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Chapter 36: Battle of Ezra Church
The next five days after the
battle of Atlanta were busy ones for every part of the army.
The lofty bridge over the
Chattahoochee, that connected us again with
Marietta and the north, had been speedily rebuilt, so that now there was a shorter haul for all our supplies.
It was necessary to bring forward what was needed of food and rations; to get the comforts for the use of the sick and wounded who remained in the field; to readjust lines and batteries and make all the trenches secure against
Hood's known impulsiveness; to bring to the front absentees and recruits, and to rest and refresh our weary men.
Sherman and
Thomas consulted together as to the officer who should succeed
McPherson and the choice fell upon me. The orders from
President Lincoln appointing me to the command of the Army and the Department of the Tennessee reached me the evening of the 26th.
General Logan and his friends desired that he should be assigned to this command and were, of course, disappointed, but he at once resumed the command of his Fifteenth Corps.
Hooker ostensibly was offended that he, who was my senior in rank, had not received the appointment, and asked to be relieved.
Slocum was brought from
Vicksburg to replace him at the head of the Twentieth Corps.
Stanley succeeded me in the Fourth Corps.
