By disobeying orders, Union general Emerson Opdycke ended up saving the center

Samuel Emerson Opdycke (January 7, 1830 – April 25, 1884) was a businessman and Union Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. During the Battle of Franklin, Emerson Opdycke led a brigade in George Wagner’s division. As the Confederates approached, Wagner ordered Opdycke to join his fellow brigade commanders, John Lane and Joseph Conrad, in a line thrown out half a mile in front of the Union breastworks.

Recognizing the folly of taking such an exposed position in front of a vastly superior force, Opdycke vehemently refused to obey Wagner’s directive and instead deployed his brigade about two hundred yards behind the Carter House. Although he was mainly looking for a good place to cook breakfast, from this spot he could also quickly reinforce any threatened point in the Union center. When Wagner’s position was shattered and his men were hurled back through the main line, the Confederate attackers secured a dangerous foothold in the maelstrom around the Carter House. Opdycke threw his men into the fray. The Confederates could advance no further, and after hours of bloody combat, the line was finally stabilized. Had Opdycke obeyed Wagner’s orders, his command would have surely been routed along with the rest of the division, and Hood’s army may well have shattered the unsupported main line.