redit was due, he declared in a later and more
formal official report:

"To Brigadier General William F. Smith, Chief Engineer,
should be accorded great praise for the ingenuity which
conceived and the ability which executed the movements at
Brown's Ferry."

While even the best memory so long after the event is but little to be
depended upon for details, it may serve especially when supplementing
the records, to strengthen the conclusions therefrom. In this instance
it should be stated that it was perfectly well known to the late
Charles A. Dana, then present at Chattanooga as Assistant Secretary of
War, and also to myself, who was serving at the time on General Grant's
staff as Inspector General, and was in daily contact with all the
leading officers, that it was General Smith, and General Smith alone,
who conceived and carried out the plan actually used for the capture of
Brown's Ferry and the re-establishment of the direct line of
communication between Chattanooga and Bridgeport. Indeed, there was no
question in that army, or at that time, in regard to the matter.
Rosecrans was never mentioned in connection with it, while Smith's
praise was in everybody's mouth till the close of the campaign, not
only for the Brown's Ferry movement, but, what was still more
important, for the plan of operations against Bragg's position on
Missionary Ridge. He it was who personally familiarized himself with
the _terrain_ in the entire field of operations, which, with the
mountains, valleys, rivers and creeks, that gave it its unique
character, was the most complicated and difficult one of the entire
war, if not the most complicated and difficult one upon which a great
battle was ever fought. It was he alone who worked out every detail of
the combinations and movements by which the great victory of Missionary
Ridge was won. I state this upon my own knowledge and not upon hearsay.

Moreover, it was conceded by all in high command that Smith was easily
the leading strategist in that entire host. He knew all the details of
the ground and all the difficulties to be overcome, better than any
other man. He studied them more closely, and with more intelligence
than any other man, not only because it was his duty to do so, but
because he was conscious of the portentous fact now so commonly lost
sight of that the safety and success of the army depended upon the
discovery and adoption of a feasible plan of action. Grant, t