Buchanan County bulletin and guardian., 1867-01-15

! department
Rosecrans also turned his attention to the
forti6cation Of Murfreesboro. with the oh.
iect Of making il a secure base Of supplies
for further operations. 1t is worthy Of noie
that these for,ifcatians we're long afierwari
made available in defeating an effort of Hood
to obtain possession Of this important point,
while operating agains, Nashville.
A, the battle of Stone River the two o..
mics we're nearly equal in numbers, and the
result Of tha; conflict had not created such
disparity as TO Justify operations agaius,
the enemy, after his having fortified a, Tal-
lahoma, without an increase Of our own
force. Rosecrans repeatedly appealed for
re-enforcemenis. but in marked contrast with
its uniform response TO like requests from
Grant and Sherman, the Government, re.
fused to furnish more than barely suffieien,
to make good recen, losses. while at the
same time il repeatedly urged forward
movemen; in contrariiy to the Judgment OF
Rosecrans. who aloue understood the OBJ.
staces TO be overcome. 1t vas At this pc.
rioi that the sharp correspondence" often
referred IN, occurred between Rosecrans
and the War Depar; ment. the latter constant.
" urging an activity which would al that
time have heen rendered hazardous without
that material support whichit was unwilling
to accord. This implied der ,ra'ion of the
Judgment Of Rosecrans naturally irriiated
him and drew ont those positive utierances
for which be has been uneharitably blamed.
1t was from no indisposition to advance tina,
Rosecrans remained at Murfreesboro for
nearly six months, but from thorough ap.
preciaiion Of those difficulties to be over
come which the War Department persistent
ly ignored. The moment Bragg's army Was
so reduced by the sending of several bri-
gades south IS to render il no longer forms
idable. Rosecrans commenced preparations
TO move forward.
II is 10 the splendid executive ability dis
PLAYED by Roseerans in this campaign tha,
We desire to call especial attention. l, is
comparatively easy TO direct the movements
Of an army over good roads. in fair weather.
with no enemy in front TO obsiruct and re.
tard the march bu, one of the mos. essen
tial as well as rarest attributes of the com,
mander is called into exercise. when direct.
ly the opposite contingencies suddenly arise.
He is great field commander who, when
his well.laid plans of campaign are sudden
ly thwar:ed while in the very mids, ofexecu-
ton. can promptly change and conform
them to the new and unexpected condition
Of affairs, so as TO bring about precisely the
same results as orisanly contemplated. The
Tullahoma compaign was a remarkable ex.
ample ofthis character. The weather during
the spring and earlier part of June had been
unusually dry, and upon the very june morn
ing the army took up its willing march for
Tulahoma, the sun rose in splendor and
promised delightful weather; hut before
noon the clouds gathered and drizzly
rain SET in. The army was marched in de.
tached columns upon several different roads,
which werr separated miles from each other,
and affected differently BY the rain. As the
soft eanh became filed with moisture, the
heavy wheels Of the artillery in many places
sank to the hubs and became almost immov
able; baggage wagons required double
teams TO drag hem from the mir whole
columns were detained bv the continued
distractions, and VIA, had promised to be
an almost unobs'rucfed progress, became
suddenly encountered with serious difficulties
In addition to this, the enemy bad fortified
the defles through which the various roads
passed, and delay Of many hours occurred
before be could be thoroughly dislodged.
The rain poured down in torrents. night and
day, until the streams rose 10 food height and
further progress seemed almost impossible.
Yet all this combination Of misfor,unes did
not seem 10 disconcer Rosecrans in the
least. With the readiness Of master be
modified his plans to meet the changed pos
ture Of affairs, and that whole army, scatter
ed over hundreds ofsquare miles Of territory,
as If By magic Was made to conform to
new line Of operations without a single
clash. The elimination of the original
plan was to he q Simultaneous attack upon
Tullahoma from three sides. This end was
kept in view. and the movements designed
to accomplish it resulted precisely as tie
commander had wished. So perfect was
his newly elaborated plan. that, al,hough
several days later than was originally ron.
templiated, vet the three columns Of the
army, approaching by different roads. arriv-
ed upon three different sides Of the fortifica>
tons Of Tullahoma within one hour Of each
other. II is trre that Bragg had just
abandoned his Notifications and was 1yngin
hot haste for the Cumberland Mountains /;
but the skilful generalship which could
thus readily master the very elements and
successfully accomplish tbe'end sought after.
in spite Of every unapected obstacle, marks
Rosecrans.as one Of our greatest field CON-
manders.
II il well known that Bragg fell behind
the Tennessee River as the result Of the
Thus far the career Of Rose