gjt WAS THE
CIVIL WAR
Federals Bolster Chattanooga
By MERTON T. AKERS
VPI Correspondent
John Hay routed President
Lincoln out of bed the night of
Sept. 23. 1863.
The President was staying in
a cottage at Soldiers' Home,
which stood on a wooded hill
about three miles beyond the
northern boundary of the Wash
ington of that day.
Hay, one of the presidential
secretaries, rode out to the
cottage "through a splendid
moonlight," he wrote in his di
ary, "and found the Tycoon (his
name for Lincoln) abed."
The younger of the president
ial secretaries, now just 25 year
old, Hay was carrying bad news
for his chief. He had dropped
into the War Department after
dinner and found Secretary of
War Edwin M. Stanton decipher
ing a dispatch from Charles A.
Dana, assistant secretary of war,
who was in Chattanooga,
Tenn., with the defeated army
of Maj. Gen. William S. Rose
crans. ; The Federal army, under
siege by the Confederate Army
of Tennessee after the battle of
Chickamauga, could hold out
only IS or 20 days, Dana's dis
patch said. Reinforcements of
20,000 to 25,000 men were need
ed if the Federal Army of the
Cumberland was to be saved
and the city held.
Asked for Meeting
It was 9:45 p. m. Stanton ask
ed Hay to bring Lincoln to the
War Department for a meeting
that night.
"I delivered my message to
him as he robed himself and he
was considerably disturbed,"
Hay wrote. "I assured him as
far as I could that it meant noth
ing serious, but he thought other
wise, as it was the first time
Stanton had ever sent for him."
In addition to Lincoln, Stan
ton also summoned Gen. -In -
Chief Henry W. Halleck. Secre
tary ol Mate William H. Seward,
Secretary of Treasury Salmon
P. Chase, Assistant Secretary of
War Peter H. Watson, Maj.
James A. Hardie, an assistant
adjutant general, and Col. Dan
iel C. McCallum, director of
military transportation.
By midnight all had assem
bled and Stanton unveiled a plan
to save Chattanooga and Rose
crans' army.
"I propose to send 30,000 men
from the Army of the Potomac,"
he said. "There is no reason to
expect General (George G.)
Meade will attack Lee, although
greatly superior in force; and
his great numbers where they
are, are useless. In five days
30,000 could be put with Rose
crans." Lincoln offered to bet that if
the order was given that night
"the troops cculd not be got to
Washington in five days."
Stanton was not inclined to
bet but said if 30,000 could not
be sent let 20.000 go.
Halleck in Doubt
The discussion continued for
a time with Halleck in doubt
whether even reinforcements
from the West could get to
Chattanooga in time. He and
Lincoln felt that Meade should
not be weakened. Seward, Chase
and McCallum sided with Stan
ton. Finally Stanton's plan won ap
proval and the meeting broke up
after it was decided to send the
XI and the XII Corps and that
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker would
command them. Hooker was
"awaiting orders" after being re
lieved in June from command of
the Army of the Potomac.
"Finished the evening with a
supper by Stanton, which few
ate," Hay wrote.
But the night was not finish
ed for Stanton.
He began to send orders. He
promised Dana 15,000 infantry
would arrive in five or six days.
By 2:30 a. m. Meade was order
ed to prepare the two corps and
have them ready to start in 24
hours.
He ordered all the heads of
railroads involved to "come to
Washington as quickly as you
can."
The troops were to entrain at
Culpeper, Va., for Washington.
They were to go from the capi
tal to the Ohio river by the Bal
timore it Ohio, from there to
Indianapolis via Columbus, then
to Louisville and on to Nashville
by the Louisville & Nashville.
Troops Rolling
Trains full of troops were rol
ling through Washington in less
than 48 hours after the midnight
meeting.
The railroads were of differ
ent gauges and that meant
changing trains at sev e r a 1
places along the route.
At one point in Kentucky
8,000 workers were impressed to
change the gauge of a section of
a railroad.
Cooked rations the troops car
ried ran out in Indianapolis.
Six hours were lost there feed
ing the men a hot meal.
But by 10:30 the night of Sept.
30 the first troops arrived in
Bridgeport, Ala., about 25 miles
across the mountains from Chat
tanooga. Just seven days had elapsed
since Stanton touched off the
operation.
Unprecedented Feat
Three days later 20.000 men,
10 batteries of artillery with
horses and ammunition and 100
cars of baggage had reached
Bridgeport.
It was an unprecedented feat
of moving troops by rail. Stan
son was proud of his work.
He telegraphed Thomas A.
Scott, former assistant secre
tary of war and now a Penn-
-gsv
PLAX GOES INTO EFFECT On Sept. 23,
1863, a message arrived at Washington inform
ing President Lincoln and Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton that the Federal garrison at
Chattanooga, now under siege by the Confed
erates, could hold out only about 15 or 20 days.
It was decided to reinforce them, and a plan
by Stanton was put into effect. Under the plan,
the XI and the XII Corps would be detached
from the Army of the Potomac and under the
command of Gen. Joe Hooker, they would be
sent to Chattanooga. In just seven days the
plan was completed. It was an unprecedented
feat of moving troops by rail. Here, from the
Library of Congress collection, is a drawing
looking toward the Confederate lines from Union
trenches in the city. tUPl)
sylvania Railroad official who
had handled the western end of
the project:
"Your work is most brilliant.
A thousand thanks. It is a great
achievement."
Stanton was not a man to
confer congratulations lightly.
The war secretary followed up
' by sending Quartermaster Gen-
! pral Mnntunmnrv Mni(i in f hat-
tanooga to work on the supply
situation with "the fullest power
and more money and means of
war at my command . . . than
any other man since Napoleon."
Meigs wrote.
Hooker was not especially
pleased with his appointment to
head the two corps under the
command of Rosecrans. He felt
the command was not in keep
ing with his standing as former
chief of the Army of the Poto
mac but he accepted and left
Washington on Sept. 28. Hay
went with him the night before
when Hooker said goodby to
Lincoln. Hay recorded that
Hooker did not "especially ap
prove of the campaign down
there. He thinks we might force
them to fight at disadvantage,
instead of allowing to continu
ally choose the battleground.
Does not think much can be
done by lengthening Rosecrans1
lines indefinitely into Georgia."
Found Stanton
Hay had stumbled into the
midnight conference at the War
Department because he had
found in a Confederate news
paper word that Mrs. Lincoln's
brother - in - law. Ben Hardin
Helm, had been killed at Chick
amauga. He took the newspaper
to the War Department to send
it by courier to Lincoln at Sol
diers' home and there found
Stanton reading Chattanooga
dispatches.
Mrs. Lincoln was at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel in New York and
Lincoln telegraphed the news to
her.
Helm was married to Mrs.
Lincoln's half-sister, Emily, and
was a favorite of Lincoln. Helm
had visited the White House
early in 1861 when Lincoln of
fered him a commission as a
paymaster. Helm turned it down
and organized a Confederate
cavalry regiment in Kentucky.
He was a brigadier general
when he was killed.
Lincoln wrote a pass for Mrs,
Lincoln's stepmother to cross
the battlelines and bring back
Mrs. Helm to Kentucky.
Grange News
UOI.I) HILL GRANGE
Agriculture reports presented
at the September meeting of
the Gold Hill Grange showed
few changes in cattle prices
with more cost than usual for
feed.
Several 4-H club members
from Jackson county with live
stock at the State Fair brought
home ribbons. Mrs. Vera Kamp
ing also took first on her netted
gem potatoes and second on her
red potatoes. She won another
first on cantaloupes.
Charles roote acted as mas
ter at the September meeting
and Blanch Merriman, hospital
ity chairman, welcomed the
following guests: Ralph James,
Sams Valley; Mr. and Mrs. Ce
cil Kee, Shady Cove, accompan
ied by his mother, Mrs. Mary
Kec, of Spokane, Wash, and Mrs.
Olive Floyd, Phoenix Grange.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Gascon
were elected to membership in
the Grange.
The Grangers decided to hold
Booster Night Oct. 14.
Mrs. Floyd gave details on
the chartering of a bus to take
Grange members to Portland
for the National Grange meet
ing Nov. 16.
Program for the evening was
presented by Willie McLean,
lecturer. Refreshments were
served by Mr. and Mrs. Alva
Walker.
SECTION B
Medford
PAGES 1 to
Tribune
MEDFORD. OREGON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1963
Deposed President
Leaves for Exile
SANTO DOMINGO, Domini
can Republic (UPI) Deposed
President Juan Bosch sailed to
an unknown destination today
to begin the life of an exile for
the second time.
Bosch, 53, and his wife, Car
men, were put aboard the gov
ernment frigate Mella Sunday
sailing from Santo Domingo.
The government kept their
destination secret but one
source said it would be cither
Martinique or Guadaloupc. both
French islands in the Caribbean.
CHICKEN LITTLE STORY
NETHER STOWEY, England
(UPI) Miss Lucy Baker re
turned from church Sunday
night and found her house had
fallen down.
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