Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-12-06
A Distinguished Correspondent
VindicRtes the Late General
Crittenden.

KNoxvILLE, Tenn, December ], 1880.
EDITOR LEDGER:-I see in your
issue Of November Doth a notice of.
the death of General George B.
Crittenden, together with what might
be regarded as q historical statement
of a single transaction of his life. L
don't know, of course, who wrote it,
yet l do know that its tenor is to do
General George B. Crittenden gross
injustice.
General Crittenden did not of his
own free will and accord "linger at
Knoxville as long as possible, prefer
ring the comforts of the Lamar house
to the discomforts of the tented field
He remained at Knoxville as uHder
the circumstances was the proper
place, to rapidly correspond with the
authorities at Richmond, in a
wise attempt to disentaugle COM
plieations which had been very effeO-
tually achieved, to the detriment of
the common cause Of the confederate
states, by honored aud honorable
Tennesseans. = y = When Crit
tenden assumed command here, the
circumstances required all the skill Of
a diplomatist, the penetration Of a
statesman, the watchfulness, careful
ness and determination OF a general
a military Joseph. 1t is beyond the
nature of my past mental en-
gagements for me 10 enter on a de-
tailed exposure Of circumstances sub
stantiative ofthe position which / have
taken, but if any friend of General
Crittenden will obtain the c~orrespOn-
dence between him aud the authorities
at Richmond, he can have possession
Of abundant material to place his
friend right before the publie-he's
right on the record. There we're only
two wagons started from Knoxville,
one my own as medical director, which
l took all the way out aud brought all
the way back.
| was alongside Of General Critteh
den when he rode on reaching Mill
Springs to the top of the bluff, on the
south side of the Cumberland, tower
ing above the encampment Of the
Confederate troops on the north side
of the river, and heard him after a
moments survey, yet after he had
passed over a road utterly inadequate
to furnish food to even a small army,
in the bitterness Of anguish and the
pain Of seeming helplessness, exclaim
"MyGod what a position for an
army to be in, with an enemy right
before i'll" Twas at his side, for we
had as yet not left our saddles, when
he summoned his adjutant and at
once posted a courier to Nashville.
at differentinteryals estarted a fresh
courier, each bearing the same order:
'Send at once a steamboat with sup
plies" Sententious, but it was all
that was needed.
The article 10 your issue
Of the 10Th ult. very truly
says that the Confederate army was
"on the Cumberland river at a point
which was reached by steamboats,
from Nashville" Though there is
singularly enough an omission Of the
main fact under all the circumstances
that the point could not be ~reachedby
steamboat from Nashville except when
the river was largely swollen. That
the army was in the Cumberland river
alta point which could only be reached
by steamboat from Nashville when
the stream was Of very high tide. If
these statements had been made
there would have been room for the
truth 0 fhistory in the record that just
such a tide occurred and the occasion
was utilized by General Crittenden
AS regards the battle, those can tell
who were in the council Of officers
called by General Crittenden, Ia
which he told them that he was there
to subserye the cause Of the ConGeder-
acy, not to gain the eclat Of victory
in battle, that the object now present
ing is the preservation of an army, and
but n way appears to be followed,
"go out to the enemy, fight, win if we
can from overwhelming forces, sue
cesslully fall back on our entrench-
ment and under the shock given 10
the adverse army make a successful
retreat.
IL wa all accomplished with an en-
rolled force Of 5000, yet only1SOO eff
fective men started at midnight, and
between daylight and sunset attacked
the United States forces seven miles
from the Confederate entrenchments.
He fell back to them and before day
light the next morning, by the aid Of
the steamboat, had bis army many
miles towards Murfreosboro, where it
became the nucleous on which wss
formed Johnson's army, which had
been demoralizod at Fort Donelson.
in crossing the troops over the
river, Gen. Crittenden gave precedence