f the opinion that we should
endeavor to entice the enemy into an engagement as soon as possible, and
before he shall have further increased his numbers by the large numbers
which he must still have in reserve and available--that is, beat him in
detail." Lee wrote to Johnston, on March 26th: "I need not urge you,
when your army is united, to deal a blow at the enemy in your front, if
possible, before his rear gets up from Nashville. You have him divided,
and keep him so, if you can." It was Johnston's purpose, and expressed,
to attack Grant before Buell should arrive. But he determined to
continue organizing and waiting for Van Dorn as long as that would be
safe.

At eleven o'clock at night of April 2d, Johnston learned that Buell was
moving "rapidly from Columbia, by Clifton, to Savannah." About one
o'clock in the morning of Thursday, the 3d, preliminary orders were
issued to hold the troops in readiness to move at a moment's notice,
with five days' rations and one hundred rounds of ammunition. The
movement began in the afternoon. The army was arranged in three corps,
commanded respectively by Polk, Bragg, and Hardee, and a reserve under
Breckenridge. Beauregard was second in command, without a specific
command. Major-General Hardee's corps consisted of Brigadier-General
Hindman's division and Brigadier-General Cleburne's brigade. The
division consisted of Hindman's brigade, commanded by Colonel Shaver,
and Brigadier-General Wood's brigade. Wood's brigade comprised five
regiments, and two battalions of infantry and a battery; Cleburne's
brigade was composed of six regiments and two batteries. Major-General
Bragg's corps consisted of two divisions, commanded respectively by
Brigadier-General Ruggles and Brigadier-General Withers. The brigades of
Ruggles' division were commanded by Colonel Gibson, Brigadier-General
Patton Anderson, and Colonel Pond. Withers' brigades were commanded by
Brigadier-Generals Gladden, Chalmers, and Jackson. The brigades of
Chalmers and Gladden contained each five regiments and a battery; the
other brigades contained each four regiments and a battery, with, in
Anderson's and Pond's each, an additional battalion of infantry.
Major-General Polk's corps had two divisions, commanded by
Brigadier-General Clark and Major-General Cheatham. Clark's brigades
were commanded by Colonel Russell and Brigadier-General A.P. Stewart;
Cheatham's brigades were commanded by Brigadier-General B.R. Johnson and
Col