The river was out of its banks and the work of crossing was tedious. General Mitchel's division passed over on the 25th and 26th and the other divisions as rapidly as possible, but the whole had not crossed until about the 5th of March. General Thomas' division arrived by water on the 2d. The troops moved by forced marches, without bag gage, owing to the difficulty of getting their wagons over the streams. The trains did not, therefore, arrive for several days after. Those that could arrive more rapidly that way were transported by water up the Cumberland.

The strength of the enemy at Murfreesborough, after the evacuation of Nashville, was estimated at the time, and has since been stated by persons who had means of judging at about 30,000 men. This force included what was collected of the troops that were defeated at Mill Springs and the force that had been at bowling Green and other points north of the Cumberland River, excepting what was captured at Fort Donelson. It commenced moving south from Murfreesborough in a very few days after my arrival at Nashville, and, as is well known, eventually formed a junction with the force of General Beauregard at Corinth. A pursuit with the hope of overtaking it on its line of march would have been futile for that object even if the force had been up to commence it at once, for every stream was flooded and every bridge was destroy as the enemy retired. The only alternative was to operate deliberately against some line or point which it was his object to defend, and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad presented such an object. It was the same for the forces that were operating up the Tennessee River, under the orders of Major-General Halleck, more particularly against the enemy's forces that by the recent operations had been compelled to evacuate the principal part of West Tennessee. It was necessary that our forces should act in concert against that object; better still that they should act under one direction; and the order of the War Department, which I received on the 12th of March, placing the whole force under General Halleck's command, was there fore eminently proper. On the 15th I commenced the movement toward the Tennessee River, in pursuance of the understanding which had voluntarily taken place between us before us before the orders of the War Department were received. General Halleck's dispatch of the 16th designated Savannah as the point where I was to form a junction with the force already assembling on the Tennessee River.

Before leaving Nashville I sent Brigadier General G. W. Morgan to take command of a column I had left on the Cumberland Gap road which was increased to a division by scattered regiments that remained in Kentucky. He was instructed to pursue with energy and discretion the object of taking Cumberland Gap, and for his further progress to be governed by circumstances in East Tennessee or to hold the enemy in check in that quarter if his force should prove insufficiently to advance. The operations of this columns of this column have been investigated partially by the Commission, and I shall allude to them again in that connection. I also moved General Mitchel's division forward to Fayetteville, 26 miles from Huntsville, for the purpose of seizing the Memphis and Charleston road. The enemy withdrew his troops from that line, excepting small guards, and General Mitchel, on the 12th of April, five days after the battle of Shiloh, entered Huntsville. Various other dispositions and instructions were made with reference to the troops that were to occupy Middle Tennessee during my absence with the main army. The latter numbered about 37,000 men, the former about 18,000.

The march toward the Tennessee River on the 15th of March com