Sherman, with Davis and Howard, pressed on till nightfall, engaging the rear guard of the Rebels just at dark. Next day he reached Greysville, where he was joined by Palmer's Corps, and where he could hear Hooker's guns at Ringgold. Then he turned eastward, to keep Longstreet from rejoining Bragg, leaving the pursuit of Bragg to Hooker. Howard was sent to Parker's Gap, to destroy the Dalton and Cleveland Railroad, a task that was promptly and thoroughly performed. Word now came from Hooker that he wanted Sherman to hurry forward and turn the enemy's position in the mountain passes near Ringgold. This was at this very moment being done by Howard, and when Sherman reached Ringgold he found that the Rebels had abandoned the Chickamauga Valley and the State of Tennessee. Howard by Sherman's request was now sent on to Cleveland, East Tennessee; and on the 30th to Charleston, where he put the enemy to flight and captured valuable stores. Thus ended the first part of this memorable campaign, with losses to Sherman's own corps of 258 killed, 1,257 wounded and 211 missing, and with incalculable benefits to the Union cause.
The pursuit of Bragg would have been continued, but Grant saw that Burnside needed succor at Knoxville, where he was besieged by Longstreet. Sherman and Howard were accordingly sent thither with all speed. Their troops were wearied with much fighting and long marches. Food was scanty. They had no blankets. And the weather was bitterly cold. But without a murmur from officers or men they faced for Knoxville, eighty-three miles away, with as blithe a step as though on a holiday parade. Howard and Sherman were abreast. At Loudon they struck the enemy, who fled before them, burning the bridge and forcing them to turn east and trust to crossing the Little Tennessee by constructing, in a night, temporary bridges. It was now December 2d, and they knew Burnside's supplies would only last another day. So Sherman told Colonel Long to take his pick of cavalrymen and dash on to Knoxville regardless of the cost in life and limb. Knoxville was yet forty miles away, and the roads were as bad as bad could be. The whole army pressed on, however, with desperate zeal. When past the Little Tennessee, a courier came from Burnside with the welcome news that Long and his troopers had arrived, and that all was well at Knoxville. That night another courier brought them word that Longstreet was retreating toward Virginia, with the Union cavalry in full pursuit! He had attacked Burnside, had been repulsed with great slaughter, and had abandoned the siege at Sherman's near approach.
Sherman and Howard, after a brief visit to Knoxville, then marched their troops to Chattanooga, to prepare for a yet greater work. Sherman made a long report on this campaign. A few extracts are of interest here:
"In reviewing the facts, I must do justice to my command for the patience, cheerfulness, and courage which officers and men have displayed throughout, in battle, on the march, and in camp. For long periods, without regular rations or supplies of any kind, they have marched through and over rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur, without a moment's rest. After a march of over 400 miles, without stop for three successive nights, we crossed the Tennessee, fought our part of the battle of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out of Tennessee, and then turned more than 100 miles north, and compelled Longstreet to raise the siege of Knoxville, which gave so much anxiety to the whole country.
"It is hard to realize the importance of these events without recalling the memory of the general feeling which pervaded all minds at Chattanooga prior to our arrival. I cannot speak of the Fifteenth Army Corps without a seeming vanity, but as I am no longer its commander, I assert that there is no better body of soldiers in America than it, or who have done more or better service. I wish all to feel a just pride in its real honors. To General Howard and his command, to General Jefferson C. Davis and his, I am more than usually indebted for the intelligence of commanders and fidelity of command. The brigade of Colonel Bushbeck, belonging to the Eleventh Corps, which was the first to come out of Chattanooga to my flank, fought at the Tunnel Hill in connection with General Ewing's Division, and displayed a courage almost amounting to rashness, following the enemy almost to the tunnel gorge, it lost many valuable lives, prominent among them Lieutenant-Colonel Taft, spoken of as a most gallant soldier. In General Howard throughout I found a polished and Christian gentleman, exhibiting the highest and most chivalrous traits of the soldier.
"General Davis handled his division with artistic skill, more especially at the moment we encountered the enemy's rear guard near Graysville, at nightfall. I must award to this division the credit of the best order during our marches through East Tennessee, when long marches and the necessity of foraging to the right and left gave some reasons for disordered ranks.
"I must say that it is but justice that colonels of regiments who have so long and so well commanded brigades, as in the following cases, should be commissioned to the grade which they have filled with so much usefulness and credit to the public service, namely, Colonels J. R. Cockerell, Seventieth Ohio Volunteers; J. M. Loomis, Twenty-sixth Illinois; C. E. Wolcott, Forty-sixth Ohio; J. A. Williamson, Fourth, Iowa; G. B. Raum, Fifty-sixth Illinois; J. J. Alexander, Fifty-ninth Indiana."
Early in January Sherman returned to Memphis, to attend to the administration of affairs in that region. Both civil and military matters were presented to him for disposal. His attitude toward the South was here expressed by him in a letter to one of his subordinate officers, as follows:
"The Southern people entered into a clear compact of government, but still maintained a species of separate interests, history, and prejudices. These latter became stronger and stronger, till they have led to a war which has developed fruits of the bitterest kind.
"We of the North are, beyond all question, right in our lawful cause, but we are not bound to ignore the fact that the people of the South have prejudices, which form a part of their nature, and which they cannot throw off without an effort of reason or the slower process of natural change. Now, the question arises, should we treat as absolute enemies all in the South who differ from us in opinion or prejudice,—kill or banish them? Or should we give them time to think and gradually change their conduct, so as to conform to the new order of things which is slowly and gradually creeping into their country?