Below is a battle report written by Private Andy Noblit
about the
events of the Mt. Zion event that was held on November 2-4, 2001. The great
pictures below were also taken by Andy Noblit.
 Mark
Waddell, David Blacklidge, and Andy Noblit in Ranks |
| Friday November 2, 1864 Giles Co TN. After a
long and arduous retreat from the devastating battle at Franklin, TN where many of our bravest gave their all for the great southern cause, our boys were digging in again to hold off another potent Yankee charge. We were told we must stop the Yankee s here or The Army Of Tennessee would be trapped trying to cross the river. When General Hood asked for volunteers to reinforce the rear guard the men of the 27th Alabama were some of the first to fall in. We all knew that the odds were stacked against us, but hell, that aint never stopped us before. I guess, about the only thing we weren t short on was grit . These boys were sure enough battle hardened and had spilled their blood all over Dixie in some of the toughest battles of the war. And I can tell you that I m damn proud to have served with them. As we bedded down Friday night we all knew that when the sun came up the enemy would be trying to break our lines and get at General Hood, I don t think anyone got more than a couple hours of sleep. |
 27th Alabama Camp at Mt. Zion |
| Saturday November 3, 1864. Early in the
morning The Major sent out some scouts and they found the Yankee s less than a mile away heading in our direction. The only thing between us was a line of trees at the Mt Zion Church of Christ. Because we were so outnumbered The Major decided to advance our lines into the woods and use them as cover, no doubt this maneuver saved many of our boys because their artillery would not be as effective. But, that did not stop them from firing their cannons into the tree line and making toothpicks out of the trees and killing many in our front lines. The Yankee s were like angry ants coming out of a mound, they were everywhere! Regiment after regiment poured into the trees and just like at Chickamauga we held our ground with a fierce determination! We where inflecting tremendous casualties, but they just keep sending in reinforcements a never-ending sea of blue. How could they afford to loose so many men, and keep coming? As night fell, word came that General Hood had not yet completed crossing the river, and we were to hold our ground at all cost! The battle had raged all day and now our pickets battled them through the night, but the Yankee s could not advance! With no break in the battle we were forced to leave the dead and wounded on the battlefield. No words can describe the agonizing sounds of the dieing and many a brave solder passed onto Glory that night without so much as a drink of water. I guess Sherman was right about one thing, War Is All Hell . We were running desperately low on ammunition so we spent most of the night rounding up ammo from the dead. |
| Sunday November 4, 1864 I hardly
dared to check our lines. As I looked to my left and right I saw a solid line of gray with bayonets glistening in the morning sun, our boys were ready for a fight! Well, so were the Yankee s and they didn t waste any time trying to get at General Hood again. Because we were outnumbered more than 3-1 they sent a note to The Major asking for our surrender. The Major just scoffed and said, outnumbered 3-1, hell, you Yank's had better go get some more blue bellies to make this a fair fight! The 27th Alabama had orders to hold their ground at any cost, and hold we did! In the first hours of the battle the gallant men of the 27th not only held their ground, they advanced over 300 yards and was about to turn the Yankee s left flank. Then, just like in the day before the Yankee reinforcements started showing up and their flank held. I saw one Yankee run off yelling, I saw the elephant, I saw the elephant. As many of their new recruits often did when they first saw battle. I said, yeah, you come back across that battle field again and we ll show you the whole damn zoo next time! We had not seen new recruits in years and I was amazed that the Yankee s could send green solders into battle, in this the 4th year of the war. The Major said General Hood only needed a few more hours, and then we could retreat. It was at this time the Yankee s threw everything they had at us, desperately trying to break our lines. We fell back and formed a new line in a sunken road, and the Yankee s keep coming. Their charges were as gallant as any I have ever seen, we were dropping them as fast as we could load, but they keep coming, advancing, always advancing. Now, so many of our boys were getting hit that I wondered if we were going to be able to hold out long enough? I have never seen a braver bunch, we withstood wave after wave but not one man broke and ran. The Major now ordered the remaining men of the 27th to fall back once more and rally on the colors. I had started out in the middle of the line, now I was the last man standing on the left flank. My Mississippi rifle was red hot from the constant firing and still the Yankees came, but much slower than they would have liked to. I watched all of our boys fall, Col Blacklidge was wounded lying close to our colors. I was wounded as I shot my last round and laid just to the left of our flag as the Yankee s came in and took our colors. Yes, they took our colors out right, but The Army of Tennessee lived to fight another day, thanks to the bravery of the gallant men of the 27th Alabama. Respectfully Yours, Private Andrew Noblit 27th Alabama Infantry CSA |
 David Blacklidge and Andy Noblit |
Sgt. Bobby Joe Killen
in camp on Sugar Creek