, 1866-01-21

from EaTdsfCWu VIII LIB "AotA Ernnk
furt' To- strike the enemy in flank and fcas
ard informed Lin that Nal, Gen Smith W. ~
Whtn :ec:ived ut Ba1a5town, on the Sd, the
General submitted this order, which - mol
mentioned In bis report (sec exhibit no. y 70
= council OF wing and division commanders.
md determined TO movo as o1tgna1'1 III
structed by me on leaving BardstoHn.
Fortunately, notice ot this determination
reached me at Frankfort, In time to Fre1en$
the movement against the enemy's hoos ~
Gen. Smith but 1t nccessitated an enttso
charge In my plans, the Abandonment Of ~
capital, and tho partial uncoyering and uRf
mate loss ofour stores as Lexington NOS
known TO me, existed with the General for
this departure from Instructions, lcunformed
at orce to his movements, and pat General
smtth'a command in motion, to form the
junction further south. still covering tho sup
plies At Lexington as Ia1 81 practicable. Pho
ceeding rapidly to HarTo1sburg myself, ! WAS
met there by Major General Polk, on the 9Th
OF October, with tho head Of the column which
bad marched ntoz1 Rardstown on the 3d. :.
e.-AhRs full and free conference with tho
General my first yiaws remained unchanged;
and ~ he reported To nc at midnight Of the
port from Major General Hariee, at Perry
vile, "shat be did not regard the enemy IN
larre strength near there' {see exhibit No. q,
I received carly on the morning Of the III
the orders to concentrate all the forces In
front OF the depot at Lexington (see exhibit
No. 3. But before this order was put In full
operation, Information was received that the
enemy IN limited force waEpressing upon
General Uardee at Perryville that he Was
NO where concentrated against Us, but WIS
moving by separate columns; his right (see
map herewith marked Az was uear Lebanon,
In fHnY7 xaf u. 1ufk
two entire corps, extending by way Of Macks-
vile to Frankfort, q line Of at least sixty
miles, This presented an opportunity, which
Ipromptly seized, of striking him in datail-
Accordingly written orderst were given to
Ao1. Cen Poll: dated 's Ha5rodsbuFg, october
Cheatham's division. now at Ha1rodsburg,
back to Perryville, and to proceed TO that
point himself, t.attack the enemy Immediate
", rout him, and then move rapidly to join
Maj Gen. Smith," as before ordered and It
was added, "no time should be lost In this
day, had received repeated aud urgent ap-
plicntions from Gen. Smith, (near Fraukfort)
by express, representing. the enemy to be In
strong force in his immediate front, and earu-
estly asking for reinforcements. Accordingly
Withcrs' division had been detached and sent
ton from Perry via1c,) and was far on the way
thtther at tho time when the movement 10
PeTyville was ordered ami this will account
for my being without the benefit Of this dtv1-
sion In the battle which ensued next day at
the latter place.
Major General Polk arrived at Perryvil1e
with Cheatham's Division before midnight Of
the Sth, aud the troops were placed BY Gen.
eral H2rdee In the line Of battle previously
established Our forces now in this position
consisted OF three divisions Of inflntry, abo1t
14.5CO, aud two small bri.ades of caval1J,
Oh At T1fr nff h13
during the evening and night Of the 7th, at
Harrodsburg. which indicated that no attack
could be made on General Smiths command
the next day, and Immediately changed my
purpose to Join him, and determined to 70 to
Perfyyille- From uuolllcial sources, I was
led to fear the existence Of serious nisappre-
heusion in regard to the position and strength
OF the enemy's forcas near Perryville, as well
Us to the location of our supplies supposed to
be at Bryantsville, when, ID truth, but two
days ra.ions tor the army had yet reached
that Point. .
Having ordered the attack, sand TINT no
time should be lost, was concerned at not
hearing the commencement Of the engagement
early In the morning, but Was much relieved
for the time hy receiving from General Polk
note. dated PesTyviile, = a. M, Sth October,
informing nc that the enemy's pickets COM
meHced tring at day break, and that he should
bring on the engagement vigorously. (See ex-
hiEit No. s..
To my surprise, however, no gun was heard,
and On my arrival, about 10 a M, was in
formed that 1t was determined not to attack,
but to assume the "deIenstye offensive" After
a TASTY Reconnaissance and consultation. or
ders were given for some changes deemed
necessary IN the line Of battle, q portion of 1t,
being withdrawn, was restored, and Major
General Polk WIS ordered to bring on the en-
gagement- impatient Mt tho delay after this
order, despatched staff officer TO repeat it
IN the EArAra1 anf4 sf11n fharpof4nr r f,,i1ouatt
In person, and put the troops In notion
Maj, Gen. Buell., commanding the forcea
there in our immediate front, In bis official re-
port, says: II had somewhat expected an
attack early In the morning on Gilbert's corps,
while 1t was Isolated" Those delays had
postponed the action until 1t was now past
noon, and a second corps Of the enemy lis ,O0O)
lad reaehed the field.
/, The generu1 officers at the meeting about
daylight, tsee Gen. Polk's report,) who re-
solved on this delay, must have acted without
correct Information, md In ignorance TINT my
orders, were urgent aud Imperative for the
attack, moreover, was within an hours
ride and was not eonsulted or informed.
I The action having at length commenced.
was fought by our troops with ga!iantry
which the enemy confd not resist; and though
he was l1rgc1y more thnn two to one own, he
'was driven from the Held with terrible loss.
Night closed the operation Just rs third
CORPS Of the enemy threw the ESaA Of its COL
umns aeainst our LEFT funk We had entire
# the enemy's killed and wounded. sesero1
batteries Of artillery, md six hundred pris-
oners. For the details Of this actlbn, 60
crelltable TO our arms, refer to the reports
Of subordinate commanders, herewith ior-
warded- In tho progress Of the engagement,
We had advanced so iar as to expose our left
flank to the third corps, Just arrived from the
direction Of Lebanon. I, therefore, caused r
our line, which rested upon the field till mid
night, to fall back to its original position.
his three eor?s against us, and finding that
cur loss had already been quite heavy in the
unequal contest against two, gave tbs or
der to fall back at daylight On Horrodsbmg,
and sent Instructions TO Major General Smith
to move big command to form a junction
the enemy battle, which he declined, aud
moved 10 possess himself OF my line, to-
ward Cumberland Gap, Ny whole force was
accordingly retired on tho l1th, ! upon
BEyantsviilc- Here the enemy again de-
sI,t slinst t9 2 ADVANCE .hn nron ne bat occupied
mills and other sources, from which We
drew our only supply of hreadstutEs. Thsre
was no accumulation 0fthts essential article at
nny POINT except at Lexington, which had
been now lost, though the country afforded
an immenaity Of grain. The Necessary con-
tion from the small country mills impractlca-
bic, and our supply was reduced to only four
ttlnys' ratfons- 10 attack and rout an enemy
largely superior in numbers flor simply to
cripple him would not suflcel or to evcauatc
the country In which we could no longer sub
sist, became now m imperative necessity.
Moreover, WIS Informed that still another
force was moving on my right Hank from
Cincinnati, In addition 10 the overwhelming
one with which was already contending.
preaching; the rough and uneven roads lead
ing over The stapenlous mountains OF East
eTn Tennessee md Kentucky, to, and trou.l12H5t
Cumberland Gap, would then become utterly
impossible to m ar1ny. Should I remain till :,
then, and meet with reverse, tho army
would be lost. Had the foregoing consider.~
tons permitted doubt to remain In my mind,
Us 10 the course Of dnty, it would have been
entirely removed upon the receipt of the in
telligence OF our disasters In North Mi4sis-
sippi, by which the whole country in our
rear was left open to the enemy's victorious
forces there: Accordingly, all necessary ar-
motion by two columns, under MaJor Gcner-
als Polk aud Smith, On the 18th Of October,
for Cumberland Gap Alter q rapid march,
with some privations In the absence of bag
gnge trims, which had been sent ahead, We
The 18th to the 2Ath Of October.
The column Of Nal. Gen. Polk was vtgor-
ously pursued by the enemy for several days,
but Was 80 successfully projected by the cay
airy, under the admirable management OF
Colouels Wheeler and Wharton, that but
little annoyance was felt.
Though compelled to yield to largely supc-
rior numbers md fortultous circumstances, 4
portion of the valuaLle territory from which
ne had driven the enemy, ths fruits of the
campaign were very lnrge, and hive had & >
military operations hero and elsewhere.
With force enabling rs at no time to put
more thau forty thousand men OF all aftus> :.
and in all places In battle, we had redeemed
North Alabama and Middle Tennessee, and !,
n csvered possession Of Cumberland Gap, the
gateway to the heart Of the ConfedcEacy..
We had killed: wounded and captured no less