February 24, 1864. |
This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
“
[142]
East Tennessee Two-thirds of our niter-beds were in that region, and a large proportion of the coal which supplied our founderies.
It abounded in the necessaries of life.
It was one of the strongest countries in the world, so full of lofty mountains, that it had been called not unaptly, the Switzerland of America.
As the possession of Switzerland opened the door to the invasion of Italy, Germany, and France, so the possession of East Tennessee gave easy access to Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.”
1
The incompetency of Bragg, who was the pliant servant of the will of Jefferson Davis, was universally felt, and when his operations in the vicinity of Chattanooga became known, there was wide-spread discontent.
Yet few men were bold enough to oppose the will of the Arch-conspirator, and murmuring was scarcely audible.
Pollard quotes a private letter from a “distinguished general officer in the West,” who most severely and ably criticised the operations of the army under the leadership of Bragg during the year preceding the battle of Chickamauga, and evidently pointed directly to Jefferson Davis as the chief obstacle to the success of the Confederate arms.
But the more Davis's chosen instruments were found fault with, the more determined was the Conspirator to keep them in places of the highest trust.
When Bragg, a few weeks after the Battle of Chickamauga, was thoroughly beaten before Chattanooga, as we shall observe presently, and tried to hide his own incompetence under fault-finding with his officers--“a resource to which he showed, on all occasions, a characteristic and injurious tendency” 2--and there was a general feeling that he ought to be relieved from all command, Davis showed his contempt for the opinion of others, by making him
General-in-Chief of the armies of the Confederacy.3 “No doubt,” said an officer in the War Department at Richmond, at the time, “Bragg can give the President valuable counsel — nor can there be any doubt that he [the President] enjoys a secret satisfaction in triumphing thus over popular sentiment, which just at this time is much averse to General Bragg.
The President is naturally a little oppugnant.”
4 When the appointment was made, the boldest opposers of Bragg dared not utter their disapprobation openly and manfully.5
1 Pollard's Third Year of the War, Page 128.
2 Pollard's Third Year of the War, page 130.
3 The following is a copy of the order creating Bragg General-in-Chief, which was dated, “War Department, Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, Richmond, February 24, 1864,” and designated as “General order no. 23:” --
“General Braxton Bragg is assigned to duty at the seat of government, and, under the direction of the President, is charged with the conduct of military operations in the armies of the Confederacy. By order of the Secretary of War. S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General.”4 A Rebel War Clerk's Diary, II. 157.
5 On the day before Bragg's appointment, the Richmond Enquirer had a long editorial, denouncing in advance his assignment to any prominent position, and severely criticising his conduct in the West; but, on the day after his appointment, the same journal, inspired by a proper reverence for the power of “the President,” said: “The judicious and opportune appointment of General Bragg to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the armies will be appreciated as an illustration of that strong common-sense which forms the basis of the President's character, that regard for the opinions and feelings of the country, that respect for the Senate, which are the keys to all that is mysterious in the conduct of our public affairs. The Confederate armies cannot fail to be well pleased. Every soldier's heart feels that merit is the true title to promotion, and that glorious service Should insure a splendid reward. From Lookout Mountain, a step to the highest military honor and power is natural and inevitable. Johnston, Lee, and Beauregard learn with grateful emotions that the conqueror of Kentucky and Tennessee has been elevated to a position which his superiority deserves. Finally, this happy announcement should enliven the fires of confidence and enthusiasm reviving among the people, like a bucket of water on a newly.kindled grate.” This was keen irony, but it was not denunciation, and the writer avoided castle Thunder.
Scanned printed text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.