Cumberland. Fortunately this gave him the control, not only of the engineer troops and materials, and the engineer operations of that army, but carried with it the right and duty of knowing the army's condition and requirements as well as all the plans which might be considered for extricating it from the extraordinary perils and difficulties which surrounded it.

Although efforts have been made at various times and by various writers, to minimize these perils and difficulties, it cannot be denied that the situation of that army was at that epoch an exceedingly grave one. It had been rudely checked, if not completely beaten, in one of the most desperate and bloody battles of the war, and shut up in Chattanooga by Bragg's army on the south, and by an almost impassable mountain region on the north and west. Its communication by rail with its secondary base at Bridgeport, and with its primary base at Nashville, had been broken by the Confederate cavalry and rendered most uncertain. Its supplies were scanty and growing daily less, while its artillery horses and draft mules were dying by hundreds, for lack of forage. The only safe wagon roads to the rear were by a long and circuitous route through the mountains north of the Tennessee River, which was besides so rough and muddy that the teams could haul hardly enough for their own subsistence, much less an adequate supply for the troops.

All the contemporary accounts go to show that Rosecrans, while personally brave enough, was himself more or less confused and excited by the great disaster which had overtaken his army at Chickamauga. He had been cut off and greatly shaken by the overthrow of his right wing, and consequently retired with it to Chattanooga. Notwithstanding this unfortunate withdrawal and his failure to rejoin the organized portion of his army, which under General George H. Thomas, held on firmly to its position against every attack, those who knew Rosecrans best still believed him to be a most loyal and gallant gentleman who was anxious and willing to do all that could be done to save his army and maintain its advanced position. But there is no satisfactory evidence that up to the time he turned over his command to his successor, he had formed any adequate or comprehensive plan for supplying it or getting it ready to resume the offensive. Every general in it knew that it needed and must have supplies, and that the only way to get them, without falling back, was to open and keep open the direct road or "cracker line" to Bridgeport. But how and when this was to be done was the great question.

Much has been written upon this subject; a military commission has had it under consideration; the records have been consulted; a report has been made, and comments upon it have been issued by General Smith and his friends. Even the late Secretary of War, Elihu Root, has passed judgment upon it, and yet it can be safely said that nothing has been done to disturb the conclusion reached at the time, that General Smith in consultation with his superiors worked out the plan as to how, when and by what means the short supply line by the way of Brown's Ferry and the Lookout Valley should he opened and maintained. He certainly secured its adoption first by Thomas and afterwards by Grant, and finally when he had arranged all the details of the complicated and delicate operations, and had prepared all engineer's materials and pontoons which were required, he personally commanded the troops and carried that part of the plan which was based on Chattanooga, to a successful conclusion.

When it is remembered that Rosecrans had left Chattanooga, that he had been succeeded by Thomas, and that Grant himself had arrived on the ground and assumed supreme command, before the first practical step had been taken to carry the plan into effect, and that the plan itself involved a descent and passage of the Tennessee River by night, the defeat and capture of the enemy's outposts, the laying of a pontoon bridge across a broad and rapid river, the rebuilding of the railroad, and its maintenance within easy reach of the enemy's front for twenty-five miles, and that all of this was done without the slightest mishap and with but little loss, and that it resulted in relieving the army from want and in putting it in condition to resume the offensive as soon as its reinforcements had arrived, some fair idea may be had of the value of General Smith's services and the part he actually performed in all that took place. If General Rosecrans had actually conceived and worked out all the details of the plan, which cannot be successfully claimed, there would still be enough left to the credit of General Smith to immortalize him, but when Grant, Thomas and all the other officers who were present and in position to know what was actually done gave Smith the praise, not only for conceiving it, but carrying the plan into successful effect, there is but little room left for further controversy.

If any additional testimony is needed as to the masterful part played by Smith at Chattanooga, it is found in the fact that Grant made haste to attach him to his own staff and to recommend him for promotion to the grade of major-general to take rank from the date of his original appointment, declaring in support of his recommendation that he felt "under more than ordinary obligations for the masterly manner in which he discharged the duties of his position." Later he recommended that Smith be put first of all the army on the list for promotion, adding: "He is possessed of one of the clearest military heads in the army, is very practical and industrious," and emphasized it all with the highly eulogistic declaration that "no man in the army is better qualified than he for the largest military commands."

It is noteworthy that about the same time General Butler with whom he had served for a short season, made an application to have General Smith re-assigned to his command, but the Secretary of War, having evidently forgotten his order for Smith's arrest at the close of the Gettysburg campaign, wrote: "The services of William F. Smith, now Chief Engineer in the Army of the Cumberland, are indispensable in that command, and it will be impossible to assign him to your Department." But this was not all. General George H. Thomas, the soul of honor and fair dealing on the 20th of November, 1863, although General Smith had already been transferred from his own to the staff of General Grant, formally recommended him for promotion in the following striking and comprehensive words:

"For industry and energy displayed by him from the time of his reporting for duty at these headquarters, in organizing the Engineer Department, and for his skillful execution of the movements at Brown's Ferry, Tennessee, on the night of October 26th, 1863, in surprising the enemy and throwing a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River at that point, a vitally important service necessary to the opening of communications between Bridgeport and Chattanooga."

Certainly no language could be more clear and unequivocal than this, and yet, as though General Thomas wished to remove all chance of doubt as to whom the highest credit was due, he declared in a later and more formal official report:

"To Brigadier General William F. Smith, Chief Engineer, should be accorded great praise for the ingenuity which conceived and the ability which executed the movements at Brown's Ferry."

While even the best memory so long after the event is but little to be depended upon for details, it may serve especially when supplementing the records, to strengthen the conclusions therefrom. In this instance it should be stated that it was perfectly well known to the late Charles A. Dana, then present at Chattanooga as Assistant Secretary of War, and also to myself,