November 16, 1862

November 16, 1862:  In Middle Tennessee, Gen. Braxton Bragg gathers his Army of Tennessee, the principal Confederate force in the Western Theater.  After adding Breckinridge’s division to his army, and Benjamin Cheatham’s, he still only had about 38,000 men.  Gen. William S. Rosecrans, who was concentrating his Army of the Cumberland (nee Army of the Ohio) in Nashville, had about 60,000.  Bragg is short on supplies, and is plagued by illness in the ranks and desertions.  He moves his army from Murfreesboro to Tullahoma, about 70 miles southeast of Nashville, but leaves Breckinridge and his small division in Murfreesboro, which is only 25 miles from Nashville (Why Rosecrans did not attack Breckinridge, either before or after this, remains a mystery.) 

---Confederate troops at Warrenton, Virginia, under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, prepare for battle, since it seems clear that Burnside is planning to attack across the river.  As of this date, Longstreet is unaware that this Union movement is a feint.

 

---The rest of Burnside’s army joins the main part on the road to Fredericksburg.