October 20, 1862 (Monday): "A Kingdom for 4 Regiments of Cavalry!"

General A. J. Smith

FALMOUTH, KY., October 20, 1862.
Major-General WRIGHT, Cincinnati, Ohio:
    Our scouts from Paris have just captured a prisoner who had in his possession a letter from General Marshall to his wife that states that the entire rebel army is on its way out of the State of Kentucky as fast as it can go. "Our army has divided. General Bragg has gone one route, General Kirby Smith another, and Marshall another. Our route is the same as the one by which we entered the State. We will return by that terrible mountain road into good old Virginia in January
    I have telegraphed for the letter and will send it you. O, a kingdom for four regiments of cavalry!


    A. J. SMITH,
    Brigadier-General.

Official Records, Series I., Vol. 16, Part 2, Page 633.

The Confederate armies in Kentucky were indeed in a state of departure.  But Union troops were unable to fully capitalize on this because of logistical problems, including the lack of horses for cavalry units.  Andrew Jackson (A. J.) Smith had been Halleck's Chief of Cavalry in the west from February to July before being appointed brigadier general in March.  At the time of this letter he commanded the 1st Division in the Army of Kentucky.  Smith was a bit of a wit.  After the battle of Nashville, when his troops had been moved around among commands repeatedly under various commanders, he refered to his men as belonging to the lost tribes of Isreael.  He finally retired in 1889 as a Colonel of Cavalry and although blunt spoken he was respected by his men and his superiors.