The formation of the battle-front of Davis's two left brigades under Carlin and Woodruff was almost perpendicular to that of Sheridan's division, and the left of Woodruff's with the right of Sill's brigade formed the apex of a right triangle. This position was at once observed by the enemy, who saw that if he could take this extreme point of the angle he would be in position to enfilade both lines at once. For the possession of this point every effort was made, and a third attack was ordered upon it with four brigades, under the immediate command of Cheatham, in double lines. Hardee had gathered his command together again for another attack on Post's position. Pressing forward with the victorious troops of McCown's and Cleburne's divisions—the troops that had swept Johnson from the field—he enveloped both flanks of Post's brigade, and compelled him to fall back, with the loss of one gun, to the Nashville pike, where he also reformed his command.

On the withdrawal of Post's brigade, Carlin's right was left exposed to the enemy, who with renewed vigor pressed forward in overwhelming numbers on converging lines, massing as they advanced. Circling around on their right the rebels swept down on the remaining brigades of Davis's division in dense columns. In the previous charge the attack had been so heavy upon the angle formed by Woodruff's left and Sill's right, that in the new formation—after the second repulse—the line at this point was somewhat broken, and after Sill's death the right of the brigade was reformed somewhat to the rear of the former line, the better to support the battery attached to it. In the heavy fighting of the morning the position of all the brigades had been more or less changed, and in several instances the commanding officer of each brigade considered his command as being without support on either flank. On the third assault both Carlin and Woodruff thought this to be the case with their commands, and in the attack then made upon their brigades they became almost surrounded. Carlin stubbornly resisted every effort to drive him from his position until by his remaining longer the loss of his entire brigade became imminent. His regiment on the left gave way and he then retreated across open fields in the rear to the edge of the woods, where Davis was attempting to reform his line, having placed Hotchkiss's battery just within the timber. Woodruff then fell back, but being closely pressed, turned and with a determined charge sent the enemy beyond his original position. Being unsupported he was compelled to retire into the cedars. Before Woodruff reached the new lines that Davis was trying to form, Carlin's troops opened fire on the advancing enemy, when he was informed that Davis had ordered a farther withdrawal. He then fell back across the Wilkinson pike, where he rallied his men, who however, on the advance of the enemy, fired one volley and broke to the rear without orders. Carlin then went with them through the lines of reserves, halting at the railroad, where he reformed his command. After reaching the cedars Woodruff charged a second time, and compelled the enemy to fall back, but his ammunition giving out, his troops passed to the rear, resisting every effort to rally them until they reached the Murfreesboro pike.

Davis's division had up to this time protected Sheridan's right, and these divisions unitedly had resisted two assaults. After the charge of the enemy that broke Davis's division and sent it through the cedars, Sheridan was compelled to change his line and to protect the right flank of his command from the enemy, now pressing that part of his position, as well as his front, in increasing numbers, as the line became shortened. Hastily withdrawing Sill's brigade, with the reserves sent it as support, he directed Roberts, with the left brigade, which had changed front and formed in columns of regiments, to charge the enemy in the cedars from which he had withdrawn Sill's brigade and the reserves. This charge was at once made by Roberts, and the enemy's advance checked sufficiently to give Sheridan time to form his troops on the new line, which he at once did by placing Sill's and Shafer's brigades on a line at right angles to his first one, and ordered Roberts to return and form his command on this same line. Sheridan now attempted to form the broken troops of the other division on the right of his new line, but in this he was not successful. After making a gallant fight with his division, finding the right of his new line turned, Sheridan was directed by McCook to advance to the front and reform his troops to the right of Negley's division of the Centre under Thomas. Throwing forward his left to join Negley's right, he placed Roberts's brigade in position at right angles to Negley's line, facing south, and then placed his two other brigades in the rear, and at right angles to Roberts, so as to face westward and to cover the rear of Negley's lines. In the angle of these lines on the right of Negley, he placed his artillery. Here he was again fiercely assaulted by the enemy, and one of the fiercest and most sanguinary contests of the day ensued. Massing the four divisions of Hardee's and Polk's corps—each of four brigades—Bragg hurled them against the divisions of Sheridan and Negley, and at the same time the enemy opened fire from the intrenchments in the direction of Murfreesboro. Here the fighting was terrific. Five batteries were posted with these two divisions, the artillery range of the respective forces being not to exceed two hundred yards. Three times in dense masses the enemy charged on these divisions, and three times were they repulsed. Here Colonel Roberts was killed. Sheridan's troops having now exhausted their ammunition—Shafer's brigade being entirely out and nearly all his horses killed—then gave way, after over four hours of some of the hottest fighting of the day. Sheridan lost in falling back from this position eight guns. Nearly all the remainder of his artillery was drawn by his men through the cedars. On arriving at the Murfreesboro pike, Sheridan reformed his command in an open space near the right of Palmer.

Before assisting in the gallant fight on the right of the center with Sheridan in his new position, Negley's division, after repelling all assaults made on it, had been engaged in heavy fighting on its front since the middle of the morning. On the withdrawal of Sheridan, Negley's division found themselves surrounded by the enemy in swarms. Rousseau's division in reserve, and Palmer's on the left, had retired to the rear of the cedars, to form a new line. Falling back through the cedar-brakes in the rear of the division, under a concentrated fire of musketry and artillery at short range, the rebels were driven back in front and checked in the rear. Miller's and Stanley's brigades on reaching the woods reformed their lines, faced to the rear and fired several volleys into the enemy, then advanced over the open fields across which these brigades had just retired. In passing through the cedars the enemy pressed so closely on the division that in some parts of Miller's brigade the lines of the opposing armies seemed commingled. The division then reformed on the new line, as directed by Thomas, near the Nashville pike.

Early in the day, with the breaking up and retreat of the two fine divisions of McCook's corps, the extent of the disaster to the right was forced upon Rosecrans with terrible earnestness. Realizing at once that upon him devolved the task of making such disposition of his command as would ensure the safety of his army, he immediately gave the necessary orders for the movement of the troops. Hurriedly galloping to the centre, where he found Thomas, he at once ordered Rousseau's division—held as reserve heretofore—to be sent to the support of what was left of McCook's line into the cedar-brakes to the right and rear of Sheridan. Rosecrans then ordered Crittenden to suspend Van Cleve's movement across the river on the left, to cover the crossing with one brigade, and to move the other two brigades westward across the fields toward the railroad for a reserve. He also directed Wood to suspend his preparations for his crossing and for him to move at once to the new line on the right and hold Hascall in reserve. Up to this time Rosecrans had hoped that McCook, notwithstanding the disaster to the right, might stay the onset with his own troops. With the volume of stragglers and the detachments from the broken commands swarming to the rear through the cedars Rosecrans soon became satisfied that McCook was routed. He then ordered Van Cleve to be sent in to the right of Rousseau, and Wood to send Colonel Harker's brigade farther down the Murfreesboro pike with orders to go in and attack the enemy on the right of Van Cleve. The pioneer brigade had been posted on the knoll of ground west of the Nashville pike and about four or five hundred yards in the rear of Palmer's centre, supporting Stokes's battery. On Negley's division being compelled to retire, Thomas ordered him with Rousseau to form their divisions along a depression in the open ground in rear of the cedars, as a temporary line, until the artillery could be posted on the high ground near to and west of the Murfreesboro pike. Rousseau's division, cutting its way through the enemy in falling back from the cedars, took position on this temporary line with all its batteries posted on the knoll a short distance to the rear. Here the severest engagement of this day of heavy fighting was had, almost hand to hand. At this point the new line had open ground in front of it for some four or five hundred yards. Rousseau, while his batteries were unlimbering, requested Van Cleve to move with Colonel Samuel Beatty's brigade of his division to form on his right, check the rebel advance and drive it back. Van Cleve instantly moved his troops on the double quick and reached the desired position in good season. Upon these troops in this new line the rebels charged in dense masses, flushed with the victory of the early morning and elate with the hope of continued success to the end. They had swept everything before them thus far, and felt that with renewed effort the successful issue of the battle was within their grasp. Emerging from the cedars with yell after yell, firing as they came, they rushed forward four lines deep in the attempt to cross the open field and drive back this new line that stood in their pathway to final victory. At once Rousseau's division and Beatty's brigade opened fire upon the advancing columns, while Guenther's and Loomis's batteries added effect to it by sending double shotted canister into their thick ranks. The rebels moved on for a time, but the fire proved too terrible and they were driven back with great slaughter. On reaching the cedars these troops were rallied by their officers, and with fresh troops as supports they advanced once more, with a determined effort to carry our position at this point. But again they were, after a more desperate struggle, driven back. Again and again they returned to the assault, in four deliberate and fiercely sustained efforts, each time to meet with a repulse. The brigade of regulars under the command of Colonel Shepherd sustained the heaviest blows of this assault. They had the efficient support of Scribner's and John Beatty's brigades, of Loomis's and Guenther's batteries, and of the pioneer brigade under Captain St. Clair Morton, with Stokes's battery. Sheppard's command lost in killed and wounded in this short and severe contest, 26 officers and 611 enlisted men, making a total loss of 637 out of 1,566 effectives. The centre succeeded in driving back the enemy from its front, gallantly holding its ground against overwhelming odds, while the artillery concentrating its fire on the cedar thickets on their right drove the enemy far back under cover of the woods.

While the right and centre had been thus actively engaged, the left had also borne its full share of the heavy fighting of the day. Palmer's division was posted in line of battle with his right resting on Negley's left. His line was formed with Cruft's brigade on the right, connecting with Negley, and his left extending across a point of woods to the right of Hazen's brigade, which was formed in two lines with his left resting on the Nashville pike, while Grose's brigade was in reserve some two hundred yards to the rear, formed in two lines nearly opposite the interval between the brigades in line of battle. On the withdrawal of the troops of the left from across the river, Wood ordered Wagner with his brigade to hold his position in the woods on the left of the Murfreesboro pike at all hazards, this being an exceedingly important point, protecting our left front and flanks and securing command of the road leading to the rear. Hascall's and Harker's brigades were withdrawn, and the latter, under an order from Rosecrans, was moved to the right and rear. In the heavy fighting of the general movement on the right and centre, the left gradually became engaged, and with this Hascall was ordered by Wood to take position between Wagner and Hazen on Wagner's right. With the general advance of the enemy, moving on the right of Polk's corps as a pivot, Palmer and the two brigades of Wood's division on the left became engaged. Cruft early in the morning had been ordered by Palmer to advance, keeping in line with Negley, the latter having sent word to Palmer that he intended to advance his division to attack the enemy. Cruft was advanced in two lines, two regiments in each line with Miller's brigade of Negley's division on the right and Hazen's brigade on his left. After Cruft had advanced about a hundred yards, Palmer discovered that Negley had thrown back his right so that his line was almost perpendicular to Cruft's and to his rear. After Cruft had driven the enemy's skirmishers in, the rebels advanced in great force in four ranks with double lines, Chalmers in the front line with Donelson's brigade following. This charge Cruft repulsed, inflicting severe loss on the enemy. Chalmers was so severely wounded by the bursting of a shell as to disqualify him for further duty on the field. Advancing once more, the rebels again attacked Cruft's line, when a very severe engagement ensued, and after some thirty minutes' firing the enemy was again repulsed. When Negley's division went back through the cedars, Cruft was left without support on his right and he then withdrew to the wood, the enemy following him closely and pressing him hard. While Cruft was thus engaged on the front, Palmer found that the right and centre had been driven from the first line, and that the enemy in Negley's front was forcing his way into the open ground to his rear. He then changed Grose from front to rear, retired his new left so as to bring the rebels under the direct fire of his line, and opened on them with great effect, holding his ground until the enemy was driven back. Hazen was ordered to fall back from the advanced position he then held, and to occupy the crest of a low wooded hill between the pike and the railroad, and there resist the attack. This was about eleven o'clock, and all of Palmer's command was engaged with the enemy—Hazen on the railroad, one or two detached regiments to the right, Cruft still farther to the right, actively engaged, while Grose to the rear was fighting heavy odds. Grose shortly after this changed to the front again, the enemy being driven back from his rear, and moved to the left to co-operate with Hazen. After aiding in the repulse of the troops that struck Cruft's lines, Hazen with constant firing maintained his position on his left at the railroad, retiring his right to place his troops behind the embankment at that place. General Palmer had ordered Grose to co-operate with Hazen, and part of Grose's troops reporting to him, they were placed in position on the front. Here was held what was considered by the enemy to be the key to our position, known as the "Round Forest." This was attacked by the right of Donelson's brigade, but the attack was met with a fire that mowed down half its number, one regiment losing 207 out of 402. In another regiment the loss was 306 out of 425. Polk finding that his troops had been so severely punished that they were not able to renew the attack on the extreme left of our line, and that the new line on the right as formed by Rosecrans resisted every attack, applied for an order from Bragg directing four brigades from Breckenridge's command to be sent to him to drive our left from its line, and especially to dislodge us from our position in the "Round Forest." These brigades were sent to him, arriving in two detachments of two brigades each. Adams and Jackson's brigades first reported, under Breckinridge in person. Those of Preston and Palmer reported about two hours later. About two o'clock in the afternoon Adams and Jackson's brigades assailed our left with determined energy, but after a severe contest they were compelled to yield and fall back. They were rallied by Breckenridge, but were too badly cut up to renew the attack. About four o'clock, on the arrival of the brigades of Preston and Palmer, the assault on the left was renewed and again repulsed, when the enemy withdrew and made no further attack upon that position. When this last attack was made, Rosecrans, anxious as to this vital point of his lines, hurried there with his staff to assist in the repulse. It was here that a shell grazing the person of Rosecrans carried off the head of his chief of staff, the lamented Garesche.

The new line formed by Rosecrans to protect his communication extended from Hazen on the Murfreesboro pike in a northwesterly direction, Hascall supporting Hazen, Rousseau filling the interval to the pioneer brigade, Negley in reserve, Van Cleve west of the pioneer brigade, McCook's corps refused on his right and slightly to the rear on the Nashville pike, with the cavalry at and beyond Overall's Creek. After the formation had been completed later in the afternoon, with a wild yell the enemy debouched from the cedar thickets, and forming into line, advanced as if to charge once more. At once a terrific fire of artillery and infantry opened on them, and their broken ranks went back over the fields driven in great confusion; the batteries Rosecrans had placed on the commanding ground near the railroad inflicting a heavier loss on Polk's brigade than it had suffered in all the previous fighting of the day. This attack was in the main repulsed by Van Cleve's division, aided by Harker's brigade, and the cavalry under General Stanley. This was the last assault on the right and centre, and with the repulse of Breckinridge's command on the left, the fighting for the day was over; and on the field where death had reaped such a heavy harvest, on the last day of 1862, the troops slept on their arms, waiting for what the next day might bring forth. The night was clear and cold. The armies maintained their relative positions, with some picket firing occurring during the night. Rosecrans gave orders that all the spare ammunition should be issued, and it was found that there was enough for another battle, the main question being where the battle was to be fought. During the night Rosecrans, in order to complete the new formation of his lines, withdrew the left from the advanced position it occupied, and placed it in line some two hundred and fifty yards to the rear, on more advantageous ground, the extreme left resting on Stone's River above the lower ford and extending to the railroad. Late in the afternoon the brigades under Colonels Starkweather and Walker, that had been on duty in the rear, arrived at the front and were posted in reserve on the line of battle, the former in rear of McCook's left, and Walker in rear of the left of Sheridan's division near the Murfreesboro pike. On the morning of the 1st they were placed in the front line, relieving Van Cleve, who then returned to his position on the left.

The extent of the disaster on the right was appalling and seemed at one time about to envelop the entire army. As the storm of battle passed down the line it reached Thomas, who cool, calm, and self-sustained, stood the test of one of the fiercest contests of the war. It was to him that Rosecrans first turned in the hour of disaster and in him he trusted most. The commander of the army, too, was sorely tried. He had come to win victory, but in place of it defeat seemed almost inevitable. Reforming his lines and bravely fighting, he had hurled back Bragg's army before it had achieved any decisive success. Rosecrans knew that his losses had been extremely heavy, but those of the enemy had been still more severe. He felt that on a question of endurance his army would come out first, although the dash and onset of the rebels had at the opening been able to sweep all before them. In the face of an earnest effort on the part of some of his general officers to persuade him to fall back to Nashville and then throw up works and wait for reinforcements, Rosecrans determined to await the attack of the enemy in the positions of his lines late Wednesday afternoon. He sent for the provision trains, ordered up fresh supplies of ammunition, and decided that if Bragg should not attack before these arrived, that he himself would then resume offensive operations.

During the morning of January 1, 1863, the rebels made repeated attempts to advance on Thomas's front in the centre, but were driven back before emerging from the woods. Crittenden was ordered to send Van Cleve's division across the river, to occupy the position opposite the ford on his left, his right resting on high ground near the river and his left thrown forward perpendicular to it. The rebel right, under Polk, kept up a brisk skirmish fire on their front. Chalmer's brigade was ordered to occupy the ground in front of the "Round Forest." Bragg, anticipating an attack on his right under Breckinridge on the morning of the 1st, during the night ordered two brigades of that division to recross to the east side of the river. But none was made. About two o'clock in the afternoon the enemy showed signs of movement, by massing large numbers of his troops on our right at the extremity of an open field a mile and a half from the Murfreesboro pike. Here the rebels formed in lines six deep, and passed thus heavily, remained without advancing for over an hour. Gibson's brigade and battery occupied the woods near Overall's creek, while Negley's was placed as support on McCook's right. The evident design of Bragg during the day was simply to feel the lines of our army to find out if Rosecrans was retreating. Satisfied of this, he felt that while he could maintain his position he was not in condition to attack, after the heavy hammering his army had received the day before.

At daylight the next day Bragg gave orders to his corps commanders to feel our lines and ascertain Rosecrans's position. Fire was opened from four batteries on the centre, and a demonstration of force was made by his infantry, followed by another on McCook; but at all points meeting with a heavy artillery fire, he concluded that our army still occupied the battle field in force. Bragg ordered Wharton's and Pegram's brigades of cavalry to cross to the right bank of Stone's River immediately in Breckinridge's front. Soon after this a number of his staff officers discovered for the first time that Van Cleve's troops, sent over the day before, had quietly crossed unopposed, and had established themselves on and under cover of an eminence from which Polk's line was commanded and enfiladed. It was an evident necessity either to withdraw Polk's line or to dislodge Van Cleve's. The first alternative was not to be entertained until the failure of an attempt to accomplish the latter. Polk was at once ordered to send over to Breckenridge the remaining brigades belonging to his division still with Polk, and Breckenridge, reporting to Bragg, received his orders. The attack was to be made with the four brigades of Breckinridge's command, the cavalry protecting his right and co-operating with him. The crest of ground near the river, where Van Cleve's division was in position, was the point against which the main attack was to be directed. This taken, Breckinridge was to bring up his artillery and establish it on the high ground, so as to enfilade our lines on the other side of the river. Polk was to open with a heavy fire on our left as Breckinridge commenced his advance. The signal for the attack was to be one gun from the centre, and four o'clock was the hour set for the firing of this gun.

Breckinridge drew up his division in two lines, the first in a narrow skirt of woods, the other some two hundred yards in rear. General Pillow, after the first day's fighting, reporting for duty, was assigned to the command of Palmer's brigade. Pillow's and Hanson's brigades formed the first line, Preston's and Adams's brigades the second. The artillery was placed in rear of the second line, and in addition to that of his brigade, ten Napoleon guns—12-pounders—were sent to aid in the attack.

Van Cleve's division was under the command of Colonel Samuel Beatty, with Price's brigade on the right next to the river, Fyffe's brigade on the left. Grider's brigade formed Beatty's support, while a brigade of Palmer's division was placed in position on the extreme left to protect that flank. Drury's battery was posted in the rear. In front of Breckinridge's line was an open space some six hundred and fifty yards in width, with a gentle ascent which it was necessary for his troops to cross before reaching our lines. Several hundred yards in the rear of the latter was the river, increasing the distance as it flowed beyond our left.

General Rosecrans had ordered Crittenden to send Beatty's division across the river as protection to the troops on the left and centre, as from the high ground near the river the enemy, by an enfilading fire, could sweep these portions of our line. During the morning of the 2d Negley's division was ordered from the right, and placed in position on the west bank of the river, in the rear of Beatty's division, as reserves, being here on the left of Hazen's and Cruft's brigades of Palmer's division.

As soon as Breckinridge's command entered the open ground to his front, the artillery massed on the west bank of the river by order of Crittenden, consisting of all the guns of the left wing, together with the batteries belonging to Negley's division and Stoke's battery, making 58 guns in position, opened a heavy, accurate, and destructive fire. Large numbers of the enemy fell before they reached Beatty's infantry lines. Pressing forward without waiting to throw out a skirmish line, Breckinridge's command swept onward, reckless of the artillery fire and that of the infantry, and struck Price's and Grider's brigades, broke their lines, drove them from their position on to their support in the rear, which also gave way, when the entire division retreated in broken ranks across the river, taking refuge behind the line of Negley's division, and there reforming. Breckenridge reports that he "after a brief but bloody conflict routed both the opposing lines, took 400 prisoners and several flags, and drove their artillery and the great body of their infantry across the river." His success, however, was exceedingly short-lived. Colonel John F. Miller, commanding the right brigade of Negley's division, had, in the absence of Negley in the rear, ordered the troops of his division to lie down under cover of the bluff of the river bank, and hold their fire until our troops from the other side crossed over and moved to the rear. As soon as the last of Beatty's men had passed through Miller's lines, he commanded the division to rise and open fire on Breckinridge's troops. Miller's fire was so effectively given as to cause the enemy at once to recoil, Breckenridge's command being also under the artillery fire on the left, enfilading his ranks. His division soon wavered, and then began falling back. At this Miller-Negley still not appearing—ordered the division to charge across the river, and to drive the enemy from their line of intrenchments, which they did. While crossing, Miller received word from Palmer not to cross his command, but as the greater part of his troops were over the river driving the enemy, Miller pressed on in person, and hurried the troops last to cross, up to the support of those in the advance. He was then ordered by Palmer to recross the river, and to support the artillery on the hill on the west bank. The troops under Miller were then advancing through the cornfield, driving the enemy, and as his right flank was fully protected, he had no inclination to turn back, and he ordered the troops forward. One of the enemy's batteries was posted in a wood just beyond the cornfield to the front. It was keeping up a brisk fire on Miller's advance, when he ordered his men to charge this battery, which they did, capturing three guns. At the time of the charge the Twenty-sixth Tennessee was supporting the battery. This regiment was broken by the assault, a large number of them captured, with the colors of the command. Sending the prisoners, guns, and colors to the rear, Miller reformed his line so as to hold the ground until relieved by other troops. These being crossed over the river under Hazen, together with Davis's division, Miller's command returned to the west bank of the river and there reformed the division in line, and took position for the night. Negley himself was not across the river with the command during the engagement.

Bragg was deeply chagrined at the failure of Breckinridge's movement. In his report of the action he says, "The contest was short and severe, the enemy were driven back and the eminence gained, but the movement as a whole was a failure, and the position was again yielded. Our forces were moved, unfortunately, to the left so far as to throw a portion of them into and over Stone's River, where they encountered heavy masses of the enemy, while those against whom they were intended to operate had a destructive enfilade on our whole line. Our reserve line was so close to the front as to receive the enemy's fire, and returning it took their friends in the rear. The cavalry force was left entirely out of the action." Bragg immediately sent Anderson's brigade across the river, which formed in line on the front of Breckinridge's command, and remained there in position during the night. He also sent Cleburne's division over, and placed Hardee in command of that side of the river. Rosecrans ordered Davis to take and hold the line occupied by Beatty's division. Later, all the troops of Crittenden's corps crossed the river and occupied the crests, intrenching themselves in this position.

During the morning of the 3d Bragg ordered a heavy and constant picket firing to be kept up on his front, to determine whether our army still confronted him. At one point in the wood to the left of the Murfreesboro pike the rebel sharpshooters had all day annoyed Rousseau, who requested permission to dislodge them from their supports, coving a ford at that place. About six o'clock in the evening two regiments from John Beatty's brigade of Rousseau's division, co-operating with two regiments of Spear's brigade of Negley's division, under cover of a brisk artillery fire, advanced on the woods and drove the enemy not only from their cover, but also from their intrenchments a short distance from the rear.

At noon Bragg, on consultation with his generals, decided to retreat, leaving the field in possession of his opponent. At 12.15 of the night of the 2d, after Breckinridge's failure, Cleburne and Withers had sent a communication to Bragg's headquarters, through Polk, stating that there was but "three brigades that are at all reliable, and even some of these are more or less demoralized from having some brigade commanders who do not possess the confidence of their commands." They expressed their fears of great disaster which should be avoided by retreat. This was endorsed by Polk at 12.30 A.M., January 3d, "I send you the enclosed papers as requested, and I am compelled to add that after seeing the effect of the operations of to-day, added to that produced upon the troops by the battle of the 31st, I very greatly fear the consequences of another engagement at this place on the ensuing day. We could now perhaps get off with some safety, and with some credit if the affair was well managed; should we fail in the meditated attack, the consequences might be very disastrous."

By 11 P.M. the whole of Bragg's army, except his cavalry, was in retreat in good order to a position behind Duck River. His cavalry held the front at Murfreesboro until Monday morning, when they fell back and covered Bragg's immediate front. Sunday the 4th was spent in burying the dead, and the cavalry was sent to reconnoitre. On the 5th Thomas's entire command, preceded by Stanley's cavalry, marched into Murfreesboro, and encamped on the Manchester and Shelbyville road.

The cavalry under Stanley rendered very efficient service on the advance from Nashville. Dividing these troops into three columns he sent the first brigade under Colonel Minty with Crittenden's corps; the second brigade under Colonel Zahm moved to the right, protecting McCook's right flank; the reserve Stanley commanded in person, and moved with the head of McCook's command on the Nolinsville pike. Colonel John Kennett, in command of the cavalry division, commanded the cavalry on the Murfreesboro pike. There was constant skirmishing between the enemy's cavalry and artillery and each of the columns up to the 31st, as the army advanced, getting into position. At midnight on the 30th, Stanley moved with part of his command to Lavergne, where the enemy's cavalry was interfering with the trains. At 9.30 he was ordered by General Rosecrans to hasten to the right and cover McCook's flank. On reaching there he found McCook's new line formed on the Nashville road, when the enemy's skirmishers advanced and drove Stanley's dismounted cavalry out of the woods to the open field. Here he was re-enforced, and charging the rebels routed them, driving them back to their lines. On the 1st Zahm's brigade was sent to Lavergne to protect the wagon trains being sent to Nashville. He had several skirmishes with Wheeler, but finally secured the safety of the train and repulsed every attack of the rebel cavalry.

On the 2d and 3d of January the cavalry was engaged in watching the flanks of our position. On the 4th Stanley discovered that the enemy had fled. Collecting his cavalry he moved to the fords of Stone's River, in readiness to cross, and on the 5th, preceding Thomas, they entered Murfreesboro. Zahm's command went out on the Shelbyville pike six miles, meeting with no opposition. Stanley with the rest of his cavalry marched down the Manchester pike, encountering the enemy's cavalry strongly posted at Lytle's Creek in heavy force. Fighting here until sundown, the rebels were driven from one cedar-brake to another until Spear's brigade came up, when they were driven from their last stand in disorder. The cavalry returned and camped at Lytle's Creek to recuperate, after nine days of active campaigning. During this time the saddles were only taken off the horses to groom them, and were immediately replaced.

Bragg in his retreat left in his hospitals all his wounded in Murfreesboro. By this some 2,500 prisoners fell into our hands to be cared for.

Thus, after seven days' battle, the Army of the Cumberland rested in Murfreesboro having achieved the object of the winter campaign. The final battle for Kentucky had been fought by Bragg and lost. Nashville, too, was now beyond his hopes, and for the great victory of the 31st, which he claimed, Bragg had but little to show.

In the heavy skirmishing prior to the 31st, success attended every movement of the Federal army. The heavy fighting of the early part of the 31st was all in Bragg's favor up to the time his advance was checked by our centre and the new line on the right. From that time to the occupation of Murfreesboro every movement resulted in favor of the army under Rosecrans, and the retreat of Bragg after the defeat of Breckinridge gave the halo of victory to our army as the result of the campaign. In his retreat Bragg admitted that he had gained nothing but a victory barren of results, at the cost of him of 10,125 killed, wounded, and missing, 9,000 of whom were killed and wounded, over twenty per cent of his command. Bragg's field return of December 10, 1862, shows an effective total of 51,036, composed of 39,304 infantry, 10,070 cavalry, and 1,662 artillery. By reason of Morgan and Forrest being absent on their raids, Bragg's cavalry was reduced to 5,638. This gave an effective force of 46,604, which was the strength of the army with which Bragg fought the battle.

Rosecrans's force on the battle-field was: Infantry, 37,977; artillery, 2,223; cavalry, 3,200; total, 43,400. His loss was: killed, 1,553; wounded, 7,245. The enemy captured about 2,800 men. Making his total loss about twenty-five per cent. of his force in action. Rosecrans lost twenty-eight pieces of artillery and a large portion of his wagon train. Bragg lost three pieces of artillery.

Why did Rosecrans's plan of battle miscarry so fatally and Bragg's come so near absolute success? The fault was not the plan as conceived by the former. The near success of the latter proved a vindication of that. The originator of the plan was not at fault personally, for at no time during the battle did he falter or prove unequal to his command. When called on to give up his plan of the offensive and assume the defensive to save his army, the wonderful power of Rosecrans as a general over troops was never displayed to a greater advantage. With the blood from a slight wound on his cheek, in a light blue army overcoat, through the mud and rain of the battle-field, he rode along the line inspiring his troops with the confidence he felt as to the final result. To Rosecrans there was but one outcome to the battle at Stone's River, and that was victory. When some of his general officers advised retreat to Nashville, not for an instant did he falter in his determination to "fight or die right here." The demoralization of one of his division commanders was so great, that on Thursday afternoon, when the rebels were massing on Rosecrans's right, this general, commanding a division, announced to his brigade commanders that in the event of the anticipated assault resulting disastrously, he proposed to take his division and cut his way through to Nashville. To his troops—the greater part of whom had never seen Rosecrans under the enemy's fire—when on the return from the cedars, they formed anew in front of the Nashville pike—seeing the Commanding General of the army riding fearlessly on the extreme front, in the heat of battle, cool and collected, giving orders and encouraging his men—his mere presence was an inspiration. His personal bravery was never more fully shown than when he rode down to the "Round Forest" with his staff, under fire, at the time Garesche was killed by a shell that only missed the chief by a few inches. In this ride Rosecrans had three mounted orderlies shot dead while following him. When the entire extent of McCook's disaster in its crushing force was revealed to him, he felt the full burden of his responsibility, and rising to the demands of the hour he was superb. Dashing from one point to another, quick to discern danger and ready to meet it, shrinking from no personal exposure, dispatching his staff on the gallop, hurrying troops into position, massing the artillery and forming his new lines on grounds of his own choosing, confident of ultimate success, and showing his troops that he had all confidence in them, it was worth months of ordinary life-time to have been with Rosecrans when by his own unconquered spirit he plucked victory from defeat and glory from disaster.

But if the plan was not at fault, what was? Rosecrans started from Nashville for an offensive campaign, and before his plan of battle had met the test, he was compelled to abandon it, and assume the defensive. Where was the fault and who was to blame? The fault was McCook's defective line, and in part Rosecrans was responsible for it. He ought never to have trusted the formation of a line of battle so important to the safety of his whole army to McCook alone, and he certainly knew this. Rosecrans gave his personal attention to the left, but he should at least have ordered the change his quick eye had detected as necessary in McCook's line, and not trusted to chance and McCook's ability to withstand the attack with his faulty line. No one who saw him at Stone's River the 31st of December will say aught against the personal bravery and courage of McCook under fire. All that he could do to aid in repairing the great disaster of that day he did to the best of his ability. He stayed with Davis's division under fire as long as it held together, and then gave personal directions to Sheridan's troops, in the gallant fight they made against overwhelming odds. As Rosecrans himself says in his official report of McCook, "a tried, faithful, and loyal soldier, who bravely breasted the battle at Shiloh and Perryville, and as bravely on the bloody field of Stone's River." But there is something more than mere physical bravery required in a general officer in command of as large a body of troops as a corps d'armee. As an instructor at West Point, McCook maintained a high rank. As a brigade and division commander under Buell, there was none his superior in the care and attention he gave his troops on the march, in camp, or on the drill-ground. His division at Shiloh as it marched to the front on the second day did him full credit, and in his handling of it on that field he did credit to it and to himself. What McCook lacked was the ability to handle large bodies of troops independently of a superior officer to give him commands. This was his experience at Perryville, and it was repeated at Stone's River. With the known results of Perryville, McCook ought never to have been placed in command of the "right wing." Rosecrans at Stone's River, of necessity was on the left, and being there he should have had a general in command of the right with greater military capacity than McCook. Rosecrans's confidence was so slight in his commander of the left that he felt his own presence was needed there in the movement of the troops in that part of the plan of battle.

Rosecrans in his report repeatedly speaks of "the faulty line of McCook's formation on the right." But he knew this on the 30th, and told McCook that it was improperly placed. McCook did not think so. Rosecrans told him that it faced too much to the east and not enough to the south, that it was too weak and long, and was liable to be flanked. Knowing all this and knowing McCook's pride of opinion, for McCook told him he "did not see how he could make a better line," or a "better disposition of my troops," it was the plain duty of Rosecrans to reform the line, to conform to what it should be in his judgment. The order to McCook to build camp fires for a mile beyond his right was another factor that brought about the combination that broke the line on the right. Rosecrans was correct in his conception of this, in order to mislead Bragg and cause him to strengthen his left at the expense of his right. Had Bragg awaited Rosecrans's attack, this building of fires was correct—if it took troops away from the right to reinforce the left; but this it did not do. Bragg moved McCown and Cleburne's divisions from his right to his left on Tuesday, but after this Bragg brought none of his forces across the river until Wednesday afternoon. The building of the fires caused Bragg to prolong his lines, lengthening them to the extent that before Hardee struck Kirk's and Willich's brigades, he thought our line extended a division front to their right. Finding this not to be the case, he whirled his left with all the force of double numbers on to the right of McCook. The rebels then swinging around found themselves in the rear of Johnson's division before they struck any troops on their front. Of course it is mere guess-work to say just what the outcome might have been of any other formation of the line, but it is safe to say that had the left instead of the centre of Hardee struck the right of McCook, there would have been a better chance for the troops on the extreme right of his line to have shown the spirit that was in them, before they were overpowered by mere superiority of numbers.

Then there were some minor mistakes that aided in a great degree the bringing about of that mishap which imperiled the safety of the entire army. Even granting that Johnson was not in any way responsible for the position occupied by his troops on the front line of battle, still it is hard to find any excuse or even explanation for a general officer in command of a division who, knowing the enemy were in force on his front, and intending to attack his command at daylight the next morning, would place his headquarters a mile and a half in the rear. This too, when he knew that the post of honor and responsibility for the safety of the entire army had been committed to his keeping. What then shall be said for him when it appears by the report of the commanding officer of his reserve brigade that when it returned from the support of a cavalry reconnoissance, the general commanding the division ordered this brigade, on the eve of the battle, to take position in the woods, "near the headquarters of the division," instead of in supporting distance of the front line? He could not have thought that the division headquarters needed the support of the reserve more than the line of battle. It is safe to say that had the line of Johnson's division been properly formed, so as to give the most strength to the command—short and well centered, with a good brigade like that of Baldwin's in reserve, with all officers in their places—these troops would have given a very different account of themselves when the blow struck the right. There was no commanding officer in the front with Johnson's division, of greater command than a regiment—save General Kirk. The troops of Willich's brigade on the right flank refused to come to his assistance, because there was no one there to give them orders. Johnson says in his official report that "In consultation with Major-General McCook, late in the afternoon of December 30th, he informed me that he had reliable information to the effect that the centre of the rebel line of battle was opposite our extreme right, and that we would probably be attacked by the entire rebel army early on the following morning." Johnson then coolly adds: "His prediction proved true." Yet with these facts staring them in the face, McCook and Johnson made no other efforts to strengthen the right of the line, and Johnson, on the arrival of his reserve brigade later, posted it in the woods a mile and a half from his front "near his headquarters." General Kirk was mortally wounded in the attack on his command, but lived long enough after the battle to make a report of the part taken in the engagement by his brigade. He states in his report, that he suggested to Johnson to send his reserve brigade to support the main lines, and that Johnson declined to do so.

The location of Johnson's headquarters, and Johnson being there, makes him responsible for the capture of Willich, and the breaking up of that brigade. Willich had been on the line for an hour before daylight with his brigade under arms, and from what he heard of the movements of the enemy to his front, he was satisfied that a change should be made in the position of his division, and started to Johnson's headquarters to communicate with him. Before he could return to his troops, the enemy was upon them, and drove them from the position they held, without their making a stand. Being without either division or brigade commander, they drifted to the rear. Willich had a horse shot under him, and was captured without giving an order, before he reached his command.

When the artillery was posted in line of battle on the 30th, roads were cut through the cedars to allow the batteries to reach the front line. The heavy loss of guns, reported by Rosecrans, was occasioned by these batteries being unable to reach the roads through the cedar thickets in the retreat, and in many instances guns were abandoned in the woods, through which it was impossible to haul them.

Bragg alleges in his official report that our troops were surprised, and cites the fact that his men passed through the camps where breakfast was being prepared. He was right as to this fact, but wrong about his deduction. Willich's brigade was the only one that was not through the morning meal, and this was by reason of his troops being under arms for nearly two hours prior to this time, after which Willich gave them orders to prepare their meal. Kirk's brigade had been under arms since five o'clock in the morning, ready for action an hour before the battle commenced, and in Post's brigade the men were in order of battle for an hour before the first dawn of light. The front of all these brigades was covered with heavy picket lines well thrown out. General Sill reported to General Sheridan at two o'clock in the morning, "great activity on the part of the enemy immediately in his front, with movements of troops to their left," and from four o'clock in the morning until seven, Sheridan's troops were standing under arms, and the cannoneeers were at their places.

It is difficult to determine which to admire more, the heavy, quick, decided onset of the rebels, as with ranks well closed up, without music, and almost noiselessly, they moved in the gray light of the early December morning, out of the cedars, across the open fields, hurling the full weight of their advancing columns upon our right, with all the dash of Southern troops, sweeping on with rapid stride, and wild yells of triumph, to what appeared to them an easy final victory; or, later in the afternoon, when our troops that had been driven from the field early in the morning, were reformed under the eye of the commanding general, met and threw back from the point of the bayonet, and from the cannon mouth, the charge after charge of the same victorious troops of the earlier portion of the day. One was like the resistless sweep of a whirlwind in its onward course of destruction, the other the grand sturdy resistance of the rocky coast, which the waves only rush upon to be dashed to pieces. In each of these, the two armies displayed their distinctive feature to the best. Under Thomas, the Centre of the army evinced, in a marked degree, the staying qualities of that commander, which afterward were shown so conspicuously at Chickamauga.



Chapter IX.



In Murfreesboro.

During the first six months of 1863, the military operations of the Army of the Cumberland were of a minor character. The exhaustion attending the severe fighting of the last week of the previous year, kept that army in camp for some time to restore the losses of arms and material, to reclothe the army, to recruit the strength of the troops, to forward the needed supplies, and to build the necessary works to fortify Murfreesboro as a new base. The rebuilding of the Muldraughs Hills' trestleworks, and the heavy repairs elsewhere needed on the railroad north of Nashville, together with having the road from Nashville to Murfreesboro placed in proper order, all required time and were necessary to be done, to supply the wants of the army in the immediate present. But the future was what demanded the greatest thought and most careful planning. The problem that gave Buell the greatest trouble to solve—the protection of his lines of communication and supplies—was now forced upon Rosecrans. The enemy with more than one-half of his cavalry force absent during the battle of Stone's River, under Morgan in Kentucky and Forrest in West Tennessee, outnumbered that arm of the service of the Army of the Cumberland during the battle almost two to one. These troopers were nearly all old veterans, accustomed to the severest hardships of service, and it was wonderful the rapidity with which they got over ground and the amount of fatigue they could undergo. To afford perfect protection to his line supplying the army from its base at Louisville, as against these raiding bands, if infantry was to be employed, Rosecrans's entire force was needed, posted by brigades at the vulnerable points. To make an advance and thus lengthen his lines, simply increased the present difficulties. Without making the necessary preparation to protect his line of supplies, Rosecrans would hamper his forward movement and retard and cripple his advance when commenced. The only proper force to meet the enemy's troopers was cavalry. In the early days of the Army of the Ohio, under Buell, a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to chase and fight cavalry with infantry, and in every instance the effort was crowned with failure, the only result being the discomfort and complete exhaustion of the marching troops.

The repair of the most complete wrecking the Louisville road ever suffered, demanded Rosecrans's attention the first thing after the Battle of Stone's River. When the army left Nashville, on the advance to meet Bragg, the supplies in that city were very limited. With the disabling of the road it was impossible at that time to forward sufficient supplies to meet the wants of the command, and for the first few weeks while the army remained at Murfreesboro the troops were on half rations, and many of the articles constituting the "ration" entirely dispensed with, leaving but three or four on the list. The surrounding country for miles was scoured for forage and provisions. Everything of that kind was gathered in by raiding parties, not leaving sufficient for the actual necessities of the inhabitants. To such an extent did this go, that to the officers with means to purchase such provisions as were to be had, potatoes and onions became luxuries. The whole army was threatened with scurvy.

The number and extent of these raids, and the damage sustained by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad during the year from July 1, 1862, is concisely set forth in the report of the superintendent of that road. His report shows that during this time "the road has been operated for its entire length only seven months and twelve days;" "all the bridges and trestleworks on the main stem and branches, with the exception of the bridge over Barren River and four small bridges, were destroyed and rebuilt during the year. Some of the structures were destroyed twice and some three times. In addition to this, most of the water stations, several depots, and a large number of cars were burnt, a number of engines badly damaged, and a tunnel in Tennessee nearly filled up for a distance of eight hundred feet."

By reason of this condition of things, Rosecrans determined to increase the cavalry arm of his army, so that he could meet the ten or twelve thousand cavalry of the enemy in their detached raids on more of an equal footing. From the commencement of operations in Tennessee under Buell, the enemy's cavalry had been steadily increasing in numbers and in efficiency, until at this time it was a greater problem how to meet this arm of the enemy's force than his infantry. Rosecrans made repeated urgent applications to the department at Washington for additional cavalry; for horses and improved arms for those already under his command. He detailed infantry to be mounted and armed as cavalry, organizing a brigade of "mounted infantry" under Colonel John T. Wilder.

On Bragg's retreating from Murfreesboro, he took position with a portion of his army and established his headquarters at Shelbyville. He then ordered part of his command to move to Tullahoma, and there intrench, throwing up extensive earthworks and fortifications. Later, he placed his troops in winter quarters. In addition to the cavalry that had formerly been under Bragg, Van Dorn in February reported to him with his command of three brigades of cavalry, about five thousand effective troops. Bragg placed Van Dorn and Wheeler to protect the front and flanks of his army, assigning the former to the left, with his headquarters at Columbia, and directing the latter to take position on the right, constituted each command a corps. To Wheeler's command he assigned Morgan's, Wharton's, and Martin's divisions. Forrest's command was assigned to Van Dorn. Some important events took place during the first six months of 1863, that had a bearing on the fortunes of the Army of the Cumberland.

On January 9th, in recognition of the services of that army, by General Order No. 9 of the War Department, that command was reorganized, and the Centre, Right, and Left were constituted corps d'armee, with the designation of Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Corps, under the same commanders, who were thus advanced to this higher command. During this month, Steedman, in command of Fry's old division, was ordered from Gallatin to the front, and posted at Triune and La Vergne. Reynold's division was ordered from Gallatin to Murfreesboro. A slight change was also made in the boundaries of the Department. On the 25th, by order of the War Department, the commands of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were transferred from the department under Grant, to that under Rosecrans, and later Fort Heiman. To Rosecrans was then committed the care and control of the Cumberland River, his second and secondary line of communication and supplies connecting his two principal depots.

On January 26th, Bragg ordered Wheeler on an expedition to capture Fort Donelson. Wheeler directed Forrest to move his brigade with four guns on the river road, via the Cumberland Iron Works, to the vicinity of Dover, which was the real position occupied and fortified by Federal forces, and not the old site of Fort Donelson, while Wheeler with Wharton's command of some twenty-five hundred men moved on a road to the left. Rosecrans, hearing from his scouts that this movement was contemplated, ordered Davis in command of his division and two brigades of cavalry under Minty, to march by the Versailles road, and take Wheeler in the rear. Steedman was directed to watch Wheeler's movements by way of Triune. Davis despatched Minty to move with his cavalry around by way of Unionville and Rover, while he moved with the infantry direct to Eaglesville. At Rover, Minty captured a regiment of some three hundred and fifty men. Davis and Steedman's forces united at Franklin, the latter marching by way of Nolinsville. Wheeler, advancing rapidly, passed between the troops in pursuit, and, on February 3d, his entire force attacked the post at Dover, occupied by Colonel Harding with the Eighty-third Illinois, some six hundred men in the command. The rebels opened fire at once, and made vigorous assault in force upon Harding's position. His little command repulsed the enemy with heavy loss. Again they advanced, making a more determined assault than before, but again they were driven back with still greater loss. In this last repulse Harding ordered his men to charge beyond his works, which they did with great gallantry, capturing forty-two of the rebels. Wheeler then withdrew with a total loss of one hundred and fifty killed, four hundred wounded, and one hundred and fifty captured. Colonel Harding lost sixteen killed, sixty wounded, and fifty captured. Efforts were made to cut off the retreat of Wheeler's force by Davis's command, re-enforced by five hundred cavalry, which went as far west as Kinderhook and Bon Aqua Springs, but Wheeler took the road through Centreville, where he crossed Duck River.

In the latter part of the engagement at Dover, Harding was aided by the fire from six gunboats which were acting as convoys for a fleet of transports conveying reinforcements to Rosecrans's command, consisting of eighteen regiments of infantry, with four batteries of artillery that had been serving in Kentucky under the command of General Gordon Granger. The troops forming this column were under the immediate command of Crook, Baird, and Gilbert. After the danger at Dover had passed, the fleet steamed up to Nashville, and there the troops disembarked. During February Crook was sent with his command to take post at Carthage, on the Cumberland River, and watch the movements of the enemy from there to Rome, and Gilbert was ordered to proceed with his brigade to Franklin.

On March 4th, Gilbert at Franklin ordered Colonel Coburn, with five regiments of infantry, four detachments of cavalry under Colonel Jordan, and Aleshire's battery, the whole command nearly three thousand strong, to proceed south from Franklin with a wagon-trail of one hundred wagons, ostensibly on a foraging expedition, but also to reconnoitre the enemy's front toward Columbia. Coburn's command some twelve miles south of Franklin, was to meet a force moving from Murfreesboro toward Columbia, and these commands were to co-operate and determine the position of the enemy. Unknown to Gilbert, Van Dorn, on assuming command in Columbia, in February, determined to establish outposts and picket-lines within sight of Franklin and Triune, and to move his headquarters north of Duck River to Spring Hill. Jordan's cavalry struck the enemy only three miles from town, formed in line of battle. Opening with artillery, Jordan advanced, and, after a sharp conflict, the enemy retreated to Spring Hill. That night Coburn notified Gilbert that he was confronted by a largely superior force, and suggested that he fall back. Gilbert, however, ordered him to advance. Proceeding next morning, the column met the enemy drawn up in line of battle a short distance from Thompson's Station. Forrest's command occupied the extreme right, with a battery of artillery on the left of this, and some paces retired was Armstrong's brigade. On the left of his command and in line with it was the Texan brigade under Whitfield, with two guns on each side of the Columbia turnpike, making a force of 10,000 men under Van Dorn. It was about half-past nine o'clock in the morning when Coburn struck these troops in line. He immediately deployed his infantry across the pike and to the right, and ordered his command to advance. The enemy's battery posted at the pike opening fire, Coburn's troops charged it handsomely, his entire command moving in line of battle down the pike. When within one hundred and fifty yards, Armstrong's and Whitfield's brigades sprang forward and opened a destructive fire. Coburn's troops held their lines for over half an hour under heavy fire, replying with the same, when he ordered his command to fall back. Finding this large force in his front, he directed Jordan with his cavalry to cover his retreat. Van Dorn now advanced his line, pressed forward his right and left to surround Coburn and capture the entire force. Jordan formed two detachments, dismounted behind a stone fence to check the advance of Forrest and enable the artillery to escape. Forrest made two sustained attempts to dislodge these detachments from their position, but he was repulsed each time; on a third attempt they were surrounded and captured. The regiment in charge of the train with the artillery and cavalry now moved off rapidly on the pike to Franklin, and Coburn, being surrounded by the rebels in overwhelming numbers, and finding his ammunition exhausted, surrendered. His loss was 40 killed, and 150 wounded, and 2,200 prisoners, including his wounded. The enemy's loss was 35 killed and 140 wounded. The rebels lost heavily in officers, several of the most valued of Forrest's falling in the repulses of his command.

The surrender of Coburn weakened the forces at Franklin, and revealed the enemy in such strong force on the immediate front, that Gordon Granger at once ordered Baird to proceed by rail to Franklin, and moving his own headquarters there, assumed the command in person.

On the 7th, Sheridan's division was ordered to the front to reconnoitre the enemy's position. He reached Franklin, and the force at that place was further increased by the arrival of a brigade from Nashville. On the 9th, Minty's brigade of cavalry also reported, and on the day following, Granger with his troops advanced from there upon Van Dorn's encampment at Spring Hill. In support of Granger's movement on Van Dorn, Rosecrans ordered Davis to move with his division from Salem to Eaglesville, with R. S. Granger's brigade in supporting distance, posted at Versailles. Gordon Granger drove Van Dorn from Spring Hill, and the next day compelled his entire command to retire south of Rutherford's Creek. On account of the high water the pursuit was not continued further.

During March the rebel cavalry under Morgan met with one of the most decisive repulses yet experienced by that command. On the 18th of March Colonel Hall with his command, the second brigade of Reynolds's division, was sent from Murfreesboro after Morgan. Starting northeast from that place he advanced beyond Statesville, when hearing that Morgan was advancing on him he retired toward Milton, posted his command on some high ground near that place and awaited the attack. Morgan endeavored first to turn the right and then the left of Hall's command, but in each of these attempts he was driven off with heavy loss. He then dismounted the main portion of his command and ordered an attack to be made on the front. A vigorous assault was at once made with a heavy force, but this was also repulsed, Morgan losing a large number of men. After an engagement lasting some four hours, in which Hall's brigade fought with the utmost determination, Morgan's command, being repulsed at all points and in every assault, withdrew from the field with a loss of some ninety-five killed, three hundred and fifty wounded, and twenty prisoners.

Early in April, Morgan's troopers were defeated with great loss. On the 2d of April Stanley advanced with his cavalry to Liberty, where Morgan met them with his entire command. The two forces encamped within two miles of each other. On the morning of the 3d, Stanley advanced, intending to engage Morgan's command at once, but found that he had retreated to what he regarded as a very strong position at Snow Hill. Morgan, however, had left a strong force at Liberty to watch Stanley's movements. As Stanley advanced, he struck this force and quickly drove upon it with part of his command, sending a portion around to the right, which turned the enemy's left flank. Pressing Morgan's command from both positions, it soon gave way at all points, and was in full retreat. Morgan's officers tried to rally their men, but the latter were thoroughly demoralized and had no fight in them. The teamsters became panic-stricken and added to the general rout. It was two weeks before Morgan succeeded in getting his men together again.

Early in April, Rosecrans ordered Colonel Streight to the command of a brigade he had organized for the purpose of making a raid on the lines of communication of the rebels, and to move through the country south and southeast, destroying as he went all property of use to them. Streight's command started from Nashville, partially mounted, going by way of Clarksville to Fort Henry, at which place he took steamer from Eastport, Miss. En route to Fort Henry his command secured as many animals as they could, but only four-fifths of the men were mounted, and they poorly. The animals were nearly all mules, and very few of them were fit for the service required. It was expected that the command would capture enough good animals to carry the expedition successfully through, but this was not realized. Leaving Eastport on the 21st, he passed through Tuscumbia three days later, and reached Moulton on the 26th. From here on the 28th he pressed forward through Day's Gap on Sand Mountain, in the direction of Blountsville. In the gap their rear guard was overtaken and attacked on the 30th by the enemy's cavalry under Forrest, who had pressed forward, riding night and day. Selecting the best mounted of his men, he pushed at once to Streight's camp. Here coming upon the rear of Streight's force as it was leaving camp, Forrest opened with artillery firing. Dismounting his men, Streight formed his command on the crest of a hill on each side of the road and awaited the enemy's attack. As Forrest advanced, Streight ordered a charge to be made which drove the enemy at all points, capturing their two pieces of artillery. Forrest lost in killed and wounded seventy-five men, a large percentage of whom were killed. Streight's loss was twenty-one killed and wounded. A good many of horses were captured from the enemy, on which Streight mounted a number of his men. On the same afternoon the enemy attacked again, but was driven back with considerable loss, after a severe engagement lasting from three o'clock until dark. On May 1st, the Federal forces reached Blountsville at noon. Here all the wagons save one were burned, and the ammunition placed on pack mules, after distributing to the men all that they could carry. At three o'clock Streight started again, and skirmishing commenced at once on their rear. Pressing on, the command marched until twelve o'clock that night. Resuming their march in the morning, the rear skirmished all the forenoon of the 2d with the rebels. Arriving at Gadsden, Streight remained long enough to destroy a large quantity of provisions in store there for the enemy. It was expected at this place that a small steamer would be found, upon which a detachment of men could be sent to capture Rome. In this Streight was disappointed. From this point Streight's animals became much exhausted, and the men were falling to the rear and getting captured. To prevent this the command had to go much slower. Forrest coming up about one o'clock on the 2d, attacked the command while the horses were being fed at Blount's farm. Here Colonel Hathaway fell, shot through the breast. Again the rebels were repulsed, but they constantly pressed upon the rear of Streight's command, keeping up a brisk skirmish fire. The enemy were kept in check at Blount's farm until after dark. In the meantime the main command had crossed the Coosa. Here the river was so high that the ammunition was damaged by being wet. From this place Streight sent a detachment to burn the Round Mountain iron works, one of the principal manufactories of munitions of war in the South. It was burned to the ground and all the machinery destroyed. On arriving at the other branch of the Coosa a bridge was found, and, as soon as the command had crossed, it was destroyed. On the morning of the 3d, as the men were preparing their breakfast, the enemy again attacked. Shortly afterward Forrest sent in a flag of truce, demanding the surrender of the entire command. This was at first refused, but on consultation with his officers, and considering the damaged condition of his ammunition and the complete exhaustion of his command, Streight, after making a personal inspection of Forrest's artillery, finally yielded, and the entire force of 1,466 officers and men was surrendered.

On April 20th, Thomas sent J. J. Reynolds with three brigades of infantry and Minty's brigades of cavalry, together with Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry, to proceed to McMinnville, capture what force was there, destroy the railroad from Manchester to McMinnville, and co-operate with a force to move from Carthage against Morgan. Reynolds made a successful raid on the railroad and nearly destroyed it; burned all the bridges, trestle-work, cars, and locomotives on the road, also the depot in McMinnville, and several cotton mills. A large amount of supplies was captured, some one hundred animals picked up. The command from Carthage failed to aid in the expedition, and Morgan's command in the main effected their escape.

Colonel Lewis D. Watkins on the 27th made a gallant charge on the Texas Legion, encamped close to Van Dorn's main command near Spring Hill. Dashing in upon the enemy early in the morning, he was among them before they could rally for defence, capturing one hundred and twenty-eight prisoners, over three hundred animals, and their camp equipage without the loss of a man.

It was during the six months waiting at Murfreesboro that the unfortunate controversy arose between Rosecrans and the authorities at Washington, represented by General Halleck, as Commander-in-Chief, and Mr. Secretary Stanton of the War Department. The Army of the Cumberland, during the period of the active movements of that command, congratulated itself that the field of operations was so far removed from Washington City, that it did not come under the influence of the authority that seemed to paralyze every effort of the commands immediately around the seat of war at the East. But in this they were mistaken. The future student of the history of the war, in the light of the full official records, will wonder most at the fact that, under the orders from Washington, the commanders in the field were at all able to finally crush the rebellion. It was only when the armies at the East were placed under a general who was practically untrammeled in the exercise of his power, and who conducted his campaigns upon military principles, and not as the result of orders from Washington that the beginning of the end of the rebellion in the East began to dawn. In Tennessee we have seen how Halleck gave Buell orders and then attached such conditions to them as to render their proper execution absolutely impossible. There was nothing to prevent Buell from occupying Chattanooga in June, 1862, as he was directed, while Bragg with his command was in Northern Mississippi, except the utterly useless condition attached to his orders, that he should repair the Memphis and Charleston Railroad as he moved east. Buell urged, in forcible terms, the foolishness and even impropriety of this delay, but Halleck, who knew much of the theory of war as learned from books, and in a general way wished to apply these principles to the practical movements of troops, overruled Buell. The latter knew that the enemy in his front always resolutely refused to be bound in his operations by such rules in conducting campaigns. The result of Halleck's wisdom soon became manifest when Bragg started for Kentucky, after the waste of Buell's time in repairing this railroad, which, when completed, was at once turned over to the enemy in good condition for immediate use against our own forces. On Buell fell the force of the blow that some one had to bear for this failure to take advantage of a patent opportunity. Buell's obedience to Halleck's orders rendered Bragg's advance into Kentucky possible, while Buell's failure to bring Bragg to a decisive action in Kentucky, and his refusal to follow Bragg into the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, was deemed sufficient cause by Halleck to issue the order removing him from his command. If Halleck's order to Buell to repair this railroad had never been issued, Bragg's campaign in Kentucky would never have been made. Halleck's removal of Buell was the direct result of the latter's obedience to orders received from the former. On Rosecrans assuming command, almost the first order he received from Halleck was one directing him to advance into East Tennessee after Bragg. With a full knowledge of the military situation obtained from Buell, Rosecrans proceeded at once to protect the line established by Buell, and await the advance of Bragg in the vicinity of Nashville. The battle of Stone's River was for the time sufficient to prove, even to Halleck, that Buell and Rosecrans were correct, and Rosecrans was allowed for the time to attend to his command without being interfered with. During the encampment at Murfreesboro, the first object of Rosecrans was to properly mount and equip his cavalry. In this he received at first faint encouragement, which soon ceased altogether.

On March 1st Halleck, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, wrote a letter, sending a copy to Rosecrans and Grant, offering the position of the then vacant major-generalship in the regular army, to the general in the field who should first achieve an important and decisive victory. Grant very quietly folded up the letter, put it by for future reference, and proceeded with the plans of his campaign, saying nothing. To Rosecrans's open, impulsive, and honorable nature, engaged with all his powers in furthering the interests of the Government and the general welfare of his command, this letter was an insult, and he treated it accordingly. On March 6th he prepared his reply, and forwarded it to Washington. In this letter he informs the General-in-Chief that, "as an officer and as a citizen," he felt "degraded at such an auctioneering of honors," and then adds: "Have we a general who would fight for his own personal benefit when he would not for honor and for his country? He would come by his commission basely in that case, and deserve to be despised by men of honor. But are all the brave and honorable generals on an equality as to chances? If not, it is unjust to those who probably deserve most."

The effect of this letter was to widen the breach between the authorities at Washington and Rosecrans. Halleck's letter and Rosecrans's reply were both characteristic of the men. Halleck, fresh from the results of a large law practice in California—principally devoted to the establishment of the validity of land grants in favor of his clients, in the success of which large contingent fees were gained—saw nothing improper in such an offer to an officer of sufficient ability and standing to be in command of one of the armies of the United States. With Rosecrans, all the honest, generous impulses of a high-principled, honorable gentleman, who had imperiled his life on many a battlefield, fighting solely from a sense of duty to his country, led to the expression of his contempt for the author of such an offer. The mistake that Halleck made was in thinking that what would prove a tempting offer to a man like himself, would be so to Rosecrans. No one will attempt to maintain the wisdom of Rosecrans's course as a matter of policy, however much they may sympathize with and admire the spirit of his letter. It was an impolitic letter, and one that aided in drawing the ill-will and resentment of Halleck and Stanton upon him in full force later.

From this time forward, all the requests of Rosecrans for the improvement of the efficiency of his army were treated with great coolness, and in many instances it was only after the greatest importunity that he was able to secure the least attention to his recommendations for the increased usefulness of his command. His repeated applications for more cavalry, and that they be armed with revolving rifles, were treated with little attention. In the meantime nearly every communication from Washington intimated that he was unnecessarily delaying his advance upon Bragg in his works at Shelbyville and Tullahoma. Grant, on his Vicksburg campaign, became very anxious for the advance of the Army of the Cumberland, to engage Bragg and prevent reinforcements being sent from him to Pemberton or Johnston, operating on his front and rear; and urged Rosecrans to move, and wrote to Halleck, requesting him to direct an advance of the Army of the Cumberland on Bragg's position. Rosecrans regarded it for the best interest of the country for his army to remain constantly threatening Bragg, in order to hold the entire army of the latter in his immediate front, and also in the event of the defeat of Grant, and a concentration of the enemy on Rosecrans's position, that he should be close to his base, his army being then the reserve. If an advance succeeded in driving Bragg from Tullahoma, a greater danger than his remaining inactive on our front might ensue. To Bragg, the occupancy of Middle Tennessee was of sufficient importance to justify him in remaining inactive with his entire command, waiting for the advance of Rosecrans some six months. If driven from Tennessee, his troops were ready to unite with the command in Mississippi and defeat Grant's movements. If Bragg could be held in Tennessee after until after Grant's success was assured, then, by waiting at Murfreesboro with his army quiet, Rosecrans could render better service than by moving on the enemy. This was a matter of military judgment, on one side espoused by Rosecrans and all his corps and division commanders, who were on the ground, and on the other by Halleck, Stanton, and Grant; and this question served to increase the feeling against Rosecrans in those quarters. Bragg also considered that his presence on the front of the Federal army would prevent any troops from it being sent to aid Grant. And thus the year wore away until early summer. Still another consideration with Rosecrans, was the character of the soil in Tennessee from a short distance south of Murfreesboro to the foot of the Cumberland Mountains. This was a light sandy loam, that in winter and spring, during the rains of those seasons, became like quicksand, allowing the artillery and wagon to sink almost to the hub, and rendering the rapid movement of a large army absolutely impossible.

During the early part of June, Rosecrans commenced placing his troops in position, preparatory to a general advance. He ordered the brigade that had been encamped at Gallatin, under General Ward, to Lavergne, and despatched Gordon Granger to take post at Triune, moving his command from Franklin up to that place. Crook was ordered from Carthage to report to Murfreesboro, and on his arrival, was placed in Reynolds's division. Rosecrans organized a reserve corps, consisting of three divisions designated as First, Second, and Third, under Baird, J. D. Morgan, and R. S. Granger, respectively, and he assigned Gordon Granger to the command of this corps.

Early in June, Garfield, then Chief-of-Staff of the General commanding, urged Rosecrans to make an advance movement, both as a military and political measure with reference to the sentiment of the North. General Rosecrans had matured his plans for an advance, but decided to refer the question to his general officers in command of corps and divisions. The matter being submitted to them, the universal sentiment of these officers was that the movement should be further delayed. However, on the 23rd of June, Rosecrans having made all necessary arrangements for his command, according to his plans, and learning of the favorable prospects at Vicksburg, and of the movement of the force under Burnside into East Tennessee to take and hold Knoxville, issued the necessary orders for the advance of his army on that of the enemy.



Chapter X.



The Advance on Tullahoma.

At the time of the advance of the Army of the Cumberland, Polk's corps of Bragg's army occupied the main position at Shelbyville, strongly intrenched behind heavy works thrown up during the six months of waiting. These added to the natural strength of the position, and extended from Horse Mountain on the east, to Duck River on the west, and were covered by a line of abattis. The town was noted for the strong Union sentiment of its inhabitants, of which fact the rebels took full advantage to the loss and distress of the people. It is situated about twenty-five miles south of Murfreesboro, and some twenty miles North of Tullahoma, on a branch railroad from the main Nashville line, starting west from Wartrace. Bragg's right was posted at Wartrace, with Hardee's corps occupying the passes at Liberty, Hoover, and Bellbuckle Gaps. These gaps were all held by strong forces of the enemy, supported by the main command. Polk had an advance in Guy's Gap with his entire command in supporting distance. Bragg's extreme right was protected by cavalry with headquarters at McMinnville, while his cavalry on the left, under Forrest, had headquarters at Columbia, threatening Franklin.

At this time the main base of supplies of the enemy was at Chattanooga, to which the entire country south of Duck River had been made tributary. From Duck River, south, the country is rough, with rocky ranges of hills, which divide the "barrens" from the fertile parts of Middle Tennessee. These "barrens" constitute a high rolling plateau of ground between the ranges of hills at Duck River and the Cumberland Mountains. It is here that the soil during a rainy season offers the greatest obstacle to active campaigning. Situated on the "barrens," at the junction of the McMinnville branch with the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, was Tullahoma, a small straggling village, where Bragg had established his main depot and made a large intrenched camp. The defiles of Duck River, a deep, narrow stream with but few fords or bridges, covered its front, with a rough rocky range of hills immediately south of the river. The principal roads as they passed through these hills bore southwardly toward the line of the enemy's communications and Tullahoma. The Manchester pike passed through Hoover's Gap and reached the "barrens" by ascending a long, difficult canon called Matt's Hollow. The Wartrace road passed through Liberty Gap, and from there it ran into the road along the railroad through Bellbuckle Gap. The direct road to Shelbyville goes through Guy's Gap.