The president received bad news concerning the battle at Chickamauga Creek, Tennessee where General Rosecrans was beaten badly. On receiving the news at the telegraph office, the president reacted with a rant very uncharacteristic and filled with words not normally heard by anyone. If the Confederate victory was not troubling enough news, the president also learned that his brother-ion-law, confederate general Ben Helm had been killed in the action.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton woke Mr. Lincoln in the middle of the night and proposed that 23,000 men and nine batteries of artillery be sent to reinforce the Army of the Potomac at Chickamauga Creek. Mr. Lincoln endorsed the plan but doubted if they would arrive in time as Rosencrans men were trapped along the Tennessee River. Stanton pulled of a miracle of transportation, assigning the troops to the rails and delivering them tot he front within seven days, a trip covering a remarkable 1,159 miles.
In the mean time, Mr. Lincoln also sent General Joseph Hooker to relieve General Rosecrans.
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