Tullahoma Campaign

[larry_cockerham]

Ole, I didn't stretch that -10 degrees. The 11th of December 1864 was known as "cold Sunday" for obvious reasons. It doesn't happen much (thank goodness, nowdays) in sunny Tennessee, but I've seen below zero a couple of times since I've lived here since 1978. Imagine being bloodied from battle and having hiked up to Nashville from Atlanta by way of west Alabama. No pay since January 1864 and none in sight. No commissary, not enough blankets to go around. Shoe remnants, where existant, were wrapped with cow hides, hair turned inside, with the hope that this would eventually dry and shrink to fit. On top of that, a bunch of yanks were trying to kill these guys! This was a great time to be in the Army of Tennessee. Wonder why they never used that description as a recruiting tool? This was an example of the valor of the southern soldier that we celebrate today. The men from Indiana and Illinois not too far away were nearly as cold, just better fed with a few more blankets.