rebel army in force on our front. To the rear the only road that
was open was over Walling's Ridge, through Sequatchie Valley, down
to Bridgeport, a distance of sixty miles; the short road on the
north side down to Bridgeport being closed by the rebel batteries
and sharp-shooters, while their troops holding the road to the south
of the river compelled all supplies of every kind to be hauled over
these sixty miles of road. To thus supply the army during good
weather was a very great undertaking, even with the teams of the
various commands in good condition, but with the rainy season that
soon set in, and the incessant hauling wearing out the mules, the
daily rations for the army were constantly growing less and less.
On October 1st, Wheeler crossing the Tennessee with Martin's and
Wharton's divisions of cavalry moved up the Sequatchie Valley upon
our line of supplies at Anderson cross-roads. Here he captured a
large number of trains loaded with rations for the front, burned
over three hundred wagons, and killed a large number of animals.
Colonel E. M. McCook with his cavalry division, moving rapidly
from Bridgeport, overtook Wheeler on the 2d, and drove him with
great loss in a sabre charge from the trains, recapturing some
eight hundred mules. After this Wheeler was driven from Shelbyville
on the 6th by Mitchell's cavalry, and on the 8th from Farmington
by Crook, and from here he re-crossed the Tennessee with a small
portion of his command, the rest having been killed or captured.
This loss in wagons, with the roads becoming almost impassable by
reason of the heavy rains and the growing weakness of the animals,
lessened daily the amount of supplies brought into the town,
so that our troops were suffering for food and were in danger of
being starved out of Chattanooga. This was what Bragg was quietly
waiting for. To supply an army some forty thousand strong, by
wagon transportation over rough mountain roads a distance of sixty