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Report of Col. Joseph A. Cooper, Sixth Tennessee Infantry, of skirmish at Cox’s Hill, January 3, 1863.
HDQRS, SIXTH EAST TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS, Camp near Murfreesborough, Tenn., January 9, 1863.
SIR: Permit me to submit this my Official report of the march of my regiment from Nashville to Murfreesborough, in obedience to Special Orders. No. 8, as follows:
SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 8.
HDQRS, FIRST BRIGADE, TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS, Nashville, Tenn., January 3, 1863.
Col Cooper, with his entire command for duty, will at once take up the line of march upon the Murfreesbrough pike. They will take two days’ rations. They will report on said road to Col. Daniel McCook.
By command of Gen Spears:
D. C. TREWHITT, Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Complying with the above order, we took up the line of march at 8 o’clock. We marched out to the junction of the pike, where we lay in the rain about three hours, waiting for the commanding officer, Col. Daniel McCook. He arrived about 12 o’clock, and gave the following order:
The two regiments in advance of you will march in front with the regiment of regular cavalry, all except 50; the remaining 50 will act as near guard for the whole. Your regiment, the Sixth East Tennessee, will march immediately in rear of the train.
We then took up the line of march to Murfreesborough. We marched, without halting, about 6 miles, arriving this side of the lunatic asylum. There we, together with a part of the Second East Tennessee Cavalry, which had come up with us, met a body of the enemy.
The cavalry, filling to the right, engaged the enemy, who consisted of two or three regiments of cavalry, supported by a small piece of artillery. The cavalry fired one or two rounds and fled in confusion, running through the trains.
Just previous to this occurrence, I received order from Col. McCook to move my regiment forward, on the left, to the loss of the rise. I moved forward in double-quick, gaining the point designated just in time to arrest the charge of the enemy.
I engaged the enemy in a smart skirmish for some ten or fifteen minutes, killing some 6 or 8, wounding several, and capturing 10 prisoners. I met the enemy and repulsed them without assistance from the front.
Immediately after the skirmish a battalion of infantry came up on the left, and assisted us in holding the position. We met the enemy and whipped them without the loss of a man, either in killed, wounded, or missing. My men acted with great coolness and bravery.
The train was soon reorganized, and we were again on the march. We arrived at La Vergne without interruption.
At that point the two regiments in advance and the battalion, which came up during the skirmish, were mounted on the train, leaving my command on foot in rear of the train. I rode forward and asked Col. McCook what I should do. He first said I had better encamp there with my command. I then told him it was “most too far from shore for me to cast anchor.”
He then ordered me to march on as fast as I could on foot, so that if they were attacked we could come up to their assistance, and said “he was ordered to go through the night.”
I obeyed said order, keeping in my rear the 100 cavalry first mentioned and a portion of the Second East Tennessee Cavalry until we arrived inside the lines. I then halted, let the cavalry pass, and went into camp for the nigh.
Next morning at daylight I took the line of march and marched to headquarters of Maj.-Gen. Rosecrans, where I reported to Brig. Gen. James G. Spears.
I had in all when I went to the skirmish, and also when it ended, present, 12 commissioned officers and 213 enlisted men.
All of the above I respectfully submit.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSEPH A. COOPER, Col. Sixth East Tennessee Infantry.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 20, pt. I, pp 419-420, Note 1.
Note 1: See also: Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Tennessee of the Military Forces of the State, From 1861 to 1866, (Nashville: 1866) pp. 133. [Hereinafter: Report of the Adjutant General.]