DECEMBER 29, 1863:
The
Battle of Mossy Creek, Tennessee. In this frozen winter of enforced inactivity,
almost any action that involved shooting could be called a “battle,” though
these “battles” that sparked and died intermittently all across the lines
throughout the winter were little more than desultory firefights. Skirmishes
developed primarily over supplies of food, clothes and weapons---the
Confederacy had none and wanted the Union’s. At Mossy Creek, the Rebels were
unsuccessful in capturing a Union supply train, and the front lapsed back into
somnolence after the screams stilled on the icy air. Elsewhere, Confederates
might or might not seize supplies in raids. It was never enough for the
starving soldiers in Gray, and the Union merely resupplied its men in Blue from
a seemingly inexhaustible supply house.
