The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-05-07
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General Bragg on the Battle Of
Chickamauua.
From an Interview in the ST. Louis GlObe.I

From an Interview in the st. Louis Giobe.I
A Globe reporter was deputed to ca
upon the General Much has been sal
about the turning points of the war
Some have thought, for instance, that
the pursuit at Chickamauga had beel
more hotly kept up, the capture of tn
Federal army might have taken place
Tennessee reoccupIed, Cincinnati captured
and the Confederacy a success. Genera
Forrest expressed an opinion to that effec
the other day, while IN s.. Louis, as wa
published in the Globe
As General Bragg commanded The
Southern army at that battle, and as nc
authentic account has appeared in any
| history, il was desirous to obtain from hin
an exact recital Of its character and re-
suits. The reporter found the General il
the parlor of the Laclede, and was receiV-
ed with the digniied courtesy which only
the finished soldier knows how to dis
pense.
Reporter-General, I desiIe TO obtain
from you the particulars Of the battle oI
Chlckamauga, and hope you Will not object
to laying before the public the important
facts you necessarily have concerning that
fight.
General-Well, sir, you Il ust know that
| it is more than ten years since that battle
was fought, and l participated IN so many
engagements oflike character that II would
be difficult matter 10 give detailed
distory of 1t without the aid of certain Of
fetal data 1t would be very natural that
scme mistake might occur III the recital of
so important an event, especially after
such a great length of time has elapsed.
Reporter-But you might give an out
line of yop movements that would be ex-
ceedlngly interesping aud valuable.
General-It is true that I might give
an outline of the fight, but it would not
be desirable to enter upon an imperfect
or fragmentary narrative of such an
event.
Reporter-D0 you think there could
have been any possibility of capturing the
Federal army on Sunday night, had you
pursued a different line of policy than you
did2
General-I do not know that any diff
ferent plan of battle could have been pur-
sued. My plan was, to fight and to push
the enemy as hotly as II could be done.
My order was to charge, and l never coun-
termanded the order My men kept fight
ing and driving the enemy until O'Clock
and until it was too dark to fight. Even
then did not order a cessation; but the
fact was, that great darkness prevailed.
and the country was rugged and broken
in the extreme, and it would have been
impossible 10 have Kept fighting under
such circumstances. An army could not
fight an intrenched enemy when it was so
dark that nothing could be seen. To fight
effectively, it is quite essential to see
what is to be fought The firing on Sun
day night ceased of itself and of neces-
sity.
Reperter-You then did not order the
pursuit to stop2
General certainly did not, but to
the contrary ; my policy was to drive them
as closely and as far as possible.
Reporter-Hsd you been favored with
more daylight, is it probable or possible
for you to have effected capture of the
Federal army2
General-No, sir, I DO not think it eth
er probable or possiblejudging by ordina-
ry experience. Such belief would hard
ly prevail with any military man. My
force, l should think. would have been to-
tally inadequate to have accomplished
such thing. General Rosecrans had a
would nave been altogether beyond
NHdS arc SOASINOlCO pooa4S4S aCAlChS-
ments.
Reporter-What number of men had
you.
General went into battle with thir-
ty-nine thousand troops.
Reporter-And now many had the enc
my2
General-Basing my estimate upon Of
fetal reports, statements of prisoners and
newspaper accounts I should Judge that
the enemy were two to one, or more. 1t
certainly does not look, from this great
disparity of numbers, that l could have
captured their army, even if they had been
confused and panic stricken. When com
pared with ordinary military operations
the proposition might seem TO be alb
surd.
Reporter-The broken surface of the
country, too, would have been a great bar
rier in the way of such thing, would it
not2
General-Most certainly. The battle
field was a succession of rugged hi4ls and
deep raYines, much like that of Shiloh.
The ground was exceedingly rough and
broken, and, besides, covered with thick
underground of scrubby bushes and with
clumps of small trees, making the passage
very difficult, and virtually preventing
all regular and systematic line of march.
Reporter-Your losses were reported TO
he very heavy there.
Generality losses were great in pro-
portion 10 the number Of men l had. My
returns showed a loss of more than seven
teen thousand men. OF these over six
teen thousand were killed and wounded.
But few confederates were taken prison
ers. The enemy's was also very great,
according to their official report.
Reporter-How does Chickamauga com
pare to other great battles in which you
commanded or were engaged.
General -Chickamauga was undoubted-
ly the most hotly contested OF any. 1t
was ieTcer and more desperate fight
than Shiloh. The enemy held their ground
with much more pertinacity than at the
latter fght The greater loss IN killed
and wounded at Chlckamauga will show
that it was a harder fought field than
others.