The National tribune., 1905-11-23

tie Of Nashville than in any other bat
tie Of the civil war. Four Of her regi-
ments were prominently identified with
the notable achievements OF that MEM
orable victory Of the Union arms, and
all won much credit for the young Com
monwealth that sent them forth.
it ia the purpose Of this paper to deal
specially with the record Of Minnesota
organisations in the battle Of Nashville.
and will not seek to present a compre-
hensive description OF the battle itself
or Of the campaign Of which it was the
decisive elimination: yet it will be nec-
essary, In order to convey an intelligent
understanding OF the conditions under
which the battle was fought. and the
highly important character of the is
sues Immediately involved, to state
briefly the military situation in the Gen.
trail West during the Autumn months
Of 1854.
The Military Situation.
The objects Of Gen. Sherman's ad-
vance from Chattanooga to Atlanta had
been accomplished by his successive de-
feats Of the Confederate forces in that
memorable campaign, and his capture
and occupation Of the city Of Atlanta,
Sept. 2, 1864.
While Sherman was making his ar
rangements preliminary to his next
campaign, which contemplated the
movement of his army on it's celebrated
march through Georgia to the sea, the
Confederate army that had recently op-
i'm cd hxy car
j. B. Hood, remained for time some
what inactive, while it's shattered units
were being reorganized and to some ex-
tent recruited. Before Sherman was
ready to cut loose from his base, how
ever, Hood resumed active operations
Sherman's long line of railroad COM
munications presented vulnerable fea-
ture of the situation, and Hood showed
much enterprise in his efforts to make
Sherman's position at Atlanta precari-
Gus, or at least uncomfortable, by fire.
quent raids in his rear and attacks up
on and the occasional capture of small
garrisons In occupation OF protecting:
outposts. While making these forays,
Hood steadily moved toward the Ten
nessee River, his purpose, as 1t devel-
oped, being to draw Sherman away from
Atlanta in pursuit, hoping thus to neu-
tralize or defeat the objects gained by
Sherman In his recent great campaign.
The situation presented puzzling prob
lens OF a serious nature. II Sherman
was to follow Hood with an adequate
force. he must greatly weaken his po-
sition at Atlanta, secured at SO great
cost. as he would doubtless be drawn
away from within supporting distance
Of any force he might leave in occupa-
tion Of that place. The alternative to
this was to abandon his base and its
communications and enter upon his
contemplated campaign. leaving Hood
to be looked after by such forces as
could be hurriedly assembled by Gen.
been assigned to command the Depart
ment OF the Cumberland, with head
quarters at Nashville, Tenn.
Sherman obtained, as is we'll known,
the reluctant consent of the authorities
at Army Headquarters to adopt the lat
and Twenty-third Corps and some scat
tered detachments OF other troops then
on outpost duty to report to Thomas,
he proceeded In his purpose Of smash
ing things to the sea-" Sherman aban-
doned Atlanta on the 18th Of November,
and Gen. Hood, who had concentrated
his army I'm the vicinity Of Florence, on
advance northward two days later.
Thus the two armies that had SO re-
Gently contended for supremacy In
Georgia were making rapid movements
In opposite directions, away from the
scenes Of their recent victories and de-
feats; Sherman bound for the Atlantic
Sea Coast and Hoods objective being
the Ohio River.
While Hood had been maneuvering
to entice Sherman away from Atlanta
he had In the meantime called to his
aid every resource left to the Confeder
ates In the section OF country In which
he was operating, and at the time he
began his movement north from Flor
ence he had q compact army Of about
SIS 200 men, Including $4,000 cavalry,
the latter composed principally OF Gen.
Forests force. that Tor q long time
had dominated q large part OF the val
ley of the Tennessee River.