History of the Ninety-Sixth Regiment; Illinois Volunteer Infantry (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1887. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. The Summer of 1863--The March to Triune--Lightening the KnapsacksPartial Reorganization of the Corps--The Paymaster and the Enemy Arrive Simultaneously--Again Under Fire but at Long Range-- Skedaddle of the Sutler's Clerks--Punishment of Sleepy Sentinels-- The Tulluhoma Campaign--A Succession of Rainy Days--Again Under Fire--Guarding Prisoners to the Rear--The Advance to Shelbyville--The March to Wartrace--Close of the Brief Campaign--Good News from Vicksburg and Gettysburg--A Day of Thanksgiving. The spring of 1863 had passed, summer had come, and quiet still reigned along the lines in Middle Tennessee. True, there were almost daily engagements at some point, but they were on the part of small forces, and their results had little significance. The main body of the army had made no general movement for a period of nearly five months. Apparently Gen. Rosecrans and Gen. Bragg were each waiting for the other to take the offensive. The Confederate forces were mainly north of Duck River, their infantry being at Shelbyville and Wartrace, covering Tullahoma, which had been heavily fortified, and was their headquarters and main base of supplies. Their cavalry was on either flank, with headquarters at McMinnville on their right, and Spring Hill and Columbia on their left. The main body of Gen. Rosecrans' army was at Murfreesboro, but there were considerable forces of both infantry and cavalry at Franklin and Triune, and a large body of cavalry at the left of Murfreesboro. The authorities at Washington, growing impatient as the weeks went by, began to demand that an advance be made, and that the war be carried into Alabama and Georgia. Gen. Rosecrans insisted that his force was entirely too small; that he was especially deficient in cavalry, and that the roa...