it was as well for Rosecrans and the service that he was relieved
when he was, with the combination of the armies under Grant. He
had faithfully performed his duty up to this time, but now the
surroundings were so changed that both for his sake and the good
of the service the change was a fitting one to be made. Rosecrans
could never again serve as a subordinate, and as the change was
determined on, when Grant arrived it was as well for Rosecrans to
retire.

When Anderson in 1861 applied for George H. Thomas to be one of
the brigadier-generals to accompany him to Kentucky, to help him
in the task he was set to accomplish there, Mr. Lincoln told him
he was afraid to give the order for Thomas, as he was a Southerner,
and from Virginia. Anderson and Sherman, who were present, both
responded in the strongest terms, vouching for Thomas's earnest
patriotism and deep devotion to the Union, and the order was given.
And now it bore full fruit. The quiet, patient soldier, who from
his first day's service in Kentucky had never swerved a line from
the strict performance of his duty to his Government, according to
his oath, without reference to self, had now met his reward. His
fame had steadily grown and rounded from the time he gained the
first Federal victory in the West, at Mill Springs, up to the battle
of Chickamauga, where he saved the Army of the Cumberland to the
nation. He had always been the main stay of that army, holding the
command of the centre--either nominally or actually the second in
command. Upon his judgment and military skill every commander of
that army depended, and no movement was made without his approbation.
Yet so modest was he that his face would color with blushes when
his troops cheered him, which they did at every opportunity; and
so diffident, that, prior to the battle of Chickamauga, he doubted