Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment
The 40th
Indiana, with the 21st Brigade, remained at Lebanon, KY. The regiment had now been in Kentucky for a full month. No doubt the soldiers were eager for action (or even some movement), but it would still be a few more days before events began moving faster.
Events in Kentucky and Tennessee
General Grant's anticipation of a quick capture of Fort Donelson was undone by the continuing heavy rain and its effect on the primitive roads of the area. As of the 10th, he had been unable to start his army from Fort Henry towards Dover, TN where Fort Donelson was located. The gunboats had not yet come up on the Cumberland. The entire operation had been postponed.
It was hoped that the capture of this second fort could be done soon as there was news of Confederate troops leaving Virginia and coming to the West. Generals Halleck and Buell both were overestimating the size of the Southern army already present, and became greatly concerned that Fort Donelson could be taken at all. In fact, the commanding Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, was initially happy to have rumors circulate that he had a large army, as it kept the Union armies at bay, but he had not been able to build up his army in the meantime.
In Central Kentucky, Buell had begun to move his divisions toward Bowling Green KY. The lead division, under General O. M. Mitchel, was in the Mammoth Cave area and scouting toward Bowling Green.
NEXT POST: FEBRUARY 14TH
No comments:
Post a Comment