Pursuit of the enemy was not continued in force beyond Crab Orchard, but some portions of the army kept at Bragg’s heels until he crossed the Cumberland River, a part of his troops retiring to Tennessee by way of Cumberland Gap, but the major portion through Somerset.  As the retreat of Bragg transferred the theatre of operations back to Tennessee, orders were now issued for a concentration of Buell’s army at Bowling Green, with a view to marching it to Nashville, and my division moved to that point without noteworthy incident.  I reached Bowling Green with a force much reduced by the losses sustained in the battle of Perryville and by sickness.  I had started from Louisville on October 1 with twelve regiments of infantry—­four old and eight new ones—­and two batteries, but many poor fellows, overcome by fatigue, and diseases induced by the heat, dust, and drought of the season, had to be left at roadside hospitals.  This was particularly the case with the new regiments, the men of which, much depressed by homesickness, and not yet inured to campaigning, fell easy victims to the hardships of war.

At Bowling Green General Buell was relieved, General W. S. Rosecrans succeeding him.  The army as a whole did not manifest much regret at the change of commanders, for the campaign from Louisville on was looked upon generally as a lamentable failure, yet there were many who still had the utmost confidence in General Buell, and they repelled with some asperity the reflections cast upon him by his critics.  These admirers held him blameless throughout for the blunders of the campaign, but the greater number laid every error at his door, and even went to the absurdity of challenging his loyalty in a mild way, but they particularly charged incompetency at Perryville, where McCook’s corps was so badly crippled while nearly 30,000 Union troops were idle on the field, or within striking distance.  With these it was no use to argue that Buell’s accident stood in the way of his activity, nor that he did not know that the action had assumed the proportions of a battle.  The physical disability was denied or contested, but even granting this, his detractors claimed that it did not excuse his ignorance of the true condition of the fight, and finally worsted his champions by pointing out that Bragg’s retreat by way of Harrodsburg beyond Dick’s River so jeopardized the Confederate army, that had a skillful and energetic advance of the Union troops been made, instead of wasting precious time in slow and unnecessary tactical manoeuvres, the enemy could have been destroyed before he could quit the State of Kentucky.

CHAPTER XII.

MOVING TO BOWLING GREEN—­JAMES CARD, THE SCOUT AND GUIDE—­GENERAL SILL—­COLONEL SCHAEFER—­COLONEL G. W. ROBERTS—­MOVEMENT ON MURFREESBORO’—­OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF STONE RIVER.