ARMY OPERATIONS. 



147 



ville, and the valley of the Sequatchie hefore 

 it was assuredly ascertained where he intended 

 to strike his blow. It was expected that Nash- 

 ville was the point he desired to reach, hut 

 subsequent movements soon made it evident 

 that was not the projected point of attack. 

 Finally despatches to Gen. Bragg were inter- 

 cepted, which proved conclusively that Louis- 

 ville in Kentucky was the point toward which 

 the Confederate strategy was directed. This 

 was to be effected by forced marches of the 

 Confederate force without supplies, subsisting 

 on the country, and reaching the city when 

 in a condition unprepared for defence. It was 

 then intended to destroy the canal around the 

 falls of the Ohio, to seize all the public stores, 

 and to hold the city, under the impression that 

 the Federal army would make no effort to re- 

 cover it, for fear of injuring it by a bombard- 

 ment. 



While Gen. Bragg made his way slowly to- 

 ward the Cumberland river, which he struck at 

 Carthage, Gen. Buell was on his left flank, at 

 Lebanon, guarding against his approach to the 

 city of Nashville. The. march of Gen. Bragg 

 was commenced on the 21st of August, as above 

 stated, and all the way he was felt by Gen. 

 Buell, whose object was to guard the railroad 

 as much as possible, and allow his enemy to 

 get no distant start of him. All this time Gen. 

 Buell was drawing his supplies from the depots, 

 collecting at Nashville and Bowling Green ; but 

 Gen. Bragg was warmly received in many 

 places, and bountifully supplied by friends. 

 Gen. Buell harassed his rear as long as pos- 

 sible, shelled him out of "Woodsonville, and ford- 

 ed the Green river and drove him out of Mun- 

 fordsville, and followed him along the turnpike 

 road from Nashville to Louisville, until the 

 road through Hodgenville to the east was 

 reached, into which Gen. Bragg's forces defiled. 

 It was evident from the movement of Gen. 

 Bragg that he was hurrying ia a direction in 

 which he expected to find Gen. E. K. Smith, 

 Gen. Humphrey Marshall, and Col. Morgan 

 with their forces, with whom he could unite 

 and make a combined attack on Louisville. 

 Gen. Buell, however, was forced by the need 

 of supplies to move directly to the city, around 

 which his army encamped. 



The chief object of this Confederate move- 

 ment upon the State of Kentucky was to obtain 

 supplies of meat. There were more hogs and 

 cattle in the State available for general con- 

 sumption, two of three to one, than were left 

 in all the South besides. The grain growing 

 and provision raising country which stretched 

 from the Potomac at Harper's Ferry to Mem- 

 phis, on the Mississippi, was now exhausted of 

 its provisions. Much of the productive por- 

 tions of North Carolina, and of the Gulf States, 

 were also exhausted, and a general scarcity ex- 

 isted. Wheat was two dollars and a half per 

 bushel in the heart of a fine wheat country, and 

 cattle sold for seven cents gross per pound in the 

 chief cattle-raising region of the/ whole South. 



Pork could not be had at an advance of four 

 hundred per cent. At the same time it was 

 thought that a powerful force might secure 

 the State to the Southern Confederacy. 



On the 18th of September Gen. Bragg issued 

 the following address to the people of the 

 State: 



GLA6GOW, KT., September 18, 1862. 



Kentuckians ! I have entered your State with the 

 Confederate army of the West, and offer you an oppor- 

 tunity to free yourselves from the tyranny of a despotic 

 ruler. We come, not as conquerors or despoilers, but 

 to restore to you the liberties of which you have been 

 deprived by a cruel and relentless foe. We come to 

 guarantee to all the sanctity of their homes and altars; 

 to punish with a rod of iron the despoilers of your 

 peace, and to avenge the cowardly insults to your 

 women. With all non-combatants the past shall be 

 forgotten. Needful supplies must be had for my army, 

 but they shall be paid for at fair and remunerating 

 prices. 



Believing that the heart of Kentucky is with us in 

 our great struggle for Constitutional Fre"edom,we have 

 transferred from our own soil to yours, not a band of 

 marauders, but a powerful and well-disciplined army. 

 Your gallant Buckner leads the van. Marshall is on 

 the right, while Breckinridge, dear to us as to you, is 

 advancing with Kentucky's valiant sons, to receive the 

 honor and applause due to their heroism. The strong 

 hands which in part have sent Shiloh down to history, 

 and the nerved arms which have kept at bay fronrour 

 own homes the boastful army of the enemy, are here 

 to assist, to sustain, to liberate you. Will you remain 

 indifferent to our call, or will you not rather vin- 

 dicate the fair fame of your once free and envied 

 State? We believe that you will, and that the mem- 

 ory of your gallant dead who fell at Shiloh, their faces 

 turned'homeward, will rouse you to a manly effort for 

 yourselves and posterity. 



Kentuckians ! We have come with joyous hopes. 

 Let us not depart in sorrow, as we shall if we find you 

 wedded in your choice to your present lot. If you 

 prefer Federal rule, show it by your frowns, and we 

 shall return whence we came. If you choose rather to 

 come within the folds of our brotherhood, then cheer 

 us with the smiles of your women, and lend your will- 

 ing hands to secure you in your heritage of liberty. 



Women of Kentucky ! Your persecutions and heroic 

 bearing have reached our ear. Banish henceforth, for- 

 ever, from your minds the fear of loathsome prisons or 

 insulting visitations. Let your enthusiasm have free 

 rein. Buckle on the armor of your kindred, your hus- 

 bands, sons, and brothers, and scoff with shame him 

 who would prove recreant in his duty to you, his coun- 

 try, and his God. BRAXTON BRAGG, 



General Commanding. 



From Munfordsville the Confederate force 

 moved toward Bardstown, Glasgow, and the 

 central part of the State. Thence guerillas 

 in large and small bands scoured almost every 

 other portion, penetrating in various places to 

 the Ohio river, and even making dashes to 

 within four or five miles of Louisville. Every 

 day, during which they continued these oper- 

 ations, was estimated to afford them a gain of 

 a hundred thousand dollars, and to bring a loss 

 to the loyal people of at least two hundred 

 thousand. Everything which could be of use 

 to the army or to the Southern people was 

 seized. Hundreds of drovers almost daily took 

 away horses, cattle, and hogs, and almost in- 

 terminable trains were hauling away bacon, 

 pork, and all kinds of breadstuff's. Regarding 

 kentucky as belonging to the Confederacy, 



