On January 9th, in recognition of the services of that army, by General Order No.9 of the War Department, that command was reorganized, and the Centre, Right, and Left were constituted corps d'armee, with the designation of Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Corps, under the same commanders, who were thus advanced to this higher command.During this month, Steedman, in command of Fry's old division, was ordered from Gallatin to the front, and posted at Triune and La Vergne.Reynold's division was ordered from Gallatin to Murfreesboro.A slight change was also made in the boundaries of the Department.On the 25th, by order of the War Department, the commands of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were transferred from the department under Grant, to that under Rosecrans, and later Fort Heiman.To Rosecrans was then committed the care and control of the Cumberland River, his second and secondary line of communication and supplies connecting his two principal depots.
On January 26th, Bragg ordered Wheeler on an expedition to capture Fort Donelson.Wheeler directed Forrest to move his brigade with four guns on the river road, via the Cumberland Iron Works, to the vicinity of Dover, which was the real position occupied and fortified by Federal forces, and not the old site of Fort Donelson, while Wheeler with Wharton's command of some twenty-five hundred men moved on a road to the left.Rosecrans, hearing from his scouts that this movement was contemplated, ordered Davis in command of his division and two brigades of cavalry under Minty, to march by the Versailles road, and take Wheeler in the rear.Steedman was directed to watch Wheeler's movements by way of Triune.Davis despatched Minty to move with his cavalry around by way of Unionville and Rover, while he moved with the infantry direct to Eaglesville.
At Rover, Minty captured a regiment of some three hundred and fifty men.Davis and Steedman's forces united at Franklin, the latter marching by way of Nolinsville.Wheeler, advancing rapidly, passed between the troops in pursuit, and, on February 3d, his entire force attacked the post at Dover, occupied by Colonel Harding with the Eighty-third Illinois, some six hundred men in the command.
The rebels opened fire at once, and made vigorous assault in force upon Harding's position.His little command repulsed the enemy with heavy loss.Again they advanced, making a more determined assault than before, but again they were driven back with still greater loss.In this last repulse Harding ordered his men to charge beyond his works, which they did with great gallantry, capturing forty-two of the rebels.Wheeler then withdrew with a total loss of one hundred and fifty killed, four hundred wounded, and one hundred and fifty captured.Colonel Harding lost sixteen killed, sixty wounded, and fifty captured.Efforts were made to cut off the retreat of Wheeler's force by Davis's command, re-enforced by five hundred cavalry, which went as far west as Kinderhook and Bon Aqua Springs, but Wheeler took the road through Centreville, where he crossed Duck River.
In the latter part of the engagement at Dover, Harding was aided by the fire from six gunboats which were acting as convoys for a fleet of transports conveying reinforcements to Rosecrans's command, consisting of eighteen regiments of infantry, with four batteries of artillery that had been serving in Kentucky under the command of General Gordon Granger.The troops forming this column were under the immediate command of Crook, Baird, and Gilbert.After the danger at Dover had passed, the fleet steamed up to Nashville, and there the troops disembarked.During February Crook was sent with his command to take post at Carthage, on the Cumberland River, and watch the movements of the enemy from there to Rome, and Gilbert was ordered to proceed with his brigade to Franklin.
