Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, commanded the Federal Military Division of the Mississippi, which included three armies between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi River:
- Major-General John Schofield’s Army of the Ohio at Knoxville, facing Lieutenant-General James Longstreet’s Confederate corps in northeastern Tennessee
- Major-General George H. Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, facing General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee at Dalton in northern Georgia
- Major-General William T. Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee, facing Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk’s Army of Mississippi outside Meridian
Sherman was in the process of laying waste to central Mississippi while closing in on the last Confederate-controlled railroad center in the state. Grant wanted to support Sherman’s effort by having Thomas prevent Johnston from helping Polk. Grant also wanted Schofield to drive Longstreet out of Tennessee, but he needed Thomas to send troops to support that mission as well.
Major-General John G. Foster, who had just been replaced as Army of the Ohio commander by Schofield, traveled to Nashville to confer with Grant about the eastern Tennessee situation. Foster convinced Grant that Longstreet would not be a threat, prompting Grant to notify Schofield: “No movement will be made against Longstreet at present. Give your men and animals all the rest you can preparatory to early operations in the spring. Furlough all the veterans you deem it prudent to let go.”
This allowed Thomas to devote his full attention to Johnston at Dalton. Grant asked Thomas on February 12, “Should you not be required to go into East Tennessee, could you not make a formidable reconnaissance toward Dalton, and, if successful in driving the enemy out, occupy that place and complete the railroad up to it this winter?” Thomas responded that if he had one more division, “an advance on Dalton would be successful.”
Grant reported to General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck that he had decided to shift his focus from eastern Tennessee to northern Georgia. Grant explained:
“General Foster… says that our possession of the portion of East Tennessee is perfectly secure against all danger. The condition of the people within the rebel lines cannot be improved now after losing all they had. Longstreet, where he is, makes more secure other parts of our possessions. Our men, from scanty clothing and short rations, are not in good condition for an advance. There are but very few animals in East Tennessee in condition to move artillery or other stores.”
Grant went on: “If we move against Longstreet with an overwhelming force he will simply fall back towards Virginia until he can be reinforced or take up an impregnable position.” Instead, “Now that our men are ready for an advance, however, I have directed it to be made on Dalton, and hope to get possession of that place and hold it as a step towards a spring campaign.”
Johnston learned on the 14th that Grant had canceled his order sending part of Thomas’s army to northeastern Tennessee. He also learned that Grant had “instead ordered Thomas to move forward, ‘to gain possession of Dalton, and as far south of that as possible.’” Grant seemed to anticipate that Johnston would weaken his army by sending reinforcements to Polk in Mississippi.
When Thomas still had not moved after five days, Grant reiterated his instructions: “Make your contemplated move as soon as possible.” Grant later wrote that he told Thomas “how important it was, that the object of the movement was to co-operate with Sherman, who was moving eastward and might be in danger.” Thomas replied, “I have had more obstacles to overcome than I had anticipated. I find it absolutely necessary to take artillery, for which I must have horses. I cannot say positively what day I shall start, but certainly by Monday (the 22nd).”
On the 18th, Thomas followed up his reply from the previous day: “I regret to be obliged to report that I do not think I shall be able to take the field, the cold and damp weather having brought on an attack of neuralgia, from which I suffer intensely.” Thomas assigned Major-General John M. Palmer, commanding the Fourteenth Corps, to lead the demonstration.
Palmer would lead the three divisions from his own corps, plus a division from the Fourth Corps under Brigadier-General Charles Cruft, which was 30 miles east of Chattanooga. Palmer’s force would advance from the northwest toward Dalton while Cruft advanced from the northeast. Palmer directed Cruft to move out on the 22nd, writing him the day before, “I had supposed that you had received detailed orders for your movements tomorrow… From the lateness of the evening at which I received my own orders, I am not able to give precise directions for further operations, but can only suggest that I hope everything will be done to make the reconnaissance effective.”
Despite the vagueness of the instructions, Palmer and Cruft were to somehow join forces before they reached Dalton, about 35 miles south of Chattanooga. The Federals would move out the next day.
Meanwhile, Johnston continued his new routine of inspections, drills, and rest in the Army of Tennessee while awaiting Federal action. As Sherman’s Federals descended on Meridian, Johnston resisted calls from Richmond to send reinforcements to Polk. Finally, President Jefferson Davis ordered Johnston to dispatch Lieutenant-General William Hardee’s corps. Johnston reluctantly complied.
Hardee’s Confederates began arriving at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 19th, where they learned that Sherman had left Meridian. They did not yet know that Sherman was returning to Vicksburg; they feared he might continue east into Alabama. One of Hardee’s divisions linked with Polk’s army at Demopolis on the 21st. With the Federals poised to advance on Dalton the next day, this left Johnston dangerously vulnerable.
Bibliography
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian. New York: Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 2011.
- Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. New York: Da Capo Press, 1982 (original 1885, republication of 1952 edition).
- Johnston, Joseph E., Narrative of Military Operations During the Civil War. Sharpe Books, Kindle Edition, 2014.
- Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co. (Kindle Edition), 1895.