Civil War times, 1861-1865

THE BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER

CHAPTER FIVE THE BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER

BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER III

BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER III

T14 CIVIL WAR TIMES

BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER Il 5

BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER I2I

BATTLE OF STONE'S RIVER I2I

CHICKAMAUGA

THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN AND THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA 163

*The most intelligible accounts of the battle, valuable chiefly because written by eye-witnesses, and accompanied by maps essen- tial to an understanding of it, will be found in Van Horne’s History of the Army of the Cumberland, Cist’s Army of the Cum- berland, Turchin’s Battle of Chickamauga, Piatt’s George H. Thomas, and Boynton’s Chickamauga National Milstary: Park. The official reports of the battle are contained in Rebellion Rec- ords, ser. Nos. §0, 51.

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA I7I

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA I7I

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA ISI

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA ISI

CHAPTER VIII

The Siege and the Battles of Chattanooga,

DEVELOPMENT OF CONFLICT 39

in this way that Grant was advised of the purpose of Longstreet’s advance against Burnside, and Sherman of Hood’s proposed invasion of Tennessee. A south- ern historian, speaking of the withdrawal of Long- street’s corps during the siege of Chattanooga, says:

CAMP, MARCH AND BATTLE 75

In nearly all the battles that I witnessed it was im- possible to see the greater part of either of the oppos- ing armies from one point. At Stone’s River the greatest number of the Confederates that I could see at any time were those in Breckinridge’s division on Friday afternoon; at Chickamauga the greatest num- ber I saw together were the forces of Longstrect as they came up toward Snodgrass Hill; at the storming of Missionary Ridge, however, I could see all the I*ed- eral troops that participated in the assault. During the Atlanta campaign, the whole country in which it

CAMP, MARCH AND BATTLE 83

told by General Schofield* the substance of it being as follows: A new recruit after a battle was proudly ex- hibiting to a veteran his empty cartridge-box and boast- ing of how many rounds he had fired, but he could not tell how many he had hit. “And how many rounds did you fire?” asked the recruit. “About nineteen” was the reply. “And how many did you hit?” “T think,” said the veteran, “that I hit about nineteen.” In my company was a man who used to hunt squir- rels in the woods of Brown county, and who could hit one in the top ofthe tallest tree. He was the most quiet and best-natured man in the company, and the coolest I ever saw under fire. Just after the storming of Missionary Ridge he showed me a bent sapling upon which he had rested his gun to take deliberate aim, and he assured me that he hit his man every time. I have not the least doubt of the truth of his statement. _ The sensation of being under fire, under any cir- cumstances, is not particularly agreeable, but when you know that the bullets are not aimed especially at you, you feel that the danger is being divided in some way between yourself and your comrades; that it is a sort of lottery in which you may draw a bullet or you may es- cape and others may be hit. But it is altogether dif- ferent when you know that some one is taking aim at you individually. A Frenchman in describing a tiger hunt said: “It is great fun to hunt ze tigaire, but when ze tigaire hunt you it is fun for ze tigaire.”

THE THREE MONTHS’ PICNIC

After the conclusion of the lecture course, I returned to my home in Franklin, the county seat of Johnson county, and I had been there only a few days when the whole country was startled, as if by the shock of an earthquake at midnight, by the news of the firing on Fort Sumter. This was followed at once by the procla- mation of the President calling for 75,000 volunteers. Those who do not remember the situation can form some idea of it from the contemporaneous accounts in the newspapers. Lincoln had received a majority of

HOOD’S INVASION OF TENNESSEE 311

When Hood began his advance on Nashville, Sher- man’s army was so far away that, for all the aid it could render Thomas, it might as well have been in South America. The divisions of Gen. A. J. Smith had not arrived. Thomas had telegraphed to Rose- crans for them but could get no response. As was afterward learned, the river was too low to transport them by boats and they were obliged to march across the state of Missouri in order to reach St. Louis. They did not arrive until November 30, the day on which the battle of Franklin was fought and one day before the advance of Hood’s army was encamped before

HOOD’S INVASION OF TENNESSEE 319

That night the Federal army with all its trains crossed the Harpeth and the next night reached Nash- ville. Hood was not far behind, and by December 3 his entire army was in front of the Federal lines, just where it had been two years before. General A. J. Smith had arrived on the day the battle at Franklin was fought. Not until then, since Hood had started on his march to Nashville, had Thomas troops sufh- cient to justify him in risking a battle.

STORY OF THE STATISTICS 349

The greatest loss of general officers in any single engagement was that of the Confederates in the battle of Franklin, in which one major-general and four brigadier-generals were killed, one major-general and five brigadier-generals were wounded, and one briga- dier-general was captured. This was most remarka- ble, considering that the total number of Confederates engaged was only 26,897.

DEVELOPMENT OF CONFLICT 27

It is probable that Halleck while general-in-chief was little more than Stanton’s scribe. The latter soon became hostile to McClellan and to Rosecrans. His injustice to Thomas before the battle of Nashville * has never been satisfactorily explained, nor has it ever been forgotten by the friends of that illustrious com- mander. In Grant Stanton at last found a general whose iron will and stubborn tenacity of purpose were superior to his own. Grant’s opinion of Stanton is expressed without any circumlocution. He says:°

HOOD’S INVASION OF TENNESSEE 311

It was originally intended to leave Thomas only the 4th corps, but to this was afterwards added the 23d. These were the two smallest corps of Sherman’s army and they were still further depleted before the battle of Nashville by the return home of large numbers whoze terms of enlistment had expired.

HOOD’S INVASION OF TENNESSEE 311

We turn now to the man who thenceforward, until after the battle of Nashville, becomes the chief figure in the exciting military drama that followed. Upon Thomas the eyes of all the North were riveted; it was he whose success was to make the “march to the sea” the theme of poets’ songs for all ages, or whose failure was to stamp it as a stupendous blunder. It was with great reluctance that he had assumed the vast responsi- bility placed upon him by Sherman, but having accept- ed it he discharged it, as he could always be depended upon to do, faithfully and loyally.

HOOD’S INVASION OF TENNESSEE 32!

But Grant would brook no delay, and another order, prepared December 13, was given to General Logan, directing him to proceed at once to Nashville and to take the command if Thomas had not moved before his arrival. Grant finally started to Nashville to take command in person. Fortunately for Thomas and for- tunately for the country, the battle of Nashville had begun before the arrival of either Logan or Grant. On the 14th a thaw set in which broke the sleet block- ade and orders were given for opening the battle on