Adam Badeau, Military history of Ulysses S. Grant from April 1861 to April 1865. Volume 1

On the 4th of November, he had seized La Grange and Grand Junction, and announced: ‘My moving force will be about thirty thousand men.’ McPherson commanded his right wing, and C. S. Hamilton the left, while Sherman moved out from Memphis to attract attention in that direction. Grant's headquarters were with the main body. On the 8th, he informed Sherman that he estimated the rebels at thirty thousand, and felt ‘strong enough to handle that number without gloves;’ so the demonstration from Memphis was countermanded.

At this time, Major-General McClernand, who had been a subordinate of Grant since the battle of Belmont, was at Washington, making every effort to obtain an independent command in the West. He had been a politician, and a member of Congress from Illinois, as well as an old acquaintance and legal associate of the President; he was a man of moderate ability, of energy and courage, but ignorant of the meaning of military subordination. Ambitious and vain, he expected to step at once to the highest positions in the army, without the knowledge or experience which alone could fit him for important command. He had political and personal influence, however, and made ample use of it. Having served at Belmont, Donelson, and Shiloh, he declared he was tired of furnishing brains for the Army of the Tennessee, and so claimed the command, which he announced, and very possibly believed, was his right. His claims were supported by not a few individuals of consideration at the West; the President favored,