Officers of the army of Tennessee.
[from our own correspondent.]
Lieut. General Wm. J. Hardee was born in Camden county, Ga., and not in Appling county, as has been stated by some, nor in St. Augustine, Fla., as has been stated by others. He entered West Point in 1834 and graduated in 1838. His first duty as a soldier, after graduating, was performed under Gen. Scott in the Cherokee country of Georgia, which is the same district that is now occupied by the army he commands. In the latter part of 1838 he went to Florida and engaged in the Indian war until the fall of 1840. He was then chosen by the War Department of the United States as one of three promising young officers to be sent to France to perfect themselves in cavalry tactics. His companions were Capt. Floyd Bell and Lieut. Newton, and they entered the military school of Saul Mur, where they remained until the fall of 1842, having acquired a thorough knowledge of the cavalry tactics of the French army.--On his return, he joined his regiment, (the Second Dragoons,) at Fort Jessup, Louisiana, where he remained until the opening of the Mexican war, when his regiment was ordered to Corpus Christi, under Gen. Taylor. Soon after hostilities commenced, he was taken prisoner while out on a scouting party near Matamoras. The force was a small squadron of cavalry, under command of Capt. Thornton, the next in command being himself. The party was led astray through the carelessness of a Mexican guide, and was soon surrounded by a largely superior force of the enemy, when an attempt was made to escape, in which Capt. Thornton was thrown from his horse. The command then devolved on Capt. Hardee, who, seeing the perilous situation of his little force, dashed with it to the banks of the Rio Grande for the purpose of swimming the river, but the approaches to the water were so boggy that it was impracticable. He then turned, and finding escape impossible, he sent a flag of truce to Gen. Ampudia, the commander of the Mexican forces, saying that if his command would be treated as prisoners of war he would surrender, but otherwise they would cut their way out. The terms were granted, and he remained a prisoner sixteen days, at the expiration of which time he was duly exchanged. He was treated with much consideration by Ampudia while a prisoner. He subsequently passed through the principal battles of the war, receiving two brevets for gallantry in action. The State of Georgia, at the close of the war presented him a beautifully chased sword, with appropriate inscriptions, as a testimonial of his services.
In 1853 Lt. Col. Hardee was assigned by Mr. Davis, the then Federal Secretary at War, to the duty of arranging a system of tactics for the use of the army and militia of the United States, and produced the work which has since become a household word. "Hardee's Tactics, " by order of the War Department, superseded Scott's, and the Federal army is now using, and has always used since its publication, the unaltered editions of "Hardee's Tactics, " except that his name is no longer inserted as the author, wishing, no doubt, not to appear as having a "rebel" as their military teacher.
In 1856 Colonel Hardee was ordered to West Point, where he remained as commandant of the corps of Cadets until the fall of 1860. when he resigned his commission in the U. S. Army and returned to his native State. He offered his services to Governor Brown, and was by him appointed senior Colonel of the State forces. Shortly after this the Provisional Government was formed at Montgomery, and he was at once telegraphed for by President Davis, who offered him the position of Inspector and Adjutant General of the Confederate States, the place since filled with so much satisfaction to the country by Gen. Cooper; but he declined it, preferring "a place near the flashing of the guns." He was then appointed senior Colonel in the regular army, and sent to the command of Fort Morgan, in Mobile bay.--He remained there until July, 1861, when he was appointed Brigadier-General, and ordered to Arkansas, where he organized a division of Arkansians, and operated a short time in Southern Missouri. These Arkansians have since shown the excellency of their drill and discipline on every battle-field where they have been engaged. A few months thereafter Hardee transferred his force to Bowling Green, Ky., and formed a part of the army under Sydney Johnston. He was here made a Major General. After the reverse at Fort Donelson, he conducted the retreat of Johnston's army from Kentucky to Corinth. At the latter point the army was organized into three corps, commanded respectively by Bragg, Polk, and Hardee, and under this organization it entered the bloody battle of Shiloh. Hardee commanded the advance corps, and led in the attack. The country is familiar with the history of that battle, and the distinguished part taken by Gen. Hardee.
After the retreat from Corinth, the last of May, 1862, the army halted at Tupelo, Miss., at which point Gen. Beauregard was relieved from command and Gen. Bragg succeeded to it. One of Gen. Bragg's first acts was to make Gen. Hardee the active commander of the Army of the Mississippi; and in this position he continued during the transfer of the army from Tupelo to Chattanooga, and until it was about to move into Kentucky, when it was divided into two wings, one under Polk and the other under Hardee. The battle of Perryville, in October following, was fought principally by the troops of Hardee's wing. It was a splendid field victory, but achieved nothing, as the Confederates were compelled to retreat the next day, the combinations of the commanding General not being carried out successfully. The army reached Knoxville from its Kentucky campaign in the latter part of October, and soon thereafter commenced the campaign of Middle Tennessee.
At the battle of Murfreesboro', fought the last day of 1862 and the first of 1863, Gen. Hardee commanded the left wing of the army; and here again his command was eminently successful, whilst the remainder of our forces were beaten. He drove the enemy with heavy loss for four miles without check, defeating double his numbers, as was shown by captured papers, and stopped only when the men were exhausted and no reinforcements could be had to meet the fresh lines of the enemy. The attack and success of the left wing at Murfreesboro', under Gen. Hardee, was one of the most signal achievements of the war.
In July, 1863, after the army had fallen back from Tullahoma to Chattanooga, Gen. Hardee was ordered to Mississippi, and was engaged in reassembling the Vicksburg and Port Hudson prisoners until about the first of November, when he was ordered back to the Army of Tennessee. General Longstreet having been sent to Knoxville, Hardee was placed in command of the left wing, resting upon Lookout Mountain, and held this position until the evening of the 23d November, when, the right wing being threatened, he was transferred to that part of the line. The battle of Lookout was fought the next day, the 24th, and lost, and was followed on the 25th by the battle of Missionary Ridge. Here, as on every other field where he has been engaged, Hardee's command was successful, and here, as at Perryville and Murfreesboro', the other wing of the army was defeated. He not only repulsed the enemy with heavy slaughter at Missionary Ridge, but took a considerable, number of prisoners and flags, and brought off his troops under orders without the loss of a gun or prisoner.
The army retreated to Dalton, where Gen. Bragg was relieved of the command at his own request, and Gen. Hardee appointed to succeed him. The latter promptly declined the command, except temporarily and requested that some one of our ablest officers should be designated for the position. His conduct in this respect does him infinite credit.
Gen. Hardee is a tall, handsome man, and one of the finest horsemen I have ever seen. Unlike his stem predecessor, he is a man of rare suavity of manner, and is fitted to shine in any circle, whether in the society of ladies, or among scholars and statesmen, or in military councils, where stern warriors and men of action are won't to figure. It remains to be seen whether he would be as successful in command of an army as at the head of a corps. One thing, however, is certain: there is no more superb soldier in the Confederate army.
Sallust.
