Edward Alfred Pollard, The lost cause; a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates ... Drawn from official sources and approved by the most distinguished Confederate leaders.

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[351] considerable disorder; but the pursuit of the enemy was checked by Anderson's brigade of Mississippians, which was thrown forward from Polk's line, staggered the enemy, and saved all the guns not captured before its arrival.

Next day the rain fell in torrents. Each General anticipated an attack from his opponent, and neither appeared willing to commence a new battle. Meanwhile Bragg was deceived into the belief that the enemy was receiving reinforcements, and in view of the exhausted condition of his army, determined to withdraw from the unequal contest. In the night of the 3d January, the retreat was commenced without molestation from the enemy. The next day Rosecrans moved into Murfreesboro, and Bragg retired to Tullahoma, which, as a base of operations, and as a position of defence, offered great advantages.

The occupation of Murfreesboro afforded the North some pretence of claiming a victory. But the position was of little importance, and the works neither extensive nor strong. the actual results of the battle were in favour of the Confederates. Our loss exceeded ten thousand, nine thousand of whom were killed or wounded. As our offset to this loss, we had taken considerably over six thousand prisoners, and had captured over thirty pieces of cannon, sixty thousand stand of small arms, ambulances, mules, and horses, with a large amount of other valuable property, all of which was secured and appropriated to proper uses. Besides all this secured, we destroyed not less than eight hundred wagons, mostly laden with various articles, such as arms, ammunition, provisions, baggage, clothing, medicine, and hospital stores. We had lost only three pieces of artillery, all in Breckinridge's repulse. Rosecrans gave his loss in killed and wounded as 8,778. Of this estimate Gen. Bragg remarks: “One corps, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden, which was least exposed in the engagement, report over five thousand killed and wounded. As the enemy had two other corps, and a separate division, third of a corps, and cavalry, his loss is safely estimated at three thousand killed and sixteen thousand wounded. Adding the six thousand two hundred and seventy-three prisoners, we have a total of twenty-five thousand two hundred and seventy-three.”

The battle of Murfreesboro was the subject of much criticism in the Confederacy, and the occasion of various commentaries. Gen. Bragg was famous for his profuse censure of his officers, and his ascription of every failure in his campaigns to the fault of some subordinate officer. He never wrote an official report without such unpleasant and suspicious element of recrimination in it. He made the battle of Murfreesboro a text of censure of his subordinates; he declared that the remissness of Breckinridge, on the first day of action, checked Hardee's success, and made the victory incomplete. But he found in this terrible battle the) occasion of a beautiful