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13 Interlude The Business of War THE BATTLE WON, Rosecrans found himself deep within enemy territory, some 212 railroad miles and 250 turnpike miles from his main base in Louisville. The winter rains, which began in late December 1862, continued throughout January 1863, punctuated with sleet and snow. Roads, except those macadamized, became impassable . The general arrived in Murfreesboro on January 5 and established headquarters at the Keeble house. Although sick and confined to bed, he continued to "hourly hurry up ammunition and supplies."1 The immediate problem was the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, which connected Murfreesboro to the Tennessee capital. Although it was presently not operational , Rosecrans believed that he could have it running by January 14.The larger problem remained the Louisville and Nashville, which had proven to be an inviting target to Rebel raiders in the past. Indeed, during the year that ended June 30,1863, the Louisville and Nashville was completely open only seven months and twelve days. Every major bridge had been hit, some more than once, and the Gallatin tunnel destroyed. Fortunately, the Cumberland River began to rise in mid-January. "Forty foot rise in the Cumberland, now we'll have stores!" the general exclaimed. A convoy of supply transports soon docked at the Nashville wharf, bringing three thousand barrels of flour, ten thousand pounds of bacon, nine hundred sacks of oats, and two thousand bushels of corn. By mid-February the commissary depots in the city would be bulging with sixty days' rations, with an additional fifteen days' supply at Murfreesboro.2 The War Department, under pressure from Andrew Johnson and Horace Maynard , believed that it was time once again to revisit the issue of East Tennessee. On January 7 Stanton, in an obvious attempt at coaxing, sent a letter to General Grant, a copy of which went to Rosecrans, pronouncing the road to East Tennessee open, 1. OR, 20(2)1318; 23(2)120, 60; Williams, Wild Life of the Army, 225, 227. Rosecrans's illness was described as "lung fever." 2. OR, 23(2)160; Cist, Army of the Cumberland, 138; New York Tribune, Jan. 6,1863; Chicago Tribune, Jan. 20, 26,1863. 226 DAYS OF GLORY "and if Rosecrans takes possession of it, 200,000 rebel troops cannot drive him out."3 The ploy failed. Rosecrans had no intention of marching on East Tennessee; indeed , he considered himself on the defensive. He remained convinced that Richmond would "strip everything they can" in an effort to reinforce Bragg and regain Middle Tennessee. Rumors claimed that troops from Savannah, Georgia, were already on their way. The general immediately drew in two of his divisions—Joseph Reynolds's five thousand infantry from Nashville to Murfreesboro and James Steedman 's division from thirty miles to the southwest to near Nashville.4 An unconfirmed, though troubling, report that Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's corps from the Army of Northern Virginia was on its way to Tennessee and would arrive by the end of January further heightened Rosecrans's fears. Railroad experts assured the War Department that it would be utterly impossible for the Confederates to move twenty thousand troops by rail in that span of time, but Rosecrans persisted. By January 13he was convinced that there was no longer any doubt of this report. A "reliable man" from Abington, Virginia, who appeared at Wright's headquarters on January 16,claimed that fifty-five secessionist regiments had passed that place on the way to join Bragg, with more to follow, thus adding credence to the idea. The New York Tribune reported on January 19 that Longstreet had already arrived in Shelbyville with thirteen brigades and had superseded Bragg in command.5 The rumors, as usual, turned out to be false, but they prompted Halleck to do what he should have done a month earlier. He ordered Major General Wright to concentrate his troops to defend Louisville and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and to send the balance to Rosecrans. Accordingly, three divisions assembled at Louisville in late January and packed aboard fifty-four steamboats for the arduous journey to Nashville, where they would proceed to Brentwood and Franklin. They numbered twelve thousand troops, virtually all rookies—the veterans called them hundred-dollar soldiers because of the bounty they received at their enlistment. The corps commander, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, was a West Pointer and professional , but the soldiers had made up their minds about him, dismissing him as an "old granny" and a "red tape soldier...

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