e. Every general in it knew that it needed and must
have supplies, and that the only way to get them, without falling back,
was to open and keep open the direct road or "cracker line" to
Bridgeport. But how and when this was to be done was the great
question.

Much has been written upon this subject; a military commission has had
it under consideration; the records have been consulted; a report has
been made, and comments upon it have been issued by General Smith and
his friends. Even the late Secretary of War, Elihu Root, has passed
judgment upon it, and yet it can be safely said that nothing has been
done to disturb the conclusion reached at the time, that General Smith
in consultation with his superiors worked out the plan as to how, when
and by what means the short supply line by the way of Brown's Ferry and
the Lookout Valley should he opened and maintained. He certainly
secured its adoption first by Thomas and afterwards by Grant, and
finally when he had arranged all the details of the complicated and
delicate operations, and had prepared all engineer's materials and
pontoons which were required, he personally commanded the troops and
carried that part of the plan which was based on Chattanooga, to a
successful conclusion.

When it is remembered that Rosecrans had left Chattanooga, that he had
been succeeded by Thomas, and that Grant himself had arrived on the
ground and assumed supreme command, before the first practical step had
been taken to carry the plan into effect, and that the plan itself
involved a descent and passage of the Tennessee River by night, the
defeat and capture of the enemy's outposts, the laying of a pontoon
bridge across a broad and rapid river, the rebuilding of the railroad,
and its maintenance within easy reach of the enemy's front for
twenty-five miles, and that all of this was done without the slightest
mishap and with but little loss, and that it resulted in relieving the
army from want and in putting it in condition to resume the offensive
as soon as its reinforcements had arrived, some fair idea may be had of
the value of General Smith's services and the part he actually
performed in all that took place. If General Rosecrans had actually
conceived and worked out all the details of the plan, which cannot be
successfully claimed, there would still be enough left to the credit of
General Smith to immortalize him, but when Grant, Thomas and all the
other officers who were present and i