Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 394 of our Civil War Podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

As y'all will recall, we said in the last episode that Braxton Bragg, the commander of

the Confederates Army of Tennessee, had a problem.

He knew that most of the Yankee Army was on the move toward him, but by August 21st,

Bragg had realized that he had no real idea where the main force of the enemy actually

was.

We talked about how Bragg had most of his army deployed so it's to fight off an enemy

attack from the north.

Bragg had Polk's Corps in Chattanooga and Hardee's Corps a short distance to the northeast,

where it could insert itself between the two federal forces led by Rose Cran's and Burnside.

Now word reached the Confederates that Burnside was finally on the move, coming down out

of Kentucky and heading for Knoxville in East Tennessee with 15,000 men.

Confederate General Simon Bollivar Buckner had left only about 2,500 men in the Knoxville

area, and since they were no match for Burnside, Bragg pulled those men back toward Chattanooga

to bolster his own defense.

Amid all this, William Hardee was suddenly transferred to Mississippi to help Joe Johnston,

whose army was dwindling as a result of desertions and furloughs.

Hardee, a good organizer, was assigned to round up stragglers and rebuild Johnston's

...