Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/389

 General Bragg and the Chickamauga Campaign. 379

and General PoW s failure to attack Crittenden' s corps in its isolated position immediately after Hindmayi' s fiasco.''

Of Hindman's failure I know nothing save what is to be found in the official reports. Hindman, although commanding one of the di- visions in General Polk's corps, having been assigned to it just before the campaign, was, with his division, on September 9th, detached from Polk's corps in order that he might make the movement into McLemore's Cove, under the direct supervision of army headquar- ters, it being understood that General Bragg was then quite partial to him.

The order detaching him was this :

Headquarters Army of Tennessee, Gordon's Mills, Sept. gth, i86j.

General: Orders have been given to Major- General Hindman detaching him from your corps. He is directed to move at once.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

Kinlock Falconer, A. A. G. Lieutenant- General Polk.

This placed him outside General Polk's jurisdiction for that move- ment; consequently I do not now ask for any discussion of the McLe- more's Cove affair. What I wish to bring out is the history of what General Martin — and General Bragg before him — calls General Polk's failure to attack Crittenden immediately after Hindman's fiasco.

I fully understand that General Martin has but one object in view, viz., the defence of a man that he believes has been misrepresented. He be- lieves that General Polk, and not General Bragg, was responsible for the failure to crush Crittenden ; else he would not say that there are many living officers and men who know how little blame should at- tach to General Bragg for the failure in that emergency.

It is in the same spirit that I now seek the fullest information. If General Polk was to blame, neither he nor any friend of his would wish the responsibility to rest upon another ; and in like manner I am sure General Bragg's memory will be best served by resting upon him such responsibilities as a candid enquiry may show to belong to him.

In order to aid in the solution of the question, I shall tell the story from my point of view.

By mid-day, September nth, 1863, General Bragg knew that Hindman's movement against Thomas in McLemore's Cove had