victory. Certainly in its exhausted and ill-supplied condition the Union army could readily have been attacked and destroyed. The Confederate force available was sufficient. It needed only concentration and use.

CHAPTER XII.

OF THE

GENERAL BRAGG BECOMES COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF CONFEDERATE ARMIES AT RICHMOND SHERMAN MOVES AGAINST JOHNSTON-GRANT AGAINST LEE-THE DEFENSE OF RICHMOND.

General Hardee declined the command of the Army of the Tennessee, taking it over temporarily on the retirement of General Bragg, and the many influences in and out of the army which had so long championed General Joseph E. Johnston, put such heavy pressure upon President Davis that he appointed Johnston to the place on December 16, 1863. That Bragg's army was by no means shorn of its strength is seen by these excerpts from a letter written to Johnston by President Davis on December 23d:

The reports concerning the battle at Missionary Ridge show that our loss in killed and wounded was not great, and that the reverse sustained is not attributable to any general demoralization or reluctance to encounter the opposing army. The brilliant stand made by the rear-guard at Ringgold sustains this belief.

The official reports made to my aide-de-camp, Colonel Ives, who has just returned from Dalton, presented a not unfavorable view of the material of the command.

The chief of ordnance reported that, notwithstanding the abandonment of a considerable number of guns during the battle, there was still on hand, owing to previous large captures by our troops, as many batteries as were proportionate to the strength of the army, well supplied with horses and equipment; that a large reserve of small-arms was in store at readily accessible points; and that the supply of ammunition was abundant.

Comparatively few wagons and ambulances had been lost, and sufficient remained for transportation purposes, if an equal distribution were made throughout the different corps. The teams appeared to be generally in fair condition. The troops were tolerably provided with clothing, and a heavy invoice of shoes and blankets daily expected.

The return from the commissary department showed that there were thirty days' provisions on hand.

Stragglers and convalescents were rapidly coming in, and the morning reports exhibited an effective total, that, added to the two brigades last sent from Mississippi, and the cavalry sent back by Longstreet, would finish a force exceeding in num

ber that actually engaged in any battle on the Confederate side during the present war. General Hardee telegraphed to me on the 11th instant: "The army is in good spirits; the artillery reorganized and equipped, and we are now ready to fight."

The effective condition of your new command, as thus reported to me, is a matter of much congratulation, and I assure you that nothing shall be wanting on the part of the Government to aid you in your efforts to regain possession of the territory from which we have been driven.

Further evidence of the army's excellence during and at the end of General Bragg's command is also found in a letter written February 11, 1868, to General Johnston, by Lt.-Gen. A. P. Stewart, describing the army as Bragg found and left it:

I just joined the army a few days before the battle of Shiloh. It was then mostly without discipline, as the battle of Shiloh too sadly evinced. Our stay at Tupelo, Mississippi, after the retreat from Corinth was improved in drilling and disciplining the army. General Bragg had brought it to a high state of efficiency by the time he set out on his campaign into Kentucky. The army was also in fine condition when General Bragg retreated from Middle Tennessee, in 1863, and up to the disaster on Missionary Ridge in November of that year.

Following his relief from command, General Bragg retired to Warm Springs, Georgia, where he was joined by Mrs. Bragg. Here he rested and recuperated for the first time since taking up the sword.

Little appears in the Confederate correspondence of the time to indicate any activity on his part beyond a pleasant note to General Johnston, written on January 10th, 1864, responding to a very kind letter of good wishes, in which he says:

I rejoice to be able to address you where you are in acknowledging your kind and generous note from Meridian. That spontaneous offering from a brother soldier and fellow citizen, so honored and esteemed, will be treasured as a source of happiness and a reward which neither time nor circumstances can impair.

I shall follow you and your noble comrades with prayers as fervent and hopes as strong as when I shared the toils and honors of the field, and no one of you will rejoice more than myself at the success which I trust awaits you, and at the future award of honors already won.

On the same date General Bragg wrote to Pillow, who had also written him an appreciative note and wished it known that he continued among his friends and supporters:

It was a great pleasure to receive your kind note of the 8th ultimo. Rest assured I shall ever appreciate and honor the generous and distinguished sentiments conveyed in it. Our acquaintance commenced, general, not without prejudices in my mind adverse to you. But no influence, no power, and no clamor can ever suppress the admiration with which I have witnessed the intense labor and patriotic zeal with which you have served, and successfully served, our cause since you joined me more than a year ago.

I have learned, too, to admire and view in their true light your unrequited sacrifices and services in the past.

From Warm Springs General Bragg went to Montgomery, Alabama, where on January 27th, this dispatch reached him from President Davis: "Come to Richmond, if your health permits. I wish to confer with you." As the result of this visit an order was issued on February 24th, in the following terms:

General Braxton Bragg is assigned to duty at the seat of government, and, under the direction of the President, is charged with the conduct of military operations in the armies of the Confederacy.

This brought with it the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate forces, a distinction of considerable magnitude in words, but like the similar dignity accorded Halleck on the Union side, created no direct authority, Bragg's actual duties being confined to echoing the conclusions of the civil powers above him. It placed him, however, at the head of the staff and as such he became chief adviser to President Davis. He organized an office force, with Col. J. B. Sale as military secretary, and applied himself to the duties of his new post with his customary diligence and intelligence. A pressing problem was the strengthening of the garrison at Wilmington, the chief port for blockade runners from Nassau, Havana and Bermuda, which remained open in the face of the efforts of a very formidable blockading fleet, which had to roll in the open sea, the guns of Fort Fisher keeping it at a respectful distance. Major-General W. H. C. Whiting, in chief command, appealed on February 12th for help in guarding the costly cargoes. General Bragg sent Kemper's brigade to his support. This was done March 4th. At the moment Richmond was stunned by a reckless raid on the part of Col. Ulric Dahlgren, son of the Admiral,

who with about 500 of Kilpatrick's horse, sought to release the Federal prisoners in Libby Prison, Castle Thunder and on Belle Isle. They were met by Hampton's cavalry and about 100 were killed or captured. Col. Dahlgren was among the slain. The encounter was two miles from Richmond, on land then owned by James Lyons, now part of the estate of the late Joseph Bryan. Papers found purported to include in the above plan the burning of the city and the killing of President Davis and his cabinet. This was made a matter of correspondence between Lee and Major-General Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac. Meade denied that any such purpose was authorized by Dahlgren's superiors. So desperate had affairs become, however, for both sides, that its truth is not improbable. Much excitement was caused in the North by a statement by Major-General B. F. Butler, always a good press agent, that Dahlgren's grave had been violated and his body misused. This was proven untrue. In the course of the excitement, General Bragg wrote to Secretary of War Seddon on March 4th:

It had occurred to me that the papers first captured from the enemy are of such an extraordinary and diabolical character, that some more formal method should be adopted of giving them to the public than simply sending them to the press. My own conviction is for the execution of the prisoners and a publication as justification; but in any event the publication should go forth with official sanction from the highest authority, calling the attention of our people and the civilized world to the fiendish and atrocious conduct of our enemies.

Photographic copies of the documents were sent to Gen. Meade, who made an investigation that seems to have satisfied General Lee, and no more came of it despite Bragg's severe suggestion.

Another perplexity with which General Bragg had to deal was a conflict between the War Department and General Beauregard at Charleston. General commissaries had been appointed to deal with the troublesome problem of distributing supplies, and Beauregard could no longer secure the service he had enjoyed by direct action. His complaint began on January 25th, and awaited Bragg when he took office. Beauregard made a strong appeal to him on March 18th, adding that if his