Prior to this date, on October 9, a complete reorganization of the Army of the Cumberland had been made. Many of the regiments and brigades had been so reduced in numbers by the late battle and by sickness, that consolidation of brigades became imperative. Besides, in order to maintain efficiency in the army and proper discipline, a weeding out among the general officers became a necessity. Ever since the close of fighting at Chickamauga, there had been an undercurrent of feeling among the majority of the officers, that certain ones, who had failed to meet the emergencies which arose during that battle, could not continue in command, without decided detriment to the future operations of the army. In compliance with the President’s order of September 28, the Twentieth and Twenty-First corps were consolidated and called the Fourth Corps. This new corps was placed under the command of General Gordon Granger who had particularly distinguished himself at Chickamauga. The reserve corps was made a part of the Fourteenth Corps. Each corps was composed of three divisions and each division of three brigades. The following short dispatch sent to the Secretary of War by C. A. Dana, gives a very concise and interesting statement of what was done:
“Fourth Corps: First Division, Palmer; First Brigade, Cruft, nine regiments, 2,044 men; Second Brigade, Whittaker, eight regiments, 2,035 men; Third Brigade, Colonel Grose, eight regiments, 1,968 men. Second Division, Sheridan; First Brigade, F. T. Sherman, ten regiments, 2,385 men; Second Brigade, Wagner, eight regiments, 2,188 men; Third Brigade, Harker, 2,026 men. Third Division, Wood; First Brigade, Willich, nine regiments, 2,069 men; Second Brigade, Hazen, nine regiments, 2,195 men; Third Brigade, Samuel Beatty, eight regiments, 2,222 men.
“Fourteenth Corps: First Division, Rousseau; First Brigade, Carlin, nine regiments, 2,072 men; Second Brigade, King, four regiments of regulars and four regiments of volunteers, 2,070 men; Third Brigade, Starkweather, eight regiments, 2,214 men. Second Division, J. C. Davis; First Brigade, J. D. Morgan, five regiments, 2,214 men [this brigade had been in the reserve and did not take part in the late battle]; Second Brigade, John Beatty, seven regiments, 2,460 men; Third Brigade, Daniel McCook, six regiments, 2,099 men [this brigade had few losses in the late battle]. Third Division, Baird; First Brigade, Turchin, seven regiments, 2,175 men; Second Brigade, Van Derveer, seven regiments, 2,116 men; Third Brigade, Croxton, seven regiments, 2,165 men.”
Those detachments of the reserve corps which still remained along the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad beyond Bridgeport, were not included. The garrison at Stevenson, Bridgeport, and Battle Creek, under General J. D. Morgan, as above stated, were however included. The State of Tennessee was divided into two districts, the northern, commanded by General Robert S. Granger with headquarters at Nashville, and the southern under General R. W. Johnson with headquarters at Stevenson.
General L. H. Rousseau superseded General R. S. Granger at Nashville, in November, prior to the battles. General Starkweather relieved Johnson at Stevenson after the battle, the latter having been assigned in Rousseau’s place, as commander of the First Division of the Fourteenth Corps.
In the reorganization of the army the Wisconsin troops were distributed as follows: The First and Twenty-First Infantry remained in Starkweather’s Third Brigade of the First Division of the Fourteenth Corps; the Tenth Infantry in the First Brigade of the same division which was commanded by General W. P. Carlin. The Twenty-fourth Infantry was in the First Brigade of Sheridan’s Division, commanded by Colonel F. T. Sherman; the Fifteenth Infantry in Willich’s Brigade of Wood’s Division, of the Fourth Corps. The Fifth Battery was attached to Davis’s Division of the Fourteenth Corps; the Third, Eighth and Tenth, and Company A of the First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery were assigned to the Second Division of the Artillery Reserve. The Eleventh and Twelfth corps were not reorganized prior to the battles; the Third and Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Infantry remained in the same organization in which they were in the Army of the Potomac—viz.: the Third in Ruger’s Third Brigade of the First Division (Williams’s) of the Twelfth Corps; the Twenty-sixth in the Second Brigade of the Third Division of the Eleventh Corps.
When General Thomas became commander of the Army of the Cumberland, General John M. Palmer was made commander in his place of the Fourteenth Corps, and General Charles Cruft was assigned to the command of the First Division of the Fourth Corps, in place of Palmer.
General James A. Garfield, chief of staff, had been elected member of Congress from his district in Ohio; he left in order to assume his duties and General J. J. Reynolds had been appointed chief of staff in his place. General John M. Brannan was made chief of artillery. These, with General W. F. Smith as chief engineer, greatly added to the strength of the headquarters staff.
This order of the President—which affected these local changes in the Army of the Cumberland—was followed by a much greater consolidation on a very much broader scale. The Army of the Tennessee—then in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi—was placed under command of General W. T. Sherman, who was on his way with a portion of it to Chattanooga in order to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland. The Army of the Ohio, under General A. E. Burnside, was at Knoxville. These three armies had not before had a commander in common under whose orders they could be made to cooperate. A commander-in-chief at Washington had so far been unable to accomplish this very necessary cooperation. The Tennessee River ran through the fields of operations of all the three armies—less directly in the field of the Army of the Tennessee—and the preceding lack of unity in movements jeopardized the ultimate object of all their campaigns, namely: the re-establishment of the former relation between the states in rebellion and the general government. On this account the President established the Military Division of the Mississippi, with Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant in command. This was a virtual consolidation of the three armies; their cooperation in that wide field was henceforth perfect. Subsequent events showed the wisdom of this order. The Confederates never won another battle in this department; and in fourteen months after the organization of one command there existed no organized Confederate force in this field, worthy of notice. There were only detachments here and there, like Forrest’s rangers in the early spring of 1865, until General James H. Wilson’s cavalry raid put an end to all resistance.
After its reorganization, the Army of the Cumberland was composed of the Fourth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Fourteenth corps, and three divisions of cavalry. Had General Sheridan been placed in command of the combined cavalry, his subsequent career shows that its efficiency would have been greatly improved; but all the changes, that might have been beneficial, could not be thought of at once. The pending events in this department developed some pre-eminent officers, who were indeed very much needed; they became masterful factors in the early downfall of the rebellion, both in the east and in the west; Sheridan was one of these; others were Grant, Thomas, and Sherman.