On the receipt of Mr. Dana’s dispatch Mr. Stanton sent for me.  Finding that I was out he became nervous and excited, inquiring of every person he met, including guests of the house, whether they knew where I was, and bidding them find me and send me to him at once.  About eleven o’clock I returned to the hotel, and on my way, when near the house, every person met was a messenger from the Secretary, apparently partaking of his impatience to see me.  I hastened to the room of the Secretary and found him pacing the floor rapidly in his dressing-gown.  Saying that the retreat must be prevented, he showed me the dispatch.  I immediately wrote an order assuming command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, and telegraphed it to General Rosecrans.  I then telegraphed to him the order from Washington assigning Thomas to the command of the Army of the Cumberland; and to Thomas that he must hold Chattanooga at all hazards, informing him at the same time that I would be at the front as soon as possible.  A prompt reply was received from Thomas, saying, “We will hold the town till we starve.”  I appreciated the force of this dispatch later when I witnessed the condition of affairs which prompted it.  It looked, indeed, as if but two courses were open:  one to starve, the other to surrender or be captured.

On the morning of the 20th of October I started, with my staff, and proceeded as far as Nashville.  At that time it was not prudent to travel beyond that point by night, so I remained in Nashville until the next morning.  Here I met for the first time Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee.  He delivered a speech of welcome.  His composure showed that it was by no means his maiden effort.  It was long, and I was in torture while he was delivering it, fearing something would be expected from me in response.  I was relieved, however, the people assembled having apparently heard enough.  At all events they commenced a general hand-shaking, which, although trying where there is so much of it, was a great relief to me in this emergency.

From Nashville I telegraphed to Burnside, who was then at Knoxville, that important points in his department ought to be fortified, so that they could be held with the least number of men; to Admiral Porter at Cairo, that Sherman’s advance had passed Eastport, Mississippi, that rations were probably on their way from St. Louis by boat for supplying his army, and requesting him to send a gunboat to convoy them; and to Thomas, suggesting that large parties should be put at work on the wagon-road then in use back to Bridgeport.