But in less
than ten days the joyful whistle of the locomotive was heard, and the
army was soon abundantly supplied.
Take our present situation. Had there been no railroad from Nashville to
the Tennessee River, the campaign of last fall could not have been
undertaken with any prospect of success. But allow that it had been
undertaken, and the result of the battle of Chickamauga what it was:
could our army have terminated its retreat at Chattanooga, and held this
important military position? By no means: it would have recrossed the
mountains, a broken, discouraged, and almost demoralized host. The
trains have run almost constantly from Nashville to Stevenson and
Bridgeport, and the army has been on half rations for nearly two months.
If wagons could not bring supplies fifty miles, much less one hundred
and fifty. And now (November 15th) that the distance for teams has, for
some days, been reduced to six or seven miles, we are still very short
of supplies.
Let the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad receive due credit for the
part it has played in promoting the success of the campaign and 'saving
the Army of the Cumberland.' Railroads and all other channels of
commerce contribute most efficiently to the success of the great effort
of our Government to restore the integrity of the Union: let them
receive due credit, and be rightly remembered when the great conflict
is ended.
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