Free The Smoke at Dawn: A Novel of the Civil War by Jeff Shaara

are of little concern right now. This rain could last for days, and with every creek overflowing and every road a sea of mud, there will be little activity on the front lines. Would you at least agree with that?”
    “They have thus far shown no activity in our direction, sir.”
    “And they will not. Not while we have the good ground. They are content to cower behind their defenses, and even now, they must be contemplating their own starvation.”
    Mackall looked his way again. “If that is true, surely we can expect them to act. They will not just sit still while they exhaust their rations.”
    “Then they will leave. Either way, our victory is secure. Do not talk to me of such details, Mr. Mackall. You may choose to support my efforts, or you may resign from my service. Those are your options.”
    Mackall looked down, and Bragg saw a glimmer of despair on the man’s face, felt a surge of relief from that. Yes, he is loyal. He does notstand up like some rooster and defy me. “Go on, Mr. Mackall. You have your duty.”
    Mackall nodded. “I shall bring the secretary … when you order it.”
    Word of Joe Wheeler’s October 3 cavalry raid on the Federal wagon train had come back to Bragg’s headquarters in a rush of celebration. With a long stretch of the Tennessee River useless to Federal boat traffic, the only supply route that Rosecrans’s commissary officers could use came over the mountains, the kind of ragged narrow passageway that was difficult for horses and wagons even in good weather. If his siege was not a complete encirclement of the Federal camps, Bragg had confidence that this single lifeline left to the enemy was woefully inadequate to supply their needs. Wheeler’s resounding success in crushing the Federal supply train seemed to Bragg to be one more nail in Rosecrans’s coffin. More important to Wheeler, who had a simmering dislike of the more flamboyant Nathan Bedford Forrest, Bragg allowed himself to be convinced that Forrest was simply ineffective, Wheeler persuading Bragg that Forrest should be ordered to give up most of his strength, and transfer those horsemen directly to Wheeler. In effect, Bragg had elevated Joe Wheeler to overall command of the cavalry throughout this entire theater of the war.
    Bragg expected this powerful force of horsemen to fight off any confrontation with Federal troopers, allowing Wheeler to maintain a strong force in the Federal rear that would crush any attempt to resupply the Federal troops in the town. But Wheeler had overplayed his hand.
    The plan was to reinforce Wheeler by additional cavalry units under the commands of Stephen D. Lee and Phillip Roddey, who were ordered to join Wheeler from their bases in Alabama and Mississippi. But Wheeler’s impatience pushed him into action before Lee and Roddey could reach him. Undermanned for such an ambitious raid, Wheeler was now in danger from rapidly gathering Federal cavalry. His only choice was escape, which meant a retreat back across the Tennessee River. As gleefully as Bragg had received word of the blow to the Federal supply train, his own prejudice against the vaingloryand haphazard efforts of cavalry blossomed once more. What he did not expect was that one of those men, Nathan Bedford Forrest, would not meekly accept the order to strip himself of manpower just to fuel the ambitions of Joe Wheeler.
NAIL HOUSE—BRAGG’S HEADQUARTERS—
MISSIONARY RIDGE—OCTOBER 7, 1863
    Bragg heard the commotion outside, saw Mackall backing into the room, pushed by heavy boot steps, the man now pushing past him. It was Forrest.
    Bragg sat motionless, saw a look he had seen before, a red fury, but this time, Forrest’s anger wasn’t directed at any Yankee. Forrest spun toward him, ignored the pair of aides who stood back to one side, papers in their hands. Bragg tried to avoid Forrest’s glare, stood, said, “General Forrest … it is late.”
    Another man scrambled in behind Forrest, and Mackall said something, a