Tennessee if they can, and I intend to drive them out or get whipped this month. For this purpose you will have to detach at least ten thousand men besides Stanley's division (more will be better). I can partly relieve the vacuum at Chattanooga by troops from Logan's command. It will not be necessary to take artillery or wagons to Knoxville, but all the serviceable artillery horses should be taken to use on artillery there. Six mules to each two hundred men should be taken, if you have them to spare. Let me know how soon you can start. 66 "GRANT, Major-General." On the 9th Major-General J. M. Schofield arrived at Knoxville, and assumed command of the Army of the Ohio. General Grant reported on the 11th,— "MAJOR-GENERAL H. W. HALLECK, "General-in-Chief: "I expect to get off from Chattanooga by Monday next a force to drive Longstreet out of East Tennessee. It has been impossible heretofore to subsist the troops necessary for this work. "U. S. GEANT, "MAJOR-GENERAL J. M. SCHOFIELD, "Knoxville, Tennessee: "I deem it of the utmost importance to drive Longstreet out immediately, so as to furlough the balance of our veterans, and to prepare for a spring campaign of our own choosing, instead of permitting the enemy to dictate it for us. Thomas is ordered to start ten thousand men, besides the remainder of Granger's corps, at once. He will take no artillery, but will take his artillery horses, and three mules to one hundred men. He will probably start next Monday. How General Grant abandoned the move against Longstreet, while Longstreet kept Schofield bottled up all through that trying winter in his works about Knoxville, is old history. The Confederate government finally abandoned the plan of occupying East Tennessee, and on the 7th of April Longstreet was ordered, with the part of his command that had originally served with the Army of Northern Virginia, to join General Lee on the Rapidan. I have gone thus far into the East Tennessee campaigns for the pleasure it gives me to reproduce the following resolutions passed by the Confederate Congress during General Longstreet's arduous work in the winter of 1863-64: "No. 42. Joint Resolutions of Thanks to Lieutenant-General Longstreet and the officers and men of his command. "Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That the thanks of the Congress are due, and hereby cordially tendered, to Lieutenant-General James Longstreet and the officers and men of his command, for their patriotic services and brilliant achievements in the present war, sharing as they have the arduous fatigues and privations of many campaigns in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Tennessee, and participating in nearly every great battle fought in those States, the commanding general ever displaying great ability, skill, and prudence in command, and the officers and men the most heroic bravery, fortitude, and energy, in every duty they have been called upon to perform. "Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to Lieutenant-General Longstreet for publication to his command. "Approved February 17, 1864." THE WILDERNESS THE Wilderness is a forest land about fifteen miles square, lying between and equidistant from Orange Court-House and Fredericksburg. It is broken occasionally by small farms and abandoned clearings, and two roads,—the Orange Plank Road and the turnpike, which are cut at right angles by the Germania road,-in general course nearly parallel, open ways through it between Fredericksburg and the Court-House. The Germania Ford road joins the Brock road, the strategic line of the military zone, and crosses the turnpike at Wilderness Tavern and the plank road about two miles south of that point. General Grant was making his head-quarters near the Army of the Potomac, in Culpeper County, Virginia, commanded by Major-General George G. Meade. The aggregate of the Federal command was about one hundred and thirty thousand men. The Army of Northern Virginia was on the west side of the Rapidan River. Its total number at the beginning of the campaign was then put by Colonel Taylor, chief of staff, at about sixty-four thousand. However, the numerical strength of the armies did not decide the merits of the campaign. The commanders on both sides had chosen their ground after mature deliberation. They knew of each other's numbers and resources, and made their plans accordingly. A number of their respective leaders had known each other personally for more than twenty years. They had the undivided support and confidence of their governments and their armies. General Lee was as always the trusted leader of the Confederates; General Grant by his three years' service in the West had become known as an all-round soldier seldom if ever surpassed. Gen eral Longstreet, who thought most highly of General Grant from every stand-point, always said that the biggest part of him was his heart. In this case General Grant had no fixed plan of campaign except to avoid the strong defensive line occupied by General Lee, and to draw him out to open battle. General Lee's orders were against a general engagement until the Federal forces should attack, but in the midst of varied manoeuvrings the battle was begun in half a dozen quarters before either commanding general had expected it. Hancock advanced before sunrise ready for battle, just as Longstreet's command, which had come up from Mechanicsville, reported to General Lee. Longstreet's line was formed along the right and left of the plank road, Kershaw on the right, Field on the left. Hancock's musketry was doing considerable damage to the forces in front, and as Longstreet's lines were forming the men broke files to give free passage for their comrades to the rear. The advancing fire was getting brisk, but not a shot was fired in return by Longstreet's troops until the divisions were ready. Three of Field's brigades were formed in the line of the left, and three of Kershaw's on the right. The advance of the six brigades was ordered, and Hancock's lines, thinned by their previous fighting and weaker than the fresh men now coming against them, were checked and pushed back to their intrenched lines. Then the fighting became steady and firm. Finally Hancock's line began to break. As they retreated and the Confederates advanced, a fire was started in the dry leaves and began to spread. The Confederate forces, in spite of the fire, moved on. As the battle waged, General Wadsworth, who was gallantly leading a division of the Federal forces, fell mortally wounded, and there was then a general break |