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

Although our troops were under arms at an early hour on the 3d of April, as prescribed in the “circular” order, it is a part of the history of the campaign that the commanders of the two leading corps not only failed to put their troops in motion at least as early as meridian on the 3d of April, but did not move until so late in the afternoon as in effect to cause our army to reach the presence of its objective twenty-four hours later than there was every reason to expect, considering the shortness of the distance to be overcome. What led to this delay of the outset of the Second and Third corps has certainly never been explained in any official document which has yet seen the light. Their preparations necessary for such a movement were of the slightest, or only to cook five days rations, and to load a few wagons, for the amount of ammunition to be carried was no more than they had been directed some days previously to have and keep in possession of the troops. Moreover, Hardee's corps (Polk's also), “with all detached brigades,” had been under orders of “readiness for a field movement” ever since the 1st of April ( Official Records, Vol. X., Part II., p. 381). Be this as it may, Bragg's corps did not quit the vicinage of Corinth until so late that afternoon that none of it reached Monterey, twelve miles away, until the next morning at 8:30, and one division (Withers's) was not there until late on the 4th of April. Hardee's corps, though dilatory in quitting Corinth, would have easily reached its destination early enough on the second day's march to have been deployed on the same ground that it occupied on the night of the 5th, twenty-four hours later, had not General Bragg interposed his authority to check its advance. The march on the 4th was unaccountably slow and confused, especially that of the Second Corps, in view of the numerous staff attached to the headquarters of each corps. The roads were extremely narrow and rendered excessively bad for artillery in some places by the rains, while the Second Corps was unused to marching; but all this hardly made it out of the power of that army to reach its objective by the night of April 4th, had there been a closer personal attention given to the movement during that day by those whose duty it was to execute Special Orders, No. 8. And the cost was an irremediable loss of twenty-four hours. Another misadventure, that might have brought us sore disaster, was a cavalry reconnoissance with two pieces of artillery pushed forward without authority on the 4th, from Bragg's corps into