e of mounted
infantry,--a portion of the fourteenth corps. To these bodies were added
Minty's cavalry, which, riding on the left, through Sparta and
Pikeville, operated along the river for twenty-eight miles above
Blythe's Ferry.

The boys in blue were bound to deceive the enemy if the thing could be
done, and at night immense camp-fires were lighted for miles along the
river front, always in front and to the north of Chattanooga.
Foot-soldiers and cavalry showed themselves first at one place and then
another, and at night bugle-calls sounded out in spots where no cavalry
had yet been or was likely to be. On the river bank, trees were cut down
and sawed up, the ends being left to float down the stream, to give the
enemy the impression that extensive bridge-building was on the way. One
detachment climbed up a nearby ridge, and with its battery threw shells
toward the city,--something that made the inhabitants imagine that the
final contest was now at hand.

And while all this was going on, the main portion of the Union forces
had crossed the Cumberland Mountains thirty odd miles below, and were
gathering on the bank of the Tennessee River. A train had come in,
bringing on it a pontoon-bridge which was to be thrown across the stream
at Caperton. The train was stopped in the woods, and the boats and
planking were hurried forward in secret.

While the sun was still rising on the 29th of August, fifty boats, with
a capacity of twenty-five hundred men, were taken across the open fields
of Caperton, launched, and rowed to the south shore of the Tennessee.
The picket guard of the enemy was driven away, and soon the
pontoon-bridge was in position. Immediately upon the completion of the
work, Davis's division crossed and went into camp at the base of Raccoon
Mountain. In three days his division, with Johnston's, had marched
across the range, and forty-eight hours later these troops established
themselves at Winston's Pass over Lookout Mountain, within forty-two
miles of Bragg's stronghold. The same day Stanley's cavalry, under
General Mitchell, crossed Lookout, and on the week following descended
into Broomtown Valley.

The march of the army was now well under way, and Thomas's corps and the
other troops came along at various points, covering the ground as
rapidly as the nature of the territory permitted. It was felt that
General Bragg must know by this time what was going on, and strict watch
was kept all along the line to