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10 i expect We Will Stay Here All Winter Winter–Spring 1863, Tennessee in the week following the murfreesboro battle, Braxton Bragg shepherded his battered Army of Tennessee southeastward, away from the scene of carnage. William rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland, occupied with burying the dead and tending to the wounded of both armies, was in no condition to pursue. General Bragg halted the retreat within the Highland rim, “an oval belt of steep ridges” that surrounds middle Tennessee. The northern edge of this geographical feature “contains a broad series of ridges which reach elevations of thirteen hundred feet”; Bragg chose this location not only because it appeared easily defensible but also because of the rich Duck and elk river valleys that lay within the sheltered region. The general planned to allow his troops to live off the area’s foodstuffs that winter. Bragg made the railroad town ofTullahoma his headquarters and General William Hardee’s Corps encamped nearby. Soon after the army established their quarters, Daniel mclean informed a relative: “i expect we will stay here all winter, if we are not run off by the yankees.”1 The beginning of 1863 found the Department of east Tennessee’s soldiers deployed alongthevitalrailroadthatsnakedthroughthevalleyinagenerallysouthwest to northeast direction. With terrible weather making a crossing of the Cumberland mountains by a large number of troops impossible, the Federals in Kentucky posed little threat to the Confederates. yet that winter the rebels would find trouble in the form of east Tennessee Unionists and deserters. The winter of 1862–63 was the first that the Florida regiments spent away from their home state. Whether performing manual labor atTullahoma or scouring Appalachian hollows for Tories, these troops remained active that winter. Also, respite from Union threats allowed the regiments to hone their discipline, and all spent countless hours on the drill field. For General W.G.m. Davis’s Brigade, the months saw two critical command changes, and the majority of the 6th and 7th Florida’s soldiers underwent their baptism by fire on the outskirts of Knoxville. Although the winter lull halted most major military operations, the Florida soldiers found the hiatus provided no break from the rigors of soldiering. General William J. Hardee’s eleven thousand soldiers limped into Tullahoma during the second week of January following a strenuous march through harsh weather. in other winter quarters during the war, troops constructed crude cabins to escape the elements; at Tullahoma the Floridians lived in their tents. The sol- 110 Chapter 10 diers fashioned makeshift chimneys to help warm their scant dwellings; seasonable storms that swept through the area brought rain, falling temperatures, and snow. lieutenant Henry Wright marveled at the climate’s “changeableness, last week it was so cold that creeks were all frozen and snow covered the ground. Today it is so warm that even a light coat is . . . apprehensive.” Francis Nicks of the 3rd Florida complained, “[T]his is the worst country i ever saw in my life it rains all the time and when it ain’t raining it is snowing.” Daniel mclean declared that the worst part about the wetness was that “the ground gets so muddy.”2 By the time the Army of Tennessee entered its winter encampment at Tullahoma , the troops had long since devoured the provisions that had arrived at murfreesboro in time for Christmas. Therefore, the Floridians’ primary fare that winter consisted of army rations, meaning “Fresh pork, meal occasionally a little molasses and salt.” mclean lamented the quality of the meals, remembering that “[w] hen we were on the march we could occasionally get a chicken or irish potatoes, Turkey, or something of the sort and make a little change.” Florida’s citizens, however , continued to support their soldiers in the field; mclean, who was from West Florida, pointed out that “some of the fellows from east Fla, get any quantity of . . . eadibles from home.” Washington ives wrote home that “i long for fish birds and oysters i could almost shed tears i wanted some so bad, and eggs.” ives asked his parents “to raise as many chickens and Gardens in Fla as is possible” to supply the state’s soldiers, for he avowed that it was “camp fare that is killing off . . . many good soldiers.”3 During the middle Tennessee encampment the number of men who became ill steadily rose; the Army of Tennessee’s hospitals recorded 137,000 patients during the first five months of 1863. mclean, who served as an orderly...

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