Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Crittenden's Corps - Wood's Division - Wagner's Brigade
By the 17th, Wood's division has occupied Lebanon, TN and found no Confederate cavalry at that place. Most of the Confederate army in Middle Tennessee is at Murfreesboro, or further south at Tullahoma, TN. Their cavalry are a bit further north, but move quickly to avoid capture.
Rosecrans continues to request supplies and attempts to establish discipline to the army that was lost as it was separated widely for so long. He was constantly being prodded for forward movement as he had basically adopted the plan of Buell. As did Buell, he resisted advancing until he thought the army was fully ready.
Peter Cozzens describes the reassertion of discipline as ordered by Rosecrans:
Now, with the army settled into camp around Nashville, Rosecrans applied his authority. Incompetent or otherwise unfit officers were stripped of their rank and marched from camp in the presence of their troops; officers' leave was slashed drastically, and all soldiers, officers and enlisted men alike, were required to present written passes on demand when outside their camps.
Within camp, discipline was tightened. Five roll calls now sounded during the duty day; those failing to muster for any were subject to harsh and summary punishment. Camp life also became more regulated, so that the day passed much the same, regardless of the unit to which a soldier was assigned. Every morning between 4:00 and 5:30 A.M. the fife and drum roused the camps with the familiar sound of reveille. The orderly sergeant called roll, and those failing to respond were placed on extra duty. Breakfast followed. After a thorough police of the unit area, sick call was sounded. The orderly sergeant presented the company sick to the regimental surgeon, whose responsibility it was to distinguish the legitimately ill from the malingerers. At 8:00 came guard mount. A part of the detail was assigned to picket duty, the remainder to camp guard. As the guards walked their two-hour shift, stopping all who attempted to leave camp to insure that they had passes signed by the colonel, the extra-duty personnel swept the company area and adjacent grounds. The remainder of the company busied itself with drill until noon, when dinner was served. Battalion drill followed dinner and continued until 4:00 P.M., when the men broke for supper. Additional drill or perhaps a dress parade ended the duty day, and tatoo sounded at 9:00 P.M.
All of these actions had the effect Rosecrans desired. Morale improved. Being more evenly distributed through the ranks, his brand of discipline succeeded where Buell's had failed. Sensing the change, the men rapidly developed respect for their new commander.
-- Peter Cozzens, No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River, pp. 19-20
More Information:
- Link: War Operations, see Volume XX, Chapter XXXII, Part II, Correspondence, pp. 44-64.
- The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 88.
- Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 741-768.
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 600-603.
- Peter Cozzens, No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River, pp. 1-21.
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