The National tribune., 1883-10-11
The Army of the Tennessea,

The Society of the Army of the Tennessee,
which holds its annual meeting at Cleve-
land, Ohio, on the 18th of this month, has a
glorious history.
| The survivors of that magnificent army
may recall with pride the heroic achieve
ments that will render it's name immortal
SO long as men care to read of deeds of
valor. A brief sketch of the organization of
the Army of the Tennessee may be of inter-
est not only to members of that army but
to our readers who belonged to different
corps.
General Grants command, which fought
| at Fort Henry, Tenn, was known as the
District of Cairo, and on July Ia, 1862,
General Halleck, then commanding the
Department of Missouri, in whose command
General Grant was serving, issued General
Orders, No. 81, Department of Missouri,
creating the District of West Tennessee,
from which date the Army of the Tennessee
had its existence. In the reorganization of
the army by General Orders, No. 80, of the
War Department, October Is, 1862, the De-
partment of the Tennessee was formed,
which consisted of Northern Mississippi
Cairo, Ill, Forts Henry and Donelson,
Tenn, and that portion of Kentucky and
Tennessee west of the Tennessee River, and
General Grant assigned to command. The
limits of the command remained virtually
the same until General Sherman moved
from Atlanta to Savannah, Ga, and the
Carolinas, in November, 1864.
/ The Army of the Tennessee was, by Cen
eral Orders, No. 168 Adjutant- Generals Of
flee, October "a, 1862, also designated as the
Thirteenth Army Corps; but, by General
Orders, No 210, Adjutant- Generals Office,
December 18 1862 the Department of the
Tennessee or Thirteenth Corps was divided
into four separate army corps, consisting of
the Thirteenth Corps, commanded by General
j. A. McClernand to June 49, 1868; by
General c. c. Washburne to August Z, 1868,
(when the corps was transferred to the De-
partment of the Gulf under General Banks); /;
the Fifteenth Corps, commanded by Gen
eral Sherman to October Is, 1863 when he
relieved General Grant in command of the
Department of the Tennessee); Gen. T. P.
Blair, Jr., to December 2, 1868; John A.
Logan to September %, 1864; p. J. Oster-
haus to January, 1865; John A. Logan to
May 10, 1866, and W. B. Hazen until
its final discontinuance, August /, 1865 :;
the Sixteenth Corps, General S. A. Hurl-
but, commanding to April II, 1864 This
corps, occupying posts mostly in Tennessee,
and guarding railroads, &c, and the right
wing, under Gen. A. J. Smith, having been
transferred to the Department. of the Gulf
for the Red River campaign, the corps was
without commander TO October Is, 1864,
when Gen. w. j. 7. Dana assumed command,
who remained in command until November
Z, 1864, when it ceased to exist in the De-
partment of the Tennessee the troops having
been transferred to other corps oreommands; :;
the Seventeenth Corps, commanded by Gen.
eral J. B. Mcpherson to March 18, 1864;
I. p. Blair, Jr., to September %, 1864; r. e.
G. Ransom to October, 1864; F. P. Blair, Jr,
to July 10, 1865; W. W. Belknap until its
final discontinuance, August l, 1865.
The Army or Department of the Tennes-
see was commanded by General Grant from
March Ia, 1862, to October, 16, 1858; by Gen
eral w. T. Sherman to March 18, 1864; J.
B. Mcpherson to July %, 1864; O. o. How
ard to May 10, 1865, and General j. A. Lo-
gan until its final discontinuanee, August 1,
1865.
In the roll of battles fought, in whole or
in part, by the Army of the Tennessee, are:
Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Black River
Bridge, Champions Hill, Vicksburg, Pleas
ant Hill, Missionary Ridge, lookout Noun
tain, Resaca, Kenesaw, Atlanta, Lovejoy's
Station, Nashville, BentonTille, and large
number of minor engagements. Whether
it be literally true or not that "it invaria-
bly, captured the cannon that were directed
against il" it may be said that its campaigns
always resulted, sooner or laSer, in over
/ whelming defeat to the force opposed to it.
SECTION 3, Article II, of the Rules and
Regulations of the Grand Army, prescribes
as one of the objects of the Order: