e CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Estate Of Charles Hull Cornell University Library E 173.M86 1902 V.3 Great republic 3 1924 028 759 342 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028759342 Cbe Great Republic BY THE MASTER HISTORIANS ILLUSTRATED EDITED BY CHARLES MORRIS Volume III JOHN WANAMAKER PHILADELPHIA NEW YORK PARIS El -173 ^^;y/x/ COPYRIGHT, 1897, By J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. copyright, i9oi, 1902, By R. S. belcher. tXL CONTENTS. STTBJECT. Two Years of War .... The Constitution and the Guerriere Perry's Victory on Lake Erie . The Battle of the Thames The Charge at Lundy's Lane The Capture and Burning of Washing- ton The Defence of New Orleans . The First Quarter of the Century The Missouri Compromise The Ordinance of Nullification The Seminole War .... The Battle of Buena Vista . Events preceding the Civil War . John Brown and the Raid on Har- per's Ferry . . . . i . Fort Sumter Bombarded , The Monitor and the Merrimack . The Conflict at Antietam The Battle of Shiloh Farragut on the Mississippi The Siege of Vicksburg . Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg ArXHOR. PAGE. Charles Morris . 5 J. T. Headley 10 Theodore Roosevelt . i8 Charles J. Ingersoll 27 H. M. Brackeneidge 32 Benson J. Lossing 44 G. R. Gleig . 56 Charles Morris . 70 H. Von Holst . 89 Edward Everett lox George R. Fairbanks 112 John Frost .... 121 Charles Morris 134 Horace Greeley 147 Orville J. Victor . 156 John William Draper . 167 Benson J. Lossing . 176 William Swinton 191 J. T. Headley . 210 Adam Badeau 220 Thomas B. Van Horne . 23« CoMTE DE Paris 251 CONTENTS. SOBJECT. Sher'man's March to the Sea Last March of Lee's Army Last Echoes of the Conflict Great Captains of the War Keconstruction and Progress Currency, Labor and Politics Public Events and Presidential Elec- tions AUTHOR. William T. Sherman AsMiSTEAD L. Long Frederick Logan Charles Morris . Oliver H. G. Leigh Joseph M. Rogers page. 266 284 304 329 341 353 361 List of Illustrations. Valley Forge — Washington and Lafayette . . Frontispiece Battle of Lake Erie i6 Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 24 Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumseh . . .32 The Battle of Chippewa 40 Winfield Scott 48 The Battle of New Orleans 64 Abraham Lincoln 88 General Taylor at Okeechobee 112 Zachary Taylor ......... 120 The Battle of Churubusco 128 Battle of Buena Vista 136 John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry .... 144 John Brown on the Way to Execution .... 152 Bombardment of Fort Sumter 160 Sinking of the Frigate Congress by the Confederate Ram Merrimack 168 George B. McClellan 176 Battle of Antietam 184 Battle of Wilson's Creek — Death of General Lyon . . 192 Capture of Fort Donelson 200 Battle of Shiloh .■ 208 U. S. Grant 224 William Tecumseh Sherman 232 Robert E. Lee 248 Battle of Gettysburg 264 Sherman's March to the Sea 280 Battle of the Wilderness 288 Surrender of General Lee 296 Assassination of President Lincoln 304 Last Moments of Maximilian 344 Jefferson Davis 352 Custer's Last Stand and Death 360 THE GREAT REPUBLIC BY THE MASTER HISTORIANS TWO YEARS OF WAR. Charles Morris. The closing act of Jefferson's administration, passed on March i, 1809, was a repeal of the embargo, whose effect had been so ruinous to American commerce, and the pas- sage of a bill interdicting all commercial intercourse with France and England. Jefferson, after his eight years' term, had, like Washington under the same circumstances, de- clined a re-election, and James Madison was made Presi- dent, while George Clinton, Jefferson's second Vice-Presi- dent, was re-elected. The trouble with France and Eng- land continued. The British minister at Washington agreed that the " Orders in Council " should be repealed so far as they affected the United States, but this promise was disavowed by his government, and non-intercourse, which had been suspended, was re-proclaimed. Bonaparte, in March, 1810, issued a hostile decree against American commerce, but in November he revoked this and all simi- 5 6 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris lar decrees, and intercourse was resumed between France and the United States. England, however, obstinately re- fused to annul her hostile acts, and went so far as to sta- tion ships of war before American ports, seizing merchant- men, and sending them as legal prizes to British ports. In May, 1811, an encounter took place between the frigate President and the British war-sloop Little Belt. The cap- tain of the latter, instead of answering the hail of Commo- dore Rogers, fired a shot, which was answered by a broad- side. A short engagement ensued, the British losing eleven killed and twenty-one wounded, while the Ameri- cans had but one man wounded. A state of affairs now existed between the two countries which could only end in war if England persisted in her offensive measures. America could not consent to leave her commerce and her seamen at the mercy of British cruisers. Yet the British ministry displayed unyielding obstinacy, and in April, 1812, a new embargo act was passed by Congress, while on the 4th of June a bill de- claring war against Great Britain passed the House. On the 17th this bill passed the Senate, and war was pro- claimed by the President on the 19th. It was a'war for which no adequate provision had been made. The navy of the United States was in no condition to cope with that of England. The regular army numbered but six thousand men, and the other requisites of war were as poorly pro- vided for. On the other hand, the time was opportunely chosen. England was still engaged in her vital struggle with France, which exhausted her resources to such an extent that she could bring but a minor portion of her strength to bear on America. Yet so miserably was the war managed on the part of the United States that the record of the first year was but a succession of shameful disasters, and it was not till 1814 that the Americans Morris] TIVO YEARS OF WAR. ^ 7 began to show a decided ability to win battles. On the water their record was from the outset brilliant and successful. Efforts were at once made to enlist twenty-five thousand men and to raise fifty thousand volunteers, while one hun- dred thousand militia were called for to defend the fron- tiers and the sea-coast. General Dearborn, of Massachu- setts, a Revolutionary officer, was appointed commander- in-chief. The first operations of the war were directed against Canada. They were conducted with a mismanage- ment and incompetency which could but result in disas- ter. After the repulse of the Indians by Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, in 181 1, further troubles with the savages arose on the northwestern frontier, against whom marched General Hull, with an army of two thousand men. He was directed to extend his march into Canada and attack the British post at Maiden. Yet ere he could reach there the strong American fort at Mackinaw was sur- prised and taken by the English. The garrison had not even been apprised of the declaration of war, and con- sequently they were utterly unprepared for an assault. Hull's expedition was shamefully mismanaged. After re- maining inactive nearly a month in Canada, he hastily retreated to Detroit, where, soon afterwards, he was at- tacked by a smaller force of British and Indians. Though he possessed every advantage of position, he suddenly recalled his army within the fort, and the white flag of surrender was displayed, without an effort at defence. At- tempts, not very satisfactory, have been made to palliate this act of seeming cowardice, which left the whole North- west at the mercy of the British. General Hull was after- wards court-martialled and sentenced to death, but was pardoned by the President. In other quarters the same lack of success appeared. 8 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris On the Niagara frontier, General Van Rensselaer crossed the river and captured the heights of Queenstown. Here he was attacked by a strong force, while the American militia on the other side of the river could not be induced to cross to his aid. In consequence, nearly the whole of his force was killed or captured. A second advance, under General Smyth, ended in a mere look across the river and an abandonment of the design. There has never, before or since, been displayed such utter incompetency in American generalship as that which marked this disastrous campaign. The bravery of Van Rensselaer was the only rehef to the general cowardice of the American leaders. In 1813 the campaign began with the army in three divisions, that of the West under General Harrison, that of the Niagara frontier under Gen- eral Dearborn, and that of the Lake Champlain region under General Hampton. In the West General Winches- ter was attacked at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, by a superior force under Proctor. After a gallant defence, Winchester was taken prisoner by the Indians. Under a pledge of protection from Proctor he agreed to surrender his troops. The British general's pledge was basely vio- lated, the wounded prisoners being left to the tender mercy of the savages. Harrison, learning of this disaster, fell back, and began a fortified camp, which he named Fort Meigs. This fort was besieged by two thousand British and Indians, under Proctor. After a week's siege, and the repulse of a re- lieving party, the Indians deserted their allies, and Proctor abandoned the siege. He advanced again in the latter part of July, with a force of four thousand men, the In- dians under Tecumseh. After a few days' siege he with- drew, and with a force of thirteen hundred attacked Fort Stephenson, on the site of Sandusky, then held by one MoRKis] TWO YEARS OF WAR. 9 hundred and fifty men, under Major Croghan, a youth of twenty-one. Surrender was demanded, under a threat of massacre if the fort was taken, but the brave youth re- plied that when the fort was taken there would be no one left to kill. An attempt was then made to carry the fort by assault, which was repulsed, and the besiegers fled in a panic, having lost one hundred and fifty men. General Dearborn's army gained some advantages. General Pike led an expedition against York, in Canada, the great depository of British military stores for the sup- ply of the Western posts. While storming the town the enemy's magazine blew up, with severe loss to the be- siegers. Pike was mortally wounded, and the army thrown into confusion. Recovering, they advanced and took the town. The squadron returned to Sackett's Harbor with a large amount of spoils. Shortly afterwards Sir George Prevost assailed the American post at Sackett's Harbor, but failed to take it. On the same day the Americans cap- tured Fort George, on the Canadian side of the Niagara. In November an expedition was sent against Montreal, which proved unsuccessful. Somewhat later Fort George was abandoned, and Fort Niagara was captured by the British, who burned the neighboring towns and villages, in retribution for the burning of the Canadian town of Newark by the Americans. The failures and unimportant successes here chronicled were relieved by two victorious engagements, the victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, and that of General Harrison on the Thames, which call for more particular mention. 10 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley THE CONSTITUTION AND THE GUERRIERE, J. T. Headley. [At the beginning of the war with England the navy of the United States numbered but nine frigates and a few sloops of war, while Great Britain had a hundred ships of the line, and more than a thou- sand vessels bearing her flag. Yet, weak as was our navy, it was stronger than the British naval force then in American waters, and there was reason to hope for some successes ere the latter could be reinforced. No time was lost by the ardent commanders of the American ships of war. Among other vessels, the forty-four-gun frigate Constitution put to sea, and was soon after chased by a British squadron, from which she escaped with great difficulty. The story of the victorious event which soon followed we select from Headley's " Second War with England."] On the 28th of July an order was sent from the Secre- tary of the Navy to Captain Hull, at Boston, to deliver up the Constitution to Commodore Bainbridge and take charge of the frigate Constellation. But, fortunately for him and the navy, just before this order reached him he had again set sail, and was out on the deep, where the anxieties of the department did not disturb him. Cruising eastward along the coast, he captured ten small prizes near the mouth of the St. Lawrence and burned them. In the middle of the month he recaptured an American merchantman and sent her in, and then stood to the south- ward. On the 19th he made a strange sail, one of the ves- sels that a few weeks before had pressed him so hard in the chase. When the Constitution had run down to within three miles of him, the Englishman laid his maintop-sail aback, and hung out three flags, to show his willingness to engage. Captain Dacres, the commander, surprised at the daring manner in which the stranger came down, turned to the captain of an American merchantman whom Headley] the constitution AND GUERRIERE. H he had captured a few days before, and asked him what vessel he took that to be. The latter replied, as he handed back the glass to Dacres, that he thought from her sails she was an American. " It cannot be possible," said Dacres, " or he would not stand on so boldly." It was soon evident, whoever the stranger might be, he was bent on mischief. Hull prepared his vessel for action deliber- ately, and, after putting her under close fighting canvas and sending down her royal yards, ordered the drums to beat to quarters. It was now five o'clock, and, as the Constitution bore steadily down towards her antagonist, the crew gave three cheers. The English vessel was well known, for she had at one of her mast-heads a flag proudly flying, with the " Guerriere " written in large characters upon it. When the Constitution arrived within long gun- shot, the Guerriere opened her fire, now wearing to bring her broadside to bear, and again to prevent being raked by the American, which slowly but steadily approached. The Englishman kept up a steady fire for nearly an hour, to which the Constitution replied with only an occasional gun. The crew at length became excited under this in- action. The officer below had twice come on deck to report that men had been killed standing idly at their guns, and begged permission to fire; but Hull still con- tinued to receive the enemy's bro'adsides in silence. The Guerriere, failing to cripple the Constitution, filled and moved off with the wind free, showing that she was will- ing to receive her and finish the conflict in a yard-arm to yard-arm combat. The Constitution then drew slowly ahead, and the moment her bows began to lap the quar- ters of the Guerriere her forward guns opened, and in a few minutes after the welcome orders were received to pour in broadside after broadside as rapidly as possible. When she was fairly abeam, the broadsides were fired 13 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley with a rapidity and power that astounded the enemy. As the old ship forged slowly ahead with her greater way, she seemed moving in flame. The mizzen-mast of the enemy soon fell with a crash, while her hull was riddled with shot and her decks slippery with gore. The carnage was so awful that the blood from the wounded and man- gled victims, as they were hurried into the cockpit, poured over the ladder as if it had been dashed from a bucket. As Hull passed his antagonist he wheeled short round her bows to prevent a raking fire. But in doing this he came dead into the wind; his sails were taken aback; the vessel stopped; then, getting sternway, the Guerriere came up, her bows striking the former abeam. While in this posi- tion, the forward guns of the enemy exploded almost against the sides of the Constitution, setting the cabin on fire. This would have proved a serious event but for the presence of mind of the fourth lieutenant, Beekman Ver- planck Hofifman, who extinguished it. As soon as the ves- sels got foul, both crews prepared to board. The first lieutenant, Morris, in the midst of a terrific fire of mus- ketry, attempted to lash the ships together, which were thumping and grinding against each other with the heavy sea, but fell, shot through the body. Mr. Alwyn, the mas- ter, and Lieutenant Bush, of the marines, mounting the taffrail to leap on the enemy's decks, were both shot down, the latter killed instantly with a bullet through the head. Finding it impossible to board under such a tremendous fire, the sails of the Constitution were filled, when the ves- sels slowly and reluctantly parted. As the Constitution rolled away on the heavy swell, the foremast of the Guer- riere fell back against the mainmast, carrying that down in its descent, leaving the frigate a helpless wreck, " wal- lowing in the trough of tlie sea." Hull, seeing that his enemy was now completely in his power, ran ofif a little Headley] the constitution AND GUERRIERE. 13 way to secure his own masts and repair his rigging, which was badly cut up. In a short time he returned, and, taking up a position where he could rake the wreck of the Guerriere at every discharge, prepared to finish her. Cap- tain Dacres had fought his ship well, and, when every spar in her was down, gallantly nailed the jack to the stump of the mizzen-mast. But further resistance was impossible, and to have gone down with his flag flying, as one of the English journals declared he ought to have done, would have been a foolish and criminal act. A few more broad- sides would have carried the brave crew to the bottom, and to allow his vessel to roll idly in the trough of the sea, a mere target for the guns of the American, would neither have added to his fame nor lessened the moral effect of his defeat. He therefore reluctantly struck her flag, and Lieutenant Read was sent on board to take pos- session. . . . [On boarding the vessel tlie crew were found to be in a state of disgusting intoxication. Captain Dacres, on surrendering his ship, having told the men to go below and get some refreshments, which they liberally interpreted as a free permission to drink.] This vessel, as well as all the EngHsh ships, presented another striking contrast to the American. Impressment was so abhorred that British officers were afraid of being shot down by their topmen during an engagement, and hence dared not wear their uniforms, while ours went into action with their epaulettes on, knowing that it added to their security, for every sailor would fight for his com- mander as he would for a comrade. Captain Hull kept hovering round his prize during the night; and at two o'clock " Sail ho! " was sent aft by the watch, when the Constitution immediately beat to quar- ters. The weary sailors tumbled up cheerfully at the sum- 14 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley mons, the vessel was cleared for action, and there is no doubt that if another Guerriere had closed with the Con- stitution she would have been roughly handled, crippled as the latter was from her recent conflict. After deliberatirrg for an hour, the stranger stood off. In the morning .le Guerriere was reported to have four feet of w'ter'in the hold, and was so cut up that it would be difficult to keep her afloat. The prisoners were, there- fore, all removed, and the vessel set on fire. The flames leaped up the broken masts, ran along the bulwarks, and wrapped the noble wreck in a sheet of fire. As the guns became heated, they went ofif one after another, firing their last salute to the dying ship. At length the fire reached the magazine, when she blew up with a tremen- dous explosion. A huge column of smoke arose and stood for a long time, as if petrified in the calm atmosphere, and then slowly crumbled to pieces, revealing only a few shat- tered planks to tell where that proud vessel had sunk. The first English frigate that ever struck its flag to an American ship of war had gone down to the bottom of the ocean, a gloomy omen of England's future. The sea never rolled over a vessel whose fate so startled the world. It disappeared forever, but it left its outline on the deep, never to be effaced till England and America are no more. The loss of the Constitution was seven killed and seven wounded, while that of the Guerriere was fifteen killed and sixty-four wounded, a disparity that shows with how much more precision the American had fired. It is impossible, at this period, to give an adequate idea of the excitement this victory produced. In the first place, It was fought three days after the surrender of General Hull, the uncle of the gallant captain. The mortifying, stunning news of the disaster of the Northwestern army met on the sea- board the thundering shout that went up from a people Headley] the constitution AND GUERRIERE. 15 delirious with delight over this naval victory. From one direction the name of Hull came loaded with execrations, from the other overwhelmed with blessings. But not only was the joy greater, arriving as the news did on the top of disaster, but it took the nation by, .surprise. An Ameri- can frigate had fearlessly stood up- ,i single combat on the deep with her proud foe, and, giving gua for gun, torn the crown from the " mistress of the sea." The fact that the Constitution had four guns more and a larger crew could not prevent it from being practically an even-handed fight. The disparity of the crews was of no consequence, for it was an affair of broadsides, while the vast difference in the execution done proved that had the relative weight of metal and the muster-roll been reversed the issue would have been the same. ... [This victory was but the beginning of a striking series of naval conquests which filled England with astonishment and dismay. On October 25 the frigate United States met the English frigate Macedo- nian, and, after dismasting her and cutting her hull to pieces, forced her to lower her flag. About the same time the Wasp met the brig Frolic, of nearly her own strength, and captured her after a desperate fight. On boarding the Frolic it was found that the terrible " hull- ing " fire of the Americans had killed and wounded nearly one hun- dred of her crew. On October 29 the Constitution, now under Com- modore Bainbridge, met the frigate Java, and forced her to lower her flag in a two hours' fight. In the succeeding January the Hornet met the English brig-of-war Peacock, and sent her to the bottom after a sharp battle.] The thrill of exultation that passed over the land at the announcement of the first naval victory was alloyed by the reflection that it was but an isolated instance, and hence could hardly justify a belief in our naval superiority. But as frigate after frigate and ship after ship struck, all doubt vanished, and the nation was intoxicated with de- light. The successive disasters that befell our land-forces 16 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley along the Canada line could not check the outburst of enthusiasm on every side. As the news of one victory succeeding another was borne along the great channels of communication, long shouts of triumph rolled after it, and the navy, from being unknown and uncared for, rose at once to be the bulwark and pride of the nation. All faces were turned to the ocean to catch the first echo of those resistless broadsides that proudly asserted and made good the claim to " free trade and sailors' rights." Where we had been insulted and wronged the most, there we were chastising the ofifender with blows that astounded the world. If the American government had been amazed at the failure of its deep-laid schemes against Canada, it was no less so at the unexpected triumphs at sea. Saved from the deepest condemnation by the navy, which it had neglected, forced to fall back on its very blunders for encouragement, it could say, with Hamlet, — " Let us know, Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well When our deep plots do pall." But our astonishment at these successive and brilliant victories could scarcely exceed that of the Old World. The British navy had been so long accustomed to victory that a single-handed contest of any English frigate with that of any other nation had ceased to be a matter of solicitude to her. The maritime nations of Europe had, one after another, yielded to her sway, till her flag in every sea on the globe extorted the respect and fear which the declaration " I am a Roman citizen " did in the proudest days of the Empire. Her invincibility on the ocean was a foregone conclusion. The victories of Napoleon stopped with the shore: even his " star " paled on the deep. His extraordinary efforts and energies could not tear from the Headley] the constitution AND GUERRIERE. 17 British navy the proud title it had worn so long. His fleets, one after another, had gone down before the might of British broadsides, and the sublime sea-fights of Abou- kir and Trafalgar were only corroborations of what had long been estabHshed. If this was the common feeling of the Continent, it is no wonder that " the English were stunned as by the shock of an earthquake." The first victory surprised them, but did not disturb their confi- dence. They began to discuss the causes of the unlooked- for event with becoming dignity, but before the argument was concluded another and another defeat came like suc- cessive thunder-claps, till discussion gave way to alarm. The thoughtful men of England were too wise to pretend that disasters occurring in such numbers and wonderful regularity could be the result of accident, and feared they beheld the little black cloud which the prophet saw rising over the sea, portending an approaching storm. If in so short a time a maritime force of only a few frigates and sloops of war could strike such deadly blows and destroy the prestige of English invincibility, what could not be done when the navy should approximate her own in strength! . . . The war-vessels at length grew timorous, and lost all their desire to meet an American ship of equal rank. It was declared that our frigates were built like seventy- fours, and therefore English frigates were justified in de- clining a battle when offered. The awful havoc made by our fire affected the seamen also, and whenever they saw the stars and stripes flaunting from the mast-head of an approaching vessel they felt that no ordinary battle was before them. English crews had never been so cut up since the existence of her navy. In the terrific battle of the Nile, Nelson lost less than three out of one hundred, and in his attack on Copenhagen, less than four out of 3—2 18 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Roosevelt every hundred. In Admiral Duncan's famous action off Camperdown, the proportion was about the same as that of the Nile. In 1793 the French navy was in its glory, and the victories obtained over its single ships by English vessels were considered unparalleled. Yet in fourteen single engagements, considered the most remarkable, and in which the ships, with one exception, ranged from thirty- six guns to fifty-two, the average of killed and wounded was only seventeen per ship, while in four encounters with American vessels, the Constitution, United States, and Wasp, the average was a hundred and eleven to each vessel. [This remarkable difference is ascribed to the fact that the Americans had devised an improvement in gunnery which was as yet unknown to the English. Their guns were sighted, and could be fired with re- markable accuracy of aim. " While we can fire cannon with as sure an aim as musketry, or almost rifles, striking twice out of every three shots, they must fire at random, without sight of their object or re- gard to the undulations of the sea, shooting over our heads, seldom hulling us or even hitting our decks.'' Such being the case, the strik- ing success of the Americans in these encounters is in great measure accounted for. But, whatever the cause, the " mistress of the seas " felt herself obliged to yield the crown of victory to an antagonist whom she had long afTected to -despise, while Europe beheld with as- tonishment the victorious career of the feeble navy of the New World.] PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. Theodore Roosevelt. [The successes gained by the Americans in their naval combats on the ocean were succeeded by similar successes on the lakes, where two of the most notable victories of the whole war were won. These conflicts took place on the three lakes, Erie, Ontario, and Champlain, on each of which the combatants had built fleets. On Lake Ontario, Roosevelt] PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. 19 though there were several minor encounters, no important contest took place, while the battle of Lake Champlain occurred in the last year of the war. We shall here, therefore, confine our attention to the battle of Lake Erie, which has attained a well-earned celebrity. At the beginning of the war there was on Lake Erie an English fleet of six vessels, while the only armed vessel possessed by the Americans was lost at the fall of Detroit. This vessel was soon after retaken by surprise, and burned, while the Caledonia, a small brig, was captured. In the winter of 1812 Captain Oliver Hazard Perry arrived and took command of the naval forces on Lake Erie. With great energy he at once set himself to work to create a fleet. He pur- chased three schooners and a sloop, and built three other schooners, which were added to the captured brig Caledonia. Two twenty-gun brigs were also placed under construction in the harbor of Erie, where, in the midsummer of 1813, the American was blockaded by the English fleet, under Captain Barclay. Taking advantage of the temporary withdrawal of Barclay's fleet, and having completed his brigs. Perry managed with difficulty to get them over the bar at the entrance to the harbor, and to put out into the lake. His foes, who had returned, at once withdrew into port. On the loth of September the two hostile. fleets came within sight of each other, want of provisions having compelled Barclay to leave the shelter of his harbor. Perry's squadron now consisted of nine vessels, the twenty-gun brigs Lawrence and Niagara, the three-gun brig Caledonia, the schooners Ariel, Scorpion, Somers, Porcupine, and Tigress, and the sloop Trippe, with a crew fit for duty of about four hundred and sixteen men. The British fleet embraced the ships Detroit and Queen Charlotte, respectively of twenty and seventeen guns, the brig Hunter, the schooners Lady Prevost and Chippeway, and the sloop Little Belt, with a crew of about four hundred and forty men. The Americans were superior in weight of metal, and nearly equal in men. The description of the battle that ensued we select from " The Naval War of 1812," by Theodore Roosevelt, a work which, while lacking vivacity of style, has the merit of greater accuracy and impartiality than most works on the subject.] As, amia light and rather baffling winds, the American squadron approached the enemy, Perry's straggling line formed an angle of about fifteen degrees with the more 20 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Roosevelt compact one of his foes. At 11.45 the Detroit opened the action by a shot from her long twenty-four, which fell short; at 11.50 she fired a second which went crashing through the Lawrence, and was replied to by the Scor- pion's long thirty-two. At 11.55 the Lawrence, having shifted her port bow-chaser, opened with both the long twelves, and at meridian began with her carronades; but the shot from the latter all fell short. At the same time the action became general on both sides, though the rear- most American vessels were almost beyond the range of their own guns, and quite out of range of the guns of their antagonists. Meanwhile, the Lawrence was already suf- fering considerably as she bore down on the enemy. . . . By 12.20 the Lawrence had worked down to close quarters, and at 12.30 the action was going on with great fury between her and her antagonists, within canister range. The raw and inexperienced American crews committed the same fault the British so often fell into on the ocean, and overloaded their carronades. In consequence, that of the Scorpion upset down the hatchway in the middle of the action, and the sides of the Detroit were dotted with marks from shot that did not penetrate. One of the Ariel's long twelves also burst. Barclay fought the De- troit exceedingly well, her guns being most excellently aimed, though they actually had to be discharged by flash- ing pistols at the touch-holes, so deficient was the ship's equipment. Meanwhile, the Caledonia went down too, but the Niagara was wretchedly handled, Elliot keeping at . o as Roosevelt] PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. 25 their best; but this very smoothness rendered our gun- boats more formidable than any of the British vessels, and the British testimony is unanimous that it was to them the defeat was primarily due. The American fleet came into action in worse form than the hostile squadron, the ships straggling badly, either owing to Perry having formed his line badly, or else to his having failed to train the subordinate commanders how to keep their places. . . . The chief merit of the American commander and his fol- lowers was indomitable courage, and determination not to be beaten. This is no slight merit; but it may well be doubted if it would have insured victory had Barclay's force been as strong as Perry's. Perry made a headlong attack; his superior force, whether through his fault or his misfortune can hardly be said, being brought into action in such a manner that the head of the line was crushed by the inferior force opposed. Being literally hammered out of his own ship, Perry brought up its powerful twin-sister, and the already shattered hostile squadron was crushed by sheer weight. The manoeuvres which marked the close of the battle, and which insured the capture of all the opposing ships, were unquestionably very fine. . . . Captain Perry showed indomitable pluck and readiness to adapt himself to circumstances; but his claim to fame rests much less on his actual victory than on the way in which he prepared the fleet that was to win it. Here his energy and activity deserve all praise, not only for his success in collecting sailors and vessels and in building the two brigs, but above all for the manner in which he suc- ceeded in getting them out on the lake. On that occasion he certainly outgeneralled Barclay; indeed, the latter com- mitted an error that the skill and address he subsequently showed could not retrieve. But it will always be a source 26 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Roosevelt of surprise that the American public should have so glori- fied Perry's victory over an inferior foe, and have paid comparatively little attention to Macdonough's victory, which really was won against decided odds in ships, men, and metal. There are always men who consider it unpatriotic to tell the truth, if the truth is not very flattering; but, aside from the morality of the case, we never can learn how to produce a certain effect unless we rightly know what the causes were that produced a similar effect in times past. Lake Erie teaches us the advantage of having the odds on our side; Lake Champlain, that, even if they are not, skill can still counteract them. It is amusing to read some of the pamphlets written " in reply " to Cooper's ac- count of this battle, the writers apparently regarding him as a kind of traitor for hinting that the victory was not " Nelsonic," " unsurpassed," etc. The arguments are stereotyped: Perry had nine fewer guns, and also fewer men, than the foe. The last point is the only one respect- ing which there is any doubt. Taking sick and well to- gether, the Americans unquestionably had the greatest number in crew; but a quarter of them were sick. Even deducting these, they were still, in all probability, more numerous than their foes. . . . Yet many a much-vaunted victory, both on sea and land, has reflected less credit on the victor than the battle of Lake Erie did on the Ameri- cans. And it must always be remembered that a victory, honorably won, if even over a weaker foe, does reflect credit on the nation by whom it is gained. ... It is greatly to our credit that we had been enterprising enough to fit out such an effective little flotilla on Lake Erie; and for this Perry deserves the highest praise.* * Some of my countrymen will consider this but scant approba- tion, to which the answer must be that a history is not a panegyric. Ingeesoll] the battle OF THE THAMES. 3? THE BATTLE OF THE THAMES. Charles J. Ingersoll. [The naval victory on Lake Erie was quicldy followed by an equally decisive one on the land. General Harrison, with an army of seven thousand men, was at that time on the southern shore of the lake, and immediately after Perry's victory embarked on his fleet, and was conveyed to the vicinity of Maiden, the central point of the British movements in the West. The disaster to their fleet seem to have demoralized the British troops, or at least to have frightened their commander. General Proctor, who displayed a cowardice equal to that of Hull. He hastily retreated from Maiden, after destroying the navy-yard and barracks. Tecumseh, the Indian chief, who was with him, strongly remonstrated against this flight, as unwise and unmili- tary, but without success. Everything was burned that could not be carried off, and the retreat of the army was the precipitate flight of a panic-struck host, being conducted so rapidly that no effort was made to impede pursuit by burning bridges and obstructing roads. The story of the succeeding events we select from the " Historical Sketch of the Second War with Great Britain," by Charles J. Ingersoll, a member of Congress at that period.] General Harrison almost despaired of overtaking the fugitives. On the 27th September, 1813, he wrote to the Secretary of War that he would pursue them next day, but that there was no probability of overtaking them. But the Kentuckians were resolved on the revenge of, at any rate, a battle with their murderers at Raisin. . . . They were not to be disappointed by any irresolution or deterred by any obstacle. Harrison, therefore, with Com- modore Perry, General Cass, General Green Clay, and an army eager for action, pushed forward without delay or hesitation, by forced marches, over rivers, morasses, through bro'ken countries, attended by some boats and water-craft; continually finding Proctor's stores, provi- 28 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Ingersoll sions, ammunition and arms, either deserted by the way, or so weakly guarded, by small detachments of the enemy, as to offer no resistance. Seldom was flight more misman- aged than that of the English. . . . The whole way from Maiden to the Thames betrayed their extreme perturba- tion. . . . At length, on the morning of the 5th October, 1813, near an Indian settlement called the Moravian towns, on the river Thames, Harrison came up with the English, eight hundred regular troops under Major-General Proctor, and twelve hundred Indians headed by Tecumseh. By this time Colonel Johnson's regiment of twelve hundred mounted men, armed with guns, without either pistols or sabres, had joined General Harrison, having, by forced marches, fol- lowed from the moment they got his orders to do so. . . . The night before the battle of the Thames, Walk-in-the- water, with sixty followers, deserted Proctor, and threw themselves in General Harrison's arms. Large quantities of English stores fell into our possession continually. Late at night Proctor and Tecumseh descended the river clan- destinely, and made a reconnoissance, with a view to at- tack Harrison, which was Tecumseh's desire, and prob- ably Proctor's best plan for escape; but the English gen- eral did not choose to risk what would have been not only less dishonorable, but much safer, than the battle he was forced to accept. When all General Harrison's dispositions for attack, on the 5th of October, 1813, had been made, and the army was advancing against the enemy, well posted among woods, marshes, and streams, Colonel Wood, who had ap- proached close to the English, — concealed to reconnoitre, — returned to General Harrison and told him that Proc- tor's men were drawn up in open lines; that is, each man somewhat separated from the next, instead of standing Ingersoll] the battle OF THE THAMES. 29 close together, as is the strongest and safest method. With considerable felicity ot prompt adaptation to circumstances, Harrison instantly changed his order of attack. He in- quired of Colonel Johnson if his horsemen could charge infantry. " Certainly," said the colonel. His men had been trained and practised to charge in the woods, just as they were to do. General Harrison then gave Colonel Johnson the order to charge; and in an instant that bat- talion of the mounted regiment which Colonel Richard Johnson committed to his brother, the lieutenant-colonel, James, charged through and through the English infantry, who then threw down their arms and cried for quarters in a much more craven mood than had yet been betrayed in that war. Their commander, after demoralizing them by guilt and encumbering them with plunder, disheartened them by pusillanimous behavior when attacked. Colonel Richard Johnson's order to charge was discretionary, to charge the enemy as they stood, infantry, artillery, and some horse. Finding that the whole of his regiment could hardly get at them between the river and the swamp where they were drawn up, while by passing the swamp he might reach the Indians there awaiting our onset, Colonel John- son, in the absence of General Harrison, exercised a judi- cious discretion to consign the first battalion of his regi- ment to his brother for the EngHsh, while he himself, with the other battalion, should attack the Indians. The Eng- lish infantry delivered some shots as Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnson approached, and for a moment discon- certed some of the first horses, although drilled to that mode of charge. But, taking a couple of volleys as they advanced, they easily recovered composure, rushed on the infantry, pierced, broke, then wheeled upon them, poured in a destructive fire on their rear, and brought them to in- stantaneous submission, without much loss on either side. 30 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Ingersoll . . . Proctor, with a small escort of dragoons and mounted Indians, made his escape so quickly and rapidly that no effort could overtake him. He was pursued for many miles, abandoned his carriage and sword, lost all his plun- der and papers, . . . and found his way, at last, through many tribulations, to Burlington Heights, there to be pub- licly reprimanded and disgraced for cowardice and avarice, by the Governor-General of Canada. The disaster of the British army, said an English historian, was not palHated by those precautions and that presence of mind which even in defeat reflect lustre on a commander. The bridges and roads in rear of the retreating army were left entire, while its progress was retarded with a useless and cumbersome load of baggage. . . . Tecumseh, with his red braves, made a very different stand against Colonel Richard Johnson. Unlike the pre- cipitate firing of the British infantry, these gallant savages reserved theirs till close pressed, then delivered volleys with deadly aim and effect. Embarrassed by the swamp. Colonel Johnson found it necessary to dismount his men. As soon as Governor Shelby heard the musketry from his station, the old soldier, eager for action, led up his men. After some time of close, sharp, and mutually de- structive fighting, the Indians were forced to give way, but not without sacrificing three times as many lives as the English, and leaving infinitely fewer prisoners as tro- phies to their conquerors. Active and conspicuous, in- vincible and exemplary, the valiant Tecumseh fought till he fell pierced with several balls and died a hero's death. The Indian chief on whom the savage command devolved deplored to General Harrison, after the battle, the treach- erous cowardice of their father, General Proctor, by which term of veneration he still mentioned that recreant supe- rior. . . . Ingersoll] the battle OF THE THAMES. 31 Colonel Richard Johnson's task in conflict with Tecum- seh was much longer, bloodier, and more difficult, though no bolder, than his brother's vanquishing the English. Whether with his own hand he killed the Indian chieftain is among the disputed occurrences of a conflict in which his conduct requires no additional celebrity. He was re- peatedly shot, and desperately wounded. . . . The battle of the Thames was our first regular and considerable victory. I have not attempted to describe its professional, or indeed particular, features; that having been done by so many others. Truth, always difficult of attainment, is hardly a rudiment of narration when in- volving personal animosities and vanities, exacerbated by national prejudices. In fact, no one person witnesses much of most battles, but must be content with various reports from others. Hence the English proverb that falsehood glares on every French bulletin. . . . The result of the Northwestern campaign was to relieve great regions from English power and Indian devastation. [Ingersoll proceeds to say, in justice to English soldiers, "Thou- sands of hard-fought fields in every quarter and with every people of the world, by land and sea, attest the stubborn valor of British troops. No history can deny their characteristic courage and forti- tude. But English murderers and thieves became cowards in Can- ada ; hard words, but true. To save themselves from retaliation, and their ill-got plunder from recapture, they laid down their arms to an inferior force of raw troops, while their commander fled in the first moment of encounter." During the period of the events above related, an Indian war was taking place in the South which was attended with the ordinary bar- barities of such outbreaks. Tecumseh, the bitter foe of the Ameri- cans and the head of the great Indian confederacy of the North, had used his influence to stir up the Southern tribes to war. His efforts proved successful with the Creeks, who took up the hatchet and made a sudden assault upon the settlements. Fort Mimms, in Alabama, in which many families of settlers had collected for safety, was taken by 33 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Brackenridge surprise, and its inmates, numbering nearly three hundred men, women, and children, were massacred with the usual cruelty of the Indians. General Andrew Jackson, the commander of .the Tennessee militia, immediately marched into the Creek country, and a series of battles commenced which ended in the complete subjection of the savages. General Coffee, with nine hundred men, surrounded a body of Indians at Tallusahatchee, and killed about two hundred, not a warrior escaping. The battles of Talladega, Autosse, Emucfau, and others followed, with defeat to the Indians, though with much loss to the Americans. The last fight took place at the Horse-Shoe Bend of the Tallapoosa. Here the Indian fort was carried by assault, and thL Indians, seeing no way of escape, continued to fight until nearly all were slain. This broke the power of the Creeks, and they soon after submitted to the whites.] THE CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. H. M. Brackenridgr [The war, during its first two years, was confined, as we have seen, to the Canada frontier and to naval conflicts. In the latter the Amer- icans had been remarkably successful. In the former the successes and failures were somewhat evenly balanced. Each side had invaded the territory of the other to some small distance, but at the opening of the campaign of 1814 the antagonists stood facing each other on their respective borders in much the same positions as at the opening of the war. There were important differences in the military situa- tion of both the combatants, however, and the year 1814 was destined to be one of bolder movements of invasion and more effective fight- ing. The fall of Napoleon in Europe had released the armies and fleets of England and permitted a more energetic prosecution of the war in America. On the other hand, the militia of America had been converted into regulars by two years' experience in fighting, while the " plentiful lack '' of the necessaries of war at the beginning of the conflict had been overcome sufficiently to put the American armies in efficient fighting condition. Brackenridge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 33 An act was passed increasing the regular army to sixty-six thou- sand men. At the same time propositions for peace were listened to, and commissioners appointed, consisting of John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and, afterwards, Albert Gallatin. These peace sessions were held at Gottenburg, the terms demanded by America being a discontinuance of search and impressment, while the offer was made to exclude British seamen from American vessels and to surrender deserters. Meanwhile, the war went on with new vigor. In the South Jack- son continued the conflict with the Creeks, until it was brought to a conclusion by his signal victory at Horse-Shoe Bend early in the year. In thp North an effort was made to retake Mackinaw, which proved a failure. Wilkinson made preparations for a reinvasion of Canada, but suffered himself to be so easily repulsed that he was tried for want of generalship before a court-martial. He was ac- quitted by the court, but condemned by public opinion. The active work of the Northern armies was performed on the line of the Niagara River, where the hardest fighting of the whole war took place. An invasion of Canada was still projected, as a prelimi- nary to which General Brown, in command of that division of the army, began operations in the section of country between Lakes Erie and Ontario. On the evening of July 2 he crossed the Niagara at Buffalo, and invested Fort Erie, which quickly surrendered. Ad- vancing from this point, he encountered the British force under Gen- eral Riall at Chippewa Creek. The American advance fell behind Street's Creek, where they were joined by the main body on the morning of the sth. While the brigade under General Scott was engaged in a dress-parade, the ad- vance of the British came up, and opened fire from behind the screen of trees that fringed the creek. Scott's men were already on the bridge, and as other troops were hurried up Riall's force was attacked with energy and effect. A furious battle ensued. The British line becoming somewhat separated, the exposed flank was attacked, and the gap widened. The line gave way before this assault, and was driven back in rout, Riall retreating with a part of his force to Bur- lington Heights, and sending the remainder to the forts at the mouth of the Niagara. Brown now determined to move upon Kingston by the lake shore, driving back the foe, and reducing the forts. But, failing to gain the expected co-operation from the fleet on the lake, and learning that Riall had readvanced to Queenstown and had been 3—3 34 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Brackenridge reinforced by General Drummond from York, he felt compelled to give up his project of invasion and withdraw from his advanced posi- tion to Chippewa. General Winfield Scott was sent forward with a corps of observation, and found himself suddenly confronted by the whole British force, drawn up at Lundy's Lane, near Niagara Falls. The fiercest land-battle of the war ensued, a description of which we select from Brackenridge's " History of the Late War between the United States and Great Britain."] Lieutenant-General Drummond, mortified that his veteran troops should have been beaten by what he consid- ered raw Americans, was anxious for an opportunity of re- trieving his credit. He had collected every regiment from Burlington and York, and, the lake being free, had been able to transport troops from Fort George, Kingston, and even Prescott. General Riall took post at Queenstown immediately after it was abandoned by the Americans in their retreat to Chippewa; thence he threw a strong de- tachment across the Niagara to Lewistown, to threaten the town of Schlosser, which contained the supplies of General Brown, and also his sick and wounded, and at the same time despatched a party in advance of him on the Niagara road. With the view of drawing ofif the enemy from his attempt on the village across the river. General Brown, having no means of transporting troops to its defence, directed General Scott to move towards Queens- town with his brigade, seven hundred strong, together with Towson's artillery and one troop of dragoons and mounted men. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the 2Sth, General Scott led his' brigade from the camp, and, after proceeding along the Niagara about two miles and a half from the Chippewa, and within a short distance of the cataracts, discovered General Riall on an eminence near Lundy's Lane, a position of great strength, where he had planted a battery of nine pieces of artillery, two of which were brass tv^renty-four-pounders. On reaching a Brackeneidge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 35 narrow strip of woods which intervened between the American and the British hne, Captains Harris and Pent- land, whose companies formed a part of the advance, and were first fired on, gallantly engaged the enemy. The latter now retreated, for the purpose of drawing the Amer- ican column to the post at Lundy's Lane. General Scott resolutely pressed forward, after despatching Major Jones to the commander-in-chief with intelligence that he had come up with the enemy. He had no sooner cleared the wood, and formed in line on a plain finely adapted to mili- tary manoeuvres, than a tremendous cannonade commenced from the enemy's battery, situated on their right, which was returned by Captain Towson, whose artillery were posted opposite and on the left of the American line, but without being able to bring his pieces to bear on the eminence. The action was continued for an hour, against a force three times that of the American brigade. The Eleventh and Twenty-Second Regiments having expended their am- munition. Colonel Brady and Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill being both severely wounded, and nearly all the other ofHcers either killed or wounded, they were withdrawn from action. Lieutenant Crawford, Lieutenant Sawyer, and a few other officers of those regiments attached them- selves to the Ninth, in such stations as were assigned them. This regiment, undef its gallant leader, Lieutenant- Colonel Leavenworth, was now obliged to bear the whole brunt of the action. Orders had been given him to ad- vance and charge on the height, and with the Eleventh and Twenty-Second Regiments to break the enemy's line ■ but, on information being communicated to General Scott of the shattered condition of the latter, the order was countermanded. Colonel Jesup, at the commencement of the action, had been detached, with the Twenty- Fifth Regi- ment, to attack the left of the enemy's line. 36 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Beackenridge The British now pressed forward on the Ninth Regi- ment, which with wonderful firmness withstood the attack of their overwhelming numbers. Being reduced at length to not more than one-half, and being compelled at every moment to resist fresh lines of the British, Colonel Leaven- worth despatched a messenger to General Scott to commu- nicate its condition. The general rode up in person, roused the flagging spirits of the brave men with the pleasing intelligence that reinforcements were expected every mo- ment, and besought them to hold their ground. Lieutenant Riddle, already well known as a reconnoitring officer, was the first to come to their assistance, having been drawn to the place by the sound of the cannon while on a scouring expedition in the neighboring country. The same circum- stance advised General Brown of the commencement of the action, and induced him to proceed rapidly to the scene, after giving orders to General Ripley to follow with the Second Brigade. He was already on his way when he met Major Jones, and, influenced by his communication, he despatched him to bring up General Porter's volunteers, together with the artillery. The situation of Scott's brigade was every moment be- coming more critical. Misled by the obstinacy of their resistance. General Riall overrated their force, and de- spatched a messenger to General Drummond, at Fort George, for reinforcements, notwithstanding that the number engaged on his side, thus far, had been more than double that of the Americans. During the period that both armies were waiting for reinforcements, a voluntary cessation from combat ensued; and for a time no sound broke upon the stillness of the night but the groans of the wounded, mingling with the distant thunder of the cataract of the Niagara. The silence was once more in- terrupted, and the engagement renewed with augmented Brackenridge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 37 vigor, on the arrival of General Ripley's brigade, Major Hindman's artillery, and General Porter's volunteers, and at the same time of Lieutenant-General Drummond with reinforcements to the British. The artillery were united to Towson's detachment, and soon came into action; Porter's brigade was deployed on the left, and Ripley's formed on the skirts of the wood, to the right of Scott's brigade. General Drummond took the com- mand in person of the front line of the enemy with his fresh troops. In the mean time. Colonel Jesup, who, as before men- tioned, had been ordered, at the commencement of the action, to take post on the right, had succeeded during the engagement, after a gallant contest, in turning the left flank of the enemy. Taking advantage of the dark- ness of the night, and the carelessness of the enemy in omitting to place a proper guard across a road on his left, he threw his regiment in the rear of their reserve, and, surprising one detachment after another, made prisoners of so many of their officers and men that his progress was greatly impeded by it. The laws of war would have justified him in putting them to death ; " but the laurel, in his opinion, was most glorious when entwined by the hand of mercy," and he generously spared them. One of his officers. Captain Ketchum, who had already distin- guished himself at the battle of Chippewa, had the good fortune to make a prisoner of General Riall, who on the arrival of General Drummond had been assigned to the command of the reserve, and also of Captain Loring, the aide of General Drummond. The latter was a most fortu- nate circumstance, as it prevented the concentration of the British forces contemplated by that officer, before the Americans were prepared for his reception. After has- tily disposing of his prisoners. Colonel Jesup felt his way 33 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Brackenridge through the darkness to the place where the hottest fire was kept up on the brigade to which he belonged, and, drawing up his regiment behind a fence, on one side of the Queenstown road, but in the rear of a party of British infantry posted on the opposite side of the same road, he surprised them by a fire so destructive that they instantly broke and fled. "The major," said General Brown, " showed himself to his own army in a blaze of fire." He received the applause of the general, and was ordered to form on the right of the Second Brigade General Ripley, seeing the impracticability of operating upon the enemy from the place at which he had been ordered to post his brigade, or of advancing from it in line through a thick wood in the impenetrable darkness of the night, determined, with that rapid decision which characterizes the real commander, to adopt the only meas- ure by which he saw a hope of saving the First Brigade from destruction, or of ultimately achieving the victory, and which, when made known to the commander-in-chief, was instantly sanctioned. The eminence occupied by the enemy's artillery was a key to the position. Addressing himself to Colonel Miller, the same who had distinguished himself at Magagua, he inquired whether he could storm the battery at the head of the Twenty-First Regiment, while he would himself support him with the younger regiment, the Twenty-Third. To this the wary but in- trepid veteran replied, in unaffected phrase, " / will try, sir," — words which were afterwards worn on the buttons of his regiment, — and immediately prepared for the ardu- ous effort, by placing himself directly in front of the hill. The Twenty-Third was formed in close column, by its commander. Major McFarland; and the First Regiment, under Colonel Nicholas, which had that day arrived from a long and fatiguing march, was left to keep the infantry Brackenridge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 39 in check. The two regiments moved on to one of the most perilous charges ever attempted, the whole of the artillery, supported by the fire of a powerful line of infan- try, pouring upon them as they advanced. The Twenty- First moved on steadily to its purpose : the Twenty-Third faltered on receiving the deadly fire of the enemy, but was soon rallied by the personal exertions of General Ripley. When within a hundred yards of the summit, they received another dreadful discharge, by which Major McFarland was killed, and the command of his regiment devolved on Alajor Brooks. To the amazement of the British, the intrepid Miller firmly advanced until within a few paces of their cannon, when he impetuously charged upon the artilleries, and, after a short but desperate re- sistance, carried the whole battery, and formed his line in its rear, upon the ground previously occupied by the British infantry. In carrying the largest pieces, the Twenty-First suffered severely: Lieutenant Cilley, after an unexampled effort, fell wounded by the side of the piece which he took; and there were few of the officers of this regiment who were not either killed or wounded. By the united efforts of these two regiments, and the bringing into line of the First, the fate of this bold as- sault was determined: the British infantry were in a short time driven down the eminence, out of the reach of musketry, and their own cannon turned upon them. This admirable effort completely changed the nature of the battle: every subsequent movement was directed to this point, as upon the ability to maintain it the result of the conflict entirely depended. Major Hindman was now ordered to bring up his corps, including Captain Towson's detachment, and post himself, with his own and the captured cannon, to the right of Ripley's brigade, and between it and the Twenty-Fifth, Jesup's regiment, while 40 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Brackenridge the volunteers of General Porter retained their position on the left of Scott's brigade. Stung with rage and mortification at this most extraor- dinary and successful exploit of the Americans, General Drummond, the British commander, now considered it absolutely essential to the credit of the British army, and to avoid insupportable disgrace, that the cannon and the eminence on which they were captured should be retaken. Having been greatly reinforced, he advanced upon Ripley with a heavy and extended line, outflanking him on both extremes. The Americans stood silently awaiting his ap- proach, which could only be discovered by the sound at- tending it, reserving their fire, in obedience to orders, until it could be effective and deadly. The whole division of the British now marched at a brisk step until within twenty paces of the summit of the height, when it poured in a rapid fire and prepared to rush forward with the bayonet. The American line, being directed by the fire of the enemy, returned it with deadly effect. The enemy were thereby thrown into momentary confusion, but, being rallied, returned furiously to the attack. A most tremen- dous conflict ensued, which for twenty minutes continued with violence indescribable. The British line was at last compelled to yield, and to retire down the hill. In this struggle General Porter's volunteers emulated the conduct of the regulars. The gallant Major Wood, of the Penn- sylvania corps, and Colonel Dobbin, of the New York, gave examples of unshaken intrepidity. It was not supposed, however, that this would be the last effort of the British general. General Ripley, there- fore, had the wounded transported to the rear, and in- stantly restored his line to order. General Scott's shat- tered brigade, having been consolidated into one battalion, had during this period been held in reserve behind the Brackenridge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 41 Second Brigade, under Colonel Leavenworth, Colonel Brady having been compelled, by the severity of his wound, to resign the command. It was now ordered to move to Lundy's Lane, and to form with its right towards the Niagara road and its left in the rear of the artillery. A.fter the lapse of half an hovir, General Drummond was heard again advancing to the assault with renovated vigor. The direction at first given by General Ripley was again observed. The fire of the Americans was dreadful; and the artillery of Major Hindman, which was served with great skill and coolness, would have taken away all heart from the British for this perilous enterprise, had not an example of bravery been set them by the Americans. After the first discharge, the British general threw him- self with his entire weight upon the centre of the Ameri- can line. He was firmly received by the gallant Twenty- First Regiment, a few platoons only faltering, which were soon restored by General Ripley. Finding that no im- pression could be made, the whole British line again re- coiled, and fell back to the bottom of the hill. During this second contest two gallant charges were led by Gen- eral Scott in person, the first upon the enemy's left and the second on his right ilank, with his consolidated bat- talion; but, having to oppose double lines of infantry, his attempts, which would have been decisive had they proved successful, were unavailing. Although he had most fortu- nately escaped unhurt thus far, subsequently, in passing to the right, he received two severe wounds : regardless of himself, however, he did not quit the field until he had directed Colonel Leavenworth to unite his battalion with the Twenty-Fifth Regiment, under the command of Colonel Jesup. Disheartened by these repeated defeats, the British were on the point of yielding the contest, when they received 42 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Brackenridge fresh reinforcements from Fort George, which revived their spirits and induced them to make another and still more desperate struggle. After taking an hour to refresh themselves and recover from their fatigue, they advanced with a still more extended line, and with confident hopes of being able to overpower the Americans. Our country- men, who had stood to their arms during all this time, were worn down with fatigue, and almost fainting with thirst, which there was no water at hand to quench. From the long interval which had elapsed since the second attack, they had begun to cherish hopes that the enemy had aban- doned a further attempt; but in this they were disap- pointed On the approach of the British for the third time, their courageous spirit returned, and they resolved never to yield the glorious trophies of their victory until they could contend no longer. The British delivered their fire at the same distance as on the preceding onsets. But, although it was returned with the same deadly effect, they did not fall back with the same precipitation as before; they steadily advanced, and repeated their discharge. A conflict, obstinate and dreadful beyond description, ensued. The Twenty-First, under its brave leader, firmly withstood the shock; and, although the right and left repeatedly fell back, they were as often rallied by the personal exertions of the general, and Colonels Miller, Nicholas, and Jesup. At length the two contending lines were on the very sum- mit of the hill, where the contest was waged with terrific violence at the point of the bayonet. Such was the obsti- nacy of the conflict that many battalions, on both sides, were forced back, and the opposing parties became mingled with each other. Nothing could exceed the desperation of the battle at the point where the cannon were stationed. The enemy having forced themselves into the very midst of Major Hindman's artillery, he was compelled to engage Brackenridge] the CHARGE AT LUNDY'S LANE. 43 them across the carriages and guns and at last to spike two of his pieces. General Ripley, having brought back the broken sections to their positions and restored the line, now pressed upon the enemy's flanks and compelled them to give way. The centre soon following the example, and the attack upon the artillery being at this moment repulsed, the whole British line fled a third time; and no exertions of their officers could restrain them until they had placed themselves out of reach of the musketry and artillery. The British now consented to relinquish their cannon, and retired beyond the borders of the field, leaving their dead and wounded. General Brown had received two severe wounds at the commencement of the last charge, and was compelled to retire to the camp at the Chippewa, leaving the command to General Ripley. The latter officer had made repeated efforts to obtain the means of removing the captured artil- lery ; but, the horses having been killed, and no drag-ropes being at hand, they were still on the place where they had been captured, when orders were received from General Brown to collect the wounded and return to camp imme- diately. The British cannon were therefore left behind, tJie smaller pieces having first been rolled down the hill. The whole of the troops reached the camp in good oider about midnight, after an unmolested march. [The British force engaged in this battle amounted to nearly five thousand men, the American to about two-thirds that number. The losses were severe, being eight hundred and seventy-eight men on the British and eight hundred and fifty-one on the American side, the proportion of officers killed and wounded being unusually large. After the battle the army was compelled to fall back to the camp on the Chippewa, for want of food and water. The enemy claimed the victory, on the plea of being left in occupation of the field. Ripley was severely blamed for not bringing off the guns captured by Mil- ler, and for a subsequent retreat to Fort Erie before the advancing 44 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing British, with what seemed unnecessary haste. He was, in conse- quence, removed from his command, which was given to General Gaines. Drummond followed the retiring Americans to Fort Erie, and made a midnight assault upon it, on August 14. This effort proved a disastrous failure, costing him nearly a thousand men. He then be- gan a regular siege of the fort, and brought his works so close that shells and hot shot were thrown daily into it. Drummond's camp was two miles in the rear, a third of his force being sent each day to work in the parallels. General Brown, who had sufficiently recovered from his wound received at Lundy's Lane to resume command, sent out, on September 17 a sudden sortie of two thousand men, which fell upon the British working-party, dismounted the guns, destroyed the works they had been forty-seven days in making, and diove them back with a loss of nine hundred men. This so disheartened Drummond that he abandoned the siege. Shortly afterwards the Americans destroyed Fort Erie and returned to their own soil. Thus ended the campaign on the Niagara, with no permanent advantage gained by either party.] THE CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON. Benson J. Lossing. [The final year of the war was distinguished by a greater invasive energy of the British forces than had previously characterized them. The American territory was entered at three different points, by way of Lake Champlain, of Chesapeake Bay, and of the Mississippi. The Northern movement was conducted by Sir George Prevost, who de- signed to follow the pathway so often adventured in preceding wars, and to penetrate New York at least as far as Crown Point. Chance favored his design, for the greater part of the garrison of Plattsburg was removed, late in August, to relieve General Brown at Fort Erie. General Macomb was left at Plattsburg with about twenty-five hun- dred men. To these he added reinforcements of three thousand militia on learning of Prevost's invasion. This was a small force to meet the army of fourteen thousand men with which Prevost ad- vanced along the shores of the lake. There accompanied him four Lossing] the capture OF WASHINGTON. 45 ships and twelve barges, under Captain Downie, with which he de- signed to master the American fleet on the lake. He did not dare leave this intact to threaten his communications. The American fleet consisted of ten gunboats and four larger ves- sels, under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough. These lay in the harbor at Plattsburg, near the fortifications which the Americans had constructed on the small peninsula at that point. Prevost proposed to take the fort by an attack from the rear, while Downie with the fleet should assail the American ships. He had little doubt of victory, not foreseeing how sturdy an antagonist he was destined to find in the youthful commander of the American fleet, or with what courage his attack on the small redoubts at Plattsburg would be repulsed. On September ii the British flotilla rounded Cumberland Head, and attacked the ships in the harbor, while simultaneously the troops on shore attempted to cross the Saranac River and assail the fort. Macdonough had drawn up his four vessels in line across the mouth of the harbor, with the gunboats inside and opposite the intervals between the larger vessels. The brunt of the battle was between the English flag-ship Confiance and the Saratoga on the American side. The first broadside from the Confiance struck down forty men on the Saratoga, and eventually every gun of her starboard battery was dis- abled. But Macdonough had prepared for this, and had laid out kedges by which he now swung his ship round and presented her lar- board battery at his antagonist. The Confiance attempted the same manoeuvre, but without success, and the raking fire which she re- ceived soon compelled her to strike her colors. The fight with the remainder of the fleet was equally successful for the Americans. Most of the galleys drifted out into the lake and escaped, but the other vessels of the fleet were forced to surrender. The victory on the lake was complete. Meanwhile, Prevost had not succeeded in crossing the Saranac in face of the American fire. On perceiving the loss of his fleet he desisted, recalled his troops, and gave up his project of invading New York. The gallant Macdonough, with a much smaller force in men and guns than his antagonist, had by his skilful dispositions and brave defence won an important vic- tory and completely disconcerted a deep-laid scheme of invasion. During the same period an attack was made on the capital city of Washington, which resulted disastrously to the Americans, and in a shameful instance of vandalism on the part of the British commanders. 46 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing During the summer the whole coast had been kept in a state of alarm by the British fleet, which had been largely reinforced, in con- sequence of the close of the war in Europe. Several places were taken, and many depredations committed on the coast, the only suc- cessful resistance being at Stonington, Connecticut. This town was bombarded for three days, fifty tons of iron in missiles being thrown into it. Yet it was so gallantly defended by about twenty men with two or three old guns that the fleet was finally forced to withdraw, with a loss of seventy men, while the loss of the defenders was only seven men wounded. Farther south the fleet of Admiral Cockburn for more than a year had harassed the coast of the Middle States, sending expeditions to plunder helpless villages or destroy plantations, with- out excuse or warrant in the laws of war. In August, General Ross, with thirty-five hundred veterans from Wellington's army, arrived in the Chesapeake and landed at Benedict on tbe Patuxent, forty miles below Washington. He was joined by one thousand marines from Cockburn's squadron. Though there was reason to expect some such movement, no efiicient preparation had been made for it. The only immediately available force was about five hundred regulars and two thousand militia, under General Winder. The progress of the in- vaders might have been easily stayed had the roads been obstructed by fallen trees, but no such steps were taken. Barney's fleet of gunboats was given to the flames, and Winder retreated to Bladensburg, where he drew up his small army in a commanding position, behind the creek at that point, and on hills in the rear. From Lossing's " Field-Book of the War of 1812 " we select a description of the succeeding events.] Such was the disposition of Winder's little army when, at noon, the enemy were seen descending the hills beyond Bladensburg and pressing on towards the bridge. At half- past twelve they were in the town, and came within range of the heavy guns of the first American line. The British commenced hurling rockets at the exposed Americans, and attempted to throw a heavy force across the bridge, but were driven back by their antagonists' cannon and forced to take shelter in the village and behind Lowndes's Hill, in the rear of it. Again, after due preparation, they advanced in double-quick time ; and, when the bridge was LossiNG] THE CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. 47' crowded with them, the artillery of Winder's first and sec- ond lines opened upon them with terrible effect, sweeping down a whole company. The concealed riflemen, under Pinkney, also poured deadly volleys into their exposed ranks; but the British, continually reinforced, pushed gallantly forward, some over the bridge, and some fording the stream above it, and fell so heavily upon the first and unsupported line of the Americans that it was compelled to fall back upon the second. A company, whose commander is unnamed in the reports of the battle, were so panic- stricken that they fled after the first fire, leaving their guns to fall into the hands of the enemy. The first British brigade was now over the stream, and, elated by their success, did not wait for the second. They threw away their knapsacks and haversacks, and pushed up the hill to attack the American second line in the face of an annoying fire from Captain Burch's artillery. They weakened their force by stretching out so as to form a front equal to that of their antagonists. It was a blunder which Winder quickly perceived and took advantage of. He was then at the head of Sterett's regiment. With this and some of Stansbury's militia, who behaved gal- lantly, he not only checked the enemy's advance, but, at the point of the bayonet, pressed their attenuated line so strongly that it fell back to the thickets on the brink of the river, near the bridge, where it maintained its position most obstinately until reinforced by the Second Brigade. Thus strengthened, it again pressed forward, and soon turned the left flank of the Americans, and at the same time sent a flight of hissing rockets over and very near the centre and right of Stansbury's line. The frightened regiments of Schutz and Ragan broke, and fled in the wildest confusion. Winder tried to rally them, but in vain. Sterett's corps maintained their ground gallantly until the 48 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing enemy had gained both their flanks, when Winder ordered them and the supporting artillery to retire up the hill. They, too, became alarmed, and the retreat, covered by riflemen, was soon a disorderly flight. The first and second line of the Americans having been dispersed, the British, flushed with success, pushed for- ward to attack the third. Peter's artillery annoyed but did not check them; and the left, under the gallant Colo- nel Thornton, soon confronted Barney, in the centre, who maintained his position like a genuine hero, as he was. His eighteen-pounders enfiladed the Washington road, and with them he swept the highway with such terrible efifect that the enemy filed off into a field and attempted to turn Barney's right flank. There they were met by three twelve-pounders and marines under Captains Miller and Sevier, and were badly cut up. They were driven back to the ravine already mentioned as the duelling-ground, leaving several of their wounded officers in the hands of the Americans. Colonel Thornton, who bravely led the attacking column, was severely wounded, and General Ross had his horse shot under him. The flight of Stansbury's troops left Barney unsupported in that direction, while a heavy column was hurled against Beall and his militia, on the right, with such force as to disperse them. The British light troops soon gained po- sition on each flank, and Barney himself was severely wounded near a living fountain of water on the estate of the late Mr. Rives, which is still known as Barney's Spring. When it became evident that Minor's Virginia troops could not arrive in time to aid the gallant flotilla-men, who were obstinately maintaining their position against fearful odds, and that further resistance would be useless, Winder or- dered a general retreat. The commodore, too severely hurt to be moved, became a prisoner of war, but was im- WIN FIELD SCOTT. Lossing] the capture OF WASHINGTON. 49 mediately paroled by General Ross, and sent to Bladens- burg after his wound was dressed by a British surgeon. There he was joined by his wife and son and his own sur- geon, and on the 27th was conveyed to his farm at Elk- ridge, in Maryland. The great body of Americans who were not dispersed retreated towards Montgomery Court- House, in Maryland, leaving the battle-field in full posses- sion of the enemy, and their way to the national capital unobstructed except by the burning of the two bridges over the eastern branch of the Potomac. The Americans lost twenty-six killed and fifty-one wounded. The British loss was manifold greater. According to one of their offi- cers who was in the battle, and yet living (Mr. Gleig, Chaplain-General of the British army), it was " upward of five hundred killed and wounded," among them " sev- eral officers of rank and distinction." The battle com- menced at about noon, and ended at four o'clock. Up to this time the conduct of the British had been in accordance with the rules of modern warfare. Now they abandoned them, and on entering the national capital they performed deeds worthy only of barbarians. In a procla- mation issued by the President on the ist of September he submitted the following indictment : " They wantonly destroyed the public edifices, having no relation in their structure to operations of war, nor used at the time for military annoyance; some of these edifices being also costly monuments of taste and of the arts, and others depositories of the public archives, not only precious to the nation as the memorials of its origin and its early transactions, but interesting to all nations as contributions to the general stock of historical instruction and political science." Let us briefly examine the testimony of history. When Ross was assured of complete victory, he halted his army a short time on the field of battle, and then, 3—4 50 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing with the fresh Third Brigade, which had not been in the conflict, he crossed the Eastern Branch Bridge. Assured of the retreat of the Americans beyond Georgetown, Ross left the main body a mile and a half from the Capitol, and entered the town, then containing about nine hundred buildings. He came to destroy the public property there. It was an errand, it is said, not at all coincident with his taste or habits, and what was done by him appears to have been performed as humanely as the orders of his superiors would allow. When, on his arrival in the Chesapeake, he had been informed by Admiral Cochrane that he (the ad- miral) had been urged by Sir George Prevost, the Gov- ernor-General of Canada (who was not satisfied with the terrible devastation of the Niagara frontier at the close of 1813), to retaliate in kind upon the Americans for the de- struction of the government buildings at York and the village of Newark, he demurred, saying that they had carried on the war on the Peninsula and in France with a very different spirit, and that he could not sanction the destruction of public or private property, with the ex- ception of military structures and warlike stores. " It was not," says one of Ross's surviving aides. Sir Duncan McDougall, in a letter to the author in 1861, " until he was warmly pressed that he consented to destroy the Capitol and President's house, for the purpose of preventing a repetition of the uncivilized proceedings of the troops of the United States." Fortunately for Ross's sensibility, there was a titled incendiary at hand in the person of Admiral Sir George Cockburn, who delighted in such inhuman work, and who literally became his torch-bearer. The bulk of the invaders, having crossed the Eastern Branch, halted upon the plain between the Capitol and the site of the Congressional Burying-Ground, when General Ross, accompanied by Cockburn and a guard of two hun- Lossing] the capture OF WASHINGTON. 51 dred men, rode into the city at eight o'clock in the even- ing. They were fired upon from behind the house of Robert Sewell, near the Capitol, by a single musket, and the horse on which the general was riding was killed. Mr. Sewell's house was immediately destroyed. The same fate awaited the materials in the office of the National In- telligencer, the government organ, whose strictures on the brutality of Cockburn had filled that marauder with hoi anger. These, and some houses on Capitol Hill, a large rope-walk, and a tavern, comprised the bulk of private property destroyed, thanks to the restraining power oi General Ross. Several houses and stores were also plun- dered. The unfinished Capitol, in which was the library of Congress, the President's house, a mile distant, the Treasury buildings, the Arsenal, and barracks for almost three thousand troops, were soon in flames, whose light was plainly seen in Baltimore, about forty miles north- ward. In the course of a few hours nothing of the superb Capitol and the Presidential mansion was left but their smoke-blackened walls. Of the public buildings only the Patent Office was saved. All the glory that the British had won on the battle- field was lost in this barbarian conflagration. " Willingly," said the London Statesman newspaper, " would we throw a veil of oblivion over our transactions at Washington. The Cossacks spared Paris, but we spared not the capital of America." The British Annual Register for 1814 de- nounced the proceedings as a " return to the times of bar- barism." " It cannot be concealed," the writer continued, "that the extent of devastation practised by the victors brought a heavy censure upon the British character, not only in America, but on the continent of Europe." Con- tinental writers and speakers condemned the act in un- measured terms; and yet the government of England, 53 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing which had seldom represented the sentiments of the people, caused the Tower guns to be fired in honor of Ross's vic- tory, thanked the actors through Parliament, decreed a monument to that general in Westminster Abbey at his death, and, making additions to his armorial bearings, authorized his descendants forever to style themselves " Ross of Bladensburg " ! While the public buildings in Washington were in flames, the national shipping, stores, and other property were blazing at the navy-yard; also the great bridge over the Potomac, from Washington City to the Virginia shore. Commodore Thomas Tingey was in command of the navy- yard, and, before the battle, had received orders to set fire to the public property there in the event of the British gaining a victory, so as to prevent its falling into the hands of the invaders. Tingey delayed the execution of the order for four hours after the contingency had oc- curred. When, at half-past eight in the evening, he was informed that the enemy was encamped within the city limits, near the Capitol, he applied the torch, and property valued at about a million of dollars was destroyed. The schooner Lynx was saved, and most of the metallic work at the navy-yard remained but little injured. The fine naval monument [to the officers who fell at Tripoli] was somewhat mutilated, but whether accidentally at the time of the conflagration, or wantonly by the British, who went there the next day to complete the destructive work, is an unsettled question. At the same time, the Long Bridge over the Potomac was fired at both ends. The Americans on the Virginia side thought a large body of British troops were about to pass over, and fired that end to foil them, while the British on the city side, perceiving, as they thought, a large body of Americans about to cross over from the Virginia side, fired the Maryland end of the LossingJ the capture OF WASHINGTON. 53 bridge. The value of the entire amount of property de^ stroyed at Washington by the British and Americans was estimated at about two million dollars. The walls of the Capitol and President's house stood firm, and were used in rebuilding. President Madison, and other civil officers who went out to see the fight and give such assistance as they might, remained on the field until Barney fell, when they fled to the city as fast as swift-footed horses could carry them, and were among the first to announce the startling intelli- gence that the British, victorious, were probably marching on the town. Mrs. Madison had already been apprised of the danger. When the flight of Congreve rockets caused the panic-stricken militia to fly, the President sent mes- sengers to inform her that the defeat of the Americans and the capture of the city seemed to be promised, and to advise her to fly to a place of safety. These messengers reached her between two and three o'clock. Mrs. Madison ordered her carriage, and sent away in a wagon silver plate and other valuables, to be deposited in the Bank of Mary- land. She anxiously waited for her husband, and in the mean time took measures for preserving the full-length portrait of Washington, painted by Stuart, which hung in the Presidential mansion. Finding the process of un- screwing the frame from the wall too tedious for the exi- gency, she had it broken in pieces, and the picture removed with the " stretcher," or light frame on which the canvas was nailed. This she did with her own hands. Just as she had accomplished so much, two gentlemen from New York, one of whom was the now [1867] venerable New Orleans banker, Jacob Barker, entered the room. The picture was lying on the floor. The sounds of ap- proaching troops were heard. They might be the in- vaders, who would be delighted by the possession of so 54 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing notable a captive as the beautiful wife of the President. It was time for her to fly. " Save that picture," she said to Mr. Barker and Mr. R. G. L. De Peyster, his companion, — ■" save that picture, if possible ; if not possible, destroy it: under no circumstances allow it to fall into the hands of the British." Then, snatching up the precious parch- ment on which was written the Declaration of Indepen- dence and the autographs of the signers, which she had resolved to save also, she hastened to the carriage with her sister (Mrs. Cutts) and her husband and two servants, and was borne away to a place of safety beyond the Potomac. Just as Barker and De Peyster had taken the picture from the stretcher and rolled it up, a portion of the flying American army came up, and halted in front of the Presi- dent's house. Some refreshments were given to them, when they marched up towards Montgomery Court-House, the appointed place of rendezvous for the broken army, followed by those gentlemen with the picture. They left it in charge of a farmer in whose house they lodged that night, and a few weeks afterwards Mr. Barker restored the portrait to Mrs. Madison. It now hangs upon the wall in the Blue Room of the Presidential mansion. It was not the design of the British to hold the territory which they had, unexpectedly to themselves, acquired. Indeed, the whole movement up the Chesapeake was originally intended as a feint, — a menace of Baltimore and Washington, to engage the attention of the government and people, and to draw in that direction the military force of the country, while the far more important measure of invading Louisiana with a formidable force and taking possession of the Mississippi Valley should be matured and executed. Accordingly, when Winder's forces were defeated and routed, the President and his Cabinet driven Lossing] the capture OF WASHINGTON. 55 from the national capital, and the public buildings de- stroyed, the .invaders retreated precipitately, evidently in the fear of a reactive blow. While the British cabinet, judging from metropolitan influence in European coun- tries, were disposed to believe that, with the loss of their capital, the Americans would consider all gone, and would yield in despair to their victors, those conquerors, on the spot, saw too well the danger to be apprehended from the spirit of a people aroused to greater exertions, and with more united energy, because of that very misfortune. Impressed with a sense of this danger, Ross and Coch- rane moved away with their forces with great secrecy on the night of the 25th of August, after ordering every in- habitant of Washington to remain within-doors from sun- set to sunrise, on pain of death, and increasing their camp- fires, so as to deceive the Americans. It was immediately after the passage of a terrific tempest of wind, lightning, and rain, during which houses were unroofed and trees were uprooted. Softly these victors stole away in the gloom. " No man spoke above his breath," says one of the British officers who was present. " Our very steps were planted lightly, and we cleared the town without exciting observation." At midnight, just as the moon arose and cast a pale light over the scenes, they passed the battle-field and Bladensburg, leaving their dead un- buried, and full ninety of their wounded to the humanity of Commodore Barney and his men. It was humiliating to the British troops thus to steal away in the dark from the field of their conquest. They moved sullenly onward, so wearied with fatigue and loss of sleep that when the columns halted for a few minutes the roads would be filled with sleeping soldiers. At seven o'clock in the morning, finding themselves but little annoyed by pursuers, they halted for rest and refreshments for several hours. At 56 . THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleig noon they moved forward, encamped at Marlborough, and, marching leisurely, reached Benedict on the 29th, where they embarked on the transports the next day. [This invasion was followed by a similar one directed against Balti- more. On September 6 Cockburn's fleet sailed up the Chesapeake, and entered the Patapsco on the nth. Nine thousand men were landed at North Point, twelve miles below Baltimore. They found their task more difficult than that at Washington. General Ross was mortally wounded by a sharp-shooter, and for three hours the British were successfully resisted by three thousand volunteers, under General Strieker. Finally their right wing was turned, and they were forced to fall back. The invaders followed on the next day, but, finding their opponents reinforced and strongly posted, they did not venture on an attack, but withdrew in the darkness of the ensuing night. Meanwhile, the fleet for twenty-four hours bombarded Fort Mc- Henry and the adjoining intrenchments, from a distance beyond the reach of the guns of the fort. At night the fleet landed a force to attack the forts in the rear. It was met. however, with a shower of red-hot shot, and forced to retreat with severe loss. This ended the effort, and Cockburn retired with the fleet and army.] THE DEFENCE OF NEW ORLEANS, G. R. Gleig. [As a preliminary to the subject of this article a review of the prin- cipal naval events of the years 1813 and 1814 may be given. Many desperate ocean-fights took place during these years, though not with the uniform success for the Americans of those of 1812. The conflict between the Hornet and the Peacock, on February 24, 1813, we have already mentioned. On June i, the Chesapeake, lying in Boston har- bor, accepted the challenge to battle of the British frigate Shannon, and put to sea, though in no proper condition for fighting. In the battle that ensued the Chesapeake suffered severely ; all her higher ofii- cers were killed and wounded, Lawrence, the captain, being mortally Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 57 wounded early in the action. His dying words, " Don't give up the ship," were afterwards displayed on Captain Perry's standard in the battle of Lake Erie, and have become the motto of the American navy. The Chesapeake was, after being disabled, boarded and forced to sur- render. In August the British brig Pelican captured the American brig Argus, which had previously captured more than twenty vessels in the English Channel. In September the Americans gained a naval victory, the brig Enterprise capturing the brig Boxer, after a severe battle of forty minutes' duration. During the summer the frigate Essex, under Captain Porter, cruised in the Pacific, and captured a great number of British vessels. Early in the succeeding year she was attacked in the harbor of Valparaiso by the frigate Phoebe and the sloop Cherub, the two being superior to her in force. The Essex was desperately defended, and did not yield till almost cut to pieces. During the year the ocean swarmed with American privateers, which occasionally did not hestitate to attack war-vessels. The pri- vateer Decatur captured the war-schooner Dominica, and the fishing- smack Yankee, with forty men, surprised and captured, off Sandy Hook, the sloop-of-war Eagle. In March, 1813, the blockade of the coast was extended from Montauk Point, Long Island, to the mouth of the Mississippi, though the British squadron under Admiral War- ren was inadequate to make this more than a " paper blockade." The Macedonian, United States, and Hornet were chased into New Lon- don harbor by a British squadron, and so diligently blockaded that they were not able to put to sea again. Meanwhile, Admiral Cock- burn, Warren's second in command, raided the coast from Delaware to North Carolina, making piratical descents and destroying the prop- erty of the defenceless inhabitants with cruel and useless barbarity. In 1814 the American navy achieved some brilliant successes. The sloop Peacock captured the brig Epervier, while the Wasp captured the Reindeer and sunk the Avon. The privateer General Armstrong was attacked in the port of Fayal by a British fleet, and an attempt made to cut her out by boats. The result was disastrous to her ene- mies, who were driven off with a loss of one hundred and twenty killed and ninety wounded, while the loss on the privateer was only two killed and nine wounded. Seeing that it would be impossible to save her, the captain and crew left the Armstrong, setting her on fire, and took refuge in a deserted convent on shore, in anticipation of an attack. This, however, the protest of the authorities prevented the British from making. Several hard- fought naval battles took place after peace 58 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleig was declared, but before the ships at sea could be informed of this fact. The President fought the Endymion to a wreck, but before she could take possession of her as a prize she was herself captured by a British squadron. In February, 1815, the Constitution captured the Cyane and Levant off the island of Madeira, and in March the Hornet captured the Penguin off the coast of Brazil. In both these cases the captured vessels were stronger than their captors. In addition to these naval contests, one of the most notable land- battles of the war, that of New Orleans, was fought after the declara- tion of peace. This severe conflict we may more particularly describe. After the destruction of Washington and the assault on Baltimore, the British fleet sailed south, and in December appeared off Pensacola, which city General Jackson had previously taken by storm and pre- vented its being made a harbor for British ships of war. As it ap- peared that an attack on New Orleans was intended, Jackson hastened to this city. Here he found the utmost confusion and alarm prevail- ing. By stringent exertions, however, order was restored, the militia organized, fortifications built, and finally martial law proclaimed. On December lo the British fleet entered Lake Borgne, where a squadron of gunboats was captured. After much difficulty, a portion of the British army reached the Mississippi at a point nine miles below New Orleans, where, on the 23d of December, a night-attack was made on them. This they repelled, losing four hundred men in killed and wounded. Jackson then withdrew to his intrenchments, four miles below the city. These works, partly made of cotton-bales, were unsuccessfully cannonaded by the enemy on December 28 and Janu- ary I. Finally, on January 8, the British army, twelve thousand strong (or six thousand, as stated by the British author of the fol- lowing article), under General -Packenham, advanced to the assault of these works, which were defended by six thousand militia, most of them adepts in the use of the rifle. The story, of Jackson's gallant defence of New Orleans has been so often told from the American point of view that we select a de- scription of it from a British author, who himself took part in the battle. His story is picturesque and impartial, and his work as a whole a highly interesting personal narrative of the later events of the war. The work in question is " The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans," by Rev. G. R. Gleig.] It was a clear frosty morning, the mists had dispersed, Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 59 and the sun shone brightly upon our arms when we began our march. The enemy's corps of observation fell back as we advanced, without offering in any way to impede our progress, and it was impossible to guess, ignorant as we were of the position of his main body, at what mo- ment opposition might be expected. Nor, in truth, was it matter of much anxiety. Our spirits, in spite of the troubles of the night, were good, and our expectations of success were high, consequently many rude jests were bandied about, and many careless words spoken ; for sol- diers are, of all classes of men, the freest from care, and on that account, perhaps, the most happy. By being continually exposed to it, danger, with them, ceases to be frightful; of death they have no more terror than the beasts that perish ; and even hardships, such as cold, wet, hunger, and broken rest, lose at least part of their dis- agreeableness by the frequency of their recurrence Moving on in this merry mood, we advanced about four or five miles without the smallest check or hindrance; when, at length, we found ourselves in view of the enemy's army, posted in a very advantageous manner. About forty yards in their front was a canal, which extended from the morass to within a short distance of the high- road. Along their line were thrown up breastworks, not indeed completed, but even now formidable. Upon the road and at several other points were erected powerful batteries ; whilst the ship, with a large flotilla of gunboats, flanked the whole position from the river. When I say that we came in sight of the enemy, I do not mean that he was gradually exposed to us in such a manner as to leave time for cool examination and reflec- tion. On the right, indeed, he was seen for some time, but on the left a few houses built at a turning in the road entirely concealed him ; nor was it till they had gained that 60 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleig turning, and beheld the muzzles of his guns pointed towards them, that those who moved in this direction were aware of their proximity to danger. But that danger was indeed near they were quickly taught ; for scarcely had the head of the column passed the houses when a deadly fire was opened from both the battery and the shipping. That the Americans are excellent marksmen, as well with ar- tillery as with rifles, we have had frequent cause to ac- knowledge; but perhaps on no occasion did they assert their claim to the title of good artillerymen more effect- ually than on the present. Scarcely a ball passed over or fell short of its mark, but all, striking full into the midst of our ranks, occasioned terrible havoc. The shrieks of the wounded, therefore, the crash of firelocks, and the fall of such as were killed, caused at first some little con- fusion; and what added to the panic was, that from the houses beside which we stood bright flames suddenly burst out. The Americans, expecting this attack, had filled them with combustibles for the purpose, and, di- recting against them one or two guns loaded with red-hot shot, in an instant set them on fire. The scene was alto- gether very sublime. A tremendous cannonade mowed down our ranks and deafened us with its roar; whilst two large chateaux and their outbuildings almost scorched us with the flames and blinded us with the smoke which they emitted. The infantry, however, was not long suffered to remain thus exposed; but, being ordered to quit the path and to form line in the fields, the artillery was brought up, and opposed to that of the enemy. But the contest was in every respect unequal, since their artillery far exceeded ours, both in numerical strength and weight of metal. The consequence was that in half an hour two of our field- pieces and one field-mortar were dismounted; many of Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 61 the gunners were killed; and the rest, after an ineffectual attempt to silence the fire of the shipping, were obliged to retire. In the mean time the infantry, having formed line, ad- vanced under a heavy discharge of round and grape shot, till they were checked by the appearance of the canal. Of its depth they were of course ignorant, and to attempt its passage without having ascertained whether it could be forded might have been productive of fatal consequences. A halt was accordingly ordered, and the men were com- manded to shelter themselves as well as they could from the enemy's fire. For this purpose they were hurried into a wet ditch, of sufficient depth to cover the knees, where, leaning forward, they concealed themselves be- hind some high rushes which grew upon its brink, and thus escaped many bullets which fell around them in all directions. Thus fared it with the left of the army, whilst the right, though less exposed to the cannonade, was not more suc- cessful in its object. The same impediment which checked one column forced the other likewise to pause ; and after having driven in an advanced body of the enemy, and en- deavored, without effect, to penetrate through the marsh, It also was commanded to halt. In a word, all thought of attacking was for this day abandoned; and it now only remained to withdraw the troops from their present peril- ous position with as little loss as possible. The first thing to be done was to remove the dismounted gnns. Upon this enterprise a party of seamen were em- ployed, who, running forward to the spot where they lay, lifted them, in spite of the whole of the enemy's fire, and bore them off in triumph. As soon as this was effected, regiment after regiment stole away, not in a body, but one by one, under the same discharge which saluted their ap- 62 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleig proach. But a retreat thus conducted necessarily occupied much time. Noon had therefore long passed before the last corps was brought ofi; and when we again began to muster, twilight was approaching. We did not, however, retire to our former position ; but, having fallen back only about two miles from the canal, where it was supposed that we should be beyond reach of annoyance from the American artillery, we there established ourselves for the night, having suffered less during the day than, from our exposed position and the enemy's heavy fire, might have been expected. [During the succeeding days, December 29 and 30, the army lay en- camped, some unsuccessful efforts being made to find a path through the morass by which the American left might be turned. Meanwhile, Jackson actively strengthened his position, and by elevating his guns managed to throw balls into the British camp. It was evident that every day's delay decreased the chances of success. Yet what to do was not apparent. An endeavor to storm the American lines seemed too desperate to be undertaken. It was impossible to turn them, and the Americans were not to be drawn from their intrenchments. But one course remained, — to erect breaching-batteries and attempt to silence some of their guns.] To this plan, therefore, our leader had recourse; and, in consequence, the whole of these three days were em- ployed in landing heavy cannon, bringing up ammunition, and making such preparations as might have sufficed for a siege. At length, having completed his arrangements, and pro- vided such means as were considered sufficient to insure success. General Packenham determined to commence oper- ations without delay. One-half of the army was accord- ingly ordered out on the night of the 31st, and marched to the front, passing the pickets, and halting about three hundred yards from the enemy's line. Here it was re- solved to throw up a chain of works, and here the greater Gleig] the defence OP NEW ORLEANS. 63 part of this detachment, laying down their firelocks, ap- plied themselves vigorously to their tasks, whilst the rest stood armed and prepared for their defence. The night was dark, and our people maintained a pro- found silence; by which means, not an idea of what was going on existed in the American camp. As we labored, too, with all diligence, six batteries were completed long before dawn, in which v^ere mounted thirty pieces of heavy cannon; when, falling back a little way, we united our- selves to the remainder of the infantry, and lay down behind some rushes, in readiness to act as soon as we should be wanted. In the erection of these batteries a circumstance oc- curred worthy of notice, on account of its singularity. I have already stated that the whole of this district was covered with the stubble of sugar-cane ; and I might have added that every storehouse and barn attached to the different mansions scattered over it was filled with barrels of sugar. In throwing up these works the sugar was used instead of earth. Rolling the hogsheads towards the front, they were placed upright in the parapets of the batteries ; and it was computed that sugar to the value of many thousand pounds sterling was thus disposed of. [It was a singular circumstance that batteries of cotton-bales on the one side should be opposed by batteries of sugar-hogsheads on the other ; though neither proved very suitable for the purpose. Jackson's cotton-bales proved so inefficient that it became necessary to replace them with a bank of river mud. The morning of the ist of January was misty. As the mist rose, the American regiments were discov- ered on parade, and were so taken by surprise on the opening of the British cannonade as to be thrown into utter confusion. A charge in force at that moment might have proved successful.] Whilst this consternation prevailed among the infantry, their artillery remained silent; but as soon as the former 64 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleiq rallied they also recovered confidence, and answered our salute with great rapidity and precision. A heavy can- nonade quickly commenced on both sides, and continued during the whole of the day, till, towards evening, our ammunition began to fail, and our fire in consequence to slacken. The fire of the Americans, on the other hand, was redoubled : landing a number of guns from the flotilla, they increased their artillery to a prodigious amount ; and, directing at the same time the whole force of their cannon on the opposite bank against the flank of our batteries, they soon convinced us that all endeavors to surpass them in this mode of fighting would be useless. Once more, therefore, were we obliged to retire, leaving our heavy guns to their fate; but, as no attempt was made by the Americans to secure them, working parties were again sent out after dark, and such as had not been destroyed were removed. [So far all efforts had proved abortive. The army was worn out with fatigue, provisions, which had to be derived from the distant ships, were coarse and scanty, and murmurs of discouragement were heard throughout the camp. Not only were they annoyed by the constant play of the American guns, which was kept up day and night, but they were exposed to a deadly fire from the opposite side of the river, where a battery of eighteen pieces of artillery had been mounted which swept the British camp. The affair was growing daily more desperate, and success or retreat would soon be necessary. Under these circumstances, Packenham determined to cut a canal by which boats might be brought up from the lake, to send a detachment over the river and take the battery there placed, and to turn its guns on the American works at the same moment that he assailed them in front. It was a well-devised scheme, but proved unsuccessful. The canal was finished by the 6th of January, but in taking the boats through part of the banks caved in, so that only the light boats could pass. Thus, instead of the designed fourteen hundred men, only three hundred and forty crossed the river, and these were so late in start- ing that day was dawning when they rowed out on the Mississippi. 0:; o Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 65 The 8th of January was the day fixed on for the assault, and at day- break the signal -rocket was fired. But the boat-party was yet four miles from the battery which it should have been in possession of hours before had all gone well. The attack on the battery was suc- cessful, but it was too late to be of service to the main body.] In the mean time, the main body arrived and moved for- ward some way in front of the pickets. There they stood waiting for daylight, and listening with the greatest anx- iety for the firing which ought now to be heard on the opposite bank. But their attention was exerted in vain, and day dawned upon them long before they desired its appearance. Nor was Sir Edward Packenham disap-- pointed in this part of his plan alone. Instead of per- ceiving everything in readiness for the assault, he saw his troops in battle-array, but not a ladder or fascine uoon the field. The 44th, which was appointed to carry them, had either misunderstood or neglected their orders, and now headed the column of attack without any means being provided for crossing the enemy's ditch or scaling his rampart. The indignation of our brave leader on this occasion may be imagined, but cannot be described. Galloping to- wards Colonel Mullens, who led the 44th, he commanded him instantly to return with his regiment for the ladders ; but the opportunity of planting them was lost, and though they were brought up, it was only to be scattered over the field by the frightened bearers. For our troops were by this time visible to the enemy. A dreadful fire was accordingly opened upon them, and they were mowed down by hundreds, while they stood waiting for orders. Seeing that all his well-laid plans were frustrated, Pack- enham gave the word to advance, and the other regiments, leaving the 44th with the ladders and fascines behind them, rushed on to the assault. On the left, a detachment under 3—S 66 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleig Colonel Rennie, of the 21st regiment, stormed a three-gun battery, and took it. Here they remained for some time in expectation of support; but, none arriving, and a strong column of the enemy forming for its recovery, they de- termined to anticipate the attack, and pushed on. The battery which they had taken was in advance of the body of the works, being cut ofif from it by a ditch, across which only a single plank was thrown. Along this plank did these brave men attempt to pass ; but, being opposed by overpowering numbers, they were repulsed; and the Americans, in turn, forcing their way into the battery, at length succeeded in recapturing it with immense slaughter. On the right, again, the 21st and 4th, supported by the 93d, though thrown into some confusion by the enemy's fire, pushed on with desperate gallantry to the ditch; but to scale the parapet without ladders was a work of no slight difficulty. Some few, indeed, by mounting upon one another's shoulders, succeeded in entering the works, but these were speedily overpowered, most of them killed, and the rest taken ; whilst as many as stood without were exposed to a sweeping fire, which cut them down by whole companies. It was in vain that the most obstinate courage was displayed. They fell by the hands of men whom they absolutely did not see ; for the Americans, without so much as lifting their faces above the rampart, swung their fire- locks by one arm over the wall, and discharged them di- rectly upon their heads. The whole of the guns, likewise, from the opposite bank, kept up a well-directed and deadly cannonade upon their flank ; and thus were they destroyed without an opportunity being given of displaying their valor or obtaining as much as revenge. Sir Edward saw how things were going, and did all that a general could do to rally his broken troops. Riding towards the 44th, which had returned to the ground, but Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 67 in great disorder, he called out for Colonel Mullens to ad- vance ; but that officer had disappeared, and was not to be found He therefore prepared to lead them on himself, and had put himself at their head for that purpose, when he received a slight wound in the knee from a musket-ball, which killed his horse. Mounting another, he again headed the 44th, when a second ball took effect more fatally, and he dropped lifeless into the arms of his aide-de-camp. Nor were Generals Gibbs and Keane inactive. Riding through the ranks, they strove by all means to encourage the assailants and recall the fugitives; till at length both were wounded, and borne off the field. All was now con- fusion and dismay. Without leaders, ignorant of what was to be done, the troops first halted and then began to retire, till finally the retreat was changed into a flight, and they quitted the ground in the utmost disorder. But the retreat was covered in gallant style by the reserve. Making a forward movement, the 7th and 43d presented the appearance of a renewed attack; by which the enemy were so much awed that they did not venture beyond their lines in pursuit of the fugitives. [Meanwhile, the assault on the batteries on the opposite side of the river proved successful ; but it was made too late to be of service to the charging army. The Americans, surprised and dismayed by this unexpected attack upon their rear, yielded to a smaller force, and deserted their cannon.] In this affair our loss amounted to only three men killed and about forty wounded, among the latter of whom was Colonel Thornton Nor could the loss on the part of the enemy greatly exceed our own. Had they stood firm, indeed, it is hardly conceivable that so small a force could have wrested an intrenched position from numbers so superior; at least it could not have done so without 68 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Gleio much bloodshed. But they were completely surprised. An attack on this side was a circumstance of which they had not dreamed; and when men are assaulted in a point which they deem beyond the reach of danger it is well known that they defend themselves with less vigor than where such an event was anticipated. When in the act of storming these lines, the word was passed through our ranks that all had gone well on the opposite bank. This naturally added to the vigor of the assault; but we had not followed our flying enemy above two miles when we were commanded to halt. The real state of the case had now reached us, and the same mes- senger who brought the melancholy news brought likewise an order to return. The place where we halted was in rear of a canal, across which was thrown a wooden bridge, furnishing apparently the only means of passing. At the opposite end of this bridge stood a collection of wooden cottages, and one chateau of some size. Here a company was stationed to serve the double purpose of a picket and a rear-guard; whilst the main body, having rested for half an hour, began their march towards the place where they had landed. As soon as the column got sufficiently on their way the picket likewise prepared to follow. But in doing so it was evident that some risk must be run. The enemy, having rallied, began again to show a front ; that is to say, parties of sixty or a hundred men approached to reconnoitre. These, however, must be deceived, otherwise a pursuit might be commenced, and the re-embarkation of the whole corps hindered or prevented. It so happened that the picket in question was this day under my command: as soon, therefore, as I received information that the main body had commenced its retreat, I formed my men, and Gleig] the defence OF NEW ORLEANS. 69 made a show of advancing. The Americans, perceiving this, fled ; when, wheehng about, we set fire to the chateau, and under cover of the smoke destroyed the bridge and retreated. Making all haste towards the rear, we over- took our comrades just as they had begun to embark; when the little corps, being once more united, entered their boats, and reached the opposite bank without molestation. [So ended this disjointed affair, which had been rendered futile not only by the actual difficulties of the enterprise, but by that series of misadventures to which all military operations are subject. The loss of the British is given by our author at fifteen hundred, while Ameri- can authorities state it at seven hundred killed and more than one thousand wounded, and the American loss at but seven killed and six wounded. Of their leaders, Packenham was killed, Gibbs mortally and Keane severely wounded. General Lambert now took command, with no further thought than to retreat to the shipping with as little loss as possible. This was a difficult matter. The whole army could not be transported in their boats, and it was not safe to divide it. It became necessary to construct a road through several miles of a morass. This took them till the i8th, during which time many of the soldiers deserted. On the evening of the i8th the camp-fires were left burning, and the army stole away over its wet and yielding path, reaching, after the greatest hardships and difficulties, the borders of the lake. From here the shipping was safely gained, and the fleet stood away for Mobile Bay, off which, on February 14, word came of the treaty of peace, with the discouraging reflection that their des- perate effort had been in every respect useless.] rO THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morms THE PROGRESS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. Chakles MoRias. The political history of the second war with Great Britain is one of strong party spirit, and of a persistent opposition to the war on the part of the Federalists. The party under this name, however, had greatly changed in its principles since the accession to power of the Repub- licans. Instituted originally in favor of a strong central government, it was now bitterly opposed to the increase of Executive power, while the Republicans, the successors of the older Anti-Federalists, supported the administration in acts which their opponents denounced as " encroach- ments upon the liberties of the people " and " invasions of the principles of civil liberty." The aggressions of Eng- land, the retaliatory measures of America, and the result- ing war gave abundant exercise to the virulence of party spirit, and a war of opinions kept pace throughout with the war of hostile armies. That there was abundant occasion for war needs no argument. The aggressive acts of Great Britain were of a nature which now would not be submitted to for a month, yet they were extended over a period of some twenty years. An official statement of the Secretary of State, Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 71 made in 1812, declares that five hundred and twenty-eight American merchantmen had been taken by British men-of- war prior to 1807, and three hundred and eighty-nine after that period. The value of these vessels and cargoes, if estimated at the low figure of twenty-five thousand dol- lars each, would be nearly thirty million dollars, forcibly seized by a nation with whom we were at peace. During the same period several thousand seamen were impressed from American vessels, the greater number of whom were undoubtedly American citizens. Of eight hundred and seventy-three taken in eighteen months from October, 1807, to April, 1809, only ninety-eight were shown to be British subjects, but only two hundred and eighty-seven were released. And such as were eventually yielded as American citizens were long held as virtual prisoners, and finally left to make their way home penniless, and without even an apology for the outrage. There was in all this abundant warrant for war. But the preliminary measure of the embargo, while it had caused severe distress to the industrial classes of England and reduced numerous manufacturers to poverty, bore yet more severely on the industries of America, and roused an unrelenting opposition to the administration. In the House the declaration of war was carried by a vote of 79 to 49, and in the Senate by the small majority of 19 to 13. The strong opposition here displayed was general through- out the Northern section of the country, and the Federal party everywhere opposed the war with great bitterness. The industrial depression which the embargo had created was continued by the war, and the sufifering experienced gave strong support to the measures of the " Peace Party," who threw every possible obstruction, short of open rebel- lion, in the way of its successful prosecution. At that period the commerce of the country was much .72 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris less localized than at present. The total exports from 1791 to 1813 aggregated, in round numbers, two hundred and ninety-nine millions of dollars from the Eastern sec- tion, five hundred and thirty-four millions from the Middle, and five hundred and nine millions from the Southern sec- tion. The shipping of New England was more abundant, yet it was not much in excess of that of the Middle and Southern States. The distress from loss of commerce, therefore, must have been somewhat evenly distributed. Yet the vigorous opposition to the war came from the New England States. It had become a party sentiment, and was manifested most strongly where the Federal party was in excess. The feeling engendered grew so violent that a disruption of the Union seems to have been desired by some of the ultra-Federalists. The lack of preparation for the war, and the incapacity with which it was managed for a long period, gave abundant arguments against the administra- tion, while the heavy taxation laid upon a people who had been for years impoverished added a strong personal point to these arguments. Inspired by these feelings, the people of New England withheld aid as far as possible from the government, and made the not unreasonable complaint that the strength of the army was wasted in inadequate efforts to invade Canada, while the ocean border was left at the mercy of English cruisers, and the militia which should have defended it employed in distant and useless duty. The South and West favored the invasion of Canada, but from New York northward the opposite opinion strongly prevailed, while New England complained that the administration left it completely undefended, and even re- fused to Massachusetts the arms to which that State \yas entitled, and which were needed for its defence. The embargo of 1813 was a new blow to the interests MoRKis] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 73 of New England. It was now proposed by zealous Fed- eralists that the militia and revenues of New England should be kept for home defence, and Massachusetts re- solved to call out ten thousand men to protect the coast, these men to be under officers appointed by the State. Such a proceeding was dangerous, though it could not be held to violate the provisions of the Constitution, which limited the control of the army to the general government in times of peace, but made no definite provision on this subject for times of war. The opposition to administration measures reached its ultimate in December, 1814, when a convention of dele- gates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, with a partial representation from New Hampshire and Vermont, met at Hartford for the purpose of considering the grievances of the people and of deciding how they could be best redressed. This convention assembled in secret session, and much doubt existed as to its purposes and proceedings. It was denounced as treasonable by the friends of the administration, and a strong excitement pre- vailed concerning it. But at the date of its assembly the enthusiasm of its supporters had become reduced by the strong indications of peace, and this undoubtedly influ- enced the deliberations of the members. When its pro- ceedings were published they proved to be so mild as to excite general surprise. Instead of advocating a dissolu- tion of the Union, or other violent measure, they confined themselves to a statement of grievances, most of which unquestionably existed, but were necessary results of the war, and proposed several amendments to the Constitution. They demanded that representation in the House should be based on the free population alone, that the President should not be eligible for re-election, that State offices should be held only by native-born citizens, that no em- 74 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris bargo should extend more than sixty days, and that a two-thirds vote should be required to prohibit commercial intercourse, admit new States, authorize hostilities, and de- clare war. They also strongly opposed the mode adopted in recruiting the army. In all this there was nothing to warrant the terms of reproach with which it .was long customary to speak of the " Hartford Convention," which was held up to the people by the opposing party as some- thing deserving of the severest reprobation. Its recommendations fell dead. With the signing of the treaty of peace the causes of complaint disappeared, and in the universal joy that followed all thought that the Constitution was not a perfect instrument disappeared. In August, 1814, the commissioners of the United States and Great Britain met at Ghent, in Flanders, where they signed a treaty of peace on the 24th of the following December. The British commissioners at first insisted that the Indians should be made parties to the treaty, and that definite boundary-lines should be fixed which neither party should pass. This was objected to on the part of the United States, and it was finally agreed that the Indians should be restored to the status of rights and possessions which they held in 1811, if they would agree to desist from hostilities. Both parties were prohibited from keeping a naval force on the lakes. The questions of boundaries and of the fisheries were settled, but on the points which had been the cause of the war — the en- croachments upon American commerce, and the right of impressment — no measures were adopted. The treaty, as signed, was silent on these subjects. These causes of the war had disappeared, and the navy of the United States had proved its ability to defend American commerce in any future difficulty, so the sore subject was quietly ignored. Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 75 The war had produced certain important changes in the industrial relations of America. The embargo had an- nihilated commerce for several years before the war, and this had been continued by the subsequent blockade, these influences causing an abnormal scarcity of goods of foreign production. Many such articles were obtained wholly from abroad, and these grew very scarce and dear. Others, such as sugar, woollens, pottery, glassware, hardware, and cutlery, were produced partly at home, and were less se- verely affected; while the staples of home production — cotton, tobacco, and food-products — fell very low in price. Yet strenuous efforts were made to overcome the scarcity of foreign goods by home manufacture, and the interests of industrial production in America gained an important impetus. Numerous manufactviring establishments were founded, particularly in the Northern States, and that process of rendering the United States industrially inde- pendent of Europe, which had made some progress against severe discouragements in the colonies and in the early years of the republic, now progressed with encouraging rapidity. But the close of the war quickly reversed all these con- ditions. Foreign goods, mostly of British manufacture, were poured profusely into the country, and the price of such commodities fell to less than half their war value. As a consequence, many of the rival manufactories of America were ruined. They had not attained a condition to enable them to compete with the skilled and cheap labor abroad, and but few of them were able to stand the sudden strain. It was the severer that English manu- facturers, jealous of this growing rivalry, took special pains to undersell the products of American workshops. Agriculture, on the contrary, received a powerful im- petus, and its products greatly increased in value. Cot- 76 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Moms ton, which had been sold with difficulty at ten cents per pound, now had a ready sale at more than double that price. Tobacco rose from two or three to fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five dollars the hundred-weight. The value of land and labor rose in proportion, producers and merchants became enriched by the rapid rise in prices, and the shipping interests of the country grew more prosper- ous than ever before. The currency, which during the war had become a depreciated paper money, continued disordered, but this had no specially disturbing influence on the agricultural and commercial prosperity of the country, and every interest except that of manufacture was remarkably benefited. With this sudden change from poverty and privation to affluence and luxury the expenditure of the people greatly increased. Gold watches replaced those of silver, silk goods took the place of cotton, costly wines succeeded whiskey and other common bever- ages, furniture became transformed, and in every way the enhanced wealth of the people made itself apparent. Yet during this period the only money in use south of New England was the irredeemable paper of the banks, or in some cases the currency issues of irresponsible in- dividuals. An effort was made to overcome the latter difficulty by the establishment of a national bank. The charter of the former institution of this character had expired in 1811. After considerable debate. Congress passed, during the session of 1816, an act founding a national bank. This institution, which was given a twenty years' charter, was incorporated with a capital of thirty-five millions of dol- lars, its debts being limited to fifty millions, exclusive of deposits. Measures were taken at the same time to en- force a resumption of specie payments by the State banks. In the succeeding year (1817) a bill was passed for the MoRKis] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. I'T total repeal of the internal taxes, and the financial con- ditions of the war finally disappeared In 1816 the funded debt of the Union was estimated at one hundred and ten millions of dollars. During the period now under consideration certain im- portant variations had taken place in the industrial rela- tions of the people. There was a growing tendency to the division of the country into two marked sections, — one the home of free labor and of advancing commercial and manufacturing interests, the other the seat of slave labor and of developing agricultural conditions. Up to 1790 this separation of interests was not clearly evident. The vigorous measures of England had prevented any thriving development of manufactures, while outside the tobacco of Virginia the country produced no agricultural staple of sectional importance. The difficulties attending the preparation of cotton for the market as yet checked the development of that industry. But with the invention of the cotton-gin by Whitney, in 1791, cotton quickly rose to a prominent position among American industries. By the aid of this instrument three hundred and fifty potmds of cotton could be cleaned in a day, as compared with one pound by hand-labor. As a result, the cotton-product augmented with the utmost rapidity. In 1800 the export had reached the seemingly high figure of 19,000,000 pounds. In 1824 it reached 142,000,000 pounds. Slave labor, which had been growing an undesirable form of industry, now became of high value, and the slaves of the country increased from 657,047 in 1790 to 1,524,580 in 1820. During the same period the total population in- creased from 3,929,782 to 9,654,596 persons. But, while slavery was thus developing in the South, it was vanish- ing from the North, and the industrial interests of the country were becoming strikingly differentiated, the char- 78 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris acter of the inhabitants of the two sections similarly de- viating. The industrial development of the slave States soon fell behind that of the North. The character of Northern agricultural labor required the division of the land into small farms, which had to be kept up to a high level of productiveness. The system of agricultural labor in the South tended towards increase in size of plantations, in which the soil was systematically exhausted, with no at- tempt to reproduce its fertility. In the North industry was the business of all, emulation was excited, and the worker was looked upon as the peer of any in the land. In the South labor was despised, the planter gave himself up to social enjoyment, and left the care of his interests to the overseer. The price of land in the South steadily fell behind that of the North. Manufacture on a large scale had no existence in the Southern States. Their capital was monopolized by agri- culture, and the development of the manufacturing indus- tries was left to the North. Thus the distinction between the industries, ideas, and condition of society in the two sections of the country steadily grew more marked, until no two civilized nations could have been socially more un- like. In the South society became divided into three well- marked classes, with little in common between them: the great land-owners, who posed as a veritable aristocracy; the lesser slave-holders, the middle class; and the poor whites, an ignorant and worthless rabble, who were de- spised even by the slaves. Slavery served as the founda- tion-stone of these distinctly-separated classes. In the North no such class-conditions existed. The tendency there was towards the breaking down of social distinc- tions, and to the merging of the population into one gen- eral mass, in which every man considered himself the MoREis] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 79 equal of every other, and all rising or falling below the broad level was an individual — not a class — phenome- non. The diversity of conditions which thus arose between the Northern and Southern sections of the country was destined to have the most vital consequences in its suc- ceeding history, and to give origin to a strife which had its final outcome in the civil war. While these relations were arising between the Northern and Southern sections of the original States, the conditions for the formation of new States were rapidly appearing in the West. The vast territory east of the Mississippi had been gradually filling up since the era preceding the Rev- olution. Along the borders of the great lakes and on the banks of the Ohio settlements had early been founded, while Boone and his followers had crossed the Cumber- land Mountains and led a tide of emigration towards the fair land of Kentucky. All these formed centres of de- parture for new pioneer movements, while from the East- em States emigration pushed northward into Maine and westward into Vermont and central New York, forcing its way ever and ever deeper into the wilderness. McMaster gives a vivid description of the pioneer fever in 1800. Then Kentucky and New York were the Far West. The flood of emigration followed two routes. Of these New- Englanders chose the northern, via Albany and along the Mohawk valley to the wilderness beyond. Every trade and profession, except that of seamanship, was represented in these westward-flowing columns. A genuine pioneer fever arose. In front of the tide moved the speculators and land-jobbers, buying up the land, often in whole coun- ties at a time. Then came the restless pioneer, who built his log cabin, girdled the trees, sowed a handful of grain, and then gave way to the impatient longing that possessed him, and moved on, to make way for a second line of set- 80 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Mokkis tiers, with some money, who purchased his improvements and availed themselves of the results of his labor. These in their turn moved on, leaving the country more habitable behind them. Next came the permanent settlers, the founders of towns and villages, and civilization began to settle upon the land. The hardships endured by these pioneers were severe. Food was scarce, their huts were rude and ill fitted to bear the inclemency of the winter, but the fever of adventure which possessed them kept them in steady march, the aborigines yielding step by step before them, and civiliza- tion, with slower but firmer steps, advancing in their rear. The other route, that via the Ohio, was pursued by the aid of rude boats, which floated down the current with the families and household goods of the hardy emigrants. Towns and villages quickly dotted the fertile borders of this great stream. The savages, who had fiercely assailed the early voyagers, were driven back, and as early as 1794 a line of packet-boats had begun to ply between Pittsburg and Cincinnati. These, which made one voyage a month, were bullet-proof, and carried six small cannon, throwing one-pound balls. After Wayne's victory the stream flowed into the Northwest. In the census of 1800 the population of Ohio Territory was already 45,360, while Kentucky had a population of 220,950. During the succeeding period the West filled up with remarkable rapidity. As new emigrants from the Old World poured into the Atlantic ports, many of the older settlers made way for them, and followed the routes de- scribed into the boundless West. After the purchase of Louisiana the stream crossed the Mississippi, and spread over the broad forest-region beyond. State after State was admitted into the Union, as the Territories gained the requisite population, until by 1820 to the original thirteen Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 81 States were added eleven others. All the States now ex- isting east of the Mississippi, with the exception of Mich- igan, Wisconsin, and Florida, were by that time admitted, while west of that river the two States of Missouri and Louisiana were members of the Union. It was a rude population that filled up the region that intervened between the pioneer outposts and the older civiHzed settlements. Drunkenness, gambHng, profanity, fighting, and duelling prevailed, and no modern mining camp ever presented a more detestable " reign of terror " than did the frontier settlements of the wild West of that era. One locaHty is thus described by Peter Cartwright, the celebrated pioneer preacher : " Logan County, Ken- tucky, when my father moved to it (1793), was called ' Rogues' Harbor.' Here many refugees from almost all parts of the Union fled to escape punishment or justice; for, although there was law, yet it could not be executed, and it was a desperate state of society. Murderers, horse- thieves, highway-robbers, and counterfeiters fled here, until they combined and actually formed a majority." A battle with guns, pistols, dirks, knives, and clubs took place between the " Rogues " and the " Regulators." The latter were defeated, and villainy reigned supreme. On the wickedness of Kentucky there suddenly fell, in the early years of the century, an epidemic of religious conversion so remarkable in character as to call for some attention at our hands. Many of its peculiar features had never before been seen, and none of them have ever ap- peared since in like intensity. This " awakening " of the people began in 1799, in Logan County, Kentucky, the home of wickedness above described. Several ardent sensational preachers, of the Presbyterian denomination, roused a strong revival spirit in their congregations, which spread widely through the adjoining country. But 3-6 83 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris it was in the summer of 1800 that the " revival " broke out in the fulness of its intensity. It was in a measure due to a new feature of missionary work, the " camp-meeting." A religious encampment was organized under the trees of the forest, to which people flocked in thousands, while the impassioned appeals of the excitable preachers produced an extraordinary effect. Thousands were convicted of sin, while the camp-meeting idea spread rapidly through- out the whole region, and nearly all the population flocked to these emotional assemblies. The effect upon those thus " convicted " was of a re- markable character. The wild cries and supplications, the flowing tears and wringing of hands, were followed by a " falling exercise," in which the excited participants fell prostrate to the earth and lay as if dead, displaying an abnormal muscular rigidity. During 1801 the revival grew more extensive and striking in its effects. "All who have left us any account of the scene agree that language is inadequate to describe it. It was sublime, grand, ' awful.' The noise was ' like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings was agitated as if by a storm.' The tide of emotion seemed to roll over them like tumul- tuous waves. Sometimes hundreds were swept down almost at once, ' like the trees of the forest under the blast of the wild tornado.' ... Of the people, some were singing, others praying, others crying aloud for mercy, others still ' shouting most vociferously ; ' while hardened men, who with horrid imprecations rushed furiously into the praying circles, were smitten down as if by an invisi- ble hand, and lay powerless, or racked by ' fearful spasms, till their companions beholding them were palsied with terror.' At times the scene was surpassingly terrible, and the boldest heart was unmanned. The infidel forgot his philosophy, and trembled till he sank to his knees or fell Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 83 to the earth. 'At one time,' says a spectator, ' I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment, as if a bat- tery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them; and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. My hair rose upon my head, my whole frame trembled, the blood ran cold in my veins, and I fled for the woods.' " * As time went on, the muscular convulsions attending these " conversions " became more varied and extraordi- nary. " There was the fglling, the jerking, the rolling, the running, the dancing, and the barking exercise. Individ- uals were seized by these, often in spite of studied resist- ance, and sometimes almost while the jest or open blas- phemy was upon their lips. Dreams and visions, the holy laugh and the holy kiss, helped forward the enthusiasm of the occasion or the grotesqueness of the scene."t Those affected with the " jerks " were flung about as if hurled from a catapult; arms, head, legs, jerking as if they would be torn from the body; bodies flung against trees or bounding from the ground ; hands torn from their grasp upon the branches of the forest; the whole mus- cular organism of the body seemingly divorced from its ordinary duty, and possessed by a frenzy. In the " holy laugh " the devotees would burst into uncontrollable fits of hysterical laughter. The other " exercises " presented similar indications of muscular convulsion, acting under the influence of emotional mania. Hundreds of conver- sions took place, affecting often the most hardened sinners of the community. It cannot be said that these " conver- sions " were always, or even generally, permanent. Many of the converts returned, sooner or later, to their original * Gillett's " History of the Presbyterian Church," vol. ii. p. 167. t Ibid., vol. ii. p. 17a 84 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MoRias wickedness.' Yet the general tone of the community was improved, and Kentucky ceased to be the harbor of the unregenerate to the extent to which it had been several years before. This revival epidemic spread far beyond the region of the State, particularly into Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, where similar phenomena, though on a less extraordinary scale, were presented. Since that era the camp-meeting has been a recognized element in the religious propagandism of the more emotional sects. The wild manifestations just described have been suc- ceeded by less violent exercises, yet camp-meeting and revival conversions still display, though in a milder form, the same tendency to nervous excitement and muscular convulsion. We may conclude this review with a general statement of the events of importance which occurred during the Monroe administration. James Monroe was elected Presi- dent in the election of 1816, with Daniel D. Tompkins for Vice-President. Among the more important of the suc- ceeding events was the invasion of Florida by General Jackson. From 1812 difficulties had existed with the Seminole Indians, while many fugitive slaves fled to Northern Florida and amalgamated with these savages. These negroes settled along the Appalachicola River for a distance of fifty miles, defying the American and the Spanish authorities alike. They had been supplied with arms and ammunition by the British, and built a strong fort, which was attacked by Colonel Clinch in 1816. A red-hot ball from a gunboat in the river penetrated the magazine and blew up the fort, only fifty of its three hun- dred inmates escaping alive. This for a time broke up the negro settlements ; but annoyance from the Seminoles continued. In 1818 General Jackson invaded Florida, de- Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 85 stroyed the Indian towns, and took forcible possession of the Spanish fort of St. Marks and the city of Pensacola. The diplomatic controversy between Spain and the United States to which this gave rise resulted in the cession of the whole of Florida to the United States, on February 22, 1819. The treaty of cession was ratified on the 19th of February, 1821. • In 1817 piratical settlements which had been formed on Amelia Island, Florida, and at Galveston, Texas, were broken up by the American navy. A more dangerous haunt of pirates, in the West Indies, was attacked in 1822, and over twenty piratical vessels destroyed. In 1823 Commodore Porter sought out and broke up the retreats of the pirates. They afterwards, however, continued their depredations from other hiding-places. The political state of the country during the Monroe administration differed from its condition before or since. The Federal party had disappeared. The Republican party was yet undivided. Practically there was but one political party in America, and what was known as " the era of good feeling " prevailed. Industrially, however, there came on the land a severe depression. The sudden prosperity that succeeded the war had vanished, and the natural revulsion from abnormally high prices had come. After a brief resumption of specie payments, the banks again suspended. Gold and silver disappeared. The Bank of the United States was in a disorganized condition. It could not collect its debts without a ruinous pressure on business. Ruin and bankruptcy prevailed everywhere. Business and employment sank to a low ebb. In all directions the distress of a financial panic prevailed, from which it took several years for the country to recover. An interesting event of 1824 was the visit of Lafayette to this country. The venerable visitor was received with 86 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Moems an enthusiasm which has never been surpassed in America. His movement through the country was a continual march of joy and triumph. He journeyed five thousand miles through the Union, everywhere feted and caressed. Con- gress voted him two hundred thousand dollars and a town^ ship of land, and on his departure from the country he was conveyed to France in an American frigate prepared specially for his accommodation. During the period in question the problem of internal improvements came up for the serious consideration of Congress. Large subsidies were demanded from the gen- eral government for the building of roads and canals and the improvement of rivers and harbors. Jefiferson, Madi- son, and Monroe alike denied the constitutionality of such an appropriation of the public funds, yet each of them signed many bills for this purpose. The strife finally came to depend upon the simple question whether or not a certain sum of money should be voted by Congress, the discussion of the constitutional point being avoided. At first both sections of the country favored measures of this character, but eventually the South declared against them. The remark of a Louisiana Congressman in 1817, " Louisiana wants no roads," well expressed the ruling principle of the Southern opposition to internal improve- ment schemes. Yet large appropriations were made for various purposes, for a canal route across Florida, for a national road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Ohio, for the improvement of the navigation of the Ohio, etc. The greatest enterprise of the time, the Erie Canal, was the work of the State of New York. This was commenced on July 4, 1817, and completed in 1825, at a cost of ten million dollars. Of the other notable events of the period may be men- tioned the founding of the Anti-Slavery Association in Morris] THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. 87 1815, with the establishment of a newspaper in its interests ; the formation of the first savings-bank, in Philadelphia, in 1816; the founding of colleges and universities in nearly every State ; and the crossing of the ocean by the steamer Savannah, in 1819. John Fitch had operated a steam- boat on the Delaware before 1790, while Fulton, in 1807, ran a steamboat more effectively upon the Hudson. The first railroad in America was a short road at Quincy, Mas- sachusetts, worked by horse-power. The first locomotive engine ran from the coal-mines of the Delaware and Hud- son Company to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1828. During the same era began the series of rebellions of the Spanish-American colonies, which finally ended in their independence and the establishment of republican governments in them all. The revolt of Mexico against Spain broke out in 1810. It continued year after year with varying success, the revolutionists now gaining im- portant advantages, Spain now regaining predominance. The independence of Mexico was proclaimed in 1813, while by 1819 the dominion of Spain had again become almost unquestioned. Victoria, one of the last leaders of the revolutionists, was forced to fly for refuge to the moun- tains, where he remained concealed for several years in a state of the utmost destitution. In 182 1 a new insurrec- tion broke out, headed by Iturbide, which was joined by Victoria, Guerrero, and others of the old revolutionists. This attempt was successful : the Spanish were driven out, and a monarchical government was formed, with Iturbide as ruler. He was forced to resign, however, in 1823, and a republican government, on the model of that of the United States, was adopted in 1824, with General Victoria as the first President. Closely connected with this successful revolution is the famous " Monroe Doctrine," with an account of which this 88 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris article may close. America had early in its history " de- clared its intention " not to interfere in European affairs. But the correlative doctrine, that Europe should not in- terfere in American affairs, was later in being asserted. The idea appears in the correspondence of Jefferson, but it was first stated as a principle of American politics in the message of President Monroe of 1823. The South Ameri- can Spanish colonies had achieved their independence at the same time with Mexico, and there was a possibility that the combined powers of Europe might interfere with their liberties in the interest of Spain. Monroe said, in the message in question, " We owe it to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and (the allied) powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any part of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any Euro- pean power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their inde- pendence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and just principles, acknowl- edged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States." He further declared that the American continents " are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." The " Monroe Doctrine " never received the sanction of Congress. No congress of the republics of America has ever been held. Yet it holds its own as a national tradi- tion which the people of the United States are earnest to uphold. The only decided attempt to act in opposition to its doctrines was in the effort of France to secure Maxi- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. _89 milian a throne in Mexico. The unfortunate result of this effort will in all probability prevent any similar action from being taken at any time in the near future. "America for the Americans " is a principle of policy which all Europe is not strong enough to disdain or to subvert. TH£ MISSOURI COMPROMISE. H. Von Holst. [A consideration of this important subject calls for some prelimi- nary review of the status of slavery Jn America, of the legislation in regard to it, and of the public feeling concerning it. We have al- ready made several references to the condition of this institution in the colonial period. At the outbreak of the Revolution slavery existed in all the thirteen colonies. Though the fact of its existence was not always recognized by the English government, yet the min- istry had been during colonial times steadily in favor of the slave- trade, and vetoed every effort of the colonies to prevent the impor- tation of slaves. The Quakers were the first to agitate the question of slavery from a moral point of view. By the end of the seventeenth century they had begun to instruct the slaves in religion, and to protest against their importation. During the eighteenth century the emancipation of slaves had become an active measure of the Quakers as a society, not of individuals only, as in other sects. The negro, who had long been classed with domestic animals, now began to be looked upon as a man. Yet no attack upon slavery where it existed was thought of. It was supposed that by stopping the importation of slaves the institution would gradually disappear. At the outbreak of the Revolution there were about half a million slaves in the country. (In 1790 there were 697,897 slaves, of whom 40,370 were held in the Northern States.) The increase of the free population was greater than that of the slave, and it was erroneously argued that the importance of the institution would steadily diminish. Anti- slavery sentiment was not confined to the North, but even made its appearance in the South, while the political aspect of the ques- tion of slavery was confined to importation. The Congress of 90 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst 1774 adopted resolutions opposed to importation, and in 1776 this prohibition was repeated without opposition. The first step in the opposite direction was made when the passage decrying slave-im- portation was stricken from the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War opinions in favor of emancipation grew in strength in the North, the abolition societies of Pennsyl- vania became more energetic, and similar societies were founded in the other States. Even in Virginia, in 1788, the importation of slaves was forbidden, and steps were taken in favor bf gradual emancipation. But in the proceedings of the Constitutional Con- vention the Southern delegates showed very clearly that they did not expect or desire any rapid vanishment of the institution. There were two questions to be considered, — the status of the slaves in taxation, and their status in representation. The first of these was decided, by the casting vote of New Jersey, in favor of the exemp- tion of slaves from taxation. The second was decided, in accord- ance with a compromise measure proposed by Wilson of Pennsyl- vania, by reckoning five slaves as equal to three freemen in repre- sentation. The compromise, as passed, prohibited Congress from forbidding the importation of slaves until 1808. Iji the debates on these measures a strong division of opinion appeared, but it was based solely on the political and financial interests of the two sec- tions, not on any idea of the morality or immorality of human slavery. In 1787 an act was adopted prohibiting slavery in the ter- ritory northwest of the Ohio, but providing for the surrender of fugitive slaves from that territory. The Constitution also contained a provision to the efifect that any person lawfully bound to " service or labor " in any State, and fleeing to another State, should be de- livered up on demand. However it appeared then, it has since be- come painfully evident that the slave-holding interest gained de- cided victories in the formation of the Constitution, and placed the institution of slavery on a solid basis from which it would not easily be overthrown. In 1789 North Carolina, and in 1802 Georgia, ceded their western territory to the United States, with the proviso that no action should be taken prohibitory of slavery in this territory. The cessions were accepted with this proviso. This was the first step towards extend- ing the dominion of slavery. In 1793 a fugitive-slave law was passed by Congress, which ordered the return of a slave from any Stat? or Territory to which he h^d fled- A case occurred under Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 91 this law in 1797. Four North Carolina slaves had been freed by their masters. Being condemned under a State law to be sold again, they fled to Philadelphia. They were here seized as fugitive slaves, and, though a petition in their favor was presented to Con- gress, its consideration was rejected by a vote of fifty to thirty-three. A petition from these negroes was brought before Congress three years later, with the same result, and petitions in regard to slavery from the Quakers of Pennsylvania were similarly refused a hearing. On January i, 1808, the first day on which Congress had a right to act upon it, a bill forbidding the importation of slaves was passed unanimously. Yet its effect was not prohibitory, since the smug- gling of slaves immediately took the place of their open importation. Efforts were made to break up this illicit trade, but with little effect, it being estimated by southern members that from thirteen thousand to fifteen thousand slaves were annually smuggled into the country. In 1819 Congress declared the slave-trade to be piracy, though none of its participants seem to have been condemned as pirates. That the number of slaves was rapidly increasing became very evident, and colonization-schemes were proposed to dispose of free negroes and illegally-imported slaves. It was supposed that by this method some, amelioration of slavery might be produced, though it was not clear what useful effect could result. There had by this time arisen a decided distinction between the industrial systems of the two sections of the country. The North had grown more and more distinctively commercial and manufac- turing, the Sbuth more and more agricultural. In the one slavery became destitute of utility; in the other it appeared to be absolutely essential. The cotton-gin, invented by Whitney in 1793, made cot- ton-raising the special industry of the South, the cultivation of this staple at once receiving a vigorous impulse. Slave labor, which had begun to grow highly unsatisfactory, at once advanced in import- ance, and the demand for slaves rapidly increased. Meanwhile, the representation of the Northern States in Congress was steadily outnumbering that of the South. In 1790 the North had thirty- eight representatives to the South's thirty-one. In 1820 the North had one hundred and eight, the South eighty-one. The South was evidently losing power in legislation, and saw the necessity of tak- ing active measures to increase its representation. This could be done only by an extension of slave territory. The Territory o; Missouri applied in 1819 for admission as a State, and the question 92 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst of slavery-extension at once came up in Congress. An account of the controversy which succeeded, with its vitally-important termi- nation, we extract from Dr. Von Hoist's " Constitutional and Po- litical History of the United States," as translated from the Ger- man by John J. Lalor and Alfred B. Mason.] In February, 1819, the House of Representatives went into committee of the whole over the admission of Mis- souri as a State. The recommendation of the committee provided in the ordinary manner what was necessary to this end. Tallmadge of New York moved the amendment that the admission should be made dependent upon the two following conditions : prohibition of the further in- troduction of slaves, and emancipation of all the slave children born after the admission as soon as they reached the age of twenty-five. This motion gave life to the whole strife, and the idea embraced in it remained the essence of the strife until the decision of its most important points. The majority of the House of Representatives voted to make the admission of Missouri as a State dependent upon such a limitation of her power in regard to slavery; but the majority of the Senate decided against this. Both houses insisted on their respective resolves, and Congress adjourned without coming to any final decision. When the question again came up in the next session, the oppo- nents of the so-called " Missouri limitation " found them- selves materially aided by a new circumstance. Maine, which had hitherto been a district of Massachusetts, ap- plied for admission as an independent State. The majority of the Senate coupled together the Maine and Missouri bills, and so put before the majority of the House the alternative of admitting Missouri without any limitation, or denying, for the present, the admission of Maine. The House was not yet ready to acknowledge itself so easily beaten. Neither earlier nor later has a struggle been Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 93 fought out in Congress in which the majorities of both houses have stood by the decision once arrived at with such stifif-neckedness. The close of the session constantly drew nearer, and an agreement seemed farther off than ever. The whole country was in a state of feverish ex- citement. At the last moment, in the night between the 2d and 3d of March, 1820, free labor and the principle of nationality yielded to slavery and the principle of State sovereignty. If the matter had afifected Missouri alone, the defeat would have been of small practical significance ; but two principles had been given up, and these two prin- ciples involved the weal and woe of the republic. . . . The South by no means limited itself to a discussion of the mere question of law, but brought forward a cloud of pleas in justification. It was asserted that the Louisiana Territory, to which Missouri belonged, had been obtained at a cost of the whole Union, and that it would there- fore be unjust to deprive the inhabitants of half the Union of the " colonization right ;" but this would evidently be the case if they were forbidden to take their property with them. It was said, on the other hand, that slavery would present an impassable wall to immigration from the North. Where labor bears the stamp of shame the free laborer cannot turn his steps. But how could there be hesitation when the choice was to be made between the exclusion of slavery or free labor? The Union should be a nursery of freedom, and not a breeding-place for slavery. The South itself declaimed with the greatest pathos over the curse of slavery. Was it not, then, a self-evident duty to preserve the land from any extension of the curse? The last part of this argument was repelled with great decision by the majority of Southern members. They affirmed that when it was proposed to allow the importa- tion of slaves from Africa, or from any foreign country, 94 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst the South would be first and most earnest in protesting against it. But by compliance with the wish expressed by the South the slave population of the Union " would not be increased by a single soul." Over and over again it was affirmed, with Jefferson in his old age, "All know that permitting the slaves of the South to spread into the West . . . will increase the happiness of those existing, and, by spreading them over a larger surface, will dilute the evil everywhere and facilitate the means of getting rid of it, an event more anxiously wished by those on whom it presses than by the noisy pretenders to exclusive humanity." [This false reasoning, however, was readily overthrown, it being undeniable that increased subsistence would increase population, while the higher prices arising from a widened market would be a strong impulse towards an increase in the supply of slaves. The question of State rights was next brought in as an element of the debate, it being claimed that the Constitution was but an " interna- tional compact," which could exercise no other powers than those originally granted it by the sovereign States, and could impose no conditions on new States not directly specified in that instrument.] It was indeed said that the slavery limitation did not really withdraw a " fundamental right," but rather did away with a " fundamental wrong." But the Constitution had left to the original States the right of tacitly letting the fundamental wrong stand as a " right " or of making it one. If several States made no use of this prerogative, and if the facts of every day showed it to be more than a destructive fiction that slavery was a " purely municipal institution," yet this did not change the positive right. Slavery eat into the life-marrow of the whole Union; therefore not only considerations of morality, but the highest self-interest of the Union demanded the absolute prohibition of its further extension. But morality and self-interest could not do away with the fact that the Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 95 whole Constitution rested upon the foundation of the equality of the members of the Union, and that the original members had full freedom of action in regard to this particular question. The unconquerable obstacle can be expressed in a single sentence : the fact could not be done away with that the Union was composed of free and slave States, that is, the fact could not be done away with that the attempt had been made to construct out of heterogeneous elements not only a harmonious but a homogeneous whole. Arguments could not bring the question any nearer to a solution. After the differences of principle between the two parties had been clearly established, the debates served only to excite passion. The slave-holders sought more than ever to make a bridge of threats upon which they could cross to their goal. It is said that Randolph proposed to Clay to abandon the House to the Northern members, and that Clay actually gave the project serious consideration. Missouri herself took an extremely arrogant position. When Taylor moved, December i6, 1819, to defer the con- sideration of the bill till the first Monday in February, 1820, Scott, the delegate of the Territory, objected that Missouri would, in this case, go on and organize a State government without waiting any longer for leave from Congress. And this threat of the Territorial delegate against the whole Union was not punished as a piece of laughable insolence. Reid of Georgia declared that Missouri would " indignantly throw ofiE the yoke " and " laugh Congress to scorn." Tyler of Virginia, the future President, asked what would be done if " Missouri sever (herself) from the Union? " And Jefferson, the ex-Presi- dent, expressed the fear that Missouri would be " lost by revolt." . . . 96 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst During the whole struggle the decision had depended only upon a few votes, for a number of Northern repre- sentatives had voted, from the beginning, with the South. That it was, nevertheless, so long before the South ob- tained, by threats and worse means, the necessary number of votes, is a plain proof that an independent and honor- able spirit was then much more common among Northern politicians than later. The restriction was finally stricken out by a majority of only three votes. The results of this defeat were immense ; but still more fraught with evil was the second defeat which the North suffered at the same time, and almost, indeed, without a struggle. . . . Since only the northern part of Missouri Territory was to be organized as a State, the southern part, the so-called Arkansas district, had to receive a Ter- ritorial government of its own When the bill concerning this came up for discussion in the House, Taylor proposed an amendment in regard to slavery like the one which Tallmadge had brought up in the case of Missouri. In committee of the whole the amendment was rejected by eighty to sixty-eight votes. In the House it had a some- what better fate. The first part, which forbade the fur- ther introduction of slaves, was rejected by seventy-one to seventy votes ; but the second part, which freed slave chil- dren born in the Territory upon their twenty-fifth birthday, was adopted by seventy-five to seventy-three votes. With the help of parliamentary rules, however, the question was brought once more before the House. By the cast- ing vote of the Speaker, Clay, the bill was referred back to the committee, and on the same day, in accordance with its report, the previously adopted amendment was rejected by eighty-nine to eighty-seven votes. The attempt to lay hand upon the peculiar institution in this Territory was regarded by the slave-holders as an Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 97 especial bit of spitefulness, because Arkansas was regarded as belonging to the peculiar domain of the South. This opinion influenced some Northern representatives, and to it the easy victory of the South is to be ascribed. . . . The eighth section of the Missouri act of March 6, 1820, provided " that in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36° 30' north latitude, not included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude . . . shall be, and is hereby forever prohibited." This was the second half of the so-called Missouri Compromise, and the responsibility for its adoption does not wholly rest upon a few weak or venal delegates from the North. Only five Northern mem- bers voted against it. The North thus gave its approval by an overwhelming majority to the division of the Ter- ritories between free labor and slavery. It was indeed only declared that slavery should not be allowed north of 36° 30', but this was self-evidently equivalent to saying that south of this line no hindrance would be put in the way of the slave-holders. The first suggestion of such a comproniise was made by McLane in February, 1819, and he then expressly declared that the Territories should be " divided " between the free and slave States. It was never afterwards denied that this was a fair interpretation of the compromise. The action of the Northern members can be justified from no point of view. Even in mitigation of their fault it can only be alleged that when they had decided to make a bargain the one agreed upon did not seem disadvantageous, provided men did not look beyond the present time. The Louisiana territory — according to the boundaries set to it by the United States — was divided into two nearly equal parts by the line of 36° 30'. But, while the Missouri question was still pending, an agreement 3—7 98 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst was reached with Spain concerning the boundary-line by which a great part of the southern half was lost to the United States. [The result of this compromise was that the country was practi- cally divided into free and slave sections, upon a fixed geographical basis. Though there was nothing in the bill to declare that slavery should exist everywhere south of the line of demarcation, it had become a tacit bargain which was not likely to be successfully questioned.] The South had allowed itself to pursue a purely ideal- istic policy where European relations were concerned, but where the interest of the slave-holders was touched upon it had followed from the beginning a policy that was not only realistic in the highest degree, but wise. It took good care to demand everything forthwith. What it needed at the moment satisfied it for the moment. It propped the planks securely, and then shoved them just so much farther that it could safely take the next step when it became necessary. It had done this at present, and therefore was contented for the present. Up to this time the free States had always been one more in number than the slave States. Now the latter got Alabama and Missouri into the Union, and the former only Maine. The balance of power in the Senate was therefore fully estab- lished. Their territorial possessions were, in the mean time, ample; Florida, just acquired from Spain, Arkansas and the rest of the southern part of the Louisiana terri- tory, balanced for a while the northwest, which, as Charles Pinckney wrote, had been inhabited until now only by wild beasts and Indians. Why express alarm now over things which could become realities only after the lapse of many years? But it did not follow from this that alarm should never be expressed over them. Reid of Georgia Von Holst] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 99 had already asked why a partition-line should not be drawn between the two sections " to the Pacific Ocean." . . . Up to this time the division of the Union into two sec- tions had been only a fact: henceforth it was fixed by law. . . . Each of the two groups inevitably constantly consolidated more and more ; and 4;he more they consoli- dated the more the Missouri line lost its imaginary char- acter. For the first time there was, in the full sense of the term, a free North and a slave-holding South. " Po- litical prudence," as it was hyper-euphemistically called, might lead one to oppose this with the strength of de- spair; but all political artifices were put to shame by the power of facts. Even the last resource, the erasure of the black line from the map by another law and by judicial decisions, remained without effect: the line was etched too deeply into the real ground. Only one thing could erase it, and this one thing was the destruction of the gloomy power that had drawn it. From the night of March 2, 1820, party history is made up, without inter- ruption or break, of the development of geographical parties. This was what was really reached when men breathed free, as if saved from a heavy nightmare. The little and cowardly souls congratulated themselves that the slavery question had been buried forever; and yet men never shook themselves free from the Missouri question. The strife was kindled again by a clause of the Consti- tution of Missouri by which the legislature was obliged to pass laws against the entry of free colored persons into the State. The North declared that this clause infringed upon the constitutional provision according to which " the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States." The slave- holders affirmed that free blacks were not to be considered 100 THE GRpAT REPUBLIC. [Von Holst as citizens " in the sense of the Constitution." The North- ern Congressmen opposed to this the fact that free blacks were citizens in some Northern States, and that the clause in question spoke of " citizens of every State." The de- bate was finally lost in endless arguments over the mean- ing of the words " citizens " and " citizens of the United States," without reaching any results. [A compromise was finally proposed by Henry Clay, which per- mitted the objectionable clause to remain in the State Constitution provided that the State would agree never to pass a law to make it operative. This assurance was given by the Missouri legislature, and the conflict ended] Three constitutional questions — two of them of cardinal importance — had been discussed. Men had fought shy of all three for the moment, and for this reason the origi- nators of the compromise claimed that they had postponed the decision to the Greek kalends. From a legal point of view, only one positive result had been reached, and this was on a point concerning which no legal question existed. The Northern majority had indirectly renounced the right of Congress to forbid slavery, as far as the ter- ritory lying south of the line of 36° 30' was concerned, and it had agreed to this renunciation because the South- ern minority had renounced, on its side, its claims to having the question of law involved decided now in its favor, provided its concrete demands, which it based upon its interpretation of the Constitution, were complied with. This was the true nature and substance of the " com- promise " which gave Henry Clay the first claim to the proud name of " the great peace-maker." Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. 101 THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. Edward Everett. [One chief cause of political disturbance in America was tempo- rarily removed in the passage of the "Missouri Compromise'' meas- ure. Another remained, which was destined to produce no small sum of future trouble. It sprang from the same source as the other, the institution of slavery, and the diversity of interests that necessa- rily grew up between the free and the slave States. The tendency to territorial expansion, which was due to the exclusively agricultural interests of the cotton-raising States, and to the need of a market for their steadily-increasing slave property, was provided for, for the time being, by the one measure. The remaining cause of con- troversy was of a different character, and one which could be sat- isfactorily settled by no compromise. It -became then, and to a great extent yet remains, the main controversial feature of Ameri- can political parties, and is a source of difference of opinion which can be definitively removed only by the growth of a harmony of interests throughout America. For a long period after the settlement of the American colonies their industries were mainly agricultural. The growth of commer- cial interests was restricted by English laws. The colonies were permitted to trade only with the mother-country, even their trade with one another being made illegal. And the products of America were largely carried in English ships. After the Revolution this state of affairs ceased to exist. The shipping interests of America rapidly extended, its commerce spread to all parts of the habitable world, and in the early years of the nineteenth century the business of importation and exportation grew with extraordinary rapidity. Up to this period the main industries of America were in harmony. The excess products of the farm, the forest, and the mine needed a market, which could be found only in foreign lands. Articles of comfort and luxury were demanded in return, and these also had to be sought for abroad. The commercial population of America grew rich through this double duty of carrying home products abroad and bringing foreign products home. Tariff charges, or taxation of imports and exports, militated against both these inter- ests, and were restricted to the absolute demands of revenue. The call for protection of American productive interests was as yet too feeble to be clearly heard. 103 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Everett Only very slowly did the manufacturing interests of the United States develop, and a home market for the products of mine, forest, and farm gioyi up. The restrictive policy of England had borne even more severely on this than on the commercial interest. Dur- ing the long colonial period manufacturing industry languished, dis- couraged by these restrictions, and at the opening of the Revolution it was of minor importance as compared with the other industries of the country. The establishment of American independence re- moved the legal restrictions which had been imposed by the jeal- ousy of English manufacturers, but there remained the influence of an overpowering competition. The vast capital, the abundant ma- chinery, and the skilled labor of English workshops depressed,, by their unequal rivalry, the infant manufactures of America, the cost of ocean-transportation and the small duty-charges being insufficient to overcome the difference in advantages for production. There was no hindrance to the minor trades, which required labor on the spot, and iron and some other branches of general manufacture made some progress, but the competition was too severe for any rapid growth of the manufacturing industries on this side of the ocean. The conditions attending the second war with Great Britain changed this state of affairs, and tended to the special encourage- ment of American manufactures. The commercial restrictions es- tablished by England and France, which cut off America from both its buying and its selling market, the embargo and non-intercourse acts, which intensified this difficulty, and the disturbance to com- merce by the war that succeeded, had the tendency to force America to consume nearly all its products at home, and to produce by home labor, as fully as possible, the much-needed articles which had pre- viously been received from the workshops of England and the Con- tinent. As a consequence, the manufacturing interests of America grew and diversified with a rapidity that was in decided contrast with the slowness of their preceding development, and by the close of the war a marked and important advance had been made. The manufacture of cotton, for instance, increased from ten thousand bales in 1810 to ninety thousand bales in 1815, nearly enough iron was made to supply the country, and several other branches of manufacture were highly prosperous. With the close of the war, however, competition again came into active play. The country was flooded with English goods, at a price Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. 103 and of a quality which American goods could not rival. The high rates of labor which followed the war added to the discrepancy in price, and many American manufacturers were ruined, while the re- mainder sustained themselves only with great difificulty. Congress was called upon to remedy the evil which had thus suddenly arisen. Protection of American industry against foreign competition be- came necessary, if our workshops were to continue in existence, and to the old party cries a new one was added, that of protective tariff. Two interests, as we have seen, were opposed to this, those of agriculture and commerce. Neither these nor manufactures were at first such sectional interests as they later became. Pennsylvania was the State in which manufactures had most developed. Com- merce was the leading pursuit farther north, and the tariff of 1816 was carried by the support of several Southern members against New England generally. Yet the rapid development in the South of agricultural industry, and the natural desire to obtain the cheap- est goods in return for the products of their fields, without regard to whether they came from the North or from abroad, soon brought non-tariff into prominence as a Southern party principle. In the North opinion was more divided. Its shipping interest was large, and for the advancement of that low tariff seemed desirable. But its manufacturing interest was growing steadily more important, and for the rapid development of that a protective tariff had be- come a necessity. That protection of manufactures against undue competition until grown strong enough to stand without support, and the consequent development on American soil of all the industries adapted to its people, climate, and natural conditions, were measures essential to the best good of the country, was theoretically undeniable. But theoretical considerations, and the question of future advantage, have very little to do with the management of human affairs. Men are governed by their present interests, in many cases even where wise enough to see that those interests are opposed to the present or fu- ture interests of mankind at large. A tariff controversy therefore at once arose, which developed into what has been denominated, a " thirty-year tariff war," since it extended from 1816 to 1846, during which period it was among the most prominent political questions of the country. The tariff bill of 1816 was a sort of compromise between the con- flicting interests. A high duty was advocated on all goods which 104 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Everett could unquestionably be produced in sufficient quantity in the United States. A bill was passed in which this classification of dutiable articles was adopted, but in which protection was admitted as an in- cidental feature only, and the raising of revenue made the predomi- nant principle in calculating duties. With this compromise nobody was satisfied. New agitation at once began, and in 1820 a bill was passed by the House in favor of an openly protective system. This bill was rejected by the Senate. Yet the protectionists, who were steadily growing in power, would not let the question rest, while the North and the South became definitively divided on this meas- ure, the latter losing its earlier division of sentiment and becoming decidedly in favor of low tariff. With this change in opinions and national questions came a change in parties. With the end of the war the old Federal party had vir- tually passed out of existence. The Republican party, which became overwhelmingly predominant, now split into two new parties, the Democratic and the National Republican (which later became known as the Whig party), between which the country was for many years afterwards divided. The tariff for a considerable period remained the leading political problem. The depression of industries which followed the era of high prices and prosperity after the war gave the protectionists a strong weapon, of which they did not fail to make active use. In 1824 the question again became prominent before Congress. The plantation States were now unanimous in their op- position to the tariff measure, yet it passed both Houses by small majorities. In 1828 a new revision of the tariff was made in favor of protection. The fight had now become bitter. The general growth of manufacturing interests throughout the North had given the protec- tionists the balance of strength, and the free-traders, finding them- selves powerless to gain their ends in Congress, began to indulge in treasonable language, claiming that individual States had the right to refuse to submit to laws which worked adversely to their interests. It was particularly in South Carolina that this doctrine was advo- cated, and the power of a State to nullify, or to render null and void the operation of a Federal law, was openly advocated by hot-headed Congressmen of that State, who wished to apply this dangerous principle, which was but a step short of secession from the Union, to the tariff bill of 1828. Mr. Hayne of South Carolina, the oppo- nent of Daniel Webster in the most famous oration of the latter, was an ardent advocate of this doctrine, and, while bitterly denounc- Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. 105 ing New England in that famous controversy, he openly urged on the floor of Congress the doctrine of "Nullification," claiming that any State when deeming itself oppressed by a law of Congress considered unconstitutional by the State legislature, had the right to declare this law null and void and to release its citizens from the duty of obedience. The crushing reply which Webster gave to this argument, and the remarkable ability with which he unfolded the principles of the constitutional government of the United States, had little effect on the discontented State, which two years after- wards passed an ordinance of nullification of the tariff laws. A brief account of the manner in which this act of rebellion was crushed by President Jackson we extract from the " Biographical Memoir of Daniel Webster," by Edward Everett, including in our selection a description of other vigorous measures adopted by the hard-headed " hero of New Orleans."] It may be stated as the general characteristic of the political tendencies of this period that there was a decided weakening of respect for constitutional restraint. Vague ideas of executive discretion prevailed on the one hand in the interpretation of the Constitution, and of popular sovereignty on the other, as represented by a President elevated to office by overwhelming majorities of the peo- ple. The expulsion of the Indian tribes from the Southern States, in violation of the faith of treaties and in open disregard of the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States as to their obligation; the claim of a right on the part of a State to nullify an act of the general government; the violation of the charter of the bank, and the Presidential veto of the act of Congress rechartering it; the deposit of the public money in the selected State banks with a view to its safe keeping and for the greater encouragement of trade by the loan of the public funds; the explosion of this system, and the adoption of one directly opposed to it, which rejected wholly the aid of the banks and denied the right of the government to employ the public funds for any but fiscal purposes ; the executive 106 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Everett menaces of war against France; the unsuccessful attempt of Mr. Van Buren's administration to carry on the govern- ment upon General Jackson's system; the panic of 1837, succeeded by the general uprising of the country and the universal demand for a change of men and measures, — these are the leading incidents in the chronicle of the period in question. . . . In the Twenty-Second Congress (the second of General Jackson's administration) the bank question became promi- nent [the question of rechartering the Bank of the United States, founded in 1816, and whose charter would expire in 1836]. General Jackson had in his first message called the attention of Congress to the subject of the bank. No doubt of its constitutionality was then intimated by him. In the course of a year or two an attempt was made, on the part of the executive, to control the appoint- ment of the officers of one of the Eastern branches. This attempt was resisted by the bank, and from that time for- ward a state of warfare, at first partially disguised, but finally open and flagrant, existed between the government and the directors of the institution. In the first session of the Twenty-Second Congress (1831-32) a bill was intro- duced by Mr. Dallas, and passed the two Houses, to renew the charter of the bank. This measure was supported by Mr. Webster, on the ground of the importance of a national bank to the fiscal operations of the government, and to the currency, exchange, and general business of the country. No specific complaints of mismanagement had then been made, nor were any abuses alleged to exist. The bank was, almost without exception, popular at that time with the business interests of the country, and par- ticularly at the South and West. Its credit in England was solid; its bills and drafts on London took the place of specie for remittances to India and China. Its conven- Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. 107 ience and usefulness were recognized in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. McLane), at the same time that its constitutionality was questioned and its existence threatened by the President. So completely, however, was the policy of General Jackson's administration the impulse of his own feelings and individual impressions, and so imperfectly had these been disclosed on the present occasion, that the fate of the bill for rechartering the bank was a matter of uncertainty on the part both of adherents and opponents. Many persons on both sides of the two Houses were taken by surprise by the veto. When the same question was to be decided by General Washington, he took the opinion in writing of every member of the Cabinet. But events of a different complexion soon occurred, and gave a new direction to the thoughts of men throughout the country. The opposition of South Carolina to the protective policy had been pushed to a point of excite- ment at which it was beyond the control of party leaders. Although, as we have seen, that policy had in 1816 been established by the aid of distinguished statesmen of South Carolina [Mr. Calhoun and others] , who saw in the success of American cotton manufactures a new market for the staple of the South, in which it would take the place of the cotton of India, the protective policy at a later period had come to be generally considered unconstitutional at the South. A change of opinion somewhat similar had taken place in New England, which had been originally opposed to this policy, as adverse to the commercial and navigating interests. Experience gradually showed that such was not the case. The enactment of the law of 1824 was considered as establishing the general principle of pro- tection as the policy of the country. It was known to be the policy of the great central States. The capital of the 108 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Everett North was to some extent forced into new channels. Some branches of manufactures flourished, as skill was acquired and improvements in machinery made. The coarse cotton fabrics which had enjoyed the protection of the minimum duty prospered, manufacturing villages grew up, the price of the fabric fell, and as competition increased the tariff did little more than protect the domestic manufactures from fraudulent invoices and the fluctuation of foreign markets. Thus all parties were benefited, not excepting the South, which gained a new customer for her staple. . . . Unfortunately, no manufactures had been established in the South. The vast quantities of new and fertile land opened in the west of Georgia, in Alabama, and Mississippi, injured the value of the old and partly exhausted lands of the Atlantic States. Labor was drawn off to found plantations in the new States, and the injurious conse- quences were ascribed to the tariff. Considerations of a political nature had entirely changed the tolerant feeling which, up to a certain period, had been shown by one class of Southern politicians towards the protective policy. With the exception of Louisiana, and one or two votes in Virginia, the whole South was united against the tariff. South Carolina had suffered most by the inability of her worn lands to sustain the competition with the lands of the Yazoo and the Red River, and to her the most active opposition, under the lead of Mr. Calhoun, was confined. The modern doctrine of nullification was broached by her accomplished statesmen, and an unsuccessful attempt made to deduce it from the Virginia resolutions of 1798. Mr. Madison, in a letter addressed to the writer of these pages in August, 1830, firmly resisted this attempt; and, as a theory, the whole doctrine of nullification was over- thrown by Mr. Webster in his speech of the 26th of January, 1830. But public sentiment had gone too far in Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. 109 South Carolina to be checked; party leaders were too deeply committed to retreat; and at the close of 1832 the ordinance of nullification was adopted by a State con- vention. _ This decisive act roused the hero of New Orleans from the vigilant repose with which he had watched the coming storm. Confidential orders to hold themselves in readiness for active service were sent in every direction to the officers of the army and the navy. Prudent and resolute men were quietly stationed at the proper posts. Arms and munitions in abundance were held in readiness, and a chain of expresses in advance of the mail was es- tablished from the Capitol to Charleston. These prepara- tions made, the Presidential proclamation of the nth of December, 1832, was issued. It was written by Mr. Ed- ward Livingston, then Secretary of State, from notes fur- nished by General Jackson himself; but there is not an idea of importance in it which may not be found in Mr. Webster's speech on Foot's resolution [the oration in reply to Hayne]. The proclamation of the President was met by the counter-proclamation of Governor Hayne; and the State of South Carolina proceeded to pass laws for carrying the ordinance of nullification into effect, and for putting the State into a condition to carry on war with the general government. In this posture of affairs the President of the United States laid the matter before Congress, in his message of the i6th of January, 1833, and the bill " fur- ther to provide for the collection of duties on imports " was introduced into the Senate, in pursuance of his recom- mendations. Mr. Calhoun was at this time a member of that body, having been chosen to succeed Governor Hayne, and having of course resigned the office of Vice-President. Thus called, for the first time, to sustain in person before no THE GREAT REPUBLIC.- [EvERErr the Senate and the country the policy of nullification, which had been adopted by South Carolina mainly under his influence, and which was now threatening the Union, it hardly need be said that he exerted all his ability and put forth all his resources in defence of the doctrine which had brought his State to the verge of revolution. It is but justice to add that he met the occasion with equal courage and vigor. The bill " to make further provision for the collection of the revenue," or " Force Bill," as it was called, was reported by Mr. Wilkins from the Committee on the Judiciary on the 21st of January, and on the following day Mr. Calhoun moved a series of reso- lutions affirming the right of a State to annul, as far as her citizens are concerned, any act of Congress which she may deem oppressive and unconstitutional. On the 15th and 1 6th of February he spoke at length in opposi- tion to the bill, and in development and support of his resolutions. On this occasion the doctrine of nullification was sustained by him with far greater ability than it had been by General Hayne, and in a speech which we believe is regarded as Mr. Calhoun's most powerful effort. In closing his speech Mr. Calhoun challenged the opponents of his doctrines to disprove them, and warned them, in the concluding sentence, that the principles they might advance would be subjected to the revision of posterity. [His speech was answered by Mr. Webster in a vigorous constitu- tional argument, concerning whose power and effect we may quote from Mr. Madison : " It crushes " nulHfication,' and must hasten an abandonment of ' secession.' " It will suffice to say here, in conclusion of this subject, that the passage of the Force Bill, and the energetic preparations of the President, deterred the nullifiers. The President had declared in his proclamation that as chief magistrate of the coun- try he could not, if he would, avoid performing his duty; that the laws must be executed ; that all opposition to their execution must be repelled, and by force, if necessary. That Jackson meant all that he Everett] THE ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION. Ill said no one for a moment questioned, and South Carolina hastened to " nullify " her hostile action, though still loudly advocating her favor- ite doctrine of " State rights." The tariff difficulty, which had led to this controversy, was for the time quieted by another " compromise bill," offered by Henry Clay. This provided for the gradual reduction of duties till 1843, when they were to reach a general level of twenty per cent. This bill was ac- cepted by Calhoun and his friends as a practical concession to their doctrines, and as enabling them to retire with some dignity from the discreditable attitude into which they had forced their State. The sec- ond administration of President Jackson, beginning in March, 1833, was mainly devoted to the war on the United States Bank, which had been begun by his veto of the bill to re-charter that institution.] The removal of the deposits of the public moneys from the Bank of the United States [was] a measure productive of more immediate distress to the community and larger train of evil consequences than perhaps any similar meas- ure in our political history. It was finally determined on while the President was on his Northern tour, in the sum- mer of 1833, receiving in every part of New England those demonstrations of respect which his patriotic course in the great nullification struggle had inspired. It is proper to state that up to this period, in the judgment of more than one committee of Congress appointed to investigate its affairs, in the opinion of both Houses of Congress, who in 1832 had passed a bill to renew the charter, and of the House of Representatives, which had resolved that the deposits were safe in its custody, the affairs of the bank had been conducted with prudence, integrity, and remark- able skill. It was not the least evil consequence of the warfare waged upon the bank, that it was finally drawn into a position (though not till its Congressional charter expired and it accepted very unwisely a charter as a State institution) in which, in its desperate struggle to sustain itself, it finally forfeited the confidence of its friends and 113 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Faisbanks the public, and made a deplorable and shameful shipwreck at once of its interests and honor, involving hundreds, at home and abroad, in its own deserved ruin. THE SEMINOLE WAR. George R. Fairbanks. [During the early period of the nineteenth century few troubles with the Indians existed, except those that formed a portion of the war with Great Britain. The first conflict with Tecumseh antedated that war, but the principal troubles with the Tecumseh confederacy, and with the Creeks, whom he had stirred up to hostility, were its resultants. The country east of the Mississippi was now so thickly occupied by white settlers as to awe the savages, and the final con- flicts in this region came from two thinly-settled territories, — Wis- consin, in the far northwest, and Florida, in the southeast. In 1832 the famous chief Black Hawk roused the Sacs, Foxes, and Winneba- goes of Wisconsin to hostilities. As a result, most of the Indians were driven west of the Mississippi, and a treaty of peace was con- cluded, by which they ceded to the United States a large section of their territory. The powerful tribal organizations of the Southern range of States, the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws, were gradually induced to yield their lands to the whites and to accept new homes in the Indian Territory. The Seminoles of Florida, a tribe said to have been derived from Creek refugees, resisted the efforts made to re- move them, and started a war which proved to be the longest and most costly Indian war to which the United States had ever been sub- jected. Instead of being concluded in one or two severe campaigns, as in ordinary cases, it dragged its slow length along for seven years, until the government almost despaired of subduing its savage ad- versaries. Difficulties with this tribe began in 1812, when Colonel Newnan in- vaded their territory and was forced to retreat with loss. The shelter which they gave to fugitive slaves, and their depredations on the set- Fairbanks] THE SEMINOLE WAR. 113 tlements, were the cause of the next war, conducted by General Gaines and afterwards by General Jackson, which resulted in the ces- sion of Florida by Spain to the United States in 1819. The active efforts to settle this new territory which succeeded were partly checked by the presence and the lurking hostilities of the In- dians, while the shelter which Ihey gave to runaway slaves in their secret coverts formed another source of disturbance. Finally, in 1833 a treaty was made with the principal chiefs for the removal of the tribe to the Indian Territory. But many of the younger warriors re- sisted this treaty, which they declared to have been fraudulently ob- tained. The celebrated Osceola, in particular, displayed indications of determined hostility to the whites. After evading the execution of the treaty until 1835, with studied dissimulation of their real intentions, in which Osceola acted his part so perfectly as completely to deceive the government agents, while in the mean time they collected all the arms and ammunition possible, they suddenly broke out into hostilities. Major Dade, with a party of over one hundred men, was ambushed, and the whole party killed or mortally wounded. At the same time Osceola and some followers made a sudden attack upon the government commissioner. General Thompson, and massacred him and several of his companions, within a short distance of Fort King. The war thus inaugurated was prose- cuted with more or less vigor for several years succeeding. But such were the intricacies of the swamps in which the savages concealed themselves that they proved almost impossible to reach, while they constantly appeared at unexpected places and committed unceasing murders and depredations. In October, 1836, Governor Call, with nearly two thousand men, penetrated the swamps, and defeated the Indians in two engagements. They received a severe blow in 1837. General Jessup, after several encounters with them, induced some of the principal chiefs to sign a treaty of removal. This treaty was soon broken through the influence of Osceola. But in October this chief, with several others, who had come into the American camp under the protection of a flag, was seized and held prisoner by General Jessup. Osceola was subse- quently confined in Fort Moultrie, where he died of a fever in the following January. In December, 1837, the army in Florida numbered about nine thou- sand men. Yet against this strong force the Indians still held out. A severe battle took place during this month near Lake Okecho- 3-8 114 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Fairbanks bee, in which General Taylor defeated the enemy, after a hard fight in the swamps. Both sides now changed their tactics. The Indians avoided pitched battles, and confined themselves to unexpected onslaughts, while hid- ing effectively from the troops. The whites, on the contrary, pene- trated the everglades more and more deeply, and gradually broke up the lurking-places of the foe. A warfare of a peculiar and unusual character ensued, a description of the principal features of which we select from Fairbanks's " History of Florida."] The winter of 1838-39 was spent by the troops in active service in the endeavor to hunt out from their hiding- places the small Indian bands scattered through the coun- try, but with little success, as the Indians, by their better knowledge of the country, were enabled to avoid their pursuers. Occasionally their settlements were reached and broken up, but few of the Indians were seen. During the operations of this campaign, one hundred and ninety-six Indians and negroes surrendered or were captured and sent West. The policy of the Indians was now, says General Taylor, to avoid giving battle to regular troops, even in single companies, while at the same time every opportunity was seized to wreak their vengeance on the unarmed inhab- itants of the country. Moving by night, rapidly, in small squads, they were able to appear unexpectedly in remote parts of the country, their presence indicated only by their rifles and shrill yells as they approached at daylight the home of some unsuspecting settler. Murders were committed by the Indians within a few miles of Tallahassee and St. Augustine. Discouraged at the failure of his efforts either to find the Indians or bring them to a stand, General Taylor adopted the plan of dividing the whole country into squares, and placing a block-house, with a small detach- ment, in each, a part of the number to be mounted. The Fairbanks] THE SEMINOLE WAR. 115 officer commanding was to scout his district every alter- nate day, thoroughly examining the swamps and ham- mocks to see that they were clear of Indians. The merits of this plan were not tested, as it was never fully carried out. [It was prevented from being put into operation by the arrival of General Macomb as a government agent to treat with the Indians. He made an arrangement with the chiefs in which they agreed to con- fine themselves to a designated portion of the south of Florida until other arrangements could be made. It was now announced that the war was at an end, and great joy was felt by the citizens, who pre- pared to return to their devastated fields. Yet in July, when the season for active operations by the troops had passed, hostilities broke out in all directions, and many murders were committed. Colonel Harney, with a detachment of twenty-five men, was attacked and many of his men killed, while he himself escaped only by swimming to a fishing-boat.] The prosecution of the war now became extremely dis- couraging, and the end seemed farther oflf than three years before. The Indians had become familiarized with the exhibition of military power, and had learned to con- temn it. They found themselves at the close of four years still in possession of the country, and powerful for annoy- ance and to inflict revenge, and their ferocity seemed to increase with its exercise. . . . The citizens and troops had become so exasperated against the Indians for their repeated massacres of the feeble and the unprotected that a feeling had grown up that they were deserving of extermination, and that any and every means should be used to hunt and capture or destroy them. The great difHculty in so wide an extent of country, abounding in thick hammocks, palmetto and scrubby lands, swamps, islands, and morasses, was to pursue them successfully. 116 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Fairbanks [An attempt was made to run them down with Spanish blood- hounds, but these proved unsuited to the country. The Indians con- tinued their old tactics, coming in, professing friendship, claiming to be tired of the war, receiving food, and suddenly disappearing. New murders would quickly follow. Severely as they had been hunted, the country was so adapted to concealment that they were yet spread through all parts of the Territory.] Billy Bowlegs, the Prophet, and Hospetarkee, Shiver and Shakes, were the head-men of a large party of Seminoles who occupied the country south of Pease Creek. In De- cember, 1840, Colonel Harney, with a detachment of one hundred men, penetrated this hitherto-unexplored region in canoes, and created much alarm among the occupants of this almost inaccessible portion of the country. Chekika, the Spanish-Indian chief, was overtaken by a detachment of troops and killed, and six of his companions captured and hung on the spot, and, it is said, their bodies were suspended from the trees. This expedition, and the summary punishment inflicted by Colonel Harney, greatly intimidated the Indians, and they resorted to their old expedient of having " a talk " and expressing a strong desire for peace and amity. As their sincerity could only be tested by the result, their offers were accepted, and they came in and received clothing and subsistence, thus gaining time to plant their fields and devise new measures of security for their families. During the winter and spring, every day they could delay operations against them was important. In April, having accomplished their purposes, they again disappeared, leaving the baffled officers of the government to speculate once more on the uncertainty of Indian professions. . . . Five years had elapsed, and still the Indians remained, and the government was in the position of almost a sup- pliant tcr peace. The efiforts of the troops against the Fairbanks] THE SEMINOLE WAR. 117 Indians were evaded by the exercise of the utmost caution and cunning. With the sagacity and thorough wood-craft of natives of the forest, while the white soldier was plod- ding his weary way dependent upon guides or the compass for a knowledge of his route, the Indian stopped behind some clump of bushes or peered forth from some leafy covert and saw his pursuers pass by, and then stole back to attack some point in the rear of the pursuing troops, which had been left unprotected. Ill success brought, naturally, criticism and wholesale censure. Those who knew least were wisest in such matters, and had always a plan which, if adopted, would infallibly succeed. Constant changes of plans, of officers, and of troops made matters worse. An uncertain policy, holding out the olive-branch at one time and fire and sword at another, alternately coaxing and threatening, gave to the Indians a feeling of distrust mingled with contempt. They thought they had been deceived by fair words and false professions, and they used the same means to further their own purposes. [General Armistead, who had succeeded General Taylor in com- mand, asked to be relieved in May, 1841. He was succeeded by Gen- eral William J. Worth, the eighth commander since the war opened. It was an excellent choice. He quickly proved himself the man to bring the war to an end.] No more unpromising field for distinction could have been found than Florida presented at the period when General Worth was assigned to the command. As the number of Indians had been reduced, their tactics had been changed. They no longer presented themselves, as at first, to contest the passage of troops in the open field. They now found that by subdividing into small squads they could distract the attention of the troops, and, by the smallness of their number, find ready concealment and 118 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Faimanks elude pursuit. They had become accustomed to the mode of conducting military operations, and knew that with the approach of the summer heats they would remain unmolested. Far down in the Everglades there were islands never trodden by the foot of the white man, where they could place their families in security and plant their crops in peace. From these fastnesses they could sally forth on long expeditions for murder and rapine; ac- quainted with coverts to which they might readily fly in all parts of the country, able to support themselves upon the abundant game, they possessed an unlimited power of doing mischief, and were almost as unapproachable as the birds in the air. Where they had been, was easily ascer- tained by the bodies of the slain victims and the ashes of destroyed homes, but where they were, it was a matter of impossibility to more than conjecture, and when other means of support failed, or it was desirable to check a too active movement in- the direction of their camps, they had the convenient resort of a friendly talk and peaceful over- tures, accompanied with an abundant supply of whiskey and rations. [They had now, however, a man to deal with who was ready to profit by the experience of his predecessors, and who particularly saw the bad policy of going into summer quarters at the approach of the hot weather. He at once organized his troops for a continuous cam- paign. " Find the enemy, capture, or exterminate," were his orders to his subordinates. Major Childs had captured Coacoochee and sev- eral other chiefs and warriors and sent them oS to Arkansas. Worth ordered their return, as he wanted to make use of them. Coacoochee, pleased at being returned to Florida, promised to bring in his whole band.] A simultaneous movement was ordered to take place in each district, for the purpose of breaking up any camps which the Indians might have formed, destroying their Fairbanks] THE SEMINOLE WAR. 119 crops or stores wherever they might be found. Boat- detachments ascended the Withlacoochee, found several fields of growing crops; and destroyed them. Every swamp and hammock between the Atlantic and Gulf coasts was visited, and the band of Halleck Tustenuggee routed out of the Wahoo swamp. Many fields were found in the hammocks and islands of the Charl-Apopka country, with huts, palmetto sheds, and corn-cribs. Tiger Tail had a large field upon one of these islands, which was his reli- ance for the ensuing year, and from a tree in the hammock he witnessed its entire destruction by the troops. [These operations proved very harassing and destructive to the Iv. dians. Yet they resolved not to surrender, and to put to death any messenger who should approach them. The detachments of troops continued to scour the country for twenty-five days, with the ther- mometer averaging 86°, and clearly demonstrated their ability to stand a summer campaign. During this time they destroyed thirty- five fields and one hundred and eighty huts or sheds. General Worth now used his prisoners with good effect. Keeping Coacoochee in chains, he released five of his companions, and sent them out with the message that unless they returned in forty days, with their band, he would hang the chief and all the prisoners on the last day. This measure proved effective. One hundred and eighty- nine Indians came in, seventy-eight of them being warriors.] Coacoochee was by no means the great warrior his vanity led him to estimate himself. He was vain, bold, and cunning. General Worth had operated upon his weak point by treating him as a great chief. The general now proposed to make still further use of him by procuring his services in bringing in the other bands, which he thought might more easily and certainly be brought to surrender by negotiation than by hostile pursuit. Coacoo- chee having surrendered, he desired to increase his influ- ence at the West by carrying with him a larger force, and readily consented to use his influence in inducing the rest 130 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Fairbanks to emigrate. At his instance, the active operations of the army were in some degree suspended. [By these and other means a considerable number of the Indians were secured. Worth now organized a large expedition to attack the stronghold of the Indians in the Big Cypress Swamp. A naval force accompanied the movement.] The examination of the hiding-places of the Indians was thorough and complete. The troops marched through swamps, deep in mud and water; their boats penetrated every creek and landed upon every island. The Indians, apprised of their presence, fled towards the coast and were seldom seen; extensive fields were found and destroyed, and every hut and shelter burned. The Indians now saw that no hiding-place was secure, and that, with a vigilant and energetic commander like General Worth to deal with, they were to encounter war in a different form from that which they had previously experienced. . . . The following graphic summary of the Big Cypress ex- pedition is appended to a long and interesting diary kept by an officer : " Thus ended the Big Cypress campaign, like all others. Drove the Indians out, broke them up, taught them that we could go where they could; men and officers worn down ; two months in water ; plunder on our backs; hard times; trust they are soon to end. . . . In- dians asking for peace in all quarters. The only reward we ask is the ending of the Florida War." [A year more of such operations ended it. All the Indians, with the exception of about three hundred and sixty men, women, and children, had been sent to Arkansas. These, under the chiefs Billy Bowlegs and Arpaika, were allowed to remain, within the district south of Pease Creek, no apprehension of further difficulties being felt.] The Florida War may be said to have commenced with the massacre of Major Dade's command, on the 28th of ZACHARY TAYLOR. {At the period of his commanding m Mexico.) Frost] THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 121 December, 1835, and closed, by official proclamation, on the 14th of August, 1842. It was generally said to have cost the United States forty millions of dollars. . . . Cap- tain Sprague, in his valuable work, states the expenditure at nineteen millions. . . . The number of deaths among the regular troops during the war amounted to an aggre- gate of fourteen hundred and sixty-six, of whom the very lars:e number of two hundred and fifteen were officers. THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. John Fkost. [During the period covered by our last selections events were taking place in another part of America in whose results the United States were destined to become vitally interested. The events referred to were the revolution in Texas and its annexation to the United States. This province of Spanish America had attracted many emigrants from the adjoining States on the east, who showed a strong rebellious sentiment against the oppressive acts of the Mexican government, and in 183s broke out into open rebellion. A collision took place on October 2 of that year. A war ensued, which continued with varying fortunes until the following year, a Declaration of Independence being made by the Texans on March 2, 1836. On March 6 took place the famous massacre at the Alamo, and on April 21 the battle of San Jacinto, in which the Mexicans were badly beaten, and their general and president, Santa Anna, taken prisoner. He was forced, as a condition to his release, to send the Mexican troops from the coun- try and to decree the cessation of hostilities The independence of Texas was soon after acknowledged by the United States, France, and England, and in 1845, in response to a pro- posal from the Texan authorities, the new republic of Texas was ac- cepted as a State of the American Union. This action gave great umbrage to Mexico, which country had never acknowledged the inde- 123 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frost pendence of Texas, and in the ensuing year collisions took place be- tween the armies of the two countries, on the border line of the Rio Grande. On May 7, 1846, a conflict occurred on Texan soil, at Palo Alto, and another on the ensuing day, at Resaca de la Palma, in both of which the Mexicans were defeated. These events were quickly followed by a declaration of war on the part of the United States, and an army of fifty thousand volunteers was called for. Mexico was invaded in several directions. General Kearney march- ing upon Santa Fe and General Wool towards Chihuahua. The re- sults of these movements were the occupation of the province of New Mexico and the capture of the city of Chihuahua, while Fremont, about the same time, took possession of California. Meanwhile, General Taylor, with the main army, advanced, and laid siege to the strong city of Monterey. The assault on this city began on September 21, and was repeated on the 22d and 23d, the troops excavating their way through the stone walls of the houses. On the morning of the 24th the Mexican general surrendered. The succeeding events were the capture of Saltillo by General Worth, of Victoria by General Patterson, and of the port of Tampico by the fleet under Commodore Perry. A new enterprise was now projected by the government at Wash- ington, — the capture of Vera Cruz, and a direct march from the coast upon the city of Mexico. General Scott was sent out to take the chief command, and withdrew most of the regulars under Taylor to aid in this expedition. Taylor's force was now reduced to about ten thou- sand volunteers and a few companies of regulars. Meanwhile, Santa Anna was at San Luis Potosi, with twenty-two thousand of the best troops of Mexico, prepared to oppose his advance. In early February, 1847, Taylor advanced with part of his force to Agua Nueva, but learning that Santa Anna was marching on him with his whole army, he fell back to Buena Vista and took position in a strong mountain- defile. He had then with him four thousand seven hundred and fifty- nine men to oppose an army of about twenty thousand. Santa Anna's march to this point had been a difficult one, through deserts and over mountains, his army almost destitute of food and water. A speedy victory or a hasty retreat was necessary for him, for his men could not long be sustained in the country into which he had advanced. Yet he had a serious task before him, despite the small force of his opponents. The pass through the mountains, which the Americans had seized, was constricted by impassable gullies, till it Frost] THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 133 was little wider than the road that traversed it, while on each side rose high and precipitous mountains. Three miles distant was the small village of Buena Vista, where the American baggage- and sup- ply-trains were stationed. On February 22 the Mexican army ad- vanced to the southern entrance to the pass, and Santa Anna sent General Taylor a summons to surrender, which was without ceremony declined. Some skirmishing took place, but the main action was re- served for the next day. For the description of it given below we are indebted to Frost's " History of Mexico and the Mexican War."] At daylight on the 23d of February both armies were in rapid motion. General Taylor had reached Saltillo [about eight miles from the field of battle] on the previous night. Near this place General Minon had manoeuvred all "day, for the purpose of cutting off the expected retreat of the American army, and perhaps of making an attempt upon the town. In order to be prepared for any emergency, the commander appointed four companies of Illinois vol- unteers to garrison it, assisted by Webster's artillery. He then proceeded to Buena Vista, and ordered forward all the available troops from that place. During the night the enemy had succeeded in gaining the top of the mountain, where the skirmish of the pre- ceding evening had taken place, and in passing thence to the left and rear. Under cover of the night about fifteen hundred men had been thrown forward to the same posi- tion, and were now prepared for an attack upon the light troops of Colonel Marshall. Here the battle of the 23d commenced at an early hour. Heavy volleys of musketry, succeeded by the roar of cannon and shouts of ofiEcers, convinced General Wool that the left wing was to be the principal point of attack. The intrepid riflemen, animated by their commander, received the shock from the immense masses of the enemy with coolness, pouring back, in re- turn, the contents of their unerring rifles. Soon they were reinforced by three companies of the 2d Illinois vol- 124 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frost unteers, under Major Trail. The troops covered them- selves behind ridges of the mountains, in positions per- fectly secure from artillery, and where every charge of the enemy was met with advantage. While this movement was going on, a heavy column moved along the San Luis road against the American centre. As they marched rapidly towards this point, Cap- tain Washington opened his battery from the pass. So terrible was the efifect that whole lines seemed to sink at every discharge, and long gaps in the densely-packed mass told of the sweeping entrance of grape and canister. Led on by their officers, the survivors pressed forward, under this withering fire, until within full range of the captain's artillery, when the front ranks recoiled in con- fusion. The whole column was soon in rapid retreat, leav- ing behind masses of dead and dying. These, however, were but preparations for the main attack. During the whole morning, an immense force of infantry and cavalry had been concentrated among the ridges, and under cover of the clififs, at the foot of the mountain on which Colonel Marshall was posted. They now commenced filing through the gorges towards the large plateau where Brigadier-General Lant was posted, with the 2d Indiana regiment, under Colonel Bowles, the 2d Illinois regiment, and Captain O'Brien's artillery. On gaining the plateau the enemy rushed on in crowded masses, the cavalry pouring through a defile to charge the American infantry. Lane immediately ordered the Indiana regiment forward, supporting it with the artillery. This movement seems co have been unfortunate, as it separated the troops from immediate support at a most critical moment. The enemy perceived the error, and, collecting all their force in one united mass, they charged like an avalanche along the edge of the plateau. The Fkost] the battle OF J3UENA VISTA. 125 Indiana troops had not reached the designated position, when Colonel Bowles, who commanded the regiment, without the authority of General Lane, gave the order, " Cease firing and retreat." [The consequences were unfortunate. The regiment, once in re- treat, could not be rallied. A few were brought back to the field, but the most of them retreated to Buena Vista, and were lost to the remainder of the battle.] Unaware of the loss of his support, O'Brien galloped on until he arrived at the spot pointed out by General Lane. The spectacle from this position was sufficient to appall even a veteran. The hills, on every side, were alive with troops; horsemen were pouring over the ground, and artillery vomiting forth floods of flaming death. The rocks seemed to start and topple with the hurrying mul- titude, and shouts of officers and men rose, like the roar of ocean, above the din of battle. The intrepid O'Brien saw the vast host rushing towards him, and, with a quick, anxious glance, he turned to see where was his support. He was alone. With three pieces of artillery, and a few cannoneers, he was exposed to the shock of the huge multitude. If he yielded, the battle was lost, and cer- tain destruction seemed inevitable if he stood. Flushed with victory, the heavy columns of cavalry came pouring on from the discomfiture of the Indianians, their horses crowding upon each other, and surrounded on all sides by the dense masses of infantry. Victory was concentrated at this single point, and every eye on the battle-field was bent upon the issue. Amid the deafening uproar, the shrill voice of Wool was heard far in the distance, calling forward the troops of Illinois. The sound seemed to ani- mate O'Brien's little company, and they prepared for the fearful encounter. 126 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frost By this time most of the cannoneers had been killed or disabled, the captain had received a wound in the leg and two horses had fallen under him. Three thousand Mex- ican infantry were pouring showers of musketry upon him, while a battery three hundred yards to his left was vomiting forth grape and canister. Suddenly he opened his fire. Companies melted before him; alleys and gaps opened along all the enemy's front, and the unerring shot rattled upon their cannon, sweeping artillery, man, and horse to destruction. Struck with horror, the front col- umns wavered and fell back. Elated with success, O'Brien advanced about fifty yards, and continued his fire. The van paused, rallied to receive reinforcements, and again moved forward. In rapid succession one discharge after another was hurled against them; but each gap was filled as soon as made, and in one desperate mass they poured towards the captain's position. Fiuding it impossible longer to resist their progress, he gave them his last dis- charge, and withdrew to the American line. On arriving here he had not a cannoneer to work the guns, all having been killed or disabled. It being impos- sible to replace them, he was compelled to apply to Cap- tain Washington, who furnished him with two six-pound- ers. With these he again ascended the plateau, where he came in contact with a strong line of infantry and cav- alry, covered by a heavy battery. He was himself sup- ported by a body of infantry posted in two ravines on his right and left. The remainder of the American infantry and artillery were engaged with the enemy about half a mile to his left. O'Brien kept the Mexicans in check, while the troops to the left drove the body opposed to them round the head of the" ravine, where they united with those opposed to the captain. About this time the latter received orders to advance, and at the same time Frost! THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. I37 the enemy, finding- themselves strong by their junction, came on to meet him. The position of affairs was most critical, for if the Mexi- cans succeeded in forcing the American position the day was theirs. There being no artillery opposed to them but O'Brien's section and another piece, it was all-important for him to maintain his ground until the guns on the left could come round the ravine to join him. He determined, therefore, to hold this position until the enemy reached the muzzles of his guns. The struggle was a terrible one. Each party put forth its utmost strength, and the feelings of the soldier were wound to a pitch of enthusiasm that made him reckless of death itself. The enemy sank down by scores, and a body of lancers, charging the Illinois troops, were compelled to fall back. Still the main body rushed on, shaking the mountain-passes with the trampling of their armed thousands, and shouting above the up- roar of battle. The wounded and dying were crushed in their furious charge, and soon their horses were within a few yards of O'Brien's pieces. Here they received the last discharge, and as the driving hail smote their columns, a groan of anguish followed, and horse and rider sank down and rolled over the rocky surface in the arms of death. It was a dreadful moment, and as the columns swayed to and fro beneath the shock, and then sternly united for the headlong leap, companies that were mere spectators grew pale for the result. Although O'Brien was losing men and horses with alarming rapidity, he gave orders again to fire, when suddenly the few recruits who were fit for duty lost their presence of mind, and, with all his efforts, they could not be kept to the guns. Mortified to find the fruits of his gigantic efforts torn from him, the captain rode round his guns with startling quick- ness, urging his followers by voice and action; but it was 128 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frost in vain ; no man on the field could have rallied them ; and after staying at his post to the last, he retired slowly and sullenly. He lost his pieces, but by his gallant stand he had kept the enemy in check long enough to save the day. About the same time the 2d Illinois regiment, under Colonel Bissell, having been completely outflanked, was compelled to fall back. Colonel Marshall's light troops, on the extreme left, came down from their mountainous position and joined the American main army. Masses of cavalry and infantry were now pouring through the defiles on the American left, in order to gain the rear north of the large plateau. At this moment General Taylor arrived upon the field from Saltillo. As the Mexican infantry turned the American flank, they came in contact with Colonel Davis's Mississippi riflemen, posted on a plateau north of the principal one. The 2d Kentucky regiment, and a section of artillery, under Captain Bragg, had pre- viously been ordered to this position from the right, and arrived at a most important crisis. As the masses of the enemy emerged from the defiles to the table-land above, they opened upon the riflemen, and the battle soon became deeply interesting. The lancers meanwhile were drawing up for a charge. The artillery on each side was in an incessant blaze, and one sheet of sparkling fire flashed from the small-arms of both lines. Then the cavalry came dashing down, in dense columns, their dress and arms glit- tering in the sun, seemingly in strange contrast with their work of death. All around was clamor and hurry, drown- ing the shouts of command and groans of the dying. Davis gave the order to fire; a report from hundreds of rifles rang along his line, and mangled heaps of the enemy sunk to the ground. Struck with dismay, the lacerated host heaved back, while in mad confusion horse o On 13 fe; a; It. o Frost] THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 129 trod down horse, crushing wounded and dying beneath their hoofs in the reckless rushings of retreat. The day was once more saved. At the same time the Kentucky regiment, supported by Bragg's artillery, had driven back the enemy's infantry and recovered a portion of the lost ground. The latter officer then moved his pieces to the main plateau, where, in company with Captain Sherman, he did much execu- tion, particularly upon the masses that were in the rear. General Taylor placed all the regular cavalry and Captain Pike's squadron of horse under the orders of Brevet Lieu- tenant-Colonel May, with directions to hold in check the enemy's column, still advancing to the rear along the base of the mountain. May posted himself north of the ravine through which the enemy were moving towards Buena Vista, in order to charge them as they approached that place. The enemy, however, still continued to advance, until almost the whole American artillery were playing upon them. At length, unable to stand the fearful slaughter, their ranks fell into confusion, some of the corps attempting to effect a retreat upon their main line of battle. To prevent this, the general ordered the ist dragoons, under Lieutenant Rucker, to ascend the deep ravine which these corps were endeavoring to cross, and disperse them. The squadron, however, were unable to accomplish their object, in consequence of a heavy fire from a battery cov- ering the enemy's retreat. Meanwhile a large body of lancers assembled on the extreme left of the Americans, for the purpose of charg- ing upon Buena Vista. To support that point, General Taylor ordered forward May, with two pieces of Sherman's battery. At the same time, the scattered forces at that hacienda were collected by Majors Munroe and Morrison, and, uniting with some of the troops of the Indiana regi- 3—9 130 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frost merit, they were posted to defend the position. Before May could reach the village, the enemy had begun the attack. They were gallantly opposed by the Kentucky and Arkansas cavalry, under Colonels Marshall and Yell. The shock was a heavy one. Colonel Yell fell at the head of his column, a lance entering his mouth, wrenching off his lower jaw, and shattering the side of his face. The Kentuckians lost Adjutant Vaughan, a young officer of much promise. The enemy's column was separated into two portions, one sweeping by the American depot under a destructive fire from the Indiana troops, until they gained the mountain opposite, the other portion regaining the base of the mountain to the west. Lieutenant-Colonel May now reached Buena Vista, and, approaching the base of the mountain, held in check the enemy's right flank, upon whose masses, crowded in the narrow gorges and ravines, the artillery was doing fearful execution. The position of that portion of the Mexican army which had gained the American rear was now so critical as to induce the belief that it would be forced to surrender. At the moment, however, when the artillery was thinning its ranks, and May, after much manoeuvring, was about charg- ing their flank, a white flag was observed approaching the American quarters, and General Taylor ordered the firing to cease. The message was simply a demand from General Santa Anna, requesting to know what the Ameri- can general wanted. General Wool was sent to have a personal interview with the Mexican general. On reach- ing the Mexican lines, Wool was unable to stop the enemy's farther advance, and returned to head-quarters. The object of the Mexicans had, however, been accom- plished, — their extreme right moving along the base of the mountain and joining the main army. . . . The roar of artillery, which had lasted from before sun- Frost] THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 131 rise, now partially ceased on the principal field, the enemy apparently confining his efforts to the protection of his artillery. General Taylor had just left the main depot, when he was unexpectedly recalled by a heavy fire of musketry. On regaining his position a stirring scene was presented. The Illinois and 2d Kentucky cavalry had been attacked in a rugged defile by an overwhelming force of both cavalry and infantry, and were now struggling against fearful odds. Could the enemy succeed in defeat- ing these troops, they might renew the main attack with great advantage, and perhaps gain the day. To prevent the catastrophe. Captain Bragg, who had just arrived from the left, was immediately ordered into battery. Feeling how important was every moment, that brave officer abandoned some of his heaviest carriages, and pushed for- ward with those that could move most rapidly. Gaining a point from which they could be used, he placed them in battery and loaded with canister. His position was one of imminent peril. The supporting infantry had been routed, the advance artillery captured, and the enemy, flushed with victory, were throwing their masses towards him. He appealed to the commanding general for help. None was to be had; and, nerving himself for his terrible duties, he returned to the battery, and spoke a few low, hurried words to his men. Silently but firmly they gath- ered round their pieces, and awaited orders. The com- manding general sat on horseback, gazing with thrilling intensity upon that handful of troops. After all the losses and triumphs of the day, victory had eluded their grasp, to hang upon the approaching struggle. The cavalry were almost near enough to spring upon his guns, when Bragg gave the order to fire. Suddenly they halted, staggered a few paces, and then closed for the charge. The shouts of their supporting infantry fol- 133 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Frosi lowed the roar of artillery, and they again advanced. The cannoneers had marked the effect, with feelings too in- tense to admit of outward expression, and, rapidly reload- ing, they again poured forth a shower of grape. The efifect was fearful; and General Taylor, as he beheld the bleeding columns, felt that the day was his own. A third discharge completed the rout. Discipline gave way among the enemy to the confused flight of terrified hosts, as, pouring through the rugged passes, they trod each other down in their hurried course. One wild shout went up from the American army, broken at short intervals by the thunder of Bragg's artillery. . . . In the retreat of the enemy, a portion of the American infantry pursued them through a ravine so far that they got out of supporting distance. On seeing this, the Mexi- cans suddenly wheeled round and attacked them. The infantry were in their turn driven back, taking the course of another ravine, at the end of which a body of the enemy were waiting to intercept them. Fortunately, while the cavalry were pursuing, they came within range of Wash- ington's battery, which, opening upon them with grape, drove back the column in confusion and saved the ex- hausted fugitives. This was the last struggle on the well-fought field of Buena Vista. For ten hours the battle had raged with unmitigated fury, and yet, strange to say, each army oc- cupied the ground that it had early in the morning. As night crept among the rocky gorges, the wearied soldiers sank down on their arms upon the field. Although the air was excessively cold, the Americans slept without fires, expecting a renewal of the attack early on the following morning. The night was one of horror. On every rock, and in every defile, piles of dead and wounded lay, the latter writhing in torture, their wounds stif? and clotted Frost] THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 133 with the chill air, while their piercing cries for aid, and supplications for water, made the night hideous. [The expected renewal of the assault by the Mexicans the next day was not made. Santa Anna found his men worn out with fatigue, burning with thirst, and starving for want of food. And they had suffered too severely in the battle to be in a condition to endure an- other conflict. Before daylight he was in full retreat, leaving the well-won field to the victorious Americans. After their failure to carry the American position, desertion became so extreme in the Mexican host as to threaten to disorganize the army, and another battle would have been ruinous. The losses in this conflict on the American side were two hundred and sixty-seven killed, four hun- dred and fifty-six wounded, and twenty-three missing. Santa Anna stated his loss at fifteen hundred, but it was probably greater. It may be remarked here that the task of Santa Anna in this battle was one that fully overcame the disparity in numbers. The pass of Angostura, occupied by Washington's battery, is one of the strongest in Mexico, and capable of being defended by a small party against great odds. The American right wing was posted with one flank against the precipitous mountains and the other resting on impassable ravines, while it could only be approached over broken and exposed ground. The plateau which formed the key of the American position was high and commanding, and could be reached only through intri- cate windings among the rock ledges. There was no other victory of the war received with such enthusi- asm in the United States, and Buena Vista carried General Taylor to the Presidency. It ended the war in that region of Mexico, Santa Anna being now called southward, to defend the capital from the projected invasion of General Scott, by way of Vera Cruz. The remaining events of the war were a constant series of successes. General Scott, with the army under his command, landed near Vera Cruz on March 9, 1847. He forced this city to surrender on the 27th, and on April 8 began an overland march towards the city of Mexico. On April i8 Santa Anna was seriously repulsed at Cerro Gordo, and in August the American army reached the immediate vicinity of the Mexican capital. On the i8th the formidable Mexican intrenchments at Contreras were carried by assault, and on the same day the im- portant post of Churubusco was carried. On September 8 the fort- ress known as the Molino del Rey was captured, and on the 13th the 134 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Moeeis very strong fortifications on the hill of Chapultepec were carried by an impetuous and daring assault. On the same day an advance on the city took place, and by nightfall the American troops were within its gates. The capture of the city was fully achieved during the ensuing day. This result virtually ended the war, though some minor military movements followed. A treaty of peace was signed on the 2d of February, 1848, and was rati- fied on May 30. Under its provisions the United States gained a large accession of territory, embracing all New Mexico and Upper California. In return the United States surrendered all other con- quered territory, paid Mexico fifteen million dollars, and assumed all debts owed by Mexico to American citizens.] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. Charles Mokris. The remaining events of the social and political history of the period covered by the preceding selections are too numerous to give each of them separate treatment, in the limited space at our command. It therefore becomes neces- sary to deal with them in a rapid review, as preliminary to the momentous historical era of the Civil War. Among the most important of these events was the financial panic of 1837, a startling result of the unbounded speculation, and the executive experiments on the finances, of the pre- ceding epoch. The first era of bank-expansion in the United States was due to the abrogation of the charter of the National Bank in 181 1, and to the business activity which followed the close of the second war with Great Britain. A second National Bank was instituted in 1817. The undue extension of banking facilities which existed during this period was followed in 1819 by a necessary Morris] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. 135 contraction. The bank circulation fell from $110,000,000 in 1816 to $65,000,000 in 1819. Financial distress and a general depression of industry succeeded, from which the country did not fully recover for several years. When Jackson became President, in 1829, he very quickly manifested an enmity to the National Bank, which he de- clared to be corrupt, dangerous, and unconstitutional. His first hostile measure was to remove from it the govern- ment deposits, which he distributed among the State banks. This measure produced a storm of opposition, greatly dis- turbed the conditions of business, and caused general dis- tress in the industrial community. But Jackson was un- yieldingly obstinate in his opinions, and his hostility to the bank was next displayed in a veto of the bill to '•enew its charter, which would expire on March 3, 1836. The State banks took advantage of this condition of affairs to expand greatly their discounts, new banks came rapidly into existence, and the banking facilities were enormously increased, the discounts augmenting from $200,000,000 in 1830 to $525,000,000 eight years afterwards. A series of wild speculations attended this expansion: foreign goods were heavily imported, and enormous oper- ations took place in government lands, in payment for which paper money poured profusely into the treasury. Such was the state of affairs at midsummer of 1836. To check these operations a " specie circular " was issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, which, required payment for government lands to be made in gold and silver after August 15, 1836. The effect of this series of executive actions, and of the fever of speculation which existed, was disastrous. The specie which was expected to flow into the treasury in payment for public lands failed to appear. The banks refused discounts and called in their loans. Property was everywhere sacrificed, and prices generally 136 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris declined. Then, like an avalanche suddenly tailing upon the land, came the business crash and panic of 1837, which caused the financial ruin of thousands. During the first three weeks of April two hundred and fifty business houses failed in New York. Within two months the failures in that city alone aggregated nearly one hundred millions of dollars. Throughout the whole country the mercantile interests went down with a general crash, involving the mechanic, the farmer, even the humblest laborer, in the ruinous consequences of the disaster. Bankruptcy every- where prevailed, forced sacrifice of valuable merchandise was the order of the day, no less than eight of the States partially or wholly failed, even the general government could not pay its debts, trade stood still, business confi- dence vanished, and ruin stalked unchecked over the land. The panic of 1837 was not due solely to the causes above enumerated. Many influences converged to pro- duce this result, and to give rise to the fever of specula- tion which was its immediate predecessor. As one of its results the banking system of the country sufifered a gen- eral collapse. Out of eight hundred and fifty banks, three hundred and fSrty-three closed entirely, sixty-two failed partially, and the system of State banks received a shock from which it never fully recovered. The compromise tariff of 1833, through which the tariff was to be annually reduced until it should reach a general twenty per cent, level in 1842, added to the distress, and recovery only fairly took place after 1842, in which year a new tariff bill was passed, imposing a thirty per cent, ad-valorem rate on all imported goods except in certain special cases. In 1846 a low tariff bill was again passed, which continued in force until i860, when in the Morrill tariff bill was re- sumed the protective principle which has been ever since maintained. Morris] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. 137 During the era in question the settlement of the broad territory of the West had been taking place with great rapidity, the pioneer emigration, which had long since crossed the Alleghanies and spread throughout the eastern valley of the Mississippi, now extending widely westward of that river towards the infertile barrier of the Rocky Mountains. The movement had even reached the Pacific, through the incitements of the fur-trade, and of certain advantages offered by the rich plains of California. Yet the American population of this region was but sparse in 1848, in which year California became a part of the United States, as a result of the Mexican War. Emigration thither now proceeded more rapidly, while the neighbor- ing territorj' of Utah became the land of refuge of the strange sect of Mormons, who had made their way thither in 1846 and founded Salt Lake City in 1847. The settle- ment of the Pacific region, however, must have taken place very slowly had it not been for the discovery of gold in the mountain region of that territory. The cry of " Gold," that rang far and wide throughout the land in the summer and autumn of 1848, gave rise to such a fever of emigra- tion as the world has seldom known. Over land and over sea thousands of eager treasure-seekers flocked to this new land of promise, and within one year of American occupation the land filled up more than it had done in three centuries of the drowsy Spanish rule. On January 19, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered the glittering yellow fragments, which gave rise to this furore of emigration, in a mill-race which he was excavating for Captain Sutter, at Coloma. Investigation proved that gold existed in great abundance throughout a broad region, and ere a year had passed thousands of fortune-seekers were already actively at work, washing treasure out of the sands of ancient riverSj wh.QSQ waters had ceased to 138 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris flow ages before. The story of the " gold rush " to Cali- fornia is one of extraordin^iry interest, and the scenes to which it gave rise are almost without example in the annals of mankind', except in the closely similar case of the Australian gold discovery. A few years, however, began to exhaust the " placer," or surface, diggings of California, and new methods of mining, requiring consid- erable capital, had to be resorted to. The " hydraulic process " was invented in 1852, the " high gravels " being broken down by the force of powerful jets of water, con- ducted through pipes from mountain streams and lakes. Quartz mining also came into vogufi, the metallic veins being worked and the gold extracted by difficult and costly processes. Rich deposits of silver were also discovered, particularly in Nevada and Colorado. The era of indi- vidual fortune-hunting was over, but enormous wealth still lay buried in the rocks of the region, and emigration pro- ceeded with unexampled rapidity, peopling the Pacific Territories in a ratio far exceeding anything ever experi- enced in the settlement of the Atlantic slope. Agriculture slowly succeeded the mining fever, the rich soil of Cali- fornia proving to hold a wealth more valuable than that contained within its rocks. The vast forests of the Pacific coast ranges also proved treasure-mines. In consequence of these various inducements to population the Far West has, within forty years, become the home of an extensive and flourishing population. State after State has been added to the Union in that distant region, railroads and telegraphs have been stretched across the continent, and in response to the magic cry of " Gold " an immense and thickly-peopled domain has been added to the territory of the United States of America. There is one further phase of American history, to which oyr attention is particularly called, ixqxa its mg^ MoEKis] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. 139 mentous importance as the producing cause of the Civil War. This is the development of Abolitionism, and the bitter controversies to which it gave rise. The sentiment in favor of slave-manumission died away in great measure after the passage of the Missouri Compromise Bill in 1820, and, though it was kept feebly alive, it failed to become a question of national importance until after the close of the Mexican War. A feeling in favor of " gradual abolition " existed in some measure both South and North until 1830, though no steps were taken towards its realization. The doctrine of immediate abolition was first openly promul- gated by William Lloyd Garrison, in The Liberator, a newspaper of which the first number was issued on Jan- uary I, 1831. Anti-slavery societies were soon after formed, but the cause which they advocated met with great opposition in the North during the succeeding twenty years, the meetings of the abolitionists being vio- lently broken up, and their lives occasionally endangered. The political strength of the abolition idea was first made manifest in 1844, when the candidate of the so-called Liberty party polled 62,300 votes, enough to defeat Clay and make Polk President of the United States. It was, however, the close of the Mexican War, and the consequent large addition of territory to the United States, that brought the question of slavery-extension prominently before Congress, and opened that series of hostile debates which ended only with the Southern declaration of war. In the discussion of the treaty with Mexico, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed to add to the appropriation bill the proviso that slavery should be prohibited in any terri- tory which might be acquired in consequence of the war. This " Wilmot Proviso " was defeated in the Senate, but was received with much approbation in the North. The opponents of slavery organized themselves, in 1848, intg 140 THE GREAT- REPUBLIC. [Morris the Free Soil party, which in the ensuing Presidential election polled 300,000 votes for its candidate. Van Buren. It sent Charles Sumner and Salmon P. Chase to the Senate, and a considerable number of members to the House of Representatives. The rapid settlement of California and the West soon became a disturbing element in the situation. The people of Oregon organized a provisional Territorial government, from which slavery was excluded. A convention held in California in 1849 adopted a similar measure, and an appli- cation was made to Congress for admission of the Territory as a State with this proviso in its Constitution. A fierce debate followed, the Southern extremists insisting on the organization of California, Utah, and New Mexico, as Territories, with no restriction as to slavery. The Free Soilers and many others demanded that California should be admitted as a State, and that Territorial governments ■ prohibiting slavery should be given to Utah and New Mexico. The dispute ended in a compromise bill proposed by Henry Clay, and accepted by Congress, in whose meas- ures California was admitted as a free State, Utah and New Mexico organized as Territories without restriction as to slavery, the sale of slaves in the District of Colum- bia prohibited, and provision made for the return of fugi- tive slaves from Northern States. For a while everything seemed settled: the compromise was spoken of as a finality, and a state of public feeling prevailed which greatly discouraged anti-slavery agitation. In the succeeding Presidential election the Free Soil ticket received but 151,000 votes, and the party ended its politi- cal existence, to be absorbed in 1855 into the Republican party, a new and strongly-consolidated organization, which was destined to become famous in the succeeding history of the country. Morris] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. 141 Yet the Fugitive Slave proviso of the compromise bill proved a rankHng thorn which gave abundant activity to the anti-slavery sentiment in the North. For years pre- viously slaves had been at intervals escaping to the free States, where they found numerous friends to secrete them or assist them in their journey to the safe soil of Canada. The organization for the aid and secretion of fugitive slaves in time became very complete, and received the name of the "underground railroad." Few slaves who crossed the border-line were recovered by their masters, partly from the efficient measures of concealment taken by their friends, and partly from the disinclination of the State and local authorities to assist pursuers, and the legal obstructions which were occasionally placed in their path. Massachusetts passed a law to secure to such fugitives trial by jury. Pennsylvania passed a law against kidnap- ping. A decision was finally made in the United States Supreme Court which gave to the owner of a slave au- thority to recapture him in any State of the Union, without regard to legal processes. Yet little benefit was gained by the South from this decision. The States readily obeyed the mandate against interference. Some of them forbade their courts to hear claims of this character, and laid severe penalties on officers who should arrest or jailers who should detain alleged fugitive slaves. The difficulty thus produced was obviated in the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Commissioners were appointed by the United States to hear such cases, and marshals and their deputies were required to execute warrants for the arrest of fugitives, with a penalty equal to the full value of the slave if they should suffer one to escape after arrest. Other features of this bill increased its stringency, and under its provi- sions there was little hindrance to a free negro being kid- napped and taken South as a slave. The commissioners 143 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris in certain cases refused to listen to evidence in favor of the freedom of the alleged fugitive. A law thus enforced could not fail to arouse indignation, even in those devoid of anti-slavery sympathies. Cases of the arrest of fugitives took place in many parts of the Northern States, in which the requirements of ordinary law and humanity were disregarded, and the captives car- ried South with little or no efifort to prove that they were the persons claimed as fugitives. Hundreds, in all parts of the North, who had viewed the controversy with in- difference and looked upon the abolitionists as a band of wild radicals, had their sympathies awakened by cases of this kind occurring in their own neighborhoods ; and there can be no doubt that the operation of the Fugitive Slave Law, while it saved to the South a certain portion of its flying property, greatly added to Northern hostility to slavery, and backed up the ardent abolitionists with an extensive body of moderate sympathizers. In December, 1853, a bill was introduced into Congress by Mr. Dodge, a Senator from Iowa, for the organization of the Territory of Nebraska. Mr. Dixon, of Kentucky, proposed, as an amendment to this bill, to abrogate the Missouri Compromise and permit the. citizens of the South- ern States to take and hold their slaves within any of the new Territories or the States formed therefrom. On Janu- ary 23, 1854, the bill was reported back from committee by Mr. Douglas, modified to propose the formation of two Territories, the southern to be called Kansas and the northern Nebraska. It retained the principle of the Dixon amendment, and for four months thereafter a hot debate was maintained in the halls of Congress. Despite the utmost efforts of Northern members, and the numerous petitions from the best element of the Northern people, the bill was carried by the South, the compromise measure MoRitis] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. 143 which had been accepted as a finality for thirty-five years flung to the winds, and the whole territory from the Mis- sissippi to the Rocky Mountains thrown open as a new field of battle between the advocates of slavery, and free- dom. In 1857 the South gained another victory, in the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, in which the Missouri Compromise was declared to be un- constitutional, the action recently taken by Congress being thus sustained by the highest tribunal in the land. The truce between slavery and freedom which had been maintained for thirty-five years was broken. The war was about to recommence with tenfold energy. The events above described had very greatly strengthened the aboli- tion party in the North, and all other questions of public policy grew unimportant before the imminent demands of this. A reorganization of parties became necessary. The old Whig party had received its death-blow. The Democratic party divided into two sections, on new lines. Finally the Free Soilers and a section of the Whigs and Democrats fused together in opposition to the new ag- gressive attitude of slavery, and the Republican party came into existence, while the pro-slavery members of the old parties joined hands as a modified Democracy. The country was drifting it knew not whither. The armies were in the field, arrayed for legislative battle, and the hot and bitter sentiment that was widely manifested was full of the elements of actual war. The first phase of hostility declared itself on the soil of Kansas, organized as a Territory on May 30, 1854. The decision that slavery might be introduced there led to warlike conflicts between settlers from the Northern States and armed parties from the adjoining slave State of Missouri. An organized effort had been made by the anti-slavery societies of the North to secure Kansas, by 144 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Mokms colonization with emigrants of abolition sentiments. Mis- souri made an equally strong effort to secure it to slavery, but rather by violence than by colonization. An armed band of two hundred and fifty Missourians marched upon the settlers at the new town of Lawrence, and threatened to drive them out at the point of the bayonet if they did not immediately strike their tents and leave the Territory. They refused to do so, and their assailants retired, without carrying out their threat. But this battle of words was followed by a series of sanguinary assaults upon the set- tlers, in which a state of actual war was inaugurated. An election for a Territorial legislature was ordered in 1855. The slave-holders of Missouri and Arkansas at once adopted a new expedient. They entered the Terri- tory in large bands, took possession of the polling-places, drove the actual settlers from the polls, and cast their votes in favor of pro-slavery candidates. Though the settlers numbered but 2905 voters, there were cast at this mockery of an election 6320 votes. In 1857 the pro- slavery legislature met, formed a Constitution, submitted it to the people, and ratified it at an election in which no votes in opposition were allowed or counted. This fraudulent operation was endorsed by the administration, but it was soon proved that the Free State settlers of Kansas were too greatly in the majority to be thus dealt with. A convention was held at Wyandotte in 1859, in the election of whose members, though many fraudulent pro-slavery votes were again polled, the Free State party gained a decided majority. A Constitution was adopted in which sla-?ery was prohibited. This was submitted to popular suffrage, and carried by a vote of 10,421 for to 5530 against. In i860, after the withdrawal of the South- ern members from Congress, the State was admitted under this Constitution. Morris] EVENTS PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR. I45 The story of abolition may here be briefly ended. From being a Congressional issue it had been made a warlike issue in Kansas. This violent method was carried to the halls of Congress, where, in May, 1856, Charles Sumner delivered one of his most vigorous and telling speeches on " The Crime against Kansas." As a result he was as- sailed by Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina, knocked down with a heavy cane, and beaten so severely that he never fully recovered from the effects. This cowardly and outrageous assault added greatly to the earnestness of abolition sentiment in the North, and had its share in arousing that fanatical outbreak in which John Brown seized Harper's Ferry and attempted to excite a slave- insurrection. This event will be considered at length in a succeeding article. In the Presidential election of i860 the rapid growth of anti-slavery sentiment in the North was evidenced in the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candi- date, to the Presidency, while the bitterness of hostile feel- ing in the South was indicated in the secession movements that quickly followed. Though it was declared by Con- gress, after the outbreak of the war, that hostilities were not prosecuted with any intention of interfering with the " established institutions " of the seceding States, yet it proved impossible to keep measures of abolition out of the contest. Slavery was at first dealt with from the immediate stand-point of war. Slave property employed in acts against the government was declared confiscated, the army was forbidden to return fugitive slaves, and slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia and in the Terri- tories. Later, the employment of negroes as soldiers was authorized. Two army commanders, Fremont in Missouri and Hunter in South Carolina, took it upon themselves to 3—10 146 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Mokris issue proclamations abolishing slavery within their fields o£ command. This unauthorized action was disavowed by the President. Though in favor of abolition, he be- ievied that slave-holders ought to be compensated for their lost property, and in December, 1862, he offered to the consideration of Congress three constitutional amend- ments, in which he proposed to compensate States which should abolish slavery before 1900 and to colonize free negroes out of the country. Though these recommenda- tions were not considered, yet gradual emancipation was incorporated in 1862 in the Constitution of West Virginia, and in that of Missouri in 1863. Maryland, in 1864, adopted immediate abolition. On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation, and on January i, 1863, a final one, definitely abolishing slav- ery in the hostile States, with the exception of the parishes of Louisiana and the counties of Virginia which were then within the Union lines. Though it has been claimed that the President had neither constitutional nor physical power to abolish slavery in these States, and that therefore his action was nugatory, yet its efifect proved sufficiently posi- tive. As the Federal armies advanced, slavery disappeared behind them. Of the slave States not included in the proclamation, Kentucky and Delaware alone took no ac- tion on the subject of slavery, but the institution was everywhere near its death. On April 8, 1864, the thir- teenth amendment to the Constitution, abolishing s'avery within the limits of the United States, was offered in Con- gress, and in 1865 it was ratified by thirty-one of the thirty-six States. The work begun by The Liberator in 1830 was thus completed, and every man, woman, and child within the United States of America was declared free from the date of December 18, 1865. Greeley] THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. 147 THE ERA OF CIVIL WAR. JOHN BROWN AND THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. Horace Greeley. [The first blood shed in the war between freedom and slavery was that spilled upon the soil of Kansas. In this conflict one of the most active and earnest of the Free State party was the afterwards famous John Brown, a man whose hatred of slavery reached the height of fanaticism. Four of his sons had settled in Kansas, near the site of the village of Osawatomie, in 1854. Finding themselves greatly harassed by the invading Missourians, they wrote to their father for arms. Instead of sending them, he brought them, and quickly placed himself at the head of an armed opposition to the invaders. On August 30, 1856, the village of Osawatomie was attacked by a large body of well-armed Missourians. It was defended by about thirty Free State men. John Brown led this little party, and posted them in an advantageous position on the banks of the Osage River. In the fight that ensued the invaders suffered severely, while the de- fenders lost but five or six, one of Brown's sons being killed. His party was driven out, and the village burned. Six weeks after, an- other encounter took place, near Lawrence, in which Brown suc- ceeded in repelling a greatly outnumbering force of assailants. He afterwards returned to the East, where he held conferences with the leading abolitionists, to some of whom he made known a purpose to invade Virginia, with the design of arousing the slaves to an effort to obtain their freedom. A committee was appointed to procure the means for this enterprise. Shortly after Brown held a secret convention of white and black abolitionists at Chatham, Canada, which adopted a " Provisional Constitution " embodying regulations for the proposed invasion. In a meeting of the com- 148 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Greeley mittee, on May 24, 1858, it was agreed to raise funds and to supply Brown with rifles. As nothing could be done at that time, he re- turned to Kansas, for the purpose of aiding the Free State settlers. Here, learning that a family of slaves, just beyond the Missouri border, were about to be sold and sent to Texas, he invaded that State with twenty men, and liberated these and some others. Dur- ing this raid a Missourian, who had resisted the invaders, was killed. This event roused a strong feeling of indignation, the more mod- erate Free State men disavowed all sympathy with the act, and Brown soon found Kansas too hot to hold him. He left the Terri- tory in January, 1859, accompanied by four white men and three negroes, with some women and children. He was sharply pursued by thirty pro-slavery men from Lecompton. Brown took possession of two log huts, and faced his adversaries, who were soon joined by twelve additional men from Atchison. On these forty-two Brown and his seven companions made a sudden sally, when the assailants turned and fled without firing a shot, — probably aware of the fact that reinforcements were hastening to Brown's aid. Four only of them stood their ground. These were made prisoners, and forced to deliver their horses to Brown's negroes. At this they swore so profusely that the stern old Puritan ordered them to kneel and pray, his presented pistol overcoming their scruples against this exercise. They swore no more, though he held them prisoners for five days, compelling them, by the same potent argument, to kneel and pray night and morning. On reaching the East again he received from the secret committee about two thousand dollars. The whole amount raised for the ex- pedition was about four thousand dollars in money and nearly twice that value in arms, most of it given with full knowledge of the pur- pose intended. Being now prepared for the execution of his des- perate scheme. Brown repaired to Harper's Ferry, near which he rented, under the name of Smith, three unoccupied houses on a farm. Here he was gradually joined by the companions whom he had enlisted for the enterprise. Most of these kept out of sight during the day, while arms and munitions were brought from Cham- bersburg in well-secured boxes. The time originally fixed for the assault on Harper's Ferry was the night of October 24, 1859, but it was made on the 17th, for reasons satisfactory to the leader. The ar- senal at this place held a large store of government arms, on which account, and probably from its natural strength, it was selected as Greeley] THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. 149 a good central point for the rallying of the slaves who Brown must have felt assured would immediately join him. An account of the circumstances which followed we select from the historical work of a prominent advocate of anti-slavery, the " American Conflict " of Horace Greeley.] On Saturday, the 15th, a council was held, and a plan of operations discussed. On Sunday evening another council was held, and the programme of the chief unani- mously approved. He closed it with these words: "And now, gentlemen, let me press this one thing upon your minds. You all know how dear life is to you, and how dear your lives are to your friends; and, in remembering that, consider that the lives of others are as dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, therefore, take the life of any one if you can possibly avoid it; but, if it is necessary to take life in order to save your own, then make sure work of it." . . . The forces with which Brown made his attack consisted of seventeen white and five colored men, though it is said that others who escaped assisted outside, by cutting the telegraph-wires and tearing up the railroad-track. The entrance of this petty army into Harper's Ferry on Sun- day evening, October i6th, seems to have been effected without creating alarm. They first rapidly extinguished the lights of the town, then took possession of the Armory buildings, which were only guarded by three watchmen, whom, without meeting resistance or exciting alarm, they seized and locked up in the guard-house. It is probable that they were aided, or, at least, guided, by friendly ne- groes belonging in the village. At half-past ten the watch- man at the Potomac bridge was seized and secured. At midnight his successor, arriving, was hailed by Brown's sentinels, but ran, one shot being fired at him from the bridge. He gave the alarm, but still nothing stirred. At a quarter-past one the western train arrived, and its con- 150 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Greeley ductor found the bridge guarded by armed men. He and others attempted to walk across, but were turned back by presented rifles. One man, a negro, was shot in the back, and died next morning. The passengers took refuge in the hotel, and remained there several hours, the conductor properly refusing to pass the train over, though permitted, at three o'clock, to do so. A little after midnight the house of Colonel Washington was visited by six of Brown's men, under Captain Stevens, who captured the colotiel, seized his arms, horses, etc., and liberated his slaves. On their return Stevens and his party visited the house of Mr. Alstadt and his son, whom they captured, and freed their slaves. These, with each male citizen as he appeared in the street, were confined in the Armory until they numbered between forty and fifty. Brown informed his prisoners that they could be liberated on condition of writing to their friends to send a negro apiece as ransom. At daylight the train proceeded. Brown walking over the bridge with the conductor. Whenever any one asked the object of their captors, the uniform answer was, " To free the slaves ; " and when one of the workmen, seeing an armed guard at the Arsenal gate, asked by what authority they had taken possession of the public property, he was answered, " By the authority of God Almighty!" The passenger-train that sped eastward from Harper's Ferry, by Brown's permission, in the early morning of Monday, October 17th, left that place completely in the military possession of the insurrectionists. They held, without dispute, the Arsenal, with its offices, workshops, and grounds. Their sentinels stood on guard at the bridges and principal corners, and were seen walking up and down the streets. Every workman who ignorantly approached, the Armory, as day dawned, was seized and imprisoned, Greeley] THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. 151 with all other white males who seemed capable of making any trouble. By eight o'clock the number of prisoners had been swelled to sixty-odd, and the work was still pro- ceeding. But it was no longer entirely one-sided. The white Virginians, who had arms, and who remained unmolested in their houses, prepared to use them. Soon after day- break, as Brown's guards were bringing two citizens to a halt, they were fired on by a man named Turner, and, directly afterwards, by a grocer named Boerly, who was instantly killed by the return fire. Several Virginians soon obtained possession of a room overlooking the Armory gates, and fired thence at the sentinels who guarded them, one of whom fell dead, and another — Brown's son Watson — was mortally wounded. Still, throughout the forenoon, the liberators remained masters of the town. [Whatever the expectations of the invaders, they had already failed. The negroes whom they must have looked for to flock to their standard did not come. To remain in that position was sui- cidal. No hope was left but in flight. Yet Brown held his ground. Meanwhile, the country was rising.] Half an hour after noon a militia force, one hundred strong, arrived from Charlestown, the county seat, and were rapidly disposed so as to command every available exit from the place. In taking the Shenandoah bridge they killed one of the insurgents, and captured William Thompson unwounded. The rifle-works were next at- tacked, and speedily carried, being defended by five insur- gents only. These attempted to cross the river, and four of them succeeded in reaching a rock in the middle of it, whence they fought with two hundred Virginians, who lined the banks, until two of them were dead and a third mortally wound'ed, when the fourth surrendered. [The fight continued during the day, men being killed on both 153 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Greeley sides. The Virginia militia was being hourly reinforced, and Brown, finding himself strongly beleaguered, retreated to the en- gine-house, where he repulsed his assailants, who lost two killed and six wounded.] Still militia continued to pour in, the telegraph and rail- road having been completely repaired, so that the govern- ment at Washington, Governor Wise at Richmond, and the authorities at Baltimore were in immediate communi- cation vi^ith Harper's Ferry, and hurrying forward troops from all quarters to overwhelm the remaining handful of insurgents, whom terror and rumor had multiplied to twenty times their actual number. At five p. m. Captain Simms arrived, with militia from Maryland, and completed the investment of the Armory buildings, whence eighteen prisoners had already been liberated upon the retreat of Brown to the engine-house. Colonel Baylor commanded in chief. The firing ceased at nightfall. Brown oflfered to liberate his prisoners upon condition that his men should be permitted to cross the bridge in safety, which was re- fused. Night found Brown's forces reduced to three un- wounded whites besides himself, with perhaps half a dozen negroes from the vicinity. Eight of the insurgents were already dead; another lay dying beside the survivors; two were captives mortally wounded, and one other unhurt. Around the few survivors were fifteen hundred armed, in- furiated foes. Half a dozen of the party, who had been sent out at early morning by Brown to capture slave- holders and liberate slaves, were absent, and unable, even if willing, to join their chief. They fled during the night to Maryland and Pennsylvania; but most of them were ultimately captured. During that night Colonel [Robert E.] Lee, with ninety United States marines and two pieces of artillery, arrived, and took possession of the Armory ground, very close to the engine-house. JOHN BROWN ON THE WAY TO EXECUTION. Greeley] THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. 153 Brown, of course, remained awake and alert through the night, discomfited and beyond earthly hope, but per- fectly cool and calm. Said Governor Wise, in a speech at Richmond soon after, " Colonel Washington said that Brown was the coolest man he ever Saw in defying death and danger. With one son dead by his side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his dying son with one hand, held his rifle with the other, and commanded his men with the utmost composure, encouraging them to be firm, and to sell their lives as dearly as possible." . . . At seven in the morning, after a parley which resulted in nothing, the marines advanced to the assault, broke in the door of the engine-house by using a ladder as a batter- ing-nam, and rushed into the building. One of the de- fenders was shot, and two marines wounded ; but the odds were too great; in an instant all resistance was over. Brown was struck in the face with a sabre and knocked down, after which the blow was several times repeated, while a soldier ran a bayonet twice into the old man's body. All the insurgents, it is said, would have been killed on the spot, had the Virginians been able to dis- tinguish them with certainty from their prisoners. . . . On Wednesday evening, October 19th, the four sur- viving prisoners were conveyed to the jail at Charlestown under an escort of marines. Brown and Stevens, badly wounded, were taken in a wagon; Green and Coppoc, unhurt, walked between files of soldiers, followed by hun- dreds, who at first cried, " Lynch them ! " but were very properly shamed into silence by Governor Wise. [The legal proceedings which followed, and the conviction and sentence to death of Brown and his companions, have been com- plained of as unduly hastened and unfairly conducted, yet with little warrant. They were what might have been expected any- where under similar circumstances of excitement.] 154 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Greeley Brown's conduct throughout commanded the admiration of his bitterest enemies. When his papers were brought into court to be identified, he said, " I will identify any of my handwriting, and save all trouble. I am ready to face the music." When- a defence of insanity was suggested rather than interposed, he repelled it with indignation. [When brought into court to be sentenced, he said,] " In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, — the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clear thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection. . . . Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave-country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit: so let it be done." . . . The 2d of December was the day appointed for his exe- cution. Nearly three thousand militia were early on the ground. Fears of a forcible rescue or of a servile insur- rection prevented a large attendance of citizens. Cannon were so planted as to sweep every approach to the jail and to blow the prisoner into shreds upon the first intima- tion of tumult. Virginia held her breath until she heard that the old man was dead. . . . He [Brown] walked out of the jail at eleven o'clock, — an eye-witness said, " with a radiant countenance, and the Greeley] THE RAID UPON HARPER'S FERRY. 155 step of a conqueror." His face was even joyous, and it has been remarked that probably his was the lightest heart in Charlestown that day. A black woman, with a little child in her arms, stood by the door. He stopped a moment, and, stooping, kissed the child affectionately. Another black woman, with a child, as he passed along, exclaimed, " God bless you, old man ! I wish I could help you ; but I can't." He looked at her with a tear in his eye. He mounted the wagon beside his jailer, Captain Avis, who had been one of the bravest of his captors, who had treated him very kindly, and to whom he was profoundly grateful. The wagon was instantly surrounded by six companies of militia. Being asked, on the way, if he felt any fear, he replied, " It has been a characteristic of me from infancy not to suffer from physical fear. I have suffered a thou- sand times more from bashfulness than from fear." The day was clear and bright, and he remarked, as he rode, that the country seemed very beautiful. Arrived at the gallows, he said, " I see no citizens here; where are they? " " None but the troops are allowed to be present," was the reply. " That ought not to be," said he : " citizens should be allowed to be present as well as others." , He bade adieu to some acquaintances at the foot of the gallows, and was first to mount the scaffold. His step was still firm, and his bearing calm, yet hopeful. The hour having come, he said to Captain Avis, " I have no words to thank you for all your kindness to me." His elbows and ankles being pinioned, the white cap drawn over his eyes, the hangman's rope adjusted around his neck, he stood waiting for death. " Captain Brown," said the sheriff, " you are not stand- ing on the drop. Will you come forward?" " I can't see," was his firm answer ; " you must lead me." The sheriff led him forward to the centre of the drop. " Shall I give you a handkerchief, and let you drop it as a signal?" 156 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor " No ; I am ready at any time ; but do not keep me need- lessly waiting." In defiance of this reasonable request, he was kept standing thus several minutes, while a military parade and display of readiness to repel an imaginary foe were enacted. The time seemed an hour to the impatient spectators ; even the soldiers began to murmur, " Shame ! " At last the order was given, the rope cut with a hatchet, and the trap fell, but so short a distance that the victim continued to struggle and to suffer for a considerable time. Being at length duly pronounced dead, he was cut down after thirty-eight minutes' suspension. His body was con- veyed to Harper's Ferry, and delivered to his widow, by whom it was conveyed to her far Northern home, among the mountains he so loved, and where he was so beloved. FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. Orville J. Victor. [The war between the North and the South had its actual be- ginning in 185s, in the sanguinary struggle on the soil of Kansas between the settlers and the invading Missourians. The next step of violence in this contest was the brutal attack of Brooks on Sum- ner, on the floor of the Senate-chamber, on May 22, 1856. It was continued by the warlike acts of John Brown in Kansas and Missouri, and his assault upon Harper's Ferry. These direct acts of violence were accompanied by a war of words and threats whose significance was not then properly appreciated. The debates in Congress were conducted with a bitterness of re- crimination that has never been equalled before or since, while from 1850 onward the threat of secession was openly made whenever any pro-slavery measure met with strong opposition. In the Presiden- tial election of 1856 the strength of the Republican party was shown in a vote for Fremont of 1,341,264 to 1,838,169 for Buchanan. Fill- more, the candidate of the American party, — which deprecated any interference with the right of the actual settlers of a Territory to frame their Constitution and laws, — received 874,534 votes. Victor] FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. 157 On the approach of the period for the i860 election the state of public feeling had grown far more violent, and the hot-headed lead- ers of Southern politics were so determined upon having all or nothing that they divided their party and insured their defeat, rather than accept the moderate views of the Northern section of the party. Stephen A. Douglas, the candidate of the Northern Democrats, was opposed by John C. Breckenridge as a candidate of the Southerners. The " Constitutional Union " (late "Amer- ican") party nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, while the Re- publicans offered as their candidate Abraham ■ Lincoln, of Illinois, whose record on the question at issue was embraced in a sen- tence of a recent speech: "/ believe this government cannot per- manently endure half slave and half free." The issue between free- dom and slavery was for the first time clearly defined in a political contest Pro-slavery and anti-slavery were pitted against each other in the most momentous election-contest the country had ever known. Lincoln might have been elected in any case. As it was, the division of their party by the Southerners insured his election, — a result, indeed, rather desired than deprecated by the South, to judge from the spirit ot" rejoicing with which the news of the Re- publican victory was received in South Carolina. Already in 1856 an intention not to submit to the decision of the people, if adverse to the views of the slave-holders, had been mani- fested. A secret convention of Southern governors was held at Raleigh, North Carolina, in October, 1856, whose animus was af- terwards indicated by Governor Wise, of Virginia, in the statement that if Fremont had been elected an army of twenty thousand men would have marched to Washington and seized the Capitol, in or- der forcibly to prevent his inauguration. In October, i860, a meet- ing of prominent politicians was held in South Carolina, which resolved on secession in the event of Lincoln's election. Similar meetings were held in several of the Gulf States. This was no idle threat. The most joyful enthusiasm was manifested in Charles- ton, South Carolina, when the news of Lincoln's election reached the " Fire-Eaters " of that city, and they felt that the opportunity for what they had long desired was at hand. The fact that the Democrats still retained a majority in Congress was not enough for the ultra Southern leaders. The passions of the people were at fever-heat Secession had been already determined upon. It could 158 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor at that time be attempted with advantage, from the fact that the ad- ministration was still Democratic, and there was little fear of active interference with measures of disunion before March, 1861. Com- promises were attempted, but no one would listen to them. Before New- Year's day, 1861, South Carolina had passed an ordinance of se- cession and set up as an independent power. Other States followed, — Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The northern range of slave States as yet refused to follow this ex- ample, and did not do so until after war had actually broken out. These acts of secession were quickly followed by the seizure of the United States forts and arsenals in the seceding States, to which ac- tion the authorities at Washington manifested no opposition, and in- deed, as has been declared, took good care that they shouj/i be well supplied with munitions of war. Major Robert Anderson, in charge of the forts in Charleston harbor, promptly evacuated Fort Moul- trie, as incapable of defence, and established himself in Fort Sum- ter with his small garrison of one hundred and twenty-eight men. The remaining forts and the arsenal were at once seized, and volunteers came pouring into the city. Similar seizures were made in the other seceding States, and even in North Carolina, which had not seceded. About thirty forts, mounting over three thousand guns, and having cost the United States twenty million dollars, were thus forcibly taken possession of. A convention was held at Montgomery, Alabama, a Constitution adopted, and Jefferson Davis elected President, with Alexander H. Stephens for Vice-President, of the Confederated Southern States. On the nth of February, 1861, Abraham Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, and began his journey to Washington. On reaching Harrisburg, indications of a purpose violently to oppose his progress became apparent, and his journey from this point was performed secretly. His inaugural address, delivered on the 4th of March, was conciliatory in tone, and the envoys from the Confeder- ate government, afterwards sent to Washington, were received with a lack of plain-speaking that gave them hopes of a non-interference policy. It was not until April that any decisive action was taken by the new administration. Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was beleaguered by ^ Confederate force. Was it to be given up without a struggle? This was just then the vital question, and the decision of the administration was manifested by secret but rapid prepara- tions to relieve the fort. Early in April a well-appointed fleet sailed Victor] FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. 159 southward for this purpose. As soon as the fact came clearly to the knowledge of the leaders at Charleston, hostilities were determined upon, unless Anderson would at once consent to evacuate the fort. On April 12 he oflfered to evacuate on the isth if not by that date aided by the government. In reply he was given one hour in which to decide, at the end of which time fire would be opened on the fort. An interesting description of the stirring events that succeeded we select from Victor's " History of the Southern Rebellion."] Punctually at the hour indicated — twenty minutes past four A.M. — the roar of a mortar from Sullivan's Island announced the war begun. A second bomb from the same battery followed; then Fort Moultrie answered with the thunder of a columbiad; Cumming's Point next, and the Floating Battery, dropped in their resonant notes; then a pause, but only for a moment. A roar of fifty guns burst in concert, a chorus to the solemn prelude which must have startled the spirits of the patriotic dead in their slumbers. Sumter lay off in the waters, the centre of that appalling circle of fire. The early morning shadows had lifted from its ramparts to discover the stars and stripes floating from the garrison staff; but it was as silent amid that storm as if no living soul panted and fretted within its walls. It was the silence of duty, — of men resolved on death, if their country called for the sacrifice. For months the little garrison had been pent up in the fortress, over- worked and underfed, but not a murmur escaped the men, and the hour of assault found all prepared for their leader's orders, — to defend the fort to the last. The sentinels were removed from the parapet, the pos- terns closed, and the order given for the men to keep close within the casements until the call of the drum. Break- fast was quietly served at six o'clock, the shot and shell of the enemy thundering against the walls and pouring within the enclosure with remarkable precision. After 160 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor breakfast, disposition was calmly made for the day's work. The casements were supplied from the magazines; the guns, without tangents or scales^ and even destitute of bearing-screws, were to be ranged by the eyes and fired "by guess;" the little force was told off in relays, com- posed of three reliefs, equally dividing the officers and men. Captain Doubleday took the first detachment, and fired the first gun at seven o'clock. The captain directed his guns at Moultrie, at the Cumming's Point iron battery, the floating iron-clad battery anchored off the end of Sul- livan's Island, and the enfilading battery on Sullivan's Island, — all of which were then pouring in a scathing storm of solid shot. To the mortar-batteries on James Island and Mount Pleasant, and to Fort Johnson, but little attention was paid, — only an occasional columbiad answer- ing their terrific messengers to prove its defiance. The parapet-guns were not served after a few rounds, as their exposed condition rendered it impossible to work them without a sacrifice of men, — a sacrifice Anderson would not needlessly allow. Throughout all that fearful fray the commander seemed never to lose sight of the men; and that not a man was lost during the bombardment reflects quite as much honor upon him as the defence did honor to his devotion to duty. [The eagerness of the men within the fort was so great that the reliefs refused to await their turns, while a body of Irish laborers, who at first declined to handle the heavy guns, soon were among the most enthusiastic of the defenders.] Their devotion, indeed, became reckless. An officer stated that, having ordered the barbette guns to be si- lenced, owing to the murderous fire made upon them by the rifled ordnance of the enfilading battery, he was sur- prised to hear a report from one of the exposed forty-two- pounders. Proceeding to the parapet, he found a party of e I K O "I. O in :§ o Victor] FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. 161 the workmen serving the gun. " I saw one of them," he stated, " stooping over, with his hands on his knees, con- vulsed with joy, while the tears rolled down his powder- begrimed cheeks. ' What are you doing there with that gun ?' I asked. ' Hit it right in the centre,' was the reply, the man meaning that his shot had taken effect in the centre of the floating battery." Another officer present thus recorded the nature and effect of that literal rain of iron which all the day long (Friday) poured in upon the still defiant walls : " Shells burst with the greatest rapidity in every portion of the work, hurling the loose brick and stone in all direc- tions, breaking the windows, and setting fire to whatever wood-work they burst against. The solid-shot firing of the enemy's batteries, and particularly of Fort Moultrie, was directed at the barbette guns of -Fort Sumter, dis- abling one ten-inch columbiad (they had but two), one eight-inch columbiad, one forty-two-pounder, and two eight-inch seacoast howitzers, and also tearing a large por- tion of the parapet away. The firing from the batteries on Cumming's Point was scattered over the whole of the gorge, or rear, of the fort. It looked like a sieve. The explosion of shells, and the quantity of deadly missiles that were hurled in every direction and at every instant of time, made it almost certain death to go out of the lower tier of casements, and also made the working of the barbette or upper uncovered guns, which contained all our heaviest metals, and by which alone we could throw shells, quite impossible. During the first day there was hardly an instant of time that there was a cessation of the whizzing of balls, which were sometimes coming half a dozen at once. There was not a portion of the work which was not seen in reverse (that is, exposed by the rear) from mortars." . . . 3— II 162 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor At noon, Friday, the supply of cartridges in the fort was exhausted, when the blankets of the barracks and the shirts of the men were sewed into the required bags and served out. No instrument was in the fort for weighing the powder, thus forbidding all precision in the charge, and, as a consequence, causing much variation in planting the shot. When we add that the guns wanted both tan- gents, breech or telescopic sights, that wedges served in- stead of bearing-screws, we can only express astonish- ment at the accuracy attained. Not a structure of the enemy escaped the solid balls of the columbiads and paix- hans. The village of Moultrieville — a gathering of sum- mer-houses belonging to citizens of Charleston — was com- pletely riddled. The fleet appeared off the harbor at noon, Friday. Sig- nals passed between Anderson and the vessels, but no efifort was made to run the gauntlet. Along Morris and Sullivan's Islands were anchored small batteries, com- manding the harbor-entrance, expressly designed to pre- vent the passage of vessels over the bar and up the chan- nel. To have passed these would only have brought the vessel in range of the irresistible guns of Cumming's Point and of Moultrie. No wooden frame could have withstood their fearful hail. The only feasible plan was, under cover of the night, to run in with small boats, or to force a landing on Morris Island and carry the batteries by assault. Either plan would have proven successful, if conducted with spirit, though it would have entailed much loss of life. Why it was not undertaken is only explainable on the inference that Mr. Lincoln did not want to retain Sumter. The possession of the fort was a matter of no military im- portance ; a blockade would render all the defences of the harbor useless. The assault on the fort would serve to 'nitiate the war for the Union, and thus instate the Presi- Victor] FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. 163 dent's policy for the suppression of the rebellion. The refusal to withdraw the garrison from Charleston harbor unquestionably was the subtle key to unlock the national sympathies and to place in Mr. Lincoln's hands the entire power of the loyal States. He counted well upon the mad- ness of the Confederates, and simply opened the way for them to assail the government by assaulting its garrison. This was the part for Fort Sumter to play; and, having played it successfully, it was not necessary to retain the position. The evacuation of the fortress, and the return to the North of its garrison, to excite public sympathy, would be worth more to the cause of the Union than the reinforcement and retention of the stronghold. [During Friday the officers' barracks within the fort were set on fire several times, but were extinguished. Guns were fired at in- tervals through the night, to prevent repairs.] Saturday morning, at the earliest light, the cannonading was resumed with redoubled fury. By eight o'clock the red-hot balls from the furnace in Moultrie came to prove that the revolutionists would use every means to dislodge the obstinate Anderson. Soon the barracks and quarters were in flames, past all control. The men were then with- drawn from the guns, to avert the now impending danger to the magazine. The powder must be emptied into the sea. Ninety barrels were rolled over the area exposed to the flames, and pitched into the water. By this time the heat from the burning buildings became intense, fairly stifling the men with its dense fumes. The doors of the vault were, therefore, sealed, while the men crept into the casemates to avoid suffocation by cowering close to the floor, covering their faces with wet cloths. An occasional gun only could be fired, as a signal to the enemy and the fleet outside that the fort had not surrendered. The colors 164 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor still floated from the staff. When the winds bore the smoke and flames aside, its folds revealed to the enemy the glorious stars and stripes, waving there amid the ruin and treble terror, unscathed. Its halliards had been shot away, but, becoming entangled, the flag was fixed. Only the destruction of the staff could drag it down. This appalling conflagration seemed to inflame the zeal of the assailants. The entire circle of attack blazoned with fire, and the air was cut into hissing arches of smoke and balls. The rebel general in command had stated that two hours, probably, would suffice to reduce the fortress, but twenty-eight hours had not accomplished the work; and now, as the besiegers beheld another and more invin- cible power coming to their aid, they acknowledged the service rendered, by frenzied shouts and redoubled service at their guns. It must have been a moment to inspire the enthusiasm of seven thousand sons of the South, when flames and suffocation came to assist in reducing eighty half-starved and exhausted men. About noon of Saturday the upper service magazine exploded, tearing away the tower and upper portions of the fort, and doing more havoc than a week's bombard- ment could have effected. One who was present wrote, " The crash of the beams, the roar of the flames, the rapid explosion of the shells, and the shower of fragments of the fort, with the blackness of the smoke, made the scene indescribably terrific and grand. This continued for sev- eral hours. Meanwhile, the main gates were burned down, the chassis of the barbette guns were burned away on the gorge, and the upper portions of the towers had been demolished by shells. " There was not a portion of the fort where a breath of air could be got for hours, except through a wet cloth. The fire spread to the men's quarters, on the right hand Victor] FORT SUMTER BOMBARDED. 165 and on the left, and endangered the powder which had been taken out of the magazines. The men went through the fire and covered the barrels with wet cloths, but the danger of the fort's blowing up became so imminent that they were obliged to heave the barrels out of the em- brasures. While the powder was being thrown overboard, all the guns of Moultrie, of the iron floating battery, of the enfilade battery, and the Dahlgren battery, worked with increased vigor. "All but four barrels were thus disposed of, and those remaining were wrapped in many thicknesses of wet woollen blankets. But three cartridges were left, and these were in the guns. About this time the flag-staff of Fort Sumter was shot down, some fifty feet from the truck, this being the ninth time that it had been struck by a shot. The men cried out, ' The flag is down ; it has been shot away!' In an instant, Lieutenant Hall rushed forward and brought the flag away. But the halliards were so inextricably tangled that it could not be righted: it was, therefore, nailed to the staff, and planted upon the ramparts, while batteries in every direction were playing upon them." [Shortly after this incident, Louis T. Wigfall, late United States Senator from Texas, came out to the fort with a white flag. He an- nounced that he had been sent by General Beauregard to demand on what terms Anderson would surrender. The latter replied that he would evacuate on the terms ofifered in his note to Beauregard, and on no others. Another boat soon after appeared, with members of Beauregard's staff, and Anderson, to his mortification, was informed , that Wigfall had come out utterly without authority. Beauregard, however, accepted the terms which Anderson had proposed to Wig- fall, and the opening battle of the war ended, a contest in which not a man had been lost on either side. The poorly-prepared condition for service of Sumter's guns had saved the assailants from all peril] During the bombardment a vast concourse of people 166 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Victor gathered in Charleston, and lined the wharves and prome- nade, to witness the sublime contest. The surrounding country poured in its eager, excited masses to add to the throng. Men, women, and children stood there, hour after hour, with blanched faces and praying hearts; for few of that crowd but had some loved one in the works under fire. Messengers came hourly from the several positions, to assure the people of the safety of the men. The second day's conflict found the city densely filled with people, crowding in by railway and private conveyances from the more distant counties, until Charleston literally swarmed with humanity, which, in dispersing, after the evacuation, played the important part of agents to " fire the Southern heart " for the storm which their m.adness had evoked. The evacuation took place Sunday morning [April 14, 1861], commencing at half-past nine. The steamer Isabel was detailed to receive the garrison, and to bear it to any point in the North which Anderson might indicate. The baggage was first transferred to the transport; then the troops marched out, bearing their arms; while a squad, specially detailed, fired fifty guns as a salute to their flag. At the last discharge, a premature explosion killed one ' man, David Hough, and wounded three, — the only loss and injury which the men sufifered in the eventful drama. The troops then lowered their flag and marched out with their colors flying, while the band played " Yankee Doodle " and " Hail to the Chief." From the Isabel the ' garrison was conveyed to the transport Baltic, still anchored outside the bar. The Baltic sailed for New York Tuesday evening, April i6th. . . . Thus ended the drama of Sumter, — a drama which served to prelude the grander tragedy of the War for the Union. Draper] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. 167 THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. John William Draper. [The civil war in America made in military science one step of progress of the highest importance : it revolutionized naval combats. From the earliest days of naval warfare nearly up to the year 1861 the wooden ship was the type of warlike vessels, oaken beams being the strongest bulwarks behind which fought the gallant sailors of the past. Somewhat previous to the outbreak of the war in America experiments in iron armor for ships had been made in England and France, but little had been done towards proving the efficacy of this expedient in war. The value of this method was first practi- cally proved in the American war. The idea of coating their ves- sels with iron at once arose in the minds of the combatants, both sides simultaneously trying the experiment. Thus, in a crude man- ner at first, was brought into practical use that feature in naval architecture which has made such extraordinary progress within the succeeding twenty-five years. At the opening of the war the navy was very weak, and its ships were widely scattered, there being, indeed, but one efficient war- vessel on the Northern coast when the first shots were fired. The dock-yards were also ill provided. Buchanan's Secretary of the Navy had been careful to strengthen the South and weaken thi' North during the later months of his term of ofiice. Active steps were at once taken, however, for the creation of a navy, and war- vessels were built with remarkable rapidity. In this labor the idea of building iron-clads at once came into prominence. In the at- tack on Fort Sumter the Confederates had used a floating battery, composed of a raft with sloping bulwarks of iron. This expedient was quickly extended. The Merrimack, a large frigate which had been sunk at the abandonment of the Gosport navy-yard, at Nor- folk, was raised with little difficulty, and the Confederates proceeded to cover the hull with a sloping roof of iron, the covering of mail extending beneath the water. The Federal government, in like manner, proceeded to build iron- clads, for both river- and ocean- service. Gunboats, to be covered with iron mail, for use on the Western rivers, were contracted for, and built with such rapidity by Mr. Eads, of St. Louis, that in less than a hundred days after their commencement a fleet of eight heavily-armored steamboats were fully ready for service. Several other vessels, more thinly coated, but musket-proof, were built. 168 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Draper These gained the title of " tin-clads." Mortar-boats were con- structed, similarly protected. For ocean-service, in addition to the numerous fleet of wooden vessels intended for use in the blockade of the Southern ports, some of them very large and powerful, an efficient fleet of iron-clads was prepared. Originally contracts were entered into for three such vessels, of different character. One was a small corvette, the Galena, covered with iron three inches thick. This experiment proved a failure, as solid shot easily penetrated that thickness of mail. A second, the New Ironsides, was a heavily-coated frigate, which did good service. The third brought into play a new idea in naval architecture, the invention of John Ericsson, a Swedish en- gineer. It consisted of a nearly-submerged, flat-surfaced hull, sur- mounted by a revolving turret strongly plated and containing a few powerful guns. This vessel, the Monitor, was to be built in one hundred days, and fortunately the contract was executed within the prescribed time. The great success of her first engagement encouraged the government to build several other vessels of the same type, some of them being very large and powerful. Several of these vessels were provided with rams, of solid wood and iron, calculated to pierce any vessel whose sides they might have an opportunity to strike. The Merrimack was also furnished with a ram, and the Confederates afterwards prepared several strong ves- sels of this sort, all of which, however, met with serious disasters. It may be said here that the use of the Monitor idea in warfare practically ended with our .civil war. The development of the iron- clad has proceeded in a different direction. Another idea was adopted which also has had a revolutionizing effect on naval warfare, that of the employment of very heavy guns. Up to i860 the English navy used no guns of larger calibre than eight inches. America had long given her ships a more powerful armament than those of England. In 1856 American frigates were afloat armed with guns of nine-, ten-, and eleven-inch calibre. With the outbreak of the war much heavier guns were made, the twenty- inch Rodman throwing a ball of eleven hundred pounds' weight, with a range of four and a half miles. The progress of iron-clad naval architecture has since rendered the use of very heavy guns an ab- solute necessity, and experiments in this direction have kept pace with those in thickening the steel coating of ships, until both seem to have nearly reached their limit of possible utility. SINKING OF THE FRIGATE CONGRESS BY THE CONFEDERATE RAM MERRIMACK, Draper] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. 169 The remarks here made seem necessary as preliminary to the de- scription of perhaps the most remarkable event in naval warfare which exists in the annals of history, the encounter of the first two iron-clad ships, with the sudden and radical revision of previously- existing ideas to which it gave rise. A description of this highly interesting event we select from Draper's " Civil War in America."] When the navy-yard at Norfollc was seized by Virginia, among the ships partly destroyed was the steam-frigate Merrimack, of forty guns. She was one of the finest ves- sels in the navy, and was worth, when equipped, nearly a million and a quarter of dollars. She had been set on fire, and also scuttled, by the officers who had charge of the yard. Her upper work alone, there- fore, had suffered. Her hull and machinery were compara- tively uninjured. The Confederate government caused her to be raised and turned into an extemporaneous iron-clad. Her hull was cut down, and a stout timber roof built upon it. This was then strongly plated with three layers of iron, each one inch and a quarter thick, the first layer being placed hori- zontally, the second obliquely, the third perpendicularly. The armature reached two feet below the water-line, and rose ten feet above. The ends were constructed in the same manner. A false bow was added for the purpose of dividing the water, and beyond it projected an iron beak Outwardly she presented the appearance of an iron roof or ark. It was expected that, from her sloping arma- ture, shots striking would glance away. Her armament consisted of eight eleven-inch guns, four on each side, and a one-hundred-pound rifled Armstrong gun at each end. As the fact of her construction could not be concealed, the Confederate authorities purposely circulated rumors to her disadvantage. It was said that her iron was so 170 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Draper heavy that she could hardly float; that her hull had been seriously injured, and that she could not be steered. Of course they could have no certain knowledge of her capa- bilities as a weapon of war, and, as was the case with many ofificers of the national navy, perhaps they held her in light esteem. About mid-day on Saturday, March 8th [1862], she came down the Elizabeth River, under the command of Frank- lin Buchanan, an officer who had abandoned the national navy. She was attended by two armed steamboats, and was afterwards joined by two others. Passing the sailing- frigate Congress, and receiving from her her fire, she made her way to the sloop-of-war Cumberland, of twenty-four guns and three hundred and seventy-six men. This ship had been placed across the channel to bring her broadside to bear, and, as the Merrimack approached, she received her with a rapid fire. At once one of the problems pre- sented by the Merrimack's construction was solved: the shot of the Cumberland, from thirteen nine- and ten-inch guns, glanced from her armature " like so many peas." Advancing with all the speed' she had, and receiving six or eight broadsides while so doing, she struck her antago- nist with her iron beak just forward of the main chains, and instantly opened her fire of shells from every gun she could bring to bear. The battle was already decided. Through the hole she had made, large enough for a man to enter, the water poured in. In vain Lieutenant Morris, who commanded the Cumberland, worked the pumps to keep her afloat a few moments more, hoping that a lucky shot might find some weaker place. He only abandoned his guns as one after another the settling of the sinking ship swamped them in the water. The last shot was fired by Matthew Tenney, from a gun on a level with the water. That brave man then attempted to escape through the Draper] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. 171 port-hole, but was borne back by the incoming rush, and went down with the ship. With him went down nearly one hundred dead, sick, wounded, and those who, like him, could not extricate themselves. The Cumberland sank in fifty-four feet of water. The commander of her assailant saw the flag of the unconquered but sunken ship still fly- ing above the surface. He was not a Virginian, but a Marylander by birth, and had served under that flag for thirty-five years. The sailing-frigate Congress, which had fired at the Merrimack as she passed, and exchanged shots with the armed steamboats, had been run aground by her com- mander with the assistance of a tug. The Merrimack now came up, and, taking a position about one hundred and fifty yards from her stern, fired shell into her. One shell killed seventeen men at one of the guns. Of the only two guns with which she could reply, one was quickly dismounted, and the muzzle of the other knocked ofif. The Merrimack ranged slowly backward and forward at less than one hundred yards. In her helpless condition, the Congress took fire in several places, and nearly half her crew were killed or wounded. Among the former was her commander. The flag was therefore hauled down, and a tug came alongside to take possession of her. But, fire being opened on the tug by some soldiers on shore, the Merrimack recommenced shelling, doing the same again later in the day, after the crew of the Congress had aban- doned her'. The Congress was set thoroughly on fire. About midnight she blew up. Out of her crew of four hundred and thirty-four men, only two hundred and eigh- teen survived. In little more than two hours Buchanan had killed or drowned more than three hundred of his old comrades. When the Merrimack first came out, the commander of 172 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Draper the steam-frigate Minnesota got his ship under way, in- tending to butt the iron-clad and run her down. As he passed Sewall's Point, he received the fire of a rifle battery there, and had his mainmast injured. It was ebb tide ; the Minnesota drew twenty-three feet of water ; at one part of the channel the depth was less, but, as the bottom was soft, it was hoped that the ship could be forced over. She, however, took the ground, and, in spite of every exertion, became immovable. The Merrimack, having destroyed the Cumberland and Congress, now came down upon the Minnesota. Her draft, however, prevented her coming nearer to her intended victim than a mile, and the fire on both sides was comparatively ineffective. But the armed steamboats ventured nearer, and, with their rifled guns, killed and wounded several men on board the Minnesota. On her part, she sent a shot through the boiler of one of them. Night was coming on; the Merrimack did not ven- ture to lie out in the Roads: so, expecting another easy victory in the morning, she retired at seven p.m., with her consorts, behind Sewall's Point, The Minnesota still lay fast on the mud-bank. The re- coil of her own firing had forced her harder on. Attempts were made at high tide, and, indeed, all through the night, to get her off, but in vain. The steam-frigate Roanoke, disabled some months previously by the breaking of her shaft, and the sailing-frigate St. Lawrence, had both like- wise been aground, but had now gone down the Roads. At nine o'clock that night Ericsson's new iron-clad tur- ret-ship, -the Monitor, reached Fortress Monroe from New York. Every exertion had been made by her inventor to get her out in time to meet the Merrimack; and the Con- federates, finding from their spies in New York that she would probably be ready, put a double force on their frigate, and worked night and day. It is said that this Draper] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. l^Z extra labor gained that one day in which the Merrimack destroyed the Cumberland and the Congress. The Monitor was commanded by Lieutenant John L. Worden. A dreadful passage of three days had almost worn out her crew. The sea had swept over her decks; the turret was often the only part above water. The tiller-rope was at one time thrown off the wheel. The draft-pipe had been choked by the pouring down of the waves. The men were half suffocated. The fires had been repeatedly extinguished. Ventilation had, however, been obtained through the turret. Throughout the pre- vious afternoon Worden had heard the sound of the can- nonading. He delayed but a few minutes at the Fortress, and soon after midnight had anchored the- Monitor along- side the Minnesota (March 9). Day broke, — - a clear and beautiful Sunday. The ■ flag of the Cumberland was still flying; the corpses of her de- fenders were floating about on the water. The Merrimack approached to renew her attack. She ran down towards the Fortress, and then came up the channel through which the Minnesota had passed. Worden at once took his sta- tion at the peep-hole of his pilot-house, laid the Monitor before her enemy, and gave the fire of his two eleven-inch guns. The shot of each was one hundred and sixty-eight pounds' weight. Catesby Jones, who had taken command of the Merrimack, Buchanan having been wounded the previous day, saw at once that he had on his hands a very different antagonist from those of yesterday. The turret was but a very small mark to fire at, nine feet by twenty ; the shot that struck it glanced off. One bolt only from a rifle-gun struck squarely, penetrating into the iron; "it then broke short off, and left its head sticking in." For the most part, the shot flew over the low deck, missing their aim. Five times the Merrimack tried to run the Monitor 174 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Draper down, and at each time received, at a few feet distance, the fire of the eleven-inch guns. In her movements at one moment she got aground, and the Ught-drawing Moni- tor, steaming round her, tried at every promising point to get a shot into her. Her armor at last began to start and bend. Unable to shake off the Monitor or to do her any injury, the Merrimack now renewed her attempt on the frigate Minnesota, receiving from her a whole broadside which struck squarely. " It was enough," said Captain Van Brunt, who commanded the frigate, " to have blown out of the water any wooden ship in the world." In her turn, she sent from her rifled bow-gun a shell through the Minnesota's side; it exploded within her, tearing four of her rooms into one, and setting her on fire. Another shell burst the boiler of the tug-boat Dragon, which lay along- side the Minnesota. The frigate was firing on the iron- clad solid shot as fast as she could. Once more the Monitor intervened between them, com- pelling her antagonist to change position, in doing which the Merrimack again grounded, and again received a whole broadside from the Minnesota. The blows she was receiving were beginning to tell upon her. As soon as she could get clear, she ran down the bay, followed by the Monitor. Suddenly she turned round, and attempted to run her tormentor down. Her beak grated on the Moni- tor's deck, and was wrenched. The turret-ship stood un- harmed a blow like that which had sent the Cumberland to the bottom; she merely glided out from under her antagonist, and in the act of so doing gave her a shot while almost in contact. It seemed to crush in her armor. The Monitor now hauled ofT, for the purpose of hoisting more shot into her turret. Catesby Jones thought he had silenced her, and that he might make another attempt on Draper] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. 175 the Minnesota. He, however, changed his course as the Monitor steamed up, and it was seen that the Merrimack was sagging down at her stern. She made the best of her way to Craney Island. The battle was over; the turreted Monitor had driven her from the field and won the victory. The Minnesota had fired two hundred and forty-seven solid shot, two hundred and eighty-two shells, and more than ten tons of powder. The Monitor fired forty-one shot, and was struck twenty-two times. The last shell fired by the Merrimack at her struck her pilot-house opposite the peep-hole, through which Worden at that moment was looking. He was knocked down senseless and blinded by the explosion. When consciousness re- turned, the first question this brave officer asked was, " Did we save the Minnesota ? " The shattering of the pilot-house was the greatest in- jury that the Monitor received. One of the iron logs, nine inches by twelve inches thick, was broken in two. On board the Merrimack two were killed and nineteen wounded. She had lost her iron prow, her starboard an- chor, and all her boats; her armor was dislocated and damaged; she leaked considerably; her steam-pipe and smoke-stack were riddled; the muzzles of two of her guns were shot away; the wood-work round one of the ports was set on fire at every discharge. In his report on the battle, Buchanan states that in fifteen minutes after the action began he had run the Cumberland down; that he distinctly heard the crash when she was struck, and that the fire his ship received did her some injury; that there was great difficulty in managing the Merrimack when she was near the mud, and that this was particularly the case in getting into position to attack the Congress. It was while firing the 176 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing red-hot shot and incendiary shell by which that ship was burnt that he was himself wounded. This engagement excited the most profound interest throughout the civilized world. It seemed as if the day of wooden navies was over. Nor was it alone the supe- riority of iron as against wood that was settled by this combat : it showed that a monitor was a better construc- tion than a mailed broadside ship, and that inclined armor was inferior to a turret. [This opinion does not take into account the defects of the moni- tors as sea-going vessels, which have prevented their coming into extended use. The original Monitor foundered in a storm off Cape Hatteras during the same year. The Merrimack was blown up on the abandonment of Norfolk, on May ii, 1862.] THE CONFLICT AT ANTIETAM. Benson J. Lossing. [The war which immediately followed the assault on Fort Sumter was so crowded with events of striking importance and interest that we shall be obliged to pass in rapid review over certain engagements of vital consequence, and dwell only upon the special turning-points of the war. The conflict in Virginia was in particular crowded with sanguinary engagements, constituting a drama of imposing interest, whose first act may be considered to end with the battle of Antie- tam, in September, 1862. The varied scenes preceding the denoue- ment of this act can be given but in rapid outline. The reduction of Fort Sumter was immediately followed by a call from President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand volunteers, who were quickly furnished by the aroused and indignant people of the North. Yet a lack of boldness and decision on the part of the authorities per- mitted the valuable navy-yard at Norfolk to fall into the hands of GEOKCE B. McCLELLAN. Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 177 the Confederates, caused the destruction of the costly arms-making machinery at Harper's Ferry, and left Washington City in no little danger of capture. The latter peril was averted by the hasty south- ward movement of troops, but highly valuable material of war fell into the hands of the secessionists, through the seizure of Southern forts and arsenals, some of which had been specially supplied for this purpose by the secession element of the Buchanan cabinet. The military situation, and the character of the war that followed, were in some respects peculiar. There was actually a double war, — one confined to the State of Virginia and the country immediately north of it, the other waged for the possession of the Mississippi and the range of States bordering it on the east. Besides these two great fields of campaigning, were the operations west of the Missis- sippi, of minor importance, and the blockade of the coast, which proved highly useful in isolating the South from foreign countries. The two capital cities, Washington and Richmond, were the points between which, for four years, raged the war in Virginia, these cities being assailed and defended with a vigor and fury that went far to exhaust the resources of the warring sections of the country. In the West the line of battle was gradually pushed southward from the Ohio, through the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, till the Gulf States were finally reached. On the Mississippi it went southward more rapidly, while a like movement was pushed northward along that river, until the two invading armies met, and the great artery of the West became again a river of the United States. Only after this achievement did the two fields of war begin to combine into one, the Western army marching into the Atlantic States and pushing north to the aid of Grant in that final struggle which v>fas draining the last life-drops of vitality from the veins of the exhausted Confederacy. The operations of the armies must therefore be considered sepa- rately. In the East hostilities first broke out definitely in West Vir- ginia. This new State, which had clung to the Union, became the seat of a struggle in which McClellan and Rosecrans gained an early triumph. At the battle of Rich Mountain Quly 11, 1861), Garnett, the Confederate general, was killed, and his troops routed. General Patterson had meanwhile taken possession of Harper's Ferry, which was evacuated by General Johnston, and General Butler, stationed at Fortress Monroe, had skirmished with the enemy at Big Bethel. The war fairly began in later July, when General McDowell, with twenty-eight thousand men, advanced against General Beauregard, who was strongly posted behind the small stream of Bull Run, south 3—12 178 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing of Washington. In the severe battle that ensued both armies were under the disadvantage of being composed of untried and undiscip- lined men. Victory at first inclined strongly towards McDowell, but Beauregard, with great skill, maintained his position until joined by Johnston's army from the Shenandoah Valley. Patterson, who was expected from the same quarter, failed to appear, and the Federal army, overwhelmed by these fresh troops, was forced to retreat with a haste that soon became precipitate. They were not pursued, however. McClellan was now recalled from West Virginia, and placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, while Rosecrans was left to confront General Lee, who had been placed in command of the West Virginia Confederate forces. No further events of particular importance occurred in that quarter, while in Eastern Virginia com- parative quiet reigned during the remainder of 1861, McClellan being busily engaged in drilling and disciplining his army. In March, 1862, he moved his whole force to the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, and began an advance upon Richmond, pursuing General Johnston, who had hastily evacuated Yorktown and retreated, his rear being struck and defeated at Williamsburg. The first battle of importance took place on May 31, on which day Johnston suddenly assailed a portion of the Union army that had crossed the Chickahominy. Nothing but the hasty pushing forward of reinforcements prevented a serious disaster. Johnston was wounded in this engagement, and was succeeded oy Robert E. Lee, who on the ist of June was made commander-in-chief of the! Con- federate army of Northern Virginia. Meanwhile, events of importance were occurring in the Shenan- doah Valley, where Stonewall Jackson made that memorable march which gave him so sudden and brilliant a reputation. Striking rapidly north, he defeated Banks, and drove him, with severe loss, beyond the Potomac, and then drew back so rapidly as to slip un- harmed between the columns of McDowell and Fremont, who were advancing across the mountains from the east and the west, hoping to catch their alert antagonist in a trap. The removal of McDowell to the Valley gave General Lee an op- portunity of which he took instant advantage. McClellan's line of communication with York River had been left exposed, and the new Confederate commander, calling Jackson to his aid from the Valley, fell upon the Union army with an impetuosity which it proved unable to withstand. Thus began that remarkable series of Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. I79 battles which for seven days kept the cannon of the contending armies in unceasing roar. An assault was made on Fitz-John Porter's post at Mechanicsville on June 26. He retired to his works on Beaver Dam Creek, where he was assailed on the 27th. Finding his lines flanked by Jackson's corps, he withdrew to a sti-ong line of intrenchments at Gaines's Mills. Here he was exposed to a series of impetuous charges, in which the Confederates, after being several times repulsed, succeeded in gain- ing the crest of the ridge and breaking the Union lines. A retreat followed that was almost a panic, and only the approach of night put a stop to the slaughter which had decimated Porter's broken ranks. During the next day a general retreat of the Union columns be- gan, McQellan cutting loose from his base on the York, and mov- ing back towards the James River. The victorious Confederates followed, and several severe battles occurred during the following days. The Union rear-guard, with great courage, checked the pur- suit at successive points, and on the ist of July a pitched battle took place at Malvern Hill, in which the whole forces of both armies were engaged, and in which the assault of the Confederates on the Union intrenchments was repulsed with great loss. It is asserted by many historians that Lee's army was almost in a panic, and that a Union advance in force at that moment must have routed them, and probably have placed Richmond in the hands of the Union army. Be that as it may, McClellan persisted in his plan of retreat. During the night Malvern Hill was deserted, and by nightfall of the next day the Union army was safely gathered at Harrison's Landing, under the protection of the gunboats on the James River. This position was immediately fortified, and Lee made no effort to assail it. The loss on both sides had been enor- mous, though that of the Unionists had been considerably the greater, while the main object of their campaign, the capture of Richmond, was completely frustrated. Meanwhile, the three armies of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell had been massed into one, and placed under the command of Gen- eral Pope, who had gained prominence by successes in the West. The design was to aid McClellan, but Lee's successs rendered new plans necessary, and Pope's army was held between Richmond and Washington, as a cover to the latter city. A covering force had become essential, for Lee soon began a series of bold movements which placed the seat of government in great jeopardy. In August he advanced towards the Rapidan, a 180 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing menace which so disconcerted the Federal authorities that McClel- lan was hastily recalled from the James, and ordered to transport his army with all haste to Washington. The Confederate force under Jackson was now sent on a rapid flanking march through Thoroughfare Gap in the Bull Run Mountains. Jackson reached the rear of Pope's army at Manassas Junction, at which point an immense quantity of army stores was captured, such as could not be carried off being destroyed. Pope, finding that Jackson was in his rear, and separated from the remainder of Lee's army, marched rapidly upon him, hoping to destroy him before he could effect a junction with Longstreet. But this movement seems to have been ill managed. Thoroughfare Gap, through which alone Longstreet could come to Jackson's aid, was weakly held, and a junction between the two divisions of Lee's army was suffered to be made almost without opposition. The failure to overwhelm Jackson was ascribed by Pope to disobedience of orders on the part of Fitz-John Porter, and this genera! was subsequently court-martialled and dismissed the service, his expla- nation of the circumstances not being accepted as satisfactory. The engagement with Jackson occurred on August 29. On the succeeding day the battle was renewed, Pope being now confronted by the whole of Lee's army. The conflict ended in a disastrous repulse of the Union army, it being driven beyond Bull Run, with serious loss. On the 31st, Pope fell back to Centreville, a point more immediately covering Washington. A minor conflict took place on the evening of that day, near Chantilly, in which Generals Kearney and Stevens were killed. Pope now resigned his command, having lost during the campaign about thirty thousand men, thirty guns, twenty thousand small-arms, and vast quantities of supplies and munitions. Lee's loss numbered about fifteen thousand men. Up to this point Lee had been remarkably successful. He now entered upon a series of movements which ended in failure. Recog- nizing the fact that Washington was too strongly defended to be taken by an attack in front, he decided upon an invasion of Mary- land, in the hope of bringing that State over to the support of the Confederacy and of obtaining large accessions to his ranks. Sud- denly breaking camp, he made a hasty march to the Potomac, which he crossed on September 5 at Point of Rocks. Marching quickly to Frederick, he issued from that city an appeal to Mary- land, calling upon it to throw off the Northern yoke and join its sisters of the South. The appeal fell flat, and the volunteers he Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 181 had hoped for failed to make their appearance in his ranks. His accessions did not equal the desertions from his army. So far, the enterprise was evidently a failure. It remained to obtain from it whatever advantage might be gained. The gaps of South Mountain were occupied, and Jackson was sent to assail Harper's Ferry, whose garrison, through an error of judg- ment, had not been withdrawn. Taking possession of the heights which surrounded the town, a bombardment was commenced which forced an almost immediate surrender, the place being indefensible. On the morning of the isth there were surrendered eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-three men, seventy-three guns, thirteen thousand small-arms, two hundred wagons, and a large store of supplies. Meanwhile, the Union army under McClellan was hurrying after the invading force. Franklin was sent to the relief of Harper's Ferry, and succeeded in forcing Crampton's Gap, near that place. But he was too late. The surrender had taken place, and the Con- federates were withdrawn. In this enterprise Lee had achieved an important and valuable success. In the succeeding events he was destined to receive the first check to his remarkably victorious career. Boonsborough Gap, north of Crampton's, was strongly held by the Confederates, and was assaulted by the army under McClellan on September 14. Longstreet, who had advanced to Hagerstown, prob- ably with the intention of invading Pennsylvania, was hastily recalled, and sent to reinforce Hill, who was being severely pushed at the Gap. After a desperately-contested conflict, the Union army suc- ceeded in forcing its way through the mountains and reaching the opposite slope. The defence of this pass had been necessary to Lee. His army was widely scattered, and the approach of McClellan rendered con- centration indispensable. Jackson was marching in all haste from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburg, having left A. P. Hill to receive the surrender of the garrison. The trains from Hagerstown v/ere hur- rying towards the same point. After their repulse at Boonsborough, Longstreet and D. H. Hill fell back, so that by the morning of the i6th the whole army, with the exception of the force left at Harper's Ferry, was concentrated at Sharpsburg, behind Antietam Creek, a stream which there flows into the Potomac. McClellan's army reached the opposite side of the stream on the same day. Of the events which followed we give an account in the words of Benson J. Lossing, from his " Civil War in America."] 183 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing On the morning of the i6th both armies were actively- preparing for battle. The bulk of the Confederate forces, under Longstreet and D. H. Hill, stood along the range of heights between Sharpsburg and the Antietam, which flowed between the belHgerents. Longstreet was on the right of the road between Sharpsburg and Boonsborough, and Hill on the left. Hood's division was posted between Hill and the Hagerstown road, north of Miller's farm, so as to oppose an expected flank movement in that direc- tion; and near that point, in the rear, Jackson's exhausted troops were posted in reserve, his line stretching from the Hagerstown road towards the Potomac, and protected by Stuart with cavalry and artillery. Walker was posted on Longstreet's right with two brigades a little south of Sharpsburg, near Shaveley's farm. General Lee had his quarters in a tent, as usual, on the hill close by Sharps- burg, where the National Cemetery now is, and from that point he overlooked much of the country that was made a battle-field the next day. Along the line of the Confederate army, the Antietam (a sluggish stream with few fords) was spanned by four stone bridges of like architecture, three of which were strongly guarded. McClellan made his head-quarters at the fine brick mansion of Philip Pry, about two miles northeast of Sharpsburg, east of the Antietam, and on each side of him in front his army was posted. On the right, near Keedysville, and on both sides of the Sharps- burg pike, stood the corps of Sumner and Hooker. In advance, on the right of the turnpike and near the Antie- tam, General Richardson's division of Sumner's corps was posted. In line with this, on the left of that road, was Sykes's regular division of Porter's corps, protecting bridge No. 2. Farther down the stream, on the left, and not far from No. 3, Burnside's corps was posted. Upon a ridge Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 183 of the first line of hills east of Antietam, between the turnpike and Pry's house, and in front of Sumner and Hooker, batteries of twenty-four-pounder Parrott guns, commanded by Captains Taft, Langner, and Von Kleizer, and Lieutenant Weaver, were planted. On the crest of the hill, above bridge No. 3, were batteries under Captain Weed and Lieutenant Benjamin. Franklin's corps and Couch's division were farther down in Pleasant Valley, near Brownsville, and Morrell's division of Porter's corps was approaching from Boonsborough, and Humphreys's from Frederick. A detatchment of the Signal Corps, un- der Major Myer, had a station on Red Ridge, a spur of South Mountain, which overlooked the entire field of opera- tions, and from that point it performed very important ser- vice. Such was the general position of the contending armies on the i6th of September. The Confederates opened an artillery fire on the Na- tionals at dawn, but it was afternoon before McClellan was ready to put his troops in position for attack, the morning having been spent in reconnoitring, finding fords, and other preparations required by prudence. There was found to be a lack of ammunition and rations, and these had to be supplied from tardily-approaching supply-trains. Finally he was in readiness, and at two o'clock in the after- noon Hooker was ordered to cross the Antietam at and near bridge No. i, with the divisions of Ricketts, Meade, and Doubleday, and attack and turn the Confederate left. Sumner was directed to throw over the stream during the night General Mansfield's corps (Twelfth), and to hold his own (Second) ready to cross early the next morning. Hooker's movement was successful. Advancing through the woods, he struck Hood, and, after a sharp contest, commenced with Meade's Pennsylvania Reserves, near the house of D. Miller, and which lasted until dark, the Con- 184 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing federates were driven back. Hooker's men rested that night on their arms upon the ground they had won from their foe. Mansfield's corps (divisions of Williams and Greene) crossed the Antietam during the evening in Hooker's track, and bivouacked on Poifenberger's farm a mile in his rear The night of the i6th was passed by both armies with the expectation of a heavy battle in the morning. Few officers found relief from anxiety, for it was believed by many that it might be a turning-point in the war. Only the commander-in-chief of the national army seems to have had a lofty faith that all would be well. He retired to his room at a little past ten o'clock, and did not leave it until eight o'clock the next morning, when the surrounding hills had been echoing the sounds of battle which had been raging within a mile of head-quarters for three hours. Then, with some of his aides, he walked to a beautiful grove on the brow of a declivity near Pry's, overlooking the Antietam, and watched the battle on the right for about two hours, when he mounted his horse and rode away to Porter's position, on the right, where he was greeted, as usual, by the hearty cheers of his admiring soldiers. The contest was opened at dawn by Hooker, with about eighteen thousand men. He made a vigorous attack on the Confederate left, commanded by Jackson. Doubleday was on his right, Meade on his left, and Ricketts in the centre. His first object was to push the Confederates back through a line of woods, and seize the Hagerstown road and the woods beyond it in the vicinity of the Dunker church, where Jackson's line lay The contest was ob- stinate and severe. The national batteries on the east side of the Antietam poured an enfilading fire on Jackson that galled him very much, and it was not long before the H p^^iyj sH ^^^3HbBw j|W f^Bm ^P^HM^ ^M^^^hhI MBi. m 4^^^^ j|gHBB|g^|H| ^ ^Bt^B^H^^^^H^H^^s^ Sis ■* ' n'?!C*^'™ t&t^ "^^B^B^^^pPI^^^'- M ■"^*^^y-- .itifk ■ . .-. ^•'.-wuhHJ^^^^H^^^^^HHHHI^hI Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 185 Confederates were driven with heavy loss beyond the first line of woods, and across an open field, which was covered thickly in the morning- with standing corn. Hooker now advanced his centre under Meade to seize the Hagerstown road and the woods beyond. They were met by a murderous fire from Jackson, who had just been reinforced by Hood's refreshed troops and had brought up his reserves. These issued in great numbers from the woods, and fell heavily upon Meade in the cornfield. Hooker called upon Doubleday for aid, and a brigade under the gallant General Hartsuff was instantly for- warded at the double-quick, and passed across the corn- field in the face of a terrible storm of shot and shell. It fought desperately for half an hour unsupported, when its leader fell severely wounded. In the mean time Mansfield's corps had been ordered up to the support of Hooker, and while the division's of Wil- liams and Greene, of that corps, wfere deploying, the vet- eran commander was mortally wounded. The charge of his corps then devolved on General Williams, who left his division to the care of General Crawford. The latter, with his own and Gordon's brigade, pushed across the open field and seized a part of the woods on the Hagers- town road. At the same time Greene's division took po- sition to the left of the Dunker church. Hooker had lost heavily by battle and straggling, yet he was contending manfully for victory. Doubleday's guns had silenced a Confederate battery on the extreme right, and Ricketts was struggling against a foe constantly increasing, but was bravely holding his ground without power to advance. The fight was very severe, and at length the national line began to waver and give way. Hooker, while in the van, was so severely wounded in the foot that he was taken from the field at nine o'clock, and II — 00 186 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing to McCIellan's head-quarters at Pry's, leaving his command to Sumner, who had just arrived on the field with his own corps. Up to this time the battle had been fought much in detail, both lines advancing and falling back as each received reinforcements. Sumner at once sent General Sedgwick to the support of Crawford and Gordon, and Richardson and French bore down upon the foe more to the left, when the cornfield, already won and lost by both parties, was regained by the Nationals, who held the ground around the Dunker church. Victory seemed certain for the latter, for Jackson and Hood had commenced retiring, when fresh troops under McLaws and Walker came to Jackson's support, seconded by Early on their left. These pressed desperately for- ward, penetrated the national line at a gap between Sum- ner's right and centre, and the Unionists were driven back to the first line of woods east of the Hagerstown road, when the victors, heavily smitten by the national artillery, and menaced by unflinching Doubleday, with- drew to their original position near the church. Sedgwick, twice wounded, was carried from the field, when the com- mand of his division devolved on General O. O. Howard. Generals Crawford and Dana were also wounded. It was now about noon, and fighting had been going on since dawn. The wearied right needed immediate support. It came at a timely moment. Franklin had come up from below, and McClellan, who remained on the east side of the Antietam, sent him over to assist the hard-pressed right. He formed on Howard's left, and at once sent Slocum with his division towards the centre. At the same time General Smith was ordered to retake the ground over which there had been so much contention and bloodshed. Within fifteen minutes after the order was given it was executed. The Confederates were driven from the open Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 187 field and beyond the Hagerstown road by gallant charges, accompanied by loud cheers, first by Franklin's Third Brigade, under Colonel Irwin, and then by the Seventh Maine. Inspired by this success, Franklin desired to push forward and seize a rough wooded position of importance ; but Sumner thought the movement would be too hazard- ous, and he was restrained. Meanwhile, the divisions of French and Richardson had been busy. The former, with the brigades of Weber, Kimball, and Morris (the latter raw troops), pushed on towards the centre, Weber leading; and, while he was fighting hotly, French received orders from Sumner to press on vigorously and make a diversion in favor of the right. After a severe contest with the brigades of Hill (Colquitt's, Ripley's, and McRae's) not engaged with Jack- son, the Confederates were pressed back to a sunken road in much disorder. In the mean time, the division of Rich- ardson, composed of the brigades of Meagher, Caldwell, and Brooks, which crossed the Antietam between nine and ten o'clock, moved forward to the attack on French's left. Right gallantly did Meagher fight his way up to the crest of a hill overlooking the Confederates at the sunken road, suffering dreadfully from a tempest of bullets; and when his ammunition was almost exhausted, Caldwell, aided by a part of Brooks's brigade, as gallantly came to his support and relief. Hill was now reinforced by about four thousand men, under R. H. Anderson, and the struggle was fierce for a while, the Confederates trying to seize a ridge on the national left for the purpose of turning that flank. This was frustrated by a quick and skilful movement by Colonel Cross with his " Fighting Fifth " New Hampshire. He and the Confederates had a race for the ridge along par- allel lines, fighting as they ran. Cross won it, and, being 188 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [LossiNG reinforced by the Eighty-First Pennsylvania, the Confed- erates were driven back with a heavy loss in men, and the colors of the Fourth North Carolina. An effort to flank the right at the same time was checked by French, Brooks, and a part of Caldwell's force, and a charge of the Con- federates directly on Richardson's front was quickly re- pulsed. The national line was steadily advanced until the foe was pushed back to Dr. Piper's house, near the Sharps- burg road, which formed a sort of citadel for them, and there they made an obstinate stand. Richardson's artil- lery was now brought up, and while that brave leader was directing the fire of Captain Graham's battery, he was felled by a ball that proved fatal. General W. S. Hancock succeeded him in command, when a charge was made that drove the Confederates from Piper's in the utmost con- fusion, and only the skilful show of strength by a few of his fresh troops prevented a fatal severance of Lee's line. The Nationals were deceived, and did not profit by the ad- vantage gained. Night soon closed the action on the right and centre, the Unionists holding the ground they had acquired. In the struggle near the centre, the gallant General Meagher was wounded and carried from the field, and his command devolved on Colonel Burke, of the New York Sixty-Third. During the severe conflicts of the day, until late in the afternoon. Porter's corps, with artillery, and Pleasonton's cavalry, had remained on the east side of the Antietam as a reserve, and in holding the road from Sharpsburg to Middletown and Boonsborough. Then McClellan sent two brigades to support the wearied right, and six bat- talions of Sykes's regulars were thrown across bridge No. 2, on the Sharpsburg road, to drive away the Confederate sharp-shooters, who were seriously interfering with Pleas- onton's horse-batteries there. Warren's brigade was sent Lossing] the conflict AT ANTIETAM. 189 more to the left, on the right and rear of Burnside, who held the extreme left of the national line. This brings us to a notice of the operations of the day under the direc- tions of Burnside. The left was resting on the slopes opposite bridge No. 3, at Rohrback's farm, a little below Sharpsburg, which was held on the morning of the 17th by the brigade of Toombs (Second and Twentieth Georgia), supported by sharp- shooters and batteries on Longstreet's right wing, com- manded by D. R. Jones. Burnside was directed, at eight o'clock in the morning, to cross that bridge, attack the foe, carry the heights on the opposite bank of the Antietam, and advance along their crest upon Sharpsburg. It was a task of the greatest difficulty, for the approaches to the bridge were in the nature of a defile, exposed to a raking fire from the Confederate batteries and an enfilading one from their sharp-shooters. In several attempts to cross the bridge Burnside was repulsed. Finally, at about one o'clock in the afternoon, the Fifty-First New York and Fifty-First Pennsylvania charged across and drove the defenders to the heights. Gathering strength at the bridge by the crossing of the divisions of Sturgis, Wilcox, and Rodman, and Scammon's brigade, with the batteries of Durell, Clark, Cook, and Simmons, Burnside charged up the hill, and drove the Confederates almost to Sharps- burg, the Ninth New York capturing one of their bat- teries. Just then A. P. Hill's division, which had been hastening up from Harper's Ferry, came upon the ground, and under a heavy fire of artillery charged upon Burnside's extreme left, and after severe fighting, in which General Rodman was mortally wounded, drove him back almost to the bridge. In that charge General L. O'B. Branch, of North Carolina, was killed. The pursuit was checked by the national artillery on the eastern side of the stream, 190 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Lossing under whose fire the reserves led by Sturgis advanced, and the Confederates did not attempt to retake the bridge. Darkness closed the conflict here, as it did all along the line. Hill came up just in time, apparently, to save Lee's army from capture or destruction. Experts say that if Burnside had accomplished the passage of the bridge and the advance movement an hour earlier, or had Porter been sent a few hours sooner to the support of the hard-strug- gling right, that result would doubtless have ensued. It is easy to conjecture what might have been. We have to do only with what occurred. Looking upon the event from that stand-point, we see darkness ending one of the most memorable days of the war because of its great and apparently useless carnage, for the result was only hurtful in the extreme to both parties. With the gloom of that night also ended the conflict known as the Battle of An- tietam, in which McClellan said (erroneously as to the number of troops) " nearly two hundred thousand men and five hundred pieces of artillery were for fourteen hours engaged. Our soldiers slept that night," he said, "con- querors on a field won by their valor and covered by the dead and wounded of the enemy." When the morning of the i8th dawned, both parties seemed wilHng not to renew the strife. Lee was really in a sad plight, for he could not easily call to his aid any re- inforcements; his supplies were nearly exhausted, and his army was terribly shattered and disorganized. A careful estimate has made his losses at that time, since he com- menced the invasion of Maryland, a fortnight before, nearly thirty thousand men. McClellan's army was also greatly shattered; but on the morning after the battle he was joined by fourteen thousand fresh troops under Couch and Humphreys. It is certain now that with these, and Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 191 the effective remains of his army, he might easily have captured or ruined Lee's army that day. But there were grave considerations to be heeded. McClellan afterwards said, " Virginia was lost, Washington menaced, Maryland invaded: the national cause could afford no risk of defeat." He therefore hesitated, and finally, in opposition to the advice of Franklin and others, he deferred a renewal of the battle until the next morning. When that morning dawned, and he sent his cavalry to reconnoitre, the national armyhad no foe to fight,for Lee, with his shattered legions, had recrossed the Potomac under cover of darkness, and was on the soil of his native Virginia, with eight batteries under Pendleton on the river-bluffs, menacing J)ursuers. [On the 20th a portion of the Union army crossed the river in pursuit, and was repulsed with heavy loss. Lee retreated down the Shenandoah Valley, while McClellan, after considerable delay in re- organizing and refitting his forces, marched his army to Warrenton. His slowness gave such dissatisfaction to the authorities at Wash- ington that on November 7 he was relieved from duty, and replaced by General Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac] THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. William Swinton. [The military movements of 1861 and the opening period of 1862 in the East were paralleled by as active operations in the West, in which the successes of the Union armies more than counterbalanced the Confederate victories in Virginia. A brief review of these oper- ations is here desirable, as preliminary to a more extended de- scription of the important battle of Shiloh. Among the earliest military movements were those which took place in Missouri. A convention in that State decided against secession, and in favor of compromise. The governor, however, at once proceeded to act as if the State had seceded, refused to furnish troops to the govern- ment, raised a militia, and attempted to seize the national arsenal 193 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton at St. Louis. This was held by Captain Lyon, with five hundred regulars. Several conflicts succeeded, and, as the governor still sought to force the State into the Confederacy, a condition of actual war arose. General (late Captain) Lyon defeated the State troops at Boone- ville, while, in retaliation, the governor took it on himself to declare the State seceded and to ofifer its aid to the Confederacy. General Fremont was now made commander of the troops in Missouri. A battle took place on August lO, at Wilson's Creek, in which Lyon was killed, while General Sigel, who had been sent to gain the enemy's rear, met with a disastrous repulse. Each side lost heavily, and the Confederates were unable to pursue the retreating Union- ists. The armies on both sides gradually increased, until there were twenty-eight thousand Confederates and thirty thousand Unionists in the field. At this juncture Fremont was removed, as a punish- ment for issuing on his own authority a proclamation emancipating the slaves in his department. General Halleck, who eventually suc- ceeded to the command of the Union forces, compelled the Con- federate General Price to retreat to Arkansas. In February, 1862, General Curtis, at the head of a Union army, pursued Price into Arkansas. On March 7 a severe battle took place at Pea Ridge, in which Sigel completely routed the Confederate right, while on the next morning their whole army was forced to retreat. This ended all operations of any importance in Missouri and Arkansas. The bulk of both armies was transferred to the east of the Missis- sippi, and a few unimportant contests in Arkansas completed the war in that quarter. Operations of more essential significance were meanwhile taking place in Kentucky and Tennessee. The political action of the for- mer State resembled that of Missouri. The governor was of strong secession sympathies, but the legislature refused to support him in his purposes. The Unionists of the State were largely in the ma- jority, and clearly showed their intention of supporting the admin- istration, despite the rebellious sentiments of the governor. Yet the Confederate authorities felt it absolutely necessary to their cause to take military possession of the State, which was invaded on the west by General Polk, who seized Columbus, on the Mississippi, and by General Zollicofifer on the east. The first engagement took place at Belmont, on the Missouri side of the river, opposite Colum- bus. General Grant attacked and defeated the force at this place, but was himself assailed by a strong force under General Polk, Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 193 through which he was forced to cut his way. Grant brought off his guns and some of those of the enemy. His loss was four hun- dred and eighty men; that of Polk was six hundred and forty-two. These preliminary operations were succeeded by a vigorous effort on the part of the Confederates to form a powerful defensive line on the rivers leading south. Columbus was strongly fortified, to pre- vent the descent of the Mississippi, while accessory forts were built on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, just within the borders of Tennessee, — that on the former river receiving the name of Fort Henry, that on the latter, of Fort Donelson. An intrenched camp was also made farther east, at Bowling Green in Kentucky, an im- portant railroad-junction. This camp covered the city of Nashville. In November, i86i. General Halleck was placed in command of the Western Department. He assigned to General Grant the dis- trict of Cairo, which also included Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee. The Confederate line of defence was placed under General A. S. Johnston. It was held by about sixty thousand men, while the post of Columbus was so strongly fortified that the Con- federates believed that it would effectually close the Mississippi till the end of the war. In this particular they were destined to be quickly undeceived. The proposed Union plan of operation was the reduction of Forts Henry and Donelson. For this purpose two armies were available, that of Grant at Cairo, with seventeen thousand men and some iron- clad gunboats, and that of Buell at Louisville, with forty thousand men. Halleck believed that if these forts were taken Columbus and Bowling Green must be abandoned, and Nashville fall into the Union hands. On January 30, 1862, Grant marched southward from Cairo along the Tennessee, the gunboats accompanying him on the river. On February 6 the gunboats attacked Fort Henry, which was reduced so quickly that the Confederate garrison escaped be- fore Grant could get into position to cut off their retreat. He had been delayed by excessive rains, which flooded the roads. Attention was now given to Fort Donelson, which was a strong work, about forty miles above the mouth of the Cumberland, with sixty-five pieces of artillery, and a garrison which was increased un- til it numbered twenty-one thousand men. Grant marched upon it from Fort Henry with fifteen thousand men, while the gunboats went round by way of the Ohio. The attack was made on February 14. The first assault by the gunboats and troops failed, but, as heavy Union reinforcements were coming up. General Floyd, who 3—13 194 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton commanded in the fort, determined to abandon it and retreat. This design ended in failure. Grant had now reached the scene, and, perceiving the position of affairs, he ordered a general advance. This was pushed so vigorously that commanding points surround- ing the fort were seized and retreat became impossible. During the night Floyd, with his Virginia brigade, made his escape by way of the river, and the next morning the fort was surrendered. Nearly fifteen thousand prisoners, seventeen thousand six hundred small- arms, and sixty-five guns were taken. The effect of this great success was what Halleck had premised. The camp at Bowling Green was immediately evacuated, and Nash- ville abandoned. Buell at once occupied that city. Columbus, the " Gibraltar of the West," was quickly abandoned by General Polk, who fell back to Island No. la The first line of Confederate de- fence had been broken with remarkable ease and success. Nor did the Confederate misfortunes end here. ZollicofTer had invaded east- ern Kentucky with five thousand men, and encamped at Mill Spring, in Wayne County. On January 17 he made a night-attack on the Union troops under General Thomas, encamped near him. The intended surprise failed, and the Confederates were driven back, Zollicofler being killed. On the next day their camp was shelled, and there was reason to hope that the entire force would be cap- tured. They escaped, however, during the night, leaving much ma- terial behind. The next operations were directed against New Madrid and Island No. 10 on the Mississippi, near the northern border of Tennessee. These posts had been strongly fortified. General Pope commanded the assailing troops, and captured New Madrid with little difficulty. Thirty-three cannon and much other valuable war-material were here taken. Island No. 10 proved more difficult to capture. Yet by cutting a canal, twelve miles long, across a bend in the Missis- sippi, the gunboats were enabled to assail it on both sides, and Pope to transport his army across from Missouri to Tennessee. The advantages thus gained rendered the island untenable, and it was forced to surrender on April 8. There were captured six thousand seven hundred prisoners, one hundred heavy and twenty-four light guns, an immense quantity of ammunition, and many small-arms, tents, horses, wagons, etc. This capture was achieved without the loss of a single life on the Union side. The next battle took place between the Union and Confederate flotillas at Fort Pillow, above Swinton] the battle OF StllLOH. 195 Memphis. Half the Confederate fleet was disabled. Soon after- wards the fort was abandoned, and the line of defence carried south to Memphis. On the Sth of June an assault was made on the Con- federate fleet at that place. It ended in the capture or destruction of the whole flotilla, except one boat, and the necessary fall of Mem- phis into Union hands. Thus was lost the most important railroad- centre on the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans. This rapid series of Union successes on the Mississippi was matched by important steps of progress on the Tennessee. Grant had been ordered to advance on the line of the Tennessee towards Corinth in northern Mississippi. A misunderstanding with Halleck, however, resulted in his removal from his command, which was given to General C. F. Smith. Sherman was ordered to advance, and break the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. He failed in this, on account of severe rains, and returned with some difficulty to Pittsburg Landing, which had been occupied at his suggestion. General Smith being now taken ill. Grant was restored to his com- mand. Buell's force, of about forty thousand men, was ordered to join him, to counteract the Confederate concentration at Corinth. Johnston, the Confederate commander, becoming aware of these movements, determined to attack Grant before Buell could come up, hoping to take him by surprise. The Confederate advance be- gan on April 3, with about forty thousand men. Grant had thirty- three thousand on the field. Lew Wallace's command of five thousand men was at a distance, and unable to aid immediately in the coming battle. On Sunday, April 6, the assault was made on Grant's outposts. The story of the battle that followed we select from Swinton's " Twelve Decisive Battles of the War."] On the westerly bank of the Tennessee, two hundred and nineteen miles from its mouth, is the historic spot of Pittsburg Landing. Its site is just below the great bend in the river, where, having trended many miles along the boundary-line of Alabama, it sweeps northerly in a majestic curve, and thence, flowing past Fort Henry, pours its waters into the Ohio. The neighboring country is undulating, broken into hills and ravines, and wooded for the most part with tall oak-trees and occasional patches of undergrowth. Fens and swamps, too, intervene, and at 196 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton the spring freshets the back-water swells the creeks, inun- dating the roads near the river's margin. It is, in general, a rough and unprepossessing region, wherein cultivated clearings seldom break the continuity of forest. Pittsburg Landing, scarcely laying claim, with its two log cabins, even to the dignity of hamlet, is distant a dozen miles northeasterly from the crossing of the three State lines of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, — ■ a mere point of steamboat freighting and debarkation for Corinth, eigh- teen miles southwest, for Purdy, about as far northwest, and for similar towns on the adjoining railroads. The river-banks at the Landing rise quite eighty feet, but are cloven by a series of ravines, through one of which runs the main road thence to Corinth, forking to Purdy. Be- yond the crest of the acclivity stretches back a kind of table-land, rolling and ridgy, cleared near the shores, but wooded and rough farther from the river. A rude log chapel, three miles out, is called Shiloh Church ; and, just beyond, rise not far from each other two petty streams. Owl Creek and Lick Creek, which, thence diverging, run windingly into the Tennessee, five miles apart, on either side of the Landing. On this rugged, elevated plateau, encompassed by the river and its little tributaries like a picture in its frame, lay encamped, on the night of the 5th of April, 1862, five divi- sions of General Grant's Army of West Tennessee, with a sixth, five miles down the bank, at Crump's Landing. . . . The leading division of Buell's Army of the Ohio lay at Savannah, nine miles down the river, on the other bank. Wearied that night with their four days' march from Co- lumbia, Nelson's men slept heavily. A long rest had been promised them, to be broken only the next day by a formal Sunday inspection, and leisurely during the week ensuing it would join the associate Army of West Tennessee • for Swinion] the battle OF SHILOH. 197 transportation had not yet been made ready for its passage of the river, nor had General Halleck yet come down from St. Louis to direct the movement on Corinth, for which it had marched. Behind Nelson, the rest of Buell's army trailed that night its line of bivouac-fires full thirty miles backward on the road to Columbia. Silent in Shiloh woods yonder, within sight of Grant's camp-fires and within sound of his noisy pickets, lay, grimly awaiting the dawn, forty thousand Confederate soldiers. It was the third of the three great armies drawn together that night towards Pittsburg Landing, — an army supposed by its fourscore thousand dormant foes, from commanding general to drummer-boy, to be lying perdu behind its Corinth field-works, twenty miles away. It had crept close to the Union lines, three-fourths of a mile from the pickets, less than two from the main camp, — so dose that throughout the night the bivouac hum and stir and the noisy random shots of untrained sentinels on the opposing lines indistinguishably mingled. This stealthily- moved host lay on its arms, weary after a hard day's march over miry roads on the 4th, a day's forming on the 5th, and a bivouac in the drenching rain of the night inter- vening. No fires were lighted on the advanced lines, and, farther back, the few embers glowing here and there were hidden in holes dug in the ground. Most of the men lay awake, prone in their blankets, or chatted in low tones, grouped around the stacked arms, awaiting the supplies which commissaries and staff-officers were hurrying from the rear; for, with the improvidence of raw troops, they had already spent their five days' rations at the end of three, and were ill prepared to give battle. But others, oppressed with sleep, had for the time forgotten both cold and hunger. . . . Ere the gray of dawn, the advanced line of Johnston's 198 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton army, composed of Hardee's corps, strengthened on its right by Gladden's brigade from Bragg's, steaUhily crept through the narrow belt of woods beyond which all night they had seen their innocent enemy's camp-fires blazing. No fife or drum was allowed; the cavalry bugles sounded no reveille; but, with suppressed voices, the subordinate officers roused their men, for many of whom, indeed, the knowledge of what was to come had proved too exciting for sound slumber. Bragg's line as quickly followed, and, in suit, the lines of Polk and Breckinridge. By one of those undefinable impulses or misgivings which detect the approach of catastrophe without physical warning of it, it happened that Colonel Peabody, of the 25th Missouri, commanding the first brigade of Prentiss's division, became convinced that all was not right in front. Very early Sunday morning, therefore, he sent out three companies of his own regiment and two of Major Powell's 1 2th Michigan, under Powell's command, to reconnoitre, and to seize on some advance squads of the enemy, who had been reported flitting about, one and a half miles distant from camp, on the main Corinth road. It was the gray of dawn when they reached the spot indicated; and almost immediately, from long dense lines of men, coming swiftly through the tall trees, opened a rattling fire of musketry. It was the enemy in force. The little band fell back in haste, firing as best they might. Close on their heels pressed the whole of Hardee's line, and, envel- oping the left of Prentiss's camp, stretched in a broad swath across to the gap between his division and Sher- man's, and thence onward across Sherman's. Instantly the woods were alive with the rattle of musketry right and left, on front and flank. The Confederate batteries, galloping up on every practicable road and path, unlim- bered in hot haste, and poured their shot over the head Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 199 of the infantry in the direction of the tents now faintly gleaming ahead. The startled infantry outposts, mechani- cally returning a straggling fire, yielded, overborne by the mighty rush of their enemy, and then streamed straight back to the main camps. The divisions of Sherman, Pren- tiss, and McClernand started from their peaceful slumbers amid the roar and smoke of battle. The exultant Confed- erates, creeping so long with painful reticence, now woke the forests with their fierce, long-pent yells. The flying pickets served, Hke avant-couriers, to point the way for their pursuers. And thus, with the breaking light of day, overhung by sulphurous battle-clouds, through which darted the cannon-flash, while the dim smoke curled for- ward through every ravine and road and enveloped the camps. Grant's army woke to the battle of Shiloh. . . . At the height of the shouting, the forming of the troops, the spurring hither and thither of the aides, the fastening of belts and boxes, and the dressing of laggards, the enemy's advance with loud yells swept through the inter- vening forest and burst upon the camps. It was now about seven o'clock, and the resistance of the Union picket-line, feeble as it necessarily was, had been of priceless service in gaining time, while the rough and impracticable interval over which the Confederates had to pass served to break up somewhat as well as to extend and thin their lines. There seems to have been no special tactical formation, nor any massing of men on a key-point : the key-point, if any there was, had not been discovered. The movement, in short, was predicated on a surprise, and the method, to fling the three corps-deep lines of the Army of the Mississippi straight against the Union army from creek to creek, to " drive it back into the Tennessee." As for the Union generals, overwhelmed with surprise and chagrin, they could only strike back 200 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton where the enemy struck, seeking above all to save the camps. Such was the nature of the confused, irregular, but bloody series of conflicts which nov/ raged for three hours, during which time the Union troops succumbed, and yielded the first breadth of debatable ground. [Onward swept the Confederates, gaining ground, now on the right, now on the left, till before nine o'clock they were in full pos- session of Prentiss's camp. By ten o'clock the Union forces gener- ally had yielded to the impetuous onset, and the camping-ground of nearly the whole line was in the hands of the foe. The plundering of the camps, which their generals could not hinder, detained them for a time, while the Union commanders were doing their best to re-form their broken lines. For five hours the battle went on con- fusedly, the Union troops being forced slowly back to the Landing, the nature of the ground, rolling, wooded, and cleft by ravines, enabling them to protract their defence. Both lines were badly broken up, and the different brigades mingled, each side fighting with no definite plan, other than to hold their ground on the one side and to advance on the other. Later on, the Confederates made a desperate effort to turn the Union left, capture their base at the Landing, and drive them down the river. This effort was vigor- ously opposed, and during the hard fighting at this point a ball struck the Confederate commander. General Johnston, wounding him severely. He continued on his horse, unheeding the bleeding, and before long reeled and fell from the saddle, quickly expiring. General Beauregard succeeded to the Confederate command.] It was now three o'clock, and the battle was at its height. Dissatisfied with his reception by Wallace, on the Corinth road, Bragg, on hearing of Johnston's fall, on the right, determined to move round thither and try his success anew. He gathered up the three divisions already spoken of, and, with specific orders of attack, flung them against Hurlburt, Stuart, and Prentiss. The assault was irresist- ible, and, the whole left of the Union position giving way, Bragg's column drove Stuart and Hurlburt to the Landing, and swept through Hurlburt's camp, pillaging it like those of Prentiss, Sherman, Stuart, and McClernand. Simulta- Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. gQl neously, Polk and Hardee, rolling in from the Confederate left, forced back the Union right, and drove all Wallace's division, with what was left of Sherman's, back to the Landing, — the brave W. H. L. Wallace falling in breasting this whelming flood. Swooping over the field, right and left, the Confederates gathered up entire the remainder of Prentiss's division, — about three thousand in number, — with that officer himself, and hurried them triumphantly to Corinth. At five o'clock the fate of the Union army was extremely critical. Its enemy had driven it by persistent fighting out of five camps, and for miles over every ridge and across every stream, road, and ravine, in its chosen camp- ing-ground. Fully three thousand prisoners and many wounded were left in his hands, and a great part of the artillery, with much other spoils, to grace his triumph. Bragg's order, " Forward ! let every order be forward ; " Beauregard's order, " Forward, boys, and drive them into the Tennessee," had been filled almost to the letter, since near at hand rolled the river, with no transportation for reinforcements or for retreat. Before, an enemy flushed with conquest called on their leaders for the coup de grace. What can be done with the Union troops? Surely the being at bay will give desperation. Unhappily, the whole army, greatly disorganized all day, was now an absolute wreck; and such broken regiments and disordered battal- ions as attempted to rally at the Landing often found the officers gone on whom they were wont to rely. Not the divisions alone, but the brigades, the regiments, the com- panies, were mixed up in hopeless confusion, and it was only a heterogeneous mass of hot and exhausted men, with cr without guns as might be, that converged on the river-bank. The fugitives covered the shore down as far as Crump's, wtiere guards were at length posted to try to 202 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. tSwiNTON catch some of them and drive them back. The constant " disappearance," as the generals have it, of regiments and parts of regiments since morning, added to thousands of individual movements to the rear, had swarmed the Land- ing with troops enough — enough in numbers — to have driven the enemy back to Corinth. Their words were singularly uniform : " We are all cut to pieces." General Grant says he had a dozen officers arrested for cowardice on the first day's battle. General Rousseau speaks of " ten thousand fugitives, who lined the banks of the river and filled the woods adjacent to the Landing." General Buell, before the final disaster, found at the Landing strag- glers by " whole companies and almost regiments ; and at the Landing the bank swarmed with a confused mass of men of various regiments. There could not have been less than four thousand or five thousand. Late in the day it became much greater." At five o'clock " the throng of disorganized and demoralized troops increased continually by fresh fugitives," and intermingled " were great numbers of teams, all striving to get as near as possible to the river. With few exceptions, all efiforts to form the troops and move them forward to the fight utterly failed." Nelson says, " I found cowering under the river-bank, when I crossed, from seven thousand to ten thousand men, frantic with fright and utterly demoralized." Of the troops lately driven back, he expressed the want of organization by saying the last position " formed a semicircle of artillery totally unsupported by infantry, whose fire was the only check to the audacious approach of the enemy." Even this was not all. The Confederates, sweeping the whole field down to the blufif above the Landing, were already almost upon the latter point. Such was the outlook for the gallant fragments of the Union army at five o'clock on Sunday. Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 303 [A precipitous ravine, near the Landing, now somewhat checked the pursuit, while the Union gunboats at this point began raking the hostile lines. A powerful battery was arranged along the ravine, forty or fifty guns being posted in a semicircular line. At the same time the advance of Nelson's division, which had just crossed the river, rushed forward to take part in the battle.] Already now the Confederates were surging and recoil- ing in a desperate series of final charges. Warned by the descending sun to do quickly what remained to be done, they threw forward everything to the attempt. Their batteries, run to the front, crowned the inferior crest of the ravine, and opened a defiant fire from ridge to ridge, and threw shells even across the river into the woods on the other bank. Their infantry, wasted by the day's slaughter, had become almost disorganized by the plunder of the last two Union camps, and a fatal loss of time en- sued while the officers pulled them out from the spoils. The men, still spirited, gazed somewhat aghast at the gun- crowned slope above them, whence Webster's artillery thundered across the ravine, while their right flank was swept by broadsides of eight-inch shells from the Lexing- ton and Tyler. " Forward " was the word throughout the Confederate line. Bragg held the right, on the southerly slope of the ravine, extending near the river, but pre- vented from reaching it by the gunboat fire; Polk the centre, nearer the head of the ravine; while Hardee car- ried the left beyond the Corinth road. At the latter point the line was half a mile from the water, and four hundred yards from the artillery on the bluffs. There were few organizations, even of regiments, on the Union side, but a straggling line from Wallace's and other commands, vol- untarily rallying near the guns, was already opening an independent but annoying fire ; and these resolute soldiers were as safe as the torrent of fugitives incessantly pouring 204 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton down to the Landing, among whom the Confederate shells were bursting. Again and again, through the fire of the artillery, the gunboats, and Ammen's fresh brigade, and the severe flanking fire of troops rallying on the Union right, the Confederates streamed down the ravine and clambered up the dense thickets on the other slope. Again and again they were repulsed with perfect ease, and amid great loss ; for, besides their natural exhaustion, the commands had been so broken up by the victory of the day and by the scramble for the spoils that while some brigades were forming others were charging, and there was no concerted attack, but only spontaneous rushes by subdivisions, speedily checked by flank fire. And when once some of Breckinridge's troops, on the right, did nearly turn the artillery position, so that some of the gun- ners absolutely abandoned their pieces, Ammen, who had just deployed, again and finally drove the assailants down the slope. Confident still, flushed with past success, and observing the Union debacle behind the artillery, Bragg and Polk urged a fresh and more compact assault, on the ground that the nearer they drew to the Union position the less perilous were the siege-guns and gunboats. But the com- mander-in-chief had been struck down, and Beauregard, succeeding to supreme responsibility, decided otherwise. Bitterly then he reahzed the lack of discipline and organ- ization in his army, entailed by the jealousy and ill-timed punctiHousness of Richmond. Victory itself had fatally disordered his lines, and the last hard task of assault had thrown them back in confusion from the almost impreg- nable position. Better to withdraw with victory than hazard final defeat; for already the sun was in the hori- zon, and the musket-flashes lit up the woods. The troops were all intermingled, and several brigade commanders Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 205 had been encountered by the general, who did not know where their brigades were. Since darkness already threat- ened to leave the army in dense thickets under the enemy's murderous fire, all that was left of the day would be re- quired in withdrawing so disorganized a force. Buell could not have got more than one division along those miry roads to the river. It was a day's work well done : to-morrow should be sealed what had auspiciously begun. Thus reasoning, Beauregard called off the troops just as they were starting on another charge, and ordered them out of range. Then night and rain fell on the field of Shiloh. [During the night Grant's army was heavily reinforced. Three divisions of Buell's army, Nelson's, Crittenden's, and McCook's, had crossed the Tennessee by Monday morning, while Lew Wal- lace's division of Grant's army, which had been led into a wrong route in its march from Crump's Landing on the previous day, came up at night-fall of Sunday. Twenty-seven thousand fresh troops had thus been added, while Grant's disorganized troops were gradually brought back into fighting trim. There were thus nearly fifty thousand men against about thirty thousand left to the Con- federate army. By half-past five the advance began. Nelson and Crit- tenden marching steadily on the Confederate position. By six o'clock the battle opened, and by seven the advancing Union line reached Beauregard's front, where a determined resistance was encountered.] The ground on which the Confederates stood was sub- stantially that of the camps of Prentiss, Sherman, and McClernand, which, having been occupied in bivouac the night preceding, now lay a little in rear of the line of battle. This line stretched in front of Lick and Owl Creeks, and across all the roads so often described. The dawn of day found the Confederates very much disorgan- ized. No time, however, was lost. The early advance of Nelson caused a rapid gathering and assorting of the disordered and shattered fragments of Beauregard, who 306 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton met the onset with so firm a front that Nelson found him- self checked. At length Crittenden's division came up to Nelson's right, and Mendenhall's battery, hurrying across, engaged the Confederate batteries and stayed the infantry advance. Despite their fatigue, Beauregard was already hurling his concentrated columns to an attack on his right; he had engaged all of Nelson and Crittenden, and before eight o'clock had also fallen upon Rousseau's brigade of McCook's division, which had just then com- pleted its formation on Crittenden's right. At eight o'clock, Cheatham's division, which had been posted hith- erto, awaiting orders, in the rear of Shiloh Church, was thrown in, in front of Buell, on Breckinridge's line. The fire on the Confederate right, which had before been hot, was now redoubled, and rolled across all three of Buell's divisions. So severe was the artillery fire that Hazen's brigade was thrown across the open field into the fringe of woods where two batteries were posted, in order to dislodge them. Buell was then at Hazen's position, and in person gave the command " Forward ! " which ran echoing along the line and was obeyed with a cheer. These troops had never before been in battle, but were in splendid drill and discipline, and moved forward in the best possible order. They soon caught the enemy's volleys, but did not slacken their pace ; for it was a novel experience, and they did not resort, like veterans, to trees or cover. Driving in some outlying infantry supports, of whom not a few were sent as prisoners to the rear, Hazen, after half a mile of advance, got upon the batteries themselves. But at this moment the gallant brigade received a cross- fire from both flanks from the rallied enemy, and, being without support on either hand, was forced to fall back, with a loss of one-third of its men. The sally had been a little too impetuous, so much so as to break up the or- Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. 207 ganization; but it was one quite natural at so early a day in the war, and was a mistake in the right direction. [About nine o'clock the Confederates succeeded in turning Nel- son's left flank, but were driven back, while Lew Wallace and Grant's other forces pressed heavily upon their left, forcing them to recede. The ground at this point was hotly contested, both sides gaining tem- porary advantages, but by one o'clock Nelson had swung round the Confederate right and gained a firm hold on that part of the field.] Let us turn now to McCook. On Crittenden's right Rousseau's brigade was early engaged, sustaining the at- tack of eight o'clock, and the heavier succeeding ones. Meanwhile, Kirk's brigade and a part of Gibson's had been ferried across from Savannah, hurried to the ground, and were deployed by McCook in short supporting dis- tance to the right and rear of Rousseau. Willich's regi- ment he held in reserve behind his second line. McCook shared the varying fortunes of the morning, till the grad- ual giving way of the Confederate right by ten o'clock. Then Rousseau, finding his advance no longer checked, moved onward till he encountered the troops withdrawn to the Corinth road from Nelson's front. Here a fierce and long-contested engagement took place, the Confeder- ates forming in McClernand's camp, to which they clung with desperation, but which at length they were forced to abandon to Rousseau, together with a battery captured the day before, of which one section had been playing on Rousseau's advance. But, as the Union line swept for- ward, McCook and Crittenden had become separated, and a counter-attack on McCook's left threatened to turn it, and was the signal for a fierce struggle. There then came a lull, and at one o'clock the battle began with fresh fury. McCook had reached a key-point in the Confederate line, a green wood about five hundred yards east of the church. Two batteries, one next the church and the other nearer 208 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Swinton the Hamburg road, swept the open space with grape and canister in front of the green wood, and the musketry fire was very severe. Grant hurried forward what aid he could to McCIernand, Hurlburt putting in the remainder of his division, and Sherman appearing with his brigades. " Here," says Sherman, " at the point where the Corinth road crosses the line of General McClernand's camp, I saw for the first time the well-ordered and compact Kentucky forces of General Buell, whose soldierly movement at once gave confidence to our newer and less disciplined forces. Here I saw Willich's regiment advance upon a point of water-oaks and thicket, behind which I knew the enemy was in great strength, and enter it in beautiful style. Then arose the severest musketry fire I ever heard, and lasted some twenty minutes, when this splendid regi- ment had to fall back." Indeed, the conflict, arising on McCook's left, had spread all along his front and over that of Crittenden. Willich's regiment, having passed through Kirk's brigade, to the front, was thrown across to the green wood, in double column on the centre, with the flank companies skirmishing in advance. Then it re- ceived the overpowering attack which Sherman witnessed. At this juncture Kirk's brigade got into position on McCook's left, and Rousseau, who had expended all his ammunition in the morning's battle, retired through it to the rear for a fresh supply. Gibson was next thrown in on Kirk's left. For an hour a terrific contest went on, the Confederates holding their position tenaciously, and some- times even taking the ofifensive. Finally, at two o'clock, Rousseau's brigade again moved to the front, supported by one of Hurlburt's brigades on the left and by McCIer- nand on the right. McCook had no artillery; but the three uncaptured guns of Wood's battery and two of McAllister's were turned by McCIernand and Sherman Swinton] the battle OF SHILOH. ^09 against the enemy. Finding the Confederates at last giving way before him, McCook ordered a general ad- vance, and Rousseau's brigade, " beautifully deployed," says Sherman, " entered the dreaded wood, and moved in splendid order steadily to the front, sweeping everything before it." Indeed, the battle was already decided. At half-past one o'clock, Beatiregard had issued orders to withdraw from the field. The last desperate fighting covered the attempt, and the final Union advance at two o'clock was comparatively unresisted. The withdrawal commenced on the Confederate right, in front of Nelson, and was transmitted to the left. At the latter point, Lew Wallace had steadily swung forward, participating in the varying fortunes of the day. His division also, at two o'clock, finding the obstinate enemy giving way, burst through the woods, easily carrying all before them. The Confederate retreat was conducted with perfect order and precision. Half a mile distant from Shiloh Church, on a commanding ridge, a reserve, selected for that purpose, was drawn up in line of battle for the expected attack. It did not come. Having wasted half an hour, the line was withdrawn a mile farther. Here the artillery played for a time upon a small Union column advanced in pur- suit; but no engagement took place, and even this desul- tory firing ceased by four o'clock. The battle of Shiloh was over. [This battle was followed by a concentration of all the Union ar- mies of the West, and an advance on Corinth, General Halleck tak- ing command. His army, in round numbers, now amounted to one hundred and twenty thousand men. That of Beauregard had been increased to about fifty thousand. The advance was made so slowly and cautiously that the Confederates, who had decided to evacuate Corinth, succeeded in getting out all their war-material before Hal- leck reached there, on the 30th of May. The place was at once strongly fortified as a Union stronghold. Shortly afterwards, on 3—14 210 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley June 6, the naval battle at Memphis, above described, took place, and that town was captured. All West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi were now in Union hands, and highly-important prog- ress had been made in the labor of conquering the West and South. Grant remarks that up to the battle of Shiloh he had shared in the general belief that a decisive Union victory would cause the sudden collapse of the Confederacy. The stand of the Confederates after that battle taught him differently. He perceived now that com- plete conquest was necessary. Sherman seems to have been of this opinion from the first.] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. J. T. Headley. [The rapid series of successes won by the armies of the West in early 1862, which gave them the full control of the Mississippi as far south as Memphis, was paralleled by as important a victory on the lower section of the river, which caused the fall of New Orleans, and left only the section of the river between that city and Mem- phis to be opened and occupied. The achievement in question was accomplished by the navy, and constituted one of the most brilliant and striking events of the war. Preceding a description of it, some brief review of the general operations of the navy is desirable. In August, 1861, an expedition was sent to Hatteras Inlet, by which Fort Hatteras was captured. In November of the same year a powerful land and naval force was sent to the coast of South Caro- lina. This assailed Port Royal Harbor, forced the surrender of the forts, and captured the post. It proved an important conquest, from its giving the North a convenient naval depot on the Southern coast, and the control of the richly-fertile Sea-Island district. Fort Pulaski, one of the defences of Savannah, was also captured, and that city closely blockaded, while several coast cities in Florida were occupied. About the same time the English mail-steamer Trent was overhauled by Captain Wilkes of the sloop-of-war San Jacinto, and Mason and Slidell, two Confederate commissioners to Europe, were forcibly taken from her. This unwarranted affair, which was at first sustained by the government, caused danger of war between the United States and England, which was avoided Headley] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 211 by a somewhat ungracefully performed acknowledgment of error and surrender of the prisoners. The United States was clearly in the wrong, but circumstances rendered it difficult to admit it imme- diately, in face of the enthusiastic popular indorsement of the action. In March, 1862, the port of New-Berne, in North Carolina, was captured by the fleet, and in April Fort Macon, commanding the entrance to Beaufort harbor, was taken. Roanoke Island was also occupied. These successes gave control of the whole coast of North Carolina, and aided greatly in making the blockade effective. The next naval operation was directed against the lower Mississippi, with the eventual object of the capture of New Orleans. Vigorous efforts had been made by the Confederates to render this stream impassable, by the erection of strong forts and batteries, the arming of gunboats, and the building of iron-clad vessels, which were to be superior in strength to the Merrimack. Two large steam-ships of this class were being prepared, of about fourteen hundred tons each, to be strongly plated, and each mounted with twenty of the heaviest guns. One only of these, the Louisiana, was completed in time to take part in the subsequent battle. Powerful rams and fire-rafts were also prepared, while the navigation of the river was obstructed by six heavy chains, carried across the stream on a line of dismasted schooners. This was placed about a mile below the forts. The story of the succeeding events, which partly negatived the lesson taught by the exploits of the Merrimack, and proved that wooden vessels might, under certain circumstances, success- fully encounter iron-plated ones, is told with much vividness of description in Headley's " Civil War in America."] The month of April closed gloriously for the national cause in the Valley of the Mississippi ; for it gave us New Orleans, the most important city of the Southern Confed- eracy, and thus made certain to us the final possession of the entire river. Captain Farragut, with a fleet of gunboats, and Porter, with a mortar-fleet, had long since left our Northern waters for some unknown point. Much anxiety had been felt for its success ; and when at length news was received that it had left Ship Island, where it was known to have rendez- 212 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley voused, for New Orleans, accompanied by a land-force under Butler, great fears were entertained of its ability to force the formidable barriers that blocked thd river below the city. Two forts, Jackson and St. Philip, nearly opposite each other, the former very strong and casemated, the two mounting in all two hundred and twenty-five guns, com- manded the approach. In addition to these, a heavy chain had been stretched across the channel, buoyed upon schooners, and directly under the fire of the batteries, so that any vessels attempting to remove it could be sunk. There were, besides, heavily-mounted iron-clad gunboats, ponderous rams, before whose onset the strongest ship would go down, and fire-rafts and piles of drift-wood, ready to be launched on our advancing vessels. It was believed by the rebels that nothing that ever floated could safely pass all these obstructions ; but should some few by a miracle succeed, bands of young men were organized in New Orleans to board them at all hazard and capture them. Such were the obstacles that presented themselves to Farragut and Porter as they, in the middle of April, slowly steamed up the mighty river. It was laborious work getting the fleet over the bars at the mouth of the Mississippi, and up the rapid stream, to the scene of action, for the mortar-boats were not steamers. Weeks were occupied in it, and the North almost began to despair of hearing any good report of the expedition, and eventually it was quite lost sight of in the absorbing news from the upper Mississippi and the Tennessee. But, though shut out from the world, its gallant commanders were quietly but energetically preparing for the herculean task assigned them. Six war-steamers, sixteen gunboats, twenty-one mortar- Headley] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 213 vessels, with five other national vessels, among them the Harriet Lane, Porter's flag-ship, making in all nearly fifty armed vessels, constituted the entire force. It was a for- midable fleet, but it had formidable obstacles to overcome. On the i8th the bombardment commenced, and the first day nearly two tliousand shells were thrown into the forts. Some burst beyond them, others in mid-air, and some not at all, while hundreds fell with a thundering crash inside the works, cracking the strongest casemates in their pon- derous descent. On one side of the river the mortar- vessels lay near some trees on the bank, and the men dressed the masts in green foliage to conceal their position. Decked out as for a Christmas festival, they could not be distinguished at the distance of the forts from the trees, so that the enemy had only the smoke that canopied them for a mark to aim at. On the other side, tall reeds fringed the banks, and the vessels in position there were covered with rushes and flags and daubed with Mississippi mud, which sadly confused the artillerists in the forts. The exact distance from the spot where they lay anchored, to the forts, had been determined by triangulation, conducted by the Coast Survey party under Captain Gurdes. The surveys to accomplish this had been performed under the fire of the enemy, and great coolness and daring were shown by the party. The sailors had wondered at the presence of a Coast Survey vessel, carrying a crew armed with nothing more formidable than, surveying-instruments, save a few pocket revolvers, but it was now seen that science must first prepare the way before the heavy shells could perform their appropriate work. Early in the morning of the day on which the bombard- ment commenced, the rebels set adrift a huge flat-boat piled with pitch-pine cord-wood in a blaze. As it came down the stream, the flames roared and crackled like a burning 314 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley forest, while huge cokimns of black smoke rose in swift, spiral columns skyward. As it drifted near, two of our advanced vessels hastily slipped their cables and moved down stream. At first it was feared the blazing structure might contain torpedoes or explosive machines of some kind, and rifled shot were thrown into it. But it floated harmless by, lighting up the muddy stream as it receded. In order to be prepared for another, Captain Porter ordered all the row-boats of the flotilla to be prepared with grap- nels, ropes, buckets, and axes. At sunset this fleet of a hundred and fifty boats was reviewed, passing in single line under the Harriet Lane, each answering to the hail of the commander, "Fire-buckets, axes, and ropes?" " Ay, ay, sir." About an hour afterwards, just as night had set in, a huge column of black smoke was seen to rise from the river in the vicinity of the forts. Signal-lights were im- mediately hoisted on all the vessels, and the next moment a hundred boats shot out in the darkness, ready for action. A fire-raft was on its fearful way, lighting up the broad bosom of the Mississippi with its pyramid of flame, and sending the sparks in showers into the surrounding dark- ness. It made a fearful sight, and seemed well calculated to accomplish its mission of destruction. On it came, slowly and majestically, swinging easily to the mighty current, when suddenly the Westfield opened her steam- valves and dashed fearlessly into the burning pile. Bury- ing herself amid the crashing timbers and flying sparks, her captain turned a hose upon it, and a stream of water as from a fire-engine played upon the lurid mass. The next moment the crowd of boats approached — the bronzed faces of the sailors, with buckets and ropes, standing out in bold relief in the broad glare — and fastened to the horrid phantom. Then, pulling with a will, they slowly Headley] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 215 towed it ashore, where they left it to consume ignobly away. It was bravely done, and as the boats returned they were cheered by the entire fleet. For a whole week the bombardment was kept \ip, while shot and shell from the enemy fell in a constant shower amid the squadron. The gunners on the mortar-boats were getting worn out, and, when released from the guns, would drop down exhausted on deck. They began at last to grumble at the inactivity of the larger vessels. At length Farragut determined to run the rebel bat- teries, engage the gunboats and rams beyond, and then steam up to New Orleans, cost what it would. The chain had been cut a few nights before, and the schooners that sustained it were trailing along the river bank. On the 23d of April, everything being ready, at two o'clock signal lanterns were hoisted from the Hartford's mizzen peak, and soon the boatswain's call, " Up all hammocks,'' rang over the water. It was known the evening before that the desperate conflict would come off in the morning, and there was but little sleep in the fleet that night. The scene, the hour, and the momentous issues at stake made every man thoughtful. Not a breeze ruffled the surface of the river ; "the forts were silent above ; the stars looked serenely down, while the deep tranquillity that rested on shore and stream was broken only by the heavy boom, every ten minutes, of a gun from the boats on watch. But the moment those two signal lanterns were run up en the flag-ship, all this was changed. The rattling of chains, the heaving of anchors, and commands of officers trans- formed the scene of quietness into one of bustle and stern preparation. In an hour and a half everything was ready, and the flag-ship, followed by the Richmond and Brooklyn and six gunboats, turned their prows up the river, steering 316 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley straight for Fort Jackson. The Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, and Varuna, under Captain Bailey, with four gtin- boats, came next, and were to engage Fort Philip. The Harriet Lane, Westfield, Owasco, Miami, Clifton, and Jackson, under Porter, came last, and were to take posi- tion where they could pour an enfilading fire of grape and shrapnel into Fort Jackson while Farragut hurled his heavy broadsides into it in front. As soon as the fleet started on its terrible mission, all the mortar-boats opened their fire, and, canopied by the blazing shells, that, cross- ing and recrossing in every direction, wove their fiery net-work over the sky and dropped with a thunderous sound into the doomed works, the flag-ship, accompanied by her consorts, steamed swiftly forward through the gloom. As soon as they came within range, signal rockets darted up from the low fortifications, and the next instant the volcano opened. Taking the awful storm in perfect silence, Farragut kept steadily on till he was close abreast, when his broadsides opened. As each ship came up, it delivered its broadside, and on both sides of the river it was one continuous stream of fire, and thunder-peal that shook the shores like an earthquake. For half an hour it seemed as if all the explosive elements of earth and air were collected -there. The vessels did not stop to engage the forts, but, delivering their broadsides, swept on towards the gunboats beyond. Fire-rafts now came drifting down the tide, lighting up the pandemonium with a fiercer glare, and making that early morning wild and awful as the last day of time. The shot and shell from nearly five hundred cannon filled all the air, and it seemed as if nothing made with httman hands could survive such a storm. The Ithaca, with a shot through her, was compelled to drop out of the fight, in doing which she came under the close fire of the fort, and was completely riddled, yet, strange Headley] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 317 to say, only two of her crew were struck. Exploding shells filled the air, hot shot crashed through the hulls, yet the gallant fleet, wrapped in the smoke of its own broadsides, moved on in its pathway of flame, while the river ahead was filled with fire-rafts and iron-clad gun- boats, whose terrible fire, crossing that of the fort, swept the whole bosom of the stream. Sharp-shooters crowded the rigging, dropping their bullets incessantly upon our decks, yet still the commander's signal for close action streamed in the morning breeze, and still that fleet kept on its determined way. An immense iron-clad vessel, the Louisiana, lay moored near Fort Jackson, armed with heavy rifled guns, which sent the shot through and through our vessels, while ours rattled like peas on her mailed sides. The famous ram Manassas came down on the flag-ship, pushing a fire-raft before her. In attempting to avoid the collision, Farragut got aground, when the raft came plump alongside. The flames instantly leaped through the rigging, and ran along the sides of his vessel, and for a moment he thought it was all up with him. But, ordering the hose to turn a stream of water upon the fire, he succeeded in extinguishing it, and, backing off, again poured in his broadsides. The Varuna, Captain Boggs, attacked the rebel gunboats with such fury that he sunk five in succession, their dark hulls disappearing with awful rapidity under the turbid waters. Even then his work was not done, for a ram came driving full upon him. He saw at once he could not avoid the collision, and knew that his fate was sealed. But, instead of hauling down his flag, he resolved, since he could not save his ship, to carry his adversary down with him, and, bidding the pilot throw the vessel so that her broadsides would bear on the vulnerable part of the rebel, he sternly received the blow. The sides of the 318 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Headley Varuna were crushed by it as though made of egg-shells. As the ram backed off, the water poured in like a torrent, and he ordered the pilot to run her, with all steam on, ashore. In the mean time his broadsides, fired at such close range, made fearful openings in the enemy's hull, and she too began to settle in the water, and attempted to haul off. But those terrible broadsides were too swift for her, and they were poured in till the gun-carriages were under the water. The last shot just skimmed the surface as the hissing guns became submerged, and the gallant vessel went down with her flag flying, carrying her dead with her. A more fitting tomb for them could not be found than the hull of that immortal boat. A boy, named Oscar, only thirteen years old, was on board, and during the hottest of the fire was busily en- gaged in passing ammunition to the gunners, and narrowly escaped death when one of the terrific broadsides of the enemy was poured in. Covered with dirt and begrimed with powder, he was met by Captain Boggs, who asked where he was going in such a hurry: " To get a passing- box, sir; the other was smashed by a ball." When the Varuna went down, Boggs missed the boy, and thought he was among the killed. But a few minutes after he saw the lad gallantly swimming towards the wreck. Clam- bering on board, he threw his hand up to his forehead, in the usual salute, and with the simple, "All right, sir: I report myself on board," coolly took up his old station. Though a boy, he had an old head on his shoulders, and, if he lives and is given an opportunity, will be heard from in the future. The Kineo was accidently run into by the Brooklyn, and badly stove, yet she fought her way steadily forward, though receiving twelve shots in her hull, and, with twelve others, passed the terrible ordeal. The description Headley] FARRAGUT ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 219 of the conduct of one boat is a description of all. Though riddled with shot from the forts, they closed in with the rebel gunboats so fiercely that in an hour and a half eleven went to the bottom of the Mississippi. The victory was won, and the combat ended, yet the maddened enemy could not wholly surrender, and the ram Manassas came down on the Richmond. The Mississippi, seeing her intentions, instantly steamed towards her, when the affrighted crew ran her ashore. Even after the sur- render was made, and while terms of capitulation were being agreed on, the rebels cut adrift the Louisiana, which had cost nearly two millions of dollars, and sent her down past the fort amid our mortar-fleet. She failed, however, to do any damage, and soon went ashore. The forts being passed. New Orleans was ours ; yet stil] the former, though completely cut off, refused to surrender. Farragut sent Captain Boggs in an open boat through a bayou, inland, to Porter, to report his success. One would have thought from his letter that he had encoun- tered scarcely more than pretty stormy weather. " We have had a rough time of it, as Boggs will tell you," he says, and then proceeds to tell him that as soon as he goes to New Orleans he will come back and finish the forts. The next morning he steamed up towards the aston- ished city. The inhabitants had deemed it unapproacha- ble by any naval armament whatever, and in their fancied security were building vessels of offensive warfare that soon would have given us far more trouble than the Mer- rimack. Lovell, in command of the troops in the city, im- mediately left, for it lay completely at the mercy of our vessels. The mayor undertook to avoid the humiliation of a formal capitulation, and wrote a ridiculous letter to the commander; but it mattered little how it was done, — 320 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau the great commercial port of the Confederate States sur- rendered, and the most difficult part of opening the navi- gation of the Mississippi was accomplished. THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. Adam Badeau. [The capture of the defences of the upper Mississippi, and the fall of New Orleans with the forts that covered it, by no means com- pleted the task of opening the great Western river, four hundred miles of which remained under Confederate control. Two strongly- fortified places, Vicksburg on the north and Port Hudson on the south, with an intermediate intrenched position at Grand Gulf, de- fended this portion of the river, and were destined to give the Union armies no small trouble before they could be taken and the river again made a national highway. Before describing the movements by which this great purpose was effected, it is necessary to bring up our review of Western events to the date of these operations. The advance of Lee into Maryland had its parallel in a vigorous northward raid made by Bragg in the West, in which he crossed the national line of defence and advanced nearly to the Ohio. The cap- ture of Corinth by the Union forces had been succeeded by some important military operations, which may be briefly epitomized. Chattanooga, a town situated on the Tennessee River just north of the Georgia State line, and on the eastern flank of the Cumberland Mountains, became now a point of great military importance, and Buell was ordered to occupy it with his army. He commenced his march on June lo, 1862, but moved too deliberately to effect his purpose. Bragg, -the Confederate commander, as soon as he dis- cerned the object of Buell's march, hastened with the greatest rapid- ity to the place, and took firm possession of it before Buell could reach it. The latter was forced to retreat, and reinforcements were sent him from Grant's army, to strengthen him against an advance by Bragg. This fact was taken advantage of by Price and Van Dorn, who confronted Grant with a force of considerable strength. They made movements intended to induce Grant to weaken his Badeau] the siege of VICKSBURG. 321 army still further, hoping for an opportunity to seize Corinth. Grant at once assumed the offensive. Rosecrans was sent to luka, to which place Price had advanced. He reached this place on Sep- tember 19. A battle ensued, which ended in both sides holding their ground. During the night, however, the Confederates decamped, and marched too rapidly to be overtaken. On October 3, Van Dorn and Price in conjunction assailed Rosecrans at Corinth, Grant being then at Jackson. Rosecrans had about twenty thousand men. The Confederates had about forty thousand, and made their assault with great vigor and persistency. Their charge on the works, how- ever, ended in a severe and sanguinary repulse and a hasty retreat, in which they were pursued for sixty miles. They lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about nine thousand men. The Union loss was about two thousand four hundred. While these operations were taking place, Bragg was engaged in an invasion of Kentucky that threatened disaster to the Union cause. He marched actively northward with an army of fifty thousand men, reaching the line of the Nashville and Louisville Railroad at Munfordsville, whose garrison he captured. A division of his army, under Kirby Smith, marched from Knoxville, and at Richmond, Kentucky, routed General Manson. Smith claimed to have killed and wounded one thousand and taken five thousand prisoners, with a valuable spoil in arms, ammunition, and provisions. He then passed through Lexington, and reached Cynthiana. This raid had necessitated a rapid reverse movement on the part of Buell, who was forced with all haste to march from southern Tennessee to the Ohio, a distance of three hundred miles. From Munfordsville Bragg moved to Frankfort, where he formed a junc- tion with Kirby Smith. The one had made feigned movements against Nashville, and the other against Cincinnati, but intercepted despatches taught Buell that their true object was Louisville, and to this place he hastened with all speed. Bragg had moved too slowly. He had been six weeks in marching from Chattanooga to Frankfort. Yet he would have captured Louisville but for deten- tion by a burnt bridge, which enabled Buell to get in advance. The latter had hastened north with the utmost speed, leaving a garrison at Nashville, and reaching Louisville on September 25. He found that city in a panic. At this point he was reinforced by troops from all quarters, till his army reached the number of one hundred thou- sand men. 222 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau Meanwhile, Bragg had issued a proclamation to the Kentuckians in emulation of that which Lee had issued in Maryland, and with like unsatisfactory results. The people of Kentucky had fully de- cided to remain in the Union. Bragg's foraging-parties scoured and devastated the surrounding country, carrying off all the spoil they could find. Men were conscripted and forced into his army. He now commenced a deliberate retreat, while Buell advanced upon him. A severe battle took place on October 8 at Perryville, in which both sides lost heavily and neither gained a decisive advan- tage. Bragg's retreat, however, continued, and he reached Chat- tanooga without further loss. Buell's movements in pursuit were so annoyingly slow that he was removed from his command by the government and replaced by Rosecrans. Bragg's expedition, so far as political ends were concerned, had proved a failure. He had, however, carried ofif vast quantities of provisions and clothing. New movements quickly supervened. Rosecrans at once reorgan- ized his army, and concentrated it at Nashville. Bragg had hardly reached Chattanooga before he was ordered to march northward again. He reached Murfreesborough, to the south of Nashville, whence he sent out detachments of cavalry to cut Rosecrans's com- munications, and where he indulged in Christmas festivities, with Davis, the Confederate President, as his guest. Yet Rosecrans had no intention of remaining idle. He made a sudden march on De- cember 26, drove back the Confederate outposts, and on the 30th confronted Bragg, who was stationed two miles in front of Mur- freesborough. Rosecrans had forty-three thousand and Bragg sixty-two thousand men. A battle took place at this point on the 31st, Bragg assailing with such strength as to drive back the right wing of the Union army. The next division, commanded by Sheri- dan, held its own with much energy, but was finally forced back, though in unbroken order. The other divisions were obliged to follow. So far the advantage had been with the Confederates. But Rose- crans readjusted his army, formed a new line, and awaited the tri- umphant advance of his foe. The assault was tremendous, but it was met with a withering fire of musketry and artillery, and, though four times repeated, the Union line remained unbroken. A fresh division of seven thousand men was brought forward and assailed Rosecrans's left flank, but with the same ill fortune. Night fell, the closing night of 1862. On New-Year's day the armies faced each Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 223 other without a renewal of the battle. So they continued till the 3d, Rosecrans strongly intrenching his position. On the night of the 3d Bragg secretly withdrew, leaving his antagonist in posses- sion of the battle-field, though too much crippled to pursue. Each army had lost about one-fourth of its whole force. Rosecrans had lost more than a third of his artillery, and a large portion of his train. But he had bravely held his ground, and taught his enemies that the Ohio River was beyond their reach. The Cumberland Mountains were thenceforward to be the boundary of the Con- federacy in that quarter. The military events in the West during 1863 were of the utmost importance, ending in the opening of the Mississippi and the capture of Chattanooga. The first achievement had been attempted by Far- ragut, immediately after the taking of New Orleans. He sent a part of his fleet up the river, captured Baton Rouge and Natchez, and ad- vanced to Vicksburg. This city refused to surrender, and was bom- barded by Farragut, who ran the batteries with his fleet. Orders from Washington checked these operations, there being no land-force ready to co-operate, and the fleet being unable to silenc.e the batteries. In the autumn of 1862 Grant made his first efforts towards his projected reduction of Vicksburg. His army was now large, and he advanced, driving Pemberton, the Confederate commander at Vicks- burg, before him. Sherman was sent with a strong force to march down the Mississippi, while Grant moved by an inland route, to take the city in the rear. His scheme was frustrated by an unfore- seen event. Holly Springs had been established as his depot of supplies. Van Dorn, with the Confederate cavalry, made a rapid movement to Grant's rear, and captured this place, then guarded by only a single regiment, on December 20. The vast stores that had been accumulated, valued at more than two millions of dollars, were destroyed by fire. Grant was forced to give up his over- land route, and move to the river. In the mean time, Sherman had reached the vicinity of Vicksburg. At this locality a line of high bluffs border the river, with but a nar- row space between them and the stream. The Yazoo River joins the Mississippi above the city, while the surrounding soil is cut by numerous deep bayous, and the low lands are very swampy. A fortified line, fifteen miles in length, had been constructed along the bluffs. Sherman made a strong but ineffectual assault upon the forti- fications, and found that the Confederates were being reinforced so 234 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau rapidly, while he was surrounded with such difficulties, that he was obliged to abandon the expedition. The only success gained was the reduction of a stronghold on the Arkansas River, which had served as a basis for steamboat expeditions against his line of supplies. Here five thousand prisoners and much valuable material were taken. The fortifications at Vicksburg were now strengthened until it be- came an exceedingly strong post. Grand Gulf and Port Hudson, farther down the river, were also fortified. Against these strong- holds the efforts of the Western armies were now mainly directed. General Banks, aided by Farragut's fleet, entered upon the siege of Port Hudson, while Grant put forward all his strength against Vicksburg, assisted by the gunboats under Admiral Porter. The Army of the Tennessee now numbered one hundred and thirty thousand men, of whom fifty thousand men took part in the expedi- tion against Vicksburg. Porter had a fleet of sixty vessels, carry- ing two hundred and eighty guns and eight hundred men. Grant arrived and took command of the expedition on January 30, 1863. The first plan of operations adopted was to dig a canal across the neck of land made by a wide bend in the river at Vicksburg, with the hope that the Mississippi would take this new course and abandon the city. Two months were spent on this, yet a rise in the river ren- dered the labor unavailing, by overflowing all the surrounding space. Then strenuous efforts were made to transport the fleet and army be- low Vicksburg by way of the bayous and larger streams that bor- dered the river. Efforts of this kind were made both east and west of the river, but in both cases without success. The surrounding country meanwhile was so overflowed and marshy as to interfere greatly with land-operations. It was next determined to run the batteries with the fleet. The night of the i6th of April was fixed for this exploit. It was achieved with much greater success than had been expected. Several of the vessels were wrecked, but the great bulk of the fleet passed in safety. A land-force had been sent down west of the river, to meet the vessels. The next project was to attack the fortifications at Grand Gulf, fifty miles below. An assault by the fleet on this place proved futile. A land-force was then carried across the river, which attacked and carried Port Gib- son and defeated several detachments in the field. The successes thus gained rendered Grand Gulf untenable, and it was evacuated, and taken possession of by Grant's army. It was now early May. Three months had been spent in the oper- U. S. GRANT. Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 235 ations against Vicksburg, and it was still as far from capture as ever. Grant's whole army was now in the vicinity of Grand Gulf, and a new system of operations was adopted. Cutting loose from all lines of communication, he marched out into the open country, de- termined to subsist his army on the people, defeat all the defenders of Vicksburg in the field, and carry that place by assault from the rear. General J. E. Johnston commanded the Confederate forces in the field, and several engagements ensued, in all of which the Union army was successful. The city of Jackson was captured, ?nd Pemberton, who marched out from Vicksburg to co-operate with Johnston, was defeated and forced to retreat to his intrenchments. Grant rapidly pursued, and on the 19th of May took possession of the outer works of the Vicksburg lines, definitely shutting the enemy within his fortifications. The important post of Haines' Bluff was taken, and communication opened with the fleet. The campaign had lasted twenty days. In that time Grant had marched two hundred miles, beat«n two -armies in five successive battles, captured twenty-seven heavy cannon and sixty-one pieces of field-artillery, taken six thousand five hundred prisoners, and killed and wounded about six thousand men. He had forced the evacuation of Grand Gulf, seized Jackson, the State capital, de- stroyed thirty miles of railroad, and ended by investing the strong- hold of Vicksburg. Starting with two days' rations, he had subsisted his army on the country, and reached his goal with a loss in all of four thousand three hundred and thirty-five men. Taking it for granted that Pemberton's men were in no condition for an effective resistance, an assault was immediately made on the works, and another on the 22d, both of which were repulsed, the Union forces losing heavily. The works proving far too strong, and the approaches too difficult, for success by this method, siege- operations were determined on, and ground was broken on the 23d of May. Of the events which succeeded we select a description of the more interesting particulars from Badeau's " Military His- tory of Ulysses S. Grant."] Grant had now about forty thousand men for duty, and, on the 23d, orders were given for the axe and the shovel to support the bayonet. The hot season was at hand, the troops had already endured many hardships, they were almost altogether unprovided with siege-material: so that 3— IS 326 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau the difRculties before the national army were not only for- midable, but peculiar. The engineer organization was espe- cially defective : there were no engineer troops in the entire command, and only four engineer officers, while twenty would have found ample opportunity for all their skill. Sev- eral pioneer companies of volunteers were, however, used for engineering purposes, and, although raw at first, be- came effective before the close of the siege. There were no permanent depots of siege-material; spades and picks were kept at the steamboat-landing on the Yazoo, and in the camps near the trenches; gabions and fascines were made as they were needed, by the pioneer companies, or by details of troops from the line. Grant's artillery was simply that used during the campaign, with the addition of a battery of naval guns of larger calibre, loaned him by Admiral Porter. There was nothing like a siege-train in all the West, no light mortars, and very few siege-howit- zers nearer than Washington; and there was not time to send to Northern arsenals for supplies. With such ma- terial and means the siege of Vicksburg was begun. [Camps were made for the men, most of them within six hundred yards of the Confederate parapets. Stores were accumulated at the landing, and roads and covered ways opened from camp to camp.] The first ground was broken on the 23d of May, and batteries placed in the most advantageous positions to keep down the enemy's fire. Lines of parapet, rifle-trench, and covered way were then constructed to connect these batteries. The enemy seldom showed his guns, hardly attempting, indeed, to prevent the besiegers from getting their artillery into position; for the slightest exposure or demonstration on the part of the rebels excited the live- liest fire from the national batteries, and the advantage was always in favor of the latter, as they could bring to bear a much larger number of guns than the enemy. Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 237 This, and the remarkable activity and vigilance of Grant's sharp-shooters, in a great measure kept down the fire of the besieged. The enemy, however, was undoubtedly scant of ammunition, and anxious to husband what he had, for more efifective use at closer quarters. The connecting parapets, as well as all other available positions within rifle-range, were kept occupied by a line of sharp-shooters during daylight, and by trench-guards and advanced pickets after dark. Whenever an approach gave opportunity, loop-holes were formed, by piling sand- bags and pieces of square timber on the parapets, or logs and stumps when these were more convenient: the men were thus enabled to shelter themselves completely. This timber was rarely displaced by the enemy's fire; but, had the rebel artillery opened heavily, splinters must have become dangerous to the besiegers. The positions of the national sharp-shooters were generally quite as elevated as those occupied by the rebels; and the approaches, running along the hill-sides and up the slopes in front of the enemy's works, were lower than the besieged, so that the sappers and working parties could not be molested by the rebels without very great exposure on their own part to sharp-shooters of the attacking force. So effective was this system that by the end of the first fortnight nearly all the artillery of the enemy was either dismounted or with- drawn, and the rebels scarcely ever fired. [Pioneers and negroes did the greater part of the work, which was mainly left to men ignorant of siege-operations and obliged to depend on their native ingenuity. Yet the Yankee fertility of re- source stood the workers in good stead. Gabions and fascines were made of grapevine and split cane, and mortars for close service were made of wooden cylinders with iron bands shrunk on them. The parapets were made but six or eight feet thick, on account of the feeble nature of the enemy's fire, the embrasures being closed, when not firing, by plank shutters or movable timbers. The ground 338 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau was seared by ravines, rugged and difficult, but this condition aided the rapid advance of the works.] The aggregate length of the trenches was twelve miles. Eighty-nine batteries were constructed during the siege, the guns from those in the rear being moved forward as the siege advanced. The troops were moved on at the same time, and encamped in the rear of batteries, at the heads of ravines. On the 30th of June there were in position two hundred and twenty guns, mostly light field- pieces; one battery of heavy guns, on the right, was manned and ofEcered by the navy. . . . While the investment of Vicksburg was thus proceed- ing, the menacing attitude of Johnston had early attracted Grant's attention, and made it necessary to establish a strong corps of observation in the rear. . . .It was soon learned that Johnston had been joined by at least ten thousand fresh troops; and Grant was thus made reason- ably certain that the rebels would endeavor to raise the siege, attacking from the northeast, with all the men they could command. . . . On the 26th [of May] Grant sent a force of twelve thousand men, under Blair, to drive ofif a body of the enemy supposed to be collecting between the Big Black River and the Yazoo. This command was not expected to fight Johnston, but simply to act as a corps of observation, and to destroy all forage, stock, roads, and bridges as it returned. Blair moved along the Yazoo about forty-five miles, and effectually accomplished the purpose of his expedition, preventing Johnston from moving upon Vicksburg in that direction, and also from drawing sup- plies in the fertile region between the two rivers. He was absent nearly a week, and reconnoitred the whole region thoroughly. On the 31st Grant wrote, " It is now certain that John- ston has already collected a force from twenty thousand Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 239 to twenty-five thousand strong at Jackson and Canton, and is using every effort to increase it to forty thousand. With this he will undoubtedly attack Haines' Bluff and compel me to abandon the investment of the city, if not reinforced before he can get here." Admiral Porter was accordingly requested to direct a brigade of amphibious and useful troops at his disposal, known as the Marine Brigade, to debark at Haines' Bluff and hold the place until relieved by other forces. . . . On the 7th [of June] the enemy, nearly three thousand strong, attacked Milli- ken's Bend, which, however, was successfully defended by black and white troops under Brigadier-General Dennis, ably assisted by the gunboats Choctaw and Lexington. . . . On the 8th of June another division of troops, under Brigadier-General Sooy Smith, arrived from Memphis, and was ordered to Haines' Bluff, where Washburne was now placed in command. This place had again become of vital importance; for if the national forces should be compelled to raise the siege, and yet remain in possession of Haines' Bluff, with undisputed control of the Mississippi River, they could still concentrate resources for a new effort, either against the city itself or its means of supply. [This bluff lies on the Yazoo, northeast of Vicksburg. It is very- precipitous, and commands the approach to Vicksburg from the north. Below this river the bluffs border a broad alluvial space, cut by numerous streams, until they touch the Mississippi at Vicks- burg, twelve miles below. Johnston, as soon as he learned that Pemberton had been driven into Vicksburg and lost his hold on this commanding point, had ordered him to evacuate the city, as no longer tenable, and thus save his troops. Pemberton declined to do this, until the extension of Grant's lines from river to river around the city rendered it impossible. Haines' Bluff was now ordered to be strongly fortified and obstinately held. Reinforcements continued to arrive until Grant's force amounted to seventy-five thousand men.] On the 2 1 St of June, Grant received curious information 230 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau through the rebel pickets: the national works had now approached so close to those of the besieged that the two picket-lines were within hail of each other; and one of the rebels made an agreement with a national sentinel that they should lay down their arms and have a talk. The rebel declared that Grant's cannonading had killed and wounded a great many in the rifle-pits; that the be- sieged had fully expected another assault, and been pre- pared to meet it; but, as no assault was made, the troops had been canvassed by their officers, to see if they could not be got outside to attack the " Yankees." Not only was this declined, but many were ready to mutiny becaus_e their officers would not surrender. The men, however, were reassured, and told that provisions enough remained to last them seven days more: in that time two thousand boats would be built, and the besieged could escape by crossing the Mississippi River. The rebel finished by an- nouncing that houses in Vicksburg were now being torn down to get material for the boats. This singular story excited attention, and preparations were made to render abortive any such attempt at escape as had been described. Admiral Porter was warned, the pickets were redoubled at night, and material was collected to light up the river should a large number of boats at- tempt to cross. Batteries also were got ready behind the levee on the western bank; but the attempt was never made. [On the 22d information was received that Johnston was cross- ing the Big Black River, with the intention to march upon Grant. Sherman was sent out with a strong force to confront him.] A line of works was now constructed from the Yazoo to the Big Black River, quite as strong as those which de- fended Vicksburgf, so that the city was not only circum- vallated, but countervallated as well. In case of an attack, Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 231 Johnston would have been obliged to assault Grant's rear, under the same disadvantages that Grant himself had en- countered in attacking Vicksburg. Grant's position, how- ever, was at this time pecuHar, if not precarious. He was again between two large rebel armies: besieging one, he was himself threatened with a siege by the other; while, if both combined to assault him from dififerent sides, it seemed quite possible that the garrison of Vicksburg, that splendid prize for which he had been so long struggling, might even yet elude his grasp. He might be compelled to throw so much strength on his eastern front that the besieged could succeed in efifecting their escape by some opposite and comparatively unguarded avenue. To pre- vent this contingency was the object of unceasing vigi- lance. It would not do to go out after Johnston, lest the prey inside should evade the toils that had been spread so carefully; and yet, while Grant remained in his trenches enveloping the city, his own communications and base were threatened from outside. Haines' Bluff was once more an object of immense solicitude, and the Big Black had again become the line of defence; but this time it was a defence to national troops against the rebels; for Grant now, in part, faced east, and the men of the South were striving to fight their way to the Mississippi. [Johnston had written to Pemberton on May 29 that he was too weak to save him without co-operation on his part. On June 14 he wrote him, " By fighting the enemy simultaneously at the same points of his line, you may be extricated: our joint forces cannot raise the siege of Vicksburg."] The garrison, meanwhile, was suffering for supplies. Pemberton was particularly short of percussion-caps, and his scouts contrived, occasionally, to elude the pickets of Grant and transmit this information to Johnston. Sup- plies, in consequence, were sent as far as Grant's lines, but 332 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau were generally captured; in several instances, however, caps were successfully conveyed to the besieged, some- times two hundred thousand at a time, canteens full of caps being carried by rebel scouts in the national uniform and suddenly thrown across the picket-line. After the as- saults in May, the ammunition scattered in the trenches was collected by the rebels, and even the cartridge-boxes of the dead, in front of the works, were emptied. The meat-ration was reduced by Pemberton at first to one-half, but that of sugar, rice, and beans, at the same time, largely increased. Tobacco for chewing was im- pressed, and issued to the troops. After a while, all the cattle in Vicksburg was impressed, and the chief com- missary was instructed to sell only one ration a day to any officer. At last four ounces of rice and four of flour were issued for bread, — not half a ration. Still, on the loth of June, Pemberton sent word to Johnston, " I shall endeavor to hold out as long as we have anything to eat. Can you not send me a verbal message by carrier, crossing the river above or below Vicksburg, and swimming across again, opposite Vicksburg? I have heard nothing of you or from you since the 25th of May." In the same despatch he said, " Enemy bombard night and day from seven mor- tars. He also keeps up constant fire on our lines with artillery and musketry." On the iSth, "We are living on greatly-reduced rations, but I think sufficient for twenty days yet." . . . The price of food in the town had by this time risen enormously. Flour was five dollars a pound, or a thousand dollars a barrel (rebel money) ; meal was one hundred and forty dollars a bushel; molasses, ten and twelve dollars a gallon; and beef (very often oxen killed by the national shells and picked up by the butchers) was sold at two dol- lars and two dollars and a half by the pound. Mule-meat WILLIAM TECUMSBH SHERMAN. Badeau] the siege of VICKSBURG. 333 sold at a dollar a pound, and was in great demand. Many families of wealth had eaten the las't mouthful of food they possessed, and the poorer class of non-combatants was on the verge of starvation. There was scarcely a building that had not been struck by shells, and many were entirely demolished. A number of women and children had been killed or wounded by mortar-shells, or balls; and all who did not remain in the damp caves of the hill-sides were in danger. Even the hospitals where the wounded lay were sometimes struck, for it was found impossible to prevent occasional shells falling on the buildings, which of course would have been sacred from an intentional fire. Fodder was exhausted, and the horses were compelled to subsist wholly on corn-tops, the corn being all ground into meal for the soldiers. In the conversations that nightly occurred between the pickets, the rebels were al- ways threatened with starvation, even if another assault should fail. For the pickets of both armies were good- natured enough, and often sat down on the ground to- gether, bragging of their ability to whip each other. . . . Incidents like these rcHeved the tedium of the siege to those outside, and lessened some of its horrors for the rebels. A favorite place for the meetings was at a well attached to a house between the lines: hither, after dark, the men from both sides repaired, slipping outside their pickets in search of the delicious draught; for water was scarce, and at this point there was none other within a mile. The house was unoccupied, having been riddled with shot from both besiegers and besieged, and over the broken cistern the rebel and national soldiers held their tacit truce, a truce which neither ever violated. [Mining and countermining were now attempted. Grant fired a heavy mine on the 2Sth of June. It made a deep crater, into which the troops rushed. But the Confederates had suspected the inten- 334 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Badeau tion, and withdrawn to an inner line, and no important advantage was gained. On July i another mine was sprung. This blew up an entire redan, and injured the inner Confederate works. No assault, however, was made, the last having proved so ineffective.] A continuous siege, and a mighty battle imminent. A citadel surrounded by land and water. The bombardment almost incessant. The beleaguered garrison reduced to quarter rations ; living on mule-meat, and thinking it good fare. The population of the town hiding in caves to escape the storm of mortar-shells exploding in their streets. A squadron thundering at their gates, by night as well as by day. Mines trembHng beneath their feet. What rare news came from Johnston far from cheering; all hope indeed of succor quite cut ofif. Ammunition almost ex- pended. The lines of the besieger contracting daily; his ap- proaches getting closer, his sharp-shooters more accurate; his sap-rollers steadily rising over the hills that Vicksburg had proudly declared impassable. Every day some new battery opening from an unexpected quarter; every day the position detected from which to-morrow still another battery would surely begin its fire. To crown all, after a few more contractions of the coil, another mighty assault would bring the enemy immediately beneath the walls, when, covered by their works, and more numerous than the besieged, the assailants, in every human probability, would storm the town, and all the unutterable horrors to which fallen cities are exposed might come upon the de- voted fortress. . . . By the ist of July the approaches in many places had reached the enemy's ditch. At ten different points Grant could put the heads of regiments under cover, within dis- tances of from five to one hundred yards of the rebel works, and the men of the two armies conversed across the lines. The hand-to-hand character of the recent fighting showed Badeau] the siege OF VICKSBURG. 235 that little further progress could be made by digging alone, and Grant accordingly determined to make the final assault on the morning of the 6th of July. Orders were issued to prepare the heads of approaches for the easy debouche of troops, to widen the main approaches so that the men could move easily by fours, and to prepare planks and sand-bags filled with pressed cotton, for crossing ditches. Johnston was moving up at the same time. On the night of the 1st he encamped between Brownsville and the Big Black River, and on the 3d sent word to Pember- ton that about the 7th of the month an attempt to create a diversion would be made, to enable the garrison to cut its way out. This attack, however, was never made. The movement to Brownsville was the last operation under- taken for the relief or the defence of Vicksburg. [On the morning of July 3, Pemberton wrote to Grant, propos- ing an armistice, in order to arrange terms for the capitulation of the city. Grant replied that " the useless effusion of blood you pro- pose stopping by this course can be ended at any time you may choose, by the unconditional surrender of the city and garrison." After some further debate, in which Pemberton protested against the stringency of these terms, and desired that his men should be permitted to march out with their muskets and field-guns, he agreed to Grant's proposal, the latter promising to parole his prisoners. Ten o'clock on the morning of the 4th of July was fixed as the hour of the surrender. Sherman was directed to march against Johnston the moment the surrender should be consummated.] At ten o'clock of Saturday, the 4th of July, the anni- versary of American independence, the garrison of Vicks- burg marched out of the Hues it had defended so long, and stacked its arms in front of the conquerors. All along the rebel works they poured out, in gray, through the sally-ports and across the ditches, and laid down their colors, sometimes on the very spot where so many of the besiegers had laid down their lives; and then, in sight of 336 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne the national troops, who were standing on their own para- pets, the rebels returned inside the works, prisoners of war. Thirty-one thousand six hundred men were surren- dered to Grant. Among these were two thousand one hundred and fifty-three officers, of whom fifteen were gen- erals. One hundred and seventy-two cannon also fell into his hands, the largest capture of men and material ever made in war. [On the 8th of July, as soon as the news of the surrender of Vicksburg had reached the defenders of Port Hudson, that place surrendered to Banks, and the Mississippi, from its source to the sea, became once more a highway of the United States of America.] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN AND MISSIONARY RIDGE. Thomas B. Van Horne. [After the fall of Vicksburg the center of military operations was shifted to Chattanooga, which became the scene of the most peculiar and dramatically interesting conflict of the war. Before describing this " battle above the clouds," a review of the events succeeding the battle of Murfreesborough is necessary. After that conflict no active measures were taken for six months, Rosecrans awaiting the reduc- tion of Vicksburg. He moved at length, on the i6th of June, with an army of sixty thousand men. Bragg had forty-six thousand, who were strongly intrenched at TuUahoma and points in its vicinity, guarding the railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga. Rosecrans made a flank movement on this army, threatening to turn its right, upon which Bragg hastily abandoned his intrenchments and fell back to Bridgeport, Alabama. A nine days' march, over roads, ren- dered almost impassable by excessive rains, had gained this impor- tant advantage. Bragg continued his retreat to Chattanooga, de- stroying the railroad as he went. He lost six thousand men, mainly by desertion and straggling. Rosecrans followed, rebuilding the railroad as he advanced, and on August i6 began to cross the Cum- berland Mountains. Two other events of importance accompanied these. On June 27, John H. Morgan was sent North on a cavalry Van Horne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. ^^H raid. He crossed the Ohio into Indiana, rode through this State and Ohio, and circled around Cincinnati, doing great damage along his route. He was unable to recross the river, however, and was obliged to surrender, with his men, on July 26. The other event was the expedition of Burnside to East Tennessee. This general, then in command of the Department of the Ohio, with twenty thousand men, marched towards Knoxville on August 16. After a very difficult journey over the Cumberland Mountains, he reached Knoxville on September 9, and compelled it to surrender. This gave him control of East Tennessee, and completed the conquest of that State. Buckner, who was at Knoxville with ten thousand men, marched to reinforce Bragg. Before describing the subsequent events, the situation of Chatta- nooga needs to be outlined. At this point are several parallel ranges of the Appalachian mountain-system, with intermediate valleys, in one of which the town is situated, on the south bank of the Tennes- see River. Southwestwardly from the town run several ranges, known, from west to east, as Raccoon Mountain, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Pigeon Mountain, and Chickamauga Hills. The town lies in the mouth of the valley between Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The former is a lofty and rugged elevation, about two thousand four hundred feet high, ending abruptly near the town. Rosecrans again made a flank movement, crossing the ridges to the south of Chattanooga, and occupying the several valleys. On the 20th of August his left wing reached the north bank of the Tennes- see, from which he shelled Chattanooga on the 21st. Bragg, find- ing that his communications were threatened by the advance of Thomas and McCook into the mountain-gaps, abandoned Chatta- nooga on September 8, and moved southward. He had no inten- tion of definitely retreating, however. He had been heavily rein- forced, and concentrated his army at Lafayette, while the three corps of Rosecrans's army were widely separated by mountain-ridges. Had Bragg assumed the ofifensive when he first wished to, a serious Union disaster might have resulted. But he was delayed by the insubor- dination of his officers, and meanwhile Rosecrans, realizing the true situation, began to concentrate his army. Before this was fully accomplished Bragg fell upon him with his whole force. The ad- vance of a strong reinforcement, under Longstreet, reached him from Virginia on the i8th. On the morning of the 19th the two 338 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Hoene armies stood face to face, and the battle of Chickamauga began with a vigorous Confederate assault. The battle continued during the day, and ended indecisively, neither side having lost ground. Dur- ing the night the remainder of Longstreet's men came up. The assault was renewed on the morning of the 20th, Rosecrans having in the mean time covered his front with breastworks. It con- tinued till mid-day without decisive result. Shortly afterwards, how- ever, by an unfortunate misapprehension of orders, a gap was opened in the Union lines, of which the Confederates took instant advantage, pushing into the opening and rolling back the broken flanks. The charge was urged by Longstreet's men with such fierce energy that the error could not be rectified. The centre and right were broken and dispersed, and driven back in rout towards Chattanooga. A terrible defeat would have supervened but for the gallant behavior of the left wing, under Thomas. Sheridan managed to join him with a portion of his division, and with less than half the original army he held his ground unflinchingly against the whole Confederate force until darkness put a close to the contest, — after which he re- tired in good order to Rossville. On the 2ist he offered battle again, and that night withdrew into the defences of Chattanooga. Bragg had won a victory, but had not recovered the town. His loss was about eighteen thousand men. Rosecrans lost about sixteen thous- and three hundred and fifty men, and fifty-one guns. On the 24th, Bragg advanced on Chattanooga, expecting to take it easily. He found it too strongly defended, however, for any hope of success in an assault, and during a considerable period no further hostilities occurred. The most vigorous preparations were now made for the attack and defence of this important post, which had become the centre of operations for the Western armies. Bragg began a siege of the town that threatened to reduce it by starvation. He seized the passes of Lookout Mountain, destroyed the railroad-bridge at Bridgeport, and thus broke the railroad-communication with Nash- ville. The supply-trains of Rosecrans's army were obliged to make their way over a difficult ridge by steep and rough roads, since Bragg commanded all the low grounds along the Tennessee. In October heavy rains fell. The roads became almost impassable. The Confederate cavalry attacked the trains. In one day they de- stroyed three hundred wagons and killed or captured eighteen hundred mules. As one soldier said, " The mud was so deep that Van Horne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 239 we could not travel by the road, but we got along pretty well by stepping from mule to mule as they lay dead by the way." Starva- tion threatened the camp. The army must be relieved or must retreat, and a retreat might have ended in a great disaster. Vigorous measures were now taken. Grant was made com- mander of the Western armies. He had about eighty thousand men, in addition to Burnside's force; Bragg, about sjxty thousand. Sherman was directed to march from Vicksburg to Chattanooga, his troops being first transported by steamboat to Memphis. He left Memphis on October 2, repairing the railroads as he went. It was also determined to reinforce Rosecrans from the Army of the Potomac, and two corps, numbering twenty-three thousand men, under Hooker, were transported, with their artillery, baggage, and animals, from the Rapidan in Virginia to Stevenson in Alabama, a distance of eleven hundred and ninety-two miles, in seven days; an unprecedented performance. Grant telegraphed to Thomas, then in command at Chattanooga, to hold the place at all hazards. " I will do so till we starve,'' was the answer. Grant reached the town on October 21, and found that all the heights surrounding it were in the hands of the enemy, who con- trolled both the river and the railroad. Ten thousand animals had perished by famine. The roads must be opened, or the army must retreat, and that meant destruction, as they would have had to march without supplies. Within a few days, however, the state of afifairs remarkably changed. A secret expedition drove the enemy from the range of hills which commanded the river road. Immediately afterwards Hooker reached the same point and strongly guarded it. Good roads for supplies were now secured, and the problem of hold- ing Chattanooga was solved. Bragg had lost his advantage by a surprise. He sought to recover it by a night assault on Geary's command at Wauhatchie, but was repulsed with great loss. A new Confederate scheme was now devised, which fatally weak- ened Bragg's army. Longstreet was sent with fifteen thousand men to attack Burnside at Knoxville. Sherman's men arrived late in November, and an assault on Bragg's position was arranged for the 24th. Meanwhile, Bragg was so confident of the strength of his position that he sent a division to reinforce Longstreet. A second division had started, but was recalled when Grant's attack began. From Van Home's "Army of the Cumberland " we select a descrip- tion of the remarkable action that succeeded.] 340 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne The Confederate leaders and the army commanders were sanguine of the success of the siege of Chattanooga up to the very moment of its failure. General Bragg had, for a time, just ground for sanguine expectations, as the elements were his allies. At the time of greatest promise, the oracular Confederate President appeared on Lookout Mountain, and from " Pulpit Rock," as he looked down exultingly upon the beleaguered army, predicted its total ruin. But the loss of Lookout Valley, the river, and the direct roads to Bridgeport virtually threw Bragg upon the defensive. It is true that he maintained his lines on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and through the intervening valley, in semblance of besieging effort, until the army with which he had so often battled leaped from its intrenchments and hurled him and his oft-defeated army from their lofty battlements. But he made no movement of actual offence against Chattanooga during the time the Army of the Cumberland was preparing to assume the boldest aggression. . . . The town is surrounded with almost all the types of the grand and beautiful in nature. Mountains far and near, rising from water and plain, sharply defined by low valleys and the river curving at their feet; subordinate hills with rounded summits and undulating slopes, and broad plains delicately pencilled here and there by wind- ing creeks and rivulets, are the prominent features of na- ture's amphitheatre, in the centre of which is Chattanooga. Looking to the southwest. Lookout Mountain, with bold front and craggy crest, is seen rising abruptly from the river and the valleys on either side ; to the west. Raccoon Mountain appears, trending from its river-front far to the southwest, parallel with Lookout ; to the north, Waldron's Ridge forms the sky-line far to right and left ; to the east. Missionary Ridge, with indented summit, more humbly Van Horne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 341 takes position, hiding the lofty ranges far beyond; to the south, the east, and to the northeast, stretches the plain where the armies were marshalled for the assault of Bragg's army on Missionary Ridge ; and to the south- west, twice across the river, lies the valley from which Hooker crept slyly up the mountain-steeps, covered with trees and shrubs, standing and fallen, and with huge fragments of stone, which during the ages have dropped from the ledges overhanging the crest, to give battle on a field suited to the stealthy belligerence of the Indian, but adverse in every phase to the repetition of all the prece- dents of modern warfare. But this battle-field defies de- scription, and he who would fully appreciate either battle or field must read the story of the one as he looks down from Lookout Mountain upon the magnificence of the other. [On November 7, Grant had ordered General Thomas to attack the north end of Missionary Ridge, but this order was recalled, as the army was not ready for battle. Later in the month Sherman reached the town, and on the 23d an assault was made on Orchard Knob, an isolated hill between the town and the ridge. This move- ment was intended as a reconnoissance, but unexpectedly the hill was carried and a highly-important advantage gained. On the 24th, General Hooker, who was in position for an assault upon Look- out Mountain, moved upon this seemingly impregnable height.] On the front of Lookout Mountain, intermediate be- tween base and summit, there is a wide open space, culti- vated as a farm, in vivid contrast with the natural sur- roundings of wildest types The farm-house, known as Craven's- or "the white house," was situated upon the upper margin of the farm. From the house to the founda- tion of the perpendicular clifif or palisade which crops out from the rock-ribbed frame of the mountain, the ascent is exceedingly steep and thickly wooded. Below the farm 3—16 242 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne the surface is rough and craggy. The base of the moun- tain, next the river, has a perpendicular front of solid rock, rising grandly from the railroad-track, which, though in part cut through the deep ledges, does not perceptibly mar nature's magnificent architecture. Over the top of this foundation-front the narrow road passes, which in the western valley throws off various branches, leading west and south. East and west from Craven's farm the surface is broken by furrows and covered with shrubs, trees, and fragments of stone. On the open space the enemy had constructed his defences, consisting of intrenchments, pits, and redoubts, which, extending" over the front of the mountain, bade defiance to a foe advancing from the river. At the extremities of the main intrenchments there were rifle-pits, epaulements for batteries, barricades of stone and abatis, looking to resistance against aggression from Chattanooga or Lookout Valley. The road from Chat- tanooga to Summertown, an elegant village for summer resort, winding up the eastern side of the mountain, is the only one practicable for ordinary military movements within a range of many miles. So that, except by this road, there could be no transfer of troops from the sum- mit to the northern slope, or to the valley, east or west, to meet the emergencies of battle, and this road was too long to allow provision from the top for sudden contin- gencies below. At 8 A. M. Geary crossed the creek, captured the pickets of the enemy, and then crept up the mountain-side until his right, which was his front in the ascent, touched the base of the palisaded summit. The fog which overhung the mountain-top and upper steeps, and the dense woods, concealed the movement. Then, with his right clinging to the palisades, he swept round towards the mountain's front. Simultaneously with Geary's first movement Grose Van Hornk] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 243 attacked the enemy at the bridge, and, having driven him back, commenced its repair. The noise of this conflict called the enemy's nearest forces from their camps. They formed in front of their intrenchments and rifle-pits; and one detachment advanced to the railroad-embankment, which formed a good parapet and admitted a sweeping fire upon the national troops advancing from the bridge. To avoid the loss of hfe inevitable in a direct advance, General Hooker directed Osterhaus, now commanding his division, to send a brigade to prepare a crossing a half mile farther up the creek, under cover of the woods. A portion of Grose's brigade having been left at the bridge to attract the attention of the enemy, the remainder fol- lowed Woods' brigade to assist in the construction of the bridge. In the mean time, additional artillery had been posted, which, with the batteries first planted on the hills west of the creek, enfiladed all the proximate positions of the enemy. A section of twenty-pounder Parrotts had also the range of the enemy's camp on the mountain-side; and on Moccasin Point, Brannan's guns were in position to open a direct fire upon the front of the mountain. At II A. M. Woods completed the bridge, and soon after Geary's division and Whittaker's brigade, in line, sweeping the mountain from base to palisade, came abreast. The batteries then opened fire, and Woods and Grose crossed the creek and aligned their troops on Geary's left as it swept down the valley. The troops of the enemy, in the first positions, that escaped the artillery fire, ran into the infantry lines, so that quick overthrow occurred to all the troops that had taken position in the valley and near the western base of the mountain. Many were killed, more were wounded, and the remainder were captured, and then the line moved onward towards the mountain's front. The booming of the heavy guns, with interludes of light 344 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Hoene artillery and musketry fire, announced to friend and foe in the distant lines that an action was in progress where battle had not been expected. Quietness reigning through- out the other hills and valleys compassed by the long lines of the contending armies, the contest on the mountain-side, revealed by its noise, but as yet hidden from sight, com- manded the profoundest attention and interest of far more than one hundred thousand men. Those not held by duty or the constraint of orders, in crowds sought the elevated lookouts, and, with glasses and strained vision, turned their gaze to the woods, fog, and battle-smoke which concealed the anomalous contest. As the increasing roar of mus- ketry indicated the sweep of the battle to the east, the anxiety for its revelation on the open ground became in- tense. Soon through the clefts of the fog could be seen the routed enemy in rapid motion, followed by Hooker's line, with its right under the palisade" and its continuity lost to view far down the mountain. Whittaker held the right, under the clififs, and below were the brigades of Cobharn, Ireland, and Creighton; and this line hurled the enemy from position after position, climbing over crags and boulders for attack and pursuit, and reached at noon the point where orders required a halt for readjustment of lines and a more cautious approach towards the Summer- town road. But as on the following day, in the assault made by other portions of the Army of the Cumberland, the restraint of orders did not arrest the pursuit of the flying foe, so now these victorious troops swept on. With a plunging fire from above and behind they rolled up the enemy's line, and, lifting it from its intrenchments, made no halt until the middle of the open ground was gained. Here the enemy met reinforcements and made a more de- termined stand. Soon, however, Grose's brigade of Cruft's division, and Osterhaus' command, having gathered up the Van Horne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 245 captured on the lower ground, closed on the left, and then the enemy was driven from all his defences on the open ground, and with broken ranks retreated down the eastern descent of the mountain. The heavy Parrotts and the Tenth and Eighteenth Ohio batteries, under Captain Naylor, on Moccasin Point, ren- dered important aid to the assaulting forces, by prevent- ing the concentration of the enemy's troops. But the potent cause of the victory was the fact that brave men reached the flank and rear of the enemy's defences. The heavy fighting ceased at 2 p. m. General Hooker's troops had exhausted their ammunition, and it could not be supplied in the ordinary way, as no trains could reach them. Besides this want of ammunition, as a bar to fur- ther fighting, the fog which had overhung the mountain during the day settled down densely over the enemy. But for these obstacles, and the fact that the enemy could now concentrate heavily to prevent the insulation of his troops on the mountain-top, an effort would have been made to seize the Summertown road. Hooker, therefore, waited for ammunition and reinforcements. At 5 p. m. Carlin's brigade of the First Division of the Fourteenth Corps crossed the Chattanooga Creek, near its mouth, and as- cended the mountain to Hooker's right. The troops of this brigade carried on their persons ammunition for Hooker's skirmishers, in addition to the ordinary supply for themselves. Severe skirmishing was then maintained until nearly midnight. [On the 24th, General Sherman occupied the two northernmost summits of Missionary Ridge, which had been abandoned by the enemy. Between this point and Bragg's lines was a deep depression, which must be crossed before the Confederate lines could be reached. The battle of the 25th began early in the day, but, though persistent fighting continued till nearly evening, no important progress was II 39* 246 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne made. General Hooker had been directed, early in the day, to move against Bragg's left, across the valley between the two ridges. General Thomas, who had been held to move in co-oper- ation with Sherman, was ordered to make an independent attack upon the enemy's centre. Four divisions were in line, in readiness for this assault, but night was near at hand when the order came.] Between 3 and 4 p. m. six successive cannon-shots from the battery on Orchard Knob gave the signal for the ad- vance. General Grant's order required that the enemy should be dislodged from the rifle-pits and intrenchments at the base of Missionary Ridge. The statement is made in his official report that it was his design that the lines should be readjusted at the base for the assault of the summit; but no such instructions were given to corps or division generals. Neither does it appear from his report whether he meditated an independent assault of the sum- mit from his centre, or one co-operative with Sherman on the left, or Hooker on the right, as the original plan pre- scribed for the former or as the issues of the day suggested for the latter. As soon as the magnificent lines moved forward, the batteries of the enemy on the ridge opened upon them with great activity. General Brannan's large guns in Fort Wood, Fort Cheatham, Battery Rousseau, and Fort Sheri- dan, and four light batteries on the intermediate hills, which had not been silent hitherto, gave emphatic response. Their fire was first directed to the enemy's inferior in- trenchments, and when this endangered the advancing lines their missiles were thrown upon the summit. This change of direction was soon necessary, as, leaping for- ward at the signal, the eager, troops in rapid movement first met the enemy's pickets and their reserves, then his troops occupying the intervening woods, and finally his stronger line in his lower intrenchments, and drove all in Van Hokne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 347 confusion to the crest of the ridge. In vain, had General Bragg made effort to strengthen his lower hne. The ad- vance of the national troops had been so rapid, and their movement had expressed such purpose and power, that the very forces that had so often repeated their furious assaults at Chickamauga lost courage and made no sol- dierly effort to maintain their position, though supported by at least fifty guns, which, at short range, were fast decimating the assaulting columns. Having executed their orders to the utmost requirement, holding the enemy's lower defences, the four divisions stood under his batteries, while the troops they had routed threw themselves behind the stronger intrenchments on the summit. General Bragg's right flank had not been turned, as first proposed, and General Hooker's attack on his left, though successful, was too remote to affect imme- diately the central contest. To stand still was death; to fall back was not compassed by orders, and was forbidden by every impulse of the brave men who, with no strag- glers to mar the symmetry of their line or make scarcely a single exception to universal gallantry, had moved so boldly and so successfully upon the foe. There are occa- sional moments in battle when brave men do not need commanders, and this was one. The enemy held a position of wonderful strength several hundred feet above them. He had two lines in one behind earthworks, where nature had provided a fortress. These men, however, did not stop to consider the enemy's position or strength, but, from a common impulse of patriotism and the inspiration of partial success, leaped forward and dashed up the hill. The color-bearers sprang to the front, and as one fell an- other bore the flag aloft and onward, followed by their gallant comrades, not in line, but in such masses as enabled them to avail themselves of easier ascent or partial cover. 248 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne They advanced without firing, though receiving a most destructive fire of artillery and musketry, from base to summit. The ofificers of all grades caught the spirit of the men, and so eager were men and officers throughout the line that the crest was reached and carried at six dif- ferent points almost at the same moment. The enemy was hurled from position with wonderful quickness; his artillery was captured, and in some cases turned against him as he fled. General Hooker soon swept northward from Rossville, and then the Army of the Cumberland held Missionary Ridge the whole length of its front. Gen- eral Hardee's forces, opposite General Sherman, alone maintained position. To this general result each of the four central divisions and those with General Hooker contributed, in co-ordina- tion and harmony unprecedented in an improvised attack. Each one was successful, though each was not equally prominent in success. From General Bragg's declaration that his line was first pierced on his right, — that is, to the north of the house which he occupied as his head-quarters, — and from the observation of those occupying elevated positions, there is no room to doubt that General Woods' division first reached the summit. Sheridan's and Baird's, on the right and left, almost simultaneously gained the crest. General Woods* troops enfiladed the enemy's line to the right and left as soon as they broke through it, and the other divisions pressed against other points so quickly that General Bragg's effort to dislodge the troops who first gained his intrenchments, by sending General Bate to the right, miscarried at its very inception. After portions of the several divisions had gained the crest, many isolated contests were conducted with spirit by the enemy, but the fragments of his line were speedily brushed away. The impulse to carry the summit of the ridge was seem- ROBERT E. LEE. Van Horne] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 249 ingly spontaneous, though not entirely simuhaneous, throughout the four divisions, and from different points several brigades passed beyond the limit fixed by General Grant's order before there was any concerted action to- wards a general assault. The division commanders did not arrest their troops, and for a time the corps generals did not give official sanction to their advance. The impression, indeed, so far prevailed that the movement would not be authorized, that Turchin's brigade, on the right of Baird's division, was halted when far up the ascent, and Wagner's brigade, on the left of Sheridan's division, was recalled from an advanced position by a staff-officer who was re- turning to General Sheridan from General Granger with the information that General Grant's order required only that the enemy's intrenched line at the base of the ridge should be carried. Soon, however, it was apparent to all that the eagerness of the troops had created a necessity superior to the limitations of orders, and this conviction gave unity and energy to an assault whose transcendent issue justified its otherwise unauthorized execution. To prevent defeat, Generals Bragg, Hardee, Breckin- ridge, and others of inferior rank exerted themselves tc the utmost. General Bragg, in the centre, was nearly sur- rounded before he entirely despaired and abandoned the field. General Breckinridge resisted General Hooker as he ascended the ridge at Rossville, availing himself of the fortifications which had been constructed by the national army after the battle of Chickamauga. His first resist- ance was quickly overcome by the Ninth and Thirty-Sixth Regiments of Grose's brigade. General Cruft's division was then formed in four lines on the summit, and, with the lateral divisions abreast, moved rapidly forward, driv- ing the enemy in turn from several positions. Many of his troops, that fled east or west, were captured by 250 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Van Horne Osterhaus or Geary, and those who tried to escape north- ward fell into Johnson's hands. As soon as General Har- dee heard the noise of battle to his left, he hastened to join his troops under General Anderson, on the right of their central Hne. But before he could cross the chasm corresponding to the interval between General Sherman's right and General Thomas' left, Anderson's command was thrown into a confused retreat. He then hurried Cheat- ham's division from the vicinity of the tunnel, and formed it across the summit to resist Baird's division, which had advanced northward, after carrying its entire front, in the assault. In a severe contest, in which Colonel Phelps, a brigade commander, fell. General Baird pressed this fresh division northward from several knolls, but was finally compelled to abandon the conflict by the peculiar strength of a new position and the approach of darkness. The victory was gained too late in the day for a general pursuit. General Sheridan's division and Willich's brigade of General Woods' division pursued the enemy for a short distance down the eastern slope. Later, General Sheridan advanced and drove the enemy from a strong position, captured two pieces of artillery, numerous small-arms, and several wagons from a supply-train. During the night General Hardee withdrew his forces from the position which he had persistently held against General Sherman. [Pursuit was made early the next day, and an engagement took place at Ringgold, with skirmishes at other points. General Sher- man was sent on a rapid march to Knoxville, to relieve Burnside, whose army was in great danger. This important duty was suc- cessfully performed, and Longstreet, who had been besieging Knoxville, withdrew to Virginia.] The ofificial reports of the commanders-in-chief of the two armies do not give their strength. It is probable that De Paris] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 251 General Grant had sixty thousand men in action, and Gen- eral Bragg forty thousand. The former had thirteen divi- sions, including two detached brigades, and the latter had eight, witli perhaps a corresponding diminution. General Bragg's loss in killed and wounded is not known. He lost by capture six thousand one hundred and forty-two men, forty-two guns, sixty-nine gun-carriages, and seven thousand stand of small-arms. His loss in material was immense, part of which he destroyed in his flight, but a large fraction, which was uninjured, fell to the national army. The aggregate losses of the Armies of the Cumberland and Tennessee were seven hundred and fifty-seven killed, four thousand five hundred and twenty-nine wounded, and three hundred and thirty missing. These losses were small compared with those of other battles of similar pro- portions, and exceedingly small in view of the fact that the enemy generally resisted behind intrenchments. PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. CoMTE DE Paris. [The stirring and important events which marked the prosecution of the war in the West during the year 18^3 were matched by equally important ones in the East. Three great battles were fought, one in the closing days of 1862, and the others in the following year, of which the last, that of Gettysburg, was in certain respects the great- est battle of the war, and has been generally accepted as the turn- ing-point, from which the fortunes of the Confederacy began to flow rapidly downward. We select, therefore, a detailed description of the closing scene of this great conflict, preceding our selection with a review of the events that succeeded the battle of Antietam. It was on September 19 that Lee crossed the Potomac and retired into Virginia, after that battle. November arrived ere McClellan was ready to follow him. Meanwhile, the impatience of the authori- 352 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [DePams ties at McClellan's lack of activity had grown extreme, and on the 7th of November he was removed, and the command of the army given to General Burnside. The events that succeeded gave no encouraging warrant for this change of commanders. Feeling that he must do something at once to satisfy the government and the country, Burnside moved upon Fredericksburg, with the intention of occupying that town. His pontoon-bridges, however, were not ready, and he delayed crossing the Rappahannock so long while waiting for them that Lee had time to seize and fortify the heights back of the town and move his whole army to that situation. It was the night of December lo before the crossing was attempted. Two bridges were laid, in front of and below the town. The march over the first proved difficult and sanguinary, on account of sharp- shooters concealed in the houses of the town. But during the day a crossing was effected at both points, and the army massed for an assault on the heights, which were strongly fortified, and guarded by an army of eighty thousand men. The assault took place on the morning of the 13th, and was re- pulsed at every point with dreadful slaughter. The principal attack was made from the town, on the difficult position of Marye's Heights. It proved a murderous and futile effort, the assailants being mowed down in myriads and forced to retire in complete discomfiture. Charge after charge was made, but all with the same lesult. The Union losses during that fatal day are given by Draper at thirteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-one; those of the Confederates at five thousand three hundred and nine. Burnside intended to re- new the struggle the next morning, but his leading officers were so strongly opposed to this that he withdrew the order, and on the night of the isth evacuated the town and recrossed the! river. Another movement was essayed by Burnside early in 1863. It was intended to cross the river at a point beyond the range of the Confederate works; but an unlooked-for thaw reduced the roads to quagmires, through which it proved impossible to move the trains and artillery, and the expedition had to be abandoned. Shortly afterwards Gen- eral Hooker was appointed to replace Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac. With the opening spring Hooker attempted a flank movement on the Confederates, which resulted as disastrously as had Burn- side's direct assault. He divided his army, leaving the left wing, under Sedgwick, to threaten Fredericksburg, while the main body DePakis] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 353 of the army crossed the river some distance above the city, and marched into a wild district known as Chancellorsville, a country overgrown with a wilderness of thicket. Lee's army was consider- ably outnumbered, but he managed his forces with such skill as to defeat and almost disorganize his confident opponents. Leaving a small force to guard the heights at Fredericksburg, he marched towards Chancellorsville on the 29th of April. On the ist of May, Hooker ordered an advance towards Fredericksburg. A flank at- tack was arranged by Lee, which proved remarkably successful. Jackson led the flanking column through the difficult country known as the Wilderness, and late on May 2 he made so sudden and furious a charge on Hooker's right that it was broken and driven back in confusion. Jackson was mortally wounded in this assault, — a serious loss to the Confederate army. On the 3d the battle recommenced, and Hooker was severely pressed at all points. Meanwhile^ Sedgwick had crossed at Fred- ericksburg, taken Marye's Heights, and was marching to join Hooker. Lee sent a strong force to meet him, and drove him back to the river, which Sedgwick recrossed on the night of May 4. This repulse ended the conflict. Hooker felt it necessary to retreat, and on the night of May 5, during a severe storm of wind and rain, the pontoons were laid and the whole army marched back to the north- ern side of the Rappahannock. The losses were heavy on both sides, though the Union forces suflfered the most severely. With this bat- tle ended the offensive efforts of the Army of the Potomac for that period. Its skilful antagonist immediately afterwards assumed the offensive, and threw his opponents into an attitude of defence, in which they much better proved their ability to cope with him. Suddenly breaking camp, Lee began a rapid march northward, handling his troops so skilfully as to leave his antagonist in great doubt as to his intentions. Hooker moved north, disposing his army to cover Washington, and endeavoring to penetrate the designs of the force that was concealed behind the Blue Ridge. Ewell, in the advance, marched hastily up the Valley, and surprised General Mil- roy at Winchester, defeating him, and capturing the bulk of his army, artillery, and trains. Lee's whole army was across the Poto- mac before his purpose was divined. He crossed at Shepherdstown on the 24th of June, and advanced with all speed into Pennsylvania, massing his army at Chambersburg on June 27. Ewell had occupied this place several days before. An advance on Harrisburg seemed 354 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [De Paris contemplated, and part of the army reached and occupied York, but information that the Union army was rapidly approaching necessi- tated a change of plan, and a movement of concentration upon Gettysburg began. Lee's cavalry, under Stuart, had meanwhile moved so far to the eastward as to be intercepted by the Union advance, and their services were lost during the subsequent events. Meanwhile, Hooker had discovered the purpose of the enemy, and began a march north which was prosecuted with the utmost speed. A general alarm pervaded the North, and the militia were called out in all directions. Yet the only safe reliance lay in the Army of the Potomac, which was making a strenuous effort to meet and check its opponent. On the 28th of June, Hooker, dissatisfied with the orders from Halleck at Washington, offered his resignation, and was replaced by General Meade, an officer previously known as an able and efficient corps-commander. He continued the rapid march northward, his advance reaching Gettysburg on July i. The advance, consisting of Buford's cavalry, numbering about four thousand men, first came into collision with the enemy, about a mile beyond the town. Dismounted, and acting as infantry, these %ien held their ground with great pertinacity against the steadily- increasing Confederate force. Reynolds, who led the Union ad- vance, pushed forward his division to the support of Buford, and a hot battle ensued. Reynolds was killed, and after several hours of battle the Union line was forced to give way before the superior numbers and the impetuous charges of their foe. The conflict ended in a retreat to Cemetery Ridge, a range of low hills extending west- erly and southerly from the'town, and ending in a prominent and rugged elevation called Round Top. Meade, whose army was now rapidly coming up, decided to make this ridge his defensive posi- tion; while Lee's army, as it arrived, was stationed on the less ele- vated Seminary Ridge, somewhat over a mile distant from the ground occupied by the Union army. In this struggle for positions Meade had gained the advantage, having much the stronger ground. Lee's advance was definitely checked. He must either retreat, or brush away the army in front of him and uncover the North by its defeat. He decided on attempting the latter. On the 2d of July an assault in force took place, Ewell moving against Meade's right and Longstreet against his left wing. The first movement proved of secondary interest, the main conflict of the day being that be- tween Longstreet's and Sickles's corps. De Paris] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 255 Apparently by a misconception of Meade's instructions, Sickles had advanced his corps beyond the line of Cemetery Ridge, which at this point was quite low, and occupied the high ground along which runs the Emmettsburg road, some four or five hundred yards in advance. Though this position was in certain respects advantageous, it had the important defect that the left flank was exposed, and had to be bent back at an angle through low ground towards Round Top. This angle occupied a peach orchard, which became the main point of the Confederate attack. It was late in the day when the Confederate force under Long- street advanced to the assault. His right, under Hood, fell upon that portion of Sickles's corps between the peach orchard and Round Top. A gap had been left between the left flank and this elevation, and through this opening the right of Hood's line thrust itself un- perceived, and advanced on Little Round Top, a rocky spur of the loftier hill above named. This movement placed Meade's army in great jeopardy. Little Round Top was at that moment quite un- occupied, and if captured by the Confederates the entire Union line would have been taken in reverse. Fortunately, General Warren discovered the critical situation of affairs in time to avert the danger. He hurried a brigade to the summit, brought a battery to the same point, and was just in time to repulse Hood's Texans, who were ad- vancing eagerly to seize the hill. A desperate struggle ensued, the bayonet being used when the ammunition was exhausted. The position was secured, but not without much loss of life. The heaviest pressure of the Confederate attack fell upon the salient angle in Sickles's line at the peach orchard. This position was stubbornly defended, but was at length carried by the impetuous assaults of Longstreet's men. Its capture quickly exposed the faulty character of the Union line. The enemy had burst through its cen- tral key-point, and was at liberty to assail the disrupted forces to right and left. One of the most desperate conflicts of the war ensued. The exposed lines were gradually withdrawn, while other brigades and divisions were hurried to the front, and a confused suc- cession of advances and retreats took place, in which many valuable officers lost their lives, and the ground was strewn with multitudes of the dead and dying. 'General Sickles himself was severely wounded, losing a leg. Finally the Union line reached the position it had been originally intended to occupy, along the crest of Ceme- tery Ridge. The efforts of the enemy to break the line continued. 356 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [De Paris but they had lost so heavily during their advance, and were so ex- hausted by their efforts, that their final sallies were easily repelled. Though Longstreet's success had been considerable, it was in no sense decisive. No point of Cemetery Ridge had been taken. About dusk Hancock ordered a counter-charge, before which the enemy easily yielded. On the left six regiments of the Pennsylvania Re- serves, led by General Crawford, advanced on the enemy in front of Little Round Top, drove them from a stone wall which they had occu- pied, and to the woods beyond the wheat-field in front. During the night the opposite margins of this field were held by the combatants. Ewell's attack on the Union right had been somewhat more suc- cessful. Johnson's division had gained a foothold within the Union lines which it held during the night. It was intended by Lee to make this position, in the next day's battle, the basis of an assault in force on the right wing of the Union army, while the left should be simultaneously assailed. But this project was seriously deranged by Meade's promptness of action. Early on the morning of the 3d a strong attack was made on Johnson before reinforcements could reach him, and he was driven out of the works he had occu- pied. The Union lines at that point were re-formed. Lee's plan of action was now changed, and an assault ordered against the Union centre. Pickett's division of Virginians was se- lected to make this desperate charge, one destined to become famous in the annals of war. In preparation for the assault the great bulk of the Confederate artillery was massed in front of the selected point of attack, and the most terrible artillery-fire of the whole war opened upon the L^nion intrenchments. Meade had massed a smaller number of guns to reply. The story of the grand charge that succeeded, and of its disastrous repulse, we give in the words of the Comte de Paris, from the translated edition of his " History of the Civil War in America," publisked by Messrs. Porter & Coates, of Philadelphia.] It is now the hottest time of day; a strange silence reigns over the battle-field, causing the Federal soldiers, worn out with fatigue, to look upon the impending gen- eral attack, which they have anticipated since early dawn, as extremely long in coming. . '. . Longstreet learns at last that everything is ready; his orders are awaited to open the fire which is to precede the assault. . . . Much De Paris] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 25'^' time has been lost, for it is already one o'clock in the after- noon. Two cannon-shots fired on the right by the Wash- ington Artillery at intervals of one minute suddenly break the silence which was prevailing over the battle-field. It means, " Be on your guard! " which is well understood by both armies. The solitary smoke of these shots has not yet been dispersed when the whole Confederate line is one blaze. . . . One hundred and thirty-eight pieces of cannon obey Longstreet's signal. The Federals are not at all sur- prised at this abrupt prelude: they have had time to re- cover from the shock of the previous day, and have made good use of it. . . . [They] have eighty pieces of artillery to reply to the enemy. In conformity with Hunt's orders, they wait a quarter of an hour before replying, in order to take a survey of the batteries upon which they will have to concentrate their fire. They occupy positions affording better shelter than those of the Confederates, but the formation of their line gives the latter the advan- tage of a concentric fire. More than two hundred guns are thus engaged in this artillery combat, the most terrible the New World has ever witnessed. The Confederates fire volleys from all the batteries at once, whose shots, directed towards the same point, produce more effect than successive firing. On the previous day their projectiles passed over the enemy; they have rectified the elevation of their pieces, and readily obtain a precision of aim unusual to them. The plateau occupied by the Federals forms a slight de- pression of the ground in the centre, which hides their movements, but affords them no protection from the enemy's fire; the shells burst in the midst of the reserve batteries, supply-trains, and ambulances; the houses are tottering and tumbling down; the head-quarters of Gen- eral Meade are riddled with balls, and Butterfield, his 3—17 258 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [De Paris chief of staff, is slightly wounded. In every direction may be seen men seeking shelter behind the slightest ele- vations of the ground. Nothing is heard but the roar of cannon and the whistling of projectiles that are piercing the air. A still larger crowd of stragglers, wounded, and non-combatants than that of the day before is again mak- ing for the Baltimore turnpike with rapid haste. [This murderous fire causes considerable loss on both sides. Kem- per's (Confederate) brigade in a few minutes loses more than two hundred men. The Confederate ammunition is running short, while the hope to silence the Federal guns has as yet proved unfounded. But at length the Federals cease firing, and Pickett makes ready for the desperate charge to which this hot artillery duel is preliminary.] He is informed — what he might have found out for him- self in spite of the roaring of the Confederate cannon — that the enemy's guns scarcely make any reply. The Fed- eral artillery appears to be silenced from the lack of ammu- nition. The opportunity so long waited for has therefore at last arrived, — a mistake which the assailants will soon find out to their sorrow. In fact, about a quarter-past two o'clock, Meade, believing that enough ammunition has been expended, and wishing to provoke the attack of the enemy, orders the firing to cease; Hunt, who is watching the battle-field in another direction, issues the same order at the same moment, and causes two fresh batteries, taken from the reserve in the rear of Hancock's line, to ad- vance. For a while the voice of the Confederate cannon is alone heard. But new actors are preparing to appear on the scene. Pickett has caused the object of the charge they are about to execute to be explained to his soldiers. As the ranks are re-forming, many of them can no longer rise; the ground is strewn with the dead, the wounded, and others that are suffering from the heat, for a burning sun, still DePaeis] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 359 more scorching than that of the day before, lights up this bloody battle-field. But all able-bodied men are at their posts, and an afifecting scene soon elicits a cry of admira- tion from both enemies and friends. Full of ardor, as if it were rushing to the assault of the Washington Capitol itself, and yet marching with measured steps, so as not to break its alignment, Pickett's division moves forward solidly and quietly in magnificent order. Garnett, in the centre, sweeping through the artillery-line, leaves Wilcox behind him, whose men, lying flat upon the ground, are waiting for another order to support the attack. Kemper is on the right; Armistead is moving forward at double- quick to place himself on the left along the line of the other two brigades; a swarm of skirmishers covers the front of the division. The smoke has disappeared, and this small band perceives at last the long line of the Fed- eral positions, which the hollow in the ground where they had sought shelter had, until then, hidden from its view. It moves forward full of confidence, convinced that a single efifort will pierce this line, which is already waver- ing, and feeling certain that this effort will be sustained by the rest of the army. Taking its loss into considera- tion, it numbers no more than four thousand five hundred men at the utmost, but the auxiliary forces of Pettigrew, Trimble, and Wilcox raise the number of assailants to fourteen thousand. If they are all put in motion in time, and well led against a particular portion of the Federal line, their efifort may triumph over every obstacle and decide the fate of the battle. Marching in the direction of the salient position occupied by Hancock, which Lee has given him as the objective point, Pickett, after passing beyond the front of Wilcox, causes each of his brigades to make a half-wheel to the left. This manoeuvre, though well executed, is attended with serious difficulties, for the 260 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [De Paris division, drawn up en echelon across the Emmettsburg road, presents its right flank to the Federals to such an extent that the latter mistake the three echelons for three successive lines. The moment has arrived for the Federal artillery to commence firing. McGilvery concentrates the fire of his forty pieces against the assailants, the Federals even at- tributing the change in Pickett's direction to this fire, — a wrong conclusion, for it is when he exposes his flanks that the enemy's shots cause the greatest ravages in his ranks. If the thirty-four pieces of Hazard bearing upon the salient position could follow McGilvery's example, this artillery, which Pickett thought to be paralyzed, would suffice to crush him. But, by order of his immediate chief. Hazard has fired oftener and in quicker succession than Hunt had directed, and at the decisive moment he has nothing left in his caissons but grape-shot. He is therefore compelled to wait till the enemy is within short range. Pickett, en- couraged by his silence, crosses several fields enclosed by strong fences, which his skirmishers had not been able to reach before the cannonade; then, having reached the base of the elevation he is to attack, he once more changes his direction by a half-wheel to the right, halting to rectify his line. The Confederate artillery is endeavoring to support him, but is counting its shots, for it is obliged to be sparing of its ammunition: the seven light pieces intended to accom- pany the infantry, being wanted elsewhere, fail to appear at the very moment when they should push forward, and no other battery with sufficient supplies can be found to take their place. But, what is still more serious, orders do not seem to have been clearly given to the troops that are to sustain Pickett. On the left Pettigrew has put his men in motion De Paris] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. g61 at the first order, but, being posted in the rear of Pickett, he has a wider space of ground to go over, and naturally finds himself distanced; moreover, his soldiers have not yet recovered from the combat of the previous day: from the start their ranks are seen wavering, and they do not advance with the same ardor as those of Pickett. . . . Presently these troops, through their imposing appearance, attract a portion of the enemy's attention and fire, and at a distance of two hundred and fifty yards they stop to reply with volleys of musketry. On the right Wilcox has remained inactive a considerable time, being probably de- tained by a diversity of opinion among the chieftains re- garding the role that is assigned respectively to them. . . . Finally, in pursuance of an order from Pickett at the mo- ment when the latter has halted in the vicinity of the Codori house, Wilcox pushes the brigade forward in a column of deployed battalions. In order to get sooner into line, and thus draw a portion of the enemy's fire, he marches directly on. He cannot, however, recover the dis- tance that separates him from the leading assailants, the latter having disappeared in a hollow; then, becoming enveloped in smoke, he loses sight of them, and, following alone his direction to the right, does not succeed in cover- ing their flank. In the mean while, Pickett, causing his skirmishers to fall back, has again put his troops in motion, without wait- ing for his echelons to get completely into hne: the artil- lery and infantry posted along the ridge he is to capture open a terrific fire of grape and musketry against him at a distance of two hundred yards, while the shot and shell of McGilvery take his line again in flank, causing frightful gaps in its ranks, killing at times as many as ten men by a single shot. [The Federal position was a very strong one. A portion of the 363 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [De Paris surface of the ridge, up whose slope the charge had to be made, was bordered by rocks projecting several feet from the ground. This natural wall was continued farther on by an ordinary stone wall, while an intrenchment covered other portions of the ridge.] Seeing their adversaries advancing against these for- midable positions, those amongst the Federals who fought under Burnside have the same opinion: they are at last to be avenged for the Fredericksburg disaster. The as- sailants also understand the perils that await them. On the left, Pettigrew is yet far off; on the right, Wilcox strays away from them and disappears amid the smoke. Pickett therefore finds himself alone with his three bri- gades. Far from hesitating, his soldiers rush forward at a double-quick. A fire of musketry breaks out along the entire front of Gibbon's division. The Confederate ranks are thinning as far as the eye can reach. Garnett, whose brigade has kept a little in advance, and who, although sick, has declined to leave the post of honor, falls dead within a hundred yards of the Federal lines; for an instant his troops come to a halt. They are immediately joined by Kemper, who at a distance of sixty yards in the rear has allowed their right to cover his left. The two brigades form a somewhat unsteady line, which opens fire upon the enemy. But the Confederate projectiles flatten them- selves by thousands upon the strata of rocks, which are soon covered with black spots like a target, and upon the wall behind which the Unionists are seeking shelter. The game is too uneven : they must either fly or charge. These brave soldiers have only halted for a few minutes, allow- ing Armistead the necessary time to get into line. Encour- aged by the example set by their chief, they scale the acclivity which rises before them: their yells mingle with the rattling of musketry; the smoke soon envelops the combatants. De Paris] PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 363 Gibbon, seeing the enemy advancing with such determi- nation, tries to stop his progress by a counter-charge, but his voice is not heard; his soldiers fire in haste, without leaving their ranks; the Confederates rush upon them. Unfortunately for the assailants, their right not being pro- tected by Wilcox, their flank is exposed to the little wood which stretches beyond the Federal line. Stannard's sol- diers, concealed by the foliage, have suflfered but little from the bombardment; Hancock, always ready to seize a favorable opportunity, causes them to form en potence along the edge of the wood in order to take the enemy's line in flank. Two regiments from Armistead's right thus receive a murderous fire which almost decimates and dis- organizes them. The remainder of the brigade throws itself in the rear of the centre of Pickett's line, which, following this movement, momentarily inclines towards Hays in order to attack the Federals at close quarters. Armistead, urging his men forward, has reached the front rank between Kemper and Garnett, — if it be yet possible to distinguish the regiments and brigades in this compact mass of human beings, which, all covered with blood, seems to be driven by an irresistible force superior to the individual will of those composing it, and throws itself Hke a solid body upon the Union line. The shock is ter- rific: it falls at first upon the brigades of Hall and Har- row, then concentrates itself upon that of Webb, against which the assailants are oscillating right and left. The latter general in the midst of his soldiers encourages them by his example; he is presently wounded. The struggle is waged at close quarters; the Confederates pierce the first line of the Federals, but the latter, dislodged from the wall, fall back upon the second line, formed of small earthworks erected on the ridge in the vicinity of their guns. These pieces fire grape-shot upon the assailants. 364 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [DePams Hancock and Gibbon bring forward all their reserves. . . . The regiments become mixed; the commanders do not know where their soldiers are to be found; but they are all pressing each other in a compact mass, forming at random a living and solid bulwark more than four ranks deep. A clump of trees, in the neighborhood of which Gushing has posted his guns, commanding the whole plateau, is the objective point that the Gonfederates keep in view. Ar- mistead, on foot, his hat perched on the point of his sword, rushes forward to attack the battery. With one hundred and fifty men determined to follow him unto death, he pierces the mass of combatants, passes beyond the earth- works, and reaches the line of guns, which can no longer fire for fear of killing friends and foes indiscriminately. But at the same moment, by the side of Gushing, his young and gallant adversary, he falls pierced with balls. They both lie at the foot of the clump of trees which marks the extreme point reached by the Gonfederates in this supreme effort. These few trees, henceforth historical, like a snail on the strand struck by a furious sea, no longer possessing strength enough to draw back into its shell, constitute the limit before which the tide of invasion stops, — a limit traced by the blood of some of the bravest sol- diers that America has produced. In fact, if the Federals have thus seen a large number of their chieftains fall, and their artillery left without am- munition, the effort of the assailants, on the other hand, is exhausted. [Wilcox, on the right, fails to reach a supporting position. Petti- grew, on the left, followed closely by Trimble, arrives near the point of contest, but fails to maintain his ground.] After a combat at short range, very brief, but ex- De Paris] PICKETrS CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 265 tremely murderous, in which Trimble is seriously wounded, his troops and those of Pettigrew retire, even before the two brigades under Thomas and Perrin have reached their position, and while Pickett is still fighting on the right. The regular fire of Hays's impregnable line drives the as- sailants from that point in the greatest disorder as soon as they have taken one step in retreat. The four brigades of the Third Confederate corps that have thus been re- pulsed leave two thousand prisoners and fifteen stands of colors in the hands of the enemy. A few regiments of Archer's and Scales's brigades, which outflank Hays on the left, throw themselves on the right and unite with Pick- ett's soldiers, who are still contending with Gibbon. This reinforcement is, however, quite insufficient lor the Con- federates, who thus find themselves isolated, without sup- port and without reserves, in the midst of the Federal line. Kemper is wounded in his turn. Out of eighteen field- officers and four generals, Pickett and one lieutenant-col- onel alone remain unharmed: there is hardly any one left around them, and it is a miracle to see them yet safe and sound in the midst of such carnage. The division does not fall back; it is annihilated. The flags which a while ago were bravely floating upon the enemy's parapets fall successively, to the ground, only to be picked up by the conquerors. A number of soldiers, not daring to pass a second time the ground over which the Federals cross their fire, throw down their arms: among those who are trying to gain the Southern lines many victims are stricken down by cannon-balls. The conflict is at an end. Out of four thousand eight hundred men that have followed Pickett, scarcely twelve to thir- teen hundred are to be found in the rear of Alexander's guns; three thousand five hundred have been sacrificed and twelve stands of colors lost in this fatal charge. 26G THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman [While this retreat was taking place, Wilcox, who believed Pickett to be still fighting, continued his advance. Stannard opened fire upon him from the opposite side of the sheltering wood, and advanced two regiments to a position where their fire took the Confederate line in flank. But Wilcox quickly realized the situation, and hastily retired, leaving two hundred of his men on the field. Thus disastrously ended the most desperate assault of the whole war." It could scarcely have ended otherwise, considering the broad space of open ground which the assailants had to traverse, and the advantageous position occupied by their foes. With it ended the final effort at invasion on the part of Lee. With this grand charge and its repulse the tide of the war definitely turned, and from the slope of Cemetery Ridge it began to run downward to its final ebb at Appo- mattox. Whether an advance in force by the Federals after the repulse of Pickett would have been successful, is a question which has been much debated. At all events, Meade did not risk it, but preferred to hold the advantage he had gained. Nothing was left to the Confed- erate army but retreat. On the 4th of July this retreat began. It was followed, but with considerable deliberation. Lee reached the Poto- mac unharmed. The river was swollen, and he was obliged to re- main for some days on its banks, waiting for the waters to fall, and threatened by Meade. But the expected attack did not come, and the Confederates crossed the stream on the 12th of July without loss. Soon afterwards Meade followed across the Potomac, and once more Virginia became the battle-ground.] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. William T. Sherman. [As preliminary to Sherman's story of his remarkable expedition we have an important series of military events to pass in review. One of these was the destruction of the public works at Meridian, Mississippi, by an expedition from Vicksburg. This town was a railroad-centre of the greatest importance. It was taken on February 14, and its depots, arsenals, storehouses, etc., destroyed. The railroads were ruined for some sixty miles south and west. In April occurred one Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 267 of the most terrible events of the war, the capture of Fort Pillow by the Confederate General Forrest, and the ruthless massacre of the negro soldiers of the garrison. The brutality of the slaughter shocked all Christendom. On May i, 1864, General Sherman was at Chattanooga with an army of nearly one hundred thousand men. General Johnston, who had succeeded Bragg, opposed him with an army of about seventy-five thousand men. Sherman's advance began on the 6th of May. His army was stationed at some distance in front of Chattanooga, while Johnston's army was massed at Dalton, a strong defensive position. The first collision took place at Resaca, to the south of Dalton, which latter place Johnston had abandoned on finding himself outflanked. Howard occupied Dalton, and pressed him in his retreat. At Resaca a severe battle occurred, in which Sherman lost over four thousand men. He succeeded, however, in turning the Confederate works, and Johnston was again forced to retreat. The pursuit and retreat con- tinued across the Etowah River, which no attempt was made to defend. Johnston made his next stand in the AUatoona Pass, south of that stream. After some further fighting, Sherman succeeded in turning that position also, while Johnston retired to strong positions in the Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains, near Marietta. In a month's time Sherman had advanced nearly one hundred miles, and forced the enemy to desert four strong positions, with heavy loss. On the 9th of June, Sherman advanced again. The position held by Johnston was a very strong one, but the line he occupied was too long for the strength of his army. From one extremity to the other it was twelve miles long. Sherman forced him to yield Lost and Pine Mountains, but the powerful post of Kenesaw was so strongly in- trenched as to be nearly impregnable. The whole country, Sherman says, had become one vast fort, defended by fifty miles of trenches and batteries. For three weeks, during which operations around Kenesaw continued, the rain fell almost incessantly, yet despite this the army- kept in high spirits, and gradually pushed forward, step by step. Sherman, finding that he must either assault the lines or turn the position, determined on the former. Two assaults were made, at dif- ferent points, on June 27. Both failed, and three thousand men were killed, wounded, and missing. Little damage was done to the enemy. The second alternative was then adopted. A movement to turn the position was begun on the night of July 2, and instantly Kenesaw was abandoned. Sherman's skirmishers were on the mountain-top by 268 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman dawn of the next day. Johnston next formed a defensive line be- hind the Chattahoochee River, yet by the pth Sherman had crossed the stream above him, when he at once retreated. Consternation now began to spread through the Confederacy. More than five miles of works of defence, of the most formidable kind, had been constructed, yet they were abandoned without a blow. Only eight miles distant lay the railroad-centre of Atlanta, with its magazines, stores, arsenals, workshops, and foundries, one of the most impor- tant posts in the Confederate States. Sherman now rested until the 17th, to bring up stores and recruit his men. He marched again on that day, and on the same day John- ston, whose cautious policy had given offence to the Richmond au- thorities, was removed from his command and replaced by Hood. The latter at once began offensive operations, and severe battles were fought on the 20th and the 22d, in both of which the Confede- rates were repulsed. In the two conflicts the assailants lost about thirteen thousand men. The Union loss was less than half this number. A third battle took place on the 28th, in which Hood was again the assailant, and in which he was repulsed with a loss of five thousand men, Sherman's loss being less than six hundred. This attack had been made to check Sherman's flanking movements, which now continued with less opposition. He eventually raised the siege of Atlanta, and fell on Hood's line of communication, thoroughly destroying the railroad, and interposing his army be- tween Hood and a large detachment which had been sent out under Hardee. This circumstance made necessary the abandonment of the city, which had been rendered untenable. It was deserted during the night of September i, and fell into Sherman's hands. In this series of operations the Union losses had been about thirty thousand, those of the Confederates about forty-two thousand. Hood destroyed all the valuable railroad and other war material in the city before leaving it. Sherman, finding it inadvisable to hold the city, felt it necessary as a war-measure to render it useless to the Confederates. Accordingly, everything in the place was burned except the churches and dwelling-houses. Hood now marched against Sherman's line of communication, hoping, by the destruction of the railroad over which the Union sup- plies were drawn, to force his antagonist to retreat. He was pursued for some distance, but Sherman soon desisted from pursuit, having decided upon another plan of operations. General Thomas had been Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 369 sent to Nashville, to guard the State of Tennessee against Confederate aggression. Sherman now sent the Fourth and Twenty-Third Corps, numbering twenty-three thousand men, to reinforce him, retaining about sixty-five thousand men for the bold enterprise which he had projected, that of cutting loose from lines of communication, and marching across Georgia, from Atlanta to the ocean. Before describ- ing this march, the final important event of the war in the Western States may be briefly reviewed. Instead of following Sherman, Hood continued to march north- ward, and forced a crossing of the Tennessee River near Florence. He had with him about thirty thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry. The corps under Schofield and Stanley, which Sherman had sent to reinforce Thomas, faced Hood at Florence, but gradually re- tired as he advanced, obstructing his march. No important collision took place until the two armies reached Franklin, on the Harpeth River, eighteen miles south of Nashville. Schofield delayed here to pass his wagon-trains over the river, and before he could follow with the troops Hood was upon him. His position was perilous. Of his seventeen thousand men a portion had crossed, and he had but ten thousand available to meet Hood. If defeated, with the river in his rear, destruction was imminent. Schofield bravely held his ground, however, repulsing four successive attacks with severe loss to the enemy. Hood lost about six thousand men, Schofield but two thousand three hundred. During the night the river was crossed, and a rapid march made to Nashville, in which city the whole army was concentrated on the 1st of December. Thomas had covered the place with a line of strong fortifications, while his army was gradually strengthened till it amounted to more than fifty-six thousand troops. Hood approached Nashville on De- cember 2, and established his line in front of that of Thomas. In this position both armies lay till the isth of the month, busily preparing for battle. In the mean time great impatience was felt in the North at the seeming procrastination of Thomas. Grant constantly urged him to decisive action, but without effect. Nothing would stir him until he was ready to move. The idea was entertained of replacing him with some more active soldier, and Grant, impatient at the delay, left City Point on a hasty journey to Nashville. He got no further than Washington. On reaching there he received news which satisfied him that Thomas had best be left alone. The cautious soldier had moved, and Hood's army had almost ceased to exist. 270 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman On the isth of December, a morning of fog and gloom, the Union army marched out of its intrenchments, and fell, with the force of a surprise, on Hood's lines. A severe battle followed, in which Hood's army was driven back at every point, with severe loss, and forced to take up a new line of defence. At dawn of the next day the battle recommenced, the Confederates being assailed with such impetuosity that their line was broken in a dozen places and driven back in utter rout. All their artillery, and thousands of prisoners, were taken, while their losses in killed and wounded were much greater than those of the Union forces. The pursuit of the flying army was pushed with the greatest energy and success, prisoners being captured at every point, and the lately disciplined force reduced to a terror-stricken mob. The rear-guard of cavalry and infantry under Forrest bravely cov- ered the flying army, but the pursuit was pushed day and night until the remaining fugitives had made their way across the Tennessee, when Thomas recalled his troops. There was no longer occasion for pursuit. Hood's army had ceased to exist as an army. Over thirteen thousand prisoners had been taken. Over two thousand deserters were received. Many fled to their homes. The loss in killed and wounded had been enormous. Seventy-two pieces of artillery, and vast quantities of other war-material, were captured. The army was annihilated, with a loss to Thomas in all of about ten thousand killed, wounded, and missing. This terrible stroke ended the war in the Mississippi Valley. No organized army appeared again in the field. While these movements were taking place, others of equal impor- tance were occurring in Georgia. The story of the adventurous march which followed Sherman's abandonment of Atlanta is one of the most dramatic character, and no incident of the war excited greater inter- est and enthusiasm. It has been well described by many historians, but we prefer to give it in the words of the hero himself, and there- fore make our selection from the " Memoirs of W. T. Sherman."] About seven a, m. of November i6 we rode out of At- lanta by the Decatur road, filled by the marching' troops and vsragons of the Fourteenth Corps, and, reaching the hill just outside of the old rebel works, we naturally paused to look back upon the scenes of our past battles. We stood upon the very ground whereon was fought the bloody battle of July 22, and could see the copse of wood Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 271 where McPherson fell. Behind us lay Atlanta, smoulder- ing in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hang- ing like a pall over the ruined city. Away off in the distance, on the McDonough road, was the rear of How- ard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. Some band, by accident, struck up the anthem of " John Brown's soul goes marching on ; " the men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of " Glory, glory, hallelujah ! " done with more spirit, or in better harmony of time and place. Then we turned our horses' heads to the east: Atlanta was soon lost behind the screen of trees, and became a thing of the past. Around it clings many a thought of desperate battle, of hope and fear, that now seem like the memory of a dream; and I have never seen the place since. The day was extremely beautiful, clear sunlight, with bracing air, and an unusual feeling of exhilaration seemed to pervade all minds, — a feeling of something to come, vague and undefined, still full of venture and intense interest. Even the common soldiers caught the inspira- tion, and many a group called out to me, as I worked my way past them, " Uncle Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us at Richmond ! " Indeed, the general sentiment was that we were marching for Richmond, and that there we should end the war, but how and when they seemed to care not; nor did they measure the distance, or count the cost in life, or bother their brains about the great rivers to be crossed, and the food required for man and beast, that had to be gathered by the way. There was a " devil-may- care " feeling pervading officers and men, that made me 272 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman feel the full load of responsibility, for success would be accepted as a matter of course, whereas, should we fail, this " march " would be adjudged the wild adventure of a crazy fool. I had no purpose to march direct for Rich- mond by way of Augusta and Charlotte, but always de- signed to reacn the sea-coast first at Savannah or Port Royal, South Carolina, and even kept in mind the alterna- tive of Pensacola. The first night out we camped by the roadside near Lithonia. Stone Mountain, a mass of granite, was in plain view, cut out in clear outline against the blue sky; the whole horizon was lurid with the bonfires of rail-ties, and groups of men all night were carrying the heated rails to the nearest trees and bending them around the trunks. Colonel Poe had provided tools for ripping up the rails and twisting them when hot ; but the best and easiest way is the one I have described, of heating the middle of the iron rails on bonfires made of the cross-ties, and then wind- ing them around a telegraph-pole or the trunk of some convenient sapling. I attached much importance to this destruction of the railroad, gave it my own personal attention, and made reiterated orders to others on the subject. The next day we passed through the handsome town of Covington, the soldiers closing up their ranks, the color- bearers unfurling their flags, and the bands striking up patriotic airs. The white peoplecame out of their houses to behold the sight, spite of their deep hatred of the in- vaders, and the negroes were simply frantic with joy. Whenever they heard my name, they clustered about my horse, shouted and prayed in their peculiar style, which had a natural eloquence that would have moved a stone. I have witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of such scenes, and can now see a poor girl, in the very ecstasy of the Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 373 Methodist " shout," hugging the banner of one of the regiments, and jumping up to the " feet of Jesus." I remember, when riding around by a by-street in Cov- ington, to avoid the crowd that followed the marching column, that some one brought me an invitation to dine with a sister of Sam Anderson, who was a cadet at West Point with me; but the messenger reached me after we had passed the main part of the town. I asked to be ex- cused, and rode on to a place designated for camp, at the crossing of the Ulcofauhachee River, about four miles to the east of the town. Here we made our bivouac, and I walked up to a plantation-house close by, where were as- sembled many negroes, among them an old, gray-haired man, of as fine a head as I ever saw. I asked him if he understood about the war and its progress. He said he did; that he had been looking for the " angel of the Lord " ever since he was knee-high, and, though we professed to be fighting for the Union, he supposed that slavery was the cause, and that our success was to be his freedom. I asked him if all the negro slaves comprehended this fact, and he said they surely did. I then explained to him that we wanted the slaves to remain where they were, and not to load us down with useless mouths, which would eat up the food needed for our fighting-men; that our success was their assured freedom; that we could receive a few of their young, hearty men as pioneers, but that if they fol- lowed us in swarms of old and young, feeble and helpless, it would simply load us down and cripple us in our great task. I think Major Henry Hitchcock was with me on that occasion, and made a note of the conversation, and I believe that old man spread this message to the slaves, which was carried from mouth to mouth, to the very end of our journey, and that it in part saved us from the great danger we incurred of swelling our numbers so that famine 3-18 2H THB GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman would have attended our progress. It was at this very plantation that a soldier passed me with a ham on his musket, a jug of sorghum-molasses under his arm, and a big piece of honey in his hand, from which he was eating, and, catching my eye, he remarked sotto voce and carelessly to a comrade, " Forage liberally on the country," quoting from my general orders. On this occasion, as on many others that fell under my personal observation, I reproved the man, explained that foraging must be limited to the regular parties properly detailed, and that all provisions thus obtained must be delivered to the regular commis- saries, to be fairly distributed to the men who kept their ranks. From Covington the Fourteenth Corps (Davis's), with which I was travelling, turned to the right for Milledge- ville, via Shady Dale. General Slocum was ahead at Madi- son, with the Twentieth Corps, having torn up the railroad as far as that place, and thence had sent Geary's division on to the Oconee, to burn the bridges across that stream, when this corps turned south by Eatonton, for Milledge- ville, the common " objective " for the first stage of the " march." We found abundance of corn, molasses, meal, bacon, and sweet potatoes. We also took a good many cows and oxen, and a large number of mules. In all these the country was quite rich, never before having been vis- ited by a hostile army; the recent crop had been excellent, had been just gathered and laid by for the winter. As a rule, we destroyed none, but kept our wagons full, and fed our teams bountifully. The skill and success of the men in collecting forage was one of the features of this march. Each brigade com- mander had authority to detail a company of foragers, usually about fifty men, with one or two commissioned ofificers selected for their boldness and enterprise. This Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 275 party would be despatched before dayb'ght with a knowl- edge of the intended day's march and camp, would pro- ceed on foot five or six miles from the route travelled by their brigade, and then visit every plantation and farm within range. They would usually procure a wagon or family carriage, load it with bacon, corn-meal, turkeys, chickens, ducks, and everything that could be used as food or forage, and would then regain the main road, usually in advance of the train. When this came up, they would deliver to the brigade commissary the supplies thus gath- ered by the way. Often would I pass these foraging-par- ties at the roadside, waiting for their wagons to come up, and was amused at their strange collections, — mules, horses, even cattle, packed with old saddles and loaded with hams, bacon, bags of cornmeal, and poultry of every character and description. Although this foraging was attended with great danger and hard work, there seemed to be a charm about it that attracted the soldiers, and it was a privilege to be detailed on such a party. Daily they returned mounted on all sorts of beasts, which were at once taken from them and appropriated to the general use ; but the next day they would start out again on foot, only to repeat the experience of the day before. No doubt many acts of pillage, robbery, and violence were committed by these parties of foragers, usually called " bummers ; " for I have since heard of jewelry taken from women, and the plunder of articles that never reached the commissary; but these acts were exceptional and incidental. I never heard of any cases of murder or rape; and no army could have carried along sufficient food and forage for a march of three hundred miles: so that foraging in some shape was necessary. The country was sparsely settled, with no magistrates or civil authorities who could respond to requisitions, as is done in all the wars of Europe: so that 276 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman this system of foraging was simply indispensable to our success. By it our men were well supplied with, all the essentials of life and health, while the wagons retained enough in case of unexpected delay, and our animals were well fed. Indeed, when we reached Savannah the trains were pronounced by experts to be the finest in flesh and appearance ever seen with any army. Habitually each corps followed some main road, and the foragers, being kept out on the exposed flank, served all the military uses of flankers. The main columns gathered, by the roads travelled, much forage and food, chiefly meat, corn, and sweet potatoes, and it was the duty of each division and brigade quartermaster to fill his wagons as fast as the contents were issued to the troops. The wagon- trains had the right to the road always, but each wagon was required to keep closed up, so as to leave no gaps in the column. If for any purpose any wagon or group of wagons dropped out of place, they had to wait for the rear. And this was always dreaded, for each brigade commander wanted his train up at camp as soon after reaching it with his men as possible. I have seen much skill and industry displayed by these quartermasters on the march, in trying to load their wagons with corn and fodder by the way without losing their place in column. They would, while marching, shift the loads of wagons, so as to have six or ten of them empty. Then, riding well ahead, they would secure possession of certain stacks of fodder near the road, or cribs of corn, leave some men in charge, then open fences and a road back for a couple of miles, return to their trains, divert the empty wagons out of column, and conduct them rapidly to their forage, load up and regain their place in column without losing distance. On one occasion I remember to have seen ten or a do^en wagons thus loaded with corn from two Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 277 or three full cribs, almost without halting. These cribs were built of logs, and roofed. The train-guard, by a lever, had raised the whole side of the crib a foot or two; the wagons drove close alongside, and the men in the cribs, lying on their backs, kicked out a wagon-load of corn in the time I have taken to describe it. In a well-ordered and well-disciplined army these things might be deemed irregular, but I am convinced that the ingenuity of these younger ofificers accomplished many things far better than I could have ordered, and the marches were thus made, and the distances were accom- plished, in the most admirable way. Habitually we started from camp at the earliest break of dawn, and usually reached camp soon after noon. The marches varied from ten to fifteen miles a day, though sometimes on extreme flanks it was necessary to make as much as twenty; but the rate of travel was regulated by the wagons; and, con- sidering the nature of the roads, fifteen miles per day was deemed the limit. The pontoon-trains were in like manner distributed in about equal proportions to the four corps, giving each a section of about nine hundred feet. The pontoons were of the skeleton pattern, with cotton-canvas covers, each boat, with its proportion of balks and chesses, constituting a load for one wagon. By uniting two such sections to- gether, we could make a bridge of eighteen hundred feet, enough for any river we had to traverse; but habitually the leading brigade would, out of the abundant timber, improvise a bridge before the pontoon-train could come up, unless in the case of rivers of considerable magnitude, such as the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Ogeechee, Savannah, etc. [On the 20th of November, Sherman stopped at a. plantation man- sion which, by chance, he discovered to be that of Howell Cobb, Sec- retary of the Treasury in Buchanan's Cabinet, and at that time a 378 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman general in the Confederate army. Here, contrary to his usual custom, he ordered that nothing should be spared: the fence-rails were de- stroyed for camp-fires, and an immense quantity of corn and pro- visions of all sorts was carried off. While the left wing was marching in this direction. General How- ard, with the right wing, was advancing towards Macon, which he reached on the 22d, driving before him the Confederate forces that endeavored to hold the town.] By the 23d I was in Milledgeville with the left wing, and was in full communication with the right wing at Gordon. The people of Milledgeville remained at home, except the Governor (Brown), the State ofificers, and Leg- islature, who had ignominiously fled, in the utmost dis- order and confusion; standing not on the order of their going, but going at once, — some by rail, some by carriages, and many on foot. Some of the citizens who remained be- hind described this flight of the " brave and patriotic " Gov- ernor Brown. He had occupied a public building known as the " Governor's Mansion," and had hastily stripped it of carpets, curtains, and furniture of all sorts, which were removed to a train of freight-cars, which carried away these things, — even the cabbages and vegetables from his kitchen and cellar, — leaving behind muskets, ammunition, and the public archives. On my arrival at Milledgeville I occupied the same public mansion, and was soon over- whelmed with appeals for protection. General Slocum had previously arrived with the Twentieth Corps, had taken up his quarters at the Milledgeville Hotel, established a good provost-guard, and excellent order was maintained. The most frantic appeals had been made by the Governor and Legislature for help from every quarter, and the people of the State had been called out en masse to resist and destroy the invaders of their homes and firesides. Even the pris- oners and convicts of the penitentiary were released on condition of serving as soldiers, and the cadets were taken Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 279 from their military college for the same purpose. These constituted a small battalion, under Generar Harry Wayne, a former officer of the United States Army, and son of the then Justice Wayne of the Supreme Court. But these hastily retreated across the Oconee River, leaving us a good bridge, which we promptly secured. At Milledgeville we found newspapers from all the South, and learned the consternation which had filled the South- ern mind at our temerity; many charging that we were actually fleeing for our lives and seeking safety at the hands of our fleet on the sea-coast. All demanded that we should be assailed, "front, flank, and rear;" that pro- visions should be destroyed in advance, so that we would starve; that bridges should be burned, roads obstructed, and no mercy shown us. Judging from the tone of the Southern press of that day, the outside world must have supposed us ruined and lost. [Some of these appeals are curious. We give an example. " To the People of Georgia : "Arise for the defence of your native soil! Rally around your patriotic Governor and gallant soldiers ! Obstruct and destroy all the roads in Sherman's front, flank, and rear, and his army will soon starve in your midst. Be confident. Be resolute. Trust in an over- ruling Providence, and success will crown your efforts. I hasten to join you in the defence of your homes and firesides. "G. T. Beauregard."] Of course we were rather amused than alarmed at these threats, and made light of the feeble opposition offered to our progress. Some of the officers (in the spirit of mis- chieO gathered together in the vacant Hall of Represen- tatives, elected a Speaker, and constituted themselves the Legislature of the State of Georgia! A proposition was made to repeal the ordinance of secession, which was well debated, and resulted in its repeal by a fair vote! I was 380 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman not present at these frolics, but heard of them at the time, and enjoyed the joke. [The arsenal at Milledgeville was destroyed, with such other public buildings as could be used for hostile purposes, but all private prop- erty was spared. The right wing meanwhile continued its march along the railroad towards Savannah, destroying the ties and rails as it advanced. The cavalry was sent on a circuitous route to Millen, to rescue the prisoners of war confined there.] On the 24th we renewed the march, and I accompanied the Twentieth Corps, which took the direct road to San- dersville, which we reached simultaneously with the Four- teenth Corps, on the 26th. A brigade of rebel cavalry was deployed before the town, and was driven in and through it by our skirmish-line. I myself saw the rebel cavalry apply fire to stacks of fodder standing in the fields at Sandersville, and gave orders to burn some unoccupied dwellings close by. On entering the town, I told certain citizens (who would be sure to spread the report) that, if the enemy attempted to carry out their threat to burn their food, fodder, and corn in our route, I would most undoubtedly execute to the letter the general orders of devastation made at the outset of the campaign. With this exception, and one or two minor cases near Savannah, the people did not destroy food, for they saw clearly that it would be ruin to themselves. At Sandersville I halted the left wing until I heard that the right wing was abreast of us on the railroad. During the evening a negro was brought to me who had that day been to the station (Tenille) about six miles south of the town. I inquired of him if there were any Yankees there, and he answered, " Yes." He described in his own way what he had seen. " First, there come along some cavalry- men, and they burned the depdt; then come along some infantry-men, and they tore up the track, and burned it; " and just before he left they had " sot fire to the well." Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 281 The next morning, viz., the 27th, I rode down to the station, and found General Corse's division (of the Fifteenth Corps) engaged in destroying the raihoad, and saw the well which my negro informant had seen " burnt." It was a square pit about twenty-five feet deep, boarded up, with wooden steps leading to the bottom, wherein was a fine copper pump, to lift the water to a tank above. The sol- diers had broken up the pump, heaved in the steps and lining, and set fire to the mass of lumber in the bottom of the well, which corroborated the negro's description. [On the 3(i of December Millen was reached, the army being yet in excellent condition, its wagons full of forage and provisions. Two- thirds of the distance to Savannah had been traversed. The remain- der lay through a more sandy and barren country, where food was scarce, yet Sherman determined to push on for that city.] General Hardee was ahead, between us and Savannah, with McLaws' division, and other irregular troops, that could not, I felt assured, exceed ten thousand men. I caused the fine depot at Millen to be destroyed, and other damage done, and then resumed the march directly on Savannah, by the four main roads. The Seventeenth Corps (General Blair) followed substantially the railroad, and, along with it, on the 5th of December I reached Ogeechee Church, about fifty miles from Savannah, and found there fresh earthworks, which had been thrown up by McLaws' division; but he must have seen that both his flanks were being turned, and prudently retreated to Savannah without fight. All the columns then pursued leisurely their march towards Savannah, corn and forage becoming more and more scarce, but rice-fields beginning to occur along the Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers, which proved a good substitute, both as food and forage. The weather was fine, the roads good, and everything seemed to favor us. Never do I recall a more agreeable sensation 383 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Sherman than the sight of our camps by night, ht up by the fires of fragrant pine-knots. The trains were all in good order, and the men seemed to march their fifteen miles a day as though it were nothing. No enemy opposed us, and we could occasionally hear the faint reverberation of a gun to our left rear, where we knew that General Kilpatrick was skirmishing with Wheeler's cavalry, which persistently followed him. But the infantry columns had met with no opposition whatsoever. McLaws' division was falling back before us, and we occasionally picked up a few of his men as prisoners, who insisted that we would meet with strong opposition at Savannah. On the 8th, as I rode along, I found the column turned out of the main road, marching through the fields. Close by, in the corner of a fence, was a group of men standing around a handsome young officer, whose foot had been blown to pieces by a torpedo planted in the road. He was waiting for a surgeon to amputate his leg, and told me that he was riding along with the rest of his brigade- stafif of the Seventeenth Corps, when a torpedo trodden on by his horse had exploded, killing the horse and liter- ally blowing oi¥ all the flesh from one of his legs. I saw the terrible wound, and made full inquiry into the facts. There had been no resistance at that point, nothing to give warning of danger, and the rebels had planted eight-inch shells in the road, with friction-matches to explode them by being trodden on. This was not war, but murder, and it made me very angry. I immediately ordered a lot of rebel prisoners to be brought from the provost-guard, armed with picks and spades, and made them march in close order along the road, so as to explode their own torpedoes, or to discover and dig them up. They begged hard, but I reiterated the order, and could hardly help laughing at their stepping so gingerly along the road, where it was Sherman] SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 283 supposed sunken torpedoes might explode at each step; but they found no other torpedoes till near Fort McAllis- ter. That night we reached Pooler's Station, eight miles from Savannah, and during the next two days, December 9 and lo, the several corps reached the defences of Savan- nah, — the Fourteenth Corps on the left, touching the river, the Twentieth Corps next, then the Seventeenth, and the Fifteenth on the extreme right; thus completely investing the city. [The conclusion of the story of Sherman's exploits may be given in epitome. After the investment of Savannah, communication was established between the army and the fleet, and preparations were made for an assault upon the city, which Hardee, the Confederate commander, had refused to surrender. This was avoided by an evacuation, and on the 22A of December Savannah was surrendered to the army of invasion, thus completing the remarkable expedition, which had crossed several hundred miles of a hostile country almost without loss or resistance. By the various operations described the field of the war had been reduced to the Atlantic States, between Savannah on the south and Richmond on the north. Measures were at once taken to combine the armies of Sherman and Grant and crush out the remaining life of the Confederacy between their folds. It was Grant's design to transport Sherman's army by sea, but Sherman proposed the more difficult but more effective measure of a march overland. This was agreed to, and on the 1st of February, 1865, another long march through the heart of a hostile territory began. It was intended, as before, to live on the country, and very little baggage was taken. The army was sixty thou- sand strong. Beauregard was in command of the opposing forces, but no strong opposition was encountered. On the 17th Columbia, the cap- ital of South Carolina, was reached and occupied. The city was burned. Wade Hampton, in command of the retreating Confederate cavalry, had set fire to a considerable quantity of cotton in the streets, and, in his efforts to destroy this, destroyed the city. Sherman had given orders to burn all public buildings, but the efforts of his soldiers were vainly directed to check the conflagration started by the enemy. On the next day Charleston, which had so long and so gallanily defended itself from assault by sea, fell without a blow in its de- 284 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. tLoNG fence, and the birthplace of the rebelHon was once more in Union hands. It suffered as severely from its friends as Columbia had done. General Hardee, who commanded in that city, with four- teen thousand men, hastily retreated, lest he should be caught in a trap, as Pemberton had been at Vicksburg. Before doing so he set fire to every building containing cotton. Fire communicated from this to powder scattered in the street, and a train of flame ran to the powder-magazine, which blew up with a fearful explosion. Two hundred people were instantly killed, and a great portion of the city was burned. On the 8th of March the southern boundary of North Carolina was crossed, and that State entered. On the nth Fayetteville was taken. Beauregard was now relieved, and Johnston again ap- pointed to the command of the Confederate army. It was neces- sary to move more cautiously against this experienced commander. Several engagements took place, but the advance continued, and a line of occupation from Bentonville to Goldsborough was estab- lished by the 21st. The army had been reinforced by Schofield's corps from the West, with other reinforcements, and was now one hundred thousand strong. Having rested and refitted, Sherman's army marched again on April 10, destroying the railroad as it went. On the 14th the hostile march ended, news being received from the North that put an end to all further hostilities. General Lee had surrendered, and the war was at an end.] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. Armistead L. Long. [We have now a highly important series of events to cover in rapid epitome, comprising the doings of the armies in Virginia from the date of the battle of Gettysburg to the surrender of Lee's army, and embracing in particular the stirring scenes of war which fol- lowed Grant's assumption of the command of the Army of the Potomac. Important as many of these events were, no one of them except the closing event stands out prominently as of decisive value, and lack of space prevents us from giving any of the battle- scenes in detail, obliging us to review briefly that great chapter in the history of the war which reached its culmination in the sur- render of Lee's army and the collapse of the Confederacy. Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 385 After the battle of Gettysburg the year 1863 passed without an en- gagement between the two armies in Virginia. Lee, after crossing the Potomac, retired behind the Hne of the Rapidan. Meade massed his army at Warrenton. In October Lee made a rapid advance to the old battle-ground of Manassas. But if he hoped to take his antagonist by surprise he was mistaken: Meade was too quick for him, and he was forced to retreat hastily. In November Meade re- taliated with an equally rapid advance, hoping to surprise Lee in his lines at Mine Run. This effort also ended in failure : Lee concen- trated his army and Meade retired without a battle. Late in the winter a cavalry expedition under Kilpatrick sought to take Rich- mond by surprise. It failed, and nothing further was done till the spring of 1864. Grant's victorious career in the West had now made him the most prominent figure in the Union armies, and on March 9, 1864, he was placed in command of all the forces in the field, with the high grade of lieutenant-general, which had been held by no one since Wash- ington, Scott holding this rank only by brevet. He at once ap- pointed Sherman to the command of the Western armies, and took command in person of the Army of the Potomac. It was designed that all the armies should work thenceforward strictly in conjunc- tion. On May i Grant opposed Lee with a force estimated at one hundred and forty thousand to his sixty thousand. A simultaneous movement was designed, and on May 4 Grant advanced towards the Rapidan, while Butler, with twenty thousand men, moved from Fortress Monroe up the south side of the James; and on the 6th Sherman advanced from Chattanooga. Lee was found in line of battle in the difificult region of the Wilder- ness, the scene of the previous desperate battle of Chancellorsville. A terrible engagement ensued, which continued throughout the sth and 6th of May. It was a confused and sanguinary struggle, in the depths of a tangled thicket, in which Grant lost more than twenty thousand men, five thousand of whom were taken prisoners. The Confederates lost ten thousand. Neither side could claim a victory. Reconnoissances now showed that Lee had intrenched his army, and that a renewed attack must result in very serious losses. On the night of the 7th, therefore. Grant began a secret flanking march upon Spottsylvania Court-House. Lee discovered the movement, and, having the shortest line, reached Spottsylvania first. Warren, in the advance, had a severe fight in gaining his designated point. S86 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long For several days the armies faced each other, in busy preparation. On the loth Grant assailed the Confederate linesu A severe battle took place, resulting in no substantial advantage, while the losses on both sides were very heavy. Early on the morning of the 12th the conflict was renewed. Hancock made a sudden charge on Lee's right, captured the intrenchments, and took three thousand prison- ers. A desperate battle followed, the Confederates retiring to an interior line of breastworks, which were vigorously defended, and held to the end of the day. So far neither army could claim a vic- tory, while the losses on both sides had been enormous, — the Union loss being the greatest, from the fact that the Confederates were fighting on the defensive, and most of the time behind strong works. Heavy rains prevented operations during the few succeeding days. On the 19th Grant received reinforcements from Washington, and, deeming the lines at Spottsylvania too strong to be taken, he pre- pared for a night march to the North Anna River. This began on the night of the 21st. Lee penetrated the design, and, having the shorter line, succeeded in again outmarching his opponent. A bat- tle took place here on the 23d, Grant having to force the passage of the river in the face of the enemy. The conflict was much less sanguinary than those preceding it, but, as Lee's position proved im- pregnable, Grant gave orders for another flanking march. Sheri- dan, who had been sent on a cavalry raid to cut Lee's lines of communication, rejoined the army on the 2Sth, having inflicted much damage, threatened Richmond, and killed the ablest Con- federate cavalry leader. General J. E. B. Stuart. On the night of May 26 another effort to turn Lee's right was made by a rapid march towards Richmond. Some fighting took place on the 30th, and on the 31st Cold Harbor, in the vicinity of the previous battle of Gaines's Mill, was reached. Here Grant made a fourth vigorous effort to overthrow Lee, who, as before, faced him with intrenched lines. An assault was made at five p. M. on the 1st of June, with some success, yet without breaking Lee's second line. On the morning of the 3d an advance of the whole army was ordered, and a desperate and sanguinary struggle took place. Despite every effort, Lee's lines "remained unbroken, — Grant losing seven thousand men to Lee's three thousand. This ended the engagements in the field. The task of beating Lee by open fighting had proved too murderous, the Union loss being very considerably greater than that of the Confederates. Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. %St Grant now determined on siege-operations, and decided to move his army south of the James, at Bermuda Hundred, then held by- Butler. This gave him a water basis of supplies, and he was not troubled by that nightmare of covering Washington which had weakened the efforts of all previous commanders. In the campaign up to this time he had lost over fifty-four thousand men, Lee about thirty-two thousand. Grant's army, including Butler's, was now about one hundred and fifty thousand men, Lee's about seventy thousand. These numbers are taken from Draper's " Civil War." Immediately after crossing, a dash was made on Petersburg, in the hope of taking it before Lee could strengthen its garrison. The effort ended in failure, through lack of sufficient celerity of move- ment. Grant lost about nine thousand men in this unlucky enter- prise. Both sides now began to intrench, and there gradually arose that wonderful series of earthworks which eventually stretched for many miles both north and south of the James, from the vicinity of Richmond to and beyond Petersburg, and behind which the oppos- ing armies lay facing each other for nearly a year. During the period of these operations important events had taken place in the Shenandoah Valley. Sigel had entered the Valley on May I, but was defeated by Breckinridge on the isth. Hunter suc- ceeded Sigel, and completely routed Breckinridge at Piedmont. He now advanced upon Lynchburg, devastating the country as he went, but was compelled to retreat before a strong force which Lee had sent to oppose him. This Confederate success was followed by movements of great importance. General Early, with twenty thou- sand men, made a rapid march northward through the Valley, reach- ing Winchester on the 3d of July, and Hagerstown, Maryland, on the 6th. He then moved boldly upon Washington, defeating Gen- eral Wallace on the Monocacy, and reaching a point within six miles of the Capital on the evening of the loth. An immediate as- sault might have given him possession of the city, which was weakly defended. But he delayed for a day, and the arrival of two corps secured the city and forced Early to retreat hastily. He regained the Valley with his spoils, defeated General Crook at Kernstown, and sent a cavalry party into Pennsylvania, which burned the town of Chambersburg in reprisal for Hunter's depredations in the Valley. On August 7 General Sheridan was assigned to the command of the forces opposing Early. No event of importance took place un- til September 19, on which day Early was severely defeated on the 388 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long Opequan, losing six thousand men, the Federal loss being about five thousand. Two days afterwards Early was again defeated at Fisher's Hill. Sheridan now marched up the Valley, destroying everything that could serve for army supplies. Supposing his foe to be helpless, Sheridan repaired to Washington in October, to con- fer with the Secretary of War about sending part of his army back to Grant. During his absence Early made a night attack on his army, which was then posted on the north side of Cedar Creek. The surprise was complete, the troops being routed at all points, and driven back in a confusion little short of a panic. The severity of the pursuit was somewhat reduced by the Confederates stopping to plunder the Union camp, and the broken brigades regained some degree of order. Then occurred that striking incident which has been so worthily celebrated in art and poetry, — Sheridan's ride from Winchester. The commander had got to that point on his return to the army, and first learned of the rout of his troops by the appearance at the town of the most rapid of the fugitives. Instantly mounting his mettled war-horse, he rode with headlong speed to the field of battle, twenty miles away. His appearance on the field inspired the depressed soldiers, while his cheering words put new life into their ranks. The lines were quickly re-formed, an advance was ordered, and to Early's surprise he found his victorious troops im- petuously assailed by the recently broken host. His defeat was complete, his loss in killed, woimded, and prisoners enormous, and his army was so shattered that it was never able to take the field again. This definitely ended the war in the Valley. Before returning to the story of the siege of Petersburg some ac- count of the operations of the navy is desirable. Among the most important of these was the attack of the iron-clad fleet on the har- bor defences of Charleston. The powerful defensive batteries drove ofif the iron-clads with the greatest ease, forcing them to retire to escape destruction. Approaches were now made by land batteries on Morris Island, but beyond the destruction of Fort Sumter no result of special value was attained. In April, 1864, the Confederate ram Albemarle came down the Roanoke River, disabled several gun- boats, and forced Fort Wessels to surrender. She was soon after- wards destroyed by a torpedo, exploded under her by Lieutenant Cushing. Of the nine powerful iron-clads constructed by the Con- federate government during the war every one was destroyed or Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 289 captured. The Atlanta was captured by the monitor Weehawken, at Savannah, after a fifteen-minutes' engagement. The Tennessee, built on the plan of the Merrimack, was captured in Mobile harbor, after being seriously inj ured by ramming with wooden vessels. At this place the brave Farragut again ran a series of strong forts with his fleet, himself standing exposed in the rigging as he received their fire. The final important naval event was the capture of Fort Fisher, which covered the channel leading to Wilmington, North Carolina, the only port now attainable by blockade-runners. In December, 1864, a combined land and water expedition was sent against the fort, accompanied by a boat stored with two hundred and fifteen tons of gun-powder, by the explosion of which near the fort it was hoped that its walls might be shattered. This proved a failure. The powder-boat was exploded without doing the slightest damage. The fleet then attacked the fort, whose guns were silenced. But General Butler, who commanded the land force, would not make an assault, and the expedition returned unsuccessful. Another ex- pedition, under General Terry, was sent in January. The bombard- ment by the fleet continued for several days, after which, on the iSth, a land assault was made, and the fort taken, after a severe struggle. This event completely closed the Confederacy from the outside world. The blockade was finally made fully effective. Yet there was a Confederate navy, whose ships had never entered a Southern port, but which managed to commit great depredations upon American shipping. It was composed of vessels built abroad and sold to the Confederates, one of them in France, the remainder in England. Two powerful rams were built for this purpose in Eng- land, but were detained when Minister Adams plainly hinted at war if they were suffered to escape. Of the Confederate vessels which were permitted to sail from British harbors, much the most impor- tant was the Alabama. This vessel was a virtual pirate, which lured its victims by flying the British flag until they were within its power. It did great damage to American shipping. Finally the Alabama was encountered by the sloop-of-war Kearsarge, off the harbor of Cherbourg, France. A severe battle ensued, in which the Alabama was dreadfully shattered and finally sunk. During her career she had captured sixty-five vessels, most of which she burned. The loss occasioned was afterwards charged upon England, by the decision of an International Commission, and paid in accordance with the verdict. We have one further series of events to review, — those attending 3—19 290 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long the siege of Petersburg by Grant, and its defence by Lee. The first important event of that siege was Grant's attempt to seize the Wel- don Railroad, on June 21, 1864. This was repulsed, with a loss of four thousand men. Immediately afterwards a cavalry expedition was sent to cut the railroads south of Richmond. It was driven back with loss, after doing some damage, which was quickly re- paired. The next important event was the attempt to destroy the Confederate works by a mine. This was excavated with great la- bor, and exploded on the morning of July 30. A deep gap was blown through the works, but the subsequent assault was so com- pletely mismanaged that the Confederates had hours in which to bring up troops and batteries. As a result the charging column was repulsed, with heavy loss, and Petersburg saved. On August 12 a demonstration in force was made against Richmond, north of the James, and advantage taken of the concentration of Confederate troops in that direction, to assail the defenders of the Weldon Rail- road. This road was taken, and effectually ruined. On the 29th an- other assault was made north of the James, and Fort Harrison, one of the Confederate earthworks, taken. These operations had been attended with serious losses, with but little compensating advantage. The next purpose in Grant's operations was the destruction of the Southside Railroad, with the eventual intention to assail the Danville Road, the main line of communication between Richmond and the South. During the remainder of the season, however, very little was done. A severe engagement took place at Hatcher's Run, in a movement towards the Southside Railroad. The afifair ended in a Union withdrawal. Butler's effort to dig a canal across Dutch Gap, a point where the James makes a wide bend, proved useless, and the armies settled down to an autumn and winter rest. Active operations began again in March, Grant having then about one hundred and twenty thousand men. Lee's actual number is not well known. On February s, 1865, an attempt had been made to turn Lee's lines at Hatcher's Run, which was repulsed, with loss. The only offensive movement of Lee during this long siege was made on March 25, an early morning attack being directed against Fort Steadman, near the site of the mine. The surprise was com- plete, and the fort taken. But its holders were at once assailed from all sides, and driven out, with a loss of three thousand out of the five thousand engaged. The final movement of the Union army began on March 29. On Long] THE LAST MARCH OP LEE'S ARMY. 291 the 30th Sheridan advanced on Five Forks, a point below Lee's line of intrenchments, and three miles from the Southside Railroad. Lee concentrated a strong force against him, weakening his lines in doing so. Sheridan had taken possession of Five Forks, but was driven back. He advanced again on April i. Grant, finding that Lee had weakened his line of defence, directed a charge in force to be made by the Fifth Corps upon the Confederate works. It proved successful : the defensive line was broken, two thousand five hundred prisoners were captured, and the fugitives pushed with remorseless energy. On April 2 the final assault was made, and Petersburg captured. Nothing was left for Lee but flight or sur- render. He chose the former, and on the night of April 2 began a rapid retreat from the lines he had so long and so gallantly held. The story of that retreat we extract from " The Memoirs of Robert E. Lee," by General A. L. Long.] Along the north bank of the Appomattox moved the long lines of artillery and dark columns of infantry through the gloom of the night, over the roads leading to Amelia Court-House. By midnight the evacuation was completed, and a death-like silence reigned in the breast- works which for nine months had been " clothed in thun- der," and whose deadly blows had kept at bay a foe of threefold strength. As the troops moved noiselessly onward in the darkness that just precedes the dawn, a bright Hght like a broad flash of lightning illumined the heavens for an instant; then followed a tremendous explosion. " The magazine at Fort Drewry is blown up," ran in whispers through the ranks, and again silence reigned. Once more the sky was overspread by a lurid light, but not so fleeting as before. It was now the conflagration of Richmond that lighted the night-march of the soldiers, and many a stout heart was wrung with anguish at the fate of the city and its defenceless inhabitants. The burning of public property of Httle value had given rise to a destructive fire that laid in ashes nearly one-third of the devoted city. S92 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long The columns from Petersburg and its vicinity reached Chesterfield Court-House soon after daylight. Here a brief halt was ordered for the rest and refreshment of the troops, after which the retreat was resumed with renewed strength. A sense of rehef seemed to pervade the ranks at their release from the lines where they had watched and worked for more than nine weary months. Once more in the open field, they were invigorated with hope, and felt better able to cope with their powerful adver- sary. The April woods were budding round them, the odors of spring were in the air, the green fields and the broad prospect of woods and hills formed an inspiriting contrast to the close earthworks behind which they had so long lain, and as they marched along the unobstructed roads memories of the many victories to which they had for- merly been led arose to nerve their arms and make them feel that while they had the same noble chieftain at their head they were still the equal of the foe. Thoughts like these lightened the weary march and gave new spirit to the ragged and hungry but undaunted men. The retreat of Lee's army did not long remain unknown to the Federals. The explosion of the magazine at Fort Drewry and the conflagration of Richmond apprised them of the fact, and they lost no time in taking possession of the abandoned works and entering the defenceless cities. On the morning of the 3d of April the mayor of Rich- mond surrendered the city to the Federal commander in its vicinity, and General Weitzel took immediate posses- sion. He at once proceeded to enforce order and took measures to arrest the conflagration, while with great humanity he endeavored to relieve the distressed citizens. After four years of courageous sacrifice and patriotic de- votion, the city of Richmond was compelled to yield to LongI the last march OF LEE'S ARMY. 293 the decree of fate and bow her proud crest to the victor. But she felt no shame or disgrace, for her defence had been bold and chivalrous, and in the hour of her adversity her majestic fortitude drew from her conquerors respect and admiration. As soon as Grant became aware of Lee's line of retreat, he pushed forward his whole available force, numbering seventy thousand or eighty thousand men, in order to in- tercept him on the line of the Richmond and Danville Railroad. Sheridan's cavalry formed the van of the pur- suing army, and was closely followed by the artillery and infantry. Lee pressed on as rapidly as possible to Amelia Court-House, where he had ordered supplies to be depos- ited for the use of his troops on their arrival. This fore- thought was highly necessary in consequence of the scanty supply of rations provided at the commencement of the retreat. The hope of finding a supply of food at this point, which had done much to buoy up the spirits of the men, was destined to be cruelly dispelled. Through an unfortunate error or misapprehension of orders, the provision-train had been taken on to Richmond without unloading its stores at Amelia Court-House, and its much-needed food disappeared during the excitement and confusion of the capital city. As a result, on reaching that point not a single ration was found to be provided for the hungry troops. It was a terrible blow alike to the men and to their gen- eral. A reaction from hope to despair came upon the brave soldiers who had so far borne up under the most depress- ing difi&culties, while on General Lee's face came a deeper shadow than it had yet worn. He saw his well-devised plan imperilled by a circumstance beyond his control. The necessity of speed if he would achieve the aim which 394 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long he had in his mind was opposed by the absolute need of halting and collecting food for his impoverished troops. Grant was pursuing him with all haste. The only chance remaining to the Army of Northern Virginia was to reach the hill-country without delay. Yet here it was detained by the error of a railroad ofiScial, while the precious min- utes and hours moved remorselessly by. By the morning of the 5th the whole army had reached the place of general rendezvous. Bitter was its disappoint- ment to learn that no food was to be had save such scanty quantities as might be collected by the for aging-parties that had immediately been sent out, and that a distance of fifty miles lay between it and adequate supplies. Yet no murmur came from the hps of the men to the ear of their commander, and on the evening of that unfortunate day they resumed their weary march in silence and com- posure. Some small amount of food had been brought in by the foragers, greatly inadequate for the wants of the soldiers, yet aiding them somewhat to alleviate the pangs of hunger. A handful of corn was now a feast to the weary veterans as they trudged onward through the April night. . . . The progress of the retreat during the night was slow and tedious, the route for the most part lying through farms and over farm-lands, whose condition frequently demanded the aid of pioneers to construct and repair bridges and causeways for the artillery and wagons, the teams of which by this time had become weak and jaded. The country roads were miry from the spring rains, the streams were swollen, and the numerous wagons which were necessary to transport the munitions of war from Richmond to a new line of defence served to retard the retreat and permit the Federals to rapidly gain upon the slow-marching columns. Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 295 Sheridan's cavalry was already upon the flank of the Confederate army, and the infantry was following with all speed. On the morning of the 6th a wagon-train fell into the hands of Sheridan's troopers, but this was recap- tured by the Confederates. During the forenoon of that day the pursuing columns thickened, and frequent skir- mishes delayed the march. These delays enabled the Federals to accumulate in such force that it became neces- sary for Lee to halt his advance in order to arrest their attack till his column could close up and the trains and such artillery as was not needed for action could reach a point of safety. This object was accomplished early in the afternoon. Ewell's, the rearmost corps of the army, closed upon those in front at a position on Sailor's Creek, a small tributary of the Appomattox River. While the troops were moving to their destination, and the trains had passed, General Gordon, who commanded the rear-guard, observing a con- siderable Federal force moving around the Confederate rear, apparently with the intention of turning it, sent notice of this movement to the troops in front, and then proceeded by a near route to a suitable position on the line of retreat. Ewell, unfortunately, either failed to receive Gordon's message or his troops were so worn out with hunger and fatigue as to be dilatory in complying with orders. As a consequence, his corps was surrounded by the pursuing columns and captured with but little opposition. About the same time the divisions of Anderson, Pickett, and Bushrod Johnson were almost broken up, about ten thou- sand men in all being captured. The remainder of the army continued its retreat during the night of the 6th, and reached Farmville early on the morning of the 7th, wh«r« the troops obtained two daj's' rations, the first 296 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long regular supplies they had received during the retreat. At Farmville a short halt was made to allow the men to rest and cook their provisions. . . . The heads of the Federal columns beginning to appear about eleven o'clock, the Confederates resumed their re- treat. The teams of the wagons and artillery were weak, being travel-worn and suffering from lack of forage. Their progress, therefore, was necessarily slow, and, as the troops were obliged to move in conformity with the artillery and trains, the Federal cavalry closed upon the retreating army. In the afternoon it became necessary to make disposi- tions to retard the rapid advance of the enemy. Mahone's division, with a few batteries, was thrown out for that purpose, and a spirited conflict ensued, in which the Fed- erals were checked. Other attempts were made during the afternoon to retard or arrest the Confederate columns, which in every instance were repulsed. . . . Desperate as the situation had become, and irretrievable as it seemed hourly growing. General Lee could not forego the hope of breaking through the net that was rapidly enclosing him and of forming a junction with Johnston. In the event of success in this he felt confident of being able to manoeuvre with Grant at least until favorable terms of peace could be obtained. A crisis was now at hand. Should Lee obtain the neces- sary supplies at Appomattox Court-House, he would push on to the Staunton River and maintain himself behind that stream until a junction could be made with Johnston. If, however, supplies should fail him, the surrender and dissolution of the army were inevitable. On the 8th the retreat, being uninterrupted, progressed more expeditiously than on the previous day. Yet, though the Federals did not press the Confederate flank and rear as on the day before, a heavy column of cavalry advanced upon Appo- '-I a) Q in Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 297 mattox Station, where the supplies for the Confederate army had been deposited. On the preceding day a correspondence had begun be- tween the two commanding generals, opening in the fol- lowing note sent by General Grant to General Lee : " Head-Quarters Armies of the U. S., " S p. M., April 7, 1865. " General R. E. Lee, commanding C. S. A. " General, — The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate Southern army known as the Army of North- ern Virginia. " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, "Lieutenant-General commanding Armies of the U. S." To which General Lee replied, — "April 7, 1865. " General, — I have received your note of this day. Though not entertaining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will ofifer on condition of its surrender. " R. E. Lee, " General. "Lieutenant-General U. S, GrANT. compign^ing the Armies of the United States." 298 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long On the succeeding day General Grant returned the fol- lowing reply: "April 8, 1865. " To General R. E. Lee, commanding C. S. A. " General, — Your note of the last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, — namely, that the men and officers surren- dered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the government of the United States until properly ex- changed. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you might name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received. " U. S. Grant, " Lieutenant-General." General Lee immediately responded: "April 8, 1865. " General, — I received at a late hour your note of to- day. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but, as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your pro- posals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, but as far as your proposal may affect the Confed- erate States forces under my command and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 299 ten A. M. to-morrow on the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two armies. " R. E. Lee, " General. " Lieutenant-General Grant.'' When Lee in the afternoon reached the neighborhood of Appomattox Court-House, he was met by the intelli- gence of the capture of the stores placed for his army at the station two miles beyond. Notwithstanding this over- whelming news, he determined to make one more effort to force himself through the Federal toils that encompassed him. Therefore he made preparations for battle, but under circumstances more desperate than had hitherto befallen the Army of Northern Virginia. The remnant of that noble army, now reduced to ten thousand effective men, was marshalled to cut its way through a host seventy- five thousand strong; but, notwithstanding the stupendous odds, there was not in that little band a heart that quailed or a hand that trembled; there was not one of them who would not willingly have laid down his life in the cause they had so long maintained, and for the noble chief who had so often led them to victory. On the evening of that day the last council of the leaders of the Army of Northern Virginia was held around a bivouac-fire in the woods, there being present Generals Lee, Longstreet, Gordon, and Fitz Lee. This conference ended in a determination to make a renewed effort on the following morning to break through the impediments in front, of which there was still a possibility if only cavalry should be found and no heavy force of infantry had reached that point. At three o'clock on the morning of the 9th of April the Confederates moved silently forward. The advance under Gordon, reaching the heights a little beyond the court- 300 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long house at dawn, found that the route was obstructed by a large force of Federal cavalry. Gordon then deployed the Second Corps, now less than two thousand strong and supported by thirty pieces of artillery under General Long, with Fitz Lee's cavalry on the flank. This artillery consisted of parts of the commands of Colonel Carter, Lieutenant-Colonels Poague and Duke Johnston, and Major Stark, and the guns were served with the usual skill and gallantry. A well-directed fire from the artillery and an attack from the cavalry quickly dis- lodged the force in front. Gordon then advanced, but was arrested by a greatly superior force of the enemy's in- fantry, whereupon he informed General Lee that a power- ful reinforcement was necessary to enable him to continue his advance. Lee being unable to grant that request, but one course remained. A flag of truce was sent to General Grant re- questing a suspension of hostilities for the arrangement of preliminaries of surrender. Then an order to cease firing passed along the lines. This order, on being received by General Long, was sent by him, through Major South- all and other members of his staff, to the different bat- teries to direct them to discontinue firing. General Long then proceeded to the court-house. On reaching that point he discovered that the order had not been carried to a battery that occupied the hill imme- diately above the village, which continued to fire rapidly at an advancing line of Federal infantry. He at once rode in person to the battery and gave the order to the captain to cease firing and to withdraw his battery to a point east of the town, where the artillery was ordered to be parked. These were the last shots fired by the Army of Northern Virginia. . . . The artillery had been withdrawn from the heights, as Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 301 above stated, and parked in the small valley east of the village, while the infantry, who were formed on the left, stacked arms and silently waited the result of the inter- view between the opposing commanders. The flag of truce was sent out from General Gordon's lines. Grant had not yet come up, and while waiting for his arrival General Lee seated himself upon some rails which Colonel Talcott of the Engineers had fixed at the foot of an apple-tree for his convenience. This tree was half a mile distant from the point where the meeting of Lee and Grant took place, yet wide-spread currency has been given to the story that the surrender took place under its shade, and " apple-tree " jewelry has been pro- fusely distributed from the orchard in which it grew. About eleven o'clock General Lee, accompanied only by Colonel Marshall of his staff, proceeded to the village to meet General Grant, who had now arrived. The meeting between the two renowned generals took place at the house of a Mr. McLean at Appomattox Court-House, to which mansion, after exchanging courteous salutations, they repaired to settle the terms on which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia should be concluded. A conversation here took place which General Grant, as he himself tells us, led to various subjects divergent from the immediate purpose of the meeting, talking of old army matters and comparing recollections with General Lee. As he says, the conversation grew so pleasant that he almost forgot the object of the meeting. General Lee was obliged more than once to remind him of this object, and it was some time before the terms of the surrender were written out. The written instrument of surrender covered the following points. Duplicate rolls of all the officers and men were to be made, and the offi- cers to sign paroles for themselves and their men, all agree- 303 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Long ing not to bear arms against the United States unless regu- larly exchanged. The arms, artillery, and public property were to be turned over to an officer appointed to receive them, the officers retaining their side-arms and private horses and baggage. In addition to this. General Grant permitted every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own a horse or mule to retain it for farming purposes, General Lee remarking that this would have a happy effect. As for the surrender by General Lee of his sword, a report of which has been widely circulated. General Grant disposes of it in the following words : " The much- lalked-of surrendering of Lee's sword and my handing it back, this and much more that has been said about it is the purest romance." After completion of these measures General Lee re- marked that his men were badly in need of food, that they had been living for several days on parched corn ex- clusively, and requested rations and forage for twenty-five thousand men. These rations were granted out of the car-loads of Confederate provisions which had been stopped by the Federal cavalry. As for forage. Grant remarked that he was himself depending upon the countrv for that. The negotiations completed. General Lee left tne house, mounted his horse, and rode back to head-quarters. It is impossible to describe the anguish of the troops when it was known that the surrender of the army was inevitable. Of all their trials, this was the greatest and hardest to endure. There was no consciousness of shame ; each heart could boast with honest pride that its duty had been done to the end, and that still unsullied remained its honor. When, after his interview with Grant, General Lee again appeared, a shout of welcome instinctively ran through the army. But, instantly recollecting the sad occasion that brought him before them, their shouts sank Long] THE LAST MARCH OF LEE'S ARMY. 303 into silence, every hat was raised, and the bronzed faces of the thousands of grim warriors were bathed with tears. As he rode slowly along the lines, hundreds of his de- voted veterans pressed around the noble chief, trying to take his hand, touch his person, or even lay a hand upon his horse, thus exhibiting for him their great afifection. The general then, with head bare and tears flowing freely down his manly cheeks, bade adieu to the army. In a few words he told the brave men who had been so true in arms to return to their homes and become worthy citizens. Thus closed the career of the noble Army of Northern Virginia. [The surrender of Lee's army was followed, a few days after- wards, by that of General Johnston, and within a month all the armies of the Confederacy had laid down their arms and accepted the lenient terms proposed to General Lee. This leniency was soon in danger of being replaced by harsher measures. Two days after Lee's surrender an event occurred which stirred the North as no event of the war had done, an act of brutal violence, which, with a different people, might have led to deeds of bloody and terrible reprisal. This was the murder of President Lincoln, who was shot in a Washington theatre by a frantic partisan of the South, eager for that infamous glory which has led in all ages to acts of destructive violence. Thus, by the pistol of an assassin, fell the man whose hand had guided the ship of state through all the perils of its dangerous way, and whose wise and judicious counsel and unbounded influence would have been of incalculable value in healing the wounds of the war. In the act of its pretended avenger the South lost its best friend, and a long period of divided counsels and bitter feeling was the direct con- sequence of this fatal blow.] 304 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. THE ERA OF CIVIL WAR. LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. [Passing references are elsewhere made to the succession of striking incidents that wound up the four-year struggle between South and North. Before proceeding to the era of peace it is fit- ting to gather together some of the more important events, and the views of one of the principal agents in accomplishing that happy consummation. General Grant's Memoirs are the cher- ished possession of every patriotic student of history. Familiar as his last utterances are, they cannot grow stale by quof^ation when the subject to be illustrated is the grand drama in which he was the chief actor. His official report to the secretary of war is a lasting monument to his simplicity of character as a man and to the directness of his methods as a soldier.] When the army had disbanded, with the exception of the fifty thousand retained under arms, great numbers of the veterans went West, and took up claims in Kansas and Nebraska, under the liberal land laws then enacted in their favor. Meanwhile a great tragedy had taken place. There was a large section of the Democrats of the North who were dissatisfied with the conduct of the war. These chose General McClellan as their candidate against Lin- coln, who was re-elected in 1864. Fremont had been nominated by dissatisfied Republicans, but he withdrew before the election. Lincoln had an overwhelming ma- ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 305 jority in the Electoral College, but the popular vote was as follows: Lincoln, 2,216,067; McClellan, 1,808,725. Elec- toral vote: Lincoln, 212; McClellan, 21. This showed a closer division than might have been ex- pected. McClellan received almost the same number of votes that Lincoln got in i860, while Lincoln gained less than 400,000. The slavery question was still in politics. The Emancipation Proclamation had not been received well in some portions of the North, where the question of slavery was of less importance than that of preserving the Union, and it was feared it would prevent a restoration on any terms. It appeared to Mr. Lincoln that re-election by Republican votes alone was impossible, so he determined to secure the nomination of a War Democrat for Vice- President. He first offered the nomination to General But- ler, who declined it, and then to Andrew Johnson, who accepted it. Johnson was a man of little education, but of great will power. He had been Governor of Tennessee, Senator, and then Military Governor, rising from the tailor's bench in a little mountain town. Great was the joy in the North over the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee. Just four years had the fighting lasted, and peace was welcomed with the wildest enthu- siasm, only to be dampened by the murder of the President. On the night of Good Friday, April 14, 1865, in Ford's Theatre, Washington, John Wilkes Booth, the actor, en- tered the box where the President was seated, shot him, and jumped to the stage, shouting " Sic semper tyrannis ! " He broke the bones of his ankle in the jump from the box, but managed to escape and, by aid of confederates, crossed the Potomac and got into Virginia, but in a few days was discovered. Refusing to surrender, he was shot. On the same night that Lincoln was shot. Secretary Seward was stabbed seriously, and Grant escaped only by absence from 3—20 306 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. the city. Lincoln survived until Saturday morning, April 15, 1865, but died without recovering consciousness. Terrible was the wrath of the North over the event, and the best men in the South regretted it equally, for all had come to respect Lincoln, and they realized that his mur- der would be laid upon the South, which would suffer ac- cordingly — a presentiment that was correct. It developed that there was a small conspiracy involved, but that it in- cluded no one outside of Washington and was not inspired by any Southern leaders. Just how much each of the parties to the conspiracy knew is uncertain. The meetings were at the home of Mrs. Surratt. The others who were found to be most closely involved were men named Harold, Payne, and Atzerott, who, with Mrs. Surratt, were ex- ecuted. Others who in any way aided Booth to escape were punished severely. And now a few statistics about the war. There were issued ten calls for troops, for a total of 2,763,670 men. At first the South was called upon, but not thereafter. These calls were distributed among the States according to population; and 2,772,408 responded, while 86,724 paid commutation money. But, as some of these men enlisted twice or more, it is estimated that the actual number of men who enlisted on a three years' basis numbered 2,320,- 272, of whom 186,097 were colored. The regular army, in the war, consisted of about 67,000 men. Some of the volunteers served but a short time, in cases of emergency. The average number of Federal troops present in the field during 1862-3-4 and '65 was 600,000; the largest num- ber being 800,000 in May, 1865. The average number absent from the army for various causes was about 250,000; so that the total army rose steadily from 575,917 on Janu- ary I, 1862, to 1,000,516 on May i, 1865. Altogether there were 1,981 regiments in the three armies, 498 sepa- LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 307 rate companies, and 232 separate batteries, or about 2,072 regiments, if all had been properly organized and con- solidated. The losses of the army have never been accurately de- termined. There were many persons who deserted and have never been accounted for; many who were killed or died in prison, of whom no record was kept; but three dif- ferent estimates by various bureaus do not greatly differ. Phisterer's estimate, though now believed to be somewhat too low, is as follows: Killed in battle, 44,238; died of wounds, 49,205; died of disease, 186,216; unknown, sui- cides, etc., 24,710; total, 304,369. The latest estimates give the loss as high as 360,000. There were 2,261 engagements of all kinds, and in 148 of these the Federal loss was 500 or more. The following table gives the losses in the principal bat- tles of the Civil War. The figures are the total for killed, wounded, and missing, as given in Phisterer's Official Record: Battle. Union. Confederate. Bull Run 2,952 1,752 Shiloh 13,573 10,699 Seven Pines and Fair Oaks 5,739 7,997 Seven Days Battles 15,249 17,583 Second Bull Run 7,800 3,700 Antietam 12,469 25,899 Perryville 4,348 7>ooo Fredericksburg 12,353 4,576 Murfreesboro ii,578 25,560 Chancellorsville 16,030 12,281 Gettysburg Campaign 23,186 31,621 Chickamauga 15,851 17,804 Chattanooga 5,6i6 8,684 Wilderness 37,737 ii.40o 308 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. Battle. Union. Confederate. Spottsylvania, etc 26,461 9,000 Atlanta : 3,641 8,499 Franklin 2,326 6,252 Nashville 2,140 15,000 Surrendered at the close, about 100,000 The statistics for the Confederate army are not so easy to give, because many of the records have been destroyed, and because not all of the calls for troops were met. At first States' rights were recognized by calling for State troops, but this soon became unsatisfactory, and the Con- federate army was organized. Under the various calls for troops and the many acts of legislation by the Con- federate Congress every able-bodied man in the Confed- eracy was, sooner or later, called into the service, and finally boys and old men were pressed into service for gar- rison duty. ■ It is believed that 750,000 men, in all, were regularly enlisted, armed, and equipped; but probably not 500,000 were ever in the service at one time, while the real number of effectives must have been considerably less. Yet the disparity in effectiveness between these two armies was not so great as the figures suggest. The Confederates were always, with a few exceptions, in their own territory and generally behind works. The Confederates never won a victory outside their own borders, not even in the border States of Kentucky or Maryland, nor did they have any important successes in Tennessee. The Federal army was obliged to keep up a long line of communication from its base of suppHes, and this constantly depleted the firing line. The great Confederate victory in the West was at Chickamauga. In the East the victories were in defending their capital. Both sides fought with great valor, and the end did not come until the fighting power of the South had gone. It is believed that the Confederate army lost over LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 309 200,000 men killed, died of wounds or disease. There is one excellent authority who claims, on the basis of the few re- turns available, that the loss was at least 300,000, and per- haps more, making a total sacrifice of nearly 700,000 men. Financially, both sections were in great trouble much of the time. War is terribly expensive. The North had more resources than the South, but at first it had little credit and no cash. The Morrill tariff bill, passed in 1861, provided for a war revenue, but it was only a drop in the bucket. The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to borrow, but lenders were few. The whole nation was for a time in a dazed condition. Secession, so long threatened, had come, and many loyal persons believed that it was not possible to maintain the Union by war and preferred a peaceable separation. Others feared that a war would be useless, as Europe would interfere on behalf of the South, because almost all the cotton in the world came from within her borders, and to shut ofif this commodity would cause so much distress that international law would be strained to force an outlet for this great staple. Could the Confederacy have had a steady outlet for cotton it could have kept up the struggle much longer. It was with this purpose in view that Mr. Davis sent Mason and Slidell to Great Britain and France; but the failure was as complete as was an appeal to the Pope at Rome, who made the abolishment of slavery a sine qua non of recognition. This of course was impossible. The Con- federacy first resorted to loans guaranteed by cotton, and for a time their loans sold well; but when cotton was no longer allowed to leave the country except as captured by the Federals, there was difficulty in making loans on any good basis. The Confederate expenses were enormous, be- cause of the great risk in getting in supplies from abroad. There were few good mechanics in the South, and few 310 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. foundries; the Tredegar Iron Works, at Richmond, was the only first-class establishment of its kind in the Con- federacy. When loans from the States and bond sales failed to raise money, resort was had to paper currency, which was issued in large amounts. Just how much was current will never be known. The workmanship on the notes was poor, and counterfeits in the North were easily made, so that the South was swamped with paper money. It declined steadily with the fortunes of the Confederate arms, and after the war it became, along with the bonds, entirely worthless. Many of these bonds were held abroad. In fairness it can be said that the finances of the Confed- eracy were never well handled, even considering all the difficulties involved. The Federal Government was more fortunate. After a short period of gloom and despair the Northern people resolved to stick together. A meeting of the leading bank- ers was held and money was furnished for a time almost as called for. The Treasury also issued interest-bearing notes for small denominations, but even these were not sufficient for the strain. When it was found that there was to be a long and bloody war, entirely original measures were taken. The National Banking system, substantially as it now is, was established. This had the two-fold effect of marketing bonds and providing currency for the needs of the people. Income and internal revenue taxes were laid on many articles. Specie payments were suspended, but no great disaster came. Finally, non-interest-bearing Treasury notes to the amount of nearly $450,000,000 were issued to pay war expenses. They were never on a par with gold, falling to about 40 per cent at one time, but fluc- tuating according to the success of the Federal arms. After the war they rose in value rapidly, but did not reach par until 1878. During the most trying part of the war Mr. LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 311 Chase was at the head of the Treasury, but, on the death of Chief Justice Taney, succeeded him and Hugh McCul- lough became Secretary. During the war most of the bonds were sold through the agency of Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia — the fourth man from that city to finance our Govern- ment in a war. By August, 1865, the National debt, which was only about $80,000,000 in i860, had reached $2,845,- 000,000. About $800,000,000 was raised during the war by customs duties, internal revenue, and^direct taxes. General Grant's account of how he heard the news of Lincoln's assassination is characteristically succinct: " After I left General Lee at Appomattox Station, I went with my staff and a few others directly to Burkesville Sta- tion on my way to Washington. The road from Burkes- ville back having been newly repaired and the ground be- ing soft, the train got off the track frequently, and, as a result, it was after midnight of the second day when I reached City Point. As soon as possible I took a despatch- boat thence to Washington City. " While in Washington I was very busy for a time in pre- paring the necessary orders for the new state of affairs; communicating with my different commanders of separate departments, bodies of troops, etc. But by the 14th I was pretty well through with this work, so as to be able to visit my children, who were then in Burlington, New Jersey, at- tending school. Mrs. Grant was with me in Washington at the time, and we were invited by President and Mrs. Lin- coln to accompany them to the theatre on the evening of that day. I replied to the President's verbal invitation to the effect, that if we were in the city we would take great pleasure in accompanying them; but that I was very anxious to get away and visit my children, and if I could get through my work during the day I should do so. I did get through and started by the evening train on the 14th, 313 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. sending Mr. Lincoln word, of course, that I would not be at the theatre. " At that time the railroad to New York entered Phila- delphia on Broad Street; passengers were conveyed in ambulances to the Delaware River, and then ferried to Camden, at which point they took the cars again. When I reached the ferry, on the east side of the City of Phila- delphia, I found people awaiting my arrival there; and also despatches informing me of the assassination of the President and Mr. Seward, and of the probable assassina- tion of the Vice-President, Mr. Johnson, and requesting my immediate return. " It would be impossible for me to describe the feeling that overcame me at the news of these assassinations, more especially the assassination of the President. I knew his goodness of heart, his generosity, his yielding disposition, his desire to have everybody happy, and above all his de- sire to see all the people of the United States enter again upon the full privileges of citizenship with equality among all. I knew also the feeling that Mr. Johnson had expressed in. speeches and conversation against the Southern people,' and I feared that his course towards them would be such as to repel, and make them imwilling citizens; and if they became such they would remain so for a long while. I felt that reconstruction had been set back, no telling how far. " I immediately arranged for getting a train to take me back to Washington City; but Mrs. Grant was with me; it was after midnight and Burlington was but an hour away. Finding that I could accompany her to our house and re- turn about as soon as they would be ready to take me from the Philadelphia station, I went up with her and returned immediately by the same special train. The joy that I had witnessed among the people in the street and in public places in Washington when I left there, had been turned to LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 313 grief; the city was in reality a city of mourning. I have stated what I believed then the effect of this would be, and my judgment now is that I was right. I believe the people of the South would have been spared very much of the hard feeling that was engendered by Mr. Johnson's course towards them during the first few months of his administration. Be this as it may, Mr. Lincoln's assas- sination was particularly unfortunate for the entire nation." Here is an expert's judgment on the American soldier: " The troops were hardy, being inured to fatigue, and they appeared in their respective camps as ready and fit for duty as they had ever been in their lives. I doubt whether an equal body of men of any nation, take them man for man, officer for officer, was ever gotten together that would have proved their equal in a great battle. " The armies of Europe are machines ; the men are brave and the officers capable; but the majority of the soldiers in most of the countries of Europe are taken from a class of people who are not very intelligent and who have very little interest in the contest in which they are called upon to take part. Our armies were composed of men who were able to read, men who knew what they were fighting for, and could not be induced to serve as soldiers, except in an emergency when the safety of the nation was involved, and so necessarily must have been more than equal to men who fought merely because they were brave and because they were thoroughly drilled and inured to hardships." The great reception given to the troops is thus described: " On the i8th of May orders were issued by the adjutant- general for a grand review by the President and his cabinet of Sherman's and Meade's armies. The review commenced on the 23d and lasted two days. Meade's army occupied over six hours of the first day in passing the grand stand 314 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. which had been erected in front of the President's house. Sherman witnessed this review from the grand stand which was occupied by the President and his cabinet. Here he showed his resentment for the cruel and harsh treatment that had unnecessarily been inflicted upon him by the Secretary of War, by refusing to take his extended hand. " Sherman's troops had been in camp on the south side of the Potomac. During the night of the 23d he crossed over and bivouacked not far from the Capitol. Promptly at ten o'clock on the morning of the 24th, his troops com- menced to pass in review. Sherman's army made a dif- ferent appearance from that of the Army of the Potomac. The latter had been operating where they received directly from the North full supplies of food and clothing regu- larly: the review of this army therefore was the review of a body of 65,000 well-drilled, well-disciplined and or- derly soldiers inured to hardship and fit for any duty, but without the experience of gathering their own food and supplies in an enemy's country, and of being ever on the watch. Sherman's army was not so well-dressed as the Army of the Potomac, but their marching could not be ex- celled; they gave the appearance of men who had been thoroughly drilled to endure hardships, either by long and continuous marches or through exposure to any climate, without the ordinary shelter of a camp. They exhibited also some of the order of march through Georgia where the ' sweet potatoes sprung up from the ground ' as Sherman's army went marching through. In the rear of a company there would be a captured horse or mule loaded with small cooking utensils, captured chickens and other food picked up for the use of the men. Negro famiHes who had fol- lowed the army would sometimes come along in the rear of a company, with three or four children packed upon a single mule, and the mother leading it. LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 315 " The sight was varied and grand : nearly all day for two successive days, from the Capitol to the Treasury Building, could be seen a mass of orderly soldiers marching in col- umns of companies. The National flag was flying from almost every house and store; the windows were filled with spectators; the door-steps and side-walks were crowded with colored people and poor whites who did not succeed in securing better quarters from which to get a view of the grand armies. The city was about as full of strangers who had come to see the sights as it usually is on Inauguration day." Read at this distance of time from the year when- Grant penned his literary legacy to his country, these reflections show the qualities of statesmanship in no ordinary degree. " It is probably well, that we had the war when we did. We are better off now than we would have been without it, and have made more rapid progress than we otherwise should have made. The civilized nations of Europe have been stimulated into unusual activity, so that commerce, trade, travel, and thorough acquaintance among people of different nationalities, have become common; whereas, be- fore, it was but the few who had ever had the privilege of going beyond the limits of their own country or who knew anything about other people. Then, too, our republican in- stitutions were regarded as experiments up to the break- ing out of the rebeUion, and monarchical Europe generally believed that our republic was a rope of sand that would part the moment the slightest strain was brought upon it. Now it has shown itself capable of dealing with one of the greatest wars that was ever made, and our people have proven themselves to be the most formiHable in war of any nationality. " But this war was a fearful lesson, and should t^ach us the necessity of avoiding wars in the future. 316 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. " To maintain peace in the 'future it is necessary to be prepared for war. There can scarcely be a possible chance of a conflict, such as the last one, occurring among our own people again; but, growing as we are, in population, wealth and military power, we may become the' envy of nations which led us in all these particulars only a few years ago; and unless we are prepared for it we may be in danger of a combined movement being some day made to crush us out. Now, scarcely twenty years after the war, we seem to have forgotten the lessons it taught, and are going on as if in the greatest security, without the power to resist an invasion by the fleets of fourth-rate European powers for a time until we could prepare for them. "We should have a good navy, and our sea-coast de- fences should be put in the finest possible condition. Neither of these costs much when it is considered where the money goes, and what we get in return. Money ex- pended in a fine navy not only adds to our security and tends to prevent war in the future, but is very material aid to our commerce with foreign nations in the mean time. Money spent upon sea-coast defences is spent among our own people. The work accomplished, too, like that of the navy, gives us a feeling of security." [For long years to come there will be friendly controversies over the various acts of the war-drama. Volumes have been filled with narratives of fact viewed from different standpoints, which dis- cussions may in a considerable degree be modified by reference to the accepted official statement of the plan and working out of the campaign by General Grant. This is contained in his Report of the United States Armies, 1864-1865, from which these selections are taken. It is dated, Headquarters, Armies of the United States, Washington, D. C., July 22, 1865.] Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 317 of the operations of the Armies of the United States from the date of my appointment to command the same. From an early period in the rebellion I had been im- pressed with the idea that active and continuous opera- tions of all the troops that could be brought into the field, regardless of season and weather, were necessary to a speedy termination of the war. The resources of the enemy and his numerical strength were far inferior to ours; but as an offset to this, we had a vast territory, with a popula- tion hostile to the government, to garrison, and long lines of river and railroad communications to protect, to enable us to supply the operating armies. The armies in the East and West acted independently and without concert, like a balky team, no two ever pull- ing together, enabling the enemy to use to great advan- tage his interior lines of communication for transporting troops from East to West, reinforcing the army most vig- orously pressed, and to furlough large numbers, during seasons of inactivity on our part, to go to their homes and do the work of producing, for the support of their armies. It was a question whether our numerical strength and resources were not more than balanced by these disad- vantages and the enemy's superior position. From the first, I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be had that would be stable and conducive to the happiness of the people, both North and South, until the military power of the rebellion was entirely broken I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops practicable against the armed force of the enemy ; preventing him from using the same force at different seasons against first one and then another of our armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and producing the necessary supplies for carrying on resistance. Second, to hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy 318 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. and his resources, until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the constitution and laws of the land. These views have been kept constantly in mind, and orders given and campaigns made to carry them out. Whether they might have been better in conception and execution is for the people, who mourn the loss of friends fallen, and who have to pay the pecuniary cost, to say. All I can say is, that what I have done has been done con- scientiously, to the best of my ability, and in what I con- ceived to be for the best interests of the whole country. [After detailing the instructions given to his officers, and sketch- ing the disposition of General Lee's forces, Grant proceeds with his narrative.] The movement of the Army of the Potomac commenced early on the morning of the 4th of May, under the imme- diate direction and orders -of Major-General Meade, pur- suant to instructions. Before night, the whole army was across the Rapidan (the fifth and sixth corps crossing at Germania Ford, and the second corps at Ely's Ford, the cavalry, under Major-General Sheridan, moving in ad- vance), with the greater part of its trains, numbering about four thousand wagons, meeting with but sHght opposi- tion. The average distance travelled by these troops per day was about twelve miles. This I regarded as a great success, and it removed from my mind the most serious apprehensions I had entertained, that of crossing the river in the face of an active, large, well-appointed, and ably commanded army, and how so large a train was to be car- ried through a hostile country, and protected. Early on the 5th, the advance corps (the fifth, Major-General G. K. Warren commanding) met and engaged the enemy outside LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 319 his intrenchments near Mine Run. The battle raged furi- ously all day, the whole army being brought into the fight as fast as the corps could be got upon the field, which, considering the density of the forest, and narrowness of the roads, was done with commendable promptness. General Burnside, with the ninth corps, was, at the time the Army of the Potomac moved, left with the bulk of his corps at the crossing of the Rappahannock River and Alexandria Railroad, holding the road back to Bull Run, with instructions not to move until he received notice that a crossing of the Rapidan was secured, but to move promptly as soon as such notice was received. This cross- ing he was apprised of on the afternoon of the 4th. By six o'clock of the morning of the 6th he was leading his corps into action near the Wilderness Tavern, some of his troops having marched a distance of over thirty miles, crossing both the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers. Considering that a large proportion, probably two-thirds of his command, was composed of new troops, unaccus- tomed to marches, and carrying the accoutrements of a soldier, this was a remarkable march. The battle of the Wilderness was renewed by us at five o'clock on the morning of the 6th, and continued with unabated fury until darkness set in, each army holding substantially the same position that it had on the evening of the 5th. After dark, the enemy made a feeble attempt to turn our right flank, capturing several hundred prison- ers and creating considerable confusion. But the prompt- ness of General Sedgwick, who was personally present and commanded that part of our line, soon re-formed it and re- stored order. On the morning of the 7th, reconnoissances showed that the enemy had fallen behind his intrenched lines, with pickets to the front, covering a part of the battle- field. From this it was evident to my mind that the two 330 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. days' fighting had satisfied him of his inability to further maintain the contest in the open field, notwithstanding his advantage of position, and that he would wait an attack behind his works. I therefore determined to push on and put my whole force between him and Richmond; and orders were at once issued for a movement by his right flank. On the night of the 7th, the march was commenced towards Spottsylvania Court House, the fifth corps moving on the most direct road. But the enemy having become apprised of our movement, and having the shorter line, was enabled to reach there first. On the 8th, General Warren met a force of the enemy, which had been sent out to oppose and delay his advance, to gain time to fortify the line taken up at Spottsylvania. This force was steadily driven back on the main force, within the recently con- structed works, after considerable fighting, resulting in severe loss to both sides. On the morning of the 9th, General Sheridan started on a raid against the enemy's lines of communication with Richmond. The 9th, loth and nth were spent in manoeuvring and fighting, without decisive results. Among the killed on the 9th was that able and distinguished soldier Major-General John Sedg- wick, commanding the sixth army corps. Major-General H. G. Wright succeeded him in command. Early on the morning of the 12th a general attack was made on the enemy in position. The second corps, Major-General Han- cock commanding, carried a salient of his line, capturing most of Johnson's division of Ewell's corps and twenty pieces of artillery. But the resistance was so obstinate that the advantage gained did not prove decisive. The 13th, 14th, 15th, i6th, 17th and i8th were consumed in manoeuvring and awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Washington. Deeming it impracticable to make any further attack upon the enemy at Spottsylvania Court LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 331 House, orders were issued on the i8th with a view to a movement to the North Anna, to commence at twelve o'clock on the night of the 19th. Late in the afternoon of the 19th, Ewell's corps came out of its works on our extreme right flank; but the attack was promptly repulsed, with heavy loss. This delayed the movement to the North Anna until the night of the 21st, when it was commenced. But the enemy again, having the shorter line, and being in possession of the main roads, was enabled to reach the North Anna in advance of us, and took position behind it. The fifth corps reached the North Anna on the afternoon of the 23d, closely followed by the sixth corps. The second and ninth corps got up about the same time, the second holding the railroad bridge, and the ninth lying between that and Jericho Ford. General Warren efifected a cross- ing the same afternoon, and got a position without much opposition. Soon after getting into position he was vio- lently attacked, but repulsed the enemy with great slaugh- ter. On the 25th, General Sheridan rejoined the Army of the Potomac from the raid on which he started from Spottsylvania, having destroyed the depots at Beaver Dam and Ashland stations, four trains of cars, large supplies of rations, and many miles of railroad-track; recaptured about four hundred of our men on their way to Richmond as prisoners of war; met and defeated the enemy's cavalry at Yellow Tavern; carried the first line of works around Richmond (but finding the second line too strong to be carried by assault), recrossed to the north bank of the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge under heavy fire, and moved by a detour to Haxall's Landing, on the James River, where he communicated with General Butler. This raid had the efifect of drawing off the whole of the enemy's cavalry force, making it comparatively easy to guard our trains. 3—21 333 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [General Grant makes the following reference to the military qualities of Major-General Sheridan.] Two divisions of cavalry, commanded by Generals Tor- bert and Wilson, were sent to Sheridan from the Army of the Potomac. The first reached him at Harper's Ferry about the nth of August. His operations during the month of August and the fore part of September were both of an offensive and defensive character, resulting in many severe skirmishes, principally by the cavalry, in which we were generally suc- cessful, but no general engagement took place. The two armies lay in such a position — the enemy on the west bank of the Opequan Creek covering Winchester, and our forces in front of Berryville — that either could bring on a battle at any time. Defeat to us would lay open to the enemy the States of Maryland and Pennsylvania for long distances before another army could be interposed to check him. Under these circumstances I hesitated about allow- ing the initiative to be taken. Finally, the use of the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which were both obstructed by the enemy, became so indispensably necessary to us, and the importance of relieving Pennsylvania and Maryland from continuously threatened invasion so great, that I determined the risk should be taken. But fearing to telegraph the order for an attack without knowing more than I did of General Sheridan's feelings as to what would be the probable result, I left City Point on the 15th of September to visit him at his headquarters, to decide, after conference with him, what should be done. I met him at Charlestown, and he pointed out so distinctly how each army lay; what he could do the moment he was authorized, and expressed such con- fidence of success, that I saw there were but two words of instruction necessary — Go in! For the conveniences of LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 323 forage, the teams for supplying the army were kept at Harper's Ferry. I asked him if he could get out his teams and supplies in time to make an attack on the ensuing Tuesday morning. His reply was, that he could before daylight on Monday. He was off promptly to time, and I may here add, that the result was such that I have never since deemed it necessary to visit General Sheridan before giving him orders. [In the following passage are interesting criticisms of Generals Hood and Thomas.] Hood, instead of following Sherman, continued his move northward, which seemed to me to be leading to his cer- tain doom. At all events, had I had the power to com- mand both armies, I should not have changed the orders under which he seemed to be acting. On the 26th of October, the advance of Hood's army attacked the garri- son at Decatur, Alabama, but failing to carry the place, withdrew towards Courtland, and succeeded, in the face of our cavalry, in effecting a lodgment on the north side of the Tennessee River, near Florence. On the 28th, Forrest reached the Tennessee, at Fort Heiman,-and captured a gunboat and three transports. On the 2d of November he planted batteries above and below Johnsonville, on the opposite side of the river, isolating three gunboats and eight transports. On the 4th the enemy opened his bat- teries upon the place, and was replied to from the gun- boats and the garrison. The gunboats becoming disabled were set on fire, as also were the transports, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. About a million and a half dollars' worth of stores and property on the levee and in storehouses was consumed by fire. On the 5th the enemy disappeared and crossed to the north side of the Tennessee River, above Johnsonville, moving towards Clif- ton, and subsequently joined Hood. On the night of the 334 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. 5th, General Schofield, with the advance of the 23d corps, reached Johnsonville, but finding the enemy gone, was ordered to Pulaski, and put in command of all the troops there, with instructions to watch the movements of Hood and retard his advance, but not to risk a general engage- ment until the arrival of General A. J. Smith's command from Missouri, and until General Wilson could get his cavalry remounted. On the 19th, General Hood continued his advance. Gen- eral Thomas, retarding him as much as possible, fell back towards Nashville for the purpose of concentrating his com- mand and gaining time for the arrival of reinforcements. The enemy coming up with our main force, commanded by General Schofield, at Franklin, on the 30th, assaulted our works repeatedly during the afternoon and till late at night, but was in every instance repulsed. His loss in this battle was one thousand seven hundred and fifty killed, seven hundred and two prisoners, and three thousand eight hundred wounded. Among his losses were six general officers killed, six wounded, and one captured. Our entire loss was two thousand three hundred. This was the first serious opposition the enemy met with, and I am satisfied was the fatal blow to all his expectations. During the night. General Schofield fell back towards Nashville. This left the field to the enemy — not lost by battle, but voluntarily abandoned — so that General Thomas' whole force might be brought together. The enemy followed up and com- menced the establishment of his line in front of Nashville on the 2d of December. As soon as it was ascertained that Hood was crossing the Tennessee River, and that Price was going out of Missouri, General Rosecrans was ordered to send to Gen- eral Thomas the troops of General A. J. Smith's command, and such other troops as he could spare. The advance LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 335 of this reinforcement reached Nashville on the 30th of November. On the morning of the 15th of December General Thomas attacked Hood in position, and, in a battle lasting two days, defeated and drove him from the field in the ut- most confusion, leaving in our hands most of his artillery and many thousand prisoners, including four general officers. Before the battle of Nashville I grew very impatient over, as it appeared to me, the unnecessary delay. This impa- tience was increased upon learning that the enemy had sent a force of cavalry across the Cumberland into Kentucky. I feared Hood would cross his whole army and give us great trouble there. After urging upon General Thomas the necessity of immediately assuming the offensive, I started West to superintend matters there in person. Reaching Washington City, I received General Thomas' despatch announcing his attack upon the enemy, and the result as far as the battle had progressed. I was delighted. All fears and apprehensions were dispelled. I am not yet satisfied but that General Thomas, immediately upon the appearance of Hood before Nashville, and before he had time to fortify, should have moved out with his whole force and given him battle, instead of waiting to remount his cav- alry, which delayed him until the inclemency of the weather made it impracticable to attack earlier than he did. But his final defeat of Hood was so complete, that it will be ac- cepted as a vindication of that distinguished officer's judg- ment. After Hood's defeat at Nashville he retreated, closely pursued by cavalry and infantry, to the Tennessee River, being forced to abandon many pieces of artillery and most of his transportation. On the 28th of December our ad- vanced forces ascertained that he had made good his escape to the south side of the river. 326 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. About this time, the rains having set in heavily in Ten- nessee and North Alabama, making it difficult to move army transportation and artillery, General Thomas stopped the pursuit by his main force at the Tennessee River. A small force of cavalry, under Colonel W. J. Palmer, 15th Pennsylvania Volunteers, continued to follow Hood for some distance, capturing considerable transportation and the enemy's pontoon-bridge. [The battle of Five Forks is here described.] From the night of the 29th to the morning of the 31st the rain fell in such torrents as to make it impossible to move a wheeled vehicle, except as corduroy roads were laid from Dinwiddie Court House towards Five Forks, where he found the enemy in full force. General Warren advanced and extended his line across the Boydton Plank Road to near the White Oak Road, with a view of getting across the latter; but, finding the enemy strong in his front and extending beyond his left, was directed to hold on where he was, and fortify. General Humphreys drove the enemy from his front into his main line on the Hatcher, near Burgess' Mills. Generals Ord, Wright and Parke made examinations in their fronts to determine the feasibility of an assault on the enemy's lines. The two latter reported favorably. The enemy confronting us as he did, at every point from Richmond to our extreme left, I conceived his lines must be weakly held, and could be penetrated if my estimate of his forces was correct. I determined, there- fore, to extend our line no farther, but to reinforce Gen- eral Sheridan with a corps of infantry, and thus enable him to cut loose and turn the enemy's right flank, and with the other corps assault the enemy's lines. The result of the offensive effort of the enemy the week before, when he assaulted Fort Stedman, particularly favored this. The enemy's intrenched picket-line captured by us at that time LAST ECHOES OF THE CONFLICT. 337 threw the lines occupied by the belligerents so close to- gether at some points that it was but a moment's run from one to the other. Preparations were at once made to reheve General Humphreys' corps, to report to General Sheridan; but the condition of the roads prevented imme- diate movement. On the morning of the 31st, General Warren reported favorably to getting possession of the White Oak Road, and was directed to do so. To accom- plish this, he moved with one division, instead of his whole corps, which was attacked by the enemy in superior force and driven back on the 2d division before it had time to form, and it, in turn, forced back upon the 3d division, when the enemy was checked. A division of the 2d corps was immediately sent to his support, the enemy driven back with heavy loss, and possession of the White Oak Road gained. Sheridan advanced, and with a portion of his cavalry got possession of the Five Forks; but the enemy, after the affair with the 5th corps, reinforced the rebel cavalry, defending that point with infantry, and forced him back towards Dinwiddle Court House. Here General Sheridan displayed great generalship. Instead of retreat- ing with his whole command on the main army, to tell the story of superior forces encountered, he deployed his cavalry on foot, leaving only mounted men enough to take charge of the horses. This compelled the enemy to deploy over a vast extent of wooded and broken country, and made his progress slow. At this juncture he de- spatched to me what had taken place, and that he was drop- ping back slowly on Dinwiddle Court House. General Mackenzie's cavalry and one division of the 5th corps were immediately ordered to his assistance. Soon after receiv- ing a report from General Meade that Humphreys could hold our position on the Boydton Road, and that the other two divisions of the 5th corps could go to Sheridan, they 328 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. were so ordered at once. Thus the operations of the day necessitated the sending of Warren, because of his accessi- bility, instead of Humphreys, as was intended, and precipi- tated intended movements. On the morning of the ist of April, General Sheridan, reinforced by General Warren, drove the enemy back on Five Forks, where, late in the evening, he assaulted and carried his strongly fortified po- sition, capturing all his artillery and between five and six thousand prisoners. [In concluding his memorable report, which ranks as a state docu- ment of the first historic importance, General Grant pays a generous and merited tribute to the soldierly qualities of both armies.] There have been severe combats, raids, expeditions, and movements to defeat the designs and purposes of the enemy, most of them reflecting great credit on our arms, and which contributed greatly to our final triumph, that I have not mentioned. Many of these will be found clearly set forth in the reports herewith submitted; some in the tele- grams and brief despatches announcing them, and others, I regret to say, have not as yet been officially reported. It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the West and the East fight battles, and from what I have seen I know there is no difiference in their fighting qualities. All that it was possible for men to do in battle they have done. The Western armies commenced their battles in the Mississippi Valley, and received the final surrender of the remnant of the principal army opposed to them in North Carolina. The armies of the East commenced their battles on the river from which the Army of the Potomac derived its name, and received the final surrender of their old antagonists at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The splendid achievements of each have nationalized our victories, removed all sectional jealousies (of which we have unfortunately experienced too much), and the cause of Logan] GREAT CAPTAINS OF THE WAR. 339 crimination and recrimination that might have followed had either section failed in its duty. All have a proud rec- ord, and all sections can well congratulate themselves and each other for having done their full share in restoring the supremacy of law over every foot of territory belonging to the United States. Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy, whose manhood, however mis- taken the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds of valor. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. GREAT CAPTAINS OF THE WAR. Frederick Logan. [Not until the fulness of time, when the fierce passions of war and their aftermath of controversy have subsided, can the char- acters of the chief actors be fairly gauged, either by their comrades or interested on-lookers. Censure and praise equally superficial are heaped upon the leaders in the field by self-constituted critics, who too readily forget that the play can rarely be understood until the end of the game. From the view-point of our own day we see certain heroic figures looming out from the battle-smoke with unmistakable grandeur. By a few master-characteristics their right of leadership is made clear. We quote these brief estimates of four famous champions from the pen of Frederick Logan in his work, "'Famous Warriors."] ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. 1822-1885. President Lincoln, when asked to name the greatest of American generals, unhesitatingly rephed, " U. S. Grant." 330 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan The calm determination which made Grant remain before Vicksburg for months without even mildly resenting the ridicule which was being heaped upon him, and the firm resolution that never failed to carry out a project once fixed upon, only partly explains the great success and remarkable career of Grant as a warrior. Many of his biographers have given credit to these qualities alone, but even a cursory glance at his achievements cannot fail to demonstrate that, in addition to courage and unfaltering persistency, he was endowed with such far-reaching judg- ment and skill both in the planning and execution of great projects as cannot be said to have been surpassed by any of the most notable commanders of the world. From ob- scure and unpromising boyhood he advanced by merit alone to an eminence attained by but few American citi- zens. Through it all he remained the same modest, un- assuming character as when he worked in his youth in his father's tannery. In every difficulty and under the most discouraging and perilous conditions that imperturb- able calm, Vifhich was a characteristic of the man, was never broken. There is no instance recorded in which Grant ever showed anger, nor has there ever been any denial of the assertion that he never used a profane word. His accomplishments as a soldier in meeting and overcoming obstacles of apparently insurmountable proportions is little short of marvellous. In addition to other qualities which made him great as a soldier, was the confidence and loyalty which he inspired in his troops by his own example. He was quick to see a fault, but quicker to pardon offence. He never forgot to thank his soldiers for the part they had taken in bringing about victory, and his addresses to his troops read like the stirring addresses of Napoleon. The grateful nation which he had served remembered and honored him both before and after his death. Twice he Logan] GREAT CAPTAINS OF THE WAR. 331 was chosen President of the United States, and was offered a third term. Congress created for him a rank of distinc- tion which no other American ever received, and when his briUiant career ended a whole nation bent with grief. His name and fame will live long after the magnificent marble tomb in which he sleeps has crumbled and become a thing of the past. In the disastrous campaign of the Wilderness Grant had lost nearly 60,000 men and had thus far accomplished nothing. The losses of Lee, it is asserted, did not exceed 10,000. But Grant was now beginning to make himself felt in the vicinity of Petersburg and Richmond, and through the fall and winter his operations were every- where meeting with flattering success. March 24, 1865, the final great movement began. On April 2d Petersburg fell. It was the last straw, and Lee at once advised the Confederate President to evacuate Richmond. In the mean time the fighting in front of that city had reached its limits. The Confederates could no longer continue the struggle to save the Capital. On the morning of April 3d the advance of the Federal army entered the city and the Stars and Stripes was hoisted over the Capitol, while Grant continued to press after the conquered foe. The pursuit continued until the 9th, when Lee found himself practi- cally hemmed in on all sides at Appomattox. On that morning he requested an interview regarding terms of sur- render, which Grant had two days previously advised him to do. The two great soldiers met and clasped hands in the house of Wilmer McLean at Appomattox. They had served together in the Mexican War, and remembered each other. Grant sat down and wrote out the terms of surrender, and Lee, after reading the document and dis- 332 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan cussing the details to some extent, signed the agreement. To all intents and purposes this ended the war. It was followed April 26th by the surrender of Johnston to Sher- man. Mobile had fallen April nth, and the other South- ern armies surrendered gradually, the last being on May 26th. Grant visited Washington, where a grand review, the most imposing this country has ever witnessed, was held. In New York, Chicago, and every place where Grant appeared he met with great and spontaneous ovations, not the least of them being the town of Galena, 111., which was the point from which he had started for the war. Numerous swords were presented to him, and gifts of every description were showered upon him by States, mu- nicipalities, and private individuals who admired his skill and success. In July, 1866, Congress created the title of General, never before in existence in America, and con- ferred it upon Grant. In 1868 Grant was nominated for President and elected by the almost unanimous vote of the nation. After serving his first term he was re-elected. During his service as President, Grant proved himself no less a statesman than he had been a warrior. A third term as President was offered him, but he firmly refused to accept it. He now had the opportunity to gratify a desire which had clung to him from youth, to see the Old World and its wonders. He set sail from Philadel- phia May 17, 1877, accompanied by Mrs. Grant and his youngest son. He visited nearly every country upon the earth, and was everywhere accorded the highest honors. His return to the United States was the signal for another series of ovations such as has been accorded to few citizens of this nation. Early in the year 1884, Gen- eral Grant began to be troubled with the illness which proved his last. It was cancer of the tongue, and from the first there was no hope that he could be cured. His Logan] GREAT CAPTAINS OF THE WAR. 333 closing days were given up to preparing his autobiography, in which he wished to be strictly accurate in the smallest matters. Facing the last enemy, the gallant soldier remained as undismayed as had been his habit on the field of bat- tle. He died peacefully on the morning of Thursday, July 23, 1885. His death was felt the world over, and expressions of regret and sympathy came from every quar- ter of the globe. His mortal remains lie under a mag- nificent monument in Riverside Park in the city of New York. Cut into the enduring marble of his tomb are the memorable words he uttered at the first convention which nominated him for the Presidency: " Let us have peace." WILLIAM TBCUMSEH SHERMAN. 182O-189I. After the close of the war and the great review in Washington, Sherman was placed at the head of the Mili- tary Division of the Mississippi, later called the Military Division of the Missouri, with headquarters at St. Louis. He had charge of projecting the construction of the Pacific Railroad, then being constructed west from the Missouri. When Grant became President, Sherman rose to the full rank of General of all the armies, and he fulfilled the duties of that high position in fact as well as in name. He visited every military post in the country with two exceptions, and by telegraph directed from his headquar- ters at Washington the movement of troops in the far West. It was affirmed that no living man was so con- versant with the topography, geography and resources of every section of the United States as General Sherman. He was a great traveller, and spent his vacations on horse- back among the mountains and deserts of the West in preference to watering-places or the society of city life. 334 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan In 1871 and 1872 he spent a year in foreign lands. In 1877 Sherman spent 115 days visiting the Indian country and the Northwest. During this time he travelled nearly 10,000 miles. His description of this trip shows him to be a forceful and graphic writer, even more than his de- scriptions of battle-fields. Sherman's home was blessed with eight children, and the first great misfortune in his domestic life was the death of his son, Willie, who died of typhoid fever at Memphis, October 3, 1863. He was with his father in the campaign of the Mississippi, and was a favorite with the troops, who made him an honorary ser- geant of the Thirteenth. Mrs. Sherman died in New York, November 28, 1888, after a long illness. February 14, 1891, the famous warrior passed away. He had taken a cold some days previously, which fastened itself upon his lungs, and caused his rapid decline. Only a gentle sigh escaped the veteran's lips as his spirit took flight. An imposing military funeral was held in New York, and the remains were carried by special train, accompanied by a guard of honor, to St. Louis, which for many years had been the home of the General. At every station along the long journey bands of music played solemn dirges and crowds gathered to show their respect for the departed hero. Arrived at St. Louis, a funeral procession was formed, composed of the regular troops, State and munici- pal officers, and great numbers of friends of the deceased. He was buried beside the graves of his wife and two of his. children. His son. Rev. Thomas E. Sherman, per- formed the last religious services over the flag-covered casket. A company of troops fired a farewell salute of three volleys, followed by an answering roar from the artillery. Then a solitary bugler stepped forward and sounded taps over the grave of the distinguished soldier, and the solemn and impressive ceremonies came to an Logan] GREAT CAPTAINS OP THE WAR. 335 end. According to his own wish, the monument over his grave contains no inscription except his name, the dates of his birth and death, and the simple epitaph " True and Honest." * * * No better brief summary, perliaps, of the character and true greatness of General Sherman can be found than the message of President Harrison to Congress on the event of the venerable warrior's death. Harrison had served as an officer in Sherman's army in Georgia, and cherished the love and respect for Sherman that was shared by every loyal soldier who ever served under him. The message in part said : " The death of William Tecumseh Sherman is an event that will bring sorrow to the heart of every patriotic citizen. No living American was so loved and venerated as he was. To look upon his face, to hear his name, was to have one's love of country intensi- fied. He served his country not for fame, not out of a sense of professional duty, but for the love of the flag and of the beneficent civil institutions of which it was the emblem. He was an ideal soldier, and shared to the fullest the esprit de corps of the army; but he cherished the civil institutions organized under the Constitution, and was a soldier only that these might be perpetuated in undimin- ished usefulness and honor. He was in nothing an imitator. A profound student of military science and precedent, he drew from them principles and suggestions, and so adapted them to novel conditions that his cam- paigns will continue to be the profitable study of the mili- tary profession throughout the world. His genial nature made him comrade to every soldier of the great Union army. His career was complete; his honors were full. He had received from the Government the highest rank known to our military establishment, and from the people 336 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan unstinted gratitude and love." Sherman was the soul of simplicity, and his candor was renowned. He asserted of himself that he had no natural military genius, but other geniuses, military and otherwise, have viewed his career with a coldly critical gaze, and have differed from his modest estimate. Not only did he possess to the very highest degree the true military genius, but also those other qualifications which go to make up the perfect soldier as a leader of soldiers: courage, determination, coolness, sound judgment, and, above all, that attribute which inspired to a marvellous degree the confidence and enthusiasm of men and officers alike. ROBERT EDWARD LEE 1807-187O. Through all of the obstacles and vicissitudes that beset him in the Wilderness campaign, Lee patiently and valiantly held on, although poorly supported during much of the time by those for whose cause he fought. New Year's day of 1865 witnessed a sad and pitiful spectacle in the devoted army of General Lee. On every hand he was threatened with ruin, and with him the cause of the South. Food was scarce, the army was literally starv- ing, and disease and death lurked everywhere. The last effort to rally the waning confidence of the people was the elevation of Lee to Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of the Confederacy. Lee was practically the only man in the South in whom the populace had not lost faith. But the time for both hope and faith was passing. Grant was daily drawing more and more closely the coils which he had cast about the South. The surrender of Richmond and Petersburg necessarily served as a prelude to the surrender of Lee. Retreating after the fall of Rich- mond, which was evacuated April 2d, after the desperate LoganJ great captains OF THE WAR. 337 fighting and the great sacrifice of life that had been made to save it, Lee was pursued and assailed from every side; he was finally completely hemmed in at Farmville, April 7th, when Grant at once opened negotiations for the sur- render of the Confederate army. It was effected April 9th, when Lee signed the final agreement at the village of Appomattox Court House. This was the end of the war. Peace was restored; Lee, the last mainstay of the Southern cause, had been vanquished, but he had fought valiantly, and in accordance with his conscience. He maintained to the last moment that he was still capable of resisting, but surrendered in the interest of peace. After the surrender Lee remained quietly at his home in Richmond, where he was visited by thousands, who called to express their admiration of his abilities as a warrior. Federal officers passing North after the war called on him to shake his hand, and they were received with dignified kindness. On October 12, 1870, at Lex- ington, General Lee died after a brief illness, which came upon him suddenly in the form of nervous prostration. Not only the South, but the whole nation, mourned his death, for his ability and worth was everywhere recognized. * * * Wolseley, the English general, regarded Robert E. Lee as the greatest of American generals. Lee was neither an enthusiast nor a fanatic: he believed when he took up the sword in hostility against the Federal Government that he was doing his duty and he was willing to abide by the consequences, be what they might. He was a kind-hearted, dignified, and Christian gentleman. His bravery was un- questioned. From the very outset of his military career, which began under General Scott in the Mexican War, he displayed that zeal and intrepidity which won for him praise and promotion. His high character and self- 3—^2 338 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan sacrifice in the interest of the cause which he believed to be just, gained the sincere admiration of even his former foes, while the calm dignity with which he met adversity and submitted to the inevitable, aroused Northern sym- pathy and Southern pride. " In person," says McCabe, " General Lee was strikingly handsome. He was tall in stature and possessed one of the most perfectly propor- tioned figures the writer ever saw. He was so perfectly proportioned and so graceful in motion that walking seemed to be no exertion to him. His features were hand- some and his expression commanding, yet kind and win- ning. In his manner he was quiet and modest, but thor- oughly self-possessed. His whole bearing seemed to me to merit the expression of ' antique heroism ' applied to him by a foreign writer. He was courteous and kind to all, and at the height of his power the humblest private in the army approached him with an absolute certainty of a cordial reception. He was devotedly loved by his friends, and personally he had no enemies. He was strong in his friendships and slow to condemn any one. In the midst of the fierce passions of war his moderation was most remarkable. He was absolutely free from bitterness of feeling, and spoke of his adversaries with kindness and respect. He possessed the most perfect command over his temper, and it is said that he was never seen angry. An oath never passed his lips, and he used neither tobacco nor liquors." Lee made a long, desperate, and brilliant but unequal struggle, and, viewed as a master of defensive warfare, ranks second to no warrior in the world. THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON. 1824-1863. At Chancellorsville Jackson and a few members of his staff advanced along the turnpike for a short distance in Logan] GREAT CAPTAINS OF THE WAR. 339 the direction of the enemy, when suddenly there was a volley of musketry and the party turned and started for their own lines. As they advanced they were mistaken for Federal cavalry, and a body of Confederates opened fire upon them. General Jackson was thrice wounded. One ball passed through his right hand, another struck his left arm below the elbow, shattering the bone and severing the main artery, while a third struck the same arm above the elbow. Medical aid was hastily summoned, and, although the wounds caused him great pain, he made no complaint. He was carried for a distance by members of his staff, and then determined to walk. Finally, becom- ing so weak that he was unable to proceed farther, he was placed upon a litter. All of this time they were under a heavy fire from the enemy. One of the men car- rying him was shot, and the litter fell violently to the ground, causing Jackson for a time excruciating pain. A few hundred yards farther on. Dr. McGuire appeared with an ambulance, and the General was taken to the field infirmary at the Wilderness Tavern. The left arm was amputated two inches below the shoulder. He com- plained that his right side had been injured in falling from the litter, and thought he had struck a stump or stone. No external evidence of injury, however, could be discovered. During the first few days he seemed to be recovering, but on the Thursday following was attacked with nausea and complained of great pain. Examination showed that pleuro-pneumonia had set in. His wife, who had already been sent for, arrived and remained at his bedside until he died. The end came peacefully on Sun- day, May ID, 1863. Jackson faced death as calmly on his bed of pain as he had on the field of battle, and his last words, uttered distinctly and clearly as the uncon- sciousness, from which there was to be no awakening. 340 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Logan began to fall upon him, showed how serene was his mind and conscience. These words were : " Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." His death was a severe blow to the cause for which he had fought, and he was sincerely mourned by the South. His remains, according to his own request, were buried at Lexington, after the highest marks of honor and respect had been paid by the President, cabinet and officials of the Confederacy. * * * As a warrior, " Stonewall " Jackson has frequently been compared to Napoleon. In the characters of these two men as warriors there is indeed a great similarity. The wonderful marches and the rapidity with which move- ments in strategy were carried out by Jackson were never surpassed by Napoleon. The clear vision of military plans which Napoleon possessed to so remarkable a degree was also a distinguishing characteristic of " Stonewall " Jack- son. The confidence and loyalty of soldiers for their leader was never shown by the French troops of the " Little Corporal " to a more pronounced extent than was that of the Southern soldiers to " Old Jack." Like Napoleon, too, Jackson was on terms of friendly familiarity with the common trooper under his command. While Jackson was not a strict disciplinarian, no man ever drew the line of duty closer, and none ever performed it more faith- fully. These traits, together with his calm and never- failing courage, his confidence and cool daring, and the aggressive spirit which at all times predominated in his movements during the campaigns, account for the devotion with which his men followed their intrepid leader against many a forlorn hope and turned the tide of more than one desperate conflict. " Stonewall " Jackson's genius as a soldier was excelled only by his gallantry and indomi- MoRBis] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 341 table bravery. He was throughout a consistent and prac- tical Christian, and solemnly attributed to the Almighty every victory, while defeats were accepted with a calm resignation as part of the plan of the Creator. Jackson died as he had lived, a warrior and a Christian. General Lee, in announcing the death of Jackson to the army, wrote: "The daring, skill, and energy of this great and good soldier, by a decree of all-wise Providence, are now lost to us. But while we mourn his death, we feel that his spirit lives, and will inspire the whole army with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God as our hope and strength." RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. Charles Morris. [The close of the Civil War added many new and complex prob- lems to the sufficiently difficult questions under national consider- ation. Some of these problems have found a lasting solution, others remain for judicious treatment by a generation better able by lapse of time to view with dispassionate judgment events that racked the hearts of all who shared the trials of that great convulsion. Reserving certain of those events for fuller notice, we give now the following summary of general affairs during the first years of peace from the pen of Charles Morris.] Terrible as was the war into which the United States had been plunged, and immense as was the loss of life and treasure it involved, it did not end without some com- pensation for its cost and its horrors. The two disturbing questions which gave rise to the conflict were definitely 342 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris settled by the triumph of the government. Slavery was abolished; that most fruitful source of sectional dispute no longer existed to vex the minds of legislators and people. The doctrine of State rights, also, had been laid at rest. The country had entered the war as a not very strongly united or clearly defined confederation of States. It emerged as a powerful and much more homogeneous na- tion. The theory of the right of secession was not likely to be advanced again for many years to come. Other benefits had resulted from the conflict. The national banking sys- tem may be named as one of these. The finances of the country were placed on such a solid and secure basis as they had never before occupied. During the four years of the war the United States had performed an extraordinary labor. Beginning with the merest nucleus of an army and a navy, and with its ar- senals bare of war-material, it had in that time created an army of more than a million disciplined men, as thorough soldiers as ever trod the surface of this planet, and com- pletely supplied it with war-material of the most approved kind. It had revolutionized naval warfare, with its fleet of powerful ironclads, and had brought into action guns of much greater calibre and longer range than had ever be- fore .been employed. Its feats of transportation, of rail- road-building and destruction, of bridge-building, etc., were unprecedented in magnitude. " The Etowah bridge, six hundred and twenty-five feet long and seventy-five feet high, was built in six days; the Chattahoochee bridge, seven hundred and forty feet long and ninety feet high, was built in four and a half days." The task of the government had been no light one. It had an immense country to reduce to obedience. From the beginning to the end of the war its armies were con- stantly on the enemy's soil, and opposed to men as brave Morris] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 343 as themselves, fighting for their homes and what they deemed their rights, with all the advantages of a posture of defence, and of the natural breastworks of rivers, moun- tain-chains, forests, and other checks to an invading army. It was not an open country, traversed by practicable roads, hke the battle-grounds of Europe, but in great part a wild and difficult region, of vast extent, and so strongly de- fended by nature as greatly to reduce the necessity of de- fence by art. History presents no parallel instance of a country of such dimensions and such character, defended by a brave and patriotic population, conquered within an equally brief period of time. There is one important incident of American history which demands attention at this point. The outbreak of the Civil War was taken advantage of by France, England, and Spain, to send an allied expedition to Vera Cruz, with the ostensible purpose of enforcing the payment of the Mexican debt to those countries. But, as it soon appeared that France had other aims, her allies withdrew. In July, 1863, the French entered the city of Mexico, and at once threw off the mask they had worn, proposing Maximilian, an Austrian prince, as a candidate for an imperial throne. The Mexican leaders who had aided the enterprise with the expectation of gaining power for themselves, found that they had been tricked by their astute ally, and that an empire with a foreign ruler was established in their coun- try. This empire was destined to be of short duration. The American war ended in the triumph of the North, to the dismay and confusion of the French invaders, and at once the voice of the United States was heard, bidding, in no uncertain phrase, the French to withdraw from the land. Napoleon III. prevaricated and delayed, but he dared not resist. It was the alternative of war or withdrawal, and 344 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris war with the United States just then was no desirable undertaking. The French troops were withdrawn, but Maximilian madly remained. The necessary consequence followed. The Mexicans rose, besieged him, and captured him on May 15, 1867. He was tried by court-martial, was condemned to execution, and was shot on June 19. Thus disastrously ended the only attempt of European powers to control and to establish monarchy in a republi- can country of America. The Monroe doctrine had been proved to be more than an empty phrase. Within three hours after Abraham Lincoln expired, Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as the seventeenth President of the United States. The Presidential life of Lincoln had been one long period of civil war. That of his successor was destined to be one of political difiS- culty and struggle, in which the war seemed transferred from the nation to the government, and a bitter strife arose between Congress and the President. The task of reconstruction of the conquered territory was no light one, and could hardly, in any case, have been achieved without some degree of controversy, but Johnson, who at first ex- pressed himself in favor of severely punishing the rebellious States, soon placed himself squarely in opposition to Con- gress. He declared that a State could not secede, and that none of the Southern States had actually been out of the Union, and took measures of reconstruction of which Congress decidedly disapproved. Johnson's doctrine was ignored by a Congressional declaration that the seceding States actually were out of the Union, and could be readmitted only under terms prescribed by Congress. The Civil Rights Bill, which made negroes citizens of the United States, was enacted April 19, 1866. Shortly afterwards a fourteenth amendment to the Constitution was proposed, guaranteeing « Morris] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 345 equal civil rights to all persons, basing representation on the number of actual voters, declaring that no compensa- tion should be given for emancipated slaves, etc. This was adopted by the requisite number of States, and became a part of the Constitution on July 28, 1868. As the work of reconstruction proceeded, the breach between the President and Congress grew more decided. Bill after bill was passed over his veto, and finally, Feb- ruary 24, 1868, the House passed a resolution, by a large majority, to impeach the President for " high crimes and misdemeanors " in the conduct of his ofifice. Of the acts of President Johnson, on which this resolution was based, that of the removal of Secretary Stanton from his cabinet office was the most essential. It was in direct contraven- tion of the Tenure of Office Act, which declared that no removal from office could be made without the consent of the Senate. Stanton protested against this removal, and was sustained in his protest by the Senate, yet was soon afterwards removed again by the President. This brought the quarrel to a climax, and the impeachment pro- ceedings immediately began. The impeachment trial continued until May, on the i6th of which month the final vote was taken. It resulted in a verdict of " not guilty." The excitement into which the country had been aroused gradually 3ied away, and " the sober second thought " of the community sustained the action of the Senate, though for a time very bitter feeling prevailed. In pursuance of the " military act," the South, on March 2, 1867, was divided into five districts and placed under military governors. These were made amenable only to the General of the army. This form of government, and the exclusion of the better class of Southern citizens from civil duties, placed all power in the hands of an inferior 346 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris body of the population, and of Northern men (contemptu- ously designated " carpet-baggers ") who had gone South after the war in search of position and power. The actions of many of these men were little calculated to restore har- mony between the two sections of the country. The difiS- culty was added to by the behavior of bands of Southern reprobates and extremists, who, designating themselves the " Ku Klux Klan," rode about the country in disguise, and sought by acts of violence and outrage to intimidate the negroes and punish all who sympathized with them. It was highly desirable that this transition state of afifairs should come to an end, and the States be recon- structed with governments of their own. This was gradu- ally accomplished bytheir acceptance of the terms proposed by Congress. By June, 1868, all but three of the seceded States had accepted the fourteenth amendment, and been readmitted to the Union. On the Fourth of July of that year a proclamation of general amnesty was made, convey- ing pardon to all who had been engaged in the war, except those actually under indictment for criminal offences. (Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, had been released from a military prison on bail, without trial for treason.) On February 27, 1869, a fifteenth amendment to the Constitution was proposed in Congress, which for- bade the United States, or any State, to deny the right of suffrage to any person on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This was passed and sub- mitted to the States, and was declared ratified by the requisite majority on March 30, 1870. Early in the same year the representatives of the three States still outstand- ing — Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas — were admitted to Congress, these States having accepted the Constitutional amendments. With this admission the problem of recon- struction was completed, and the country resumed its nor- Morris] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 347 mal condition, though with radical changes in its funda- mental laws and the make-up of its voting population. During the interval covered by the political evolution here outlined, other events of great importance had taken place. These included the admission of two new States — Nevada, which was accepted as a State in 1864, while the war was still pending; and Nebraska, which was admitted in 1867. The history of Nevada presents features of par- ticular interest. At the date of its admission it was, though much below the requisite population for Congressional representation, growing so rapidly in consequence of its rich silver output, that no doubt was entertained of its soon reaching the standard of representation. This expec- tation has not been fulfilled. The production of silver has decreased, the State is almost destitute of agricultural and pastoral possibilities, and the population, which reached 62,266 in 1880, decreased to 45,761 in 1890, and 42,334 in 1900, or about 133,000 below the present ratio of repre- sentation. In the year of the admission of Nebraska (1867) an addition of considerable importance was made to the territory of the United States in the acquisition of Alaska, which was purchased from Russia for $7,200,000. While much of the 577,000 square miles of this territory is likely to continue useless, the value of its fisheries, furs, timbers, and minerals very greatly exceeds its cost to the United States, and every new exploration yields a higher concep- tion of its natural wealth. (The gold output of the Alaska region is dealt with in a later page.) The period in which these political events were taking place was made notable by two industrial triumphs of the greatest importance. The first of these was the laying of an ocean telegraph cable. The earliest effort to connect the United States with Europe by telegraph was made in 1856. This cable parted. One was laid successfully in 348 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Moreis 1858, but it ceased to work after a few messages had been transmitted. Cyrus W. Field, the projector of the enter- prise, continued his efforts, and after another failure, in 1865, succeeded in his difficult task in 1866. Afterwards the broken cable of 1865 was raised and spliced, and both wires were found to work admirably. Since that date several other cables have been laid across the Atlantic, and ocean cables have been extended between various other countries. The other event alluded to is the building of the Central Pacific Railroad. This, the greatest feat in railroad- building up to that time, was completed in 1869, the last spike being driven in May of that year, at Ogden, Utah. By it continuous railroad connection was made between New York and San Francisco, a distance of 3,300 miles. More recently the Northern, the Southern, the Canadian, and other Pacific Railroads were completed and communi- cation between all parts of the eastern and western sea- boards of this country has been made easy and rapid. In the Presidential campaign of 1868 the Republican party nominated General Grant and Schuyler Colfax for President and Vice-President, while the Democratic nomi- nees were Horatio Seymour and General Frank P. Blair. The Repubhcan ticket was elected by a large majority. Of the events that occurred during this administration two were of the highest importance; the Chicago fire, and the settlement of the Alabama claims. These claims arose from the ravages on American commerce committed dur- ing the Civil War by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers, which had been fitted out in English ports, and permitted to sail in disregard of the earnest protests of the United States minister to England. This default in international obligations produced such bitter feeling in this country that war might have resulted had not a peace- Morris] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 349 ful means of settlement been found. The dispute was finally adjusted by arbitration, a board composed of com- missioners from several nations meeting at Geneva, Switz- erland, in 1872. The result of their deliberations was in favor of the United States, and it was awarded £3,229,- 166 (about $15,700,000), which sum Great Britain promptly paid. This event is of the highest interest, as being among the first settlements of a great international difficulty by the peaceful and economical method of arbi- tration instead of the costly and destructive one of war. Another question between the United States and England, that concerning the northwest boundary, was similarly adjusted, being submitted to the Emperor of Germany, who decided it in favor of the United States During the night of October 8, 187 1, there broke out in Chicago what became, perhaps, the most destructive con- flagration, in actual loss of wealth, that ever visited any city. High winds spread the flames, which found abun- dant fuel in the many wooden structures of the city, and they raged for three days, destroying property valued at two hundred millions of dollars. The ground burned over was four and a half miles long by one mile wide, one hun- dred thousand people were left homeless, and two hundred lost their lives by this terrible disaster. [A later account gives the following summary: Three and a third square miles burned over; i7,4So buildings destroyed; 98,- 500 persons rendered homeless, and over 250 killed. The total direct loss of property was estimated at $190,000,000, swelled by indirect losses of $290,000,000. Fifty-six insurance companies were rendered insolvent by the fire. In less than a month over $3,500,000 had been subscribed, independent of aid voted by the State Legislature.] About the same time the forest regions of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota were devastated by fires of extra- 350 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Morris ordinary extent, many villages being burned, while fifteen hundred persons perished in Wisconsin alone. To com- plete this carnival of fire a disastrous conflagration broke out in the business district of Boston on November 9, 1872. The loss amounted to seventy-five million dollars, nearly eight hundred buildings, many of them large and costly, being consumed. These conflagrations gave occa- sion for one of the most striking examples of American enterprise that has ever been shown. Almost without delay the process of rebuilding the burned districts began, and in a few years scarcely a trace of the disasters remained. The ruined cities rose again from their ashes more grand, massive, and imposing than before. Of the Congressional questions that arose during Grant's first term, one of the most important was that concerning the acquisition of San Domingo. This republic, com- prising a large part of the island of Hayti, applied for admission to the United States, an application which was warmly favored by the President. It met, however, with strong opposition in Congress, particularly from Senator Sumner, and the bill for its acceptance was defeated. Another important event of the same term was the exposure of the " Credit Mobilier " scheme, which occurred in 1872. This consisted in an effort to bribe Congress in favor of legislation to the advantage of the Central Pacific Rail- road Company. Stock of the railroad was secretly trans- ferred at a nominal price to various members of Congress, for the purpose of influencing their votes, and the exposure of the illegal scheme seriously injured the reputations of many members. In 1872, General Grant was again- elected to the Presi- dency, with Henry Wilson for Vice-President. Horace Greeley, the nominee of the " Liberal Republican " party, was supported by the Democratic vote, but was defeated Morris] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 351 by a majority of two hundred and twenty-three electoral votes. This second administration of President Grant was marked by exhibitions of public dishonesty not less dis- creditable than that of the " Credit Mobilier." In 1875 Secretary Belknap was impeached by Congress on a charge of fraud and peculation in the disposal of Indian post- traderships. He was acquitted by the Senate. About the same time great revenue frauds were discovered, in which persons connected with the government were implicated. These were perpetrated by the " Whiskey Ring " in several western cities. The trials of the accused parties were con- ducted with so manifest an effort on the part of the govern- ment authorities to shield certain persons as to cause great public distrust and dissatisfaction. The " Star-Route " frauds in the transportation of the mails, and the exposure of the gigantic robberies of the " Tweed Ring " in New York, and of instances of public dishonesty in Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities, were other evidences of political corruption that did not indicate a high standard of political honesty in the United States at the conclusion of its first century of national existence. Of the events of this Presidential term, however, the most important was the severe financial depression by which it was marked. The era of high prices and business activ- ity which had followed the war yielded its legitimate eifect in an abnormal growth of the spirit of speculation. The inevitable consequence followed. In 1873 came a financial crash that carried ruin far and wide throughout the coun- try. It began on October i, in the disastrous failure of the banking firm of Jay Cooke & Co., of Philadelphia, the financiers of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Failure after failure succeeded, panic spread through the whole com- munity, and the country was thrown into a condition resem- bling that of 1837, but more disastrous from the fact that 353 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Moekis much greater wealth was affected. Years passed before business regained its normal proportions. A process of contraction set in, the natural change from high war-prices to low peace-prices, and it was not till 1878 that the timidity of capital was fully overcome and business once more began to thrive. [Industry and trade had flourished beyond precedent during the first years after the war. The high protective tariflf contributed its share to the general rush of enterprise. In 1873 railroad mileage had doubled itself since i860, and this was a prolific cause of rash speculation. While business was expanding the currency was contracting. Paper money had depreciated, and the condi- tions foreboded a crash. The Jay Cooke firm stood at the head of the great banking concerns. This house had handled most of the government loans during the war, and as already stated, were financing the doubtful Northern Pacific scheme. When this firm broke, strong institutions tottered and thousands of people in every rank of life were stricken with absolute ruin or sufferings that were none the less poignant for being outside the category of direct financial failures. The blow was felt for years in im- paired credit, pressure for payment of dues, the lowering of securi- ties and general dread of even safe enterprises. United States bonds fell from five to ten per cent. Savings were exhausted and many banks went under. Labor felt the cruel stroke for long after in the shutting down of factories and the half-time employ- ment. The country was in a state of alarm and disgust at the bitter consequences of questionable acts in Congress, by the Administration, and in the realm of finance, and its indignant resolve to change things for the better was expressed in the heated contest which replaced the Grant administration with that of President Hayes, in 1876.] aa^.'V, A ,'1. >< JEFFERSON DAVIS. Leigh] CURRENCY, LABOR AND POLITICS. 353 CURRENCY, LABOR AND POLITICS. Olivek H. G. Leigh. [To detail the history of the many stirring questions and move- ments that arose in the twenty years following the close of the war would be beyond the scope of this work. It is necessary, how- ever, to give a fairly comprehensive though brief narrative of each controversy, to which end strict chronological order is subordinated to general interest] Whatever radical differences existed as to the choice of remedies, all parties were agreed that some heroic measure must be devised that would place national finance on a sounder foundation than that of the panic year. Re- sumption of specie payments was the prescription of far- seeing statesmen, but its practicability seemed out of the question. The two leading parties took opposite sides as a rule, though the dividing line was not as strictly drawn as usual in party politics. There were subsidiary questions, which affected the main one varyingly, as sec- tional interests asserted their views. In 1873 a law was passed which demonetized the silver dollar, making gold the sole legal tender coinage of the United States. This act is still the subject of acrimonious discussion. Comparatively little silver had been coined since 1834, the total value during the century was only about $8,000,000. As the ratio of our dollar was sixteen to one by weight to gold, and the Latin Union rate was fifteen and a half, a large proportion of our silver coinage was taken by Europe and recoined at a profit. It was generally believed that the immense annual output of gold would estabUsh that metal as the standard of the world. The Monetary Conference at Paris in 1867 advised the demonetization of silver, and the United States, which was represented, agreed to this recommendation. There 3—23 354 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Leigh had been in 1872 an effort to increase the issue of Treasury notes, the popular " greenbacks," from $356,000,- 000 to $380,000,000. A further " Inflation Bill " in 1874 was vetoed by the President. A compromise measure was passed for the relief of the banks, which fixed the maximum issue at $382,000,000, no part of which was to be held in reserve. It was not until the immense output of Colorado's silver mines, subsequent to 1873, had exceeded the demand that the allegation of fraud was hurled against those who had quietly demonetized the dollar in the Act of that year. Legal tender silver dollars had ceased to be coined, and Europe was acting on the same lines. The Resumption Act was passed in January, 1875, providing that the Treas- ury should resume specie payments, redeeming the green- backs in coin from and after January i, 1879. The Sec- retary of the Treasury was authorized to sell at not less than par, sufficient bonds to provide the necessary coin, all of which was supposed to be gold. The national debt was also to be paid in coin. In 1875 began the agitation for the restoration of silver to its legal status. The " trade dollar," for use in China, had not been interfered with. Gold had appreciated and prices had fallen. Alarm was widely felt that if debts could not be paid in legal silver coinage it would mean severe hardship if not ruin to tax- payers and traders. A bill was introduced by the Repre- sentative from Missouri, known as the " Bland Bill," restor- ing the silver dollar to its former position as legal tender. It provided that " any owner of silver bullion may deposit the same at any coinage mint or assay office to be coined into dollars, for his benefit, upon the same terms and con- ditions as gold bullion is deposited for coinage under exist- ing laws." The bill passed the House but the Senate hesitated to sanction the payment of government Bonds, issued when Leigh] CURRENCY. LABOR AND POLITICS. 355 silver was at sixteen to one, with a coinage the ratio of which had fallen to eighteen to one, with the probable continuance of decrease in value. Not until 1878 did the " Bland Bill " become a law, and its passage was only ren- dered possible by Senator Allison's amendment or substi- tute, which enacted that the Secretary of the Treasury should buy, at the current market price, from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 worth of silver each month and coin it into silver dollars, which should be legal tender for all debts. This was accepted by Congress, and on being vetoed by President Hayes, was passed by both Houses on the same day, February 28, 1878. This legislation was supple- mented in 1890 by the " Sherman Law," creating Treasury notes issued on deposit of silver bullion. The status of gold was not materially affected by these silver measures. The purchase clause was repealed in 1893. The continued and serious depreciation of silver occasioned a re-discus- sion of the whole question. The results of the elections of 1896 and 1900 indicated a virtual acceptance, at least for the time, of the universal adhesion to a gold standard. From 1862 until the resumption of 1879 gold had been above par, reaching the high premium of 285 in 1864. It first touched par a few days before January i, when the Resumption Act came into force. The organization of labor as a political force culminated in the National Labor Congress of 1870, which formu- lated demands for cheap money, the creation of a labor department, the exclusion of Chinese immigrants, and an eight-hour working day. The Department was formed in 1888. Many causes contributed to the disturbances, some being veritable labor wars, which began in the sev- enties. Among these were unwise immigration facilities, demagogism, and short-sighted policy by some large em- ployers. Workmen combined against wholesale importa- 356 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Leigh tion of illiterate foreigners who were content with a wage- scale which meant humiliation if not starvation to Ameri- can competitors. Employers combined to assert and main- tain their legal right to buy labor in the cheapest market. The conditions made bad blood inevitable. It showed first and fiercely in the mining districts of Pennsylvania. A few years before these outbreaks there had been a govern- ment investigation in England into a series of deliberate atrocities perpetrated at the instance of certain trades- union leaders in the cutlery district, where employers and workmen had been killed by explosions and air-guns for disregarding the organization's rules in the matter of wages, apprentices, and " scabs." A number of the suspects came to this country, and, as a coincidence, the same ma- chinery of intimidation soon got at work in Pennsylvania. A thousand men en masse forced certain mines to shut down in June, 1875. Coal " breakers " were set on fire, trains had to be guarded by armed men to prevent derail- ing, watchmen and officials were shot, and harmless pas- sengers were fired at in- this reign of terrorism. Police- men and employers received the usual tragi-burlesque illus- trated " warnings," and the threats were usually carried out, often with fatal results. This was the infamous " Mollie Maguire " organization. Its members not only murdered at pleasure, but were able to control elections and stop business. The State railway companies preferred to do the national duty of ferreting out and punishing the leaders of the Maguires, distrusting the local police ma- chine. By the efforts of a detective spy, who entered the organization, the conspiracy was crushed, nine leaders were hanged and others imprisoned for life. The management of sundry railway companies in those years was not noted for wisdom, economy, or considerate- ness in dealing with workmen. Bad as times were, their Leigh] CURRENCY, LABOR AND POLITICS. 357 attitude towards their employees was ill-graced, irrespective of the merits of the questions at issue. Wages were reduced ten per cent, employment was irregular, and other irri- tating grievances were alleged by the army of men, in justification of the strike of 1877. No pleas of this sort justify the excesses that made this conspicuous as a reck- less crusade of destruction. On July 14 the railway men and " sympathetic strikers " from other bodies opened hos- tilities by suspending freight traffic completely, and pas- senger trains partially. The Baltimore and Ohio line in West Virginia was first attacked, and this was quickly fol- lowed by operations against the Pennsylvania, Erie, and New York Central. New hands were deterred by guns. Pittsburg was the storm centre. The Philadelphia militia were besieged in a roundhouse which was fired by burning cars. They escaped with four killed. Elsewhere the local militia sympathized with the rioters and refused to fire. When the President sent United States troops to the three affected States, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Vir- ginia, the rioters gave in. During the two weeks of law- lessness nineteen were killed at Chicago, nine rioters at Baltimore, eleven of the crowd killed at Reading, and two hundred soldiers wounded. Pittsburg had $10,000,000 worth of property destroyed, of which Allegheny county alone refunded $3,000,000. A hundred thousand work- ingmen are said to have had part in the rioting, and they controlled some six thousand miles of railway for the time. Sparks from the Eastern explosion set California aflame. Labor was in a discontented state. A notice to lower wages was withdrawn by the railway corporation on hearing of the consequences in Pennsylvania, but a meeting was con- vened at which the working men recorded their sympathy with the strikers. It happened that a simultaneous attack was made that night on some Chinese laundries, of which 358 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Leigh a number were burnt within a few days and several men were killed. A vigilance committee was formed to sup- press violence, and the agitation developed into the " sand- lots " meetings under the lead of Denis Kearney, whose war-cry was " The Chinese must go! " It rose, flourished, and died, but left its mark in the legislation forbidding further immigration of the Chinese. Other notable strikes and riots were those of 1892, at Homestead, Pennsylvania, where the militia was sent to quell the ironworkers, the affair costing several lives; and the Chicago strike at Pullman, where property valued at millions was destroyed and railway traffic suspended, being finally quelled by Federal troops. There were less exten- sive but very destructive labor wars in 1884 and 1886 in Cincinnati and St. Louis. Chicago had its memorable tragedy when the anarchist members of a mass-meeting, agitating for short hours and sympathizing with a local strike, discharged a bomb killing several policemen, for which four anarchists were hanged. The labor party polled seventy thousand votes for Henry George in the mayoralty election of New York city in 1887, but the Hon. Abram Hewitt was elected. Despite all agitation and honest at- tempts on both sides to reconcile capital and labor the century closed with little appreciable progress towards so desirable an ending of disputes, which would be easier of solution were inventions and combinations and population on the downward plane. The course of national politics has run no more smoothly than that of labor. The Presidential controversy of 1876 opened a period of sharp struggle over doctrines of great import to the commonweal. The Republican nominee, Rutherford B. Hayes, was declared elected by the Electoral Commission, though Tilden, the Democratic candidate, had the larger popular vote, which stood, Hayes, 4,033,950, Leigh] CURRENCY, LABOR AND POLITICS. 359 Tilden, 4,284,885. The new administration commanded general respect for quality and character. " One of the first acts of President Hayes' administration was to remove a prominent cause of ill-feeling between the two sections of the country, in the withdrawal of the United States troops that had sustained the Republican State governments in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. With this with- drawal all distinction in the political relations of the States ceased, and the States named fell quickly under Democratic control." The President showed active sympathy with the movement for Civil Service reform. A commission had been appointed in 1871, whose report urged that fitness, and not political favoritism, should be the ground of ap- pointment to government offices. The efiforts of the Presi- dent were loyally followed by his colleagues, and the merit system made substantial headway against the established practice by. which the victors claimed the spoils. The pub- lic began to see the practical advantage of having and re- taining servants who had proved their worth during four years of apprenticeship. The idea of swapping experienced for inexperienced officials for no better reason than the greed of political hangers-on was admittedly in contradic- tion to all the principles and practices that have made the nation so great, despite such survivals of crude politician- ism. The matter assumed a larger phase when Garfield be- came President. He, too, favored the common-sense plan, and, whatever reasons outside this may have influenced him in the same direction, he raised a storm when he acted on his right to make appointments without consulting Conk- ling and Piatt, the " boss " Senators from New York. Not being pleased, they resigned their seats, but were disap- pointed when their constituencies declined to re-elect them. The assassination of President Garfield in the fourth month of his term by an aggrieved minor official out in the 360 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Leigh cold, may indirectly have sprung from the widespread hostility to reform. Two years later the merit system was embodied in an Act of Congress, and its operation, though slow, is gaining popular approval. Under the Administra- tion of President Arthur a new tariff law was passed, in- creasing some duties, lowering others, and extending the free list. The Monroe doctrine had been raised by the effort to construct the Panama Canal. The later inter- national discussion of the proposed Nicaragua Canal makes it of interest to note certain official utterances made by President Hayes and his successor. In a special mes- sage, i88o. President Hayes said: " The United States can- not consent to the surrender of control .... to any European power or to any combination of European pow- ers. . . . An inter-oceanic canal across the Ameri- can isthmus will be a great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our Pacific shores and virtually a part of the coastline of the United States. No other great power would under similar circumstances fail to assert a rightful control over a work so closely and vitally affecting its in- terest and welfare." The Clayton-Bulwer treaty virtually permits the control of such a canal by England. In Gar- field's time, Blaine, as Secretary of the Interior, made a strong effort to have the treaty modified, and the English government made the objection that sole control by the United States would lead other powers to build fortifica- tions to command the approaches to the canal in the inter- ests of their commerce, in view of possible trouble. The discussion was continued by Secretary Frelinghuysen of Garfield's Cabinet but with no agreement upon vital points. The status of the proposed Nicaragua Canal, and recent related matters are considered more fully elsewhere. § to Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 361 PUBLIC EVENTS AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. Joseph M. Rogers. [Political aflfairs assumed various startling phases during the decade here glanced at. New questions of vital importance to the welfare of the nation, both domestic and international, were taken up by the government with marked vigor, and popular discussion rose to fever heat on several occasions. Our epitome is taken from chapters written by Joseph M. Rogers, in the work, " The World's History and Its Makers."] In 1882 factional politics in New Yorlc became bitter once more. Tlie administration candidate for Governor, Secretary Folger, was nominated after a bitter struggle. Tlie Democratic nominee was Grover Cleveland, of Buffalo, who had made a reputation as a courageous reform mayor. The Blaine faction of the Republicans was incensed at what they considered the domination of the Convention by President Arthur and Mr. Conkling, and many refused to vote. As a result, Cleveland was elected by the unprece- dented majority of nearly 200,000, and he became the logi- cal candidate of his party for President in 1880. The campaign that ensued was the most deplorable in our history. The personalities indulged in have never been exceeded. The private life of each of the leading candidates was assailed, and the general conduct of the campaign in this respect was so indecent that it shocked public senti- ment, and has never since been indulged in. And now the result of the old Blaine-Conkling feud was fully shown. While every effort was made to heal the breach, it was not finally closed. The pivotal State was New York, and this was carried for Cleveland by slightly over 1,000 votes, though the Republicans claimed a fraudulent count in New York City of Butler votes for Cleveland, which would 36S THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Rogers have elected Blaine. Butler, in his memoirs, also makes this claim. It took several days to complete the count, and a repetition of the contest of 1876-7 was feared, but Cleve- land got the State and the Presidency. Blaine's managers made a number of tactical mistakes. A few days before the election Mr. Blaine was met by a party of clergymen with an address delivered by Dr. Burchard, who spoke of the Democracy as the party of " Rum, Romanism, and Re- bellion." It is said Blaine did not understand the second term, but supposed it to be " Mormonism." At any rate he did not correct the statement, which angered many Roman Catholics, and is believed to have cost him the elec- tion. Mr. Cleveland had the support of many former Re- publicans, because they admired his conduct as Mayor and Governor, and for his professed devotion to civil service reform. These Republicans were called " Mugwumps," and the term was considered one of reproach. Since then independence in politics has become much more general, and the term has been almost abandoned. The electoral vote stood: Cleveland, 219; Blaine, 182. The popular vote was: Cleveland, 4,911,017; Blaine, 4,848,- 334; St. John, 151,809; Butler, 133,826; scattering, 11,362. Grover Cleveland was the first Democrat to occupy the Presidency after the retirement of Buchanan, twenty-four years before. The House elected with him was Democratic, but the Senate was Republican, and this prevented any partisan legislation during his term of ofiice. The Senate, however, confirmed nearly all of his appointments. The struggle for office at the opening of his term was the great- est in history. Democrats expected to get all the offices, but found the President very conservative. During the first two years his removals from office were comparatively few, and he extended the scope of the civil service law. In gen- eral, he allowed the Republicans in prominent offices to Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 363 serve out their four-year terms, but the diplomatic and consular ofSces were generally filled with Democrats. Later in his term he was less faithful to his promises, and greatly disappointed the Independents, who looked upon him as the chief apostle of this reform. For his Cabinet, Mr. Cleveland chose: Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, Secretary of State ; Daniel Manning, of New York, Secre- tary of the Treasury; Wm. C. Endicott, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War; William C. Whitney, of New York, Sec- retary of the Navy; L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, Secre- tary of the Interior; Augustus S. Garland, of Arkansas, Attorney-General, and W. F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, Post- master-General. General Grant died on July 25, 1885, of cancer of the throat, after a lingering illness. After his return from his tour he settled in New York City, and unwisely invested all his savings, as a silent partner, in the brokerage firm of Grant & Ward, the former being his son. The fraudulent failure of the firm through Ward's roguery swept away every dollar Grant possessed and left him in debt $150,000 to William H. Vanderbilt for money borrowed at the re- quest of Ward. To pay this last debt he turned over all his swords, medals, and gifts to Mr. Vanderbilt, who de- posited them in the National Museum in Washington. General Grant was seriously ill and his condition" appealed to the country. Congress made him once more a General, and retired him with full pay. During his illness he wrote his memoirs, which had an enormous sale. In 1887 Congress passed the Inter-State Commerce law, designed to prevent discriminations between shippers en- gaged in inter-state commerce. The Commission has acted as a court, and has made many notable decisions, but it lacks certain powers necessary to carry out the real needs of the country. It has prohibited pooling, and in many 364 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Rogers cases forbidden unjust rates. In ten years freight rates were greatly reduced. Mr. Cleveland's administration was generally successful. There was no partisan legislation possible. His marriage to Miss Frances Folsom, in 1886, greatly increased his popularity. He aroused more antipathy by his vetoes of special pension bills than by any other acts of his term. Instead of allowing these to go as a matter of course, as his predecessors had done, he investigated each case and, when convinced of their impropriety, he wrote veto messages which by their wording greatly offended many old soldiers and others. In 1887 he determined to make the tariff an issue and, in his annual message, made a terrific assault upon the principle of protection to American industries. This was done against the advice of many of his friends. The House passed a low tariff measure, known as the Mills Bill, but it was not acted on by the Senate. He was unanimously renominated at the Democratic Convention, which met at St. Louis June 5, 1888, with Allen G. Thur- man, of Ohio, for Vice-President, Mr. Hendricks having died. The platform indorsed Mr. Cleveland's views on the tariff. Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, was the Repub- lican candidate, and was elected, with Levi P. Morton as Vice-President. The electoral vote stood : Harrison, 233; Cleveland, 168. The popular vote was: Harrison, 5,444,- 053; Cleveland, S,538>536. The tariff act known as " the McKinley Bill " was pre- pared and put through the House. It provided for an average of higher duties than had ever been laid, but also greatly increased the free list. In the Senate the bill met opposition, where a bill to put Congressional and Presi- dential elections under Federal control had aroused the Southern Democrats, who professed to see in it a return of negro domination. By skilful manoeuvring Senator Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 365 Quay made an arrangement by which the election law was dropped and the tariff bill passed. Foreign matters had a serious aspect during this admin- istration. In New Orleans an Italian society, known as the " Mafia," had long secured immunity from punishment for crime by means of political influence. A number of particularly foul murders had been committed and no one convicted. On March 14, 1891, a mob gathered, broke open the jail, and shot down seven Italian prisoners who were awaiting trial, and hanged two others. Italy at once demanded an apology and reparation. Mr. Blaine replied that it was a matter for Louisiana and not the United States to settle. The relations between the two countries became strained. The Italian Minister went home, and ours left Rome. Eventually the matter was hjealed over, $25,000 recompense given the famihes of the murdered men, and friendly relations were restored. A more serious incident was that with Chile. In 1891, during one of the periodical revolutions, the existing gov- ernment was overthrown. Our Minister granted asylum to the deposed President, and he escaped the fate common in South American revolutions. This greatly angered the successful revolutionists, who soon took an opportunity to wreak their vengeance. The revolutionary steamer Itata was seized by the United States, but sailed away suddenly. She was followed, and surrendered at Iquique. This made matters worse. The United States cruiser Baltimore lay in Valparaiso harbor and some of her crew (October i6th) went ashore as usual. A mob collected and drove the blue jackets back to the boats, killing two and wounding sev- eral. This was an insult not to be brooked. President Harrison demanded an immediate apology and indemnity. Chile at first was not disposed to agree to this, whereupon rapid preparations were made for war. At this Chile 366 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Rogers backed down and made the reparation demanded, though not -with very good grace. The sum paid was $75,000. The body of the killed boatswain's mate, Charles W. Rig- gin, was disinterred, taken to his home in Philadelphia, and lay in state in Independence Hall, and was buried with military and popular honors. In 1889 Dom Pedro was driven from his throne as Em- peror of Brazil and a republic was established. A dispute with Great Britain was submitted to arbitra- tion. Claiming the sole right to catch seals in Bering Sea, the United States government had seized some Canadian vessels engaged in shooting seals on the high seas. Our contention was that we owned the seals. The matter was decided against us, and we paid the damages. Various political and personal reasons explain the re- turn of Mr. Cleveland to power in 1892. The electoral vote was: Cleveland, 277; Harrison, 145. The popular vote was: Cleveland, 5,556,562; Harrison, 5,162,874. A modification of the McKinley tariff act was enacted, the President refusing to sign the measure as altered by the Senate. There was no partisan legislation during the rest of Cleveland's administration. In both of his terms Mr. Cleve- land largely extended the scope of the civil service law, for which he was criticised by Republicans, who claimed* that he first allowed departments to be filled with Demo- crats. Much dissatisfaction also was caused by the fact that the bonded indebtedness was increased $262,000,000. Part of this was to pay expenses, but most of it to main- tain gold payments during the silver excitement. One con- tract made by the administration with a Wall street syndi- cate for bonds at a low price which the latter sold at a high price, caused great dissatisfaction. It was necessary, how- ever, to get gold, as the " endless chain " worked rapidly. Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 367 The important foreign episode of the administration was a controversy with Great Britain over the Venezuela boundary. For many years there had been a dispute be- tween Great Britain and Venezuela as to the boundary line between the latter and British Guiana. The matter came to a crisis when gold was found in the disputed country. Great Britain finally laid down a line as its minimum boundary and brought matters to a crisis by offering to arbitrate only over a small amount of territory in dispute. In this situation, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, Mr. Cleveland sent an ultimatum, with an implied threat of war, that the whole subject must be arbitrated. The ulti- matum admitted of no compromise, and was so brusque that war seemed inevitable if Great Britain refused, as seemed likely, to accede to our demands. She did accede, and the matter was submitted to arbitration. The message to Congress, sent December 17, 1895, caused a small panic in financial circles, as it was believed that war was inevi- table. Populism and free silver had much to do with the cam- paign of 1896. Mr. McKinley was the Republican candi- date. The Democratic Convention nominated William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, a brilliant orator and former Con- gressman, who had hardly been mentioned for the place, but who carried the Convention by storm in an eloquent speech for free silver. Arthur Sewall, of Maine, a promi- nent ship-builder and capitalist, got second honors. Mc- Kinley won in November, with Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey, as Vice-President. The electoral vote was: Mc- Kinley, 271; Bryan, 176. The popular vote was: McKin- ley, 7,107,822; Bryan, 6,288,866. Esteeming the tariff question of prime necessity, an extra session of Congress was called. Mr. Dingley pre- pared a new high protective measure, which passed both 368 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Rogers houses after many amendments, and became a law in 1897. Manufactories once more became busy, and a sudden rise in the price of wheat, due to an unusual foreign demand, aided powerfully in restoring prosperity. In the year 1898 the foreign trade balance was more than $600,000,000 in our favor, the domestic trade was the greatest ever known, while railroads and other enterprises largely increased their earnings. Several conflicts with Indians had occurred subsequent to the Civil War. A massacre of settlers in Minnesota was followed by severe punishment and the tribes migrated to Dakota. In 1866 a two years' war broke out because of attacks on gold-seekers who passed through the Sioux reservation. In 1876 the movement against the Sioux re- sulted in the massacre of General Custer and his force of two hundred and fifty cavalry. Other encounters have periodically occurred, but the educational efforts with young Indians at the Carlisle school are having excellent results and promise still better. The unexampled prosperity of the country has been demonstrated to the world from time to time, the first notable exhibition being that of 1876. In the last year of Grant's term was held the exhibition at Philadelphia, to celebrate the Centennial of American liberty. Philadelphia was selected because the Declaration of Independence was signed there. It was by far the great- est world's fair that had been held up to that time. The city set aside a large portion of Fairmount Park for the purpos^, and here were erected six large buildings and hundreds of smaller ones. The expense was borne largely by local enterprise, but the Government loaned $1,500,000, which was repaid. The total expense was $8,500,000, part of which was defrayed by the city, and part by the State. The rest was raised by subscription to stock in the enter- Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 369 prise, a portion of which was repaid. The total number of visitors was just under 10,000,000, and the largest on any- one day was 274,919. The exposition was open from May 10 to November 10, except Sundays, a total of 159 days. It was opened with appropriate ceremonies by President Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro, of Brazil. The exhibits came from all parts of the world, and for the first time in our history our people had an opportunity to compare their own products with those of other nations. The visitors likewise came from all over the world, and the result was most gratifying. While it was discovered that in the useful arts, particularly m machinery, our own coun- try was in the lead, it was found that in the decorative arts we were far in the rear. It is impossible to estimate the effect of this exhibition upon the refinement and culture of the great masses of the people. Heretofore most of our energies had been directed towards getting the necessaries and comforts of life and developing our great resources; there was a natural pride over our accomplishments in many walks of life that led us to underestimate the rest of the world; but when the people beheld what the older na- tions accomplished, their respect grew, and many valuable lessons were learned. The decoration of houses has pro- ceeded rapidly since that time, and the uses of color have been extended. Our artists and artisans got new ideas, and originality was stimulated so that our fabrics and ar- tistic designs of all kinds are in most cases equal to any in the world and very often far superior. It is in teaching such lessons as these, and in educating those who have few advantages of travel, that such exhibitions are of the high- est value. Thirty-eight foreign governments took part in the exhibition. The great World's Fair was held at Chicago in 1893, .^celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the landing 3—^4 370 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Rogers of Columbus. It was a magnificent advance on the famous Centennial of 1876. Costing over $20,000,000, its ideal edifices satisfied all standards of taste and beauty. Enor- mous buildings were erected, but instead of being merely- useful, the most elaborate pains were taken with their architecture. The exterior was a white composition known as staff, being principally plaster of paris, which looked like marble. The decorations, mural and of statuary, were elaborate and artistic. The grounds were laid out with lagoons, fountains, and all that landscape gardening could produce. The whole was a veritable fairyland. At night the buildings and lagoons were lighted up by electricity and the artistic effect was magnificent. The exhibits were complete and comprehensive, showing all that the world could offer- in the arts and sciences. Foreigners were amazed at the display, and Americans no less. In the seventeen years which had passed since the Centennial, progress had been wonderful. Whereas in 1876 much of our showing contrasted poorly with foreign exhibits, now the comparisons were almost all in our favor. The exhibi- tion was open six months, during which time there were 27,500,000 visitors, and total receipts of over $33,000,000. The Government gave directly $1,500,000, besides its own exhibit, and further aid by allowing the coinage of special designs of subsidiary coin, which commanded a premium. One interesting feature of the Fair was the Parliament of Religions, at which were gathered representatives of nearly every known religious creed in the whole world. The Charleston earthquake of August 31, 1888, was the most destructive known on this continent. The damage, estimated at $10,000,000, was equalled by the terror and sufferings of the people. A year later the Johnstown flood added its horrors to the unusual list of vast disasters. The Conemaugh dam suddenly gave way, the city and several Rogers] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 371 villages were demolished in am hour, several thousands were drowned or crushed to death, and the money loss was reckoned at many millions. The hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, Sept. 8, 1900, is said to have cost seven thousand lives, and the property loss is inestimable in its magnitude.