Question. From what you know of General Bragg's campaign do you or do you not believe that his retreat out of Kentucky was caused entirely by his disappointment in not being recruited from Kentucky as he expected?

From what I know of General Bragg's campaign I do not believe that his not receiving recruits in Kentucky or his disappointment of a general uprising had anything, or if anything very little, to do with his retreat from the State.

Question. What military reasons do you think General Bragg had for his retreat from Kentucky?

I do not know that he had any good reason for retreating, but I have stated that I supposed it was because of the exaggerated estimate of the force that General Buell was represented to have had and to the fact that he supposed his force was not able to cope with them. The facts that General Buell's army was prepared for motion and put in motion and moved against him much sooner than be could reasonably have expected were, I think, the reasons for his retreating. He was not prepared to receive General Buell, as I presume he thought at the time. I do not think he would have retreated if he had known the strength of our forces or if the movement had been delayed ten days on the part of our forces. I have no knowledge of any good military reason for his retreat as indicated in this and other answers.

Question. Then, general, you believe that Bragg was able to contend with General Buell's forces with the probability of success?

I believe that his force was nearly as large as the effective force which General Buell could have brought against him. I believe Bragg's force was so large that, taking the largest number that he could have brought into action and handled effectively, it would have left him a strong reserve to have enabled him to have made the contest doubtful. I do not think that the disparity of numbers, of 8,000 or 10,000 where the armies reach over 50,000 is a reason to create a belief in the certainty of victory to the side having the larger force. As far as my knowledge of history extends and my personal observation such disparity is not much in favor or disfavor of either party. I have believed and still believe that in a fair fight, with any good general commanding on either side, the contest between those forces would have been doubt-full. The superiority of numbers on our side was compensated for by the length of service, discipline, and drill that we might reasonably conclude the enemy had.

Question. Were not the two armies recently engaged at Murfreesborough substantially the same two armies that were opposed to each other last summer?

I do not know, but think not exactly, from the best information I have, which I think is pretty reliable. There must have been withdrawn from the rebel army, from the information that I have, a division, the strength of which I do not know, under Kirby Smith. Bragg lost in Kentucky in his retreat and in battle I think from 6,000 to 8,000 men; besides, he must have lost many from the effects of his campaign that we know nothing of after their arrival in Tennessee. Bragg received an accession before the battle of Murfreesborough of Breckinridge's command of not less than 5,000 men; he received some recruits and conscripts from Tennessee and some few troops, two or three thousand, from Georgia and Alabama, as I have been informed. But the army on our side had from 8,000 to 12,000, I do not know how many, of old, disciplined troops that General Rosecrans had. I should think there would be probably 10,000 of them; there may have been more, possibly less. I think the forces engaged in the contest were generally the same as were in Kentucky, with the exceptions I have named. I derived this information and the belief resulting from it from General Rosecrans, and the accounts of spies sent by him into the enemy's lines, whose reports I saw (one was delivered to me because it could not reach General Rosecrans), and from the statement of officers who were at Murfreesborough. I do not think there was any great inequality of force at Murfreesborough. I think that was a doubtful contest, and rather demonstrates the view I have taken of the issue of things in Kentucky had there been a battle there.

Question. Did you consider Bragg's army acting on the offensive in the campaign of Kentucky or not?

I considered it so at first. I think he was put on the defensive, though, much sooner than he expected to be.