History of the Army of the Cumberland, Vol. 1, Page 162
Maj. Gen. D.C. Buell, Army of the Ohio, at Huntsville, to Maj. Gen. H.W. Halleck:
The railroad communication as far as Stevenson must be securely established. From that point the transportation must at first be by wagons for twenty-five miles. The river must be crossed by a pontoon bridge, which I am now preparing. It is not possible to establish the requisite communication by any means of ferrying which we can provide. These arrangements are being pushed forward as industriously as possible.

The troops are moving forward to the terminus of the railroad without unnecessary delay, and one division has already arrived there. It ought to be borne in mind that they have had a march of about two hundred miles to make, with a large train, in hot weather, crossing a wide river by a ferry. The report of General Mitchell led me to expect that the Chattanooga road would be completed by the first of this month. I do not censure him for being mistaken. I have since doubled the force upon it, and it cannot be finished before next Monday. The gap of twenty-two miles on the Decatur road, the one we are dependent upon for supplies, has, from the character of the road, made it more expeditious to take another route forty miles long; and it requires every wagon that can possibly be spared to keep the troops from starving, and at that we are living from day to day.

We consume of provisions alone about one hundred thousand pounds daily, which, with our animals in their present condition, it requires about sixty wagons to carry. The trip, coming and going, cannot be made in less than five days. Three hundred and fifty wagons are required to haul provisions alone over this gap. To haul forage over the same distance, even at half rations, would require seven hundred wagons more. We are running about five hundred wagons, managing, with great difficulty, to subsist our animals mainly upon the country, already nearly exhausted of supplies. It will be seen that we cannot advance beyond Stevenson until the road is completed so as to release wagons now absolutely required in the rear. Three mills are getting out lumber for boats, which will be furnished as soon as possible.

Huntsville, July 16, Cincinnati Gazette, Memphis Daily Appeal, August 2, 1862, Library of Congress
Letters of the 15th and 16th, from Huntsville, Alabama. There had been a terrific storm, which did a great amount of damage to the camps. In consequence of the operations of a few squads of guerrillas, between Huntsville and Nashville, General Buell's grand army had been reduced to half rations. General Rousseau had taken command of the third division, lately commanded by Gen. Mitchel.

The Wild Life of the Army: Civil War letters of James A. Garfield, Page 124
Gen. James Garfield, Twentieth Brigade, Sixth Division, Army of the Ohio, at Athens:
I have got almost entirely well since my last letter. I am stopping at Dr. Maclin's, a wealthy planter, where I have a fine room and the best of accommodations. I take a shower bath every morning. Doesn't that astonish you! Tomorrow, during a recess of the court, I go out with him nine miles to visit his plantation and 95 slaves. As I have long expected, the enemy has run through our extended lines and cut off several important lines of communication. We have been cut off from Nashville several days and our whole army is on half rations. Again I repeat the sad truth that we have no generals. In this respect the South has far outstripped us.