t, the movements of all.

But, whether it was that, in a period when nothing was fairly organized,
his authority was not clearly defined, or that he felt some hesitation
in vigorously exercising it, it is certain that each of the Generals,
who have been here mentioned, acted as if he knew himself to be, to all
intents and purposes, in independent command.

This evil was completely remedied by the appointment to the chief
command in the West of General Johnson, and the prompt and decided
measures which he instituted. General Johnson's whole life had been one
of the most thorough military training, and no officer of his years in
the old army of the United States had seen more service; but more than
that, he was a soldier by instinct, and Nature had intended him for
military command.

He felt the full importance of careful preparation, and the
establishment by order and system in every branch and department of the
service. No martinet of the schools was ever more alive to the necessity
of rigid method and exact discipline, for he knew that without their
inauguration and strict observance, it would be impossible to even
partially discharge the duties of his vast commission. But he also saw
clearly the vital necessity of maintaining in tact the spirit which
animated the men of his army, and which had summoned them into the
field. He knew that to impair the ardor which had induced them to become
soldiers was to destroy their morale; that to attempt to make them
machines would result in making them worthless.

Although the troops at his disposal seriously needed instruction and
more perfect organization, he did not waste precious moments in seeking
to impart them then. He did not permit the high spirit of his gallant
army to sink into lethargy, nor the interest which the people felt in
the conduct of military affairs to abate by remaining inactive, and in
a position which would reduce him, under all circumstances, to the
defensive. A concentration of his forces any where upon the Tennessee
border would not only have placed him at great strategic disadvantage,
but would have been instantly accepted by the soldiery and the people as
a signal of his intention to await the pleasure and movements of his
adversary. Almost immediately after his arrival at Nashville, the troops
which had collected at Camp Boone, the rendezvous of the Kentucky
regiments, and the Tennessee troops which were available, were pushed
into Kentucky. Kent