ARMY OPERATIONS. 



67 



attempting to escape. Meantime Col. ^Fitch, 

 learning the facts, pushed forward with his regi- 

 meut and carried the works at the point of the 

 bayonet. They consisted of two batteries, the 

 lower of which mounted six field pieces, and the 

 upper one three heavy siege guns. About thirty 

 prisoners were taken, among whom was Col. 

 Frye, commanding the post. This expedition 

 failed to open communication with Gen. Curtis, 

 as has been heretofore stated. 



The military operations in Tennessee, which 

 finally controlled the movements of the Missis- 

 sippi river expedition, had paused after the 

 capture of Nashville, as above described, but 

 were soon resumed again. The first step con- 

 sisted in fitting out a great expedition to pro- 

 ceed under Gen. Grant up the Tennessee river. 

 More than fifty-seven steamers and two gun- 

 boats were required to transport and convoy 

 the force. It was organized in five divisions, 

 each consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artil- 

 The advance was under the command 

 of Gen. Sherman, 2d division under Gen. Hurl- 

 but, 3d division under Gen. McClernand, 4th 

 division under Gen. L. 'Wallace, 5th division 

 under Col. Lanman of the Vth Iowa regiment. 

 On the llth of March the transports began to 

 arrive at Savannah in Tennessee. On the night 

 of the 12th the Tyler and Lexington were sent 

 up the river to reconnoitre as far as Eastport, 

 forty miles above Savannah. The enemy was 

 found constructing fortifications and with a con- 

 siderable force. It was known that the Confed- 

 erate forces were also concentrated along the 

 lines of railroad south and southwest of the 

 river. 



The line of defence now adopted by the 

 Confederate commander after his first line was 

 broken up, had for its base the Charleston and 

 Memphis railroad, the preservation of which 

 was absolutely necessary to any pretence of 

 resistance through northern Mississippi, Ala- 

 bama, and Georgia. Along this railroad are 

 Tuscumbia and Florence at the foot of the 

 Muscle shoals in the Tennessee river and the 

 junction with the Florence and Nashville rail- 

 road; Decatur near the head of the lower 

 Muscle shoal; Huntsville and Bellefontaine ; 

 Stevenson, important as the junction with the 

 railroad from Nashville through Murfreesboro' 

 and Chattanooga, a strong position. All these 

 points are east of Corinth. On the west of 

 Corinth the railroad runs in a nearly straight 

 line to Memphis, ninety-three miles distant; 

 and northwest runs the road to Jackson, almost 

 in the centre of west Tennessee.* 



The Union line was the Tennessee river, ex- 

 tending from Paducah, Kentucky, to Eastport 

 in Mississippi. The gunboats Lexington and Ty- 



* The distances of these places along the line of the 

 Memphis and Charleston railroad areas follows : From Mem- 

 phis to Germantown, 15 miles: to Collierville, 24; Lafayette, 

 31; Moscow, 39; La Grange. 49; Grand Junction, 52; Sanlg- 

 bury, 58 ; Middleton, 69 ; Pocahontas, T5 ; Corinth, 93 ; Burns, 

 107 ; luka, 115 ; Tuscumbia, 145 ; Jonesboro, 163; Decatur. 1SS ; 

 Huntsville, 212; Bellefonte, 269; Stevenson. 272; Chatta- 

 nooga, 309. 



ler, by moving np and down the river, prevented 

 the erection of batteries. Above Eastport, at 

 Chickasaw Bluff's and at some other points, Con- 

 federate batteries were placed to command the 

 navigation of the river. 



On the 5th of March, Gen. Beauregard as- 

 sumed the command of the Confederate forces 

 in this department, when he issued the follow- 

 ing address to his soldiers : 



HEADQUABTEBS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, | 

 JACKBOX, TESN., March 5. J 



SOLDIERS : I assume this day the command of the 

 army of the Mississippi, for the defence of our home- 

 steads and liberties, and to resist the subjugation, 

 spoliation, and dishonor of our people. Our mothers 

 and wives, our sisters and children, expect us to do 

 our duty, even to the sacrifice of our lives. 



Our losses since the commencement of this war, in 

 killed, wounded, and prisoners, are now about the 

 same as those of the enemy. 



He must be made to atone for the reverses we have 

 lately experienced. Those reverses, far from disheart- 

 ening, must nerve us to new deeds of valor and patriot- 

 ism, and should inspire us with an unconquerable de- 

 termination to drive oack our invaders. 



Should any one in this army be unequal to the task 

 before us, let him transfer his arms and equipments at 

 nee to braver, firmer hands, and return to his home. 



Our cause is as just and sacred as ever animated 

 men to take up arms; and if we are true to it and to 

 ourselves, with the continued protection of the Al- 

 mighty we must and shall triumph. 



G. T. BEAUREGARD, 



General Commanding. 



Associated with Gen. Beauregard in com- 

 mand were Gens. Albert Sidney Johnston, 

 Bragg, Polk, Pillow, Cheatham, and others. 

 The Confederate force consisted not only of the 

 troops from the adjacent States which had 

 been in service for months, but also of new lev- 

 ies now called out by the governors on the re- 

 quisition of President Davis. They were en- 

 camped principally at Corinth, with detach- 

 ments at various points on the railroad, so sit- 

 uated that they could be easily concentrated on 

 any point 



Corinth is at the intersection of the Mobile 

 and Ohio and Memphis and Charleston rail- 

 roads, in Tishemingo county, Mississippi, forty 

 miles from Grand Junction, fifty-eight miles 

 from Jackson, Tennessee, and about eighteen 

 miles from Pittsburg on the Tennessee river. 

 It is situated in a hilly, semi-mountainous 

 country. 



The Federal forces at first concentrated at 

 Savannah, a small town of two hundred inhabi- 

 tants, on the Tennessee river, about one hun- 

 dred and seventy miles above Fort Henry. 

 The number of transports which arrived by the 

 13th of March, was eighty-two. This force 

 comprised all of Gen. Grant's original com- 

 mand, with an additional force of infantry, 

 almost entirely from the State of Ohio. All 

 the steamers that formed the regular line of 

 packets between Louisville and New Orleans 

 and between Louisville and St. Louis, were in 

 the fleet, carrying from 1200 to 1500 men each, 

 and heavily laden. The demonstrations of the 

 inhabitants along the shore of the river were of 

 the most extravagant character. One declared 



