Davis received them with punctilious ceremony. His manners were always
those of a gentleman--but he never allowed them to return to their
onerous work in the Debating Society without a clear idea of his views.
They were never expressed with violence. But the ice sometimes formed on
the window panes if he stood near while talking.
A Congressional Committee were demanding the restoration of Beauregard
to command.
"General Beauregard asked me to relieve him, gentlemen--"
"Only on furlough for illness," interrupted the Chairman.
"And you have forced him into retirement!" added a member.
The President rose, walked to the window, gazed out on the crowded
street for a moment and turned, suddenly confronting his tormentors. He
spoke with quiet dignity, weighing each word with cold precision:
"If the whole world asked me to restore General Beauregard to the
command which I have given to Braxton Bragg, I would refuse." He resumed
his seat and the Committee retired to Senator Barton's house where they
found a sympathetic ear.
Bragg was preparing to fight one of the greatest battles of the war. At
Chickamauga, the "River of Death," he encountered Rosecrans. At the end
of two days of carnage the Union army was totally routed, right, left,
and center and hurled back from Georgia into Chattanooga.
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