|
This memorandum came out of a meeting held
on Feb. 7, 1862, in the wake of the Federal victory at Fort
Henry. General Beauregard had only arrived from Virginia on Feb.
4; General Johnston had been in command of Confederate Department No. 2
(essentially, the theatre between the Appalachian Mountains and the
Mississippi River) since September 10, 1861. Maj. Gen. Hardee was
one of Johnston's principal subordinates; Col. Mackall was Johnston's
assistant adjutant general. The defeat at Fort Henry (Feb. 6, 1862) had punched a massive hole in Johnston's position along the Kentucky-Tennessee border, and drastic measures were believed necessary to prevent the wholesale capture of the Confederate armies in this region. Thus this meeting and the resulting memorandum. |
|
|
BOWLING GREEN, KY.,
February 7, 1862. [Memorandum.] At a meeting held to-day at my quarters
(Covington House) by
Generals Johnston, Hardee, and myself (Colonel Mackall being present
part of
the time) it was determined that, Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River,
having
fallen yesterday into the hands of the enemy, and Fort Donelson, on
the
Cumberland River, not being long tenable, preparations should at once
be made
for the removal of this army to Nashville, in rear of the Cumberland
River, a
strong point some miles below that city being fortified forthwith, to
defend
the river from the passage of gun-boats and transports. The troops at present at Clarksville
should cross over to
the south side of that river, leaving only a sufficient force in that
town to
protect the manufactories and other property, in the saving of which
the
Confederate Government is interested. From Nashville, should any further
retrograde movement
become necessary, it will be made to Stevenson, and thence according to
circumstances. It was also determined that the possession
of the Tennessee
River by the enemy, resulting from the fall of Fort Henry, separates
the army
at Bowling Green from the one at Columbus, Ky., which must henceforth
act
independently of each other until they can again be brought together,
the first
one having for object the defense of the State of Tennessee, along its
line of
operation, as already stated; and the other one of that part of the
State lying
between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi. But as the possession
of the
former river by the enemy renders the lines of communication of the
army at
Columbus liable to be cut off at any time from the Tennessee River as a
base by
an overpowering force of the enemy rapidly concentrated from various
points on
the Ohio, it becomes necessary, to prevent such a calamity, that the
main body
of that army should fall back to Humboldt; and thence, if necessary, to
Grand
Junction, so as to protect Memphis from either point, and still have a
line of
retreat to the latter place or to Grenada, Miss., and, if necessary, to
Jackson, Miss. At Columbus, Ky., will be left only a
sufficient garrison
for the defense of the works there, assisted by Hollins' gunboats, for
the
purpose of making a desperate defense of the river at that point. A
sufficient
number of transports will be kept near that place for the removal of
the garrison
therefrom when no longer tenable in the opinion of the commanding
officer.
Island No. 10 and Fort Pillow will likewise be defended to the last
extremity,
aided also by Hollins' gunboats, which will then retire to the vicinity
of
Memphis, where another bold stand will be made.
G. T.
BEAUREGARD, General, C. S.
Army. W. J. HARDEE, Major-General. |
Back to Civil War Chronologies (Main page) Back to Chronology of the Henry-Donelson-Shiloh Campaign Source: The Official Records, Vol. VII, pp. 861--62. Date added to website: August 31, 2025. |
