Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/417

Rh situation were invited and fully made known to General Johnston; further, that you were induced to draw up a paper carefully setting forth those views, which was handed to the Confederate commander for his consideration; and a copy of which paper having been read by me on several occasions, my recollection of its substantial purport is very distinct.

You urged that, even if desirable, the possession of Bowling Green could not be maintained in the presence of the movement already begun by General Grant, and of that evidently impending on the part of General Buell, and therefore the Confederate forces in that quarter should be swiftly concentrated at Fort Donelson for a decisive combat with General Grant, by which that commander would be forced into a battle with fatal odds against him, as well as the disadvantage of isolation from support.

This you urged, not only as essential for the maintenance of Confederate control of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, but also as placing our forces in a far better position with respect to the ultimate defence of Nashville, than if retained at the weak—because too salient and easily turned—position of Bowling Green.

At the time, as near as I can now recollect, the Confederate forces immediately disposable by General Johnston were the command at Bowling Green, a little over 23,000 men; the remains of the late General Zollicoffer's division—beaten several weeks before at Mill Spring, Southeastern Kentucky—namely, 5,000 men; Major-General Polk's force at Columbus, nearly 14,000 strong, and the garrison at Fort Donelson, some 3,500 men—that is to say, in all about 45,000 men, who could, for the most part, be readily concentrated for any decisive operation.

Your immediate recommendation, however, was that General Johnston should go with his force from Bowling Green to Fort Donelson, and there fall upon and crush General Grant, whose army was supposed to be not more than 15,000 strong, and which I may add was actually not increased to 25,000 men until the morning of the 15th of February, 1862.

At the time of your recommendation it is probable that General Floyd, with the 5,000 men remaining after Zollicoffer's defeat, was already under orders for Fort Donelson; and, apparently as the result of your views, General Buckner was detached from the quarter of Bowling Green with a division of about 5,000 men, for the same destination. So, from these two sources, by the time General Grant presented himself before Fort Donelson (February