Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume 6: Volume 6

27. The Mistakes of Grant in Relation to the Chickamauga Campaign

358 • part 5: the war in 1863 27 The Mistakes of Grant in Relation to the Chickamauga Campaign William S. Rosecrans, Major General, U.S.V. in a recent interview with the editor of the North American Review , my attention was called to the article in the November [1885] number of the Century [Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant: Chattanooga ”], and I was asked in the interests of history to prepare some observations upon the matters therein set forth. I said there were very serious objections to a compliance with his request;that time and my occupations precluded the preparation of an historical article; that the time was inopportune, on account of the recent death of the author of the Century article [President Ulysses S.Grant], the state of the public mind, created by sympathies his death had excited, and because of the existence of strong partisan biases and partisan interests that lived and fed upon the illusions which had been created in the past. It was urged by the editor that errors in history were pernicious, and that as soon as possible they should be eradicated; that the Review was desirous of directing its efforts to the propagation of the truth of history, and, therefore, of acting upon this maxim, and insisted that I should make some contributions to that end. My reply was that the utmost I could do would be to signalize a few of the many errors of fact which the article contained, for the purpose of warning students of history to wait until the publication of the records of the Rebellion covering that period should furnish the materials for demonstration. I furthermore represented to him that personally I had very great objections to troubling the public with piecemeal bits of information concerning war matters,to which the editor replied that it seemed a duty which men having held high commands in the military service owed to posterity, to contribute testimony upon obscure or mooted points while they were yet alive; that the matters treated of in the Century article were comparatively little understood by the general public; that the number of living witnesses to the events the article recounted was constantly diminishing; and that, while waiting for the means and the opportunity of a thorough history, the public ought to have at least something from me on the subject. I finally said that the true way would be to make a plain and summary statement of the facts involved, but that for lack of time to refer to reports and correspondence not yet published, I could not undertake to do it; that the most I would do would be to submit the following observations: 05.197-380_Cozz 12/2/03, 8:48 AM 358 At the outset the article states,“But after the investment of Vicksburg,[General Braxton] Bragg’s army was largely depleted to strengthen [General Joseph E.] Johnston, in Mississippi.” My information,which is very positive,flatly contradicts that statement.Very few troops if any, save cavalry, were detached from Bragg’s command in Tennessee .“I frequently wrote to [Major General HenryW.] Halleck suggesting that Rosecrans should move against Bragg. By so doing he would either detain the latter’s troops, or lay Chattanooga open to capture.” This shows that General Grant did not understand the situation. Bragg, commanding the Army of Tennessee, was in Middle Tennessee; his troops were largely Tennesseans; he occupied two entrenched camps, and commanded the corn country of Duck and Elk rivers, with railway communication to Chattanooga for supplying his army. He was confronting a dangerous and powerful Union army and had every reason for believing that he was rendering services of vital importance to the cause he represented.As the commander of the Union army facetiously remarked, like Squibob in the celebrated combat with the San Diego editor, “He was holding us down with his nose, which he had inserted between our teeth for that purpose.” The Mistakes of Grant • 359 Two Uncommon Views of William S. Rosecrans as a Major General (Peter Cozzens Collection) 05.197-380_Cozz 12/2/03, 8:48 AM 359 360 • part 5: the war in 1863 Bragg’s troops were already thus being detained, and the views of General Grant to the contrary are illusory.As to laying “Chattanooga open to capture,” subsequent events show what was required for that purpose. Had Bragg been driven across...