n army in
the field, with a numerous coterie of newspaper correspondents, and
Catholic priests, who seemed in his estimation to be vastly more
important than anyone else about him, and laid in a good supply of
crucifixes, holy water, _spiritus frumenti_, Chinese gongs, flambeaux,
jobbing presses, printers' devils, javelins, white elephants, and other
cabalistic emblems and evidences that a holy crusade was about to be
entered upon, and having daily announced through his various newspaper
correspondents, jobbing presses, and other means of reaching the public
and the Confederate Army lying immediately in our front, exactly what
was going on, one could but wonder at the sublime indifference of Bragg,
and his Army remaining in the State of Tennessee, in the midst of
preparations for their destruction such as these. As this magnificent
and resplendent cavalcade of Holy, Oriental, and gorgeous splendor moved
about from camp to camp during the weeks that we lay at Nashville making
these gigantic and awe-inspiring preparations for the advance, every
knee was bowed, and every tongue confessed, that Allah was great, and
thrice illustriously great was this Savior that had been sent to us. All
things though, however grand and glorious, must have an end, and it was
finally announced during the last days of December, 1862, that the army
was ready for a forward move. You will not be surprised to be informed
after what has preceded, that it was my opinion that the Catholic
officers having command in that army would fare well when the honors of
the campaign came to be distributed. Accordingly, I made a prediction in
writing that every one of these, consisting of Brig.-Gen. Philip H.
Sheridan, Brig.-Gen. D.S. Stanly, Brig.-Gen. James S. Negley, and Capt.
James St. Claire Morton, would all be promoted entirely regardless of
what the fortunes of war might have in store for them. This I did
without the slightest feeling of unkindness or jealousy towards these
officers, but simply on account of my belief that the Commanding
General was such a narrow-minded bigot in regard to Catholicism, that it
was impossible for him not to allow considerations of this kind to
control his estimate of men. We shall see how nearly correct I was in
this estimate further on. At the time this campaign was entered upon the
National Forces had not been divided into Army Corps and numbered. Each
Army commander divided his army as to him seemed best. Rosecrans divide