ARMY OPERATIONS. 



129 



burg, and also appointed him to the command 

 of the forces in the field in Tennessee. Before 

 information was received in reply from Gen. 

 Grant, who was at New Orleans, Gen. Hooker 

 was on the 23d of September sent to Tennessee, 

 in command of the eleventh and twelfth corps 

 of the Army of the Potomac, which were de- 

 tached for that object. They were assigned to 

 protect Gen. Eosecrans's line of communication 

 from Bridgeport to Nashville. 



On the 18th of October, Gen. Grant, having 

 arrived at Louisville, Ky., assumed command 

 of the Departments of Tennessee, Cumberland 

 and Ohio, by order of the President. Major- 

 Gen. G. II. Thomas was placed in the immedi- 

 ate command of the Department of the Cum- 

 berland, and Maj.-Gen. W. T. Sherman in that 

 of the Department of Tennessee. Gen. Eose- 

 crans was relieved. Gens. McCook and Crit- 

 tenden were ordered to Cincinnati, and their 

 corps consolidated into one. 



At this time the army was at Chattanooga, 

 which is situated in a bend of the Tennessee 

 river. The flanks rested on its banks the 

 right at Chattanooga creek, near the base of 

 Lookout mountain, and the left at Citico creek. 

 The picket lines followed these two creeks for 

 a distance, and then passed across the low 

 grounds between, which lie also between the 

 foot of Missionary ridge and the high grounds 

 about the town upon which the defensive 

 works were constructed. These works were 

 connected by a strong lino of rifle pits. Be- 

 hind this line and around the town the greater 

 portion of the army was bivouacked, for very 

 little camp equipage was to be had. This was 

 the only point held by a Federal force south 

 of the river, while the north side was occupied 

 entire, with troops stationed to guard the points 

 above. The base of the army at Chattanooga 

 was at Stevenson and Bridgeport, and was sup- 

 plied from depots at Louisville and Nashville 

 by a single track of railroad. The south side 

 of the river from Lookout mountain to Bridge- 

 port was in possession of the enemy, and trie 

 river road on the north side was rendered im- 

 passable by their sharpshooters stationed on 

 the opposite bank. It was thus necessary to 

 bring all supplies to the army over a distance 

 of fifty or sixty miles, taking the road from 

 Bridgeport up the Sequatchie valley, over the 

 mountains into the Anderson road, thence to 

 Chattanooga. The Tennessee was crossed by 

 pontoon bridges, constructed from such ma- 

 terials as the forest and the town could afford. 

 The storms rendered the roads nearly impas- 

 sable, and the army was in danger of star- 

 vation. 



Gen. Hooker had arrived at Bridgeport with 

 the eleventh and a portion of the twelfth corps, 

 and Gen. Sherman was on the route from Mem- 

 phis. The first movement was to open the 

 river, and secure a shorter land communication 

 with the base. For this purpose the boats for 

 a new pontoon bridge were filled with armed 

 men at Chattanooga, and floated down in the 

 VOL. in. 9 A 



night past Lookout Point, to a place known as 

 Brown's Ferry, where they landed on the south 

 side of the river and took possession of two 

 hills, after only a slight skirmish with the picket 

 at the point of landing, and a feeble resistance 

 from a brigade of infantry and regiment of cav- 

 alry stationed in the valley beyond the hills. 

 The boats then crossed the river, and brought 

 over more troops to hold possession, by whom 

 a bridge was immediately constructed, about 

 nine hundred feet in length, in five hours. The 

 distance between this bridge and the one at 

 Chattanooga was one and a half mile by land, 

 and about eight miles by water. On the next 

 day, Gen. Hooker crossed the river at Bridge- 

 port, and moved up, uniting with the force at 

 Brown's Ferry. This opened the river, the 

 road to Kelly's Ferry, and the direct road to 

 Bridgeport, as well as the river road on the 

 north side around the bend. This successful 

 movement is thus explained by a spectator in 

 the camp of the enemy : 



The enemy were several miles distant, and the 

 smoke of their bivouac fires resting above the tree 

 tops indicated a halt. Subsequently the column re- 

 sumed its motion, and during the afternoon the long, 

 dark, thread-like line of troops became visible, slowly 

 wending their way in the direction of Chattanooga. 

 On Lookout Peak, gazing down upon the singular 

 spectacle a coup dftx.il which embraced in curious 

 contrast the beauties of nature and the achievements 

 of art, the blessings of peace and the horrors of war 

 were Gens. Bragg, Longstreet, and others, to whom 

 this bold venture of the enemy opened at once new 

 vistas of thought and action. Infantry, artillery, and 

 cavalry, all glided silently by, like a procession offan- 

 tocini in a panorama, until, among all the " sundown's 

 sumptuous pictures " which glowed around us, there 

 was not one like that of the great, fresh, bustling camp, 

 suddenly grown into view, with its thousand twinkling 

 lights, its groups of men and animals, and its lines ot 

 white-topped wagons, now strung like a necklace of 

 pearls around the bosom of the hills. The Federals 

 had succeeded in effecting a junction with the army of 

 Chattanooga. 



The question which naturally arises is, why did not 

 Gen. Bragg throw his army in front of the advancing 

 columns and check the movement? The answer is 

 in the shape of one of those stolid facts which even 

 strategy cannot always stir. On Monday night, Gen. 

 Thomas or perhaps Grant, for he is now in Chatta- 

 nooga crossed a force of six thousand men, first over 

 the Tennessee at the edge of the town, then over the 

 neck of laud known as the Moccasin, and finally over the 

 river again at Brown's Ferry, in rear of Chattanooga, 

 where, after a brief skirmish with one of our regiments, 

 they took possession of the hills and commenced the 

 work of fortification. Simultaneously with this move- 

 ment, a column at Bridgeport, consisting of the eleventh 

 corps, Gen. Howard, and twelfth corps, Gen. Slocum, 

 the whole under command of Gen. Joe Hooker, started 

 up the valley. 



Under these circumstances, an interposition of our 

 forces across the valley would in the first place have 

 required the transfer of a considerable portion of our 

 army from the east to the west side of Lookout moun- 

 tain, thereby weakening GUI' line in front of Chatta- 

 nooga, while the enemy reserved his strength ; sec- 

 ondly, it would have necessitated a fight on both our 

 front and rear, with the flanks of the Federals pro- 

 tected by the mountains ; and, finally, had we been 

 successful, a victory would only have demoralized two 

 corps of the Yankee army, without at all influencing^ 

 the direct issue involved iu the present investment ot 

 Chattanooga. 



Gen. Longstreet, however, who from the peak had 



