Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/447

 Military Operations of General Beauregard. 437

"The moment you get to Chattanooga, you ought to take the offen- sive, keeping in mind the following grand principles of the art of war: First, always bring the masses of your army in contact with the fractions of the enemy; second, operate as much as possible on his communications without exposing your own; third, operate always on interior or shorter Hnes. I have no doubt that, with anything like equal numbers, you will always meet with success."

Colonel Roman remarks : " General Bragg, for reasons we cannot explain, did not follow the advice given, and his campaigns into Middle Tennessee, and in Kentucky ended almost in a disaster."

In September, 1862, General Beauregard was assigned to duty in the military department, comprehending South Carolina, Georgia and Flo- rida, with headquarters at Charleston. The minimum of the forces for the defense of this extensive district was reported to him as some- what exceeding forty-three thousand men. He immediately estab- lished signal (flag) stations at the most important points along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, where the enemy's ships, or fleets, could be observed. So effective was the inaugurated system, that, during the twenty months he remained there in com- mand, he never was, on any occasion, taken by surprise. He pre- pared all the means in his power to give the enemy as warm a re- ception as circumstances would allow, and, as usual with him, no de- tail, however insignificant in appearance, was neglected. He actually looked to everything with his own eyes, and always took care to give, himself, verbally or otherwise, all the instructions necessary to the full execution of his orders.

We will not go into the details, extraordinary as they are, of the defence of Charleston against the powerful fleet that so long assailed that city. But we may be permitted to assert, without much fear of contradiction, that it was a marvellous display of engineering skill. The incessant labors which such a masterly defence required did not prevent General Beauregard from turning his attention to the military operations conducted by his companions in arms in other parts of the Confederacy. For instance, he suggested to General J. E. Johnston, then at Jackson, Mississippi, that by concentrating his own and other forces not actively engaged at the time, he could inaugurate a vigor- ous and successful campaign into Tennessee and Kentucky. On the 15th of May, 1863, he drew a plan of operations which he communi- cated to General J. E.Johnston, saying: "These views, if they coin- cide with yours might be, if not already done, submitted to the War Department."