The Army of the Cumberland

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The Army of the Cumberland

By Henry M. Cist, Brevet Brigadier-General U.S.V.; A. A. G. on the
staff of Major-General Rosecrans, and the staff of Major-General
Thomas; Secretary of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland.

Preface.

The scope of this work precluded the entering into details as to the
minor operations of the troops in the commands named. It has even
been impossible to give the movements of troops on the battlefields
in lesser organizations than brigades. The rosters of the several
armies given in full in the appendices will enable those interested
to trace the movements of the minor commands.

The subject is too great a one to be fully and justly treated within
the limitations, both of time and space, which have necessarily
been imposed here. Still, with the hope that the future student
of history may glean something of value in this volume not found
elsewhere, it is sent forth for the favorable consideration of its
readers.

To the many friends who have kindly aided me in various ways, I
return my sincere thanks. To Col. R. N. Scott, U.S.A., I am under
special obligations for data furnished.

The maps for this volume were prepared by permission from those of
Captain Ruger in Van Horne's "History of the Army of the Cumberland,"
published by Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati.

H. M. C.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
List of Maps, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
CHAPTER I.
Early Movements, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER II.
Mill Springs, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
CHAPTER III.
Concentration at Nashville, . . . . . . . . 21
CHAPTER IV.
Morgan's and Forrest's Raids, . . . . . . . 31
CHAPTER V.
Bragg's Advance into Kentucky, . . . . . . 48
CHAPTER VI.
Battle of Perryville, . . . . . . . . . . . 61
CHAPTER VII.
The Advance to Murfreesboro, . . . . . . . 87
CHAPTER VIII.
The Battle of Stone's River, . . . . . . . 102
CHAPTER IX.
In Murfreesboro, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
CHAPTER X.
The Advance on Tullahoma, . . . . . . . . . 154
CHAPTER XI.
The Movement to Chickamauga, . . . . . . . 173
CHAPTER XII.
The Battle of Chickamauga, . . . . . . . . 193
CHAPTER XIII.
The Siege of Chattanooga, . . . . . . . . . 230
CHAPTER XIV.
Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary
Ridge Battles, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Appendix, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Index, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

LIST OF MAPS.

PAGE
General Map of the Campaign, . . . . . . . 1
Mill Springs, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Battle of Perryville, . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Battle-Map Stone's River, . . . . . . . . . 103
Chickamauga Campaign, . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Battle of Chickamauga, . . . . . . . . . . 194
Battlefield of Chattanooga, . . . . . . . . 245

THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY MOVEMENTS.

In Kentucky, during the spring of 1861, every shade of opinion
prevailed, from the most pronounced Union sentiment to the most
ultra secession sympathy.

The Government at Washington wished to enlist Kentucky heartily
in support of the Union, while every effort was made by the rebel
leaders to secure the secession of the State from the Union, and
to have it join its fortunes to those of the South. These several
efforts enlisted the active support of those in the State in sympathy
with them, and Kentuckians became ultimately divided into two
sharply defined parties. Under the peculiar doctrine of "armed
neutrality" adopted by the local authorities, no serious infraction of
the peace of the State was had until the fall. With the invitation
given General Anderson to take command in Kentucky, by the State
Legislature, the doctrine of "armed neutrality" came to an end. While
it at times restrained prompt action on the part of the Union men
of Kentucky during the first six months of the war, and hampered
the Federal Government in the movement of troops in the State, still
in the end it was of immense benefit to the cause of the Union,
and enabled those in support of it in Kentucky to unite and perfect
their plans in comparative peace, unmolested by the rebels from
Tennessee and their own State. Under cover of "armed neutrality"
the Union men remained quiet until the time had arrived for prompt
and decided action, with men, and arms for their support, in the
measures they adopted to retain Kentucky in the Union.

In accordance with a general plan of operations adopted by General
Albert Sidney Johnston, on September 18th, General Buckner broke
camp with the rebel forces at Camp Boone, Tenn., near the Kentucky
line, and marching north, occupied Bowling Green, throwing out his
advance as far as Elizabethtown.

On receipt of reliable information as to Buckner's movements,
General Anderson sent General W. T. Sherman, second in command,
to Camp Joe Holt, with instructions to order Colonel Rousseau with
his entire command to report at once in Louisville. The "Home
Guards" were also ordered out, and they assembled promptly in large
force, reporting at the Nashville depot, and by midnight they were
started to the front by train. Rousseau's command followed at once,
General Sherman being in command of the entire force, amounting to
some three thousand men. The advance by train was stopped at the
Rolling Fork of the Salt River, about thirty-one miles south of
Louisville, at which point the railroad bridge had been burned by
the rebels. During the following day the troops under Rousseau
forded the stream, and pressing forward occupied Muldraugh's Hills
with its two trestles and a tunnel over fifteen hundred feet long.
The Home Guards were left in camp at Lebanon Junction, some two
or three miles in the rear, where Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Johnson
of the Third Kentucky Cavalry reported later in the day with some
additional companies of Home Guards, and, by order of General
Anderson, assumed command of the camp.

This disposition of troops caused Buckner to retire with his entire
command to Bowling Green, where he strongly fortified his position.

The Kentucky State troops were under orders for ten days' service
only, and their place was then filled by several regiments from
the States immediately north of Kentucky. These troops were placed
in camp, and there received instruction in drill, discipline, and
camp regulations, waiting for orders for the advance.

General Johnston, under his general plan of creating a defensive
line from Columbus on the west, running through Bowling Green east
to some point to be determined on, early in September sent General
Zollicoffer with a force numbering several thousand men to make an
advance into Eastern Kentucky by way of Knoxville, East Tennessee,
through Cumberland Gap to Cumberland Ford, threatening Camp Dick
Robinson. On the 19th of that month the advance of Zollicoffer's
command had a spirited skirmish with the "Home Guards" at Barboursville
Bridge. These troops were compelled to retire, which they did,
to Rock Castle Hills, where they were re-enforced by two Kentucky
regiments under Colonel T. T. Garrard, of the Seventh Kentucky Infantry,
who had received instructions from General Thomas to obstruct the
roads and to hold the rebels in check. Garrard established his
force at Camp Wildcat, behind temporary breastworks, where, on
October 21st, he was attacked by Zollicoffer with 7,000 troops.
Shortly after the attack General Schoepff [NOTE from Brett Fishburne
the correct spelling is "Schoepf" as I know because this is my
great-great-grandfather, but I have kept the spelling as in the
original book for subsequent references], with five regiments of
infantry, one of cavalry, and a battery of artillery, re-enforced
Garrard, and after a severe fight the enemy was repulsed.

After Buckner's retreat to Bowling Green, Zollicoffer fell back to
Mill Springs, on the southern bank of the Cumberland River, and soon
afterward crossed the river to the opposite bank at Beech Grove,
fortifying this encampment with extensive earthworks.

During the month of September, General George H. Thomas, who with
General Wm. T. Sherman had been ordered to report to General Anderson
for duty in Kentucky--at General Anderson's personal request of the
President--was placed in command of Camp Dick Robinson, relieving
General Nelson. The latter then established Camp Kenton in Mason
County, three miles from Maysville, near the spot where Simon
Kenton's station was erected in 1785.

On the 7th of October General Anderson, on account of ill-health,
relinquished the command of the department, and General W.
T. Sherman on the following day succeeded him. At the same time
General A. McD. McCook was placed in command of the force that
[had] been ordered to the front under Sherman.

During the month of October the rebel Colonel J. S. Williams was
organizing a force of some two thousand troops at Prestonburg,
on the Big Sandy River, intending to operate in Central Kentucky
through McCormick's Gap. General Nelson early in the month started
with all the troops of his command to drive the rebels out of their
encampment. Nelson ordered the Second Ohio under Colonel L. A.
Harris to move from Paris, and the Twenty-first Ohio under Colonel
Norton to advance from Nicholasville to Olympia Springs, where
the entire command was concentrated. From here he advanced to
McCormick's Gap, and then divided his command, sending the Second
Ohio, a section of Captain Konkle's battery, and a company of
Ohio cavalry under Captain McLaughlin--all under the command of
Colonel Harris--through West Liberty to unite with the command at
Salyersville. Nelson then moved forward with three regiments of
infantry, two detachments of Kentucky troops, and two sections of
Konkle's battery, with a battalion of cavalry, on the road to Hazel
Green. On the 23d Harris occupied West Liberty, after a brisk
skirmish. The command united at Salyersville and followed the
enemy to Prestonburg. At this point Nelson sent the Thirty-third
Ohio, with the Kentucky troops and a section of Konkle's battery
under Colonel Sill, by a detour to the right to flank the rebel
position at Ivy Mountain. Nelson on the next day then advanced
with his command on the direct road to Piketon, and encountered the
enemy in ambush on the mountain at Ivy Creek. Pushing forward at
once with the force under his immediate command, Nelson attacked the
enemy, and after a brisk engagement, lasting over an hour, routed
them from their cover and drove them in full retreat.

Sill occupied Piketon on the 9th without much opposition. General
Nelson arrived there on the 10th, when the rebels leaving the State
and retreating through Pound Gap, he was ordered to report with
his command to General Buell at Louisville.

On the retirement of General Anderson, as the ranking officer in
the department, General Sherman assumed the command. On the 9th
of November, by general order from the headquarters of the army,
No. 97, the Department of the Ohio was created, "to consist of the
States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, that portion of Kentucky east of
the Cumberland river, and the State of Tennessee, and to be commanded
by Brigadier-General D. C. Buell, headquarters at Louisville;" and
General Sherman was relieved from command at his own request.

Nelson's command being ordered out of East Kentucky, the rebel
forces again entered, and in small bands were depredating on Union
people in the Big Sandy Valley. The Fourteenth Kentucky under Colonel
L. P. Moore was ordered to move from Catlettsburg and advance up
the valley. General Buell finding that the rebel force had been
largely re-enforced by the advance of General Humphrey Marshall, one
of the ablest rebel generals in that part of the country, ordered
the Twenty-second Kentucky under Colonel Lindsay from Maysville to
join the Fourteenth, and Lindsay was placed in command of the two
regiments. Marshall was a graduate of West Point; he had served
in the Black Hawk War and had seen service in Mexico as a Colonel
of Kentucky cavalry, winning distinction at Buena Vista. He had now
entered the State from Virginia through Pound Gap, and had reached
a strong natural position near Paintville, where he was rapidly
increasing his army, with the intention of raising a sufficient
force--already some five thousand--to operate on General Buell's
flank and to retard his advance into Tennessee. The Forty-second
Ohio, just organized, was in a camp of instruction near Columbus,
Ohio, under its Colonel, James A. Garfield. While there, in
December, he was ordered by General Buell to move his regiment at
once to Catlettsburg, at the mouth of the Big Sandy River, and to
report in person to Louisville for orders.

Starting his regiment eastward, from Cincinnati, Garfield, on the
19th of December, reported to General Buell, who informed him that
he had been selected to command an expedition to drive Marshall
and his forces from Kentucky. That evening Garfield received his
orders, which organized the Eighteenth Brigade of the Army of the
Ohio, and placed him in command. General Buell with these orders
sent a letter of instruction, giving general directions as to the
campaign, leaving all matters of detail and the fate of the expedition,
however, largely to the discretion of the brigade commander. The
latter reached his command on the 24th of December, at Louisa, some
twenty-eight miles up the Big Sandy. He then proceeded to concentrate
his troops, the main body consisting of his own regiment--the
Forty-second Ohio--the Fourteenth Kentucky, and a battalion of Ohio
cavalry under Major McLaughlin, which was with him; but these gave
only some fifteen hundred men for duty.

The next largest portion of his command was stationed at Paris,
Kentucky, under Colonel Cranor, with his regiment, the Fortieth
Ohio, 800 strong. Cranor was ordered to join the main body as
expeditiously as possible, and to bring with him that portion of
Colonel Wolford's Kentucky cavalry stationed at Stanford, consisting
of three small battalions under Lieutenant-Colonel Letcher, and
to report at Prestonburg. The twenty-second Kentucky was ordered
from Maysville, and some three hundred men of that command reported
before Garfield reached Paintville. He was also joined by a battalion
of west Virginia cavalry under Colonel Bolles. After a toilsome
march in mid-winter, Garfield's command, on the 7th of January,
drove Marshall's forces from the mouth of Jenny's Creek, and occupied
Paintville. On the morning of the 9th, Cranor reported with his
command, footsore and exhausted, after a march of over one hundred
miles through the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. At noon of the 9th
Garfield advanced his command to attack Marshall with his cavalry,
pressing the rebels as they fell back. Reaching Prestonburg
some fifteen miles from Paintville, he learned that Marshall was
encamped and fortified on Abbott's Creek. Pushing on to the mouth
of the creek, some three miles below Prestonburg, he there encamped
for the night, a sleety rain adding to the discomfort of the men.
Intending to force the enemy to battle, he ordered up his reserves
under Colonel Sheldon from Paintville, with every available man.
As soon as the morning light enabled the command to move, Garfield
advanced, and soon engaged the rebel cavalry, which was driven in
after a slight skirmish, falling back on the main body some two
miles in the rear, strongly posted on high ground, between Abbott's
Creek and Middle Creek, at the mouth of the latter stream. It was
impossible to tell what disposition Marshall had made for his defence,
owing to the formation of the ground at this point concealing his
troops until our forces drew his fire. Throwing several detachments
forward, the entire command was soon actively engaged. The
engagement lasted for some four hours, commending at about twelve
o'clock. At 4 P.M., the reserves under Sheldon reached the field
of battle, and the enemy was driven from his position. Night coming
on prevented pursuit.

Marshall's command fled down the valley, set fire to their stores,
and pressed forward in rapid retreat to Abington, Va. Garfield
with his command returned to Paintville, where it could receive
supplies. In February he received orders from Buell, directing
him to advance to Piketon, and drive the rebels from that place,
which he did, and later from Pound Gap. This freed Eastern Kentucky
of rebel troops, and relieved the Union men of that section of the
depredations that had been committed on them by the roving bands
of the enemy. The services of Garfield's command were recognized
by Buell, and the thanks of the Commanding General extended to
Garfield and his troops. Shortly after this Garfield received his
commission as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, to date from the
"Battle of Middle Creek."

In the latter part of March General Garfield was ordered to leave
a small force in the Big Sandy Valley, and to report with the rest
of his brigade to General Buell at Louisville.

Chapter II.

Mill Springs.

On September 10, 1861, General Albert Sidney Johnston, who had
resigned the Colonelcy of the Second United States Cavalry to engage
in the service of the Confederacy, was assigned to the command of
the Department of the West, embracing, with a large number of the
Western States, the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. On the 18th
Johnston directed Buckner to occupy Bowling Green, and ordered
Zollicoffer to advance from Knoxville to Cumberland Gap. The rebels,
under General Polk, occupied Columbus, Ky., September 7th, and the
line of operations of the Confederates, under General Johnston,
as then formed, had the Mississippi river at its extreme left,
Cumberland Gap at its extreme right, with Bowling Green as the centre.
With the force at his command, no point in advance of Bowling Green
could have been safely taken by the Confederate general, owing to
the disposition of the Union troops in Kentucky at that time.

As we have seen, Zollicoffer with his command was driven from Rock
Castle Hills and Wildcat, and taking a new position nearer Bowling
Green, encamped at Beech Grove, where he fortified his position.

General Zollicoffer was a civilian appointment, without military
training of any kind. He had been editor of a Nashville paper,
had held a number of minor State offices, and served two terms in
Congress prior to the war. Johnston, in ordering Zollicoffer to
the Cumberland River at Mill Springs, intended that he should occupy
a position of observation merely until he should be re-enforced,
or his troops be incorporated in the main command. He could not
have been located farther west without inviting the advance of
the Federal forces into East Tennessee or to Nashville, flanking
Bowling Green. Zollicoffer had no ability as a soldier to handle
troops, and General George B. Crittenden, of Kentucky, a graduate
of West Point, who had seen service in the Mexican War, and who held
at the outbreak of the rebellion, a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel
in the regiment of Mounted Riflemen, was, in November, assigned
to the command of the district as Major-General, with headquarters
at Knoxville. Great expectations were entertained in regard to
Crittenden's military abilities; and about the first of the year
1862 he assumed command in person of the rebel forces at Beech
Grove. The fact that Zollicoffer had established his camp on the
north side of the Cumberland, "with the enemy in front and the
river behind," was known to Johnston, and information given by him
to Crittenden. General Johnston had written Zollicoffer that the
interest of the service required him simply to watch the river,
and that he could do this better from Mill Springs without crossing
it.

Zollicoffer, however, had crossed the river before he heard from
Johnston, and replied that, while from this letter he inferred that
he should not have done so, it was now too late, as his means of
recrossing were so limited that he could hardly accomplish it in
the face of the enemy. On his reaching the Cumberland with his
command, he had sent forward his cavalry to seize the ferryboats at
Mill Springs. In this they failed, and the crossing was effected on
one ferry-boat, seized lower down, and barges built by his troops.

General Thomas was ordered in November to concentrate his command
in order to be prepared for any movement Zollicoffer might make,
and, if necessary, to attack him in his camp. General Carter with
his brigade was stationed at London, Colonel Hoskins was near
Somerset, and Colonel Bramlette at Columbia, all watching Zollicoffer's
movements, and reporting them to General Thomas, who endeavored to
stop his advance at the Cumberland River. Five hundred of Wolford's
Cavalry were ordered from Columbia to reinforce Colonel Hoskins;
and General Schoepff, with the Seventeenth Ohio, the Thirty-eighth
Ohio, and Standart's battery, to take position on the Cumberland
River at Waitsborough, where he could command the crossing. Here
he was to fortify and guard the river at this point and above and
below, to prevent the enemy from crossing, or from obtaining the
means for doing so.

On December 2d, Zollicoffer, while building his ferries, sent some
troops to shell General Schoepff's camp. A brisk cannonading was
kept up for some time, when the rebels withdrew. Schoepff regarding
this as a feint, and anticipating a movement of Zollicoffer's
troops to cross the river, ordered two companies of cavalry under
Captain Dillon to guard the ford and to give timely notice of any
attempt to effect a crossing. He also ordered the Seventeenth Ohio
with three pieces of artillery and another company of cavalry, all
under the command of Colonel Connell, to support the cavalry under
Dillon. The latter proved wholly incompetent, and failed to comply
with his orders in any particular. He went into camp two miles
in the rear from where he was ordered, and neglected even to post
his men to guard the ford, whereby Zollicoffer was enabled to occupy
the north bank of the Cumberland without opposition and without
Dillon's even knowing that the movement had been made. This was
only discovered on the 4th, when the rebels drove back the Federal
cavalry and attacked Connell, who was advancing on a reconnoissance.
Connell, in ignorance of the movement of the enemy, had reached
the vicinity of the ford and found himself confronted by a strong
force of rebels, who had crossed the river, and who being rapidly
re-enforced rendered his situation one of extreme peril. He
withdrew under cover of the night beyond Fishing Creek, without
being molested. Schoepff, finding that the advance of the rebels
was supported by reinforcements and that Zollicoffer's entire
force was slowly crossing, which would make the enemy's force in
his front largely exceed his own, asked General Carter at London to
reinforce him. He also ordered Colonel Coburn with the Thirty-third
Indiana to move from Crab Orchard to his support; and on the 6th
established his camp in a strong position three miles north of
Somerset, where he was able to command both the Stanford and the
Crab Orchard roads. Here Carter reported with two regiments on
the 9th, Colonel Van Deveer's regiment, the Thirty-fifth Ohio, with
Captain Hewitt's battery having already arrived. On the 8th, the
rebel cavalry crossed Fishing Creek and reconnoitered the Federal
camps. They were fired on by Wolford's cavalry, which then fell
back; and after a brisk skirmish with the Thirty-fifth Ohio they
were driven back with a loss of two or three men on each side.

General Buell had ordered Thomas to keep his immediate command
at Columbia, and had directed him not to send any more troops to
Schoepff at Somerset, considering that the latter had sufficient
force to drive the rebels across the Cumberland. Thomas was directed
to hold himself in readiness to make an immediate movement, when
ordered, from Columbia on the rebel General Hindman, who with some
seven thousand troops was operating in that vicinity, throwing
out his cavalry far in advance of his main column, and feeling
the position of the Federal forces. Hindman had been ordered by
General Johnston to make a diversion in favor of Zollicoffer; and
when Thomas from Columbia checked Hindman's advance, the latter
reported that the force under Thomas had not been weakened to
reinforce Schoepff, or to strengthen the main command at Bowling
Green, and that Zollicoffer was in no immediate danger.

Schoepff with his entire command on the 18th made a reconnoissance
to determine the location and purposes of the rebel force. Pushing
his command forward he drove their cavalry pickets in and found that
Zollicoffer had been intrenching his camp, his line of fortifications
extending from the river to Fishing Creek and his camp being in the
angle formed by the junction of this stream with the Cumberland.
Having accomplished this, and not intending to bring on an engagement,
Schoepff returned with his command to their encampment north of
Somerset.

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