Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles. Volume 1.

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[394] occupation of eastern Kentucky would have required an army of several thousand men. In response to his request for reinforcements, President Davis wrote to General Marshall that they “were sorely pressed on every side,” and were unable to send him any troops.

It was a very severe winter, and Marshalls men were poorly clad, and many of the soldiers were nearly naked. One regiment had 350 barefooted men and not over 100 blankets for 700 men. General Albert Sidney Johnston, observing their condition, sent them one thousand suits of clothes, including hats and shoes. These supplies reached the army at Whitesburg, Ky. An incident connected with the distribution of them will serve to illustrate the poverty of the Quartermaster's Department, and the ready genius of General Marshall. When the quartermaster distributed the clothing among the soldiers, it was noticed that they examined with suspicion the peculiar color and texture of the cloth. General Marshall discovering that it was cotton, and fearing the result of such a discovery by his men, rose to the occasion with a stirring speech, in which he eulogized the courage, endurance, and patriotism of his men, and commended the Government for its thoughtful care of them, and relieved their fears as to the quality of the goods

Map of Big Sandy River and Middle-Creek battle-field (January 10, 1862).

by assuring them that they were “woven out of the best quality of Southern wool, with which, doubtless, many of the Kentuckians were not acquainted.” The men took the general's word for it (with a grain of salt) and walked off to their quarters with their cottonade suits. The general often remarked afterward that the deception nearly choked him, adding, “but something had to be done.”

The army was not only badly clothed, but in general badly armed. Many of the men had only shot-guns and squirrel rifles. Requisitions on the War Department were not filled for want of supplies; and General Lee wrote that owing to the scarcity of arms he was having pikes made, which he offered to furnish General Marshall for his unarmed troops.

The field of operations lay in the Cumberland Mountains, along the sources of the Big Sandy River,--a poor, wild, thinly settled country. The roads ran along the water-courses between the mountains, and were often rendered impassable by the high waters, and during this winter were ruined by the passage of cavalry, wagons, and artillery. Captain Jeffress was three days moving his battery from Gladesville to Pound Gap, only sixteen miles. General Marshall's report states that his wagons were sometimes unable to make