Military Order of the Loyal Legion
OF THE
United States.
COMMANDERY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
WAR PAPERS.
49
The Battle of Stone River.
prepared by Companion
Major HENRY M. KENDALL,
U. S. Army,
AND READ AT THE STATED MEETING OF NOVEMBER 4, 1903.
The Battle of Stone River.
After the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862, a rather leisurelypursuit of Bragg’s retreating forces was made on the roads to CumberlandGap, but no engagement was brought on. It soon appeared that Bragg did notintend to again give battle in Kentucky, but would withdraw into Tennesseeand join the force under Breckenridge which had been left to watchNashville during the invasion of Kentucky. Buell concluded that Braggwould concentrate his entire force near Nashville and endeavor to capturethat place and somewhere in its vicinity fight a decisive battle whichwould determine the fate of West Tennessee and Kentucky. Buell thereforediscontinued his pursuit and turned his forces toward Nashville, placingthem mainly at Bowling Green, Glasgow, and other points on the Louisvilleand Nashville Railroad.
A great deal of pressure had been brought to bear upon the Administrationto make a campaign in East Tennessee, a mountainous region whose peoplewere mostly loyal. General Halleck in Washington planned a campaign inthat region and called upon Buell to carry it out. But Buell declined. Hisreasons were that such a campaign would place him at a long distance fromLouisville, his base, dependent upon wagon transportation alone overalmost impassable roads, in a country devoid of supplies and especiallysuitable to defensive operations. Again, he would be forced to make greatdetachments to guard Nashville and his lines of communications, sincethese would be especially open to the attack of the enemy, who was well[Pg 4]known to be superior in cavalry.
Buell considered Nashville the vital point of the theatre, and wassatisfied that it would be the main point of Bragg’s attack. He thereforeignored Halleck’s elaborate plan and set about repairing the railway toNashville and moving his troops in that direction. His previous slownessand indecision had brought him greatly into disfavor, and on the 30th ofOctober he was relieved by Major-General William S. Rosecrans. Thedistrict was called thereafter the Department of the Cumberland and thearmy in the field was designated as the Fourteenth Army Corps. Halleck’splans were urged upon Rosecrans, but he was of the same opinion as Buell,and it had by that time become plain that Bragg was doing just what Buellthought he would do. Rosecrans concluded to go on in the same direction ashad Buell, and the events showed clearly that Halleck’s bureau-made plans,based upon theory alone and without an intimate knowledge of the realconditions, were the veriest nonsense, and that Buell and Rosecrans werequite right in ignoring them.
Rosecrans organized the army into right wing, center, and left wing. Theright wing, under McCook, consisted of Johnson’s, Davis’s, and Sheridan’sdivisions. Thomas commanded the center, which consisted of five divisions