Search the Community

In , Grant's Memoirs (page 330) he records: "When I reassumed command on the 17th of March I found the Army divided, with about half at Savannah; while one division was at Crump's Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River, about four miles above Savannah; and the remainder at Pittsburg Landing, five miles above Crump's... I at once put all the troops at Savannah in motion for Pittsburg Landing [where General Sherman stated, 'there was ample space and drinking water for 100,000 men.']" In Papers of US Grant volume 4 (pages 379-380), in a letter from Sherman to Captain John Rawlins dated March 17th, General Sherman wrote: " I am strongly impressed with the importance [of Pittsburg Landing], both for its land advantages and for its strategic position. The ground itself admits of easy defense by a small command, yet affords admirable camping ground for a hundred thousand men..." Neither Grant nor Sherman offered similar "justification" for maintaining Federal troops at Crump's Landing. And with Lew Wallace having completed his assignment to cut the Mobile & Ohio Railroad [and the primary Confederate stronghold at the northern end of that line -- Fort Columbus -- already evacuated], here is the question: What was the one reason Major General Lew Wallace was maintained in vicinity of Crump's Landing? (Provide justification for your answer.) Ozzy