THE ADVANCE OF THE UNION ARMY
The Confederate Army, commanded by General Braxton Bragg, lay in front of Tullahoma,[3] where Bragg had his headquarters. There was a large entrenched camp at the junction of the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad. This camp and the McMinnville branch was each a secondary depot for commissary stores, while the base of supplies was at Chattanooga. Its front was covered by the defiles of the Duck River, a deep narrow stream edged by a rough range of hills, which divides the “Barrens” from the lower level of Middle Tennessee. The Manchester Pike passes through these hills at Hoover’s Gap, nineteen miles south of Murfreesboro, ascending through a long and difficult canon to the “Barrens”. The Wartrace road runs through Liberty Gap, thirteen miles south of Murfreesboro and five miles west of Hoover’s. There were other passes through these hills, but the enemy held all of them. Bragg’s main position was in front of Shelbyville, about twenty-eight miles southwest of Murfreesboro, and was strengthened by a redan line extending from Horse Mountain, located a little to the north of Shelbyville, to Duck River on the west, covered by a line of abatis. The road from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville was through Guy’s Gap, sixteen miles south of Murfreesboro. Polk’s corps was at Shelbyville, Hardee’s held Hoover’s, Liberty, and Bellbuckle gaps, all in the same range of hills. It was not wise to move directly against the entrenched line at Shelbyville, therefore Rosecrans’s plan was to turn the Confederate right and move on to the railroad bridge, across Elk River, nine miles southeast of Tullahoma. To accomplish this, it was necessary to make Bragg believe that the advance would be by the Shelbyville route. The following dispositions were therefore made: General Granger’s command was at Triune on June 23, fifteen miles west of Murfreesboro; some infantry and cavalry advanced that same day toward Woodbury seventeen miles to the east of Murfreesboro; simultaneously Granger sent General Mitchell’s cavalry division on the Eaglesville and Shelbyville Pike, seventeen miles southwest of Murfreesboro, in order to make an attack on the enemy’s cavalry, and to drive the enemy’s infantry guards on their main line. General Granger, with his own infantry troops and Brannan’s division, moved—with ten days rations—to Salem.[4]
On June 24, Granger moved to Christiana, a small village a few miles southwest of Murfreesboro, south of Salem, towards Shelbyville. On the same day Palmer’s division, and a brigade of cavalry, were ordered to move to the vicinity of Bradyville, fourteen miles southeast of Murfreesboro; his advance columns were to seize the head of the defile leading up to the “Barrens” by an obscure road to Manchester thirty-five miles southeast, and by way of Lumley’s Stand seven miles east of Hoover’s Gap. General Mitchell accomplished his work after a sharp and gallant fight. McCook’s corps advanced on the Shelbyville road, and turning to the left, six miles out, moved two divisions via Millersburg, a small village eleven miles south of Murfreesboro. By advancing on the road to Wartrace[5] he seized and held Liberty Gap.
Five companies of the Thirty-ninth Indiana mounted infantry opened the fight for Liberty Gap on June 24; they were followed by Willich’s brigade. General R. W. Johnson, in his report[6] says: “Here I placed at the disposal of General Willich a portion of the Second Brigade, Colonel Miller commanding, who sent the Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania and the Twenty-ninth Indiana to the right of the Fifteenth Ohio, then to change direction to the left, sweeping the hillside on which the Confederates were posted. This movement was handsomely executed. As soon as the change to the left had been made, General Willich ordered his entire line forward. Under his own eye and management, the Confederates were driven at every point, their camps and camp equipages falling into our hands, and Liberty Gap was in our possession.” The next morning Carlin’s and Post’s brigades of Davis’s division came to Johnson’s support. The Confederates attacked quite fiercely, but were repulsed, and finally retired. The enemy here was Cleburne’s division; he reported a loss of 121.
General Thomas advanced on the Manchester Pike with the Fourteenth Corps in order to make an attempt to take possession of Hoover’s Gap. Major-General Crittenden was to leave Van Cleve’s division of the Twenty-first Corps at Murfreesboro, concentrate at Bradyville, fourteen miles southeast of Murfreesboro, and there await orders. All these movements were executed with success in the midst of a continuous rain, which so softened the surface of the roads, as to render them next to impassable. The advance of the Fourteenth Corps on Hoover’s Gap, June 24, was Wilder’s brigade of mounted infantry, of Reynolds’s division; it was followed by the other two brigades of the same division. Wilder struck the enemy’s pickets within two miles of his camp at Murfreesboro and drove them through Hoover’s Gap to McBride’s Creek. The two rear brigades moved up and occupied the Gap. Soon afterwards Wilder’s brigade was attacked by a portion of Stewart’s division; this brought the rest of Reynolds’s division, and eventually the regular brigade of Rousseau’s division to his assistance.
On June 25 and 26, Rousseau’s, Reynolds’s, and Brannan’s divisions cooperated in an advance on the enemy; after a short resistance the enemy fled to Fairfield, five miles southwest of Hoover’s Gap, towards which place the Union pickets had advanced.
The First and the Twenty-first Wisconsin infantry were actively engaged at Hoover’s Gap, but suffered no casualties. The Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania, in the same brigade, lost twelve men, one wounded. General John T. Wilder’s brigade lost sixty-one men killed and wounded.
On June 27, Gordon Granger captured Guy’s Gap and the same evening took Shelbyville, the main Confederate Army having retreated. The Union headquarters reached Manchester on June 27. Here the Fourteenth Corps concentrated during the night. Part of McCook’s arrived on the 25th; the rest of it did not reach Manchester before the night of the 29th. The troops and animals were very jaded. Crittenden’s Twenty-first Corps was considerably delayed. The troops encountered continuous rains and bad roads, and the last division did not arrive at Manchester before June 29, although an order to march there speedily was received on the 26th. On arrival it was badly worn out.
The forces were at last concentrated on the enemy’s right flank, about ten miles northeast of Tullahoma. During the incessant rain of June 30, an effort was made to form them into position in anticipation of an attack by the enemy. The wagons and horses could scarcely traverse the ground, which was quite swampy. Fortunately the enemy’s forces suffered likewise. What was trial and hardship to one of the armies—on account of the weather—was equally detrimental to the other side. That army which could overcome quickly and victoriously the climatic conditions, had the best chances to win in the martial contest. In forming a line at Manchester to resist an attack, the Fourteenth Corps occupied the centre, with one division in reserve, the Twentieth Corps on the right and the Twenty-first on the left. The last two corps had each one division in reserve. The Union Army was on the right flank of the Confederate line of defense, and of course expected to be attacked. But it was not.
In the meantime Stanley’s cavalry, supported by General Gordon Granger’s infantry and all troops under Granger’s direction, had attacked the enemy at Guy’s Gap—sixteen miles south of Murfreesboro and five miles west of Liberty Gap—and had driven the Confederate troops back to their entrenchments. Then, finding that the enemy’s main army had fallen back, Stanley captured the gap by a direct and flank movement with only three pieces of artillery. The cavalry unexpectedly captured Shelbyville with a number of prisoners, a quantity of arms, and the commissary stores. The reports of this cavalry battle show the retreat of the enemy to Tullahoma forty miles southeast of Murfreesboro, where it was supposed that he intended to make a stand. But on July 1, General Thomas ascertained that the enemy had retreated during the night from Tullahoma. Some Union divisions occupied Tullahoma about noon that same day, while Rousseau’s and Negley’s divisions pushed on by way of Spring Creek overtaking late in the afternoon the rear guard, with which these divisions had a sharp skirmish.