ABSTRACT
The animosity Johnson felt for Don Carlos Buell had originated in March when Johnson was appointed military governor. Smith's Richmond victory, Buell's retreat to Nashville, and the Confederates' crossing of the Kentucky state line inspired wild rumors that the Confederates would shortly arrive at the gates of either Cincinnati or Louisville. Buell's refusal to fight Bragg at Munfordville stemmed in part from the Union commander's belief that the Confederates outnumbered him and were entrenched. The combination of peculiar atmospheric conditions and the rugged terrain, which later became known as the "acoustic shadow," had virtually deadened the sounds of battle raging on the left. Once informed of the fighting on his left, Buell tried desperately to bring his whole army into action and to exercise tighter control of the six-mile front. Some Northern newspapers desperate to credit Buell for at least not losing the battle interpreted Bragg's departure from the field later that night as a Union victory.
