All trees and brush had been cleared from a wide area around the stockade, so there was a good field of fire, but Baldwin wasn't satisfied. In his pocket he had written orders instructing him to hold the post until relieved. Holding the stockade would be easy enough if only riflemen came against it, but if the rebels showed up with artillery, Baldwin knew his stockade walls would provide about as much protection as toothpicks. As the best precaution he could take, Baldwin had his men shovel dirt against the bottom of the stockade wall, creating a berm about 2 feet high.
On the morning of October 4, 1863, several parties of Confederate cavalry were in view, nosing closer and closer to the stockade. Baldwin sent off several runners to bring help from Murfreesboro, but no reinforcements appeared. Probably all the runners were captured or shot by the Confederates. Baldwin had enough experience in combat to know that he was seeing the scouts and advance parties of the Confederates. As soon as they were sure he was isolated, the main body Would come up. Sure enough, the next morning, just as dawn Was breaking through a light mist, a Confederate officer came riding toward the stockade, waving a flag of trice.
"Lieutenant, I am instructed to say, on behalf of General Joseph Wheeler, that you are surrounded and cut off. The general demands your immediate surrender."
"Captain, please inform your general that I have strict orders to prevent him from destroying this trestle, and that is just what I intend to do as long as I'm able."
"Lieutenant, those are brave and honorable words, but you don't have a chance. We have artillery, so on your head be it."
Soon a thin line of gray-clad dismounted cavalry began pressing toward the stockade. Baldwin's men stood to their loopholes and opened fire. Quickly, the gray cavalry dropped to the ground and returned the fire, only to have their bullets thud harmlessly into the timbers of the stockade. Then atop a low ridge some six hundred yards away appeared a battery of cannon.
With the first puff of smoke, a shell came screaming over the stockade. The second hit the wall, cutting off the timber and sending jagged splinters of wood flying like spears across the interior of the small enclosure. Every shot hit the wall, and the cannon were too far away for the Michiganders' rifles to be effective against them. In a few minutes it was all over. The stockade was blown to smithereens. Of Baldwin's fifty men, forty-nine were dead or wounded. Regretfully, Frank Baldwin waved a towel as a flag of surrender.
Out of the smoke came riding a small, dapper man in a neat, gray uniform. Three stars surrounded by a wreath on his collar indicated his a rank as a general.
"Lieutenant, this is the biggest piece of foolishness I have ever seen. I have not lost a man, and your command has been wiped out. It is mere luck you aren't a casualty yourself. If you had surrendered, you would have saved a lot of good men from death and suffering."
Saluting, Baldwin replied, "General, please read this paper. It is from my commanding officer and it orders me to hold this position until relieved. As yet, I have not been relieved."
General Wheeler looked at the order. "Lieutenant, under the terms of these orders, you have done what is right. I will not take any of your command as prisoners of war. I will destroy this trestle, and then you and the surviving members of your command can remain here to bury your dead. Your friends will come out from Murfreesboro as soon as I am gone. I congratulate you on your devotion to duty."
And so it was. Frank Baldwin's commanding officer was so impressed by the bravery and determination shown in the defense of the trestle that Baldwin was nominated for the Medal of Honor. For some reason, however, the nomination did not result in the medals being given. However, on July 20, 1864, near Atlanta, Georgia, and again on November 8, 1874, at McClellan's Creek in Texas, Frank Baldwin twice more proved his bravery and devotion and became the second person in the history of the United States to win the Medal of Honor twice. He is still the only person to have been nominated for the award a third time. (My italics. - Jonah)
