sold Jefferson Davis Seeks to Shift the Blame For the Confederate Defeat in the West

After the Battle of Shiloh, Union forces moved slowly in the direction of the critical rail junction at

Corinth

, taking four weeks to cover the twenty miles, stopping nightly to entrench. The slowness of this movement has led this campaign to be nicknamed the Siege of Corinth. When they finally reached the fortified city, they discovered that the Confederates were gone. Without orders, General P.T. Beauregard had decided not to make a defensive stand and had withdrawn without hostilities on May 29, taking his army to

Tupelo, Mississippi

. President Davis was furious that

Corinth

had been given up without a fight. Beauregard replied to

Davis

‘ icy queries over the matter with all the formality he could muster, pointing out his subordinates had approved the withdrawal and that it was done in a professional fashion. The withdrawal was, Beauregard said to an aide, the equivalent of a "brilliant victory".

Davis

was dissatisfied with Beauregard’s information and sent a representative to interview him and ferret out details of the losses and resources that Beauregard had sustained. At about the same time, Beauregard decided to take a temporary sick leave at a resort in Alabama and leave General Braxton Bragg temporarily in charge at

Tupelo

. Bragg had ably commanded a corps at

Shiloh

, and President Davis had promoted him to the rank of full general shortly thereafter,  making him the fifth-highest-ranking officer in the Confederacy. Beauregard was getting ready to leave when on June 14 he learned to his surprise that Bragg had been summarily ordered to command the defenses of

Vicksburg

. Beauregard wired

Richmond

, saying that Bragg would be needed with the army since Beauregard was going on a sick leave. Then, realizing that he had not reported his leave to the War Department in Richmond, as an afterthought he wrote a letter describing his poor health and decision to leave, posted it by mail, and went south. He did this on his own authority without receiving permission from the Secretary of War. Davis, who disliked Beauregard in every way, was angry and considered that Beauregard had left his post without authorization. On June 27,

Davis

appointed Bragg to replace Beauregard altogether. Beauregard protested but to no avail, and then called Davis “that living specimen of gall and hatred.”

After the war, there were recriminations and controversies about who was to blame for specific Confederate defeats and lost opportunities, as well as for overall loss of the war. The Corinth/Tupelo affair was one of them, with Beauregard claiming that

Davis

had snatched his command from him under a pretext and given it to his crony, the incompetent Bragg, who was to blame for the coming defeats. Davis, for his part, maintained that Beauregard had requested to be relieved, and that Beauregard’s unauthorized retreat from

Corinth

was responsible for the coming Confederate losses. Davis’ ally Bragg buttressed the President’s argument by claiming that Beauregard told him before he left for

Alabama

that he felt himself incompetent to handle the responsibilities of commander.

This letter is an integral part of that controversy, as

Davis

writes directly to Bragg asking for permission to make public Bragg’s claim about Beauregard. Autograph Letter Signed,

Memphis, Tenn.

, March 4, 1872, to Bragg. “Accept my thanks for your prompt compliance with my request for information in regard to Beauregard’s misrepresentation. My impression has been that the order to you caused his application for surgeon’s certificate because my recollection is that he told you that he, as an engineer officer, was not sufficiently acquainted with matters of organization etc. etc. to perform the duties required by the condition of the command at Tupelo, and that he would therefore devolve them upon you. Of this there would be no record, but if you have no objection to stating it, I would be glad to know if your memory is the same as my own. Please make my respects to Mrs. Bragg. I had hoped to have visited

before this time, but things of sufficient importance to detain me have one after another occurred and postponed the projected trip.” He signs as “Your friend, Jefferson Davis.” General Bragg has docketed the letter on the verso, “Jeffn. Davis – Beauregard’s public writing about his relief from command of army at

.”