, 1863-11-12

.
Bu1nafde attempted to do at Fredericksburg;
Ct be could Cross the liver thirty miles be.
1ow, and though some exceedingly difficult
pastes In Lookout Mountain turn the en-
emy'a dsnk--a movement that boro some r.
semb]ance to Hooker>s movement at Chan
cellorsvf1le. In other words, he had citherto
fight the enemy out Of Chattanooga By an at
tack In front, Or to maneuver him out by .
flank : movement, and then dghthao o,en roy IN.
It is precisely On this point that the public
has utterly failed to understand the true
nature and object Of the battle Of Chlcka.
Rosserans, 81 ! 5kiiifai aa flanE movement @ sa.
took Chattanooga and might there havo rest.
ed; but that he got ambitious Of further
laure1s, WIS intoxicated By his easy success.
became - rash as he had befo7e been eau.
tieqa, rnshed impetuously ahead, mas caught
back with a very bloody head that bis own
ino1seletton had secured him.
Ihe: tfuth Is that Gen. Roaeerans never
really held Chattanooga until after that bat
le-that be had to fight chickampuga to get
Let me explain as briefly as can. The
army was thrown acroes the river eome thirty
mt1e5 beloW Chattanooga. Between it and The
rebel position stretched. Lookout Mountain, a
perpendicular wall Of limestone, which no
Wheel could cross. The mountain iute up
o6AA1L ane lAfe1s tHo nuek peloM Chats
nooga, leaving o narrow pass by the river
bank, through which the lailroad runs. r.
haTe attempted to march up to Chattanooga
through this pass would hAve been madness,
!, Nevertheless it Mns the quickest way TO ret
int tnto the RlaeeIif The rebels would only get
Twenty or thirty miles out from the river
tain, twenty miles further. was the second,
TIE reader who fixes the location Of these
gaps has Gen. Roeecraus' plan in = tnomeat,
He placed Crltenden's corps ncar the river,
At the foot of the mountain, ready to march
Fight np through the railrcad pass and 80
should leave It,. Thomas corps he sent out
along themountdn to the first gap, and nc.
Cooks to the second, With INSTRUCTION. to
cross over IS soon as possible. The moment
The heaas Of their columns began to debouch
tain haenemy saw his danger. Theremaiaed
In Chattanooga wewere On his line Of sup
plies and sonth Of him. &c evacuated at
once, Fastening south eastward to Lafayette.
Crittenden, quietly lying fen miles down
the river, OF course marched up through the
dangerous with the enemy go1e-and occu-
pied the deserted stronghold. .:fs
Hnt did this gtye RcBecrans Chattanooga?
LIE held 1t very much as stEaggler, Who
should happen to get around to an enemy's
Of communications: He had bnt . eing1e
corps there, which the enemy couId crush at
any time. Henceforth his whole effort WAS
directed to getting hia other two corps Into
Chattanooga 30 that he could re-unite his
army before fight, and hold the poaition. It
Eas z trying to do this that ohlckamauga was
Crlttenden Was not strong enough to hold
Chattannoga, 60 he Taa moTed southwark
not, as the public. supposed, In pursuit Of
Brogg :. but to get nearer the rest q the army,
i5 sisy s sEsns B,9f go, McSSk sn M s tS
still fronting the enemy at Lafayette, were to
close up, moving BY the left flank on Citizen
den. Then the whole army, continuing the
Left flank N moEement, was to tty to slip side
wise into Chattanooga, for the enemy Was
known to be heavily reinforced. 1mmedi-
ately after crossing The river Gen. Rosecrans
had telegraphed here, II have repeatedly told
you that the enemy can reinforce himself at
will, and that he viii be o great fool II he
does not 70 do "4 It" T., i rs now certain that he
McCook was twenty miles beyond Thomas,
Thirty hours, or at most two days, we're al.
lowed him to reach Thomaa's position. Had
he performed the march in the time expected,
| C1ickamauga would not have been fought,
md the army would have got safely into
18th; By tho evening Of the 18th he ehonld
have Joined Themas Khile it WAS not till the
10th tAat Bragg Issued his general order from
Lafayette, announcing to The army that it
was heavily reinforced, and ordering an ad-
vance "to teek the Enemy" But, instead Of
s 1osD4 rs a1seet.s uoma tae psain mountAn
toaus IooA3 ny L. aoott. :soms unacGountao!e
lutely went back oTer the road By which he
hsd crossed Lookout Mountain, went down
the valley to the gap through which Thomas
nau u.s s'os ~ T. nna ~ ~ " .ms 1ouaaaoous
ton1s H Me ao! 'n gn fn, tn9maA cotps! consnmiog
nse asJs taslea3 Mt o. dant5 nonfs n ,enectna y
o. 81 lug amy. az oIe nos Ieaen !aomas ~
the Xxi, P5pa fad i.sneS h1s - nriera ~ ID
| vance. ana Iha reinfnrred enemv nrea.1nc
forward and closing in, had already compelled
RokecTans to bring Clittendeu still flrthel
aWay from Chattanooga, and clear up K
Ihomas' left, to eaye both corps from ami
hilation in detail;
started TIE army for chattanooga, but 1t wa
too late. Tbs enemy struck the head Of biz
column rear RossTille on the 18th, and Chick
amauga followed. Technically It wss 3 de
feat, but Gen. Roaecrane still accomplished
his prrpoee-he got big urmy into Cha1tanoo
than had been anticipated. II he lost the bat
tie, be still won the campaign. And cam
pa1gns axe bigger than battles.
1.baTc been Thus particular In tracing til,
| upEJA11QuH plfEEQ1QK 1T0aGcluR LQlCkA
. manga; both because 1t Is proper to correc
. la1te impre salons as to the reasons 1hy tn
battle was fought, and because those false i'm
p1essions had their effect In increasing tn
: War Departments dissatiEfaction with Gen
Ro:ec1aos' management. Until recently tn
see1 fhcts hare not bsen underhtood here
ard me Depa1tmenf, sharing In the publ
impression that the battle was an impruden
act Of IN oFer-pludent man, grown snddenl.
amnluons OF greatcr tf1umphs, and rendered
ioolIardy oy ms easy success, went as mucl
1nItheI than me .Fnbilc In its condemnation
as us o3sposalo9 70 condemn LED been Hor
aroused py previous caoees.
LEAVING TILE ARMY III TIE CRISIS or pArTLl
FOR TIE REAR.
4. But the dIssati.tsctiou on this score wa
,Jght cnmnsrfd viii whst T ~ now % naIne =. I IL :
fan,th and mora immediate rra.or; fnr ~ +, +,
remoTaiEGen.: Rceecrans' voluntary se nar,
!: fien. from his Chief nf Stsfi Mt tba crisgs =
the h.tt7e and f,is rrtir3nv Il st.mredeJ :, =
a denaYfment offlcers ara w6nt fo ny9ress + +
f,hntfannova. while the staff ofi1ce1. in rists
~ rressfnH forward tn fha front ria sccre
J ta1v Of War il nndenstood tn h,ve eone :
! far' in sneaEfnr Of fbis. as ia ienonnce # a
m act 81 abs6l1,te cowan1iet, None Of n
Thoremtmber t1e brilliant neraonai SrareT AZ r
niGad az nav a1, trnyhsnt hstt,aaa. ~ sl'S
thIs war. can AL to ree1et Tint anV ana sfon1
haTe NO faa roIgo1te5 himself ana 1or1otte
Tie hsooSv recnrde n onr eia1v ma NJ r. Sarhc
, snch an rnvnrthv t1,onpht 7or ~ fnstant In
- r.nnot hs wnn3ereS that Cen Rneec1,an, M
. unfortunate and inrrn,tcah1e ronrse sfnn1
have finIshed fhe wofk fhe nrsyinn. irr,ta
ton had hepnn. ::
-s,1 u ~ .a.on.xo. it,.
n q Weod t1as aee1