THE MAP ROOM (Corinth 10/03/62)
THE MAP ROOM (Corinth 10/04/62)

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Sep 28 1862 (Sunday)

Abraham Lincoln is extremely disappointed in the performance of his professional, West Point trained, generals. George McClellan is sitting, along with his entire army along the banks of the Potomac River and is showing all the signs of lapsing into a state of immobility that so dismayed the President during the Peninsular Campaign. In the West, Don Carlos Buell has marched his men so slowly that Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith have been allowed to run amok and are threatening the great Midwestern cities, Cincinnati and Louisville, on the Ohio River. Now rumors are flying that the one general that Lincoln can count on to fight, Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, has gone on another bender while visiting his wife in St. Louis. Franklin Dick, the brother-in-law of General Francis Blair reports seeing Grant "staggering about town in a stupor," and another friend who has spoken to Grant reports him as being "tight as a brick." Thus, the President is receptive when non-West Pointer John McClernand, an ex-Congressman and Black Hawk War veteran, proposes a scheme to capture Vicksburg, the Confederate bastion on the Mississippi River.

WASHINGTON CITY, September 28, 1862. - The PRESIDENT: Conscious of my inability to impart any information upon a subject with which you are already familiar, all I can hope to do is to quicken the interest and action of the military authorities upon a matter of acknowledged and urgent importance. How the rebellion may be most speedily and effectually put down involves an inquiry as to the methods best adapted to that end. Originating, as it did, in the Cotton States...I would carry the war into their heart...as the quickest and surest way to reopen the Mississippi River....The Mississippi River and its tributaries, affording an inland navigation of 10,000 miles in extent, and floating an annual commerce of the value of $150,000,000 in time of peace, is now locked against all egress or ingress to or from the ocean by a small, indeed comparatively insignificant garrison at Vicksburg....In order, then, to liberate the navigation of the Mississippi, I would have a force of at least 60,000 men to descend the river in transports convoyed by gunboats to the mouth of the Yazoo River, and ascend it to the first eligible landing on its south bank, perhaps to Drumgould's Bluff....The Gulf column having thus disembarked, should...march upon Vicksburg, and...seize that place, and, after fortifying and garrisoning it, hasten to Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi....All of which is here deferentially submitted. Your obedient servant, JOHN A. McCLERNAND, Major-General.

When the news of George Morgan's retreat from Cumberland Gap reaches Washington, an irate Henry Halleck demands to know "why is General Morgan retreating, and what force of the enemy is pursuing him."

HEADQUARTERS, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 28, 1862. - Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: I do not know why General Morgan is retreating. He has been instructed to hold on to the last, and has never spoken in his dispatches of giving up the Gap. The messenger from him brought nothing in writing...further than that he was making his way toward Portsmouth, Ohio....H.G. WRIGHT, Major-General, Commanding.

"Cump" Sherman tartly responds to a letter from Confederate General Thomas Hindman decrying the harsh treatment being meted out by Union authorities to guerrilla and/or partisan rangers who are captured.

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH DIVISION, Memphis, September 28, 1862. - Maj. Gen. T. C. HINDMAN Commanding Confederate Forces, Little Rock, Ark.: - SIR: You know the laws of Congress as well as I do. Now, whether the guerrillas or partisan rangers, without uniform, without organization except on paper, wandering about the country plundering friend and foe, firing on unarmed boats filled with women and children and on small parties of soldiers, always from ambush, or where they have every advantage, are entitled to the protection and amenities of civilized warfare is a question which I think you would settle very quickly in the abstract....You know full well that it is to the interest of the people of the South that we should not disperse our troops as guerrillas; but at that game your guerrillas would meet their equals, and the world would be shocked by the acts of atrocity resulting from such warfare. We endeavor to act in large masses, and must insist that the troops of the Confederacy, who claim the peculiar rights of belligerents, should be known by their dress....The idea of your comments on the failure of "your efforts to induce our army to conform to the usages of civilized warfare" excites a smile. Indeed, you should not indulge in such language in official letters. I am, &c, your obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General, Commanding.

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Sep 29 1862 (Monday)

Time has run out for Don Carlos Buell. Colonel J.C. McKibbin, carrying Buell's removal orders, finds the general at Louisville and command of the Department of the Tennessee officially passes to George Thomas. Henry Halleck, upon learning that Buell has successfully arrived at Louisville ahead of Braxton Bragg "twice telegraphed" McKibbin with directions "not to deliver the dispatches" but "he received the telegrams too late." However, Buell's dismissal is "suspended" when General Thomas balks at taking over command of an army in the middle of a campaign.

LOUISVILLE, KY., September 29, 1862--11.45 a.m. - Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: Colonel McKibbin handed me your dispatch, placing me in command of the Department of the Tennessee. General Buell's preparations have been completed to move against the enemy, and I therefore respectfully ask that he may be retained in command. My position is very embarrassing, not being as well informed as I should be as the commander of this army and on the assumption of such a responsibility. GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.

Last week Union Major-General Jefferson Davis was "scathingly reprimanded" by "Bull" Nelson, arguably "the best, finest and most...original curser and swearer in the whole United States army, for not showing "sufficient zeal". Retreating to his home state the Indiana-born general commiserates with Governor Oliver P. Morton. When Morton learns that Nelson has described Hoosiers as "uncouth descendants of poor trash from the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina" the governor agrees to accompany Davis on his return trip to Louisville to confront the general. They are in the lobby of the Galt House Hotel when Davis demands an apology and is instead slapped to the ground by the gargantuan "Bull" general.

LOUISVILLE, KY., September 29, 1862. - Capt. T. T. ECKERT: Nelson was killed by General Jeff. C. Davis this morning about 8 o'clock. It seems Nelson treated Davis harshly one night last week and ordered him from the city. This morning Davis confronted Nelson at the Galt House about the insult. Nelson refused to listen, slapped Davis in the face, whereupon Davis turned, went to a friend near by, borrowed a pistol, went back to Nelson who was then in conversation with some one, and shot him in left breast. Nelson died in fifteen minutes after he was shot. Davis will be tried before judge of police court to-morrow morning. SAML. BRUCH, [Assistant Manager U.S. Military Telegraph.]

To end any lingering confusion between Earl Van Dorn and Sterling Price, Van Dorn is ordered to "assume...the command of all troops left in Mississippi" and to make "proper dispositions...for an advance into Tennessee" as it has become evident that Braxton Bragg is need of reinforcements.

HEADQUARTERS C. S. ARMY IN KENTUCKY, Bardstown, Ky., September 29, 1862. - To the PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY: The armies of the Confederate States now within your borders were brought here more as a nucleus around which the true men of Kentucky could rally than as an invading force against the Northwest....Troops in any number will be received by companies and armed, and will be organized into regiments as fast as practicable, company officers to be elected by their men and field officers to be appointed by the President....This is the last opportunity Kentuckians will enjoy for volunteering. The conscript act will be enforced as soon as necessary arrangements can be made....BRAXTON BRAGG, General, Commanding.

Robert E. Lee is disappointed to learn that the Confederate government "has no power to make Confederate money a legal tender between individuals." However, citizens who "discredit the Government note...may be considered hostile...and may be arrested."

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VlRGINIA, On Washington Run, Va., September 29, 1862. - Hon. GEORGE W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War: - SIR: I write to you in regard to a difficulty which occurred in the contested districts of Virginia with regard to Confederate money. Whatever is required for the use of the army (food, clothing, shoes, and forage), I cause to be purchased from the citizens, whether they are willing to sell or not, and for payment to be made in Confederate notes. Now, there are capitalists in the country, and persons, perhaps, inimical to us, who refuse to take from the planters and farmers who furnish our army with subsistence, Confederate notes in payment of their debts. Is there any mode of providing for this difficulty? Could we not, in these contested districts of the Confederacy, make Confederate money a legal tender in the payment of debts, and thus prevent the attempt to depreciate it on the part of men inimical to our cause? I am, most respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. LEE, General.

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Sep 30 1862 (Tuesday)

In the aftermath of the disastrous Union advance and bloody repulse at Ball's Bluff eleven months ago, in which Oregon senator and Lincoln confidant Colonel Edward Baker was killed, a scapegoat had to be found. That man turned out to be Brigadier-General Charles P. Stone who was, at 1 o'clock in the morning on February 9th, arrested, taken to Fort Hamilton, and placed in solitary confinement. Stone is kept in prison for 189 days without facing trial and without any charges being presented against him.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, September 30, 1862. - Brig. Gen. CHARLES P. STONE, Washington. - GENERAL: I learn from the Secretary of War that the order releasing you from Fort Hamilton also released you from arrest. You therefore are no longer under arrest, but as you have not been assigned to me for duty, I can give you no orders. I have no official information of the cause of your arrest, but I understood that it was made by the orders of the President. No charges or specifications are, so far as I can ascertain, on file against you. The matter, I learn, is to be immediately investigated, and copies of charges, when preferred, will be furnished you by the Judge-Advocate-General. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.

John Pope is not happy with his "banishment to a distant and unimportant department" and he is willing to use a "little plain speaking" to drive home his point to Henry Halleck. Pope is especially galled that Fitz-John Porter has escaped his charges unscathed and in continuing to function as a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac.

SAINT PAUL, September 30, 1862. - General H. W. HALLECK, U. S. Army: - DEAR SIR: The letter which I am about to address you had perhaps better have been left unwritten....I begin, then, by saying that in my judgment every sense of justice and fair dealing, as well as a sense of deep personal obligation, should have impelled you to sustain me against the machinations of McClellan and his parasites....Having...laid before the Government the conduct of McClellan, Porter, and Griffin, and substantiated the facts stated by their own written documents, I am not disposed to push the matter further, unless the silence of the Government in the midst of the unscrupulous slander and misrepresentation...against me and the restoration of these officers without trial to their commands...render it necessary as an act of justice to myself....What you have done amounts to little else than degradation....The pretorian faction in the Army of the Potomac is now seeking to remove every officer of distinction from that army who is not in their interests. Hooker, by his rising reputation and known hostility to them and their purposes, is becoming dangerous. He will be gotten rid of in some way. As it cannot now be done by detraction and slander, they will seek by affected commendation and applause to remove him to some other command....Do not let the military clique of the Army of the Potomac remove from that army the prominent officers who are hostile to them. If you do, you will soon see how much control you have over that army....I shall not again address you a letter on such a subject. Very respectfully, JNO. POPE.

In southwestern Missouri, near the borders of Arkansas, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, a detached portion of James Blunt's command blunders into Confederate forces of James Cooper near Newtonia. Cooper's command, including Stand Watie's Cherokee Mounted Rifles, quickly drive the Union soldiers from the town.

HEADQUARTERS FIELD DIVISION, Camp Coffee, Mo., October 2, 1862. - Brig. Gen. JAMES S. RAINS, Mo. S. G., Comdg. Army in the Field Camp at Elkhorn, Ark. - GENERAL: The pursuit continued near 6 miles, when the enemy...rallied his broken columns and again returned to the field....About this time the enemy had sent unperceived two regiments of Pin Indians and jayhawkers upon my right, supported by masses of infantry....The engagement soon became general between the two Choctaw regiments and the jayhawkers and hostile Indians....The battle was now raging in all parts of the field. Their masses of infantry could be plainly seen advancing in perfect order, with guns and bayonets glittering in the sun. The booming of cannon, the bursting of shells, the air filled with missiles of every description, the rattling crash of small-arms, the cheering of our men, and the war-whoop of our Indian allies, all combined to render the scene both grand and terrific.....By this time it was night [and] the enemy had planted a battery so as to command the road....Getting the direction from the flash of the guns, Captain Howell was ordered into battery and threw a few shells into them, fired somewhat at random, but which...exploded among them....They now fled in confusion, leaving the road, passing through fields and woods, and abandoning loaded wagons by the way wedged between trees. Their flight continued until they reached Sarcoxie, Jasper County, a distance of 12 miles....I am, general, very respectfully, DOUGLAS H. COOPER, Colonel, Commanding.

General Buell magnanimously accepts his restoration to command. In appreciation of George Thomas' action in declining to replace Buell, Thomas is "announced as second-in-command in this army."

LOUISVILLE, KY., September 30, 1862--1 p.m. - Major-General HALLECK, General-in Chief: I received last evening your dispatch suspending my removal from my command. Out of sense of public duty I shall continue to discharge the duties of my command to the best of my ability until otherwise ordered. D. C. BUELL, Major-General.

Despite his magnificent performance at Antietam, Ambrose Powell Hill remains under arrest at the behest of his commander "Stonewall" Jackson. The feisty Hill, unwilling to let the incident fade away, fires back with counter-charges against "Old Jack."

HEADQUARTERS LIGHT DIVISION, September 30, 1862. -Col. R. H. CHILTON, Assistant Adjutant-General: - COLONEL: I respectfully say to the general that I deny the truth of every allegation made by Major-General Jackson, and am prepared to prove my denial by any number of honorable men, including members of General Jackson's own staff. If General Jackson had accorded me the courtesy of asking an explanation of each instance of neglect of duty as it occurred, I think that even he would have been satisfied, and the necessity avoided of keeping a black-list against me. It is hardly necessary to remark that these charges made by General Jackson are of a serious character, involving my reputation and standing as an officer commanding a division of this army, and, if true, I should be deprived of the command; if untrue, then censure should be passed upon the officer who abuses his authority to punish, and then sustains his punishment by making loose charges against an officer who has done and is doing his utmost to make his troops efficient. I again respectfully reiterate my request for a court of inquiry, to involve the matter of these additional allegations, and ask that a speedy answer be given me. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. P. HILL, Major-General, Commanding Division.

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Oct 01 1862 (Wednesday)

John C. Pemberton, recently replaced in Charleston, South Carolina, by P.G.T. Beauregard, has the unusual distinction of serving the Confederacy despite being born in Pennsylvania. While his northern ancestry bothers many in the South, Jefferson Davis continues to have faith in him and appoints Pemberton to command the newly created military department encompassing "the State of Mississippi and that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River." The jewel in the crown of Pemberton's new command is Vicksburg.

Maj. Gen. J. C. PEMBERTON: You will proceed to Jackson and relieve General Van Dorn from the command of the district assigned to him by General Bragg, for the purpose of permitting him to command the forces ordered to advance into West Tennessee. You will turn your attention immediately to the defense of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, and consider the successful defense of those States as the first and chief object of your command. G. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War.

Earl Van Dorn reports: "I have made [a] union with General Price and am now before Corinth." Van Dorn's advance is threatened when it is discovered that the Federals have partially burned the Davis Bridge which is the only crossing, within a day's march, over the Hatchie River. The consolidation of the Confederate forces in his front alarms the Union commander of the District of West Tennessee.

HEADQUARTERS NEAR CORINTH, MISS., October 1, 1862. - Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: For several days there has been a movement of the rebels south of my front, which left it in doubt whether Bolivar or Corinth was to be the point of attack. It is now clear that Corinth is to be the point, and that from the west or southwest. Price, Van Dorn, Villepigue, and Rust are together....My position is precarious, but hope to get out of it all right. U.S. GRANT, Major-General.

Robert E. Lee is intent upon taking full advantage of George McClellan's inactivity.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, Camp near Winchester, Va., October 1, 1862. - Maj. Gen. GUSTAVUS W. SMITH, Commanding, &c., Richmond, Va.: - GENERAL: The main army of General McClellan for the present seems disposed to be inactive. It will require some time for it to recover from the battles of Boonsborough and Sharpsburg....We are gathering in our stragglers slowly. If our ranks were full we should have force enough for our operations. Please send on convalescents and conscripts. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. LEE, General.

Henry Halleck is also acutely aware of the dormant condition of the Army of the Potomac and he urges "Little Mac" to "cross [the Potomac River] and give battle to the enemy." Halleck continues: "Unless I am greatly deceived in regard to the enemy's numbers, this can be done while the river is low." McClellan however, contents himself with occasionally sending out cavalry detachments toward the Confederate positions.

CENTREVILLE, VA., October 1, 1862. - GENERAL: In accordance with your orders to attack Warrenton, I started with my command....I found no opposition whatever.....Every house in town I found filled with wounded and sick; the streets were crowded with convalescents, and, apparently, stragglers....The accommodations in the hospitals I found anything but decent. The poor sufferers were lying on the bare floor, wrapped in a poor blanket, and seldom a straw pillow under their heads. In some of the houses the sick and wounded were literally decaying in their own filth, and nobody seemed to care for them....The number of deaths amounted, daily, to 50, caused no doubt by want of proper care, nourishment, and medical stores....The country is stripped of everything in the shape of provisions, and starvation stares the people in the face....Humbly submitting my report and my views to your kind consideration, I have the honor, general, to remain, your obedient servant, JOSEPH KARGE, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Cavalry Detachment.

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Oct 02 1862 (Thursday)

John Pope, worried that his proposed campaign to exterminate the Indians of the Northern Plains is in jeopardy, and with it any opportunity to repair his damaged reputation, practices the fine art of exaggeration in describing the atrocities committed in Minnesota.

SAINT PAUL, MINN., October 2, 1862---5 p.m. - Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: [Sibley] reached Lac-qui-Parle and found about 600 Sioux, who professed to be friendly. He is investigating the facts, and has arrested 16, who are now being tried by military commission. Little Crow, with his band, he retreated to Big Stone Lake....A campaign against the Indian tribes in this department will be necessary in the spring, and ought to be provided for this winter. Sibley recovered most of the white prisoners. Many of them were killed, and nearly all those recovered are young girls, who have been shockingly abused....JNO. POPE, Major-General, Commanding.

When Don Carlos Buell moves his army towards Perryville, with each corps taking a separate road, he also sends a diversionary force, under Joshua Sill, towards Frankfort, Kentucky. Braxton Bragg, mistaking Sill's force for the main Union army, orders Bishop Polk and Kirby Smith to converge on these two isolated Federal divisions.

HEADQUARTERS, Lexington, Ky., October 2, 1862---1 p.m. - Maj. Gen. LEONIDAS POLK, Commanding Army of the Mississippi, Bardstown, Ky.: - GENERAL: The enemy is certainly advancing on Frankfort. Put your whole available force in motion by Bloomfield and strike him in flank and rear, If we can combine our movements he is certainly lost....Yours, truly, BRAXTON BRAGG, General, Commanding.

The success of Hiram Berdan's Sharpshooters causes the War Department to issue stringent requirements for those wishing to join this elite force.

GENERAL ORDERS No. 149. - WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, October 2, 1862. No person shall be mustered into the service of the United States as a member of the corps of sharpshooters unless he shall produce the certificate of some person duly authorized by the Governor of the State in which the company is raised, that he has in five consecutive shots, at 200 yards at rest, made a string not over twenty-five inches, or the same string offhand at 100 yards; the certificate to be written on the target used at the test. By order of the Secretary of War: L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General.

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Oct 03 1862 (Friday)

George Morgan completes his unauthorized retreat from Cumberland Gap. Morgan's retreat leaves the Gap open should Bragg's Confederate force need to retreat quickly from their advanced position in Kentucky.

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, Greenupsburg, Ky., October 3, 1862. - Maj. Gen. HORATIO G. WRIGHT, Cincinnati, Ohio. - GENERAL: During our march we were constantly enveloped by the enemy's cavalry, first by the Stevenson and since by the Morgan brigade....Morgan first assailed us in the rear and then passed to our front, blockading the road and destroying subsistence. For three successive days we were limited to the water of stagnant pools and that in small quantities....Unless otherwise ordered I will proceed with my column to Camp Dennison to rest and refit. With high respect, GEORGE W. MORGAN, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

Despite Buell's desperate need for general officers, Jefferson Davis' crime, the murder of "Bull" Nelson, cannot be ignored. With Nelson gone, command of his corps is given to Charles Champion Gilbert, who though acting as a major-general, has not even had his recent promotion to brigadier-general approved by Congress.

FLOYD'S FORK, KY., Via Louisville, October 3, 1862. (Received 6.20 p.m.) -General H. W. HALLECK: Brigadier-General Davis is under arrest at Louisville for the killing of General Nelson. His trial by a court-martial or military commission should take place immediately, but I can't spare officers from the army now in motion to compose a court....The circumstances are that on a previous occasion Nelson censured Davis for what he considered neglect of duty....Davis said...that if he could not get satisfaction or justice he would take the law into his own hands. On the occasion of the killing he approached Nelson in a large company and introduced the subject. Harsh or violent words ensued, and Nelson slapped Davis in the face and walked off. Davis followed him, having procured a pistol from some person in the party, and met Nelson in the hall of the hotel. Davis fired. The ball entered the right breast, inflicting a mortal wound and causing death in a few minutes. D. C. BUELL, Major-General.

Transporting the Harper's Ferry parolees from Annapolis, Maryland to Camp Douglas, Illinois, results in an "enormous loss of men." Daniel Tyler explains: "If the railroad companies will put a barrel of water in each car...for the men to drink and answer the call of nature in the cars, which is never done, officers could be responsible for their men. Now the instant the train stops the men rush out for these necessary purposes...and any man wishing to desert "gets left.""

HEADQUARTERS, Camp Douglas, Chicago, October 3, 1862. - Brig. Gen. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General. GENERAL: If I order the officers to Washington I am sure to have a mutiny to-morrow. The fact is these Harper's Ferry men are perfectly disorganized, and as you have already taken from us the heads of every regiment I can do nothing....The Garibaldi Guard (Thirty-ninth New York) and Colonel Willard's regiment (One hundred and twenty-fifth New York) refuse to do every duty, and after a plain talk I have given them until to-morrow for reflection when I shall do all I can [to] stop the spirit of insubordination....General Pope telegraphs to me for a regiment to be sent forward, and I have answered that it is impossible as the men are unarmed and in a state of sure mutiny....With great respect, your obedient servant, DANIEL TYLER, Brigadier-General of Volunteers.

With his army preparing to launch an attack upon Corinth, Mississippi, Earl Van Dorn is acting against the wishes of most of his generals. Brigadier-General Albert Rust is the most vocal: "It is impossible to succeed in the attack...[because] the enemy...[could have] more men than we [can] assault with...and the defenses constructed by General Beauregard [last spring] are very much strengthened." Van Dorn dismisses these objections; "surprise," Van Dorn tells them, "not added numbers" is the key to success. In this assumption Van Dorn is correct as William Rosecrans, in the early morning hours, is belatedly attempting to concentrate his scattered command. Delays inherent in a night movement are inevitable and, as the day dawns, only the divisions of Thomas J. McKean and Thomas A. Davies stand between Corinth and the rapidly advancing Confederates.

CORINTH, MISS., October 3, 1862--1.30 a.m. - General DAVIES: There being indications of a possible attack on Corinth immediately...General Davies will occupy the line between the Memphis and Columbus Railroads; General Hamilton will, with his division, take position between the rebel works on the Purdy and on the Hamburg roads....The respective divisions will be formed in two lines, the second line being either in line of battle or close column by division, as circumstances may require. By command of Major-General Rosecrans: TEMPLE CLARK, Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

After a morning of hard fighting and almost constant retreating, General Davies stakes out his fourth and hopefully last line of defense in "two huge partially cultivated fields...about 725 yards in front of Battery Robinett." Davies selects this position "as the only one where the small force under my command had any hope of meeting the enemy with success."

Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Davies, U.S. Army, commanding Second Division, Army of West Tennessee. - HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE. - Lieut. Col. H. G. KENNETT, Chief of Staff. - SIR: It being apparent...that the whole Confederate Army was attacking us in front, it would have been disastrous...to make a stand on this line, particularly as the left had given way and was driven back half a mile....Again I sent for re-enforcements and determined to make my final stand at the white house, 950 yards back of the forks and 725 yards in front of Fort Robinett....The rattle of musketry on both sides spoke plainer than words can do that a most deadly and sanguinary struggle for victory was progressing. The enemy's fire was too high, while our men planted their shots with great precision, and after a well-directed volley the order was given to charge, when the enemy was forced back at the point of the bayonet with great slaughter across the open field and into the woods beyond....Here the chivalric and generous Hackleman and the gallant Oglesby fell....On some kind attentions being bestowed on the bleeding Oglesby he said, "Never mind me; look yonder (pointing to the enemy); I have lived to see my troops victorious." Here too the brave Colonel Baker met his fate while charging at the head of his regiment. His last words were, "I die content. I have seen my regiment victoriously charging the enemy...." The intensity of the firing on our part may be judged of by the fact, as Colonel Sweeny reports, "The guns became so hot the men could scarcely hold them and the cartridges prematurely exploded in the guns from heat." This fact having been stated to him by several officers his reply was, "Let them burst; there is no time to cool off now...." THOS. A. DAVIES, Brigadier-General, Comdg. Second Div., Army of West Tenn.

It is 2 o'clock in the afternoon when Earl Van Dorn and Sterling Price meet to decide if they are going to press the attack. Price, surrounded by his"parched and panting soldiers," wants to call a halt, but must defer to Van Dorn's judgment. The senior general is insistent that the attack be pressed and after a short rest, Price orders his tired men to make one last charge.

Report of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, C. S. Army, commanding Army of the West. - HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE WEST, Holly Springs, Miss. - Maj. M. M. KIMMEL, Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of West Tennessee. - MAJOR: The necessary disposition being made, my whole line again moved forward to the attack at about 3 p.m. Here the fighting was of unparalleled fierceness along the whole extent of my line. The position of the enemy along the entire length of his lines was covered by fencing, heavy timber, or thick underbrush, while portions of my troops advanced through open fields, exposed to a deadly fire of batteries operating over the enemy's line of infantry. Here, as in the assault upon the outer works, we had little artillery in action, it being impossible to procure such positions for my batteries as would enable them to cooperate effectively with the infantry. After continuous and most desperate fighting along the whole extent of my line of nearly two hours' duration, the enemy...was driven from his positions and forced to take refuge in his innermost works in and around the town. The troops of my command, having nearly exhausted their ammunition in the heavy fighting through the day, were withheld from immediate pursuit, and the delay in procuring the necessary supplies of ammunition forced us to close the fight for the day. My troops were withdrawn for cover and laid on their arms during the night in the position from which the enemy had been driven. STERLING PRICE, Major-General.

William Rosecrans, tired, bewildered, and convinced that he is outnumbered "at least three to one" decides to consolidate his army behind the five fortified redans which form an arc around Corinth. From this strong position he will await the next Rebel attack.

OCTOBER [3], 1862--11.30 [p.m.]. - General GRANT. From advanced position at exterior batteries...our troops slowly drew in and concentrated. The rebels attacked between railroads northwest. Davies' division--the right of McKean's--were the only troops really engaged; it, was bushwhacking, our troops knowing nothing of the ground, although many of them have been here....Our left...occupies Price's new line; right--Hamilton and Davies--rests north of the town on the rebel works....They appear to be still in the angle of the roads. If they fight us to-morrow I think we shall whip them....W. S. ROSECRANS.

"Old Rosy's" mood is further darkened after meeting with General Davies. His division has lost more than one-third of its men and all three of its brigade commanders. After assuring Davies that his battered division will be held in reserve, Rosecrans reverses his decision and, at 2:30 a.m., Davies must rouse his men and march them back up to the front line.

Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Davies, U.S. Army, commanding Second Division, Army of West Tennessee. - HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE. - Lieut. Col. H. G. KENNETT, Chief of Staff. - SIR: I visited Corinth to look after the wounded. In one room I found my three brigade commanders. General Hackleman breathed his last while I was with him. General Oglesby was undergoing most excruciating pain. Colonel Baldwin was sickened from the effects of his wounds. The Tishomingo Hotel was crowded with the wounded and dying of my command. I then reported to Major-General Rosecrans, and stated to him that the services of my three brigadier-generals were lost, many of my officers were killed and wounded and the men worn out with fatigue, and that he must not depend upon my command on the following day, although the men would do all they could. THOS. A. DAVIES, Brigadier-General, Comdg. Second Div., Army of West Tenn.

[Sunday] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday]
Oct 04 1862 (Saturday)

With his impatience getting the better of him President Lincoln leaves Washington to visit General McClellan who is still camped near the old Antietam battlefield. The President tells John Hay, his personal secretary, that his intention in visiting "Little Mac" is to "try to get him to move." While at McClellan's headquarters, Lincoln learns that some of the recently paroled prisoners have been "paroled with terms to prevent their [being sent west to] fight the Indians."

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 4, 1862. - The PRESIDENT, General McClellan's Headquarters: After full consultation with the Secretary of War and Colonel Holt it is concluded that the parole under the cartel does not prohibit doing service against the Indians. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.

Among the many problems facing Robert E. Lee is a critical shortage of experienced generals. The Army of Northern Virginia, especially "Stonewall" Jackson's wing, has been marching and fighting almost nonstop since Cedar Mountain. The generals who have been killed in these battles include: Charles Winder, Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, Samuel Garland, George Anderson, and William Starke. The wounded or currently incapacitated generals include: Richard Ewell, Isaac Trimble, William Taliaferro, Alexander Lawton, and William Mahone.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Richmond, Va., October 4, 1862. - His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS, President Confederate States of America: - SIR: I deem it my duty to call your attention before the adjournment of Congress to the want of power in the Executive to make appointments when neither election nor promotion secures competent officers to fill vacancies....The absence of this power is a defect in the organization of our service so great that it must ultimately cause disaster if not ruin. The present condition of the Army of Northern Virginia imperatively requires its exercise, and the experience of the commanding general of that army has been unable to devise any expedient by which he may avoid the alternative of violating law or of exposing his army to ruin. The senior general of our armies fully concurs with the Department as to the indispensable necessity of the proposed power. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War.

Bishop Polk, acting more like a Bishop than a general, takes the order to move all "available forces" literally and, convinced that Bragg's order is misguided, decides that he has no forces "available" to attack the Union divisions commanded by Joshua Sill. Meanwhile, Sill's column advances upon Frankfort and interrupts the inauguration of Richard Hawes as the new governor of Kentucky. "The great ball planned for that evening in celebration of the occasion [is] canceled and the new Confederate government of Kentucky is forced into exile."

HEADQUARTERS, Frankfort, Ky., October 4, 1862. - Maj. Gen. LEONIDAS POLK, Comdg. Army of the Mississippi, on road to Danville, Ky.: - MY DEAR GENERAL: We shall put our Governor in power soon and then I propose to seek the enemy....All our available forces are ordered up, and we will strike as soon as concentration is practicable wherever the enemy may be....I should suppose the enemy would move on this place, the capital and nearest route to our supplies at Lexington, but it may be he hopes to strike you alone....Yours, truly, BRAXTON BRAGG, General, Commanding.

Earl Van Dorn's plans for the early morning attack are simple. An artillery barrage will begin at 4 a.m. which is to be quickly followed by an attempt to turn the Federal right flank. Brigadier-General Louis Hebert, despite his poor performance yesterday, will begin the attack at daybreak "with his whole force...advancing down the Purdy Ridge." Once Hebert attacks the rest of the Confederate forces are to press the attack en echelon.

Reports of Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, C. S. Army, commanding Army of West Tennessee. - HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE, Holly Springs, Miss. - GENERAL: During the night three batteries were ordered to take position on the ridge overlooking the town...with instructions to open on the town at 4 a.m....Daylight came and there was no attack on the left. A staff officer was sent to Hébert to inquire the cause. That officer could not be found. Another messenger was sent and a third; and about 7 o'clock General Hébert came to my headquarters and reported sick....I regretted to observe that my whole plan of attack was by this unfortunate delay disarranged....Very respectfully, sir, I am, your obedient servant, EARL VAN DORN, Major-general.

The delay caused by Hebert's sickness lasts through mid-morning. "For hours we listened and awaited our signal." It is not until 10 a.m. that the attack order is given. "Somebody concluded we had better charge and...with a wild shout...[we] charged toward the enemy's lines."

Reports of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, U. S. Army, commanding Army of the Mississippi. - HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, THIRD DIVISION, DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, Corinth, Miss. - Maj. JOHN A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General - MAJOR: THE DISPOSITIONS FOR THE BATTLE OF OCTOBER 4. We had now before us the entire army which the rebels could muster in Northern Mississippi....The plan was to rest our left on the batteries, extending from Battery Robinett, our center...and our right on the high ground covering both the Pittsburg and Purdy roads....I was soon aroused by the opening of the enemy's artillery, which he had planted within 600 yards of Battery Robinett....This early opening gave promise of a hot day's work....I shall leave to pens dipped in poetic ink to inscribe the gorgeous pyrotechny of the battle and paint in words of fire the heroes of this fight....I will only say that when Price's left bore down on our center in gallant style their force was so overpowering that our wearied and jaded troops yielded and fell back, scattering among the houses. I had the personal mortification of witnessing this untoward and untimely stampede. Riddled and scattered, the ragged head of Price's right storming columns advanced....W. S. ROSECRANS, Major-General.

When the Confederate tide hits General Davies position "whole units collapse." Davies, in his anger and frustration shoots one of his officers who had started to run away. When a private attempts to come to the aid of the downed officer Davies yells "Let him alone!"

Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Davies, U.S. Army, commanding Second Division, Army of West Tennessee. - HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE. - Lieut. Col. H. G. KENNETT, Chief of Staff. - SIR: The column steadily advanced, firing as they came, and when within about 300 yards some few of the infantry fired, and one in particular, whose name I shall take great pains to find out, fired his piece in the air, ducked his head, and ran to the rear. A very few of those who fired followed his example, and I only regret that I was not near enough to the cowards to have shot them down, as I had shot at two the day before on leaving the line under similar circumstances....Sullivan's brigade on our right...gave way, and the limbers and caissons of Dillon's battery came down the road...presenting rather an alarming appearance....They became frightened and unmanageable...and joined in the race, all of them running through my reserve...and throwing the two regiments into confusion. This communicated a stampede in the ammunition wagons in the hollow in the rear of the line, and they too started on the run to the rear. THOS. A. DAVIES, Brigadier-General, Comdg. Second Div., Army of West Tenn.

In the wake of the fleeing Union soldiers, the Rebels come on "pouring over a shallow ravine, and up a gentle slope before Battery Robinette." Colonel William Rogers leads the advance as he shouts to his men "Forward Texans!"

Report of Brig. Gen. John C. Moore, C. S. Army, commanding Brigade. - HEADQUARTERS MOORE'S BRIGADE, MAURY'S DIVISION, ARMY OF THE WEST, Camp, Lumpkin's Mill, near Holly Springs, Miss. - Capt. D. W. FLOWERREE, Assistant Adjutant-General. - SIR: We charged and carried the enemy's works the whole extent of our line and penetrated to the very heart of Corinth, driving the enemy from house to house and frequently firing in at the windows and driving them out. The enemy were driven from the breastworks in great confusion, leaving their guns, some with the teams still hitched, while others had their horses cut loose and ran off. Our men brought off two or three horses which they found hitched in the streets near the Corinth House, their owners being absent. The Forty-second Alabama, from their position in line, were brought in front of a strong bastion, the walls of which they found too high to scale but rushing to the embrasures they tired three or four volleys, driving the enemy from their guns, and then entering the work mounted the parapet and planted their flag on the walls....I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. C. MOORE, Brigadier-General, Commanding Brigade.

General David Stanley and Colonel John Fuller lead a counter-charge. Stanley is "rushing in between the file closers and the line...his arms outstretched, to touch as many men as he could reach, pushing them forward to strike the...rebel column." The Texans are forced back into a ravine and Colonel Rogers ties a white handkerchief to a ramrod and is in the act of surrendering when he is hit by a final Federal volley. Rogers is killed and his men are "butchered like dogs."

Report of Col. John W. Fuller, Twenty-seventh Ohio Infantry, commanding First Brigade. - HDQRS. FIRST BRIG., SECOND DIV., ARMY OF THE MISS., Corinth, Miss. - Lieut. W. H. SINCLAIR, Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen., Second Div., Army of the Miss. - LIEUTENANT: As the Ninth Texas approached our line, and when distant not more than 6 or 8 yards, Orrin B. Gould, a private of Company G, Twenty-seventh Ohio, shot down the Texas color-bearer, who was marching at the head of the column. Seeing the colors fall, young Gould, with others, sprang forward to secure them, when a rebel officer sang out to his men, "Save the colors," and at the same time put a bullet into the breast of Gould. The young hero was not to be intimidated, however, and bore away the rebel flag in triumph....I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, JOHN W. FULLER, Colonel Twenty-seventh Ohio, Commanding First Brigade.

Five Union vessels, led by by Cmdr. W.B. Renshaw in the USS Westfield, bombed and captured the defenses of the key port of Galveston ,Texas; but the city has not formally surrendered. This is expected in a few days.

NOTICE! HEADQUARTERS, Galveston, October 4th, 1862, 10 o'clock P.M. The Commander of the Federal Naval fleet having granted four days time to remove the women and children from the city, Notice is hereby given to the citizens, that they may avail themselves of the opportunity of leaving. The railroad cars will be kept running constaantly, and those persons, who are unable to pay their transportation, it will be furnished to them by Capt. J.S. Sellers, Quarter Master. The Hon. M.M. Potter will adress the citizens of Galveston tomorrow (Monday) morning at 9 o'clock on the Courthouse square. All citizens are invited to be present. J.J. COOK , col comd'g.

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