The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1904-08-11

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Deception" said the Major, plays
strong part in the drama Of war.
In November and December, 1861, and
January, 1862, no town in the West
was more talked about than Bowling
Green, X. Comparatively few North
erners knew anything Of this town on
the Big Barren river, and on the Louis
vile & Nashville Railway, hundred
miles south of Louisville, sixty miles
north Of Nashville, and ninety miles
| from Fort Donelson on the Cumber-
land river. until General Buckner oc-
cupied it, and proceeded to fortify it
in September, 1861.
"1n the next two months great earth
works were constructed and heavy
guns put in position, and Bowling
Green was described as the Gibral-
tar Of the South, the Notifications
there exceeding in strength those at
Washington and Richmond. At that
time General Albert Sidney Johnston
was striving to create the impression
that he had eighty or a hundred thou
sand men at Bowling Green and Nash
vile ready to march north on Louis
VILE. and that he was not only await
ing orders to strike.
"His bureau of publicity and pro-
motion portrayed Bowling Green as
impregnable, and represented his army
In Kentucky as growing in strength
from day to day. The truth was that
Johnston never had more than 25.OO0
men on the Bowling Green line, AMI
while he was publishing reports to
mislead the Unionists he was report
ing facts to Richmond and pleading
for more men. But he deceived the
people Of the North and General Hal
leck and Buell., and the latter, under
date Of January 3, 1862, reported the
strength of the enemy at Bowling
Green, Columbus and Nashville at SO,-
900.
"The whole country believed that
the great battle Of the West would be
fought in front of Bowling Green. But
when General Grant captured Fort
Donelson, ninety miles away, the game
of deception was at an end. The Con-
federates left Bowling Green, Nash
vile, and all points north of the Cum
herland without fight, and the Union
army, contemptuous of the army that
had boasted and built forts and run
away from them, marched in two great
columns to Pittsburg Landing on the
Tennessee Here the retreating army
turned on its pursuers, and the latter,
caught without defensive works of any
kind, were pressed near to defeat at
Shiloh.
AFTER Shiloh there came a great
change General Haileck concentrated
the armies of Grant, Buell. and Pope
for an attack on Corinth, only thirty
miles away. He reorganized all the
armies into one, the most formidable
ever assembled in the West, and pro-
ceeded by slow steps, fortifying at ev-
cry step, toward Corinth. He would
not permit any subordinate commander
to make an attack or to resist one in
way to bring on general engage
ment He would take no risks. On the
other side Beauregard practiced the
game Of deception in its fullness. He
labored to create the impression that
his Notifications could not be taken,
that he was receiving re-enforcements
every day, and that the issue of war
was to be settled in one decisive bat
tie at Corinth. And for weeks the
North and South believed him.
Meantime the troops under Sher-
man, Thomas, Buell. and Pope were
having the time of their lives. There
was little or no heavy marching. An
army of 10000 men moved forward
twenty miles in the course Of six
weeks. Gradually our front narrowed
to ten miles, and the camps In the rear
were close together. There were at
tacks and sorties, but as days passed
the boys became Indifferent to the
noise of musketry and artillery. A
sudden outburst Of cannonading was
only Pope. on the left or Sherman
shelling the woods or Thomas feel
Ing the enemy The discussion at the
camp fires was as to when the enemy
would attack. We crept closer and
closer to the rebel works. and the
closer we crept the harder the enemy
fought.
General Halleck believed that with
his 120, ,00Omen in line he was in danger
of being attacked by superior numbers,
and the rest Of us believed it. But
Beauregard deceived us. He never for
minute was strong enough to attack
US. He built his forts and kept up
show Of resistance simply to hold rs
before Corinth while his army retreat
ed to new line. On May % Halleck
issued a warning order to his army
The next day the rebel army left Cor
inth and our own great army was di.
vided into three. Buell. marched east,
and in the course of three months was
confronted by Bragg. After our ex-
perience at Corinth we expected the
latter to act on the defensive.
Bragg pretended to be very much
afraid of us, and we thought he wax
Again We were deceived. Instead Of
acting on the defensive Bragg marched
round our flank and moved straight
on Louisville and Cincinnati. No more
crafty game Of deception was ever
played in the autumn Of 1882, and the
result was that, like boy up a tree,
we let go all hold and slid back 10
where we started from a year before,
Louisville. By this time we had
learned that it was not always tire
army that reireated that was worsted
in the game. and we had come to know
the army fighting against us.
I'VE felt sure after the fight at Per-
rysville and the retreat Of Bragg's
army from Kentucky that we would
find 1t in our front again. We did at
Stone River. After Bragg retreated
from Tullahoma and Chattanooga we
found him as good as new at Chicka-
mauga, and it was only after Mission