659 Series I Volume X-I Serial 10 - Shiloh Part I
| Page 659 | Chapter XXII. ACTION AT WEST BRIDGE, ALA. |
The series of events thus related have excited the utmost indignation of a terrified people, and no abuse, whether of a personal or official bearing, has been spared me. Aware, as I am, that all the troops under your command were required at other points, and that you expected the approach of the enemy to be retarded in this quarter mainly by the destruction of the bridges, I shall endeavor to endure this storm of obloquy with such equanimity as may be vouchsafed to me.
On Saturday morning the enemy set fire to the West Bridge, at Bridgeport, and it was wholly destroyed. Soon after they evacuated the place precipitately, and at the last advices from Stevenson were hastening their departure from that point.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. LEADBETTER,
Brigadier-General.
Major H. L. CLAY,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
[Indorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE,
May 12, 1862.Respectfully forwarded. The small railroad bridge (connecting Chattanooga with the coal mines) referred to in the within report was immediately reconstructed, and trains are now passing over it.
E. KIRBY SMITH,
Major-General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE,
Knoxville, Tenn., April 29, 1862.Be sure that you blow up or effectively burn the bridge before the enemy get to it. The farther side should be burnt by all means.
H. L. CLAY,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
Brigadier General D. LEADBETTER,
Chattanooga, Tenn.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE,
Knoxville, Tenn., April 30, 1862.GENERAL: The major-general commanding has been called off to Cumberland Gap in consequence of on attack on that point. He directs that you make the best defense in your power along the line of the Tennessee River. Troops have been ordered up from Georgia to re-enforce you. He thinks that if all the boats on the river are secured and a force displayed on this side the enemy will not venture to attack.
Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. CUNNINGHAM,
Acting Aide-de-Camp.
Brigadier General D. LEADBETTER,
Commanding Troops, Chattanooga, Tenn.
| Page 659 | Chapter XXII. ACTION AT WEST BRIDGE, ALA. |
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for March 27 to be a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
- Following the Underground Railroad Route By Bicycle
- March is Women's History Month! Read the fascinating accounts of women spies hiding coded messages in women's hair, conductors of the Underground Railroad, soldiers disguised as men, surgeons, and advisors to the President!
- Teachers tackle race, economic disparity and history
- The President's Hymn: 'Give Thanks All Ye People'
- Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in a divided time: ‘one heart and one voice by the whole American People’
- What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
- Civil War stories on display at Lincoln Highway museum in Unity
- Who was Henry Benning, for whom Fort Benning in Columbus was named?
- Fort Gordon Army Base: Who was John Brown Gordon?
- From the Civil War to the football field, we have been celebrating the wrong values
- History and Healing: Removing Controversial Artifacts from the Civic Landscape
- How to Reframe the Civil War in the Classroom
- Man scores Abraham Lincoln autograph in box of trading cards
- Native Americans' role in the Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln Healed a Divided Nation. We Should Heed His Words Today.
- An escaped slave was the 'Florence Nightingale’ of Indiana's Civil War regiment
- A Southern Democrat survived impeachment trap and came to be in charge of Reconstruction
- New Statue Unveiled In Response To Richmond's Confederate Monuments