An Army in Crisis

An Army in Crisis. . , A Once Proud Army in Tatters, In early 1862, the Union Army of the Ohio numbered almost 70,000 men. New and veteran soldiers alike were eager for action. By November, the army was demoralized, angry that their commander, General Don Carlos Buell, had not stopped the Confederates from retreating to Tennessee after the bloody battle at Perryville, Kentucky. One-third of the men were absent. Some had deserted. Some were on leave. Many thousands were sick. Morale was very low., “The spirit of the army was broken, its confidence destroyed, its discipline relaxed, its courage weakened, and its hopes shattered.” , John Fitch, Provost Judge, Army of the Cumberland. , Rosecrans Takes Command, Buell’s angry superiors gave command of his beaten and broken army to General William S. Rosecrans, who renamed it the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans had two tasks: relieve Nashville and protect the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. In preparation, Rosecrans ordered the 12th Division, 5,000 men, to Scottsville to rest and recuperate., Dumont’s Division Marches into Scottsville, General Ebenezer Dumont, an Indiana politician turned general, commanded the 12th Division. His men were mostly new recruits from Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio., Dumont believed in discipline and training. He ordered his officers to shape the untried recruits into a fighting force. But first, they had to restore the tattered division’s health and morale.