Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 4.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[190] it was necessary promptly to bring to its aid the reinforcements which Halleck had so tardily ordered to get in motion. It was necessary to do still more, and respond to the presence of Longstreet in the West by the despatch of a portion of the Army of the Potomac; for, thanks to better means of communication, this detachment could reach the scene of the struggle sooner than any other reinforcement forwarded. It was the duty of the authorities at Washington to prove they were not afraid at so grave a time to weaken the army charged with the protection of the capital.

The Government understood this duty, and on the 23d of September the order was given to Meade to send the Eleventh and Twelfth corps to the city of Washington. As we said in the preceding volume, Howard and Slocum, who were in command of these corps, left on the following morning the banks of the Rapidan, and conducted their troops to the capital, where they were joined by General Hooker, their new chief. Numerous trains were also in readiness to convey these twenty thousand men, with their artillery, ammunition, and baggage, by way of Cincinnati and Nashville, as far as Bridgeport; and within six days this army and its materiel were transported over the distance of nine hundred and ninety-four miles between Washington and Bridgeport. This remarkable achievement was due to the excellent management of Quartermaster-general Meigs, General McCallum, director of military railways, and the civil administrators of the different railroad companies. The confusion which had marked the earlier days was succeeded by a well-regulated system, of which the Federal armies at last reaped the fruit. The orders issued to Hooker forbade him to go beyond Bridgeport, but to defend to the last the railroad between this point and Nashville while waiting for the time when direct communications might be opened with Chattanooga. So long as there were no easy means of supplying this place, care must be taken not to increase the number of mouths to be fed within it. Like orders were issued to all the reinforcements drawn from the Army of the Missouri and the camps of instruction. Unfortunately for Rosecrans, the armies of the Ohio and of the Mississippi could not be transported to the vicinity of the Tennessee passes so promptly as the divisions which had been detached from the Army of the Potomac.