Today in History:

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

Page 607 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.

prevent us from making use of the Frankfort branch, and having taken supplies on the Louisville and Nashville as far as Shepherdsville, we had to abandon that route on account of the almost impracticable road between Shepherdsville and Bardstown, so that the column had to be supplied entirely by wagon trains starting from Louisville on the Bardstown pike.

The rebels having occupied the country in force as far as Bardstown and their pickets having come to within a few miles of Louisville they had stripped the country of forage, so that the trains hauling subsistence were obliged to haul the forage. Water was also very scarce upon the road, and we almost broke down our teams in pushing supplies up to the column at Crab Orchard and to the troops who had gone beyond that point a distance from Northern Alabama, while we were there, and on the march to Nashville was about 75,000 per day. Our effective force, I think, was about 45,000 men; the additional 30,000 rations is about the usual percentage of loss of rations in transportation, sick in hospitals, teamsters, and others. The difficulty in procuring forage, the bad roads beyond Crab Orchard, and the scarcity of waster did not enable us to push our wagon trains over about 15 or 20 miles beyond Crab Orchard southward.

On motion, the Commission then adjourned to meet on Monday, March 23, 1863, at 10 o'clock a.m .

CINCINNATI, Monday, March 23, 1863.

The Commission met pursuant to adjournment. Members present, General Wallace, General Dana, General Tyler; also the judge-advocate and General Buell.

Lieutenant Colonel FRANCIS DARR'S examination continued.

By General BUELL:

Submit to the Commission, if you please, colonel, any documents you have in confirmation of the particulars stated in your testimony on Saturday in regard to the amount of supplies in hand at the various periods mentioned. You may at the same time submit any of the instructions under which you acted in procuring supplies.

On June 3, a few days after the evacuation of Corinth by the rebels, I was ordered to make Eastport, Miss., the base of Supplied for General Buell's command, supplies to be wagoned thence to Iuka. Complying with this order, the supplies were moved from the neighborhood of Pittsburg Landing of Eastport. On June 9, at 11 p. m., I received orders to commence sending supplies to Tuscumbia and Florence. Up to the 20th of June the forces were occupied at Jackson's Ford, ferrying across the river. On the 26th of June I fell into the column at Florence with my supply train.

In the neighborhood of Athens, Ala., the divisions of General Nelson and General Wood were obliged to wait for supplies. This was about July 5. About July the 4th or 5th the divisions of General McCook and General Crittenden, having exhausted their supplies with which they started from Tuscumbia and then being in the neighborhood of Huntsville and on the march toward Stevenson, had to be supplied day by day by railroad trains following their line of march. On July 15 the rebels destroyed at the capture of Murfreesborough 200,000 rations, breaking the railroad there on the day before on which we were to run trains from Nashville to Stevenson. This disaster, coupled with the difficulty already mentioned in my previous testimony by the breaks in the railroad between Athens and Nashville, induced me to apply to General Buell to put the troops on half rations. This was done on the 14th of July. At that time there hardly any supplies any supplies in Nashville, on account of the Morgan raids in Kentucky.

Question. If you have any documents substantiating the statements you are making submit them to the Commission as you go along, that they may appear in the body of your testimony?

On the 14th July, in confirmation of the want of supplies at Nashville, I would sub-


Page 607 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.