第 36 节
作者:冥王      更新:2021-02-20 16:47      字数:9322
  fallen into Stone River and been nearly drowned。  After they had been
  fished from; the water; in the process of resuscitation their sex was
  disclosed; though up to this time it appeared to be known only to
  each other。  The story was straight and the circumstance clear; so;
  convinced of Conrad's continued sanity; I directed the provost…
  marshal to bring in arrest to my headquarters the two disturbers of
  Conrad's peace of mind; After some little search the East Tennessee
  woman was found in camp; somewhat the worse for the experiences of
  the day before; but awaiting her fate content idly smoking a cob…
  pipe。  She was brought to me; and put in duress under charge of the
  division surgeon until her companion could be secured。  To the doctor
  she related that the year before she had 〃refugeed〃 from East
  Tennessee; and on arriving in Louisville assumed men's apparel and
  sought and obtained employment as a teamster in the quartermaster's
  department。  Her features were very large; and so coarse and
  masculine was her general appearance that she would readily have
  passed as a man; and in her case the deception was no doubt easily
  practiced。  Next day the 〃she dragoon〃 was caught; and proved to be a
  rather prepossessing young woman; and though necessarily bronzed and
  hardened by exposure; I doubt if; even with these marks of
  campaigning; she could have deceived as readily as did her companion。
  How the two got acquainted; I never learned; and though they had
  joined the army independently of each other; yet an intimacy had
  sprung up between them long before the mishaps of the foraging
  expedition。  They both were forwarded to army headquarters; and; when
  provided with clothing suited to their sex; sent back to Nashville;
  and thence beyond our lines to Louisville。
  On January 9; by an order from the War Department; the Army of the
  Cumberland had been divided into three corps; designated the
  Fourteenth; Twentieth; and Twenty…first。  This order did not alter
  the composition of the former grand divisions; nor change the
  commanders; but the new nomenclature was a decided improvement over
  the clumsy designations Right Wing; Centre; and Left Wing; which were
  well calculated to lead to confusion sometimes。  McCook's wing became
  the Twentieth Corps; and my division continued of the same
  organization; and held the same number as formerly…the Third
  Division; Twentieth Corps。  My first brigade was now commanded by
  Brigadier…General William H。 Lytle; the second by Colonel Bernard
  Laiboldt; and the third by Colonel Luther P。 Bradley。
  On the 4th of March I was directed to move in light marching order
  toward Franklin and join General Gordon Granger; to take part in some
  operations which he was projecting against General Earl Van Dorn;
  then at Spring Hill。  Knowing that my line of march would carry me
  through a region where forage was plentiful; I took along a large
  train of empty wagons; which I determined to fill with corn and send
  back to Murfreesboro'; believing that I could successfully cover the
  train by Minty's brigade of cavalry; which had joined me for the
  purpose of aiding in a reconnoissance toward Shelbyville。  In
  marching the column I placed a regiment of infantry at its head; then
  the wagon…train; then a brigade of infantrymasking the cavalry
  behind this brigade。  The enemy; discovering that the train was with
  us; and thinking he could capture it; came boldly out with his;
  cavalry to attack。  The head of his column came up to the crossroads
  at Versailles; but holding him there; I passed the train and infantry
  brigade beyond toward Eagleville; and when my cavalry had been thus
  unmasked; Minty; followed by the balance of my division; which vas
  still behind; charged him with the sabre。  Success was immediate and
  complete; and pursuit of the routed forces continued through
  Unionville; until we fell upon and drove in the Confederate outposts
  at Shelbyville。  Here the enemy was taken by surprise evidently;
  which was most fortunate for us; otherwise the consequences might
  have been disastrous。  Minty captured in the charge about fifty
  prisoners and a few wagons and mules; and thus enabled me to load my
  train with corn; and send it back to Murfreesboro' unmolested。  In
  this little fight the sabre was freely used by both sides; and I do
  not believe that during the whole war I again knew of so large a
  percentage of wounds by that arm in proportion to the numbers
  engaged。
  That night I encamped at Eagleville; and next day reported to Granger
  at Franklin; arriving in the midst of much excitement prevailing on
  account of the loss of Coburn's brigade; which had been captured the
  day before a little distance south of that point; while marching to
  form a junction with a column that had been directed on Columbia from
  Murfreesboro'。  Shortly after Coburn's capture General Granger had
  come upon the scene; and the next day he advanced my division and
  Minty's troops directly on Spring Hill; with a view to making some
  reprisal; but Van Dorn had no intention of accommodating us; and
  retired from Spring Hill; offering but little resistance。  He
  continued to fall back; till finally he got behind Duck River; where
  operations against him ceased; for; in consequence of the incessant
  rains of the season; the streams had become almost impassable。
  Later; I returned by way of Franklin to my old camp at Murfreesboro';
  passing over on this march the ground on which the Confederate
  General Hood met with such disaster the following year in his attack
  on Stanley's corps。
  My command had all returned from the Franklin expedition to
  Murfreesboro' and gone into camp on the Salem pike by the latter part
  of March; from which time till June it took part in only the little
  affairs of outposts occurring every now and then on my own front。  In
  the meanwhile General Rosecrans had been materially reinforced by the
  return of sick and wounded men; his army had become well disciplined;
  and was tolerably supplied; and he was repeatedly pressed by the
  authorities at Washington to undertake offensive operations。
  During the spring and early summer Rosecrans resisted; with a great
  deal of spirit and on various grounds; these frequent urgings; and
  out of this grew up an acrimonious correspondence and strained
  feeling between him and General Halleck。  Early in June; however;
  stores had been accumulated and other preparations made for a move
  forward; Resecrans seeming to have decided that he could safely risk
  an advance; with the prospect of good results。  Before finally
  deciding; he called upon most of his corps and division commanders
  for their opinions on certain propositions which he presented; and
  most of them still opposed the projected movement; I among the
  number; reasoning that while General Grant was operating against
  Vicksburg; it was better to hold Bragg in Middle Tennessee than to
  push him so far back into Georgia that interior means of
  communication would give the Confederate Government the opportunity
  of quickly joining a part of his force to that of General Johnson in
  Mississippi。
  At this stage; and in fact prior to it; Rosecrans seemed to manifest
  special confidence in me; often discussing his plans with me
  independent of the occasions on which he formally referred them for
  my views。  I recollect that on two different occasions about this
  time he unfolded his designs to me in this informal way; outlining
  generally how he expected ultimately to force Bragg south of the
  Tennessee River; and going into the details of the contemplated move
  on Tullahoma。  His schemes; to my mind; were not only comprehensive;
  but exact; and showed conclusively; what no one doubted then; that
  they were original with him。  I found in them very little to
  criticise unfavorably; if we were to move at all; and Rosecrans
  certainly impressed me that he favored an advance at an early day;
  though many of his generals were against it until the operations on
  the Mississippi River should culminate in something definite。  There
  was much; fully apparent in the circumstances about his headquarters;
  leading to the conviction that Rosecrans originated the Tullahoma
  campaign; and the record of his prior performances collaterally
  sustains the visible evidence then existing。  In my opinion; then;
  based on a clear recollection of various occurrences growing out of
  our intimacy; he conceived the plan of the Tullahoma campaign and the
  one succeeding it; and is therefore entitled to every credit that
  attended their execution; no matter what may be claimed for others。
  On the 23d of June Bragg was covering his position north of Duck
  River with a front extending from McMinnville; where his cavalry
  rested; through Wartrace and Shelbyville to Columbia; his depot being
  at Tullahoma。  Rosecrans; thinking that Bragg would offer strong
  resistance at Shelbyvillewhich was somewhat protected by a spur of
  low mountains or hills; off