BURNSIDE AND ROSECRANS--THE SUMMER'S DELAYS
Condition of Kentucky and Tennessee--Halleck's instructions to
Burnside--Blockhouses at bridges--Relief of East
Tennessee--Conditions of the problem--Vast wagon-train
required--Scheme of a railroad--Surveys begun--Burnside's efforts to
arrange co-operation with Rosecrans--Bragg sending troops to
Johnston--Halleck urges Rosecrans to activity--Continued
inactivity--Burnside ordered to send troops to Grant--Rosecrans's
correspondence with Halleck--Lincoln's dispatch--Rosecrans collects
his subordinates' opinions--Councils of war--The situation
considered--Sheridan and Thomas--Computation of
effectives--Garfield's summing up--Review of the situation when
Rosecrans succeeded Buell--After Stone's River--Relative
forces--Disastrous detached expeditions--Appeal to ambition--The
major-generalship in regular army--Views of the President
justified--Burnside's forces--Confederate forces in East
Tennessee--Reasons for the double organization of the Union armies.
Burnside was not a man to be satisfied with quasi-military duty and
the administration of a department outside of the field of active
warfare. He had been reappointed to the formal command of the Ninth
Corps before he came West, and the corps was sent after him as soon
as transportation could be provided for it. He reached Cincinnati in
person just as a raid into Kentucky by some 2000 Confederate cavalry
under Brigadier-General John Pegram was in progress. Pegram marched
from East Tennessee about the middle of March, reaching Danville,
Ky., on the 23d. He spread reports that he was the advance-guard of
a large force of all arms intending a serious invasion of the State.
These exaggerations had their effect, and the disturbance in the
Department of the Ohio was out of proportion to the strength of the
hostile column. [Footnote: Letter of Governor Robinson, Official
Records, vol. xxiii. pt. ii. p. 97; _Id_., pp. 121, 126.] The troops
belonging to the post at Danville retreated to the hither side of
the Kentucky River at Hickman's Bridge, where they took up a
defensive position. They saved the railway bridge from destruction,
and Brigadier-General Quincy A. Gillmore, who commanded the District
of Central Kentucky with headquarters at Lexington, was able to
concentrate there a sufficient force to resume the offensive against
Pegram.
Burnside ordered reinforcements to Gillmore from the other parts of
Kentucky, and Pegram, whose report indicates that a foray for beef,
cattle, and horses was the principal object of his expedition,
commenced his retreat. Gillmore followed him up vigorously,
recapturing a considerable part of the cattle he had collected, and
overtaking his principal column at Somerset, routed him and drove
him beyond the Cumberland River.
The month of March had begun with pleasant spring weather, and on
the 15th General Wright had written to Halleck that an invasion of
Kentucky was probable, especially as Rosecrans showed no signs of
resuming the aggressive against Bragg's army in middle Tennessee.
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 143.] In Halleck's letter of instructions to
Burnside as the latter was leaving Washington to relieve Wright, the
general plan of an advance on East Tennessee in connection with that
of Rosecrans toward Chattanooga was outlined, but the
General-in-Chief acknowledged that the supply of an army in East
Tennessee by means of the wagon roads was probably impracticable.
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 163.] He pointed out the necessity of reducing
the number and size of garrisons in the rear, and making everything
bend to the great object of organizing the army for active
initiative against the enemy. He recommended building block-houses
to protect the principal bridges on the railroads, where very small
garrisons could give comparative security to our lines of
communication. This plan was ultimately carried out on a large
scale, and was the necessary condition of Sherman's Atlanta campaign
of 1864. Taken as a whole, Halleck's instructions to Burnside
presented no definite objective, and were a perfunctory sort of
introduction to his new command, which raises a doubt whether the
organization of a little army in the Department of the Ohio met his
approval.
The fact was that Burnside was acting on an understanding with
President Lincoln himself, whose ardent wish to send a column for
the relief of the loyal people of East Tennessee never slumbered,
and who was already beginning to despair of its accomplishment by
Rosecrans's army. The uneasiness at Washington over Rosecrans's
inaction was becoming acute, and Mr. Lincoln was evidently turning
to Burnside's department in hope of an energetic movement there. In
this hope Burnside was sent West, and the Ninth Corps was detached
from the Army of the Potomac and sent after him. The project of
following up his advance by the construction of a railroad from
Danville, then the terminus of the railway line reaching southward
from Cincinnati, was discussed, and the President recommended it to
Congress, but no appropriation of money was made. The scheme was
hardly within the limits of practicable plans, for the building of a
railway through such difficult country as the Cumberland mountain
region implied laborious engineering surveys which could only be
made when the country was reduced to secure possession, and the
expenditure of time as well as of money would be likely to exceed
the measure of reasonable plans for a military campaign. The true
thing to do was to push Rosecrans's army to Chattanooga and beyond.
With the valley of the Tennessee in our possession, and Chattanooga
held as a new base of supply for a column in East Tennessee as well
as another in Georgia, the occupation of Knoxville and the Clinch
and Holston valleys to the Virginia line was easy. Without it, all
East Tennessee campaigns were visionary. It was easy enough to get
there; the trouble was to stay. Buell's original lesson in
logistics, in which he gave the War Department a computation of the
wagons and mules necessary to supply ten thousand men at Knoxville,
was a solid piece of military arithmetic from which there was no
escape. [Footnote: _Ante_, p. 199. Official Records, vol. vii. p.
931.]
When Burnside reached Cincinnati and applied himself practically to
the task of organizing his little army for a march over the
mountains, his first requisitions for wagons and mules were a little
startling to the Quartermaster-General and a little surprising to
himself. He began at once an engineering reconnoissance of the
country south of Lexington and Danville, as far as it was within our
control, and employed an able civil engineer, Mr. Gunn, to locate
the preliminary line for a railway. [Footnote: _Id_., vol. xxiii.
pt. ii. p. 610.] These surveys were the starting-points from which
the actual construction of the road between Cincinnati and
Chattanooga was made after the close of the war.
Burnside also urged that the troops in Kentucky, exclusive of the
Ninth Corps, be organized into a new corps with General Hartsuff as
its commander. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 259.] Halleck demurred to this,
but the President directed it to be done, and the order was issued
by the War Department on 27th April. [Footnote: _Id_., pp. 269, 283,
400.] Burnside also applied himself earnestly to procuring from
Rosecrans a plan of active co-operation for an advance. As soon as
Hartsuff assumed command of the new Twenty-third Corps, Burnside
sent him, on May 3d, to visit Rosecrans in person, giving him
authority to arrange an aggressive campaign. [Footnote: _Id_., p.
312.] Hartsuff's old relations to Rosecrans made him a very fit
person for the negotiation. Rosecrans hesitated to decide, and
called a council of his principal officers. He suggested that the
Ninth Corps be sent down the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to
Glasgow, near the Tennessee line, but did not indicate any immediate
purpose of advancing. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt.
ii. pp. 313, 315.] Burnside meant to take the field with both corps
of his command, which he had organized under the name of the Army of
the Ohio; but to reassure Rosecrans, he wrote that if in
co-operation the two armies should come together, he would waive his
elder rank and serve under Rosecrans whilst he should remain in
middle Tennessee. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 331.] It was now the 15th of
May, and he sent a confidential staff officer again to Rosecrans to
try to settle a common plan of operations. On the 18th Halleck had
heard of Bragg's army being weakened to give General Joseph E.
Johnston a force with which to relieve Pemberton at Vicksburg, and
he became urgent for both Rosecrans and Burnside to advance.
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 337.] He thought it probable that raids would
be attempted by the enemy to distract attention from his real
object, and pointed out concentration and advance as the best way to
protect the rear as well as to reach the enfeebled adversary.
Burnside hastened in good faith his preparations for movement. He
was collecting a pack mule train to supply the lack of wagons, and
put his detachments in motion to concentrate. He begged for the
third division of his corps (Getty's), which had been detained in
the Army of the Potomac and could not yet be spared, but did not
wait for it. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 338.] By the 1st of June he was
ready to leave in person for the front, and on the 3d was at
Lexington, definitely committed to the movement into East Tennessee.
There he was met by an order from Halleck to send 8000 men at once
to reinforce General Grant at Vicksburg. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 384.]
The promise was made that they should be returned as soon as the
immediate exigency was over, but the order was imperative. Burnside
never hesitated in obedience. The two divisions of the Ninth Corps
made about the number required, and they were immediately turned
back and ordered to the Ohio River to be shipped on steamboats.
Sorely disappointed, Burnside asked that he might go with his men,
but was told that his departmental duties were too important to
spare him from them. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt.
ii. pp. 384, 386.] Major-General Parke was therefore sent in command
of the corps. Burnside returned to Cincinnati, grieving at the
interruption of his plans, yet hoping it would not be for long. His
duties at the rear were not agreeable, especially as this was just
the time when he was directed to recall his order suppressing
disloyal newspapers, and to refrain from arrests of civilians
without explicit authority from Washington.
We may safely assume that the President and his War Secretary were
as little pleased at having to order the Ninth Corps away as
Burnside was to have them go. In fact the order was not made till
they entirely despaired of making Rosecrans advance with the vigor
necessary to checkmate the Confederates. On the receipt of Halleck's
dispatch of the 18th May, Rosecrans entered into a telegraphic
discussion of the probable accuracy of Halleck's information, saying
that whatever troops were sent by the enemy to Mississippi were no
doubt sent from Charleston and Savannah and not from Bragg.
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 337.] He insisted that it was not good policy
to advance at present. On the 21st he said, "If I had 6000 cavalry
in addition to the mounting of the 2000 now waiting horses, I would
attack Bragg within three days." [Footnote: _Id_., p. 351.] He also
interposed the unfavorable judgment of his corps commanders in
regard to an advance. Military history shows that this is pretty
uniformly an excuse for a delay already fully resolved on by a
commanding general. Halleck had no more cavalry to send, and could
only say so. Burnside notified Rosecrans on the 22d that his columns
had begun the movements of concentration and that they would be
complete in three or four days. [Footnote: Official Records, vol.
xxiii. pt. ii. p. 355.] On the 28th Mr. Lincoln himself telegraphed
Rosecrans, "I would not push you to any rashness, but I am very
anxious that you do your utmost, short of rashness, to keep Bragg
from getting off to help Johnston against Grant." [Footnote: _Id_.,
p. 369.] Rosecrans curtly answered, "Dispatch received. I will
attend to it." In his dispatches to Mr. Stanton of similar date
there is no intimation of any purpose whatever to move. [Footnote:
_Ibid_.] In telegraphing to Burnside, Rosecrans said that he was
only waiting for the development of the former's concentration, and
that he wished to advance by the 4th of June. [Footnote: _Id_., pp.
372, 376.] Burnside had already informed him that he would be ready
by June 2d, and repeated it. On the date last named Rosecrans
telegraphed Burnside that his movement had already begun, and that
he wanted the Army of the Ohio to come up as near and as quickly as
possible. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 381.] Still he gave no intimation to
the authorities at Washington of an advance, for none had in fact
been made by his army, nor even of any near purpose to make one. On
June 3d, Halleck telegraphed him: "Accounts received here indicate
that Johnston is being heavily reinforced from Bragg's army. If you
cannot hurt the enemy now, he will soon hurt you." He followed this
by his dispatch to Burnside ordering reinforcements to be sent to
Grant, and the remainder of the troops in the Department of the Ohio
to be concentrated defensively in Kentucky. [Footnote: _Id_., pp.
383, 384.] The only move that Rosecrans made was to send on the 8th
to his general officers commanding corps and divisions, a
confidential circular asking their opinion in writing in answer to
the following questions, in substance,--
1. Has the enemy been so materially weakened that this army could
advance on him at this time with strong reasonable chances of
fighting a great and successful battle?
2. Is an advance of our army likely to prevent additional
reinforcements being sent against General Grant by Bragg?
3. Is an immediate or early advance of our army advisable?
[Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt. ii. p. 395.]
With substantial unanimity they answered that it was not advisable
to move, though they seem generally to have been aware that
Breckinridge with about 10,000 men of all arms had gone from Bragg
to Johnston. When Rosecrans reported the result of this council to
Halleck, the latter reminded him of the maxim that "councils of war
never fight," and that the responsibility for his campaign rests
upon a commanding general and cannot be shared by a council of war.
The careful study of the correspondence elicited by Rosecrans's
circular would make a most valuable commentary upon the theme,
"_Why_ Councils of War never fight." The three questions were
addressed to sixteen general officers commanding corps and
divisions. [Footnote: Their answers are found in Official Records,
vol. xxiii. pt. ii. as follows: Davis, p. 395, Johnson, do., McCook,
396, Turchin, 397, Brannan, 402, Crittenden, 403, Granger, 403,
Wood, 405, Negley, 407, Palmer, do., Reynolds, 409, Rousseau, 410,
Sheridan, 411, Stanley, 412, Thomas, 414, Van Cleve, 415, Mitchell,
417, and Garfield's summing up, 420.] In reading the responses the
impression grows strong that there was what may be called a popular
feeling among these officers that their duty was to back up their
commanding general in a judgment of his on the subjects submitted,
which could hardly be other than well known. On the question as to
the probable reduction of Bragg's army by detachments sent to
Johnston, whilst they nearly all have some knowledge of the
diminution of the Confederate army to about the extent mentioned
above, most of them answer that they do not think it a _material_
weakening, that being the tenor of the inquiry put to them. Some of
them, however, say very naturally that as the secret service is
managed from headquarters and all the information received is
forwarded there, General Rosecrans should be much better able to
answer this question than his subordinates. As to the second part of
that question, nearly all seem to assume that the battle would be in
the nature of a direct attack on the fortifications at Shelbyville
and are not sanguine of a successful result. The few who speak of
turning manoeuvres feel that the further retreat of Bragg would only
lengthen their own line of communications and do no good. Strangely,
too, they argue, many of them, that an advance would not prevent
further depletion of Bragg to strengthen Johnston. They consequently
and almost unanimously advise against an immediate or early advance.
It is instructive to compare these opinions with the actual facts.
The inaction of the summer had led directly to the detachment of two
divisions of infantry and artillery and one of cavalry to reinforce
Johnston, just as the inactivity of Meade later in the season
encouraged the Richmond government to send Longstreet to Bragg from
Virginia. If Rosecrans had moved early in the season, not only must
Bragg have kept his army intact, but the battle of Chickamauga, if
fought at all, must have been decided without Longstreet, and
therefore most probably with brilliant success for our arms. It was
delay in advancing, both in Tennessee and in Virginia, that thus
directly led to disaster. If a brilliant victory at Chickamauga had
been coincident with the fall of Vicksburg and Lee's defeat at
Gettysburg, it does not seem rash to believe that the collapse of
the Confederacy would have been hastened by a year.
Two of the generals who answered these questions attained afterward
to such distinction that their replies are an interesting means of
learning their mental character and gauging their development.
Sheridan answered briefly that he believed Bragg had no more than
25,000 or 30,000 infantry and artillery, with a "large" cavalry
force. In this he was very close to the mark. Bragg's report for the
latter part of May, before sending reinforcements to Johnston,
showed his forces present for duty to be 37,000 infantry, a little
less than 3000 artillery, and 15,000 cavalry, in round numbers.
Deduct 10,000 from these, and Sheridan is found to be sufficiently
accurate. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt. ii. p. 846.
The reference to Bragg's returns of strength to the
Adjutant-General's office makes this an appropriate place to note
the method of making these returns and its bearing on the much
debated question of the "Effective Total" commonly given by
Confederate writers as the force of their armies compared with ours.
The blanks for these reports were sent out from the
Adjutant-and-Inspector-General's office at Richmond, with the order
that the numerical returns be made "on the forms furnished and
according to the directions expressed on them" (General Orders No.
64, Sept. 8, 1862). The column "Effective Total" in these returns
included only enlisted men carrying arms and actually in the line of
battle. It excluded all officers, the non-commissioned staff,
extra-duty men, the sick in hospital, and those in arrest. To secure
uniformity in the method of reporting in his army and to correct
some irregularity, General Bragg issued a circular, as follows
(Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt. ii. p. 619):--
[Circular.]
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF TENNESSEE,
TULLAHOMA, January 29, 1863.
Hereafter, under the column of 'Effective Total' in the reports from
this army, extra-duty men and men in arrest will not be included.
The 'Effective Total' must include only the fighting field
force--those who are carried into the field of battle with fire-arms
in their hands.
By command of General Bragg.
GEORGE WM. BRENT,
Assistant Adjutant-General."
Before the publication of the Official Records, I had occasion to
call attention to the subject: see "The Nation," May 21, 1874, p.
334; also "Atlanta" (Scribners' Series), pp. 27, 28; and again in
"The Nation," February 2, 1893, p. 86. A fair comparison between the
Confederate and the National armies, therefore, demands a
computation of numbers by the same method; and as we did not use
forms containing the "Effective Total" as reported by the
Confederates, the columns of officers and men "present for duty"
which are computed alike in the returns on both sides are the most
satisfactory and fair basis of comparison.] He did not think Bragg
would fight, but would retreat, and thought that in such a case he
would not be hindered from sending more help to Johnston. Again, as
forage in the country was scarce, he voted against an early advance.
Thomas did not believe Bragg had been materially weakened, for if
any troops had been sent away, he thought they had returned or their
places had been supplied. He concluded that Bragg was ready to fight
with an army at least as large as that of Rosecrans; that to hold
our army where it was would sufficiently prevent further reduction
of Bragg's; that an advance would give the latter the advantage and
was not advisable. His preference for defensive warfare was very
evident. He said it was true that Bragg might be reinforced and take
the initiative, but that he "should be most happy to meet him here
with his reinforcements." In conclusion he indicated the necessity
of 6000 more cavalry to be added to the army. [Footnote: See also
_ante_, p. 478.]
When the answers were all received, Garfield summed them up in a
paper, which must be admitted to be a remarkable production for a
young volunteer officer deliberately controverting the opinions of
such an array of seniors. He gave, as the best information at
headquarters, the force of Bragg, before sending help to Johnston,
as 38,000 infantry, 2600 artillery, and 17,500 cavalry. This made
the infantry about 1000 too many, the artillery nearly exactly
right, and the cavalry 2500 too many,--on the whole a very close
estimate. From these he deducted 10,000, which was right. He stated
Rosecrans's force at 82,700 "bayonets and sabres" with about 3000
more on the way, but deducted 15,000 for necessary posts and
garrisons. The balancing showed 65,000 to throw against Bragg's
41,500. He further showed that delay would give time for the enemy's
detachments to return, whilst we could hope for no further increase
during the rest of the season. He then analyzed the military and
civil reasons for activity, declared that he believed we could be
victorious, and that the administration and the country had the
right to expect the army to try.
The result was a curious but encouraging result of bold and cogent
reasoning. Although Rosecrans reported to General Halleck on the
11th of June the opinion of his corps and division commanders
against an early advance, the logic and the facts pressed upon him
by his chief of staff evidently took strong hold of his active
intellect, so that when Halleck on the 16th asked for a categorical
answer whether he would make an immediate movement forward, he
replied, "If it means to-night or to-morrow, no. If it means as soon
as all things are ready, say five days, yes." [Footnote: Official
Records, vol. xxiii. pt. i. pp. 8-10.] No doubt the rather plain
intimation that a categorical "no" would be followed by action at
Washington helped the decision; but it would have helped it to a
decided negative if Garfield's paper, reinforced by the personal
advice and oral discussions which we now know were of daily
occurrence between them, had not had a convincing weight with him,
both as to the feasibility of the campaign of turning manoeuvres
which he devised and adopted, and as to its probable success. The
result is reckoned one of his chief claims to military renown.
But to judge properly the relations of the government to both the
commanding generals in Kentucky and Tennessee, it is necessary to go
back to the days immediately after the battle of Stone's River, and
to inquire what were the tasks assigned these commanders and the
means furnished to perform them. The disappointment of the
administration at Washington with Rosecrans's conduct of his
campaign dated, indeed, much earlier than the time indicated. He had
succeeded Buell at the end of October when Bragg was in full retreat
to the Tennessee River. The continuance of a vigorous pursuit and
the prompt reoccupation of the country held by us in the early
summer was regarded as of the utmost importance for political, quite
as much as for military reasons. It was not a time to halt and
reorganize an army. The question of foreign intervention was
apparently trembling in the balance, and to let European powers rest
under the belief that we had lost most of what had been gained in
the advance from Donelson to Shiloh and Corinth, was to invite
complications of the most formidable character. The Washington
authorities had therefore a perfect right to decide that to press
Bragg vigorously and without intermission was the imperative duty of
the commander of the Army of the Cumberland. He would be rightly
held to have disappointed the expectations of his government if he
failed to do so. Rosecrans had been chosen to succeed Buell because
of the belief that his character was one of restless vehemence
better adapted to this work than the slower but more solid qualities
of Thomas, who was already second in command in that army.
[Footnote: Since the text was written the Life of O. P. Morton has
appeared, and in it his part in the change from Buell to Rosecrans
is given. He urged the change upon Lincoln on the ground that
aggressive vigor was imperatively demanded. "Another three months
like the last six, and we are lost," said he. "Reject the wicked
incapables whom you have patiently tried and found utterly wanting."
On October 24th he telegraphed, "The removal of General Buell and
the appointment of Rosecrans came not a moment too soon." Life, vol.
i. pp. 197, 198.] Halleck was obliged very soon to remind Rosecrans
of this, and to claim the right of urging him onward because he
himself had given the advice which had been decisive when the
question of the choice was under consideration.
Yet as soon as the army was again concentrated about Nashville,
Rosecrans's correspondence took the form of urgent demands for the
means of reorganization. He insisted that his cavalry force must be
greatly increased, that he must have repeating arms for his
horsemen, that he must organize a selected corps of mounted infantry
and obtain horses for them--in short, that he must take months to
put his army in a condition equal to his desires before resuming the
work of the campaign. His energy seemed to be wholly directed to
driving the administration to supply his wants, whilst Bragg was
allowed not only to stop his rather disorganized flight, but to
retrace his steps toward middle Tennessee.
On the 4th of December Halleck telegraphed that the President was so
disappointed and dissatisfied that another week of inaction would
result in another change of commanders. [Footnote: Official Records,
vol. xx. pt. ii. p. 118.] Rosecrans replied detailing his
necessities, but taking a high tone and declaring himself insensible
to threats of removal. The next day Halleck patiently but decidedly
gave the reasons which made the demand for activity a reasonable
one, adding the reminder that no one had doubted that Buell would
eventually have succeeded, and that Rosecrans's appointment had been
made because they believed he would move more rapidly. [Footnote:
_Id_., p. 124.] Meanwhile every effort was made to furnish him with
the arms, equipments, and horses he desired.
The battle of Stone's River had many points of resemblance to that
of Antietam, and like that engagement was indecisive in itself, the
subsequent retreat of the Confederates making it a victory for the
national arms. The condition of the Army of the Cumberland after the
battle was a sufficient reason for some delay, and a short time for
recuperation and reinforcement was cordially accepted by everybody
as a necessity of the situation. Congratulations and thanks were
abundantly showered on the army, and promotions were given in more
than common number. It was not concealed, however, that the
government was most anxious to follow up the success and to make the
delays as short as possible. An aggressive campaign was demanded,
and the demand was a reasonable one because the means furnished were
sufficient for the purpose.
At the close of the month of January, Rosecrans's forces present for
duty in his department numbered 65,000, [Footnote: _Id_., vol.
xxiii. pt. ii. p. 29.] the Confederates under Bragg were 40,400.
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 622.] The end of February showed the National
forces to be 80,000, [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt.
ii. p. 93.] the enemy 43,600. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 654.] After this
Bragg's army gradually increased till midsummer, when it reached a
maximum of about 57,000, and Rosecrans's grew to 84,000. The
Confederates had a larger proportion of cavalry than we, but this
was at the expense of being much weaker in infantry, the decisive
arm in serious engagements. In fact this disproportion was another
reason for active work, since experience showed that the enemy kept
his cavalry at home when he was vigorously pushed, and sent them on
raids to interrupt our communications when we gave him a respite.
Our superiority in numbers was enough, therefore, to make it
entirely reasonable and in accord with every sound rule of
conducting war, that the government should insist upon an active and
aggressive campaign from the earliest day in the spring when the
weather promised to be favorable. Such weather came at the beginning
of March, and the Confederates took advantage of it, as we have
seen, by sending Pegram into Kentucky. Their cavalry under Wheeler
attacked also Fort Donelson, but were repulsed. A reconnoissance by
a brigade under Colonel Coburn from Franklin toward Spring Hill
resulted in the capture of the brigade by the Confederates under Van
Dorn. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 115.] In the same month Forrest made a
daring raid close to Nashville and captured Colonel Bloodgood and
some 800 men at Brentwood. [Footnote: _Id_., pp. 171, 732.]
Rosecrans organized a raid by a brigade of infantry mounted on
mules, commanded by Colonel Streight, with the object of cutting the
railroad south of Chattanooga. It was delayed in starting till near
the end of April, and was overtaken and captured near Rome in
Georgia. [Footnote: _Id_., pp. 232, 321.] These exasperating
incidents were occurring whilst the Army of the Cumberland lay still
about Murfreesboro, and its commander harassed the departments at
Washington with the story of his wants, and intimated that nothing
but carelessness as to the public good stood between him and their
full supply. He was assured that he was getting his full share of
everything which could be procured,--rifles, revolvers, carbines,
horses, and equipments,--but the day of readiness seemed as far off
as ever.
On the 1st of March the President, feeling that the time had come
when his armies should be in motion, and plainly discouraged at the
poor success he had had in getting Rosecrans ready for an advance,
authorized General Halleck to say to him that there was a vacant
major-generalcy in the regular army which would be given to the
general in the field who should first win an important and decisive
victory. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xxiii. pt. ii. p. 95.]
The appeal to ambition was treated as if it had been an insult. It
was called an "auctioneering of honor," and a base way to come by a
promotion. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 111.] Halleck retorted conclusively
that Rosecrans himself had warmly advocated giving promotion in the
lower grades only for distinguished services in the field, and said:
"When last summer, at your request, I urged the government to
promote you for success in the field, and, again at your request,
urged that your commission be dated back to your services in West
Virginia, I thought I was doing right in advocating your claim to
honors for services rendered." [Footnote: _Id_., p. 138.] In view of
this unique correspondence it is certainly curious to find Rosecrans
a few days later enumerating his personal grievances to Mr. Lincoln,
and putting among them this, that after the battle of Stone's River
he had asked "as a personal favor" that his commission as
major-general of volunteers should be dated back to December, 1861,
and that it was not granted. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 146.] It was
considerably antedated, so as to make him outrank General Thomas,
much to the disgust of the latter when he learned it; but the date
was not made as early as Rosecrans desired, which would have made
him outrank Grant, Buell, and Burnside as well as Thomas.
Persuasion and exhortation having failed, Grant must either be left
to take the chances that part of Bragg's army would be concentrated
under Johnston in Mississippi, or he must be strengthened by sending
to him that part of our forces in Kentucky and Tennessee which could
most easily be spared. There can be no doubt that it was well judged
to send the Ninth Corps to him, as it would be less mischievous to
suspend Burnside's movement into East Tennessee than to diminish the
Army of the Cumberland under existing circumstances. It is, however,
indisputably clear that the latter army should have been in active
campaign at the opening of the season, whether we consider the
advantage of the country or the reputation of its commander.
If we inquire what means the administration gave Burnside to perform
his part of the joint task assigned him, we shall find that it was
not niggardly in doing so. His forces were at their maximum at the
end of May, when they reached but little short of 38,000 present for
duty in his whole department. [Footnote: Official Records, vol.
xxiii. pt. ii. p. 380.] This included, however, all the great States
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan as well as the eastern half
of Kentucky, and there were several camps of prisoners and posts
north of the Ohio which demanded considerable garrisons. Eight
thousand men were used for this purpose, and nobody thought this an
excess. Thirty thousand were thus left him for such posts in
Kentucky as would be necessary to cover his communications and for
his active column. He expected to make his active army about 25,000,
and the advance movements had begun when, as has been stated, he was
ordered to suspend, and to send the Ninth Corps to Grant.
The enemy in East Tennessee were under the command of General Dabney
Maury at first, but when he was sent to Mobile, General S. B.
Buckner was made the commandant. His returns of forces for May 31st
show that he had 16,267 present for duty, with which to oppose the
advance of Burnside. The information of the latter was that his
opponent had 20,000, and he reckoned on having to deal with that
number. The passes of the Cumberland Mountains were so few and so
difficult that it was by no means probable that his campaign would
be an easy one; yet the difficulties in the first occupation were
not so serious as those which might arise if Bragg were able to
maintain an interior position between the two National armies. In
that case, unless he were kept thoroughly employed by Rosecrans, he
might concentrate to crush Burnside before his decisive conflict
with the Army of the Cumberland. This was the inherent vice of a
plan which contemplated two independent armies attempting to
co-operate; and if Rosecrans had been willing to open his campaign
on the 1st of March, it is almost certain that the troops in
Kentucky would have been ordered to him. The President did not
determine to send Burnside to the West and to give him a little army
of his own till he despaired of the liberation of East Tennessee in
that season by any activity of Rosecrans. This cannot be overlooked
in any candid criticism of the summer's work.