o, under Buell,
being ordered to march east and capture Chattanooga.

If Buell had acted promptly and swiftly, he might have been successful,
and the death-blow would have been given to the Confederacy long before it
was. But he moved slowly and haltingly, and the golden opportunity was
lost. It gave the Confederacy time to transfer to Chattanooga the larger
part of the army which had been at Corinth. The command of this army was
given to General Braxton Bragg, a brave man, and by many thought to be one
of the ablest generals of the South.

It at once became the dream of General Bragg to gather as large an army as
possible, then march northward clear to the Ohio River, sweeping
everything before him. This dream came near being realized. It was made
possible by the efforts and deeds of two men, General John H. Morgan and
General N. B. Forrest. These two great raiders and leaders of cavalry
nearly turned the scale in favor of the Confederacy. They raided the rear
of the Federal army, tore up railroads, destroyed millions of dollars'
worth of property, and captured thousands of prisoners. They ran General
Buell nearly distracted, and caused him not to know which way to turn.
They made it possible for General Bragg to reach Kentucky unopposed; and
if, after reaching Kentucky, General Bragg had proved as able a leader of
infantry as Morgan was of cavalry, Buell's army would have been destroyed.
While Bragg was organizing his army at Chattanooga, another Confederate
army was being organized at Knoxville under General E. Kirby Smith; this
army was to invade Kentucky by way of East Tennessee, while General Bragg
was to invade by way of Middle Tennessee. Once in Kentucky, the two armies
were to unite.

This programme was successfully carried out, and yet the whole movement
was a failure, as far as the occupancy of Kentucky was concerned.

After the fall of Corinth, Colonel Morgan rendezvoused his little force at
Chattanooga. From Chattanooga he proceeded to Knoxville, where he at once
began the preparations for another raid. As Cumberland Gap was held by the
Federals, Colonel Morgan decided to cross over into Middle Tennessee
before invading Kentucky. His command consisted of about nine hundred men,
made up of two regiments and two independent companies. His own regiment
was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Basil Duke. All through Morgan's
career Colonel Duke was his chief adviser, so much so that many claim that
Morgan's succ