September 17, 1863

September 17, 1863

--Gen. Longstreet’s two divisions, under McLaws and Hood, begin to arrive at Ringgold, Georgia by railroad.  Bragg now has all of the reinforcements he can get, and outnumbers Rosecrans by about 65,000 to 60,000.  Col. Minty’s Federal cavalry scouts notice this arrival and confirm it.  Minty reports to Gen. Crittenden, who ignores the report and refuses to pass it on to his superior, Gen. Rosecrans, insisting that Longstreet was in Virginia. 

---Josiah Marshall Favill, a young officer in the Army of the Potomac, notes with disfavor in his journal the apparent lassitude and caution of Gen. Meade’s leadership of this army:

September 17th. This is the anniversary of the battle of Antietam; another year of constant campaigning has gone, and still the war lasts. Will it ever end? This is our third year of fighting, and much of the romance of early days has faded away.

Our comrades continually drop by the wayside, causing many changes, some of which are not so agreeable, but we are still firm of purpose and sanguine of our ability to conquer in the end. General Meade, who has been in command of the army since just before Gettysburg, is a very careful officer, not thought to possess any great merit as a general, and has none of the dash and brilliancy which is necessary to popularity. It seems likely we shall be led in a plodding, ordinary sort of way, neither giving nor receiving any serious blows, a great pity. At 9 A. M. the division crossed Cedar and Slaughter mountains, a distance of about seven miles, and then bivouacked for the night.