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 the editors that despite the defeat at Nashville, he was hopeful that a period or rest and reorganization would bring the Army of Tennessee back into fighting trim.

          “The larger portion 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 our troops from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Whether our army will go into winter quarters where it is now or not, I am unable to say. The troops need rest very much and the probability is that they will be quartered at once.”

          Speaking with soldiers wounded at Franklin and brought into Mississippi for medical treatment, he found them “all cheerful and speak of the fight at Franklin as one of the more desperate of the war. Many of these troops will soon recover from 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 Memphis Daily Appeal (then being produced in Montgomery, Alabama), this letter was republished in the January 27, 1865, edition of the Alabama Beacon from Greensboro, 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 am stopping here for a few hours, I propose to give you a line or two.

          The larger portion 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 our troops from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Whether our army will go into winter quarters where it is now or not, I am unable to say. The troops need rest very much and the probability is that they will be quartered at once.

          The roads are in a wretched condition, almost impassable. This being the case, it will be impossible for 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 even more which will prevent [General George] Thomas from executing his coveted plan in the spring- that of aping Sherman and plunging his hireling horde through Mississippi and Alabama to the Gulf. This is now said to be his campaign for the spring.

          To prevent him, our country should arouse itself being now and that time, put every man capable of bearing arms in the field to oppose him. It will not do for Mississippi and Alabama to be overrun and held by the enemy as our armies now draw 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 of the roads will admit of an advantage.

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

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

Sources:

Letter from Memphis, Alabama Beacon (Alabama), January 27, 1865, pg. 1

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

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