Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-12-08
Copyright. 1903. by G. L. Kilmer.l

A A tysburg, the great Federal vic | 4 " tories of 1863, did not decide |
 the war, they did determine | the future progress of the conflict in l the field. The northern generals were 1 at last free to. take the aggressive. lVicksburg had opened the Mississippi 1 from the Ohio to the gulf No need of l aonger maintaining large armies along dts banks, as had been the case long after the fall of New Orleans and Memphis, in 1862.
 Gettysburg had settled the question of southern invasion of northern states, and the Confederates under Lee had gone south of the Potomac, with little cause to finger ill the vicinity of Wash dngton. The Federal leaders in the east and in the west were looking ahead ito strike decisive blow in 1864. There was no question but that Richmond should be and would be attacked, but how best to go about it was not easily settled upon. The situation had ar rived which Lincoln set forth so pithily somewhat later by saying that one Federal army should hold the head of the Confederacy while the others skin ned Its legs.
 The head of the Confederacy was at Richmond, on James river. No doubt about that. One of the legs extended down through Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi to the gulf After taking IVieksburg, Grant proposed a plan to wrest the whole of the gulf states and Georgia as we'll from southern grasp, but it was not approved of in Wash angton, and so the armies of the west, under Grant, Thomas and Sherman, were drawn to Chattanooga, and the victory there at the close of November left the armies with no other occupa- fion for the time being than to hold down the territory already conquered Sherman, especially, had no contract on hand commensurate with his ambi- tion. His field of command was the territory east of the Mississippi from Natchez to the Ohio riyeN The Fed eral forces of the region had been drawn upon to fight for the defense of Chattanooga, and after the battle these divisions were distributed along the railroads feeding Chattanooga. Thom as remained in command of the vic horious army at Chattanooga, subject to the orders of Grant, who at this time held the rank of major general.
 Sherman's first move after Chatta- nooga had been relieved was to march to the aid of Burnside, then besieged at Knoxville by Longstreets Confed- crate corps. Longstreet didn't stand for battle, but only withdrew to safe distance to wait for another chance. Sherman wished to unite his troops with Burnside's and give Longstreet a Sirubbing which would send him back to Virginia, whence he came, but Burn side declined the offer, preferring to let well enough alone. Meanwhile reports were coming in from the west that trouble was brewing in Uncle Billy's own bailiwick along the Mississippi. The Confederates still maintained troops in Mississippi and Forrest had broken loose on his old warpath in west Tennessee and was raiding the country under the nose of the Federal garri- sons, carrying off to his lair rich mili- tary stores, beef cattle, wagons and conscripts.
 When Sherman marched away from Vicksburg in November to the field at Chattanooga, he left corps under Me Pherson at that point to guard the eiyer navigation, He also left corps