The first line of the Union defense at Franklin turned out to be a big help for the Confederates

After sunset on September 14, 1862, the confederate cannons across the road on School House Ridge vanished in the darkness. The features of the landscape begin to blur as the shell-shocked union soldiers on Bolivar Heights wondered if they could survive another day of artillery bombardment. The union troops could not rest until tomorrow, however, because general "Stonewall" Jackson's confederate army might charge over School House Ridge at any moment. To guard against such an attack, the union command established a human alarm system on this field in the form of a skirmish line. That was the first line of the Union defense at Franklin. If the confederates advanced, the gunfire from the Union soldiers on the skirmish line would reveal the location of the attack. "Stonewall" Jackson was counting on it.

The Union defenders stampeded back towards the main line after firing a single volley, the charging Southerners hot on their heels. Afraid of hitting their comrades, the riflemen on the main line held their fire as they watched the intermingled crowd of butternut and blue surge toward them. As a result, the last half-mile of the Confederate advance was largely uncontested, allowing the charge to hit the main line with full force. This was one of the few times the Confederate advanced in the Battle of Franklin.