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July 11, 2025 • 62 mins
William Starke Rosecrans was a brilliant Civil War general, inventor, and politician. Known for victories at Iuka, Corinth, and Stones River, he outmaneuvered Confederate forces in Tennessee before suffering a major defeat at Chickamauga. Clashing with Ulysses S. Grant and others, his military career ended in controversy. After the war, he served in politics and was elected to Congress from California. Discover the rise, fall, and legacy of this complex Union leader.

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Speaker 1 (00:05):
The bloodiest war on American soil. States versus States, Brothers
versus brothers. Join hosts Bang and Dang as they take
you battle by battle through the most divisive time in
American history. Welcome to Battles of the American Civil War.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Here we go again, Battle to the American Civil War. Behind
the battles, back with you with another union generally gold Stark,
Oh well, Billy Willy Stark Rosecrans. You've heard his name
mentioned more than a few times on our episode, specifically
at the Battle of Chickamauga, where is career basically ends

(01:01):
after that because he did so terrible at that battle. Indeed,
he was also in a go figure like everybody else,
an American inventor, a coal oil company executive. He is
a diplomat. He's such a diplomat. He's a politician and
obviously a US Army officer. His story starts on a
quiet little farm near Taylor Run in Kingston Township, Delaware County, Ohio.

(01:24):
No reason to have that many names. He was the
second of five sons born to Crandall Rosecrans and Jemima Hopkins.
And Jemima their first child, Chauncey hell He sadly died
in infancy. Crandall, William's father, had a pretty colorful background himself.
He was in the War of eighteen twelve as an
adjudant to none other than General William Henry Harrison.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
He was a future president.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
After the war, Crandall shifted gears and ran a tavern
a store and worked the family farm. Oh wow. One
of his heroes was General John Stark, who's a revolutionary
war guy. That's actually where William got his middle Dame Stark.
You would you would think, right, why do you have
to put the e at n Rosecran's family? Well, his
lineage is pretty interesting. They were descended from Dutch Scandinavian

(02:10):
nobleman named Harmon Henry rosen Kranz Rosenkranz, who.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Came to New Amsterdam way way back in sixteen fifty
one before Columbus sailed to Ocean Blue.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
After pop quiz, what was New Amsterdam? What was what
it turned into?

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Greek?

Speaker 2 (02:32):
What Greek? What city? Did New Amsterdam turn into Old Amsterdam?
New York City? Man? That's what it was first.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Called, right, That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
You know why they call Wall Street Wall Street because
there was an actual wall right there.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
At one time. Well, that's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
Over time, especially during the American Revolutionary War, the spelling
of the family name morphed into what we know today.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, that's called americanizing.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
Right on his Miami side, Jemima had been previously married
to Timothy Hopkins, who is related to Stephen Hopkins, the colonel,
the colonial governor of the Rhode Island and one of
the guys who signed decoration of in Pennett's I'll look
at that I never mentioned ever.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Growing up, well, Willie, he didn't have a lot of
formal schooling do they ever. Instead, he leaned on books,
taught himself as much as he could. By the time
what is he Abraham?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Right? What else you gonna do?

Speaker 2 (03:28):
By the time he was thirteen and left home to
work as a store.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Clerk, can't watch them up at babies.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
First in Utica and later in Mansfield, Ohio. College out
to reach financially, but didn't stop him as he set
his sights on something else anyways, the United States Military
Academy at West Point.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
We had to go. Everybody's going to West Point.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, it's the only where to go about. Here's where
he gets interesting, though, to get in, he needed a
nomination from a congressman. Yeah, so he went to interview
with the representative of Alexander Harper. Harper, he'd actually been
saving his appointment for his own son. Oh but oh,
William impressed him so much to Harper said, fuck my son,
you're getting it instead. Right.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Although he did not have a strong academic background, Old William,
he absolutely thrived at West Point. He was especially good
at math, French drawing, and English grammar.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, he was there, he drawing, drawing his pistols. I'm
assuming right.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
While he was there he picked up the nickname Rosie,
or more commonly Old Rosie. Old Rosie graduated in eighteen
forty two, ranking fifth of fifty six. And it was
no ordinary class either, because his peers included you guessed
at Civil War General's James Longstreet, Wow Abner, Double Day, D. H.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Hill, Earl Van dorn.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
All, Confederats. Right, well, well thinks so his top academic performance,
he was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, which is one of
the most prestigious branches at the time. Yeah, he wanted
to be an engineer. Man Right around graduation, he met
Anna Elizabeth. Some sources say her name was Eliza Hedgeman.

(05:01):
Okay any who, She's from New York City. It was
love at first sight. They got married August twenty fourth,
eighteen forty three, and remained until her death on Christmas
Day eighteen eighty three.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Oh wow, yet me see that over those.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Four decades they raised eight children together.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well none of them died. We gonna ask you.

Speaker 4 (05:18):
Good for him graduating West Point rose grants, he was
sent to Fort Monroe, Virginia. He got right to work
as an engineer building sea walls, a crucial part of
coastal defense at that very time. But about a year
he requested it transferred back to West Point. He's like,
this shit sucks. I want to go teach this time.
Return now it's cadet as a professor.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Why but he could returned as a cadet right graduated
the damn plod.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
He taw engineering and also handled duties such as post
commit commissary and quartermaster.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
So there's something really interesting. Apparently, despite West Point being
a stronghold of Episcopal protest protests, that ten Protestantism Prottestantism. Well,
at this time. During this assignment, Rosecran made a deeply
personal and life changing decision. He converted to Catholicism in
the eighteen forty five him. He shared the news with

(06:11):
his family he would raise him in the Methodist tradition
jee and that letter home ended up inspiring his youngest brother,
Old sly Orton Rosecrans. Sylvester he converted over to k
to Catholicism as well, and Old Sylvester he just didn't convert.
He went on to become the very first bishop of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Oh. Rosecrans never had

(06:35):
a woman. Yeah, unless he did it before. He I
don't think you can become one of those guys if
you banged, can you?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Just young boys?

Speaker 4 (06:46):
In fact, both of the parents would eventually convert to
be a Catholic on their death.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Betch it's like I'll never do it, all right.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Not gonna hurt me now.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
According to William B. Kirks, and historian from the University
of Virginia Rose Grans, he was not the kind of
man to leave matters of faith solely to his wife,
as many did at that time. No, No, he took
an act of central role in his family's religious life.
Now okay cool, Now almost Rose Grans classmates from West Point,
we're off fighting in the Mexican American War.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
He's like, you know, I'm gonna stay behind.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh well, the War.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Department chose him to chose him to keep him at
West Point.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
He was like, yeah, man, we're getting this all these wars.
We need somebody to train some engineers, right.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
From eighteen forty seven eighteen fifty three he took on
a series of engineering assignments in places like Newport, Rhode Island,
New Bedford, Massachusetts, and he even did temporary work with
the United States Navy at the Washington Navy Irons.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
During that time, his family was growing. He now had
four kids. Rose Grans began exploring civilian jobs to better
support them.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Oh says a lot.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
If you're working for the freaking rightmin you're not getting paid.
In eighteen fifty one, he even applied for a professorship
at the Virginia Military Institute, where old Robert they ended
up to teaching for Amanent. He didn't get it though,
in that position went to another west Pointer. You might
have heard of Thomas Stonewall Jackson instead. Well that's right
the Crown. While station in Newport, Rosecrans volunteered his time

(08:11):
as an engineer for the construction of the Saint Mary's
Roman Catholic Church, which is the church that would go
on to be famous as the site of JFK and
Jacqueline Boovia's wedding in nineteen fifty three. Booby, Hello, darkness,
my old friend went back in Rosecran's day. It was
one of the largest churches being built in the country,
and to this day there's a memorial window inside honoring him.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Oh good for that.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Cool.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
That's awesome.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
But his life wasn't all smooth sailing as we like
to pretend it is. Rose Gran's help began to decline
in eighteen fifty four, at the young of age of
thirty freaking five.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
That's insane. He made the tough call to resign from
the army those times like sixty something, he.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
Made a tough call to resign from the army and
transmition fully into civilian life. He moved into business, specifically mining,
and headed out to Western Virginia, which is today's West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Makes sense. There he found a major success.

Speaker 4 (09:07):
He designed and installed one of the first complete locking
dam systems on the Coal River.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Nice got the water out so we can mine maybe.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
Damn right.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
That project is now known as the Coal River Locks,
Dams and log Booms Archaeological District.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Yeah cool.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
He didn't stop there though. In Cincinnati, he teamed up
with two partners but one of the first oil refineries
west of the Alleghany Mountains. He was an innovator through
and through. He elned patents for a number of inventions,
including the first gear, including the first kerosene lamp to
effectively burn a round.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
Wick instead of those flat ones, right, and.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
An improved process for making soup.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
Anybody, I gotta have that.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
Flaking off.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
Fucking But eighteen fifty nine, while he was serving as
the president of the Preston Coal Oil Company.

Speaker 3 (09:55):
Disaster struck.

Speaker 4 (09:57):
He was badly burned when an experimental safety oil lamp exploded.
Oh this set the whole refinery ablaze. Injuries was very severe.
Took him eighteen months to fully recover, and back then,
that's he should have died trying to keep his wounds
clean and shit fuck the burns left scars on his face.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
He later grew out his beard so you.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
Couldn't see it, but you can see some of it.
Those lingering scars gave him kind of a permanent smirk.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
On his face.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
What is it like a Glasgow smile?

Speaker 3 (10:43):
It's the he created the first uh joker.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, that's the Glassgow smile.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Right.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
Despite all that, yeah, right, despite all that, he bounced
right back. He said, I'm not gonna let these guys
ruin my life. He recovered from his injuries and was
focused on getting the company back on his feet. When
history came and knocking once again.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
The Civil War was about to begin begin.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Just days after Fort Sumter surrendered and the war officially
kicked off, Rose Grans offered his services to the Ohio Governor,
William Dennison Junior oh Willie the governor he didn't waste
any time. He brought the other Willie on as a
volunteer aide de camp to Major General George McClellan. At
that point, McClellan was in command of all Ohio volunteer forces.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah, poor guy.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
It didn't take them long from the rights to the ranks.
He was promoted to colonel and briefly took command of
the twenty third Ohio Infantry REGINALD, which included two men
who'd go on to become presidents of the United States.
Oh rutherfer B. Hayes and William McKinley.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
That shit fuck yeah.

Speaker 4 (11:47):
May sixteenth, eighteen sixty one, Rosecrans promoted again, this time
the brigadier general in the Regular arm Regular Armyian paid
now now when it came to a bad field strategy,
Oh Rosecrans. He had a real talent for planning and execution.
That showed during the Western Virginia campaign. His victories at
rich Mountain Cork's Ford in July of eighteen sixty one.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
They were among the.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
Very first Union wins of the entire war because they're
getting their ass kicked that first. But unfortunately the credit
for those early successes didn't he even go to o'willy. Instead,
they went to a superior major, General McClellan.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
He was the guy in George Yep and Stelley kept
pushing forward with what we later describe as or he
later described as much maneuvering but little fighting. He successfully
prevented Confederate breeder General John Floyd and even as s
appeer Robert E. Lee from retaking the region that would
eventually become West Virginia. After the Union's defeat at the
First Battle of o Run, McClellan, who was called to

(12:44):
Washington to take command of the Army of the Potomac.
That opened up the opportunity for old Rosecrans because General
in Chief Winfield Scott he recommended a McClellan hand over
the Western Virginia Command. Two room, take it.

Speaker 4 (12:58):
McClellan was like, right right. Rosekrans visually took command would
soon be called the Department of Western Virginia.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Late eighteen sixty.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
One, rose Granz started working on a bold winter campaign.
His plan, you ask well. He wanted to capture the
strategic town of Winchester, Virginia, and turned the Confederate flank
at Manassa's He even traveled to Washington personally to get
McCollum's approval, but McCloughan said no. He argued that if
Rosecrans moved twenty thousand Union troops into Winchester, the Confederates

(13:30):
would simply match that move with twenty thousand of their own,
and they already have two hundred and fifty thousand there.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
All right, don't you see that work against one point
five million people. They had to make matters where mcclony
transferred twenty thousand rosecrans twenty two thousand troops to bring
it our General Frederick Lander left in with two thousand men. Geez,
he left them with too few men to actually launch
any kind of campaign.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
By March of eighteen sixty two, things shifted again. Rose
Grands's department was organized into what we now call, or
well why do we call it, into what was now
called the Mountain Department, and was handed over to a
political general, John Freemont. You didn't even have any experience.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
Yeah, we don't know that guy.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
That left Rose Grans without a command. Wow.

Speaker 4 (14:18):
For a brief period he worked out of Washington, but
even there things didn't go smoothly. He clashed with the
newly appointed Secretary of War, Edward Stan Edward. The two
disagreed on tactics on how the Union Command should be structured,
especially when it came to dealing with the old rebel
general Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoa Valley Stand. For his part,

(14:38):
became one of rose Grand's loudest critics.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
Piece of shit.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
At one point, Stanton even assigned rose Grans to act
as a guide for Brigader General Lewis Blinker's division, which
is part of Fremont's Mountain Department.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
That's wow, that's low that poll.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
That role pulled Rose Grands deeper into a chaotic mess
of political wrangling and confusion within the Union command. He
ended up writing the thick of it during the campaign
against Jackson in the Valley, a campaign that if we're
being honest, I was taking over the web of bad
communication and mixed loyalties. Yeah, they got destroyed in that.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Man, there's the wrong one that got killed. What would be.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
May eighteen sixty dose Rosecrans had been assigned to the
Western theater of the war. That move came with a
bake promotion. He was putting chidge of two divisions known
as the right wing with the Major General John Pope's Army.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
Of the Mississippi. That's cool.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Not want to sit back and take it easy, Old
Rosecrans jumps right into action. He played an active role
in the Siege of Corinth, which is a Mississippi, a
key railroad hub that was critical to the Union.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Strategy at that very time.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
The overall command of the siege was you guessed that
Major General Henry Halleck.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
We heard about that guy before well, we haven't even
done an episode on him yet. But then June twenty
sixth Rosecrans's responsibilities increased dramatically. He was given command of
the entire army of them Sippy damp and and by
July he took on even more. He was placed in
charge of the District of Corinth as well. Now, even
with these titles and all that responsibility, he wasn't operating

(16:10):
completely independently. He still reported to a higher up clearly
who was Major General Listens Grant. That's Scrant. Grant commanded
both the District of the Western Tennessee and Army of
Tennessee right now, so any major strategic direction, especially during
the Ayuka Corinth campaign that followed in September and October,
obviously came from Grant. You would think when that campaign rose,

(16:32):
Grands was on the front lines once again, leading troops
and executing orders under Grant's overall leadership. Yes, we know
Grant was an overall leadership. Geez, so much more fucking recognition.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
This guy need This guy was another front line general
this point in the war, Confederate Major General Stirling Price
had been given matching orders by General Braxton Bragg. The
plan you ask, He simply wanted to move prices army
from Deppello up toward Nashville, Tennessee. Sure, he wanted to
do that to coordinate with Bragg's larger Kentucky offensive. But

(17:03):
instead of pushing forward immediately, Price's forces stopped in the
town of Ayouka, Mississippi, where they waited for Major General
Earl Van Dorn and his army of what's Tennessee to arrive.
The idea was to combine the forces and then launch
an attack on General Grant his lines of communication in
western Tennessee.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Oh did they do it?

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Which? That move was designed to box Grant in, and
if Grant reacted aggressively, the Confederates hoped to tie down
his forces on a railroad track him from sending reinforcements
to Union General Don Carlos Bugle. On the other hand,
if Grant played it safe, Price and Van Door they
could just potentially follow Bragg and support his campaign into

(17:43):
the north. So either way they had options. He got
some options and a pretty clever plan in place as well,
so they can do some things either way.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
But as we all know, General Grant he wasn't about
sitting around and waiting.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
He greened lit a plan.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
That Rosecrans had come up with hit Price before Van
Dorn could show up. The plan called for a classic
pincer movement, two Union columns converging on Ioka from different directions.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
To trap Price. Here's how it broke down.

Speaker 4 (18:13):
Grant he sent General Brigadier John wrote Edward Ord eight
thousand men, three divisions of the Army of Tennessee along
with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. He said, take that
railroad way, all those planes that's larious along the Memphis

(18:34):
and Charleston Railroad.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Their approach was from the northwest. But meanwhile rose Grans
would bring up his forces along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad,
swinging in from the southwest. The idea was that Rosecrans's
column would cut off Pierce's escape route. Grant he stayed
with Ord's column, meaning he had minimum tactical control over Rosecrans.
Once things got moving, rose Gran said, I'll take it

(18:56):
from here.

Speaker 3 (18:56):
Got it. Night of eighteenth September eighteen sixty one.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
Two two Ords troops were right on schedule, closing in Iouka,
but Rosecrans.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
He hit some step.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Backs, some step back like a draining.

Speaker 4 (19:17):
But Rosecrans he had some setbacks. His troops had a
longer distance to cover, and the roads they were muddy mess,
muddy mess to make matters even wise, one of his
divisions took a wrong turn.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
I had to double back, burning.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
Precious time, and that very night Rosecran sent word to Grant,
still about twenty miles out, would be marching again at
four point thirty the next morning and expected to reach
Iouka by mid afternoon on the nineteenth of September.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Well that delaying mind, Grant told a word to get
within about four miles of the town, but not to
engage until he heard the sound of battle between Rosecrans
and Price. In theory, this would ensure the two uniforces
would strike simultaneously, catching Price in that trap that they
wanted them. In early September nineteenth, Rosecrans got moving as
prim body. He made a key change. Should plan set

(20:03):
a splitness forces in advancing on two roads as originally discussed,
he put his entire army on just one road. Why
he was worried if the Confederate's launched a surprise attack,
a divided force wouldn't be able to support itself effectively.
It's true it was causeious move, but one that would
soon have serious consts.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Oh.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
By the afternoon of nineteenth September Rosecrans, he was just
a couple miles away from my uga. His forces were
pushing back Confederate pickets when suddenly sam Oh, a full
Confederate division slammed to his lead elements. The fighting that
followed was intense, in fact, stirring. In Price himself later
said he'd never seen fighting surpassed.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Wow. Wow, this guy was in some battles.

Speaker 4 (20:44):
The brutal engagement raised on from about four thirty PM
and continued well into the night.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Now here's where things take strange and critical turn. While
all the chaos was erupting, a fresh wind from the
north was a blowing straight from the direction of General
Ord's positions. Aka the wind created what's known as an
acoustic shadow. Basically, the sound of the gunfire never reached
Order Grant. So even though they were just a few
miles away, they had no idea whatsoever that uh Rosecrans.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
Was getting warm whip, right, so they're thinking, once this
motherfucker going to start to stand battle, Sir, there's five
thousand dead or it's troops, thousands of them stood by
doing nothing, waiting for a signal that never came. Meanwhile,
Rosecrans was locked in in a fierce fight no support.
That very night, both Rosecrans and Or deployed their forces,

(21:35):
expecting the battle to resume at first light.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
But come morning the old rebels gone.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
Turns out, Price has been planning withdrawal since back on
the eighteenth September. Rosecran's attack had only delayed it, it
didn't stop it.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Here's a skicker though. The roads the competitors used to
escape was the very same one the Union Army hadn't managed.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
The block, oh, of course not.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Price slipped away and just five days later successfully linked
up with Van Dorn Army. Fantastic Rose Grans tried to
chase him. He sent calvary and some infantry in pursuit
for about fifteen miles, but his men were exhausted from
the fight and the long march leading up to it.
Pursuit fell apart. He had to call it off. Well
what was well, what was the outcome? You asked?

Speaker 3 (22:16):
Oh, well, Grant, he partially got what he wanted.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
Price wasn't able to join up with Bragg and support
the Old Rebel army their push into the Kentucky. But
on the flip side, Rosecrans hadn't been able to destroy
Price's army or even stop it from joining Van Dorn.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
Hey what are you gonna do?

Speaker 4 (22:32):
That meant the Old Rebels were still a serious threat,
especially to the critical railroad junction at Corinth.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
But beyond the battlefield, something else happened at Ayoka that
would have long last in effect was that it marked
the beginning of a deep professional rift between Rosecrans and
Grand knew it. After the battle, Northern newspapers painted Rosecrans
as the hero and took some shots at Grant in
the process.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
You know that pissed off that old drunkard.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Rumors started flying rumish flu Some even claim that the
reason Ords forces hadn't joined the fight wasn't because of
the acoustic shadow, but actually because Grant was drunk and
fucked up and incompetent.

Speaker 4 (23:09):
Right, no, wow, Well, at first, Grant didn't seem to
be bothered. His first reporter of the battle was actually
pretty complimentary towards gros Grans, But after Rose Grans published
his own version of the events, Grant's tone shifted.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
He's like, no, this is where I really am. But
I was getting my ass kicked for hours, and these
guys never.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Showed up right.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
His second report was much critical, more right, and by
the time he wrote about it mooe critical critic. And
by the time he wrote about it again in his
personal memoirs, Grant said this, I was disappointed at the
result of the battle.

Speaker 3 (23:44):
Ayouka.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
I had so high an opinion of General Rose Granz
that I found no fault at the time. A diplomatic line, sure,
but hence at the beginning of a serious divide between
the two men who were supposed to be on the
same side.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
September twenty eighth, Price he linked up with van Dorn,
and since van Dorn was the senior officer, he took
command of the newly combined competitive force. Didn't take long
for Union leadership to realize what was happening. I would
or coming next. Grant was convinced Corinth was the target,
but from the Compederitate's side, the goal was bold. They
hoped to surprise Rose Grans by attacking Corinth from an

(24:20):
unexpected direction.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
Oh The plan was to.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Isolate his forces from any reinforcements and then push into
middle Tennessee. Grant he saw it coming and send a
warning to Rosecrans, tell him to prepare for an attack.
Here's the thing, Rose Grans, he's already pissed that ground.
He said, you're fucking.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
Lying right, And he doesn't buy it because he was
not convinced at all that even Van Dorn would actually
go after Corinth. He's like, nah, in his mind, it
seemed too risky. You believed the old rebels might try
something sneakier, maybe target the Mobile and Ohio Railroad instead,
hoping to force the Union to abandon the position without
even a fight. Well, then came the dreadful day.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Of the third of October.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
Early that morning, three of Rosecrans divisions moved into old
Confederate rifle pits just north and northwest of the town
ten Am. Van Dorn launched his assault. His strategy was
classic military maneuver in a double envelopment. He'd hit Rosecrans
left first, hoping that rose Gran would react by shifting
forces away from his rat. That's when Price was supposed

(25:19):
to strike the right flank, punch through the Union line
and take the fortifications.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
This is supposed to happen because for a while it
look like the plan was working. About one thirty pm,
the Confederates broke through a temporary gap in the Union line.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Rosecrans's force were pushed back hard. By the end of
the day, the entire Union army aside from the pickets.
They retreated within half a mile of the defensive redoubts
surrounding Corinth.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
Oh shit, so far.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
The advantage was clearly with the Old ReBs, but both
sides completely exhausted. Heat that day was brutal, ninety four
degrees water scarce. Soldiers are collapsing from the strain because
they were.

Speaker 4 (25:54):
In fucking full continuing uniforms.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
It was a brutal fight in every sense of the
word of brutal. However you want to break that word down,
that's what that fight was.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
Now.

Speaker 4 (26:05):
There were conflicting accounts about rose Kran's mindset that evening.
His biographer William Lamers he says Rosecrans was upbeat. He
probably told his staff he got him where he want him,
and he was as described as a magnificent humor. But

(26:26):
historian people right. But historian Peter Cousins, he paints a
different picture. He wasn't even there. The biographer was right,
I assume tell yeah, But a historian says I know everything.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
Uh, he paints a different picture. He's just Rosecrans was.

Speaker 4 (26:42):
Tired, overwhelmed, and believed he was out numbered, maybe three
to one. Well, every Union general believe they're outnumbered five
to one, dude, what kind.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
Of history do you have to be? Well, let's see,
it was hot, they were fought a war, fought a battle.
He was probably tired and overwhelmed.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Fuck off, dude, he cannot be happy, right.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Civil War historian Stephen Woodworth he was even more critical.
He argues Rosecrans had misjudged the situation fro him the start,
and he hadn't anticipated the Confederate attack at all, only
used half of his available troops and ordered them to
defend terrain that just couldn't be developed. That the defendant
door held his orders, Woodwear said, And he wasn't there.
They were confusing, unrealistic, and lacked any coordination. Rose Grans himself.

(27:26):
He stayed back in Corinth while his division commanders fought
on their own with no central plan. Really can't do that,
no corner, Woodworth. The Union soldiers that day didn't win
because of Rosecrans. They held on in spite of.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
Them, all right, and fuck they gay. Then came the
second day, which was the fourth Divide.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Anyways, they got fucking pushed back.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
Nine fourth of October, Confederates launched another assault, charging headlong
into the heavy Union artillery fire. They stormed Battery Powell
and Battery Robinette were vicious hand hand combat broke out.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
For a brief moment. They even managed to get inside Corinth.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
But the old Blue Coats pushed them back after a
Federal counter attack recaptured Battery.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Paul Van Dorn saw the writing on the wall. He's like, I
guess well, boys, we gotta go.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
About four pm, Union reinforcements from Grant under Brigadier General
James McPherson arrived from Jackson, but the fight was over.
In reality, the Confederate retreat had be gone. Around one pm.
Corinth had been held. The battle done, done, done, Dune Don.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
According to Rosecran's biographer William Lamurs, well happened that day
was nothing short of dramatic and deeply inspiring.

Speaker 3 (28:37):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
He recounts the story of David Henderson, one of General
Thomas Davies's men. Henderson watched Rosecrans ride straight out in
front of the Union lines, bullets flying all around him.
One even knocked his hat off. Oh with his hair
whipping in the wind, rose Grans shouted to the troops, soldiers,
stand by your country.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
Oh shit, oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:01):
Henderson remembered it vividly. He later said he was the
only general I ever knew who was closer to the
enemy than we were, who fought at the front for you,
t how you went over your guys, Bud, damn right,
keep mine. Henderson wasn't just any soldier. He went on
to become a congressman from Ohio, so he was just
any soldier and eventually Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
For you, Bud. He described Rosecrans as a central, leading,
and victorious spirit of the day.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
According to him, rose Gran's fearless presence helped rally the
line right as it was on the verge of collapse.
The men fought again because, in Henderson's words, brave soldiers,
when bravely led, fought again.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Good for you, damn right. It was on his tombstone.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
But as you would as you would think, there's not
only one version of the story. Historian Peter Cousins, whose
book on the battles of Ayuk and Corinth is one
of the most detailed studies out there. Okay, he has
a very different take. Rosecrans, he says, was right there
in the thick of it, but he argues that his
presence wasn't exactly heroic.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Oh no.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
In fact, he says Rosecrans lost control completely. Oh shit,
the general's infamous temper took over a cordner Cosins, Rosecrans
lashed out on his own men, cursing anyone who tried
to fall back. Eventually he even began to lose hope.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
Oh shit.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Of course you're going to car curse out your men
when they're falling back. Get up there and fucking fight.

Speaker 4 (30:21):
And then there's this quote from Rosecrans himself, written with
what Cousins calls disingenuous pride. On the second day, I
was everywhere on the line of battle. Temple clock of
my staff was shot through the breast, my sabretash strap
was caught by a bullet, and my gloves were strained
with the blood of his staff officer wounded at my side, and.

Speaker 3 (30:44):
Alarm choked the shit out of.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
Sposed, and alarm spread that I was killed, but it
was soon stopped by my appearance on the field.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
I don't hope, so I'll do it.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
It's a ghost we're running.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
So was he a bold battlefield leader you ask well?
Was he a dramatic figure barely holding together under pressure?
Depends on which historian you ask. I ain't asking no historian.
What's clear, though, is that after the battle Rosecrans faltered.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, Grant he gave him direct orders pursue Van Dorn
immediately now, But Rosecrans he didn't even move until the
morning of October fifth.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
Holy shit.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
He claimed his troops needed rest right and the thick
wooded terrain made it too dangerous to march at night.
That's true, But there's a moment here that speaks volumes.
One pm October fourth, the moment when they pursued might
have had the biggest impact. That's in bold Rose. Grans
wasn't advancing and said he was riding up and down
the union line trying to squash room. Or he'd been

(31:47):
quick killed during the fight. I'm showing there, guys, batterie robinette.
He dismounted, removed his hat, said to the soldiers gathered there,
I stand in the presence of brave men and I
take my hat off to you. It was a touching moment,
but it also meant valuable hours were lost just for
him to do that, hours when the Confederate Army was
slipping away way wow damn.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
After the dust settled, that current Rosecrans once again found
himself in the headlines in a good way. This time
the Northern press celebrate him as a hero. His name
was back in the spotlight, and with that came a
major career move because on the twenty fourth of October,
he was officially given command of the fourteenth Corps.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
Now this wasn't just a battlefield promotion.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
It came with command of the entire Department of Cumberland,
which meant the fifteenth fourteenth, which meant the fourteenth Corps
would soon be renamed the Army of the Cumberland.

Speaker 3 (32:41):
It was a big step and major Vogue confidents. Good
for them.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
He replaced Major General John Don Don Juan Carlos Buell,
who had just fought the Battle of Paaraville, Kentucky, against
Confederate General Braxon Bragg. That battle ended without a clear result. Buell,
he was under fire, not from enemy troops, but with
his own governmentlitary superiors. They said he was being too cautious.
We're losing patience with you, don So Rose Grand stepped in.

(33:07):
With his new position came a new rank. He was
then promoted to major general volunteers, which gave him seniority
over the other major generals who only held regular army commissions. Oh,
that promotion was made retroactive to March twenty first, eighteen
sixty two, so he could outrank another prominent Union general,
George Henry Thomas.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Look at that fucking politics, baby, that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
We're gonna report you now, but we're gonna date it
back seven months.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
Well, Thomas he'd actually been offered Bule's job before Rose Grans,
but in a remarkable act of loyalty, he turned it down.
He didn't want to replace a friend and a former commander.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
Okay, who are you burnside?

Speaker 3 (33:45):
Right?

Speaker 4 (33:46):
And what did Grant think about Rosecrans leaving his command?
He wasn't exactly heartbroken. In fact, let's just say he
didn't mind and seeing him go. But here's the thing.
Once Rosecrans took command of the Army of Cumberland, his
reputation with the troops absolutely soword I fly.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
To his men. He was Old Rosie, nickname he actually
got in West Point, Yes, but now it had a
double meaning. Rose Grands was known for his large red nose,
which one observer described as intensified Roman.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
The look only added to his larger than life presence.
There was more to him than just a battlefield leadership.
We know he was a Catholic. He carried a crucifix
on his watch chain and kept a rosary in his pocket.
He was passionate about his faith, loved diving into deep
theological debates with the staff. In fact, he was known
to keep him up half the night discussing religious doctrine.

Speaker 4 (34:36):
Okay, guess personality wise, well, he was full of contrasts.
He could snap into fits of bristling anger just as
quickly shift into a warm, good natured humor. That emotional range,
that intensity, actually made him more relatable to his men,
just like a normal man. They saw him as human, flawed, passionate,

(35:00):
and loyal. They loved him just for those reasons.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
Well, but he'd been relieved because he didn't aggressively pursue
Confederate General Backson Bragg after the battle of Perryville.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
It's a common theme with a.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Single freaking Union general. But the twist is Rosecans. He
wasn't exactly rushing into battle either. Instead, he stays put
in Nashville, focusing on restocking supplies and sharpening the training
of his cavalry. Cautions seemed to be the name of
the game for both generals, all generals except for unless
your name's Grant, right, wow or Sheridan or Sherman, literally

(35:33):
the only three.

Speaker 4 (35:33):
This patience well, some people called it a hesitation. It
tested the limits of the Union's leadership. By early December
eighteen sixty two, General in Chief Henry Halleck he officially
lost his patients.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
He said, uh huh.

Speaker 4 (35:47):
He fired off a blunt message to Rosecrans. He said,
if you remain one more week in Nashville, I cannot
prevent your removal.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Fine, I'll stay six days.

Speaker 4 (35:56):
Why did Rosekans respond to ask well with a steam resolve,
he shot back, I need no other stimulus to make
me do my duty than the knowledge of what it is.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
It's like.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Listen, hear, mother fucker, you ain't out here right to
threats to removal or the like. I must be permitted
to say that I am insensible. He's like, whatever, do
what you gotta do, my vicker. Basically, he's like, I
ain't going anywhere your threats don't fucking you ain't out
here in this shit.

Speaker 3 (36:24):
What are you gonna do? Right?

Speaker 2 (36:26):
So he stayed one more than one week. In late December,
he finally did move against Bragg's Army of Tennessee, which
was camp near Murphresboro, Tennessee. What followed was the Battle
of Stones River, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War
if you go by a percentage of casualties of each
army right both rose Grans and Bragg. They planned attack
the other's bright flank, but Bragg struck first early morning

(36:47):
hours December thirty. First Bragg he launched a surprise attack.
They pushed uniforces back into a tight defensive perimeter. As
you would imagine chaos. Rose Gran's response was characteristically intense.

Speaker 4 (36:59):
Usually known for his nervous energy in battle, rose Krans
was everywhere.

Speaker 3 (37:04):
He was rattling his men, issuing.

Speaker 4 (37:07):
Direct orders to brigades, regiments, and also companies. He rode
back and forth like a crazed man along the front lines,
often put himself in danger.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
I'm in danger. At one point in time, his uniform
was stained with blood from his old buddy and chief
of Staff, Colonel Julius garrishat Shaw, who had been tragically
beheaded Oh by cannonball riding.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
Alongside as the manage that a cannon ball comes floating
through the air, Just.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
Say on where you think we're gonna do a colonel,
oh shit, oh my. Despite the disaster unfolding around him,
Rosecrans he refused to give in well.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
As a historian a whitelaw read, he writes, when disaster
had enveloped half the army, and from the time to
the end, Rosecrans was magnificent, rising superior to the disaster
that in a single moment had annihilated his carefully prepared plans.
He grasps in his single hands the fortunes of the day.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Oh uh.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
He ended up. He stemmed the tide of the retreat,
hurried brigades and divisions to the hottest points of the fight,
massed artillery, and infused his troops with his own fearless spirit.
Out of what looked like defeat, Rosecrans he rose from
the ashes like a.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Phoenix.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
Phoenix and forged the path of victory.

Speaker 4 (38:23):
Oh yeah, it's crazy. The armies paused on the first
of January.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Everybody over from death around there.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
They all got back sprightly in time from from the
town square in New York.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Watch the ball drop. But the battle wasn't over by
a long shot.

Speaker 4 (38:41):
Not On a second in January, Bragg he attacked a gain,
this time focusing on the strong Union position on Rosekran's left.
The Union soldiers held firm, repelling the assault with heavy
Confederate losses, Bragg and withdrew.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
His armory to Tulluma. Tullahoma Man, yeah, tullahomacently.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
Seed in Middle Tennessee. To the Union, you're dead. The
victory was a huge boost to the Union morale, especially
after the devastating loss of Fredericksburg just weeks earlier.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
I was devastating.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
President Lincoln himself wrote to Rosecrans. He said, you gave
us a hard earned victory, which had there been a
defeat instead, the nation could scarcely have lived over.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
A little much there. Lincoln, probably after taking command Rosecran's
fourteenth Corps, was soon redesignated to the Army of Cumberland.
It was redesignated as the Army of the Cumberland. He
held his position at Murphreysborough for nearly six months, carefully
resupplying his troops and sharpening their train in winter and
muddy roads made him hesitant to push forward, so he

(39:41):
stayed put. But while he took his time, the pressure
was mountain from Washington, Lincoln, Secretary of War, Stanton, General
in Chief Hallock. They all sent urgent messages to Manning
that he resumed his campaign against Praxton said, what are
you doing? That's the thing too. Man They had him
on their heels so many times, refused to do anything.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
Halick, he said, I'm not having this shit anymore. I'm
sick of rosecrans, sick of it, sick of rosecrans.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
Oh Way, Lincoln the same thing.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
Yeah. Lincoln's letter it captures the frustration. Well.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
It says I would not push you to any rashness,
but I'm very anxious that you do your utmost short
of rashness to keep brag from getting lost, to help
Johnston against.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
Grant Rose Grans.

Speaker 4 (40:25):
He said, you know what, I'm gonna push back with
a strategic excuse. He argued, if I move against Bragg now,
the old rebel general would simply pull his entire army
to Mississippi, and that would only make things harder for
grants Vicksburg campaign. So, in rosecrans view, by staying put,
he was actually helping Grant by keeping Bragg occupied, which

(40:46):
is true, true, because we all know what happened in Vicksburg.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
Well, Alick, he wasn't having it. He threatened to relieve
Rosecrans immediately if he didn't start moving, though in the
end he only grumbled about the government's expense for all
Rose Granz telegrams. He's like, dude, your cause so much
money while he's send us. Then June second, Halick, he
sent a shark telegram. If Rosecrans wouldn't move, some of
his troops would be sent down to go and reinforce Grant.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
In response, Rosecrans surveyed his corps and division commanders to
see who supported his position. Fifteen out of the seventeen
senior generals agreed advancing right then wouldn't stop Bragg from
sending reinforcements. And it wasn't a good idea to do
it at all, Right, and those two and when you
got all your guys, the majority of your guys siding
with you, what are they gonna do?

Speaker 4 (41:28):
And those two ones I didn't agree. I would have
sent them down to grant. You ain't up for our
cause by get the Gotti here. Only one voice dissented,
Brigadier General James A.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Garfield. Oh you guys know who that is, Rosekran's new
chief of staff. What a great chief of staff you picked,
Rose Gran.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
Garfield said, Rose Grans, I recommend that we do an
immediate advance. But also historian Stephen Woodward, he suggests that
Garfield might have been more concerned about his recommendation. Would
look back in Washington. Then the military reality is on
the ground, of course. Sixteenth to June Hallick, send a

(42:07):
blunt ultimatum. Is it your intention to make an immediate
movement forward? Question mark a definite answer yes or no?

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Is crowd? Will you be my girlfriend?

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Checkisen?

Speaker 3 (42:20):
No, dudey will you advance?

Speaker 2 (42:25):
Bra? Will you advannswer? Will you stay? But let me
know if you do? Oh Rosecrans. He replies, If immediate
means tonight or tomorrow, no, If it means as soon
as all things are ready, say five days?

Speaker 3 (42:43):
Yes, what a dick.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
And on the morning of June twenty fourth, after careful
preparation Rose Grans, he finally did begin his move against Bragg.

Speaker 3 (42:51):
All right.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
What followed was a Tullahoma campaign, running from June twenty
second to July third, eighteen sixty three, a campaigned many
historians hail as a brilliant example of flawless maneuvering with
very low casualties. Rosecrans he forced Bragg to retreat from
Middle Tennessee, pushing him back to Chattanooga. Oo, he sure did.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
President Lincoln, he praised the campaign.

Speaker 4 (43:14):
Oh, he said, the flancoln of Brag at Shelbyville, Tullahoma
and Chattanooga is the most splendid piece of strategy I
know of. And then you had David Stanley, he was
the commander of the Union Cavalry Corps. He called it
a model campaign when he said, if any student of
the military desires to make a study of a model campaign,

(43:35):
let him take his maps. In general Rosecran's orders for
the daily movements of his campaign, no better example of
successful strategy was carried out during the war than in
the Tullahoma campaign.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
Oh damn. Even Sherman's March the.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Sea burn alive. Wh during that campaign, Rose Grand's troops
entered Shelbyville rescue the captured Unions by Pauline Cushman.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Oh shit.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Cushman had been scouting Braggs movements when she was caught
and sentenced to be hanged. The rescue happened just three
days before her execution. Nice later Rosecrans and Cushman they
would fuck.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Well.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
They'd work together to raise over a million dollars for
soldiers aid at the eighteen sixty three Cincinnati's Sanitary Fair.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
All right, look are you good for them?

Speaker 4 (44:21):
On the flip side, Rose Grans had authorized the court
martial an execution of two Confederate officers. Oh, Lawrence aren't
Williams and Walter Peters. They disguised themselves as Union officers.
They were hung on ninth of June eighteen sixty three.
It's not the correct vernacular. Buddr hanged, yep. And they

(44:42):
that happened in Franklin, Tennessee. Their body still hanged today.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (44:47):
But despite all this success, Rose Grans campaign didn't even
get the public glory it might have. This is probably
because it ended on the very same day that General
Roberty Lead launched the infamous.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Picket shots against Oh.

Speaker 4 (44:59):
That didn't do much, and that next day Grants seas
of Vicksburg ended in surrender.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Sure dead. Secretary Stanton fired off a telegram to Rosecrans
that laid in, laid it on thick Lee's army overthrown,
Grant victorious. You and your noble army now have a
chance to give the finishing blow to the rebellion. Will
you neglect the chance? Geez? Come on standing. Wow, everything
I've heard about those guys's a piece of shit. I
can't wait to get to you, right Rosecrans, Obviously he

(45:26):
didn't take that well, he shot back. Just receive your
cheering telegram, and now it's in the fall of Vicksburg
and confirming the defeat of Lee. You did not appear
to observe the fact that this noble army has driven
the rebels from Middle Tennessee. I beg in behalf of
this army that the War Department they may not overlook
so great an event because it is not written in
letters of blood.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
Oh right, right, good for him, man standing on your uh.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Because it's not freaking front page of the New York
Times wherever the fuck is doing stupid shit.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
Back then right.

Speaker 4 (45:56):
So, after the Tellahoma campaign, Rosecrans he didn't immediately chase
down Brag again, and he didn't deliver the finishing blow
to the rebellion the Secretary Stan had urged him to do. Instead,
he said, you know what, We're just going to take
our time.

Speaker 3 (46:12):
We're going to.

Speaker 4 (46:12):
Regroup, carefully study the logistics of pursuing Brag into the rugged,
mountainous terrain west and south of Chattanooga. Like again, motherfuckers,
you ain't here.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
When he finally decided to move, Rose Grans maneuvered skillfully
once again, forcing Brag to abandon Chattanooga and retreat into
the mountains of northwestern Georgia. But it's a little tricky
after this because Rosecrans, assuming Bragg would keep falling back,
he pursued with his army split across three separate routes,
leaving his core commanders dangerously far apart from another one

(46:45):
another Wow.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
Wow, this is a risky movement nearly cost him dearly.
At the Battle Davis's Crossroads.

Speaker 4 (46:53):
Unloving to September, Brag almost ambush and destroyed one of
those isolated unicorps that we talked about. Realizing the danger,
Rosecrans issued to Urge in orders to bring his army
back together.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
Said y'all come back now you're here, And soon.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
The two forces faced off across the west Chickamauga Creek Creek.
The Battle of Chickamauga would be gone with brag attacking
this still not fully concentrated Union army. At first, the
Old Rebels couldn't break through, but the real disaster struck
on day two.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
It all came down to badly worded order Rosecrans sent
to Brigadier General Thomas Wood.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
That order told Wood to close.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Up and support General Joseph Reynolds's division, intended to fill
what they thought was a gap in the Union line. Instead,
Woods movement opened a large new gap, perfect target target
for the Old ReBs. And it just so happened that
Lieutenant General James Longtree's licking his chops and he was
playing a massive assault right there.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Damn ready, Holy shit, the Old ReBs exploited.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
This gap ruthless, ruthlessly, they smashed through Rosekran's right flank.
Most of the Blue Coats on that side fell back
in confusion towards Chattanooga. Rosekranz himself along. It was the
chief of Staff Garfield and also two other core commanders.
They tried to rally retreating troops, but soon they too
were caught up in the retreat. Rose Grand decided to

(48:19):
rush ahead to Chattanooga to organize defenses and regroup the
shattered forces.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
Damn, and that's when he sent Garfield to General George
Thomas with orders to take command of the remaining troops
at Chickamauga and conduct an orderly withdrawal. Okay, this is
where the story tarts to take a turn over. Here
a Union army, they avoided total disaster, thinks to the
heroic stand Thomas made at Horseshoe Ridge. His defense was
so fierce and effective that Thomas earned the nickname the

(48:45):
Rock of Chickamauga.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
Look at that shit nice, that very nice Rockama.

Speaker 4 (48:50):
Right that very night, the Union forces withdrew to forty
five positions in Chattanooga.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
Bragg He failed in his gold of this, drawing.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
The Army of Cumberland, but the battle still marked the
worst Union defeat in the Western theater.

Speaker 3 (49:03):
Yeah, that was bad.

Speaker 4 (49:05):
Thomas urged Rosecran's to return to the front and lead
the army, but Rosecrans both physically exhausted and shaken in spirit,
stayed back in Chattanooga. President Lincoln tried to bolster his
morrel sending a telegram saying, be of good cheer. We
have unabated confidence in you. Now you do, and your

(49:26):
soldiers and officers as well. You must be the judge
as to what is to be done.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
Oh okay, if I was silver hero, I'll tell you something. Though.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
If I was, I would say, save you on me
by taking strong positions until burnside joints see you look
at it sensible.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
Now, Oh wow, they finally see food.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
On the other hand, behind the scenes, Lincoln he confided
to a secretary, John Hay that Rosecrans seemed quote unquote
confused and stunned like a duck hit on the head. Oh.
Whether Rosecrans knew Thomas was still holding the field or not,
historians agree it was a major blunder that he didn't
personally ride out to Thomas's position.

Speaker 3 (50:03):
Right.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
Had he done so like he did at Stones River
and shown himself to his men, his leadership might have
turned disaster into a hard won victory and got his
men in good spirit. But instead he headed straight to Chattanooga.
This is the perfect so you can't get these guys
a chance to get rid of you, because that's what
they're looking to do. Rose Grands easily.

Speaker 4 (50:22):
Although the old Blue Coats were saved behind strong defensive lines,
their supply routes were dangerously thin and vulnerable to Confederate raids. Meanwhile,
Bragg's forces held the high ground around Chattanooga and.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
Laid siege to that very city.

Speaker 4 (50:38):
Demoralized and defeated, Rose Grans couldn't break the siege on
his own. Within hours of the Chickamauga defeat, Secretary stand
order in Major General Joseph Hooker. He said, bring your
old fifteen thousand men from the Omni Potomac. Take those
boys out of Virginia and head down to Chattanooga or
west of Chattanooga.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Well. At the same time, grand he was commanded to
send twenty thousand men under William Sherman from Vicksburg. September
twenty ninth, Stanton went further, ordering Grant to come to
Chattanooga himself. As commander of the newly created.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
Military Division of the Mississippi.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Oh Shit, Grant was given the option to replace the
shaken Rose Grans with the steadfast Thomas Wow. What he
didn't though, despite rocky personal relationships with both generals, Grant
he chose Thomas to lead the Army of the Cumberland.
Then navigating treacherous mountain roads, Grant he arrived in Chattanooga
October twenty third. He later recalled that during his journey

(51:32):
and met Rose Granz at Stevenson, Alabama. Rose Granz shared
his clear assessment of the situation and made some excellent suggestions,
though Grant wondered why Rosecrans hadn't already acted on him.
From there, Grant executed a plan originally devised by Rosecrans
and Brigader General William Baldy Smith, and that was to
open the vital Cracker Line, which was a supply route
into Chattanooga. A series of battles from October twenty third

(51:54):
to the twenty fifth, eighteen sixty three, Grant's forces routed
Bragg's army, forcing it to reach treat into Georgia and
lifting the siege. After the intense battles and campaigns of
the Civil War, Old Rosecrans was sent to Cincinnati to
wait for further orders, but ultimately he wouldn't play any
major role in the fighting again. Instead, from January to
December of eighteen sixty four, he took command of the

(52:17):
Department of Missouri. During that time, he was active in
opposing Sterling Price's famous Missouri Raid.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Well.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
During eighteen sixty four Republican National Convention, Rosecrans's former chief
of staff none other than Old James Garfield, who was
then heading to the Ohio delegation, He reached out to
him with a tantalizing question. Garfield telegraph Rosecrans asked if
he would consider running for vice president alongside Abe that year,
the Republicans were aiming to bring a war democrat onto

(52:43):
the ticket, running under the temporary banner of the National
Union Party, Rose Grans. He responded with a cryptically positive reply,
but at a twist of fake Garfield never received that
return telegram what friends and historians has speculated that Edwin Stanton,
Secretary War might have intercepted and suppressed Rose Grans's answer
Wow Moving forward, Rose Grans was mustered out of the

(53:06):
US Volunteer Service January fifteenth, eighteen sixty six. Just a
few months later, June thirty of eighteen sixty six, Andrew
Johnson nominated him for appointment as a brevet major general
in the regular Army with the ranked dating back to
March thirteenth, eighteen sixty five. This was a gesture of
gratitude for his leadership and valor at the Battle of
Stones River.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
The U. S.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
Senate confirmed his appointment July twenty fifth of that same year.
He then resigned from the regular Army March twenty eighth,
eighteen sixty seven, but his military career didn't in there.
In a unique turn, by an Act of Congress for
Every twenty seventh, eighteen eighty nine, he was reappointed a
brigadier general in the regular Army and officially placed on
the retired list just a few days later March first,

(53:49):
Goo good for him got a little severance and retirement pay.
After the war, Rose Grands became a member of the
District of Columbia kam Mandery of the Military Order of
the Loyal Legion of the United States too long price.
It was a prestigious military society made up of officers
who had served in the Union Armed Forces along with

(54:10):
their descendants. So while his active battlefield days came to close,
his influence and legacy continued, both in military circles and
in the broader story of the Civil War and post
war America. After the war, he turned his attention to railroads.
He was one of the eleven incorporators of the Southern
Pacific Railroad. Unfortunately, despite holding valuable stock interests, those were

(54:32):
lost due to unscrupulous financi yeers among his business partners. Well.
From eighteen sixty eight to sixty nine, he served as
a US Minister to of Mexico. However, it was a
brief tenure which just lasted five months, cut short after
oh the Ulysses S. Grant became president. He said here
out of here. During his service worlds Grands became convinced
that Mexico could benefit from a narrow gauge railroad and

(54:54):
telegraph line running from Tampico to the coast. He pursued
this venture from eighteen sixty nine through eighteen seventy three,
but it ultimately failed. Shifting his focus yet again, he
grew interests in civil administration and co authored a book
titled Popular Government with former newspaperman Josiah Riley. The book
advocated for voter registration and election reforms. Over the years,

(55:16):
several political parties approached Rose Gran's run for high office
governor of Ohio for the Union Party of eighteen sixty six,
Governor of California for the Democratic Party in eighteen sixty eight,
Governor of Ohio again for the Democrats in sixty nine,
and even as a Democratic candidate for US representative from
Nevada in eighteen seventy six. Yeah he declined every offer,
preferring to focus on his business ventures instead. Because of

(55:39):
this pattern, he earned the nickname the Great Decliner. Eighteen
sixty nine, he purchased a massive sixteen thousand acre tract
of land known as Rancho San Pedro and the Los
Angeles Basin for just two dollars and fifty cents an acre,
extremely low price, possibly because the land lacked a water source.
The ranch later called Rosecrans ran It was bordered by

(56:01):
what would become Florence Avenue to the north, Rodondo Beach
Boulevard to the south, Central Avenue to the east, and
Arlington Avenue to the west. By the time of his death,
his son Karl was living on the estate, although most
of the land had been sold off piece by peace
to finance Rosecrans's mining ventures. Fast forward eighteen eighty, when
he was elected as a Democrat to represent California's first
Congressional district well look at him. That same year, James Garfield,

(56:25):
he was elected president as a Republican. Distressed by Garfield's
campaign literature highlight in his own role in the war
while downplaying Rosecrans's two former friends, became a reparably stranged
oh Following Garfield's assassination, Charles Dana published letters Garfield had
written after Chickamauga a Treasury Secretary salmon chase, which many
believed contributed to Rosecrans losing political support Rose Grans, but

(56:49):
he was re elected eighteen eighty two and became Chairman
of the House Military Affairs Committee. In this row, he
publicly opposed a pension bill for former President Grant and
his wife. Of course, he did of Grant's famili's dire
financial situation. Rose Granz accused Grant of falsehoods and condemned
the business practices that had financially ruined many. Despite his objections,
the bill passed anyways. Years later, when a bill was

(57:11):
introduced in eighteen eighty nine to restore his rank and
place him on the retard list, some representatives objected due
to his pass opposition to Grant. That bill ultimately passed
Like we said. Rose Grans then chose not to seek
re election in eighteen eighty four. Instead, he served as
regent of the University of California in eighteen eighty four
and five. Though mentioned occasionally as a possible presidential candidate,

(57:32):
the first Democratic president elected after the war was Grover Cleveland.
In eighteen eighty four, rumours circulated that Rosecrans might be
appointed Secretary of War under Cleveland, but instead he was
appointed Register of the Treasury, serving from eighty five to
ninety three.

Speaker 3 (57:44):
Oh Wow.

Speaker 2 (57:46):
In a gesture of reconciliation, Rose grand spoke at a
grand reunion of Union and Confederate veterans at the Chickamauga
Battlefield at September nineteenth, eighteen eighty nine. Its move and
address praise national healing and unity. This event helped Promptngres
to establish the Chickamaga and Chattanooga National Military Park that
happened the following year, which was the nation's very first
national battlefield park. Finally, eighteen ninety six, he was awarded

(58:10):
the Lesteraire Medal by the University of Notre Dame. This
prestigious award was the oldest and highest honor given to
American Catholics, recognizing his lifelong faith and contributions. February eighteen
ninety eight, William Rose Grans caught a cold that developed
into pneumonia. At first, it seemed like he was on
the road to recovery, but tragedy struck again. He learned

(58:31):
that one of his favorite grandchildren, Rose Gran's Tool, the
son of Lillian Joseph Kemp Tool, Montana's first governor, had
died from diphtheria. Overcome with gree Rosecran's health quickly declined.
March eleventh, eighteen ninety eight, he passed away at Rancho Sasso,
Rodondo and Rodondo Beach, California. His casket lay in State

(58:52):
and Los Angeles City Hall, draped with the headquarters flag
that had flown over the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga,
which were the battles at a divine much of his
military career. A decade later, in nineteen oh eight, Rosecrans's
remains were moved and interred at with honor at Arlington
National Cemetery. In recent years, his reputation has seen something

(59:12):
of a revival. Historian Frank Varney he made a compelling
case for this reappraisal in his book General Grant and
the Rewriting of History, how the destruction of General William
Rosecrans influenced our understanding of the Civil War. Rosecrans's legacy
is honored in several ways across the country. Fort Rosecrans
National Cemetery in San Diego that bears his name Los

(59:33):
Angeles County, a major east west thoroughfarreoh Rosecrans Avenue that
carries his name clearly, as does Rose Grand Street in
San Diego as well. Schools have been named for him
as you would think, including General Rosecrans Elementary and Compton
and another in Sunbury, Ohio, is his hometown. At the
site of his birthplace, a memorial stands a large boulder

(59:55):
encircled by a wrought iron fence holding the plaque and
memoriam beside a royal road name after him as well
in Sunbury, and impressive equestrian statue of Rose Grand sits
it down to a massive fifty five thousand pounds black
granite boulder, and that's in the town square near town hall.
Rose Grans' headquarters from the lead up to the Chickamauga
campaign earned a spot on the National Register of Historic

(01:00:16):
Places in nineteen seventy eight, preserving an important piece of
Civil War history, and his name even sailed the Old
Seven Seas. The SS rose Grands was a troop transport
ship active in the early twentieth century Pacific Theater, and
another ship, the USA T. Rose Grans, built as a
liberty ship haul five seventy it was rated to carry
over five hundred troops during World War II. There we go,

(01:00:41):
that's Old Rose Grands. Oh, William rose Grans for you.
So yeah, he uh did good. And then when he didn't,
the army just chewed him up, spit him out, in
no use for him again. And just like a lot
of the other generals in this wars political rivals, and
once you don't like somebody and the majority are with

(01:01:02):
the guy that don't like you, then you're pretty much done.
So yep, it's William Rosecrans on this episode. We'll be
back next week for Civil War General. Maybe we'll do
his color part. For most of this episode and most
of his time in the world, Braxton Bragg so plenty
more to cover on the behind the battles of this

(01:01:24):
American Civil War, So make sure you're liking subscribing sure,
with your friends commenting and all that good stuff, we'll
see you next week for more better than the American
Civil War. We owned about the misignators. We nine if

(01:02:00):
you forget about about
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