The secretary of war also carried two other orders with him, one continuing Rosecrans in his command of the army of the Cumberland, and the other removing him, and putting General Thomas in his place. Grant was permitted to make his choice between the two, and without hesitation he preferred the latter. Mr. Stanton accompanied the commander of the new division to Louisville, where it was rumored that Rosecrans was actually preparing to abandon Chattanooga, so closely was he pressed by the rebels, and harassed by the cutting off of his supplies. Grant, by order of the secretary, immediately assumed his command, telegraphing his order to Rosecrans, and assigning Thomas to the army of the Cumberland. He immediately took measures to prevent the apprehended calamity, desiring Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all hazards. The hero who had saved the entire army at Chickamauga replied at once in those memorable words which have been so often quoted, "I will hold the town till we starve." East Tennessee, that home of the tried and trusty patriots, who had been so long neglected, and who had suffered untold misery, had been occupied by the national troops, and was now held by Burnside. Its safety depended upon the operations in progress at Chattanooga, which was the key-point of the system of railroads radiating to the east and south. It was absolutely necessary for the success of the national arms to hold this place, not only on account of its immense strategic importance, but because nearly all the people of the mountain region in which it is situated were loyal. When Vicksburg fell, Bragg had been strengthened by the arrival of the troops which had been operating under Johnston in Grant's rear. But Rosecrans had out-generaled Bragg by getting to the southward of him, and threatening his supplies, thus compelling him to abandon Chattanooga. Having been largely reënforced, the rebel general had beaten Rosecrans at Chickamauga, and driven him into Chattanooga, where he had fortified himself, with the intention of holding the position. Three miles from the Tennessee was Missionary Ridge, a range of hills four hundred feet high, which Bragg made haste to occupy. West of the town was Lookout Mountain, twenty-two hundred feet high, and three miles distant. Under this mountain extended the Nashville Railroad, by which the national army received its supplies. Rosecrans deemed it necessary to abandon this commanding height, which Bragg instantly seized. Planting his batteries upon it, he effectually held the country around it, and entirely cut off all supplies for Chattanooga, except such as could be sent by the mountain passes over sixty miles of rugged roads. Bragg drew his lines around the place from the river above to the river below.