The National tribune., 1906-11-08

Railroad (f0ur Feet 10 1ncheS) that To-
comotives from those roads could be,
tageously, and numbers were hurried
south to replace those destroyed.
Building. u steamboat.
All the officers and men in the re-
| lieving force were deeply impressed
with the necessity of haste in bringing
succor to the beleaguered army at
Chattanooga. and there was the usual
gratifying display of the ingenuity and
resourcefulness of American soldiers in
accomplishing any, end in view. Tho
problem was first to get abundant sup
plies as soon as possible to Chattanooga.
and avoid the tnrilpe difficulties of
hauling across the slSughs of the Sc
quatchie Valley and the precipitous
| scarp of Walden's Ridge. Kelleys
Ferry was below the rapids and whir-
pools in the great bend of the Tennes-
see. and Lieut.-Col. VIM. G.. lie Due,
Chief Quartermaster of the Twelfth
Corps. set about building a little steam
boat to run up the river the 45 miles
| between Bridgeport and Kelley's Ferry
to carry rations to that point. This
was the best alternative that then gre
sented itself. There were unfinished
railroads running to Jasper and to the
| coal mines which were considered, and
consid ration was also given to open
| ing the main line of the road directly
| tON NsiistttstfiooSi dS TIE diiils
advance. The most serious difficulty
in the latter plan was that shortly after
crossing the Tennessee River the rail-
road crosses a depression 1000 feet
wide and III feet deep at Whtesides.
or Running Water. The trestle work
had been destroyed. and before it pos
sibly could be rebuilt Rosecrans's army
would have been starved into their
graves. surrender or retreat. The
steamboat plan was therefore adopted
rs the best and quickest method. Diff
culties intervened in this that would
have been insuperable to ordinary men.
| The work had to begin with the hull.
| for which ship carpenters and calkers
had to be brought from Ohio and ship
| builder from Detroit to manage the
work. He was not familiar with build
| ing fiat-bottomed boats such as navi-
gate the Western rivers. but he made
good headway nevertheless, when, all
| at once. the sudden rise in the river
threatened to indefinitely interrupt his
work. The hull was on a low piece of
ground which was soon covered with
| water. and the best thing he could
think of at the moment was to weight
| the hull down with pig-iron to hold it
in position until the water subsidized and
allowed the work to be resumed. 1t
| would not, however, only be necessary
to wait indefinitely for the water TO
fall, but after that there must be an
other delay before the hull was suffi-
| ciently dry to permit calking. A happy
| thought occurred to Lieut.-Col. LIE Due.
POntoOn boats had been collected to
lay bridge. These were filled with
| water. so that they would pass under
the hull; then the water was bailed
out, and the pontoon boats rising lifted
the hull so far above the flood as to
keep it dry and allow the operation
of calking to go on. An engine was
ta1y frn. 1t,rr cfan ,Hna nd
placed upon the hull. work was rushed
| forward with that rapidity which can
only be obtained under such emergen-
cies, and in surprisingly few days 4
very good makeshift for a steamboat
was ready for use. She, was named the
Chattanooga. 81
Rosecrnns Co-opernting.
In the meanwhile Gen. Rosecrans
was bestirring himself at his end of the
line to cooperate, with the force ad-
vancing to his relief He had batteries
on Moccasin Point TO oppose those
across the river and to help control the
crossings and the roads leading thereto
DctachInents. including field pieces,
were posted at advantageous positions
along the river to assist in any move
ment, and Oct. 19-he instructed Gen.
Smith to make careful reconnaissance
of the river in the vicinity of Williamss
Island with view of making the island
a cover for a landing for steamboats,
coming up from Bridgeport. Gen.
Smith says with reference to this:
"On Oct. 19 / was instructed by Gen.
ROsecrans to recOnnoiter the river in
the vicinity of Williams's Island, with
a view to making the island a cover
for a steamboat landing and store
houses, and began the examination
near the lower end of the island. Fol-
lowing the river up. l found on the
opposite bank. above the head of the
island sharp range of hills, whose
base was washed by the river. This
range extended up the river nearly TO
Lookout Creek, and was broken at
Browns Ferry by a narrow gorge, thru
which ran the road to the old ferry and
also flowed a small creek. The valley
between this ridge of hills and Rae
coon Mountain was narrow. and al
lodgment effected there would give us
the command of the Kelley's Ferry
road and seriously interrupt the COM
munications of the enemy up Lookout
Valley and down to the river on Rae
coon Mountain. The ridge seemed thin
ly picketed, and the evidences were
against the occupation of that part Of
the valley by large force of the enc
my, and it seemed quite possible to
take by surprise what could not have
been carried by assault, If heavily oc-
cupied by an opposing force"
The next day Gen. RosecranS and
Gen. Thomas visited Browns Ferry TO
examine this position and formulatel
their plans. Upon his return to head
quarters Gen. Rosecrans found there
an order relieving him from command
of the Army of the Cumberland, and
assigning to it Gen. Thomas. Rosecrans
behaved with the greatest dignity and
consideration. Without letting the or
der be known to any one except Gen.
Thomas and a few trusted subordinates,
he prepared his farewell order, and
slipped away in the night, no one Out.
side of those above mentioned being
aware of his going. This was eminent!y
proper, as it avoided any display of
feeling on the part of the soldiers which
would have been embarrassing and
might have been injurious. While Rose
Grams had manifest defects, and while |
it was undoubtedly the best thing to
make change in commanders, yet the |
troops generally had very strong and
natural attachment to him. He had |
led them to magnificent successes, his !
personal conduct on the battlefield won
their highest admiration. his strategic |
achievements were beyond all praise. |
and his bearing towards the men under |
his command had earned their warm
comradeship. He was tender-heartedI
to fault, genial and just. warmly SYM
pathetic with them in all they endured /