In spite of the plainest statements of the situation, of the great
disparity of forces, of the dictates of prudence to remain on the
defensive until he could strike an effective blow, which he expected to
deliver in a few days, Thomas was prodded and nagged from City Point and
Washington as no officer in command of an army had been before, and
treated day by day as if he needed tutelage. In the last dispatch of the
series of clear explanations,--which under other circumstances than the
seething of that inside panic which a full appreciation of the
complications that Sherman's march to the sea had caused would doubtless
have been accepted,--General Thomas was peremptorily ordered to "attack
Hood at once without waiting for a remount of your cavalry. There is great
danger in delay resulting in a campaign back to the Ohio." This was sent
in reply to a telegram of Thomas showing that there was the greatest
activity in getting the cavalry ready, and he hoped to have it remounted
"in three days from this time." To this Thomas replied that he would make
all dispositions and attack according to orders, adding, "though I believe
it will be hazardous with the small force of cavalry now at my service."
Orders to prepare for attack were immediately sent out, and dispositions
for the attack began. Meantime a sleet storm came on which covered the
country with a glaze of ice over which neither horses, men, nor artillery
could move even on level ground, to say nothing of assaulting an enemy
intrenched on the hills. The same day Halleck telegraphed: "If you wait
till General Wilson mounts all his cavalry you will wait till doomsday,
for the waste equals the supply." And General Grant telegraphed orders
relieving Thomas. The latter telegraphed Halleck that he was conscious of
having done everything possible to prepare the troops to attack, and if he
was removed he would submit without a murmur.
The order of relief was suspended. The sleet storm continued. All of
General Thomas's officers agreed that it was impracticable to attack. Some
of them even found it impossible to ride to headquarters because of the
ice, and in the midst of it came an order from Grant: "I am in hopes of
receiving a dispatch from you to-day announcing you have moved. Delay no
longer for weather or reinforcements."
Thomas replied:
"I will obey the order as promptly as possible, however much I regret it,
as the attack will have to be made under every disadvantage. The whole
country is covered with a perfect sheet of ice and sleet, and it is with
difficulty the troops are able to move about on level ground."
To Halleck, Thomas replied:
"I have the troops ready to make the attack on the enemy as soon as the
sleet which now covers the ground has melted sufficiently to enable the
men to march, as the whole country is now covered with a sheet of ice so
hard and slippery that it is utterly impossible for troops to ascend the
slopes, or even move upon level ground in anything like order. Under these
circumstances I believe an attack at this time would only result in a
useless sacrifice of life."
The reply to this, unquestionably born of the panic to which allusion has
been made, was an order sending General Logan to relieve Thomas. Grant
himself then started from City Point for Nashville to assume general
command. But the ice having melted, he was met at Washington by the news
of Thomas's victory.
The delay that Thomas had insisted upon, in the face of orders twice given
for his relief, gave him the cavalry force he required for the decisive
blow he intended to strike.
While the official inside at City Point and Washington bordered on panic,
everything at Nashville was being pressed forward with activity and
vigilance, and at the same time with deliberation, prudence, and the
utmost imperturbability. At length, and at the first moment possible
consistent with a reasonable expectation of success, the attack began.