River of Death--The Chickamauga Campaign by Robertson William Glenn;

Author:Robertson, William Glenn;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 2018-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

If not quickly reversed, the loss of the railroad between Knoxville and Loudon would have far-reaching effects on Confederate planning. The East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad represented part of a direct 540-mile route from central Virginia to Chattanooga. Any reinforcements sent from Virginia to Bragg’s army would most readily be dispatched along that route. Now, that direct link had been severed. Meanwhile, Davis’s discussions with Lee about Confederate strategy continued in Richmond. Lee argued vigorously to keep the Army of Northern Virginia intact and on the offensive in its home territory. Yet Davis for some time had been aware of Bragg’s precarious situation. A recent note from Senator Landon Haynes of Tennessee had prematurely announced the fall of Knoxville, while a telegram from Governor Isham Harris had bluntly called for reinforcements to be sent to the Army of Tennessee. Davis had already tapped Johnston’s command for aid and was cajoling Governor Brown of Georgia for militia assistance. Lee’s arguments notwithstanding, his army was another potential source of aid for Bragg’s beleaguered command. While Lee was in Richmond, James Longstreet commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. For six months Longstreet had advocated shifting troops from Lee to Bragg, usually with himself as the detachment’s leader. In August, he again had approached Secretary of War Seddon and Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas with the scheme, but those efforts had seemingly failed on 31 August. Longstreet now saw the Tennessee crisis as another opportunity to advance his proposal. On 2 September he acknowledged Lee’s orders to prepare the army for offensive action but again pressed for the adoption of his own plan: “I know but little of the condition of our affairs in the west, but am inclined to the opinion that our best opportunity for great results is in Tennessee. If we could hold the defensive here with two corps and send the other to operate in Tenn. with that army I think that we could accomplish more than by an advance from here.”22

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