Rosecrans Quarrels with the War Department.--Garfield as
Mediator.--Remarkable Military Document.--The Tullahoma
Campaign.--Insurrection averted.--Chattanooga.--Battle of
Chickamauga.--Brave Defence of Gen. Thomas.--Garfield's
Famous Ride.
Just at the time Garfield succeeded Garesche as Rosecrans'
chief-of-staff, that officer was having a series of bickerings with the
War Department. In his demands for more cavalry and arms, Garfield fully
sympathized, but his unreasonable requests, oftentimes couched in the
most exasperating language, the new chief endeavored to modify or
repress.
From January until June, Rosecrans' army had lain idle at Murfreesboro'.
With the opening of spring the War Department urged him to advance.
Grant had begun his campaign against Vicksburg; and Halleck declared
that unless Rosecrans made some decided movement, the rebel General,
Bragg, would send a part of his force to aid Pemberton at Vicksburg.
General Rosecrans, however, still delayed; he waited for reinforcements,
for the roads to be in better condition, for the corn to ripen. It was
better to keep quiet, he said, while Grant was at Vicksburg, for should
that General happen to fail, all the rebels of the surrounding section,
as well as those under General Johnston, would confront him.
At first, Garfield approved of Rosecrans' delay, but as soon as his army
was thoroughly reinforced with men and supplies, he urged him to make an
advance. Through the secret service system which he had established
since Jordan's wonderful expedition, Garfield discovered that Bragg's
army was greatly reduced, and he felt assured that the time had come for
a decisive blow. At last, General Rosecrans sent a formal letter to his
corps, division, and cavalry generals asking their opinion concerning
the feasibility and wisdom of such a movement. Not one of the seventeen
generals was in favor of an immediate or even an early advance.
Garfield took the answers sent in from the generals, and in one of the
ablest military documents on record,[A] he refuted every objection
raised, and added therewith such powerful arguments in favor of an
immediate advance, that General Rosecrans was convinced. Twelve days
later, the army moved, much to the chagrin of the other officers, who
declared it was a rash and fatal step for which Garfield alone should be
held responsible.
It was the opening of the famous Tullahoma campaign--a campaign
remarkable throughout for its fine conception and able execution.
Bragg's army would have been utterly destroyed had the advance been made
a few days earlier; as it was, the rebel forces were finally driven
south of the Tennessee, a thousand five hundred and seventy-five
prisoners were captured, together with considerable ammunition, and the
state of Tennessee was again under the flag of the Union.
Almost on the boundary line between Tennessee and Georgia stands the
village of Chattanooga. It is on the southern bank of the Tennessee
river, and to the north Lookout Mountain rises almost perpendicularly to
a height of twenty-four hundred feet. Missionary Ridge, which is a much
lower elevation, lies upon the eastern side, and along its base flows
the West Chickamauga Creek that empties into the Tennessee just at
Chattanooga. On the opposite side is Pigeon Mountain.
The Tullahoma campaign had forced Bragg and his remaining troops across
the Tennessee, and they were now posted all along the southern bank of
the stream from Chattanooga far down toward Atlanta.
Rosecrans' army had encamped themselves on the west with a line of
fortifications one hundred and fifty miles long, while General Burnside
had moved into Eastern Tennessee, and taken possession of Knoxville. The
great problem now was how to force Bragg from his position at
Chattanooga.
It was about this time that Rosecrans received a letter, in which a plan
for arming the negroes and sending them throughout the slave states, was
proposed.
"It would doubtless end the rebellion at once," said one of Rosecrans'
officers; "and the letter says that no blood would be shed except in
self-defence."
"But, think what vengeance the blacks might take, if suddenly let loose
upon their masters!" exclaimed Rosecrans. "I must talk the matter over
with Garfield."
After a careful reading of the letter, the chief-of-staff said, quietly,
but firmly,--
"It will never do, General. _We_ don't want to whip by such means. If
the slaves, of their own accord, rise and assert their original right to
themselves, that will be their own affair; but we can have no complicity
with them without outraging the moral sense of the civilized world."
"But what if the other departments should encourage these uprisings?"
"We must do all in our power to prevent them," exclaimed Garfield.
Rosecrans, whose confidence in his chief-of-staff was daily increasing,
immediately took measures to stop the movement, and the insurrection,
with all its attendant horrors, was averted.
To Garfield was now submitted the task of planning some movement which
would oblige Bragg to leave Chattanooga. General Halleck, then in
Washington at the head of the War Department, had sent to Rosecrans the
following telegram,--
"The orders for the advance of your army are peremptory."
The only movement that could be made with any advantage at this time,
would be for the Union army to cross the river in three divisions and
cut off Bragg from all communication with Atlanta, whence he was
expecting supplies and reinforcements.
Pontoons were, therefore, brought forward, and materials prepared for
building a couple of bridges. This was done with all possible secrecy,
but high up on Lookout Mountain the signal corps of Bragg's army, with
their field-glasses, were stealthily watching, and promptly reporting
every movement.
The Confederates readily yielded their post at Chattanooga, but it was
only to give the appearance of a retreat. In reality, they were
concentrating all their forces along the banks of the Chickamauga, and
already their troops outnumbered Rosecrans' by several thousands.
Bragg's plan was to cross the Chickamauga at the various bridges and
fords, push across Missionary Ridge to Rossville, and then, closing in
upon Rosecrans' army, completely destroy it by the force of his
superior numbers.
Garfield, by means of his secret service system, had discovered this
plan of the rebel commander, and apprized Rosecrans, who was now on the
alert and confronting Bragg's troops at every feasible point of the
road.
"The resistance offered by the enemy's cavalry," writes the Confederate
general, "as well as the difficulties arising from the bad and narrow
country roads, caused unexpected delays."
On the morning of the 19th of September, the battle began on the banks
of the Chickamauga between Pigeon Mountain and Missionary Ridge. It
raged fiercely all day, and when night closed down upon the contending
armies, the contest was still undecided.
Bragg's army had been reinforced by a large detachment under General
Longstreet, and McLawes' division was expected every moment. The
prospect seemed very dark to the Union army, whose scattered troops
numbered at most but sixty thousand, and whose supplies were cut off in
all directions. They still held, however, the road to Rossville, the one
especial point for which Bragg had been fighting.
It was a fortunate turn of affairs that gave to General Thomas the
command of the left wing of Rosecrans' army. Here it was that the brunt
of the battle came, on the second day at Chickamauga; and, through the
whole fearful struggle, the brave general and his devoted troops showed
the same invincible spirit that had won laurels for them in the
victories of Mill Spring, Pittsburg Landing, and Stone River.
Garfield, as chief-of-staff, kept his place by Rosecrans' side until, at
a critical point in the battle, he turned to his commanding officer, and
said,--
"General, I ask permission to return and join General Thomas." Consent
was reluctantly granted, for, although it was necessary to inform
General Thomas of the condition of affairs, Rosecrans knew that Garfield
was undertaking a fearful risk.
"As you will," he said, at last; "God bless you; we may not meet again.
Good-bye!"
With the brave Captain Gaw as his guide, and two orderlies, Garfield
sets out on his famous ride. There are eight miles to be crossed before
they can reach Thomas; they ride swiftly and securely through the
neighboring forest, but as they emerge from the narrow road at Rossville
Gap, a shower of bullets falls about them. Longstreet's skirmishers and
sharp-shooters have surrounded them, and the two orderlies fall from
their horses, mortally wounded.
Garfield spurs on his magnificent charger, leaps a fence, and finds
himself in an open field, white with ripening cotton. Only a slight
ridge now divides him from the outposts of Thomas's division, but, as he
makes a zig-zag ascent up the slope, the gray-coats send volley after
volley of whizzing bullets, and suddenly his horse is struck beneath
him. It is only a flesh wound, however, and the fiery creature is urged
forward with still greater impetuosity.
Another second, and the crest of the hill is gained. Horse and rider
gallop down the other side and a band of mounted blue-coats surround
them.
"Good God, Garfield!" cries General McCook, "I thought you were killed.
How you have escaped is a miracle."
Though twice wounded, Garfield's horse plunges on, through tangled
under-brush, over fences, up hill and down, until the remaining four
miles are accomplished. Then, passing through another shower of shot and
shell, Garfield catches a glimpse of Thomas.
"There he is!" he shouts, "God bless the old hero! he has saved the
army!"
In five minutes more, Garfield is by the side of Thomas; the perilous
ride is safely over, the message is delivered. But look! the noble horse
is staggering, and now it drops down dead at the feet of General Thomas.
A half hour longer the battle raged desperately, and then with a sudden
break in their lines the rebels abandoned the fight and began to
retreat.
Garfield sat down behind a dead tree and wrote a dispatch to General
Rosecrans. In the midst of the heaviest firing, a white dove was seen to
hover around for several minutes, and then to settle down on the top of
the tree above Garfield's head.
"A good omen of peace!" exclaimed General Wood, who was standing close
by. Garfield said nothing, but kept on with his writing.
At seven o'clock that evening, a battery of six Napoleon guns, by order
of Generals Granger and Garfield, thundered after the retreating rebels.
The battle of Chickamauga was ended; the Union army had won the day.
"Again, O fair September night!
Beneath the moon and stars,
I see, through memories dark and bright,
The altar fires of Mars.
The morning breaks with screaming guns
From batteries dark and dire,
And where the Chickamauga runs
Red runs the muskets' fire.
"I see bold Longstreet's darkening host
Sweep through our lines of flame,
And hear again, 'The right is lost!'
Swart Rosecrans exclaim!
'But not the left,' young Garfield cries:
'From that we must not sever,
While Thomas holds the field that lies
On Chickamauga River.'
"Through tongues of flame, through meadows brown,
Dry valley roads concealed,
Ohio's hero dashes down
Upon the rebel field
And swift, on reeling charger borne,
He threads the wooded plain.
By twice a hundred cannon mown,
And reddened with the slain.
"But past the swathes of carnage dire,
The Union guns he hears,
And gains the left, begirt with fire,
And thus the heroes cheers--
'While stands the left, yon flag o'erhead,
Shall Chattanooga stand!'
'Let the Napoleons rain their lead!'
Was Thomas's command.
"Back swept the gray brigades of Bragg,
The all with victory rung,
And Wurzel's 'Rally round the flag!'
'Mid Union cheers was sung.
The flag on Chattanooga's height
In twilight crimson waved,
And all the clustered stars of white
Were to the Union saved.
"O Chief of staff! the nation's fate.
That red field crossed with thee,
The triumph of the camp and state,
The hope of liberty!
O Nation! free from sea to sea,
With union blessed forever,
Not vainly heroes fought for thee
By Chickamauga's River."
FOOTNOTES:
[A] For document in full, see Addenda I.