Today in History:

406 Series I Volume XVI-I Serial 22 - Morgan's First Kentucky Raid, Perryville Campaign Part I

Page 406 KY.,M. AND E.TENN.,N.ALA., AND SW.VA. Chapter XXVIII.

previously would be supposed to be present I think would depend upon the relative positions of the consolidated army and their independent commands. If the independent commands were very distant, it is hardly to be presumed that they would form a part of the concentration, though they might.

Question. Suppose, in the distribution of a large force like that which the rebels had at Corinth, you should find in the several detachments general officers belonging to that force, would you usually expect to find in the detachments the commands to which they had been attached in the consolidated army?

I would.

Question. Do you know what part of that force remained in front of Corinth after other parts of it had been sent to other quarters?

I do not. I only know that the names of Price and Van Dorn were mentioned in connection with the force constantly for some time after the evacuation.

Question. Is it generally understood that the force that remained under Price and Van Dorn was identically the same as that they brought there, with the exception of re-enforcements of new regiments and conscripts; and have you ever heard of any officers or any body of troops belonging to that force which had previously belonged to the other principal armies or bodies of troops will which the rebels were operating?

I do not know what the understanding was with regard to that force. I was so situated as not to be brought into contact with the information that may have reached the headquarters of my superiors. All the information I had was derived from conversations with officers who were passing from Corinth along the line of railway on which I was occupied and from newspapers.

Question. Can you recognize in the organization of the rebel force that invaded Kentucky last summer the general officers that belonged to the army of Sidney Johnston, the army that occupied Columbus and West Tennessee, the force that came from Pensacola and Mobile, and the force that occupied East Tennessee?

I can most of them, as far as they were known to me.

Question. Can you mention any officer that belonged to either of those several commands that was to be found in any other command about the time of the invasion of Kentucky by Bragg?

Hidman is the only one I can think of. I supposed he was beyond the Mississippi. He had command in Sidney Johnston's army, a brigade or division - I do not know.

Question. Was he in the consolidated army at Corinth, do you know?

I do not know. I know he was present at Shiloh; at least I was told so by the rebel prisoners.

Question. Do you know whether he was supposed to have taken any portion of the force from the consolidated army when he went to Arkansas; and, if so, what portion of it?

I do not know, sir, whether the supposition was that the took a force from the east or the west side of the Mississippi, or whether he was supposed to have raised a new force in Arkansas.

Question. Do you know what force he is supposed to have had since, according to the best information?

I have heard his force estimated at 15,000 men.

Question. What, according to the best information, is the force that Price and Van Dorn are supposed to have had after the evacuation of Corinth and the distribution of the consolidated force that was there?

I have heard their force estimated at from 30,000 to 40,000. I have no very reliable


Page 406 KY.,M. AND E.TENN.,N.ALA., AND SW.VA. Chapter XXVIII.