The Troops Need Rest Very Much: A Confederate Reporter Writes After Nashville

Writing from West Point, Mississippi along the Mobile &Ohio Railroad, a reporter from the Memphis Daily Appeal assured theeditors that despite the defeat at Nashville, he was hopeful that a period orrest and reorganization would bring the Army of Tennessee back into fightingtrim.

          “The largerportion of the army is now at Tupelo where it was some two and a half years ago,”he wrote. “The Memphis & Charleston Railroad is still occupied by ourtroops from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Whether our army will go into winter quarterswhere it is now or not, I am unable to say. The troops need rest very much andthe probability is that they will be quartered at once.”

          Speaking withsoldiers wounded at Franklin and brought into Mississippi for medicaltreatment, he found them “all cheerful and speak of the fight at Franklin asone of the more desperate of the war. Many of these troops will soon recoverfrom their wounds and be ready again to confront the foe.” 

    But the situation at Tupelo was dire- despite the reporter's glossy appraisal, the Army of Tennessee had been well-nigh wrecked by its campaign in Tennessee. The army had been reduced to roughly 15,000 infantrymen and as Thomas Connelly wrote "fewer than half were still equipped or considered effective. A large part of the army's artillery had been captured, abandoned, or destroyed. Some 13,000 small arms were missing and wagon transportation had been annihilated on the long march. By January 14, when Beauregard arrived at Tupelo, the army was practically without food, still had no winter clothing, and had few blankets to withstand the unusually cold Mississippi winter." 

    The same day Beauregard arrived at Tupelo, General John Bell Hood, the army's commander, asked to be relieved of command of the army. Two days later, Richmond agreed and General Richard Taylor took command. 

Originally published in the MemphisDaily Appeal (then being produced in Montgomery, Alabama), this letter wasrepublished in the January 27, 1865, edition of the Alabama Beacon fromGreensboro, Alabama.  

 By the time the once proud Army of Tennessee rolled into camp at Tupelo in early January 1865, its ranks had dwindled to less than 20,000 men, most of them suffering from a lack of winter clothing and equipment. One of its veterans, Sam Watkins, recalled that the "Army of Tennessee had degenerated to a mob. We were pinched by hunger and cold. The rains and sleet and snow never ceased falling from the winter sky while the winds pierced the old, ragged grayback Rebel soldier to his very marrow. The clothing of many were hanging around them in shreds of rags and tatters while an old-fashioned slouch hat covered their frozen ears." 

West Point, Mississippi

January 12, 1865

Editors Appeal,

          As I amstopping here for a few hours, I propose to give you a line or two.

          The largerportion of the army is now at Tupelo where it was some two and a half years ago.[see "Braxton Bragg and the Tupelo Revival."] The Memphis & Charleston Railroad is still occupied by ourtroops from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Whether our army will go into winter quarterswhere it is now or not, I am unable to say. The troops need rest very much andthe probability is that they will be quartered at once.

          The roads arein a wretched condition, almost impassable. This being the case, it will be impossiblefor the enemy to advance upon us under two months at least. During this time,our army can be reorganized and repleted in numbers to 40,000-50,000 or evenmore which will prevent [General George] Thomas from executing his coveted planin the spring- that of aping Sherman and plunging his hireling horde throughMississippi and Alabama to the Gulf. This is now said to be his campaign forthe spring.

          To preventhim, our country should arouse itself being now and that time, put every mancapable of bearing arms in the field to oppose him. It will not do forMississippi and Alabama to be overrun and held by the enemy as our armies nowdraw their supplies from these states. The Yankees, being aware of this fact,will put forth their whole force to overrun them as soon as the condition ofthe roads will admit of an advantage.

          The woundedfrom Corinth are now being shipped through this place to Columbus, Mississippiand other points in the rear. Dr. Tuttle informs me that he has sent 550yesterday on one train and expects more today. The most of them are slightlywounded and were brought away from Franklin and Nashville before our army fellback. They are all cheerful and speak of the fight at Franklin as one of themore desperate of the war. Many of these troops will soon recover from theirwounds and be ready again to confront the foe.

          In the defeatof our army near Nashville and the retreat from the state of Tennessee, ourprincipal loss was in artillery. This is quite serious, but as we have plentyof guns captured from the enemy in previous engagements with him, we can affordit. More anon.

Sources:

Letter from Memphis, Alabama Beacon (Alabama), January27, 1865, pg. 1

Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971, pg. 513