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.

Gen. Sherman demanded what Federal commanders invariably named as the condition of their success against the brave Confederate armies-vastly superiour numbers. Questions of generalship, skill and courage were concerns for the Confederates. Sherman did not discuss these; he wanted physical momentum; he demanded a hundred thousand men and two hundred and fifty pieces of artillery. The lavish government at Washington supplied the demand, minus twelve hundred men. Three armies were united under Sherman, viz.: the army of the Cumberland, Maj.-Gen. Thomas commanding; the army of the Tennessee, Maj.-Gen. McPherson commanding; and the army of the Ohio, Maj.-Gen. Schofield commanding. The effective strength of these three armies was 98,797 men, and two hundred and fifty-four guns.

Fortunately for the Confederacy the military genius of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had been called again, although unwillingly, into service by President Davis, who had displaced Bragg from the Army of Tennessee only after he had accomplished a complete sum of disaster, and capped his career of misfortune on Missionary Ridge. On the 27th December, 1863, Gen. Johnston had assumed command of the army at Dalton, Georgia. In January he had fallen back from Dalton, and his advanced posts; on the 7th February he was encamped at Rome, Georgia; but he again advanced to Dalton shortly afterwards, and proposed then an offensive movement against the enemy,whose strength he knew would be greatly increased in the spring, and who, therefore, could be attacked with better advantage before such increase of the disproportion of numbers. Gen. Johnston knew very well that he could not expect reinforcements at pace with the enemy, and was, therefore, wisely determined to make at once a forward movement and try issues with him as soon as possible. But a most untimely controversy in Richmond defeated Johnston's just and promising plan of operations. Gen. Bragg had been removed from command of the army he had so disastrously led, to take the post, by the persistent partiality of President Davis, of “consulting or advising officer” to the Executive. The favourite in Richmond had his own plan of offensive operations differing from that of Johnston; President Davis agreed with him. Gen. Johnston, in vain, telegraphed to Richmond: “I expressly accept taking the offensive — I only differ with you as to details” ; but the discussion of “details” lingered in Richmond, until, when in the month of April the President sent a messenger to Georgia to explain his plans, the opportunity of the offensive was past, the enemy was being reinforced to more than twice Johnston's number, and was only waiting for the signal from over the Alleghanies to commence the “On-to-atlanta” movement.

On the 1st May, the effective artillery and infantry of the Army of Tennessee amounted to 40,900; the effective cavalry to about four thousand. Gen. Johnston was thus greatly overmatched in numbers; and he