y of only
sixty hours, General Rosecrans proceeded to Louisville, and assumed
command of the army on the 28th of October, and on the 30th joined it at
Bowling Green.

Here the first interview took place between the General and his corps
commanders. Major-General George H. Thomas, strong, grave, benignant,
majestic in deportment, had now been with the army a year; revered by the
entire army, loved by his old division, he was a man to be trusted.
Major-General Thomas L. Crittenden, a son of Senator Crittenden, of
Kentucky, bold, impetuous, and of knightly grace of manner, possessed of
that cheerful courage which finds its best expression on the battle field,
the idol of his old division, whose gallant conduct at Shiloh had won for
its brave commander promotion to the rank of major-general. Major-General
Alexander McD. McCook, the antipodes of Thomas, of never-failing good
humor and undoubted courage, apt to neglect proper precautions for the
safety of his command, but ever ready to assume all the responsibility of
failure, over-confident, generous, yielding in his disposition, yet
enjoying the confidence of the men whose heroism at Shiloh had won the
eulogies of Sherman, added a second star upon his broad shoulders, and
saved him from reproach after the repulse upon the field at Perryville. In
physique the three corps commanders were as unlike as in personal
character. Thomas had a massive, full-rounded, erect and powerful figure,
six feet in stature. His features heavy but well carved, with a strong,
combative nose, his upper lip and square jaws and chin covered with a
growth of sandy beard slightly silvered, bushy brows set like a canopy
over clear blue eyes, a broad, white forehead, and curly golden hair in
luxuriant profusion, covering a large, well-formed head. Out of fifty-four
years of life he had worn the uniform of a United States officer
twenty-two years, and in all that time he had borne himself as an officer
and a gentleman. Altogether a soldier, simple and unaffected, honest,
truthful, patient, obedient to orders and requiring obedience, he never
swerved an iota from the path of duty; acting upon well-matured opinions,
he was a friend to be loved and an enemy to be feared.

Crittenden was tall, slender, and straight as an arrow. His clean-cut
features were handsomely modeled, his eyes dark and full of expression,
were full of mirth when there was no cause for anger--then they shone with
a dangerous light--a