Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-01-21

1869 have special interest wben !.
is recalled that at that time. when h.
was simply one of bali dozen mar.
| generals his equal in rank. in resnor.s
I bility and opportunity and work,-.
/ away patiently at one of the m.-s
problems Of the war. President rss
| coin, the congress and the eab,-1.
were devising means to give him rsrr
above all others and make him eene-,,
! I'm chief of the vast armies OF the :.
1 public Only few weeks before h.
I favorite plan OF attack By the arm
and navy on Mobile to take the cor
federates established in Georgia in IN.
rear had been turned down at Wash
! ingtop headquarters
And in December. 1869. while n,
battlecry was "On to Atantar. f,,r.
the north, he was hoping. yet hoping
as he thought, against hope, that SOM
one else would put the Mobile pro,er,
through. In n few weeks the decision
would lay with him. for. fortunatelv
repeated failures and disasters in tba
Dtiu Taught 1hC w uSHlukIO0
eminent that there might be truth in
the old saying. zone bad general i
better than two good ones" The cr;sls
demanded one head for all the armies
The conqueror of Vicksburg. the say.
ior of Chattanooga. the one general a.
all who had work carved out ahead
and was pegging away at ii. was the
man. As Major General Grant Ia
fired the last shot in 1868; as Heuten.
ant general he would open the ball In
1864.
Sherman Gets a Free Hand.
Sherman especially had no Irnmedi-
ate problem on hand commenSurate
with his ambition. His field OF con-
mand was the territory east OF the
Mississippi from Natchez to the Ohio
river. The Federal forces of the region
had been drawn upon to fight for the
defense of Chattanooga, and otter the
battle these divisions were distributed
along the railroads feeding Chatta-
nooga. Thomas remained in command
of the victorious army at Chattanooza.
subject to the orders of Grant. who at
this time still held the rank Of major
general.
Shermans first move after Chatta-
nooga had been relieved was to march
to the aid of Burnside. then besieged
at Knoxville. Tenn, by Longstreets
Confederate corps. Longstreet didn't
stand for battle, but only Withdrew
to a safe distance to wait for another
chance. Sherman wished TO unite bis
troops with Burnside's and give Long
street a drubbing which would send
him back to Virginia. whence he came.
but Burnside declined the offer, pre-
ferring to let well enough alone.
Meanwhile reports were coming In
from the west that trouble was brew
ing in Uncle Billy's" own baihwick
along the Mississippi. The Confeder
ates still maintained troops in Missis
sippi. and Forrest had broken loose on
his old warpath in west Tennessee and
was raiding the country under the nose
of the Federal garrisons, carrying Of
to his lair rich military stores. beef
cattle, wagons and conscripts.
Sherman wanted to use his troops
under Mcpherson and Hurlburt at
vicksburg and Memphis and strike q
blow" east of the Mississippi Grant
told him to go ahead. FrSm Nashville
he proceeded to Ohio to pass Christ
mas with his family and started down
the river from Cairo early in January.
Thomas Stands Alone.
Meanwhile the victors of Lookout
Mountain and Mission Ridge remained
at Chattanooga with Thomas at their
head. These troops were to form the
bulk of the army which later would
go forward under Sherman to skin
the southwestern leg of the Confed-
eracy. take Atlanta and march TO the
sea. Thomas had in his front at the
beginning of the new year the Ola
foes of Chickamauga and Chattanoogs
These Confederate forces on retreat-
ing from Mission ridge had marched
back to Dalton. thirty odd miles SCUM
Of Chattanooga Toward the close OF
December their old commander, Brah
ton Bragg. was succeeded by Genera
Joseph Z. Johnston.
LonSstreet still held on in east Ten
nessee between two fires. with burp-
side west of him at Knoxville anu
south at Chattanooga. Tbon-
rs was himself between three nres.
FOR. besides Longstreet TO the nor"
and Johnston south large Conleoe'
lite force. including FORESTS cavai1'
lowered in Mississippi west OF nin
Out of this mixed situation OF Decs-
Der. 1853. was to come the straiens
ahead march of sherman in the AZ
anita campaign OF 1864.
Minor Affairs.
The new year fifty years ago "A
lshered in by a winter storm OF pne
severity. The SNOWMAN "a'
leavy. and biting winds preralIso'
With zero weather rs far south as y"
dnia and Kentucky. Troops encamp
d along the Rapidan and Tennessu
ivers suffered the greatest narasnts
T their experiences. Lakes, rivers sn'
annals We're icebound.
About this time fifty years ago
United States naval COMMISSION
'orted favorably upon petroleum
S fuel for warships, Che ia's,
British creation in Dreadnousnts ""
se oil fuel exclusively j