An Army in Crisis

In early 1862, the Union Army of the Ohio numbered almost 70,000 men, with new and veteran soldiers eager for action, but by November it was demoralized after General Don Carlos Buell failed to stop the Confederates from retreating to Tennessee after the bloody battle at Perryville, Kentucky. One-third of the men were absent, with some deserting, some on leave, and many thousands sick, leaving morale very low as the army’s spirit, confidence, discipline, courage, and hopes were badly damaged. Buell’s superiors gave command of this beaten and broken force to General William S. Rosecrans, who renamed it the Army of the Cumberland and faced two tasks: relieving Nashville and protecting the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. In preparation, Rosecrans ordered the 12th Division, 5,000 men, to Scottsville to rest and recuperate. General Ebenezer Dumont, an Indiana politician turned general, commanded the 12th Division, whose men were mostly new recruits from Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, and he pressed his officers to use discipline and training to shape the untried recruits into a fighting force while first restoring the division’s health and morale.

Scottsville, Kentucky · United States