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

Page 521 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.

derson and Therman road as far as Altamont and then diverged toward Winchester on another road?

I was not, sir.

Question. Do you consider that it was certainly to be foreseen that the enemy was destined for Kentucky when he commenced this march and that he was to pursue the road by Sparta?

I did not, sir; I was more afraid of that, I suppose, than of anything else. I am a Kentuckian; it is my home; and I felt a deep solicitude about it. I feared it sometimes, but did not feel convinced at all as to where General Bragg was going, as I said before. I do not believe now that he knew certainly where he was going.

Question. Do you know or can you acquaint yourself by reference to the maps as to how close General Bragg in crossing the mountains could come to McMinnville and Sparta before determining which of these points he would strike for?

Yes, sir; he might go to Spencer, I should say, without any difficulty. The points seem to be nearly equidistant between the two places.

Question. And how far would that point be from McMinnville and how far from Sparta?

I should suppose not more than 20 miles from McMinnville and 14 or 15 from Sparta.

Question. Could it ordinarily have been determined with any certainty which point he was aiming for until he actually developed his plans by his movements?

I should suppose he would have no difficulty in covering his movements for either point. Sometimes by demonstrations it would be difficult or impossible to tell until he had actually gone.

Question. Supposing the Army of the Ohio to have been concentrated at Sparta to oppose the advance of the rebel army, from your reading and your experience have you any doubt that the rebel army could substantially reach McMinnville before you could have a knowledge of his destination at Sparta?

I have none, sir; I think it would have been entirely practicable to have reached McMinnville or to have gone to Sparta. If the Army of the Ohio had been at McMinnville, the rebel army could have gone by Sparta, by a demonstration upon McMinnville, without anybody's knowing it almost. If the Army of the Ohio had been at Sparta, it would have been entirely practicable for the rebel army to have marched to McMinnville without its movements being known.

Question. Do you know anything of the character of the road between McMinnville and Sparta and of the creek which intersects that road; that is, Caney Fork of the Cumberland?

There is, I see (referring to the map), a creek crossing the road, but I know nothing of it.

Question. What advantage would the rebel army have had if it had reached McMinnville while the Army of the Ohio was at Sparta looking for it there, and what would have been the embarrassment of the Army of the Ohio from such a result?

With the rebel army at McMinnville, the Army of the Ohio at Sparta would have been deprived of all its source of supplies by reaching Mufreesborough and Nashville first, I should think. It would have been almost fatal to the Army of the Ohio to have been cut off from Murfreesborough and Nashville by the rebel army in our then condition of supplies.

Question. With these various routes by which the rebel army could cross the mountains and this uncertainty as to its destination what, in your opinion, was the best point at which to concentrate the Army


Page 521 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.