AEMY OPERATIONS. 



ion had been stationed at the University on 

 the Cumberland mountains. The corps moved 

 over the mountains on a line nearly parallel 

 with the Nashville railroad to Stevenson : it 

 crossed the Tennessee river at or near Bridge- 

 port, Alabama, by a pontoon bridge. On the 

 16th, Gen. Johnson's division of Gen McCook'a 

 corps left Tullahoma, and passed through Win- 

 chester on the forenoon of the 17th. Gen. 

 Davis's division followed in the afternoon. Gen. 

 Sheridan's division moved from Oowan on the 

 same day, and joined the rest of the corps at Sa- 

 lem, ten miles from Winchester, on the Hunts- 

 yille road. There the corps moved in col- 

 umn, accompanied by its artillery and baggage, 

 crossing the mountains, and striking the Ten- 

 nessee river at Bellefonte, Alabama, twelve 

 miles east of Stevenson. Gen. Crittenden's 

 corps moved eastward to feel the strength of 

 the enemy, and to cross north of Chattanooga. 

 The front of the entire movement extended 

 from the head of Sequatchie valley in East 

 Tennessee to Athens in Alabama, thus threat- 

 ening the line of the Tennessee river from 

 Whitesburg to Blythe's Ferry, a distance of 

 one hundred and fifty miles. 



On the 26th, a part of Gen. Davis's division 

 crossed at Caperton's Ferry, about six miles 

 below Bridgeport. The remainder of the divis- 

 ion followed in a few days, and also Gen. John- 

 son's division of the same corps ; on the 2d of 

 September, Gen. Sheridan, of the same corps, 

 crossed at Bridgeport, followed by the infantry 

 and artillery of Gen. Brannan's division. Gen. 

 Negley, of Gen. Thomas's corps, crossed at the 

 same time at Caperton's Ferry. By the 8th 

 of September, Gen. Thomas had moved on 

 Trenton in Georgia, having seized Frick's and 

 Stevens's Gaps on the Lookout mountain. 

 Gen. McCook had advanced to Valley Head 

 and taken Winston's Gap, while Gen. Oritten- 

 den had crossed to Wauhatchie, communicat- 

 ing on the right with Gen. Thomas, and threat- 

 ening Chattanooga by the pass over the point 

 of Lookout mountain. The first mountain 

 barrier south of the Tennessee being thus suc- 

 cessfully passed, Gen. Rosecrans decided to 

 threaten the enemy's communication with his 

 right, while the centre and left seized the gaps 

 and the commanding points of the mountains 

 in front. On the 9th, Gen. Crittenden made a 

 reconnoissance which developed the fact that 

 the enemy had evacuated Chattanooga on the 

 day and night previous. The corps of Gen. 

 Crittenden therefore took immediate possession 

 of Chattanooga, which had been the object of 

 the campaign, while Gen. Rosecrans, with the 

 remainder of the army, pressed forward through 

 the difficult passes of the Lookout mountain, 

 apparently directing his march upon Lafayette 

 and Rome. 



At the same time when Gen. Rosecrans com- 

 menced his forward movement on the 16th of 

 August, Gen. Burnside left Camp Nelson in 

 Kentucky for East Tennessee. Gen. Burnside 

 assumed command of the Department of Ohio 



in March. On the 30th of that month, Gen. 

 Gillmore engaged and defeated a large force of 

 the enemy under Gen. Pegram, near Somerset, 

 Kentucky. The other operations which had 

 taken place consisted of an attempted raid in 

 Harrison county, Indiana, from which the en- 

 my were driven back with a loss of fifty -three 

 made prisoners ; a movement under Col. Saun- 

 ders, with two pieces of artillery, the first Ten- 

 nessee cavalry and some detachments from 

 Gen. Carter's command, by which the railroad 

 near Knoxville and the bridges at State creek, 

 Strawberry Plains, and Mossy creek were des- 

 troyed, and ten pieces of artillery, one thou- 

 sand stand of arms, and five hundred prisoners 

 were captured, with a loss of one killed, two 

 wounded, and a few missing ; also the raid of 

 Gen. Morgan into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, 

 which is stated on a previous page. The de- 

 parture of the ninth army corps to reenforce 

 Gen. Grant, delayed somewhat Gen. Burnside's 

 preparations for an active campaign in East 

 Tennessee. The necessity, however, of his 

 cooperating with the movements of Gen. Rose- 

 crans, compelled him to take the .field without 

 awaiting the return of this corps. 



At this time Gen. Buckner was in command 

 of the Confederate forces in East Tennessee, 

 with his headquarters at Knoxville. His force 

 numbered about twenty thousand men, who 

 were not supplied in the best manner with 

 ordnance. This force was sufficient to have re- 

 tarded the progress of Gen. Burnside through 

 either the Cumberland, Big Creek, or Wheeler's 

 Gap in the mountains ; but he avoided that 

 route. Concentrating his forces at Crab Or- 

 chard, on the southerly edge of Lincoln coun- 

 ty, Kentucky, Gen. Burnside prepared for the 

 movement over the mountains. The infantry- 

 were mounted, the cavalry and artillery were 

 furnished with picked horses, and the divis- 

 ion was attended with large droves of packed 

 mules, loaded with commissary stores, in or- 

 der that its movements might not be impeded 

 by the slow progress of wagon trains. On the 

 afternoon of August 21st the march commenced, 

 with Gen. S. P. Carter in the advance. After 

 an advance of thirteen miles, a halt was made 

 at Mt. Vernon, the capital of Rockcastle coun- 

 ty, Ky. On the 23d the march commenced at 4 

 A. M., and was continued over some of the wild- 

 est and most mountainous parts of Kentucky, 

 twenty-six miles, to London. On the next 

 morning the army was in motion toward Wil- 

 liamsburg, the capital of Whitley county, Ky., 

 twenty-nine miles distant. On the 25th there 

 were heavy rains, and no movement was made. 

 On the 26th the movement continued to the 



Elace where the roads from Somerset and Wil- 

 amsburg meet, about four miles beyond the 

 State line, in 13c"ott county, Tennessee. Here 

 the army rested during the 27th and 28th, and 

 was joined by Maj.-Gen. Hartsuff. On the 29th 

 the movement was continued, with the mount- 

 ed brigade of Gen. Shackelford in the advance. 

 At midnight the banks of the New river were 



