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12 The Weight of Command Clash at Stones River ON THEMORNING of December 26, 1862, the Army of the Cumberland snaked out of Nashville in three columns. Jefferson C. Davis's division of McCook's corps, in a driving rain, slogged out the Edmonson Pike. At Prim's Blacksmith Shop, the column veered onto an old country road, made almost impassable by the consequent mud, to Nolensville. Despite the early hour, something had already gone wrong. Stanley's reserve cavalry brigade had allowed the infantry to get a head start, meaning that the road was hopelessly blocked for the horsemen. The only available cavalry was thus an escort company of Illinois infantry mounted for that purpose. The bluecoats nonetheless brushed aside token resistance by Confederate cavalry outside Nolensville and two miles beyond at Knob Gap. The Federals launched an assault at the latter place, with Billy Carlin's brigade crossing a field to the right of the pike (each man lifting "a square foot of mud three inches deep at every step") and Sidney Post's to the left. They chased off the Rebel cavalry and captured a gun, with Col. John W. C. Alexander of the 2ist Illinois and Colonel Heg of the 15th Wisconsin gallantly riding to the summit in advance of their regiments.1 McCook's main column, Phil Sheridan's and Richard Johnson's divisions, encountered only slight resistance as they splashed down the Nolensville Pike, preceded by the raw 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in its debut combat mission, and four companies of the 3d Indiana Cavalry. On the right Thomas's corps (Rousseau's division and Moses Walker's brigade of Fry's division) filed out the Franklin Pike to link up with Negley's division at Brentwood. Negley was to halt at Owen's Store, south of Brentwood on the Wilson Pike, but hearing the sound of gunfire in the direction of Nolensville, he impetuously ordered his division down the same country road Davis had taken, arriving at Knob Gap after it had been secured. Zahm's 950 troopers continued south to Franklin, clearing out a regiment and a battalion of gray horsemen, taking fifty prisoners in the process. Minty's cavalry spearheaded i. OR, 20(1)1253, 262-63, 266, 269, 279, 295, 347; Bickham, Rosecrans' Campaign, 150-52; Girardi and Hughes, Memoirs of Brigadier General William Passmore Carlin, 73; Blegen, Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, 160-61. 202 DAYS OF GLORY Crittenden's corps on the left along the Murfreesboro Pike. Due to a garbled order, Palmer's division, not Wood's, fell in line first, arriving at Hurricane Creek, just short of La Vergne, at dusk.2 Having heard nothing from McCook all day, Rosecrans made a late-night ride to Nolensville, accompanied by only a few staff officers. Getting lost more than once on back roads, the party finally found the corps commander. Prisoners had confirmed that only a brigade was in Triune, but McCook suspected that William Hardee 's entire corps lay in wait. If true, Rosecrans directed that he give battle. If Hardee lost and fell back on Shelbyville, McCook would follow with a division, sending the other two on to Murfreesboro. If he simply retreated to Shelbyville, two divisions would be sent in pursuit. If he should proceed to Murfreesboro, the entire Right Wing would conform.3 A dense early morning fog on December 27limited visibility to 150 yards. Stanley and three cavalry regiments, supported by Willich's brigade of Johnson's division, made a reconnaissance, but two miles out they collided with a mixture of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. With visibility now near zero, McCook thought it prudent to wait. The march did not continue until 1:00 P.M., and by that time only Confederate cavalry remained in Triune to contest the steep banks of Nelson's Creek. The Federals chased off the graycoats in a driving rain and spent the rest of the day rebuilding the destroyed bridge. Crittenden's corps, meanwhile, entered LaVergne shortly after noon and pressed on toward Stewart's Creek, where Milo Hascall's brigade captured a vital bridge. In like fashion William Hazen's brigade seized the bridge east of Smyrna, and with it thirty-five of Wheeler's men. Thomas was stuck in mud, with Negley's division taking nearly all day to march five miles.4 Rosecrans rejected a general movement on Sunday the twenty-eighth, owing less to mud than to religious considerations, a commendable and...

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