wsm . a J- V ■y -■ "• f\t\ - ~u .\\ x .^;-. ^= ^><£ -■ m -\\ ^ ^, v- V o 1* v \ \V <- , "<, ^ -V *. : -^ GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT, HON. HENRY WILSON. ''. . WMx THE LIVES OF "GRANT AND WILSON." THE LIVES OF GENERAL U. 3. GRANT, AND HENRY WILSON. THIS WORK IS A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LIVES OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT, AND OP THE HON. HENRY WILSON, FROM THEIR DIRTH UP TO THE PRESENT TIME. With. Portraits of General U. S. Grant, Hon. Henry Wilson, and other Illustrative Engravings. PHILADELPHIA: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS; 3 G CHESTNUT STREET. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by T. K. PETERSON & DKOTUERS, Id the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. CONTENTS. PAGE Birth of General Grant, and his ancestors 23 His early youth and education — Interesting anecdotes.... 24 He enters West Point — His term at that Institution 26 He graduates on June 13th, 1843 27 He enters the Army and is ordered to Missouri — He is ordered to the Southwest — His gallant services in Mexico 29 His Marriage — He is ordered to the Pacific — His resigna- tion from the Army — Becomes a Farmer, Collector, and Tanner 32 He removes to Galena, Illinois, in 1859 33 The Eebellion — He is appointed Mustering Officer of the State of Illinois 34 Is appointed Colonel, and is ordered to Missouri — He is appointed Brigadier-General of Volunteers — His bold movement upon Paducah, Kentucky 35 He issues a Proclamation to the citizens of Paducah .... 37 Proposed exchange of Prisoners between General Grant and Major-General Polk 38 The Battle of Fredericktown, Missouri, and Colonel Pluni- mer's Official Report of the same 39 The movement down the Mississippi River — The Battle of Belmont, with General Grant's Official Report of the same 40 General Grant's letter to his Father, with a full descrip- tion of the fight 42 General McClernand's Official Report — General Grant's Order as read to his Troops 44 General Grant's letter to General Polk — General Polk's reply to General Grant 45 (11) 12 CONTENTS. PAGE General Grant assumes command of the District of Cairo, — Issues an Order, and appoints his Staff Officers — Important Reconnoissance and Orders 46 Preparing for an advance — The capture of Fort Henry.. 49 The Battle of Fort Donelson, and its capture 51 General Buckner's letter to General Grant wishing Com- missioners appointed to agree upon terms of Capitula- tion — General Grant's reply to General Buckner 54 General Buckner's surrender to General Grant 55 General Grant is appointed Major-General of Volunteers ■ — He takes command of the District of West Tennessee, and issues a Congratulatory Order 56 Military restriction in Tennessee — The Courts ordered closed and Martial Law declared 57 General Grant at Fort Henry — A testimonial of regard presented to him in the shape of a costly sword, mounted with gold 58 The Battle of Pittsburg Landing 59 Detailed account of the Battle, by an eye-witness of it.. 60 General Grant's Official Report of the Battle of Pittsburg Landing 64 Correspondence between Generals Beauregard and Grant. 66 Important Reconnoissances in the direction of Corinth, Pea Ridge, Monterey and Purdy 68 Reorganization of the Army — General Grant second in command 70 General Grant villified — An able Defence is made of him in the House of Representatives, at Washington, by the Hon. E. B. Washburne, of Illinois, on May 2d, 1862.. 70 Skirmishing before Corinth — The evacuation of that stronghold 74 Important Orders issued at Memphis — General Grant as- sumes command of the Department of West Tennessee — Important Orders issued 76 The Battle of Iuka— General Grant's Official Report of it. 78 General Grant issues a Congratulatory Order to his vic- torious troops 85 The Battle of Corinth 86 General Grant congratulates the Armies of the West for their services in the great Battle of Corinth 87 General Grant assumes command of the Department of Tennessee, and issues his General Orders 88 CONTEXTS. 13 PAQK Important Reconnoissances and Skirmishes 89 Advance of the Army — Further Reconnoissances and Skir- mishes, and capture of Holly Springs, Miss 91 Preparation for the assault on Vicksburg — Changes in the Army Organization 93 The Williams' Canal — The Queen of the "West and India- nola — New " Cut Offs" proposed — The Yazoo Pass Ex- pedition 96 Reconnoissance of Steele's Bayou — Running the Gauntlet —Advance of the Army 98 The Siege of Vicksburg — General Grant's Official Report of the Siege 100 Official Correspondence with various Generals referred to in General Grant's Official Report 119 The Interview between General Grant and the Rebel Gen- eral Pemberton 123 The Commander and his Men — He issues an Address to the Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee 125 The Rebel loss during the Siege — A tribute from General Halleck 126 President Lincoln's Congratulatory Letter to General Grant — How the news was received North and South.. 127 The Fall of Port Hudson — The pursuit after the surren- der of Vicksburg — The reopening of the Mississippi. . . 129 U. S. Grant is appointed a Major-General in the Regular Army 130 Important Orders issued by Major-General Grant 131 General Grant at Memphis — A Public Entertainment given to him by the citizens, and he is toasted 132 He makes no speech, but Dr. Hewitt speaks for him and proposes a toast for General Grant 133 General Grant's letter to the citizens of Memphis 134 General Grant at New Orleans — He meets with a serious accident 135 General Halleck refers to it — General Grant goes to Indi- anapolis, and is met there by the Secretary of War — He is appointed to the command of the Military Divi- sion of the Mississippi 136 General Grant and the Secretary of War proceed to Louis- ville, Ky. — General Grant's Order issued at Louisville.. 137 General Grant at Nashville and Chattanooga — His prepa- rations for the Campaign 138 14 CONTENTS. PAOI His Order issued at Chattanooga in relation to Eebel Cavalry visiting towns, villages, and farms, and pilla- ging Union families 139 The Battles near Chattanooga — General Grant's Official Reports, with all the Correspondence with Rebel Gen- erals l"^ General Meigs's Official Report of the Battles, as sent by him to the Secretary of War 153 Tributes from General Halleck, General Scott, and Presi- dent Lincoln 156 General Grant's intrepidity in Battle 158 General Grant thanks his troops 159 Thanks of Congress are given to General Grant, and a Gold Medal ordered to be struck at the Mint, and pre- sented to him *• 160 General Grant visits Knoxville, Nashville, and the out- posts • 1^1 General Grant arrives at St. Louis— He is invited to and attends a Public Dinner given to him — His letter to the Western Sanitary Commission 162 General Grant goes to Nashville, via Louisville, and opens the Spring Campaign 163 Major-General Ulysses S. Grant is made Lieutenant-Gen- eral of the Armies of the United States 165 Hon. E. B. Washburn, of Illinois, takes care of him in a speech on the floor of Congress, showing what he had done for the country 166 The Lieutenant-General and the People 167 The Lieutenant-General's arrival at Washington — He pro- ceeds to the White House and receives his Commission as Lieutenant-General from the hands of President Lin- coln, with the President's speech 1GS Lieutenant-General Grant's reply to the President — Inter- view between Lieutenant-General Grant and General Halleck 169 " HEADQUARTERS IN THE FIELD" — General Burnside's speech at Chicago about General Grant 170 The Lieutenant-General's Order on assuming command of all the " Armies of the United States" 171 " ON TO RICHMOND" 172 Lieutenant-General Grant and Major-General Meade — A Reorganization of the Army of the Potomac 17-4 The Grand Campaign of the Spring of 1864 175 CONTEXTS. AO PAOE Battles of " The Wilderness" 177 The Bloody contest of Friday, May 6th, 1864 180 Grant out of "the Wilderness" — Saturday and Sunday's Operations 183 Monday's Operations — Death of General Sedgwick 187 Tuesday's great battle — First day at Spottsylvania Gourt House 188 "Wednesday's Operations — Second day's battle at Spottsyl- vania 191 General Grant telegraphs to Secretary Stanton, " / pro- pose to fight it out on this line if it takes all Summer." — Thursday's battle — Hancock's splendid victory 192 First Bulletin from the Secretary of War 194 Second Bulletin— General Meade's address to the Army of the Potomac 195 Third Bulletin — -Despatches from General Butler 196 Fourth Bulletin — Despatches from Major-General Sheri- dan— His'Great Cavalry Baid 197 Fifth Bulletin— Death of General J. E. B. Stuart. Sixth Bulletin — Betreat of General Lee, and General Grant's pursuit 198 Seventh Bulletin — The latest news from the Front — Fri- day's Battle, May 13th— Burnside's Fight with A. P. Hill 199 Saturday, May 14th, 1864, and what happened 202 General Grant flanks General Lee at Spottsylvania Court House, and General Sheridan takes possession of Hano- ver Ferry and Hanovertown, and the Army crosses the ramunkey river 204 The Great Battle Month 207 June, 1864— Battle of Cold Harbor 208 A new movement made by General Grant 209 The whole Army crosses to the South side of the James river 210 Attack on Petersburg 211 Invasion of Maryland — Breckinridge defeated before Washington 212 Burnside's Mine exploded before Petersburg 213 General Wm. Tecumseh Sherman in the West — Capture of Atlanta 21G General Grant's plans being developed — Early defeated by Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley 217 16 . CONTENTS. PA, and then undertake to cross in his face. It was, in the judg- ment of the best military men, a wise disposition of his forces, placing them where he did. To have done otherwise, would have been like keeping the entire army of the Potomac on thid side of the river, instead of crossing it when it could be dona, and advancing on the other side. "After fighting all day with immensely superior numbers 0! the enemy, they only drove our forces back two and one half 74 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. miles, and then it was to face the gunboats and the terrible batteries so skilfully arranged and worked by the gallant and accomplished officers, Webster and Calleuder, and which broughl the countless host of the enemy to a stand. And when night came, this unconquerable army stood substantially triumphant on that bloody field. " I believe, notwithstanding the desperate fighting on Sunday, and the partial repulse of our troops, that, aided by the fresh troops of the brave Lew. Wallace, that army could have whipped the enemy on Monday without further reinforcements. That army could never have been conquered. But I would not de- tract from the glorious fighting of Buell's troops on Monday, for they behaved with great gallantry and fought bravely, suc- cessfully, and well. Justice must be done to all. By a general order, General Halleck, now on the spot and cognizant of all the facts, has publicly thanked the generals, Grant, Buell, and Sherman, indorsing their bravery and skill. " Sir, 1 have detained the House too long, but I have felt called upon to say this much. I came only to claim public justice ; the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, though a bloody one, yel it will make a bright page in our history. The final charge of General Grant at the head of his reserves will have a place, too, iii history. While watching the progress of the battle on Monday afternoon, word came to him that the enemy was falter- in. •: on the left. With the genius that belongs only to the true military man, he saw that the time for the final blow had come. In quick words he said, 'Now is the time to drive them.' It was worthy the world-renowned order of Wellington, 'Up, Guards, and at them.' Word was sent by his body-guard to the different regiments to be ready to charge when the order was given ; then, riding out in front amid a storm of bullets, he led the charge in person, and Beauregard was driven howling to his intrenchments. His left was broken, and a retreat commenced which soon degenerated into a perfect rout. The loss of the enemy was three to our two in men, and in much greater pro- portion in the demoralization of an army which follows a defeat. Thai battle has laid the foundation for finally driving the rebels from the Southwest. So much for the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, which has wokcd such unjust and cruel criticism, but which history will record as one of the most glorious victories thai has ever illustrated the annals of a great nation." SKIRMISHING BEFORE CORINTH-THE EVAC- UATION OF THAT STRONGHOLD. Between the eighth and the middle of May, there were ■■us skirmishes between the opposing forces, which were gradually approaching closer to each other, and on LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 75 the seventeenth of the month, General Sherman's division advanced along the Corinth road, until they reached a point known as " Russell's House," where they encoun- tered the enemy, and after a sharp engagement, succeeded in driving them from their position, which General Sher- man occupied and intrenched. On the morning of the twenty-first, General Thomas A. Davies's division moved forward for the purpose of occupying an important ridge to the north of Phillip's Creek. Fire was immediately opened by the enemy, and for some time a severe engage- ment progressed, but finally the rebels were compelled to retire, completely routed, and the Union troops occupied and fortified the ridge, which was within shelling distance of the enemy's intrenchments. On the twenty-seventh the rebels were whipped by General Sherman's division, and on the next day three columns, commanded respec- tively by Generals Thomas, Buell and Pope, and under the personal direction of General Grant, made a recon- noissance within gunshot of the works at Corinth. Their advance was hotly contested, but the rebels were driven back with considerable loss, and the objects of the recon- noissance were satisfactorily accomplished. On the twenty- ninth, much to the astonishment of our officers and men, who had anticipated another scene of blood, the rebels evacuated Corinth, and on the following morning the place, and the numerous formidable works around it, were occupied by General Halleck's army, the Fifth division of General Grant's Army of the Tennessee being the first to enter the works. Pursuit of the demoralized Southern troops was imme- diately commenced, and was continued until, finding it impossible to rival the fugitives in speed, the pursuers were ordered to return. Expeditions were also sent in different directions to destroy railroad communications, not the least important of which was one sent to Holly Springs, 76 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. under command of General Sherman, and which destroyed much valuable property in and near that place. IMPORTANT ORDERS ISSUED AT MEMPHIS. Immediately after the surrender of Memphis in June, 1862, General Grant visited that city, and placing it under the charge of a Provost-Marshal, took such decisive steps as would tend to suspend the illicit traffic which had been previously extensively carried on by the sympathizers with treason, between that point and the States in rebel- lion, and also check the depredations of guerillas in that section of the country. The sending of goods, fire-arms, ammunition, and correspondence out of the city, was pro- hibited ; persons desirous of leaving the place, were re- quired first to take the oath of allegiance, or give a parole of honor ; the families of persons holding civic or military positions under the rebel government, were instructed to move south beyond our lines, unless they signed a pre- scribed parole, and gave a guarantee that they had not conspired against the Government of the United States since the occupation of Memphis, and would not do so in the future ; guerillas were notified that they would not be treated as prisoners of war when captured, and the seizure and sale of the property of sympathizing residents of the immediate neighborhood, for the purpose of remunerating the Government for loss and expense that might be sus- tained by the depredations of the outlaws, was authorized ; and finally, the unoccupied buildings in the city belonging to traitors, were ordered to be taken possession of and rented for the benefit of the United States. GENERAL GRANT ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT OP WEST TENNESSEE- IMPORTANT ORDERS ISSUED. On the seventeenth of July, 1862, General Halleck took leave of his army, preparatory to going to Washington t" LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 77 assume a more exalted position, and immediately after- wards his Department was subdivided and placed under the command of different Generals. The " Department of West Tennessee" was assigned to General Grant, with Corinth as his head-quarters. From its creation, how- ever, until the middle of September, with the exception of a few skirmishes which invariably terminated in the success of the Union troops, there was no fighting, nor indeed any military movements of importance. During this interval, however, two important orders were issued by General Grant, the first of which was pro- mulgated on the eleventh of August, and was worded as follows : " Head-Quarters, Department of West Tennessee, "Corinth, Miss., August 11th, 1862. " The recent Act of Congress prohibits the army from return- in" 1 fugitives from labor to their claimants, and authorizes the employment of such persons in the service of the government. The following orders are therefore published for the guidance of the army in this matter. • * " 1. All fugitives thus employed muff be registered ; the names of the fugitives and claimant given, and must be borne upon the morning report of the command in which they are kept, showing how they are employed. "2. Fugitives may be employed as laborers in the quarter- master's, subsistence, and engineer's department ; and whenever by such employment a soldier may be saved to its ranks, they may be employed as teamsters and as company cooks, not ex- ceeding four to a company, or as hospital attendants and nurses. Officers may employ thSn as private servants, in which latter case the fugitives will not be paid or rationed by the government. Negroes thus employed must be secured as authorized persons, and will be excluded from the camps. " 3. Officers and soldiers are positively prohibiteilirom en- ticing slaves to leave their masters. When it become^necessary to employ this kind of labor, the commanding officer of the post or troops must send details, all under the charge of a suita- ble tommissioned officer, to press into service, tl|p slaves of persons to the number required. T "4. Citizens within reach of any military siition} known to be disloyal and dangerous, may be ordered away or arrested, and their crops and stock taken for the benefit of^he govern- ment or the use of the army. ^n 78 LIFE OF GBNEKAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " 5. All property taken from rebel owners must be duly reported and used" for the benefit of the government, a^ be issued to the troops through thevproper department, and, when practicable, the act of taking should be accompanied by the written certificate of the officer so taking to the owner or agent of such property. " It is enjoined on all commanders to see that this order ia executed strictly under their own direction. The demoraliza- tion of troops subsequent upon being left to execute laws in their own way without a proper head must be avoided. • By command of "Major-General Grant. "John A. Rawlins, A. A. G." The other, intended for a number of disreputable char- acters who had fled from their respective States to Ten- nessee to escape the draft, read as follows : " Head-Quarters, Department of "West Tennessee, " Corinth, Miss., August 16th, 1862. " 1. All non-residents of this department, found within the same, who. if at home, would be subjected to draft, will at once be enrolled under the supervision of the local commanders where they may be found, and, in case of a draft being made by their respective States", an equal proportion will be drawn from persons thus enrolleM Persons so drawn will at once be «-d to troops from the States to which they owe military service, and the executive thereof notified of such draft. •• '2. All violation of trade by army followers may be punished by confiscation of stock in trade, and the assignment of offenders to do military duty as private soldiers. "By command of "Major-General U. S. Grant. "John A. U.vwuns, A. A. G." THE BATTLE OE ;UKA- CffiNERAL GRANT'S OFFICIAL RETORT. In tin- early part of September, 1862, the rebel forces having be/fi greatly strengthened, commenced an advance towardf^he positions occupied by General Grant's army, •a portion of their number at the same time being sent aorthwarl to threaten Cincinnati. Their movements, however, Ive^-e well known to General Grant, who made such dispositions of his men as would thwart their designs in Tennessee, ami he also sent several of his regiments to defend C^^nnati. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 79 On the seventeenth of September, 1862, he ordered a general advance towards Iuka, where the rebel General Sterling Price had concentrated his army, and two days later the advance of General Hamilton's division encoun- tered the enemy's pickets and drove them back. This was the commencement of the fiercely-contested battle of Iuka, the official report of which, made by General Grant to the War Department, was as follows : "Head-qoarters, District "West Tennessee, "Jackson, Tenn., October 22d, 1862. "Colonel J. C. Kelton, A. A. G., Washington, D. C: " Colonel : — 1 have the honor to make the following report of the battle of Iuka, and to submit herewith such reports of subordinates as have been received. " For some ten days or more before the final move of the rebel army under General Price, eastward from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, it was evident that an attack upon Corinth was con- templated, or some change to be made in the location of that army. This caused great vigilance to be necessary on the part of our cavalry, especially that to the southern front under Colonel Mizner. The labor of watching, with occasional skirmishing, was most satisfactorily performed, and almost every move of the enemy was known as soon as commenced. "About the 11th of September, Price left the railroad, the in- fantry and artillery probably moving from Baldwin, and the cavalry from the roads north of Baldwin, toward Bay Springs. At the latter place a halt of a few days seems to have been made ; likely for the purpose of collecting stores, and recon- noitering on eastern flank. On the 13th of September, the enemy's cavalry made their appearance near Iuka, and were re- pulsed by the small garrison under Colonel Murphy, of the Eighth Wisconsin infantry, still left there to cover the removal of stores not yet brought into Corinth. The enemy appearing again in increased force on the same day, and having cut the railroad and telegraph between there and Burnsville, Colonel Murphy thought it prudent to retire to save his forces. "This caused a considerable amount of commissary stores to fall into the hands of the enemy, which property should have been destroyed. Price's whole force soon congregated at Iuka. " Information brought in by scouts, as to the intention of the enemy, was conflicting. One report was, that Price wanted to cross Bear creek and the Tennessee river, for the purpose of crossing Tennessee and getting into Kentucky. Another, that Van Born was to march by way of Ripley and attack us on the southwest, while Price should move on us from the east or north- 80 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. west. A third, that Price would endeavor to cross the Tennes- i,l. if pursuit was attempted, Van Dora was in readiness tn attack Ooriuth. "Having Batisfied myself that Yan Dora could not reach Corinth under four days, with an army embracing all arms, I determined to leave Corinth with a force sufficient to resist f, and to attack Price at Iuka. This I regarded as emi- nently my duty, let either of the enemy's plans be the correct solution. Accordingly, on the 16th, I gave some general direc- tions as to the plan of operations. " General Rosecrans was to move on the south side of the railroad to opposite Iuka, and attack from that side with all his available force, after leaving a sufficient force at Rienzi and Jacinto, to prevent the surprise on Corinth from that direction. '• Major-General Ord was to move to Burnsville, and from there take roads north of the railroad and attack from that side. General Ord ha vino- to leave from his two divisions, already very much reduced in numbers, from long-continued service and the Dumber of battles they had been in, the garrison at Corinth ; he also had one regiment of infantry and a squadron of cavalry at BLossuth, one regiment of infantry and one company of cavalry at Cheuvall, and one regiment of infantry that moved, under Colonel Mower, and joined General Rosecrans' command, re- duced the number of men of his command, available to the ex- pedition, to about 30,000. " I had previously ordered the infantry of General Ross' com- mand at Bolivar to hold themselves iu readiness to move at a moment's warding; had also directed the concentration of cars at Jackson to move these troops. " Within twenty-four hours from the time a despatch left Corinth for those troops to ' come on,' they had arrived — 3,400 in num- ber. .This, notwithstanding the locomotive was thrown off the track on the Mississippi Central Road, preventing the passage of other trains for several hours. This force was added to Gen- eral Onl's command, making his entire strength over 6,000 to hike into the field. From this force two regiments of infantry and one section of artillery were taken, about nine hundred men, for the garrison or rear guard, to be held at Burnsville. Not having General Ord's report, these figures may not be ac- curate. General Rosecrans was moving from Jacinto eastward, with about 9,000 men. making my total force with which to attack the enemy about 15,000. This was equal to or greater than their number, as I estimated them. "Geueral Rosecrans, at his suggestion, acquiesced in by me, was to move northward from his eastern march in two columns — one, under Hamilton, was to move up the Fulton and East- port road ; the other, under Stanley, on the Jacinto road from Barnett'8. "On the 18th, General Ord's command was pushed forward, LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 81 driving in the enemy's pickets and capturing a few prisoners, taking position within six miles of Iuka. I expected, from the following despatch, that General Rosecrans would be near enough by the night of the 18th to make it safe for Ord to press forward on the morning of the 19th, aud bring on an en- gagement : " 'September 18th, 1862. " ' To General Grant : "'One of my spies, in from Reardon's, on the Bay Spring Road, tells of a continuous movement, since last Friday, of forces eastward. They say Van Dorn is to defend Vicksburg, Breckinridge to make liis way to Kentucky, Price to attack Iuka or go to Tennessee. If Price's forces are at Iuka, the plan I propose is, to move up as close as we can to-night, conceal our movements ; Ord to advance from Burnsville, commence the attack, and draw their attention that way, while I move in on the Jacinto and Fulton road, and, crushing in their left, cut off their retreat eastward. " ' I propose to leave, in ten minutes, for Jacinto, whence I will despatch you by line of videttes to Burnsville. Will wait a few minutes to hear from you before I start. What news from Burnsville ? " ' Signed : " ' W. S. Rosecrans, " 'Brigadier- General. 1 "To which I sent the following reply: " ' Head-quarters, District West Tennessee, "'Burnsville, Miss., September 18th, 1862. " ' General Rosecrans : "'General Ross' command is at this place, McArthur's divi- sion is north of the road, two miles to the rear, and Davis' division south of the road, north. I sent forward two regiments of infantry, with cavalry, by the road north of the railroad to- ward Iuka, with instructions for them to bivouac for the night at a point, which was designated, about four miles from here, if not interrupted, and have the cavalry feel where the enemy are. Before they reached the point on the road f you will see it on the map — the road north of the railroad), they met what was supposed to be Armstrong's cavalry. The rebel cavalry were forced back, and I sent instructions there to have them stop for the night where they thought they could safely hold. "'In the morning troops will advance from here at 4^ a.m. An anonymous despatch, just received, states that Price, Ma- gruder, and Breckinridge have a force of 60,000 between Iuka and Tupelo. This, I have no doubt, is the understanding of citizens, but I very much doubt this information being correct. Your reconnoissances prove that there is but little force south of Corinth for a long distance, and no great force between Bay Spring and the railroad. Make as rapid an advance as you can, and let us do to-morrow all we can. It may be necessary to 82 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. fall back the day following. I look upon the showing of a cavalry force so near us as an indication of a retreat, and they a force to cover it '"Signed: " ' U. S. Graht, " 'Major- General.' "After midnight the following despatch was received : " ' Head-quarters, Encampment, Sept. 18th, 1862. " ' General : — Your despatch received. General Stanley's divi- sion arrived after dark, having been detained by lalling in the rear of Ross through fault of guide. Our cavalry six miles this side of Burnett's ; Hamilton's First brigade eight, Second brigade nine miles this side ; Stanley's near Davenport's Mills. We shall move as early as practicable : say 4^ a.m. This will give twenty miles march for Stanley to Iuka. Shall not, therefore, be iu before one or two o'clock, but wheu we come in will endeavor to do it strongly. "'Signed: " ' W. S. Rosrcrans, 11 'Brigadier- General U. S. A.' "Receiving this despatch, as I did, late at night, and when I supposed these troops were far ou their way toward Iuka, and had made my plans accordingly, caused some disappointment, and made a change of plans necessary. I immediately despatched General Ord, giving him the substance of the above, and direc- tions not to move on the enemy until Rosecrans arrived, or he should hear tiring to the sonth of Iuka. Of this change Gen- eral Rosecrans was promptly informed by despatch, sent with his return messenger. During the day General Ord returned to my head-quarters at Iuka, and, in consultation, we both agreed that it would be impossible for General Rosecrans to get his troops up in time to make an attack that day. The General was instructed, however, to move forward, driving in the enemy's advance guards, but not to bring on an engagement unless he should hear firing. At night another despatch was received from General Rosecrans, dated from Barnett's, about eight miles from Iuka. written at 12.40 p.m., stating that the head of the column had arrived there at 12 m. Owing to the density of the forests, and the difficulties of passing the small streams and bottoms, all communications between General Rosecrans and myself had to pass far around — near Jacinto — even after he had •i the road leading north. Fortius reason his communica- tion was not received until after the engagement. I did not hear of the engagement, however, until the next day, although the following despatch had been promptly forwarded: ' ' Head-quarters, Army of the Mississippi, '"Two miles south of Iuka, Sept. 19th, 1862, 10£ p.m. "'General: — We met the enemy in just about this point. Th« engagement lasted several hours. We have lost two or LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 83 three pieces of artillery. Firing was very heavy. You must attack in the morning, and in force. The ground is horrid — ■ unknown to us, and no room for development — couldn't use our artillery at all ; fired but few shots. Push in on to them until we can have time to do something. We will try to get a position on our right, which will take Iuka. " ' Signed : " ' W. S. Rosecrans, " 'Brigadier- General, U. S. A.' "This despatch was received at 8.35 a.m., on the 20th, and the following was immediately sent : " ' Burnsville, Sept. 20th, 1862, 8.35 a. m. " ' General Ord : " 'Get your troops up and attack as soon as possible. Rose- crans had two hours' fighting last night, and now this morning again, and. unless you can create a diversion in his favor, he may find his hands full. " 'Hurry up your troops — all possible. '"Signed: "' TJ. S. Grant, " 'Major- General.'' " The statement that the engagement had commenced again in the morning was on the strength of hearing artillery. Gen- eral Ord, hearing the same, however, pushed on with all possible despatch, without awaiting orders. " Two of my staff — Colonels Dickey and Logan — had gone around to where General Rosecrans was, and were with him during the early part of the engagement. Returning in the dark, and endeavoring to cut off some of the distance, they be- came lost and entangled in the woods, and remained out over night, arriving at head-quarters next morning about the same hour that General Rosecrans' messenger arrived. For the particular troops engaged, and the part taken by each regiment, I will have to refer you entirely to the accompanying report of those officers who were present. "Not occupying Iuka afterward for any length of time, and then not until a force sufficient to give protection for any great distance arrived (the battle was fought about two miles out), I cannot accompany this with a topographical map. I send, how- ever, a map showing all the roads and plans named in this re- port. The country between the road travelled by General Ord's command, to some distance south of the railroad, is impassable for cavalry, and almost so for infantry. It is impossible for artillery to move southward to the road travelled by General Rosecrans' command. Soon after despatching General Ord, word was brought by one of my staff, Colonel Hillyer, that the enemy were in full retreat. I immediately proceeded to Iuka, and found that the enemy had left during the night, taking every thing with them except their wounded, and the artillery taken by them the evening before. Going south by the Fulton road, Generals Stanley and Hamilton were in pursuit. 84: LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " This was the first I knew of the Fulton road ; with it occu- pied, no route would have been left them except east, with the difficult bottom. of Bear creek to cross, or northeast, with the Tennessee river in their front, or to conquer their way out. A partial examination of the country afterward convinced me, however, that troops moving in separate columns by the route suggested could not support each other until they arrived near [uka. On the other hand, an attempt to retreat, according to programme, would have brought General Ord, with his force, on the rear of the retreating column. " For casualties and captures, see accompanying reports. "The battle of Iuka foots up as follows : " On the 16th of September we commenced to collect our strength to move upon Price, at Iuka, in two columns; the one to the right of the railroad commanded by Brigadier-General (now Major-General) W. S. Rosecrans ; the one to the left commanded by Major-General E. 0. C. Ord. On the night of the 18th, the latter was in position to bring on an engagement in one hour's march. The former, from having a greater dis- tance to march, and, through the fault of a guide, was twenty miles back. On the 19th, by making a rapid march, hardy, well-disciplined, and tried troops arrived within two miles of the place to be attacked. Unexpectedly the enemy took the initia- tive and became the attacking party. The ground chosen was such that a large force on our side could not be brought into action ; but the bravery and endurance of those brought in was such that, with the skill and presence of mind of the officer commanding, they were able to hold their ground till night closed the conflict. During the night the enemy fled, leaving our troops in possession of the field, with their dead to bury and wounded to care for. If it was the object of the enemy to make their way into Kentucky, they were defeated in that; if to hold their position until Van Dorn could come up on the southwest of Corinth, and make a simultaneous attack, they were defeated in that. Our only defeat was in not capturing the entire army, or in destroying it, as I had hoped to do. "It was a part of General Hamilton's command that did the fighting, directed entirely by that cool and deserviug officer. 1 commend him to the President for acknowledgment of his services. •■ Daring the absence of these forces from Corinth, that post fl in charge of Brigadier-General T. J. McKean. The Bouthem front, from Jacinto to Rienzi, was under the charge of Colonel DuBois, with a small infantry and cavalry force. The service was most satisfactorily performed, Colonel DuBois Bhowing great vigilance and efficiency. I was kept constantly d of the movements of flying bodies of cavalry that were hovering in our front. " The wounded, both friend and enemy, are much indebted to LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 85 Surgeon J. G. F. Holbrook, Medical Director, for his untiring labor in organizing hospitals and providiug for their every want. "I cannot close this report without paying a tribute to all the officers and soldiers comprising this command. Their conduct on the march was exemplary, and all were eager to meet the enemy. The possibility of defeat I do not think entered the mind of a single individual, and I believe this same feeling now pervades the entire army which I have the honor to command. " I neglected to mention, in the proper connection, that, to cover our movements from Corinth, and to attract the attention of the enemy in another direction, I ordered a movement from Bolivar toward Holly Springs. This was conducted by Briga- dier-General Lauman, "Before completing this report the report of Major-General Ord was received, and accompanies this. "I am, Colonel, "very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. Grant, "Major- General." On the twenty-second of September, 1862, General Grant issued the following complimentary order to his victorious troops : " Head-Quarters, Department of West Tennessee, " Corinth, September 22d, 1862. ["General Field Orders, No. 1.] " The General Commanding takes great pleasure in congratu- lating the two wings of the army, commanded respectively by Major-General Ord and Major-General Rosecrans, upon the energy, alacrity, and bravery displayed by them on the 19th and 20th inst., in their movement against the enemy at Iuka. Although the enemy was in numbers reputed far greater than their own, nothing was evinced by the troops but a burning desire to meet him, whatever his numbers, and however strong his position. " With such a disposition as was manifested by the troops on this occasion, their commanders need never fear defeat against any thing but overwhelming numbers. " While it was the fortune of the command of General Rose- crans, on the evening of the 19th inst., to engage the enemy in a most spirited fight for more than two hours, driving him with great loss from his position, and winning for themselves fresh laurels, the command of General Ord is entitled to equal credit for their efforts in trying to reach the enemy, and in diverting his attention. "And while congratulating the noble living, it is meet to offer our condolence to the friends of the heroic dead, who offered 86 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. their lives a sacrifice in defence of constitutional liberty, and in their fall rendered memorable the field of Iuka. '• By command of ''Major-General U. S. Grant. "John A. Rawlins, A. A.-G." THE BATTLE OP CORINTH. From Corinth, General Grant removed his head-quarters a few days after the battle to Jackson, from which place he gave the orders necessary to thwart the plans of the rebels, who were again concentrating with a view of act- ing upon the offensive, and make a desperate attempt to recapture Corinth and other important points, and drive our army from Northern Mississippi. Frequent reconnoissances had made the Union com- mauder cognizant of every movement of the enemy; and when early in October they commenced their advance, his troops were admirably posted and prepared to meet the shock. Before daylight on the morning of the fourth of October, the forces under Price, Yan Dorn and Lovell, commenced an attack upon the defences at Corinth, but it was after nine o'clock before the battle began in earnest. General Grant was in telegraphic communication with all his subordinate commanders, and was thus enabled to promptly move the different divisions of his army from point to point as circumstances required. The battle of Iuka was really as much a part of the battle of Corinth as South Mountain was of Antietam. The rebel General Price had supposed that General Grant would have been compelled to withdraw his forces from Corinth on the nineteenth of September to reinforce those who were con- tending at Iuka, when Van Dorn would have attacked and raptured Corinth, but General Grant was too great a Strategist not to understand the movement, and frustrated the plan by sending General Ord to that point. The battle of Corinth really lasted only about two hours, but Bhort as was the time, the conflict was of the most san- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT S7 guinary character. Officers and men alike behaved with most distinguished gallantry, and although the enemy numbered about forty thousand, and their opponents not more than half that number, they were beaten back with terrific slaughter, and fled from the field, leaving their dead and wounded. The rebel loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was nearly ten thousand ; our own not much more than one-fifth that enormous aggregate, while among other captures we secured nearly four thousand stand of arms, two pieces of artillery, and fourteen stand of colors. The services of his army in this second great battle were thus officially recognized by General Grant : " Head-Quarters, Department of West Tenn., "Jackson, Tenn., October 1th, 1862. " It is with heartfelt gratitude the General Commanding con- gratulates the armies of the West for another great victory won by them on the 3d, 4th, and 5th instants, over the combined armies of Van Dorn, Price, and Lovell. " The enemy chose his own time and plan of attack, and knowing the troops of the West as he does, and with great facilities for knowing their numbers, never would have made the attempt except with a superior force numerically. But for the undaunted bravery of officers and soldiers, who have yet to learn defeat, the efforts of the enemy must have proven successful. " Whilst one division of the army, under Major-General Rose- crans, was resisting and repelling the onslaught of the rebel hosts at Corinth, another from Bolivar, under Major-General Hurlbut, was marching upon the enemy's rear, driving in their pickets and cavalry, and attracting the attention of a large force of infantry and artillery. On the following day, under Major- General Ord, these forces advanced with unsurpassed gallantry, driving the enemy back across the Hatchie, over ground where it is almost incredible that a superior force should be driven by an inferior, capturing two of the batteries (eight guns), many hundred small arms, and several hundred prisoners. "To those two divisions of the army all praise is due, and will be awarded by a grateful country. " Between them there should be, and I trust are, the warmest bonds of brotherhood. Each was risking life in the same cause, and, on this occasion, risking it also to save and assist the other. No troops could do more than these separate armies. Each did all possible for it to do in the places assigned it. 88 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. "As in all great battles, so in this, it becomes our fate to mourn the loss of many brave and faithful officers and soldiers who have given up their lives as a sacrifice for a great principle. The nation mourns for them. '• By command of " Major-General U. S. Grant. "John A. Rawlins, A. A.-G." On the following day the subjoined despatch was pub« lished for the information of the troops : " Washington, D. C., October 8th, 1862. " -M ajor-Gexerai, Grant : " I congratulate you and all concerned in your recent battles and victories. How does it all sum up? I especially regret ath of Geueral Hackleman, and am very anxious to know the condition of Geueral Oglesby, who is an intimate personal friend. "A. Lincoln. " By command of " Major-General U. S. Grant. " John A. Rawlins. "Assistant Adjutant- General." After the battle, the rebels were pursued in force about forty miles, but their flight was so rapid that it was impossible to overtake them, and further pursuit was suspended. HE ASSUMES COMMAND OP THE DEPART- MENT OP THE TENNESSEE. On the sixteenth of October, 1862, General Grant's Department was extended so as to embrace the State of Mississippi as far as Vicksburg, and on assuming com- mand he issued the following orders : " Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, " Jackson, Tenn., October 25th, 1862. ["General Orders, No. 1.) " 1- fn compliance with General Orders, No. 159, A. G. 0., War Department, of date October 16th, 1862, the undersigned hereby assumes command of the Department of the Tennessee, which includes Cairo, Port Henry and Fort Donelson, Northern Mississippi, and the portions of Kentucky and Tennessee west • >t the Tennessee river. I '■ Head-quarters of the Department of the Tennessee will a, until farther orders, at Jackson, Tennessee. " '"■ Aii orders of the District of West Tennessee will con- tinue m force in the Department. " TJ. S. Grant, "Major-General Commanding." LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 89 " Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, "Jackson, Tenn., October 26th, 1862. ["General Orders, No. 2.] "I. The geographical divisions designated in General Orders, No. 83, from Head-quarters, District of West Tennessee, dated September 24th, 1862, will hereafter be known as districts. The First Division will constitute the ' District of Memphis,' Major-General W. T. Sherman commanding ; the Second Division, the ' District of Jackson,' commanded by Major- General S. A. Hurlbut ; the Third Division, the ' District of Corinth.' Brigadier-General C. S. Hamilton commanding ; the "Fourth Division, the 'District of Columbus,' commanded by Brigadier- General T. A. Davies. " II. The army heretofore known as the 'Army of the Missis- sippi,' being now divided and in different departments, will be continued as a separate army. " III. Until army corps are formed, there will be no distinc- tion known, except those of departments, districts, divisions, posts, brigades, regiments and companies. '' By command of " Major-General U. S. Grant. "John A. Rawlins, A. A.-G." On the first of November he issued a lengthy order establishing certain important regulations in regard to the movement of trains, limiting the allowance of baggage and camp equipage, and otherwise placing his army in such a condition that it could move in the enemy's country with the greatest activity, and not be encumbered with long lines of wagons, as has too frequently been the case during the progress of the rebellion. IMPORTANT BECONNOISSANCES AND SKIR- MISHES. A day or two before this last order was issued, a large body of cavalry had made a successful reconnoissance below Ripley, and had occupied that place and Orizaba, and on the fourth of November, General Grant, with several divi- sions of the army, occupied La Grange, and established his head-quarters there. On the eighth of November, 1862, he ordered a force, consisting of about ten thousand infantry under command of General McPherson, and about fifteen hundred cavalry 90 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Under Colonel Lee, to make a reconnoissance for the pur- pose of ascertaining the exact position of the enemy. Near Lamar, a village about twelve miles south of La Grange, the cavalry encountered the enemy's pickets, and soon afterwards a force of cavalry, whom, after a short Bkirmish, they drove into the hills. One portion of Colonel Lee's force was subsequently sent down towards Hudson- ville, while he himself, with about seven hundred of his men, attacked the rebels and compelled them to retreat, leaving their dead and wounded in our hands. For his gallant conduct on this and several previous occasions, Colonel Lee was recommended by General Grant for pro- motion. On the ninth of November, stringent orders were issued, ^having for their object the prevention of depredations by the troops, and authorizing the stoppage of the pay of en- tire divisions for the full amount of damages committed by any soldier to whom the act could not be definitely traced. On the eleventh of the month the officers of Gen- eral Grant's staff were officially announced ; on the four- teenth, a camp for the reception of fugitive slaves was « -t :il)lisbed at Grand Junction ; two days later, one of the provisions of the order of the ninth was enforced, by the levy >A' about twelve hundred dollars upon the Twentieth Illinois regiment, to reimburse certain store-keepers for property stolen and injured by a portion of the regiment, the identity of the actual criminals being undiscovered; and "i! the nineteenth, an order was promulgated, requiring persons, before purchasing cotton or other Southern pro- dncts, to have a special permit from the local Provost- Marshal ; prohibiting purchasers from going beyond the linesto trade ; and granting licenses to loyal persons within the Department to keep for sale to residents who have taken the oath of allegiance, articles "of prime necessity for families." LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 91 ADVANCE Or THE ARMY-RECONNOISSANCES AND SKIRMISHES. On the twenty-eighth of November, 1862, a force of cavalry and infantry, which had started the day before from Helena, Arkansas, under command of Generals A P. Hovey and Washburne, arrived at a point on the Mis- sissippi river near the mouth of the Yazoo Pass ; and a reconnoitering party was immediately sent out, which cap- tured a rebel camp, routed its occupants, and from thence moved along the Coldwater and Tallahatchie rivers. An expedition was also sent to Garner's Station, where the railroad track and bridge were destroyed. Other import- ant and equally successful reconnoissances were made about the same time. On the same day the advance of General Grant's main army left Davis's Mills for Holly Springs, and passing through the latter place, arrived near Waterford on the thir- tieth, when a skirmish took place, resulting in the retreat of the enemy within their defences. On the second of December, Abbeville was occupied by the Union troops ; on the third, several skirmishes occurred near Oxford ; on the fourth, the rebels were driven from Water Valley ; and on the fifth, a severe engagement, lasting several hours, and which was not attended with the same success which had rewarded the gallantry of our troops on the previous days, was fought near Coffeeville, Mississippi. On the twelfth, the enemy were repulsed near Corinth, but eight days later they gained a victory over the garrison at Holly Springs, and compelled a surrender. Other towns in the real of General Grant's army were also attacked, but un- successfully. The surrender of Holly Springs seriously interfered with his plans, and he was compelled to fall back to that place, from whence he issued the following orders : 6 92 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " Head-Quarters, 13th Army Corps, "Department of the Tennessee. " Holly Springs, Miss., December 24th, 1862. " It is with pain and mortification that the General Com- manding reflects upon the disgraceful surrender of the place, with all the valuable stores it contained, on the 20th hist,, and that without any resistance except by a few men, who formed an honorable exception ; and this, too, after warning had been given of the enemy northward, the evening previous. With all the cotton, public stores, and substantial buildings about the depot it would lvave been perfectly practical to have made, in a few hours, a defence sufficient to resist, with a small garrison, all the cavalry force brought against them until the reinforce- ments which "the commanding officer was notified were marching to his relief could have reached him. " The conduct of officers and men in accepting paroles, under the circumstances, is highly reprehensible, and, to say the least, thoughtless. By the terms of the Dix-Hill cartel each party is bound to take care of their prisoners and to send them to Vieksburg, or a point on the James river, for exchange, or parole, unless some other point is mutually agreed upon by the generals commanding the opposing armies. " By a refusal to be paroled, the enemy, from his inability to take care of the prisoners, would have been compelled either to have refused them unconditionally or to have abandoned further aggressive movements for the time being, which would have made their recapture, and the discomfiture of the enemy almost certain. " The prisoners paroled at this place will be collected in camp at once by the post commander, and held under close guard until their case can be reported to Washington for further instructions. "Commanders throughout the department are directed to arrest and hold as above all men of their commands and all Stragglers who may have accepted their paroles upon like terms. " The General Commanding is satisfied that the majority of the troops who accepted a parole did so thoughtlessly and from want of knowledge of the cartel referred to, and that in future they will not be caught in the same way. " By order of " Major-General U. S. Grant. " Joun A. Rawlins, A A.-G." "Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, " Holly Springs, Miss.. January 8th, 1863. "I. The Major-General commanding the department takes just pride ami satisfaction in congratulating the small garrisons of the posts of Coldwater, Davis's Mills, and Middlehurg, for tie' heroic defence of their positions on the 20th, 21st, and 24th ultimo, and their successful repulse of an enemy many times their number. LIFE GF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 93 " The Ninetieth Illinois, at Cold water (its first engagement) ; the detachment of the veteran Twenty-fifth Indiana, and two companies of the Fifth Ohio cavalry, at Davis's Mills ; and the detachment of the gallant Twelfth Michigan at Middleburg, are deserving of the thanks of the army, which was in a measure dependent upon the road they so nobly defended for supplies, and they will receive the meed of praise ever awarded by a grate- ful public to those who bravely and successfully do their duty. "These regiments are entitled to inscribe upon their banners, respectively, Coldwater, Davis's Mills, and Middleburg, with the names of other battle-fields made victorious by their valor and discipline. " It is gratifying to know that at every point where our troops made a stand during the late raid of the enemy's cavalry, suc- cess followed, and the enemy was made to suffer a loss in killed and wounded greater than the entire garrisons of the places attacked. Especially was this the case of Davis's Mills and Middleburg. The only success gained by Van Dorn was at Holly Springs, where the whole garrison was left by their com- mander in ignorance of the approach of danger. "II. Colonel R. C. Murphy, of the Eighth Regiment Wisconsin infantry volunteers, having, while in command of the post of Holly Springs, Mississippi, neglected and failed to exercise the usual and ordinary precautions to guard and protect the same ; having, after repeated and timely warning of the approach of the enemy, failed to make any preparations for resistance or defence, or shown any disposition to do so ; and having, with a force amply sufficient to have repulsed the enemy and protect the public stores intrusted to his care, disgracefully permitted him to capture the post and destroy the stores — and the move- ment of troops in the face of an enemy rendering it impractica- ble to convene a court-martial for his trial — is therefore dis- missed the service of the United States — to take effect from the 20th day of December, 1862, the date of his cowardly and disgraceful conduct. " By order of " Major-General U. S. Grant. " Jony A. Rawlins, A. A.-G." PREPARATIONS FOR THE ASSAULT ON VICKSs- BURG— CHANGES IN THE ARMY ORGANI- ZATION. On the twentieth of December, 1862, General W. T. Sher- man left Memphis with a large force, composed entirely of Western men, on an expedition towards Yicksburg, and on the following day he arrived at Friar's Point, about eighteen miles below Helena. A portion of his command 9i LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. subsequently proceeded to Delhi and Dallas, on the line of the Vicksburg and Texas railroad, and removed the rails for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the enemy ; and on the twenty-sixth, his main forces landed at John- ston's Landing, near the mouth of the Yazoo, and prepared for an immediate assault upon the northern line of works at Vicksburg. By an order of the commanding-general, the following changes were made in the army organiza- tion : — The troops in the Department of the Tennessee, including those of the Department of the Missouri operating on the Mississippi river, were divided into four army corps, as follows : " Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, "Holly Springs, Miss., Dec. 22nd, 1862. " By directions of the General-in-Chief of the army, the troops in this department, including those of the Department of the Missouri operating on the Mississippi river, are hereby divided into four army corps, as follows : " 1. The troops composing the Ninth division, Brigadier- General G. W. Morgan commanding ; the Tenth division, Briga- dier-General A. J. Smith commanding; and all other troops operating on the Mississippi river below Memphis, not included in the Fifteenth army corps, will constitute the Thirteenth army corps, under the command of Major-General John A. McCler- naud. "2. The Fifth division, Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith commanding; the division from Helena, Arkansas, commanded by Brigadier-General F. Steele ; and the forces in the ' District of Memphis,' will constitute the Fifteenth army corps, and be commanded by Major-General W. T. Sherman. " I*. The Sixth division, Brigadier-General J. McArthur com- mauding; the Seventh division, Brigadier-General I. F. Quinby commanding ; the Eighth division, Brigadier-General L. F. Ross commanding; the Second brigade of cavalry, Colonel A. L. Lee commanding; and the troops in the ' District of Columbus,' com- manded by Brigadier-General Davies, and those in the 'District of Jackson.' commanded by Brigadier-General Sullivan, will constitute the Sixteenth army corps, and be commanded by Major-General S. A. Hurlbut. " 4. The Pirsl division, Brigadier-General J. W. Denver com- manding; the Third division, Brigadier-General John A. Logan commanding ; the Fourth division, Brigadier-General J. G. Lau- mau commanding ; the First brigade of cavalry, Colonel B. H. LIFE OF GKNKK.VL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 95 Grierson commanding; and the forces in the ' District of Corinth,' commanded by Brigadier-General G. M. Dodge, will constitute the Seventeenth army corps, aud be commanded by Major- General J. B. McPherson. " District commanders will send consolidated returns of their forces to these head-quarters, as well as to the army head-quar- ters, and will, for the present, receive orders from Department head-quarters. " By order of " Major-General U. S. Grant. "John A. Rawlins, A. A.-G." The divisions of Generals McArthur and Quinby were subsequently transferred from the Sixteenth to the Seven- teenth corps, and those of Generals Denver and Laurnan, from the Seventeenth to the Sixteenth. On the twenty-seventh of December, the "Right Wing of the Army of the Tennessee," as General Sherman's com- mand was termed, advanced upon the enemy's works, and on the following day a general attack was made ; but the enemy being reinforced, and the disgraceful surrender of Holly Springs having prevented General Grant from moving to General Sherman's support as had been ar- ranged, the assault was repelled with heavy loss, as was also the case on the next day, and General Sherman was compelled reluctantly to re-embark his troops. General McClernand arrived soon afterwards, and rank- ing General Sherman, gave orders to that officer to with- draw from the Yazoo river. Early in January, 1863, the " Right Wing of the Army of the Tennessee" had its title changed to that of "The Army of the Mississippi," and was divided into two corps— one to be commanded by General Sherman, and the other by General G. W. Mor- gan. These two corps, a week later, accompanied by gunboats, went up the Arkansas and White rivers, and a short but severe engagement took place, terminating in the fall of the rebel Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post. This work accomplished, the corps rejoined General Grant, who had his head-quarters at that time at Memphis. i'6 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. TIIS WILLIAMS' CANAL -THE QUEEN OP THE WEST AND INDIANOLA. On the twenty-ninth of January, 1863, a portion of the army was landed at Young's Point, Louisiana, where the commanding general established his head-quarters, and an- other portion at Milliken's Bend, and immediate prepara- tions were made for an attack upon Yicksburg. To flank the works upon the south side of the city was considered the only plan which promised success, and a large force was placed at work to re-open the canal across the peninsula, on the Louisiana side of the river, first commenced by General Williams, a gallant officer, who was subsequently killed at Baton Rouge. The work was prosecuted ener- getically until the eighth of March, when unfortunately the dam at the end of the canal was broken in by the over- flow of the river and the enterprise was abandoned. Early in February, 1863, the ram Queen of the West, under command of Colonel Charles R. Ellet, ran past the batteries at Yicksburg, and proceeding up the Red and Atchafalaya rivers, destroyed a large amount of valuable stores and captured a steamer belonging to the rebels. On the evening of the fourteenth, he attacked three rebel steamers, but the pilot running the ram aground within easy range of the enemy's guns, it became so much darn- aged that her commander was compelled to abandon it. On the previous night the gunboat Indianola had also succeeded in running the gauntlet, but she was destined to meet with the fate of her consort, and on the night of th« twenty-fourth, she was attacked and captured by the rebel fleet, and her hull so badly injured that she sunk before her captors could take possession. NEW "CUT-OPFS" PROPOSED— THE YAZOO PASS EXPEDITION. To deceive the enemy as to his real intentions and at LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 97 the same time to give a portion of his large force employ- ment, General Grant acceded to the request of some of his engineers who were desirous of attempting the experi- ment of making a canal which would allow the transports to pass by Yicksburg without running past the batteries. The plan was to connect the Mississippi with Lake Provi- dence in Louisiana, from which body of water an easy exit could be effected by bayous into the Tensas, and from thence into the Black river. The Black river flows into the Red river, and the latter empties into the Missis- sippi about fifty miles above Port Hudson. The work was carried on with great rapidity until the middle of April, when the Mississippi beginning to fall, work was suspended and the project abandoned. A water route on the other side of the Mississippi was also adopted, but although it proved more successful than the one to which we have referred, its use was of but little subsequent advantage to General Grant except to divert the attention of the enemy w T hile he was perfecting his programme for the campaign against the rebel strong- hold. In the latter part of February, 1863, an expe- dition was sent to open this route, w T hich connected the Mississippi with the Coldwater and Tallahatchie rivers through Yazoo Pass. The total length of the Pass is twenty miles, and throughout its entire length it runs through a section of country which a visitor describes as combining "the ugliest features of the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, the jungles of India, and the boundless tall forests of the John Brown Tract in Western New York." The vessels of the expedition however successfully en- countered all the obstacles, and steering from the Pass into the Coldwater and Tallahatchie, moved dowu the latter stream until they reached Fort Pemberton, a formidable rebel work, which was attacked, but as the troops could not be made effective on account of the overflowed lands, 98 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. the assault was discontinued and the expedition with, drawn RECGNNOISSANCE OP STEELE'S BAYOU. On the morning of the fifteenth of March, 1863, General Grant accompanied Admiral Porter on a reconnoissance up Steele's Bayou, and soon afterwards General Sherman was despatched with a division of the Fifteenth army- corps to assist in opening this route to a point on the Yazoo river hetween Haines's Bluff and Yazoo city. For some days the combined military and naval forces ad- vanced through the enemy's country, notwithstanding the obstructions which had been placed in the streams. Sev- eral skirmishes and engagements were fought, and finally, after awaiting a renewal of the attack, which the rebels declined to commence, the Union troops, transports and gunboats returned to Young's Point/General Grant's head- quarters. RUNNING THE GAUNTLET— ADVANCE OP THE ARMY. On the twenty-first of March, 1863, Admiral Farragut's flag-ship, the Hartford, which with the Albatross had suc- ceeded in running past the batteries at Port Hudson, ar- rived below Yicksburg, and the Admiral communicated with General Grant. Four clays later the Union rams Lancaster and Switzerland attempted to pass the Vicks- burg batteries, but they were so badly injured by the missiles from the rebel guns, that the former was sunk and the latter disabled. On the twenty-ninth of March, General Grant commenced moving his army down the Louisiana shore, the Thirteenth corps taking the advance, and followed by the Fifteenth and Seventeenth. The Six- teenth corps remained to see that communication was maintained and supplies forwarded. On the thirtieth, the town of Richmond, Louisiana, was occupied after two liouo titrhtincr. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 99 In accordance with General Grant's plans, Admiral Porter prepared to run a number of gunboats and trans- ports by the Vieksburg batteries, with a view of co- operating with General Grant, and transporting the army across the Mississippi. On the night of the sixteenth of April, the vessels succeeded in running the gauntlet, and a week later several transports loaded with troops also accomplished the perilous trip. About the same time the First cavalry brigade, under com- mand of Colonel (now General) B. H. Grierson, was detailed by General Grant to cut all the enemy's communications with Vieksburg, an important and hazardous duty which was performed with the most brilliant success. Portions of the Mobile and Ohio, the Southern and the Jackson and New Orleans railroads were destroyed, nine bridges were burned, and two locomotives, about two hundred cars, three rebel camps and a number of buildings were destroyed, and over twelve hundred horses captured. The total value of property destroyed was estimated at four millions of dollars. Having fulfilled his mission, and having routed the enemy wherever encountered, Colonel Grierson moved towards Baton Rouge, where he arrived on the first of May. On the nights of the 16th and 22d of April, 1863, two fleets of gunboats and transports ran past the Vieksburg bat- teries without receiving any material damage ; and on the eighteenth, three regiments of infantry and one of cavalry left Memphis, and when near Nonconnah, encountered the rebels and whipped them. On the following morning the Union cavalry again attacked the rebels, and drove them across the Coldwater river in confusion. Both parties being subsequently reinforced, the engagement was re- newed, and again resulted in the success of the Union troops. With a view of attaining a position from which he could Lore. 100 LIFE OF GKNERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. easily transport his army across the Mississippi, General Grant gave the order for an advance movement. At eight o'clock on the morning of the twenty-ninth, Admiral Por- ter engaged the batteries at Grand Gulf, but finding it im- possible to silence them, General Grant changed his plan of landing at that point, and selected another site below. At an early hour of the evening, the fleet again engaged the batteries, and while the bombardment was in progress, several of the transports steamed safely by the enemy's guns, General Grant during the exciting scene being sta- tioned on a tug in the river. THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG- OFFICIAL REPORT OF GENERAL GRANT. The official report of the commander-in-chief gives such an interesting account of the siege of Vicksburg and of the movements anterior thereto that we publish it entire. It is as follows GENERAL GRANT'S OFFICIAL REPORT. " Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennesshe, " Vicksburg, Miss., July 6th, 18G3. "Colonel: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the army of the Tennessee, and co-operating forces, from the date of my assuming the immediate command lit' the expedition against Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the reduc- i ion of that place. ■• Prom the moment of taking command in person. I became satisfied that Vicksburg could only be turned from the south Fide, and. iii accordance with this conviction, I prosecuted the work on the canal, which had been located by Brigadier-General Williams, across the peninsula, on the Louisiana side of the river, with all vigor, hoping to make a channel which would pass transports for moving the army and carrying supplies to the new has- of operations thus provided. The task was much more herculean than it at first appeared, and was made much more so by the almosl continuous rains that fell during the whole of the time this work was prosecuted. The river, too. continued to rise and make a large expenditure of labor necessary to keep the water 'out of our camps and the canal. Finally, on the eighth of March, the rapid rise of the river and the consequent ureal pressure upon the dam across the canal, LIFE OF GENEKAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 101 near the upper end, at the main Mississippi levee, caused it to give away and let through the low lands back of our camps a torrent of water that separated the north and south shores of the penin- sula as effectually as if the Mississippi flowed between them. This occurred when the enterprise promised success within a short time. There was some delay in trying to repair damages. It was found, however, that with the then stage of water, some other plan would have to be adopted for getting below Vicks- burg with transports. " Captain F. L. Prime, Chief Engineer, and Colonel G. G. Pride, who was acting on my staff, prospected a route through the bayous which run from near Millikeu's Bend on the north, and New-Carthage on the south, through Roundaway Bayou into the Tansas river. Their report of the practicability of this route determined me to commence work upon it. Having three dredge-boats at the time, the work of opening this route was executed with great rapidity. One small steamer and a number of barges were taken through the channel thus opened, but the river commencing about the middle of April to fall rapidly, and the roads becoming passable between Milliken's Bend and New- Carthage, made it impracticable and unnecessary to open water communication between these points. " Soon after commencing the first canal spoken of, I caused a channel to be cut from the Mississippi into Lake Providence; also one from the Mississippi river into Coldwater, by way of Yazoo Pass. " I had no great expectations of important results from the former of these, but having more troops than could be employed to advantage at Young's Point, and knowing that Lake Provi- dence was connected by Baxter Bayou with Bayou Macon, a navigable stream through which transports might pass into the Mississippi below, through Tansas, Wachita, and Red Rivers, I thought it possible that a route might be opened in that direction which would enable me to co-operate with General Banks at Port Hudson. " By the Yazoo Pass route I only expected at first to get into the Yazoo by way of Coldwater and Tallahatchie with some lighter gunboats and a few troops, and destroy the enemy's transports in that stream and some gunboats which I knew he was building. The navigation, however, proved so much better than had been expected, that I thought for a time of the possi- bility of making this the route for obtaining a foothold on the high land above Haines' Bluff, Mississippi, and small-class steamers were accordingly ordered for transporting an army that way. Major-General J. B. McPherson, commanding Seventeenth army corps, was directed to hold his corps in readiness to move by this route ; and one division from each of the Thirteenth and Fifteenth corps were collected near the entrance of the Pass to be added to his command. It soon became evident that a suffi- 102 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. cient number of boats of the right class could Dot be obtained for the movement of more than one division. " While my forces were opening one end of the Pass the enemy was diligently closing the other end, and in this way suc- ceeded in gaining time to strongly fortify Greenwood, below the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yellobusha. The advance of the expedition, consisting of one division of McClemand's corps, from Helena, commanded by Brigadier-General L. F. Ross, and the Twelfth and Seventeenth regiments Missouri infantry, from Sherman's corps, as sharp-shooters on the gun- boats, succeeded in reaching Coldwater on the second day of March, after much difficulty, and the partial disabling of most of the boats. From the entrance into Coldwater to Fort Pemberton, at Greenwood, Mississippi, no great difficulty of navigation was experienced, nor any interruption of magnitude from the enemy. Fort Pemberton extends from the Tallahatchie to the Yazoo, at Greenwood. Here the two rivers come within a few hundred yards of each other. The land around the Fort is low, and at the time of the attack was entirely overflowed. Owing to this fact, no movement could be made by the army to reduce it, but all depended upon the ability of the gunboats to sileuce the guns of the enemy, and enable the transports to run down, and land troops immediately on the Fort itself. After an engagement of several hours, the guuboats drew off, being unable to sileuce the batteries. Brigadier-General J. F. Quinby, commanding a division of McPherson's corps, met the expedition under Ross, with his division on its return, near Fort Pemberton, on the twenty- first of March, and being the senior, assumed the command of the entire expedition, and returned to the position Ross had occupied. "On the twenty-third day of March, I sent orders for the withdrawal of all the forces operating in that direction for the purpose of concentrating my army at Milliken's Bend. "On the fourteenth day of March, Admiral D. D. Porter, commanding Mississippi squadron, informed me that he had made a reconnoissance up Steel's Bayou, and partially through Black Bayou toward Deer creek, and so far as explored, these water-courses were reported navigable for the smaller iron-clads. Information, given mostly, I believe, by the negroes of the coun- try, was to the effect that Deer creek could be navigated to Rolling Fork, and that from there through the Sunflower to the Yazoo river there was no question about the navigation. On the following morning I accompanied Admiral Porter in the ram Price, several iron-clads preceding us, up through Steel's Bayou, to near Black Bayou. "At tins time our forces were at a dead-lock at Greenwood, and 1 looked upon the success of this enterprise as of vast im- portance. It would, if successful, leave Greenwood between two forces of ours, aud would necessarily cause the immediate abandonment of that stronghold. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 103 "About thirty steamers of the enemy would have been de- stroyed or fallen into our hands. Seeing that the great obstacle to navigation, so far as I had gone, was from overhanging trees, I left Admiral Porter near Black Bayou, and pushed back to Young's Point for the purpose of sending forward a pioneer corps to remove these difficulties. Soon after my return to Young's Point, Admiral Porter sent back to me for a co-operating mili- tary force. Sherman was promptly sent with one division of his corps. The number of steamers suitable for the navigation of these bayous being limited, most of the force was sent up the Mississippi river to Eagle's Bend, a point where the river runs within one mile of Steel's Bayou, thus saving an important part of difficult navigation. The expedition failed, probably more from want of knowledge as to what would be required to open this route than from any impracticability in the navigation of the streams and bayous through which it was proposed to pass. Want of this knowledge led the expedition on until diffi- culties were encountered, and then it would become necessary to send back to Young's Point for the means of removing them. This gave the enemy time to move forces to effectually check- mate further progress, and the expedition was withdrawn when within a few hundred yards of free and open navigation to the Yazoo. "All this may have been providential in driving us ultimately to a line of operations which has proven eminently successful. " For further particulars of the Steel's Bayoa expedition, see report of Major-General W. F. Sherman, forwarded on the twelfth of April. '•As soon as I decided to open water communication from a point on the Mississippi near Milliken's Bend to New Carthage, I determined to occupy the latter place, it being the first point below Vicksburg that could be reached by land at the stage of water then existing, and the occupancy of which, while it secured to us a point on the Mississippi river, would also pro- tect the main line of communication by water. Accordingly, the Thirteenth army corps, Major-General J. A. McClernand commanding, was directed to take up the line of march on the tweuty-ninth day of March for New-Carthage, the Fifteenth and Seventeeth corps to follow, moving no faster than supplies and ammunition could be transported to them. "The roads, though level, were intolerably bad, and the move- ment was therefore necessarily slow. Arriving at Smith's plan- tation, two miles from New-Carthage, it was found that the levee of Bayou Vidal was broken in several places, thus leaving New-Carthage an island. "All the boats that could be were collected from the different bayous in the vicinity, and others were built, but the transpor- tation of an army in this way was found exceedingly tedious. Another route had to be found. This was done by making a 104 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. further march around Vidal to Perkins's plantation, a distance of twelve miles more, making the whole distance to be marched from Milli ken's Bend to reach water communication on the opposite side of the point, thirty-five miles. Over this distance, with bad roads to conteud against, supplies of ordnance stores and provisions had to be hauled by wagons with which to com- mence the campaign on the opposite side of the river. "At the same time that I ordered the occupation of New- Carthage, preparations were made for running transports by the Vicksburg batteries with Admiral Porter's gunboat fleet. " On the night of the sixteenth of April, Admiral Porter's fleet, and the transports Silver Wave, Forest Queen, and Henry Clay, ran the Vicksburg batteries. The boilers of the trans- ports were protected as well as possible with hay and cotton. More or less commissary stores were put on each. All three of these boats were struck more or less frequently while passing the enemy's batteries, and the Henry Clay, by the explosion of a shell or by other means, was set on fire and entirely consumed. The other two boats were somewhat injured, but not seriously disabled. No one on board of either was hurt. "As these boats succeeded in getting by so well, I ordered six more to be prepared in like manner for running the batteries. These latter, namely, Tigress, Anglo-Saxon, Cheeseman, Empire City, Horizooia, and Moderator, left Milliken's Bend on the night of the twenty-second of April, and five of them got by, but in somewhat damaged condition. The Tigress received a shot in her hull below the water-line, and sunk on the Louisiana shore soon alter passing the last of the batteries. The crews of these steamers, with the exception of that of the Forest Queen, Captain D. Conway, and the Silver Wave, Cap- tain McMillan, were composed of volunteers from the army. Coon the call for volunteers for this dangerous enterprise, Officers and men presented themselves by hundreds, anxious to undertake the trip. The names of those whose services were a cepted will lie given in a separate report. '• It is a striking feature, so far as my observation eroes, of the present volunteer army of the United States, that there is noth- ing which men are called upon to do, mechanical or professional, thai accomplished adepts cannot be found for the duty required in almost every regiment. "The transports injured in running the blockade were re- paired by order of Admiral Porter, who was supplied with the material for such repairs as they required, and who was and is ever ready to afford all the assistance in his power for the furtherance of the success of our arms. In a very short time five ol the transports were in running order, and the remainder were m a condition to be used as barges in the movement of troop.. Twelve barges loaded with forage and rations were sent in tow ol the last six boats that ran the blockade ; one-half of thein got through in a condition to be used. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 105 " Owing to the limited number of transports below Vicks- burg, it was found necessary to extend our line of land travel to Hard Times, La., which, by the circuitous route it was necessary to take, increased the distance to about seventy miles from Milliken's Btmd, our starting-point. "The Thirteenth army corps being all through to the Missis- sippi, and the Seventeenth army corps well on the way, so much of the Thirteenth as could be got on board the transports and barges were put aboard and moved to the front of Grand Gulf on the twenty-ninth of April. The plan here was that the navy should silence the guns of the enemy, and the troops land under cover of the gunboats, and carry the place by storm. "At eight o'clock a.m., the navy made the attack, and kept it up for more than rive hours in the most gallant manner. From a tug out in the stream I witnessed the whole engagement. Many times it seemed to me the gunboats were within pistol-shot of the enemy's batteries. It soon became evident that the guns of the enemy were too elevated and their fortifications too strong to be taken from the water-side. The whole range of hills on that side were known to be lined with rifle-pits; besides, the field artillery could be moved to any position where it could be made useful in case of an attempt at landing. This determined me to again run the enemy's batteries, turn his position by effecting a landing at Rodney, or at Bruinsburg, between Grand Gulf and lloduey. Accordingly, orders were immediately given for the troops to debark at, Hard Times, La., and march across to the plain immediately below Grand Gulf. At dark the gunboats again engaged the batteries, and all the transports ran by, receiving but two or three shots in the passage, and these with- out injury. I had some time previously ordered a recounois- sance to a point opposite Bruinsburg, to ascertain, if possible, from persons in the neighborhood, the character of the road leading to the highlands back of Bruinsburg. During the night I learned from a negro man that there was a good road from Bruinsburg to Port Gibson, which determined me to laud there. " The work of ferrying the troops to Bruinsburg was com- menced at daylight in the morning, the guuboats as well as transports being used for the purpose. "As soon as the Thirteenth army corps was landed, and could draw three days' rations to put in haversacks (no wagons were allowed to cross until the troops were all over), they were started on the road to Port Gibson. I deemed it a matter of vast importance that the highlands should be reached without resistance. " The Seventeenth corps followed as rapidly as it could be put across the river. "About two o'clock on the first of May, the advance of the enemy was met eight miles from Bruinsburg, on the road to 106 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Port Gibson. He wa>s forced to fall back, but as it was dark, he was not pursued far until daylight. Early on the morning of tbe first I went out, accompanied by members of my staff, and found McClernand with his corps engaging the enemy about four miles from Port Gibson, At this point the roads branched in exactly opposite directions, both, however, leading to Port Gibson. The enemy had taken position on both branches, thus dividing, as he fell back, the pursuing forces. The nature of the ground in that part of the country is such that a very small force could retard the progress of a much larger one for many hours. The roads usually run on narrow, elevated ridges, with deep and impenetrable ravines on either side. On the right were the divisions of Hovey, Carr, and Smith, and on the left, the division of Osterhaus of McClernand's corps. The three former succeeded in driving the enemy from position to position back toward Port Gibson steadily all day. " Osterhaus did not, however, move the enemy from the posi- tion occupied by him on our left until Logan's division of Mc- Pherson's corps arrived. " McClernand, who was with the right in person, sent re- peated messages to me before the arrival of Logan to send Logan and Quiuby's division of McPherson's corps to him. " I had been on that as well as all other parts of the field, and could not see how they could be used there to advantage. However, as soon as the advance of McPherson's corps (Lo- gan's division) arrived, I sent one brigade, Brigadier-General J. E. Smith commanding, to the left to the assistance of Osterhaus. " By the judicious disposition made of this brigade, under the immediate supervision of McPhersou and Logan, a position was soon obtained giving us an advantage which soon drove the enemy from that part of the field, to make no further stand south of Bayou Pierre. '• The enemy was here repulsed with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The repulse of the enemy on our left took place late iu the afternoon. He was pursued toward Port Gibson, but night closing in, and the enemy making the appear- ance of another stand, the troops slept upon their arms until daylight. " In the morning it was found that the enemy had retreated across Bayou Pierre, on the Grand Gulf road, and a brigade of Logan's division was sent to divert his attention while a floating bridge was being built across Bayou Pierre, immediately at Port Gibson. This bridge was completed, eight miles marched by McPherson's corps to the north fork of Bayou Pierre, that Btream bridged, and the advance of this corps commenced pass- ing over it at five o'clock the following morning. " On the third the enemy was pursued to Hawkinson's Ferry, with slight skirmishing all day, during which we took quite a number of prisoners, mostly stragglers from the enemy. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 107 " Finding that Grand Gulf had been evacuated, and that the advance of my forces was already fifteen miles out from there, and on the road, too, they would have to take to reach either Vicksburg, Jackson, or any intermediate point on the railroad between the two places, I determined not to march them back, but taking a small escort of cavalry, some fifteen or twenty men, I went to the Gulf myself, and made the necessary arrange- ' ments for changing my base of supplies from Bruinsburg to Grand Gulf. "In moving from Milliken's Bend, the Fifteenth army corps, Major-General W. T. Sherman commanding, was left to be the last to start. To prevent heavy reinforcements going from Vicksburg to the assistance of the Grand Gulf forces, I di- rected Sherman to make a demonstration on Haines's Bluff, and to make all the show possible. From information since received from prisoners captured, this ruse succeeded admirably. " It had been my intention, up to the time of crossing the Mississippi river, to collect all my forces at Grand Gulf, and get on hand a good supply of provisions and ordnance stores before moving, and, in the meantime, to detach an army corps to co-operate with General Banks on Port Hudson, and effect a junction of our forces. "About this time, I received a letter from General Banks giving his position west of the Mississippi river, and stating that he could return to Baton Rouge by the tenth of May ; that by the reduction of Port Hudson he could joiu me with twelve thousand men. " I learned about the same time, that troops were expected at Jackson from the Southern cities, with General Beauregard in command. To delay until the teuth of May, and for the reduc- tion of Port Hudson after that, the accession of twelve thousand men would not leave me relatively so strong as to move promptly with what I had. Information received from day to day of the movements of the enemy also impelled me to the course pur- sued. While lying at Hawkinson's Ferry, waiting for wagons, supplies, and Sherman's corps, which had come forward in the meantime, demonstrations were made, successfully, I believe, to induce the enemy to think that route, and the one by Hall's Ferry above, were objects of much solicitude to me. Recon- noissances were made to the west side of the Big Black to within six miles of Warrenton. On the 7th of May an ad- vance was ordered, McPherson's corps keeping the road nearest Black river to Rocky Springs, McOlernand's corps keeping the ridge -road from Willow Springs, and Sherman following with his corps divided on the two roads. All the ferries were closely guarded until our troops were well advanced. It was my intention here to hug the Black river as closely as possible with McOler- nand's and Sherman's corps, and get them to the railroad, at some place between Edward's Station and Bolton. McPherson 7 108 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. was to move by way of Utica to Raymond, and from thence into Jackson, destroying the railroad, telegraph, public stores, etc., and push west to rejoin the main force. Orders were given to McPherson accordingly. Sherman was moved forward on the Edward's Station road, crossing Fourteen Mile creek at Dillon's plantation ; McClernand was moved across the same creek, fur- ther west, sending one division of his corps by the Baldwin's Ferry road as far as the river. At the crossing of Fourteen Mile creek, both McClernand and Sherman had considerable skirmishing with the enemy to get possession of the crossing. " McPherson met the enemy near Raymond two brigades strong, under Gregg and Walker, ou the same day engaged him, and after several hours' hard fighting, drove him with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Many threw down their arms and deserted. " My position at this time was with Sherman's corps, some seven miles west of Raymond, aud about the centre of the army. "On the night of the twelfth of May, after orders had been given for the corps of McClernand and Sherman to march to- ward the railroad by parallel roads — the former in the direction of Edward's Station, and the latter to a point on the railroad between Edward's Station and Bolton — the order was changed, and both were directed to move toward Raymond. "This was in consequence of the enemy having retreated to- ward Jackson after his defeat at Raymond, and of information that reinforcements were daily arriving at Jackson, and that Ceueral Joe Johnston was hourly expected there to take com- mand in person. I, therefore, determined to make sure of that place, and leave no enemy in my rear. " McPherson moved on the thirteenth to Clinton, destroyed the railroad and telegraph, and captured some important despatches from General Pemberton to General Gregg, who had commanded the day before in the battle of Raymoud. Sherman moved to a parallel position on the Mississippi Springs aud Jackson road ; McClernand moved to a point near Raymond. " The next day Sherman and McPherson moved their entire forces toward Jackson. The rain fell in torrents all the night before, aud continued until about noon of that day, making the roads at first slippery and then miry. Notwithstanding this, the troops inarched in excellent order without straggling and in the best of spirits, about fourteen miles, aud engaged the enemy about twelve o'clock m., near Jackson. McClernand occupied Umton with one division, Mississippi Springs with another, Raymond with a third, and had Blair's division of Sherman'g corps, with a wagon train, still in the rear near New-Auburn, wtule McArthur, with one brigade of his division, of McPher- bod a corps, was moving toward Raymond on the Utica road. It was not the intention to move these forces any nearer Jackson, LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 109 but to have them in a position where they would be in support- ing distance, if the resistance at Jackson should prove more obstinate than there seemed reason to expect. " The enemy marched out the bulk of his force on the Clinton road, and engaged McPherson's corps about two and a half miles from the city. A small force of artillery and infantry took a strong position in front of Sherman, about the same dis- tance out. By a determined advance of our skirmishers these latter were soon driven within their rifle-pits just outside the city. It was impossible to ascertain the strength of the enemy at this part of the line in time to justify an immediate assault ; consequently, McPherson's two divisions engaged the main bulk of the rebel garrison at Jackson without further aid than the moral support given them by the knowledge the enemy had of a force to the south side of the city, and the few infantry and artillery of the enemy posted there to impede Sherman's pro- gress. Sherman soon discovered the weakness of the enemy by sending a reconnoitering party to his right, which also had the effect of causing the enemy to retreat from this part of his line. A few of the artillerists, however, remained in their places, firing upon Sherman's troops until the last moment, evidently instructed to do so, with the expectation of being captured in the end. On entering the city it was found that the main body of the enemy had retreated north, after a heavy en- gagement of more than two hours with McPherson's corps, in which he was badly beaten. He was pursued until near night, but without further damage to him. " During that evening I learned that General Johnston, as soon as he had satisfied himself that Jackson was to be attacked, had ordered Pembertou peremptorily to march out from the direction of Vicksburg and attack our rear. Availing myself of this information, I immediately issued orders to McClernand and Blair, of Sherman's corps, to face their troops toward Bolton, with a view to reaching Edward's Station, marching on different roads converging near Bolton. These troops were ad- mirably located for such a move. McPhersou was ordered to retrace his steps early in the morning of the fifteenth on the Clinton road. Sherman was left in Jackson to destroy the rail- roads, bridges, factories, workshops, arsenals, and every thing valuable for the support of the enemy. This was accomplished in the most effectual manner. "On the afternoon of the fifteenth I proceeded as far west as Clinton, through which place McPherson's corps passed to within supporting distance of Hovey's division, of McCler- nand's corps, which had moved that day on the same road to within one and half miles of Bolton. On reachiug Clinton, at forty-five minutes past four p.m., I ordered McClernand to move his command early the next morning toward Edward's Depot, marching so as to feel the enemy, if he encountered him, but 110 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT not to bring on a general engagement unless he was confident lie was able to defeat him ; and also to order Blair to move with him. "About five o'clock on the morning of the sixteenth, two me?., employees on the Jackson and Vicksburg railroad, who had passed through Pemberton's array the night before, were brought to my head-quarters. They stated Pemberton's force to consist of about eighty regiments, with ten batteries of ar- tillerv, and that the whole force was estimated by the enemy at about twenty-five thousand men. From them I also learned the positions being taken up by the enemy, and his intention of at- tacking our rear. I had determined to leave one division of Sherman's corps one day longer in Jackson, but this information determined me to bring his entire command up at once, and I ac- cordingly despatched him, at half-past five a.m., to move with all possible speed until he came up with the main force near Bolton. My despatch reached him at ten minutes past seven a.m., and his advance division was in motion in one hour from that time. A despatch was sent to Blair, at the same time, to push forward his division in the direction of Edward's Station with all possi- ble despatch. McClernaud was directed to establish communi- cation between Blair and Osterhaus, of his corps, and keep it up, moving the former to the support of the latter. McPherson was ordered forward, at forty-five minutes past five a.m., to join" McClernand, and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, of my staff, was sent forward to communicate the information received, and with verbal instructions to McClernand as to the disposition of his forces. At an early hour I left for the advance, and on arriving at the crossing of the Vicksburg and Jackson railroad with the road from Raymond to Bolton, I found McPherson's advance and his pioneer corps engaged in rebuilding a bridge on the former road that had been destroyed by the cavalry of Oster- haus's division that had gone into Bolton the night before. The train of Hovey's division was at a halt, and blocked up the road from further advance on the Vicksburg road. I ordered all quartermasters and wagon-masters to draw their teams to one side, and make room for the passage of troops. McPherson was brought up by this road. Passing to the front, I found Hovey's division of the Thirteenth army corps at a halt, with our skirmishers and the enemy's pickets near each other. Hovey was bringing the troops into line, ready for battle, and could have brought on an engagement at any moment. The enemy had taken up a very strong position on a narrow ridge, his left rest- ing mi a height where the road makes a sharp turn to the left approaching Vicksburg. The top of the ridge and the pre- cipitous hillside to the left of the road are covered by a dense forest and undergrowth. To the right of the road the timber extends a short distance down the hill, and then opens into cultivated fields on a gentle slope and into a valley extending LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Ill for a considerable distance. On the road and into the wooded ravine and hillside Hovey's division was disposed for the attack. McPherson's two divisions — all' of his corps with him on the inarch from Milliken's Bend (until Ransom's brigade arrived that day after the battle) — were thrown to the right of the road, properly speaking, the enemy's rear. But I would not permit an attack to be commenced by our troops until I could hear from McClernand, who was advancing with four divisions, two of them on a road intersecting the Jackson road about one mile from where the troops above described were placed, and about the centre of the enemy's line ; the other two divisions on a road still north and nearly the same distance off. " I soon heard from McClernand through members of his staff and my own whom I had sent to him early in the morning, and found that by the nearest practicable route of communication he was two and a half miles distant. I sent several successive messages to him to push forward with all rapidity. There hud been continuous firing between Hovey's skirmishers and the rebel advance, which, by eleven o'clock, grew into a battle. For some time this division bore the brunt of the conflict ; but finding the enemy too strong for them, at the instance of Hovey, I directed first one and then a second brigade from Crocker's division to reinforce him. All this time Logan's divi- sion was working upon the enemy's left and rear, and weakened his front attack most wonderfully. The troops here opposing us evidently far outnumbered ours. Expecting McClernand momentarily, with four divisions, including Blair's, I never felt a doubt of the result. He did not arrive, however, until the enemy bad been driven from the field, after a terrible contest of hours, with a heavy loss of killed, wounded, and prisoners, and a number of pieces of artillery. It was found afterward that the Vicksburg road, after following the ridge in a southerly direction for about one mile and to where it intersected one of the Raymond roads, turns almost to the west, down the hill and across the valley in which Logan was operating on the rear of the enemy. One brigade of Logan's division had, unconscious of this important fact, penetrated nearly to this road, and com- pelled the enemy to retreat to prevent capture. As it was, much of his artillery and Loring's division of his army was cut off, be- side the prisoners captured. On the call of Hovey for more reinforcements, just before the rout of the enemy commenced, I ordered McPherson to move what troops he could by a left flank around to the enemy's front. Logan rode up at this time and told me that if Hovey could make another dash at the enemy he could come up from where he then was and capture the greater part of their force. I immediately rode forward and found the troops that had been so gallantly engaged for so many hours withdrawn from their advanced position and were filling then- cartridge boxes. I desired them to use all despatch and push 112 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. forward as soon as possible, explaining to them the position of Logan's division. Proceeding still further forward, expecting every moment to see the enemy, and reaching what had been his line, I found he was retreating. Arriving at the Raymond road, I saw to my left and on the next ridge a column of troops which proved to be Oarr's division and McClernand with it in person ; and to the left of Carr, Osterhaus's division soon after- ward appeared with his skirmishers well in advance. I sent word to Osterhaus that the enemy was in full retreat, and to push up with all haste. The situation was soon explained, after which I ordered Carr to pursue with all speed to Black river and across it if he could, and to Osterhaus to follow. Some of McPherson's troops had already got into the road in advance, but having marched and engaged the enemy all day, they were fatigued and gave the road to Carr, who continued the pursuit until after dark, capturing a train of cars loaded with commissary and ordnance stores and other property. " The delay in the advance of the troops immediately with McClernand was caused, no doubt, by the enemy presenting a front of artillery and infantry, where it was impossible, from the nature of the ground and the density of the forest, to discover his numbers. As it was, the battle of Champion's Hill, or Baker's Creek, was fought mainly by Hovey's division of McClernand's corps, and Logan's and Quinby's division (the latter commanded by Brigadier-General M. M. Crocker) of McPherson's corps. " Ransom's brigade, of McPherson's corps, came on to the field where the main battle had been fought immediately after the enemy had begun his retreat. " Word was sent to Sherman, at Bolton, of the result of the day's engagement, with directions to turn his corps toward Bridgeport ; and to Blair to join him at this latter place. "At daylight, on the seventeenth, the pursuit was renewed, with McClernand's corps in the advance. The enemy was found Btrongly posted on both sides of the Black river. A*t this point on Black river the bluffs extend to the water's edge on the west bank. On the east side is an open, cultivated bottom of near one mile in width, surrounded by a bayou of stagnant water, from two to three feet in depth, and from ten to twenty feet in width, from the river above the railroad to the river below. Fol- lowing the inside line of the bayou the enemy had constructed rifle-pits, with the bayou to serve as a ditch on the outside and immediately in front of them. Carr's division occupied the right in investing this place, and Lawler's brigade the right of his division. After a few hours' skirmishing. Lawler discovered that by moving a portion of his brigade under cover of the river bank, he could gel a position from which that place could be • '"' -fully assaulted, and ordered a charge accordingly. Not- withstanding the level ground over which a portion of his troops had to pass without cover, and the great obstacle of the ditch LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 113 in front of the enemy's works, the charge was gallantly and suc- cessfully made, and in a few minutes the entire garrison with seventeen pieces of artillery were the trophies of this brilliant and daring movement. The enemy on the west bank of the river immediately set fire to the railroad bridge and retreated, thus cutting off all chance of escape for any portion of his forces remaining on the east bank. "Sherman, by this time, had reached Bridgeport, on Black river above. The only pontoon train with the expedition waa with him. By the morning of the eighteenth he had crossed the river, and was ready to march on Walnut Hills. McCler- nand and McPherson built floating bridges during the night, and had them ready for crossing their commands by eight a.m. of the eighteenth. "The march was commenced by Sherman at an early hour by the Bridgeport and Vicksburg road, turning to the right when within three and a half miles of Vicksburg, to get possession of Walnut Hills and Yazoo river. This was successfully accom- plished before the night of the eighteenth. McPherson crossed Black river above the Jackson road, and came into the same road with Sherman, but to his rear. He arrived after nightfall with his advance to where Sherman turned to the right. McCler- nand moved by the Jackson and Vicksburg road to Mount Al- bans, and there turned t« the left to get into Baldwin's Perry road. By this disposition the three army corps covered all the ground their strength would admit of, and by the morning of the nineteenth, the investment of Vicksburg was made as complete as could be by the forces under my command. " During the day there was continuous skirmishing, and I was not without hope of carrying the enemy's works. Relying upon the demoralization of the enemy in consequence of repeated de- feats outside of Vicksburg, I ordered a general assault at two p.m. on this day. " The Fifteenth army corps, from having arrived in front of the enemy's work3 in time on the eighteenth to get a good posi- tion, were enabled to make a vigorous assault. The Thirteenth and Seventeenth corps succeeded no further than to gain ad- vanced positions, covered from the fire of the enemy. The twentieth aud twenty-first were spent in perfecting communica- tions with our supplies. Most of the troops had been marching and fighting battles for twenty days, on an average of about five days' rations, drawn from the commissary department. Though they had not suffered from short rations up to this time, the want of bread to accompany the other rations was beginning to be much felt. On the twenty-first my arrangements for drawing supplies of every description being complete, I determined to make another effort to carry Vicksburg by assault. There were many reasons to determine me to adopt this course. I believed an assault from the position gained by this time could be made 114 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. successfully. It was known that Johnston was at Canton with the force taken by him from Jackson, reinforced by other troops from the east, and that more were daily reaching him. With the force I had, a short time must have enabled him to attack me iu the rear, and possibly succeeded in raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that time would have enabled me to have turned upon Johnston and driven him from the .State, and possess myself of all the railroads and practical military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all territory west of the Tombigbee, and this before the season was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. I would have saved Government sending large reinforcements, much needed else- where; and, finally, the troops themselves were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary, that they did after their failure to carry the enemy's works. Accordingly on the twenty-first orders were issued for a general assault on the whole line, to commence at ten a.m. on the twenty-second. All the corps commanders set their time by mine, that there should be no difference between them in movement of assault. Promptly at the hour designated, the three army corps, then in front of the enemy's works, commenced the assault. I had taken a com- manding position near McPherson's front, and from which I could see all the advancing columns from his corps, and a part of each of Sherman's and McClernand's. A portion of the commands of each succeeded iu planting their flags on the outer slopes of the enemy's bastions, and maintained them there until night. Each corps had many more men than could possibly be used in the assault, over such ground as intervened between them and the enemy. More men could only avail in case of breaking through the enemy's line, or in repelling a sortie. The assault was gallant in the extreme on the part of ail the troops. but the enemy's position was too strong, both naturally and artificially, to be taken in that way. At every point assaulted, and at all of them at the same time, the enemy was able to Bhow all the force his works could cover. The assault failed, I regret to say, with much loss on our side in killed and wounded ; but without weakening the confidence of the troops in their ability to ultimately succeed. "No troops succeeded in entering any of the enemy's works, with the exception of Sergeant Griffith, of the Twenty-first Iowa volunteers, and some eleven privates of the same regi- ment. Of these, none returned except the Sergeant and. pos- sibly, one man. The work entered by him, from its position. could give us no practical advantage, unless others to the right and left of it were carried and held at the same time. "About twelve m., I received a despatch from McClernand, thai fe was hard pressed at several points; in reply to which I directed him to reinforce the points hard pressed from such LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 115 troops as he had that were not engaged. T then rode round to Sherman, and had just reached there, when I received a second despatch from McClernand, stating positively and unequivocally that he was in possession of and still held two of the enemy's forts ; that the American flag then waved over them ; and ask- ing me to have Sherman and McPherson make a diversion in his favor. This despatch I showed to Sherman, who imme- diately ordered a renewal of the assault on his front. I also sent an answer to McClernand, directing him to order up McArthur to his assistance, and started immediately to the position I had just left, on McPherson's line, to convey to him the information from McClernand by this last despatch, that he might make the diversion requested. Before reaching McPherson I met a mes- senger with a third despatch from McClernand, of which the following is a copy : " 'Head-quarters. Thirteenth Army Corps " ' In the Field, near Vickskurg, Miss., May 22d, 1863. '" General: We have gained the enemy's intreuchments at several points, but are brought to a stand. I have sent word to McArthur to reinforce me if he can. Would it not be best to concentrate the whole or a part of his command on this point ? " ' John A. McClernand, " 'Major-General Commanding. " ' Major-General TJ. S. Grant.' " ' P.S. — I have just received your despatch. My troops are all engaged, and I cannot withdraw any to reinforce others. "'McC " The position occupied by me during most of the time of the assault gave me a better opportunity of seeing what was going on in front of the Thirteenth army corps than I be- lieved it possible for the commander of it to have. I could not see his possession of forts, nor necessity for reinforcements, as represented in his despatches, up to the time I left it, which was between twelve m., and one p.m., and I expressed doubts of their correctness, which doubt the facts subsequently, but too late, confirmed. At the time I could not disregard his reiterated statements, for they might possibly be true ; and that no possi- ble opportunity of carrying the enemy's stronghold should be allowed to escape through fault of mine, I ordered Qninby's division, which was all of McPherson's corps then present, but four brigades, to report to McClernand, and notify him of the order. I showed his] despatches to McPherson, as I had to Sherman, to satisfy him of the necessity of an active diversion on their part to hold as much force in their fronts as possible. The diversion was promptly and vigorously made, and resulted in the increase of our mortality list full fifty per cent., without advancing our position or giving us other advantages. "About half-past three p.m., I received McClernaud's fourth despatch, as follows : 116 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. '"Head-Quarters, Thirteenth Army Corps, " 'May 2'2d, 1863. '" General : I have received your despatch in regard to Gen- eral Quinby's division and General McArthur's division. As soon as they arrive I will press the enemy with all possible speed, and doubt not I will force my way through. I have lost no ground. My men are in two of the enemy's forts, but they are commanded' by rifle-pits in the rear. Several prisoners have been taken, who intimate that the rear is strong. At this mo- ment I am hard pressed. " ' John A. McClernand, " 'Major- General Commanding. " ' Major-General U. S. Grant, " 'Department of the Tennessee.' "The assault of this day proved the quality of the soldiers of this army. Without entire success, and with a heavy loss, there was no murmuring or complaining, no falling back, nor other evidence of demoralization. "After the failure of the twenty-second, I determined upon a regular siege. The troops now being fully awake to the neces- sity of this, worked diligently and cheerfully. The work pro- gressed rapidly and satisfactorily until the third of July, when all was about ready for a final assault. " There was a great scarcity of engineer officers in the begin- ning, but under the skilful superintendence of Captain P. E. Prime, of the Engineer corps, Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, of my staff, and Captain C. B. Comstock, of the Engineer corps, who joined this command during the siege, such practical ex- perience was gained as would enable any division of this army hereafter to conduct a siege with considerable skill in the absence of regular engineer officers. " On the afternoon of the third of July a letter was received from Lieutenant-General Pemberton, commanding the con- federate forces at Yickburg, proposing an armistice, and the appointment of commissioners to arrange terms for the capitu- lation of the place. The correspondence, copies of which are herewith transmitted, resulted in the surrender of the city and garrison of Vicksbnrg at ten o'clock a.m., July fourth, 18(53, on tie' following terms : ' The entire garrison, officers and men, were to be paroled, not to take up arms against the United States until exchanged by the proper authorities ; officers and men each to be furnished with a parole, signed by himself; officers to be allowed their side-arms and private baggage, and the field, stall', and cavalry officers one horse each; the rank and file to be allowed all their clothing, but no other property; rations from own .-tores sufficient to last them beyoud our lines; the necessary cooking utensils for preparing their food ; and thirty wagons to transport such articles as could not well be carried 1 nese terms I regarded more favorable to the Government than LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 117 an unconditional surrender. It saved us the transportation of them North, which at that time would have been very difficult, owing to the limited amount of river transportation on hand, and the expense of subsisting them. It left our army free to operate against Johnston, who threatened us from the direction of Jack- son ; and our river transportation to be used for the movement of troops to any point the exigency of the service might require. "I deem it proper to state here, in order that the correspon- dence may be fully understood, that after my answer to General Pemberton's letter of the morning of the third, we had a personal interview on the subject of the capitulation. " The particulars and incidents of the siege will be contained in the reports of division and corps commanders, which will be forwarded as soon as received. " I brought forward during the siege, in addition to Lau- man's division and four regiments previously ordered from Memphis, Smith's and Kimball's divisions of the Sixteenth army corps, and assigned Major-General C. C. Washburne to command of the same. On the eleventh of June, Major-Gen- eral F. J. Herron's division from the department of the Missouri arrived ; and on the fourteenth two divisons of the Ninth army corps, Major-General J. G. Parke commanding, arrived. This increase in my force enabled me to make the investment more complete, and at the same time left me a large reserve to watch the movements of Johnston. Herron's division was put in position on the extreme left south of the city, and Lauman's division was placed between Herron and McCler- nand. Smith's and Kimball's divisions and Parke's corps were sent to Haines' Bluff. This place I had fortified to the land side and every preparation made to resist a heavy force. Johns- ton crossed Big Black river with a portion of his force, and every thing indicated that he would make an attack about the twenty-fifth of June. Onr position in front of Yicksburg having been made as strong against a sortie from the enemy as his works were against an assault, I placed Major-General Sherman in command of all the troops designated to look after Johnston. The force intended to operate against Johnston, in addition to that at Haines' Bluff, was one division from each of the Thirteenth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth army corps, and Lauman's division. Johnston, however, not attacking, 1 determined to attack him the moment Vicksburg was in our possession, and accordingly notified Sherman that I should again make an assault on Vicks- burg at daylight on the sixth, and for him to have up supplies of all descriptions ready to move upon receipt of orders, if the assault should prove a success. His preparations were imme- diately made, and when the place surrendered on the fourth, two days earlier than I had fixed for the attack, Sherman was fouud ready and moved at once with a force increased by the remainder of both the Thirteenth and Fifteenth army corps, and is at present investing Jackson, where Johnston has made a stand. 118 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " Tn the march from Bruinsburg to "Vicksburg, covering a period of twenty days, before supplies could be obtained from government stores, only five days' rations were issued, and three days of those were taken in haversacks at the start, and were soon exhausted. All other subsistence was obtained from the country through which we passed. The march was commenced without wagons, except such as could be picked up through the country. The country was abundantly supplied with corn, bacon, beef and mutton. The troops enjoyed excellent health, and no army ever appeared in better spirit or felt more confident of success. " In accordance with previous instructions, Major-General S. A. Hurlbut started Colonel (now Brigadier-General) B. H. Grierson, with a cavalry force, from La Grange, Tennessee, to make a raid through the central portion of the State of Missis- sippi, to destroy railroads and other public property, for the purpose of creating a diversion in favor of the army moving to the attack on Vicksburg. On the seventeenth of April this ex- pedition started, and arrived at Baton Rouge on the second of May. having successfully traversed the whole State of Missis- sippi. This cxpediVon was skilfully conducted and reflects greal credit on Colonel Grierson and all of his command. The notice given this raid by the Southern press confirms our esti- mate of its importance. It has been one of the most brilliant cavalry exploits of the war, and will be handed down in history as an example to be imitated. Colonel Griersou's report is herewith transmitted. "I cannot close this report without an expression of thank- fulness for my good fortune in being- placed in co-operation with an officer of the navy who accords to every move that seems for the interest and success of our arms his hearty and energetic support. Admiral Porter and the very efficient officersunder him have ever shown the greatest readiness in their co-operation, no matter what was to be done or what risk to be taken, either by their men or their vessels. Without this prompt and cordial support my movements would have been much embarrassed, it' not wholly defeated. "Captain .1. U. Shirk, commanding the Tuscumbia, was especially active and deserving of the highest commendation for his personal attention to the repairing of the damage done our transports by the Vicksburg batteries. " The result of this campaign has been the defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicksburg; the occupation of Jack6on, the capital of the State of Mississippi, and the cap- lure of Vicksburg and its garrison and munitions of war ; a loss to the enemy of thirty-seven thousand (37,000) prisoners; among whom were fifteen general officers ; at least ten thou- sand killed and wounded, and among the killed Generals Tracy, 1 ilghman, and Green, and hundreds perhaps thousands of strag- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 119 glers, who can never be collected and reorganized. Arms and munitions of war for an army of sixty thousand men have fallen into our hands, besides a large amount of other public property, consisting of railroads, locomotives, cars, steamboats, cotton, etc., and much was destroyed to prevent our capturing it. "Our loss in the series of battles may be summed up as follows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Port Gibson 130.... 718.... 5 Fourteen-Mile Creek (skirmish) 4. . . . 24 Raymond 69 341 32 Jackson 40 240 6 Champion's Hill 426.... 1,842.... 189 Bis Black Railroad Bridge 29 242 2 Vicksburg 245.... 3,688.... 303 " Of the wounded, many were but slightly wounded, and con- tinued ou duty ; many more required but a few days or weeks for their recovery. Not more than one-half of the wounded were permanently disabled. " My personal staffs and chiefs of departments have in all cases rendered prompt and efficient service. "In all former reports I have failed to make mention of Com- pany A, Fourth regiment Illinois cavalry volunteers, Capt. S. D. Osband commanding. This company has been on duty with me as an escort company siuce November, 1861, aud in every en- gagement I have been in since that time, rendered valuable ser- vice, attracting general attention for their exemplary conduct, soldierly bearing, and promptness. It would not be overstating the merits of this company to say that many of them would fill with credit any position in a cavalry regiment. " For the brilliant achievements recounted in this report, the army of the Tennessee, their comrades of the Ninth army corps, Herron's division of the army of the frontier, and the navy co- operating with them, deserve the highest honors their country can award. " I have the honor to be, Colonel, very respectfully, your obe- dient servant, " U. S. Grant, "■Major- General U. S. A. Commanding. "Colonel J. C. Kelton, " Assistant Adjutant -General, Washington, D. C." OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. The following is the correspondence referred to in the report : " Head-Quartkrs, Vicksburg, Jidy 3d, 1863. "Major- General Grant, Commanding U. S. Forces: " General : I have the honor to propose to you an armistice for — hours, with a view to arranging terms for the capitulation 120 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable to you, I will appoint three commissioners, to meet a like number to be named by yourself, at such place and hour to-day as you may find con- venient. I make this proposition to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This communication will be handed you under a flag of truce, by Major-General James Bowen. " Very respectfully, your obedieut servant, " J. 0. Pembertojt." To this General Grant replied as follows : "Head-quarters, Department of Tennessee, " In the Field, near Yicksburg, July 3d, 18u3. "Lieutenant- General J. C. Pemberton, Commanding '■Confed- erate' Forces, etc. : " General: — Your note of this date, just received, proposes an armistice of several hours, for the purpose of arranging terms of capitulation through commissioners to be appointed, etc. The effusion of blood you propose stopping by this course, can be ended at any time you may choose, by an unconditional sur- render of the city and garrison. Men who have shown so much endurance and courage as those now in Vicksburg, will always challenge the respect of an adversary, and I can assure you, will be treated with all the respect due them as prisoners of war. I do not favor the proposition of appointing commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because I have no other terms than those indicated above. " I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, Major-General.'* General Bowen, the bearer of General Pemberton's letter, expressed a strong desire to converse with General Grant, but General Grant declining this, requested General Smith to say, that if General Pemberton desired to see him, an interview would be granted between the lines in McPherson's front, at any hour which General Pemberton might appoint. A message was soon sent back appointing three o'clock as the hour. General Grant was there with his staff, and with Generals Ord, McPherson, Logan, and A. .1. Smith. General Pemberton came late, attended by General Bowen and Colonel Montgomery. The conver- sation was held apart between General Pemberton and his officers, and Generals Grant, McPherson, and A. J. Smith. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 121 The rebels insisted on being paroled and marched beyond our lines, with eight days rations drawn from their own stores, the officers to retain their private property and body-servants. General Grant heard what they had to say, and left them at the end of an hour and a half, saying that he would send in his ultimatum in writing, to which General Pemberton promised to reply before night, hos- tilities to cease in the mean time. General Grant then conferred with his corps and division commanders, and sent the following letter to General Pem- berton by the hands of General Logan and Lieutenant- Colonel Wilson : " Head-Quarters, Department of Tennessee, "Near Vicksburg, July 3d, 1863. " Lieut.-General J. C. Pemberton, Commanding Confederate Forces, Vicksburg, Miss.: "General : In conformity with the agreement of this afternoon I will submit the following propositions for the surrender of the city of Vicksburg, public stores, etc. On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march in one division as a guard, and take possession at eight a.m. to morrow. As soon as paroles can be made out and signed by the officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines, the officers taking with them their regimental clothing, aud staff, field and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank aud file will be allowed all their clothing, but no other property. If these conditions are accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for pre- paring them, and thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as one. You will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. The same conditions will be allowed to all sick and wounded officers and privates, as fast as they become able to travel. The paroles of these latter must be sigued, however, whilst officers are present authorized to sign the roll of prisoners. " I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. Grant, Major-General." To this the following reply was sent : " Head-Quarters, Yicksburg, July 3d, 18G3. " Major General Grant, Commanding U. S. Forces: " Genbral : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date, proposing terms for the sur- 122 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. render of this garrison and post. In the main your terms are accepted ; but in justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops, manifested in the defence of Vicksburg, I have the honor to submit the following amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us at ten o'clock to- morrow, I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicks- burg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my command by marchiug out with my colors and arms, and stacking them in front of my present lines — after which you will take possession ; officers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and property of citizens to be respected. u I am, General, yours, Yery respectfully, " J. C. Pemberton, Lieut. -General." To this General Grant immediately replied as follows : " Head-Quarters, Department of Tennessee, " Before Vicksburg, July 4th, 1863. " Lieutenant- General Pemberton, Commanding Forces in Vicksburg : " General : 1 have the honor to acknowledge your communi- cation of the third of July. The amendments proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It will be necessary to furnish every officer and man with a parole signed by himself, which, with the completion of the rolls of prisoners, will necessarily take some time. Again, I can make no stipulation with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property. While I do not propose to cause any of them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under restraint by stipu- lations. The property which officers can be allowed to take with them will be as stated in the proposition of last evening — that is, that officers will be allowed their private baggage aud side- arms, and mounted officers one horse each. If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the lints now occupied by it, and stack their arms at ten o'clock a.m., and then return to inside and remain as prisoners until properly paroled, 1 will make no objections to it. Should no modification lie made of your acceptance of my terms by nine o'clock, a.m., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and act accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flags shall be displayed along your lines to prevent such of my troops as may not have been notified from firing upon your men. " 1 am, General, very respectfully, vour obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, Major-General U.S.A." To this the subjoined answer was received: " Head-Quarters, Vicksburg, July 4th, 1863. "Major-Qenerai U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S. Forces: '• General : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 128 your communication of this date, and in reply to say that the terms proposed by you are accepted. " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "J. C. Pemberton, Lieut. -General." THE INTERVIEW BETWEEN GENERAL GRANT AND THE REBEL PEMBERTON. The following account of the interview between the generals commanding the opposing armies, is given by an eye-witness : "At three o'clock precisely, oue gun, the pre-arranged signal, was fired, and immediately replied to by the enemy. General Pemberton then made his appearance on the works in McPher- son's front, under a white flag, considerably on the left of what is known as Fort Hill. General Grant rode through our trenches until he came to an outlet, leading to a small green space, which had not been trod by either army. Here he dis- mounted, and advanced to meet General Pemberton, with whom he shook hands, and greeted familiarly. " It was beneath the outspreading branches of a gigantic oak that the conference of the generals took place. Here presented the only space which had not been used for some purpose or other by the contending armies. The ground was covered with a fresh," luxuriant verdure; here and there a shrub or a clump of bushes could be seen standing out from the green growth the 6tli and 10th of June. Our loss in the former was J 01 killed. 285 wounded, and 206 missing. The loss in the latter was not reported. It is represented that the colored troop3 in these desperate engagements fought with great bravery, *»d LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 127 that the rebels treated this class of prisoners of war, as well as their officers, with great barbarity. It has not been possible however to ascertain the correctness of these representations in regard to the treatment of these prisoners. '''After the capture of Vicksburg, General Grant reported that his troops were so much fatigued and worn out with forced marches and the labors of the siege, as to absolutely require several weeks of repose before undertaking another campaign. Nevertheless, as the exigencies of the service seemed to require it, he sent out those who were least fatigued on several important expeditions, while the others remained at Vicksburg to put that place in a better defensive condition for a small garrison." The following letter was written some days after the capitulation by President Lincoln : " Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13th, 1863. " To Major- General Grant : "My Dear General: — I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this, now, as a grateful acknowl- edgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did, march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks ; and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make a personal ac- knowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong. " Yours, very truly, "A. Lincoln." HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED NORTH AND SOUTH. The intelligence of the glorious consummation of Gen- eral Grant's plans was received with the most unbounded delight by the people of the country, and the praise awarded to the gallant soldiers who had achieved the vic- tories, end to their skilful commander, was not in the least lessened by the equally glad tidings which had been wafted to their ears from the valleys of Pennsylvania. " Gettysburg and Vicksburg" was the watchword which 128 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. issued from the lips of every patriot, and throughout the length and breadth of the loyal States, old and young, male and female, united in one hymn of thanksgiving to the Almighty, by whose will our armies in the East and West had met with so much success. Even the Southern journals, while lamenting their losses, did not hesitate to award honor to General Grant, as the following extract from an editorial published in one of these treasonable sheets will show : " We pardon," says the journalist, " General Grant's smoking a cigar as he entered the smouldering ruins of the town of Vicksburg. A little stage effect is admissible in great captains, considering that Napoleon at Milan wore the little cocked hat and sword of Marengo, and that snuff was the inevitable concomitant of victory in the great Frederick. General Grant is a noble fellow, and by the terms of capitulation which he accorded to the heroic gar- rison, showed himself as generous as Napoleon was to Wurmser at the surrender of Mantua. His deed will read well in history, and he has secured to himself a name which posterity will pronounce with veneration and grati- tude. There is no general in this country, or in Europe, that has done harder work than General Grant, and none that has better graced his victories by the exercise of humanity and virtue. What we learn of the terms of capitulation is sufficient to prove General Grant to be a generous soldier and a man. A truly brave man respects bravery in others, and when the sword is sheathed, con- siders himself free to follow the dictates of humanity. General Grant is not a general that marks his progress by proclamations to frighten unarmed men, women, and chil- • dren ; he fulminates no arbitrary edicts against the- press; he does not make war on newspapers and their corres- pondents ; he flatters no one to get himself puffed ; but he is terrible in arms and magnanimous after the battle. Go on, brave General Grant ; pursue the course you have LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 129 marked out for yourself, and Clio, the pensive muse, as she records your deeds, will rejoice at her manly theme." THE FALL OF PORT HUDSON. The fall of Yicksburg made Port Hudson untenable, and on the eighth of July, 1863, it was surrendered to General Banks, with fifty-one pieces of artillery, five thousand stand of arms, a large amount of ammunition and stores, and nearly six thousand men and officers, including two Gen- erals. THE PURSUIT AFTER THE SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG— THE REOPENING OF THE MIS- SISSIPPI. Immediately after the surrender of Yicksburg, General Sherman was ordered by the commander-in-chief to move on the rebel leader Joseph E. Johnston, who, it was un- derstood, was preparing to attack him in the rear, and on the sixth of July he was investing Jackson, Mississippi. On the eleventh a cavalry force captured in a house near Jackson the private library of Jefferson Davis, and several bushels of letters belonging to the same individual, many of the most important of which were subsequently given to the public through the columns of the loyal press ; and on the following day another detachment destroyed the railroad east of Jackson. On the thirteenth an unsuc- cessful attack was made by the enemy, and on th* night of the sixteenth, Johnston evacuated Jackson, and tied towards Meridian. One brigade moved immediately fc ward, and, dashing into the town, raised the flag of tb* Union on the State House. While these movements were in progress, General Granf remained at Yicksburg supervising the general arrange- ments of the movement, and at the same time sending out certain important expeditions, which, in their successful result, had great influence upon the more extensive pro- 130 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. jects of the skilful commander. Among these was on© sent to Yazoo City, which captured three hundred prison- ers, six cannon, a number of small arms and eight hundred horses and mules. One steamer was also captured and five burned. The fall of Jackson ended the campaign, and for a brief period the victorious troops who had in less than three months fought seven hotly contested battles and numerous less important engagements, were given that rest to which their arduous labors and heroic deeds entitled them. The arrogant and implacable foe had been captured in his stronghold, and wherever the two opposing armies had met in conflict, the evidences of the superior skill and bravery of our troops were everywhere apparent. But the destruction of the great rebel army of the Southwest was not the most important result of General Grant's cam- paign. There was another which had been awaited with almost equal anxiety by the country, and that was the re- opening of the Mississippi river. The fall of Yicksburg and Port Hudson accomplished this, and from that date to the present time, navigation has continued uninterrupted along the entire course of that stream from St. Louis to New Orleans, except where guerillas, emboldened by the absence of our troops, have pursued their murderous call- ing by firing upon a passing steamer, and then escaping to their coverts. U. S. GRANT APPOINTED MAJOR-GENERAL- IMPORTANT ORDERS ISSUED. General Grant remained at Vicksburg until the latter part of August, during which period he attended zealously to the interests of his Department. His services were not unappreciated at Washington, and he was appointed by the President a Major-General in the Regular army, his commission to date from the fourth of July, 1863, the (lav upon which he had received the surrender of Vicks- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 131 burg. The officers of his command also evinced their ap- preciation and regard, by presenting him with a costly sword, the handle of the weapon representing a youug giant crushing the rebellion. On the twentieth of July he gave permission in a general order to five per centum of every military organization to visit their homes for thirty days, but ordered that none should leave who had shirked duty or straggled from their commands, and on the next day he addressed the following letter to the Secre- tary of the Treasury : "Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, " Vicksburg, Miss., July list, 1863. " Sir : — Your letter of the fourth instant to me, enclosing a copy of a letter of same date to Mr. Mellen, special agent of the Treasury, is just received. My Assistant Adjutant-General, by whom I shall send this letter, is about starting for Washington ; hence I shall be very short in my reply. " My experience in West Tennessee has convinced me that any trade whatever with the rebellious States is weakening to us of at least thirty-three per ceut. of our force. No matter what the restrictions thrown around trade, if any whatever is allowed, it will be made the means of supplying the enemy with what they want. Restrictions, if lived up to, make trade unprofitable, and hence none but dishonest men go into it. I will venture to say that no honest man has made mouey in West Tennessee in the last year, while many fortunes have been made there during that time. " The people in the Mississippi Valley are now nearly subju- gated. Keep trade out for a few months, and I doubt not but that the work of subjugation will be so complete, that trade can be opened freely with the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi ; that the people of these States will be more anxious for the enforcement and protection of our laws than the people of the loyal States. They have experienced the misfortune of being without them, and are now in a most happy condition to appreciate their blessings. " No theory of my own will ever stand in the way of my execut- ing, in good faith, any order I may receive from those in authority over me ; but my position has given me an opportunity of seeing what would not be known by persons away from the scene of war, and I venture, therefore, to suggest great caution iu opening trade with rebels. "I am, Sir, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, "U. S. Grant, Major- General. " Hon. S. P. Chase Secretary of the Treasury." 132 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. He also issued an order forbidding captains of steam- boats from charging officers and soldiers exorbitant rates of passage between Yicksburg and Cairo. " I will teach them, if they need the lesson," said the gallant General, "that the men who have perilled their lives to open the Mississippi river for their benefit, cannot be imposed upon with impunity." One unprincipled, speculative captain, when about steaming from the wharf, was compelled by the General to return to bis passengers (about two hun- dred and fifty officers and one thousand privates) all the money they had paid for the trip in excess of the officially- prescribed rates of five dollars for enlisted men, and seven dollars for officers. The presence of a guard enforced the payment, much to the delight of the heroes, who were thus afforded another evidence of the consideration of their commander for his troops. GENERAL GRANT AT MEMPHIS— A PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN TO HIM BY THE CITIZENS. In the latter part of August, 1863, General Grant left Vleksburg to pay a visit to the various districts of his De- partment, and on the twenty-fifth of that month he arrived in Memphis, where he was received with all the honors to which his valuable services entitled him. On the following morning he was waited upon by a committee of citizens who welcomed him to Memphis, and inviting him to a public entertainment to take place the same evening, pre- sented him with a series of complimentary resolutions. Upon General Grant's appearance in the hall in which the entertainment was given, the large number of persons assembled there welcomed him in the most enthusiastic manner. After this reception the guests were invited into the (lining-room, where, after partaking of the substantiate, the regular toasts of the evening were read. The third of the series was — " General Grant — the Guest of the City." LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 133 This was the signal for the most unbounded applause, and loud calls were made for the hero of Vicksburg, but to the disappointment of all present he retained his seat, while his staff-surgeon, Dr. Hewitt, arose and made the following brief speech : " I am instructed by General Grant to say that, as ne has never been given to public speaking, you will have to excuse him on this occasion ; and, as I am the only member of his staff present, I therefore feel it my duty to thank you for this mani- festation of your good will, as also the numerous other kindnesses of which he has been the recipient ever since his arrival among you. General Grant believes that in all he has done he has no more than accomplished a duty, and one, too, for which no par- ticular honor is due. But the world, as you do, will accord otherwise." The doctor then proposed, at General Grant's request: — " The officers of the different staffs, and the non-commis- sioned officers and privates of the Army of the Tennessee." Subsequently some beautiful verses were read, in which the discovery of the Mississippi river by De Soto, and the benefits derived from the invention of Fulton, who " sent his messengers in smoke and flame up to the Mis- sissippi's very font," were referred to, and which con- cluded as follows : "Then spoke an enemy — and on his banks Armed men appeared, and cannon-shot proclaimed The Mississippi closed — that mighty stream Found by De Soto, and by Fulton won 1 One thought to chain him ! ignominious thought ! But then the grand old monarch shook his locks And burst his fetters like a Samson freed ! The heights were crowned with ramparts sheltering those Whose treason knew no bounds : the frowning forts Belched lightnings, and the morning gun A thousand miles told mournfully the tale, The Mississippi closed. "Not long ; from the Lord God of Hosts was sent A leader who with patient vigil planned A great deliverance : height by height was gained, Island and hill and woody bank and cliff. Month followed month, till on our natal day 134 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. The last great barrier fell, and never more The sire of waters shall obstruction know ! Now with De Soto's name, and Fulton's, see Tlie greater name of Grant I " Our children's children, noble Grant, shall sing That great deliverance ! On the floods of spring Thy name shall sparkle, smiling commerce tell Thy great achievement which restores the chain, Never again to break, which makes us one." The last toast of the evening was as follows : " General Grant — Your Grant and my Grant. Having granted us victories, grant us the restoration of the " Old Flag" and grant us supplies so that we may grant to our friends this grant to us." GENERAL GRANT'S LETTER TO THE CITI- ZENS OF MEMPHIS. At the conclusion of the entertainment, which was kept up with great spirit until an early hour of the ensuing morning, General Grant left for Vicksburg, but before em- barking he addressed the following modest and patriotic letter to the committee of citizens : " Memphis, Tenn., August 26th, 1863. " Gentlemen : — T have received a copy of resolutions passed by the 'loyal citizens of Memphis, at a meeting held at the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, August 25th, 1863,' ten- dering me a public reception. " In accepting this testimonial, which T do at a great sacri- fice of my personal feelings, I simply desire to pay a tribute to the first public exhibition in Memphis of loyalty to the govern- ment which I represent in the Department of the Tennessee. I should dislike to refuse for considerations of personal conveni- ence, to acknowledge, anywhere or in any form, the existence of sentiments which 1 have so long and so ardently desired to see manifested in this department. The stability of this govern- ment and the unity of this nation depend solely on the cordial Bupport and the earnest loyalty of the people. While, there- fore I thank yoa sincerely for the kind expressions you have used towards myself, I am profoundly gratified at this public recognition, in the city of Memphis, of the power and authority of the government of the United States. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 135 " I thank you, too, in the name of the noble army which I have the honor to command. It is composed of men whose loyalty is proved by their deeds of heroism and their willing sacrifices of life and health. They will rejoice with me that the miserable adherents of the rebellion, whom their bayonets have driven from this fair land, are being replaced by men who ac- knowledge human liberty as the only true foundation of human government. May your efforts to restore your city to the cause of the Union be as successful as have been theirs to reclaim it from the despotic rule of the leaders of the rebellion. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your very obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, Major- General.'" GENERAL GRANT IN NEW ORLEANS— HE MEETS WITH A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. From Vicksburg, General Grant went to Natchez and New Orleans, arriving in the latter city on the second of September, 1863, and the next day the trade of that empo- rium with the ports in the Northwest was declared free of any military restriction. On the fourth of September, in company with General Banks, the Commander of the De- partment, he reviewed the Thirteenth Arrny Corps, which had at one time formed a portion of his command. An eye-witness states that " he was in undress uniform, with- out sword, sash or belt, coat unbuttoned, a low-cornered black felt hat without any mark upon it of military rank, and with a cigar in his mouth. It must be known, how- ever, that he is never without the latter except when asleep." General Grant is an excellent horseman, but on the occasion referred to was riding a strange horse and was thrown from his seat to the ground, and so seriously injured that for some time it was apprehended that he would be compelled to relinquish active service in the field, if not his connection with the army, but the care and skill of the surgeon in a few weeks restored him to a condition which enabled him once again to assume the charge of the armies in the Southwest. His accident, however, was of great temporary inconvenience to the government, which had contemplated giving him the command of the Union forces movincr towards Northwestern Georgia. 136 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. General Halleck, in referring to the subject in his annual report, says : "As three separate armies — those of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee — were now to operate in the same field, it seemed necessary to have a single commander, in order to secure a more perfect co-operation than had been obtained with the sep- arate commands of Burnside and Rosecrans. General Grant, by his distinguished services and superior rank to all the other generals in the West, seemed entitled to this general command. But, unfortunately, he was at this time in New Orleans, unable to take the field. Moreover, there was no telegraphic com- munication with him, and the despatches of September 13th, directed to him and General Sherman, did not reach them until some days after their dates, thus delaying the movement of General Grant's forces from Vicksburg. General Hurlbut, how- ever, had moved the troops of his own corps, then in West Ten- nessee, with commendable promptness. These were to.be re- placed by reinforcements from Steele's Corps in Arkansas, which also formed part of General Grant's army. Hearing nothing from General Grant or General Sherman's Corps at Vicksburg, it was determined on the 23d to detach the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from the Army of the Potomac, and send them by rail, under the command of General Hooker, to protect General Rosecrans' line of communication from Bridgeport to Nashville." HE GOES TO INDIANAPOLIS— APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OP THE MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI. As soon however as General Grant was able to move, he started up the Mississippi to Cairo, stopping at the differ- ent military posts, and making the necessary arrangements at each for the departure of the troops to join the forces near Chattanooga. At Vicksburg he organized a board of officers, eight of the members being generals, to prepare and present, as a reward, to the members of the Seven- teeeth Corps, who had displayed conspicuous valor on the field of battle or endurance in the march, a medal of honor, having upon it the inscription, "Vicksburg, July 4th, 1863." From Cairo, General Grant went to Indianapolis, where he received a despatch from the Secretary of War request- ing him to remain at that point until he joined him. They LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 137 soon met, and the following order was handed to the Gen- eral: " War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, " Washington, October 16£7i, 1863. " By direction of the President of the United States, the De- partments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee, will constitute the Military Division of the Mississippi. Major- Qeneral U. S. Grant, United States army, is placed in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, with his head-quarters in the field. " Major-General W. S. Rosecrans, U. S. Vols., is relieved from the command of the Department and Army of the Cumber- land. Major-General G. H. Thomas is hereby assigned to that command. " By order of the Secretary of War. "E. D. Townsend, A. A.-G." From Indianapolis they proceeded to Louisville, where a large number of persons had assembled at the depot and hotel to greet them. The short stature of the General contrasted greatly with the huge dimensions of the assem- bled Kentuckians, and one remarked : " I thought he was a large man, but he would be considered a small chance of a fighter if he lived in Kentucky." On the eighteenth he issued the following order : "General Orders, No. 1. "Head-quarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, "Louisville, Ky., October 18th, 1863. " In compliance with General Orders No. 337, of date Wash- ington, D. 0., October 16th, 1863, the undersigned hereby as- sumes command of the ' Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the departments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee.' " The headquarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi will be in the field, where all reports and returns required by the army regulations aud existing orders will be made. "U. S. Grant, Major -General." \ The new command embraced within its limits the States of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Northern Alabama, and Northwestern Georgia, and gave to its commanding-general four large armies : that with which he had conquered Vicksburg ; the "Army 138 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. ol' the Cumberland;" the "Army of the Ohio;" and Gen- eral Hooker's Grand Division. Sherman, Thomas, Burn- side, Hooker, and subsequently Foster, were his army commanders, and the following corps were also embraced in the command : The Fourth army corps, General Granger ; the Ninth army corps, General Potter; the Eleventh army corps, General Howard ; the Twelfth army corps, General Slo- cum ; the Fourteenth army corps, General Palmer ; the Fifteenth army corps, General J. A. Logan ; the Sixteenth army corps, General Hurlbut ; the Seventeenth army corps, General McPherson ; the Twenty-third army corps, General Manson. Large as was the command thus entrusted to General Grant, the strength of the rebel army in the Southwest was but little less stupendous — troops from all parts of the rebel- lious States, where their absence from other fields was not detrimental to their infamous cause, having been gathered there by General Bragg to thwart the plans of the Union commander, and to hold Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. They freely acknowledged it was better to "give up the seacoast — better to give up the Southwest — better to give up Richmond without a struggle, than lose the golden field whose grain and wool are our sole hope." They also pretended to have no fear of General Grant, and pro- nounced him and General Thomas two fools, a remark which led President Lincoln to observe, that "if one fool like Grant can do as much work and win as profitable victories as he, I have no objection to two of them, as they would surely wipe out the rebellion." * GENERAL . GRANT AT CHATTANOOGA— HIS PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. On the twenty-first of October, 1863, our hero arrived at Nashville, and two days later reached Chattanooga. The LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 139 position of affairs at that time was any thing but promising. The l'oads over which the supplies for the arm} 7 had neces- sarily to be transported, were almost impassible, and the soldiers were compelled to subsist on half rations. A large force of men was immediately placed at work to im- prove the means of communication, supplies began to come in in quantity sufficient to relieve the necessities of the soldiers, who, amid all their deprivations aud suffer- ing, were not dispirited, and thousands of reinforcements were taken to Chattanooga preparatory to the commence- ment of another campaign. The re-occupation of Look- out Mountain, which had to be abandoned by the Union troops after the battles of Chickamauga fought by Rose- crans, and the re-opening of the valley route, were the principal designs of General Grant ; and although he quietly remained at Chattanooga, to use the language of an eye-witness, with his briarwood pipe, walking to and fro up the streets of the town, unattended, many times unobserved, but at all times observing, he was hourly adding to the perfection of his plans ; and to prevent those plans from being known to the enemy, he issued the fol- lowing order : "Head-Quarters, Division of the Mississippi, " In the Field, " Chattanooga, Tenn., Nov. 5th, 1863. " The habit of trading parties of Rebel cavalry visiting towns, villages and farms where there are no Federal forces, and pil- laging Union families, having become prevalent, department commanders will take immediate steps to abate the evil, or make the loss by such raids fall upon secessionists and secession sym- pathizers in the neighborhood where such acts are committed. For every act of violence to the person of an unarmed Union citizen, a secessionist will be arrested and held as hostage for the delivery of the offender. For every dollar's worth of property taken from such citizens, or destroyed by raiders, an assessment will be made upon secessionists of the neighborhood, and col- lected by the nearest military forces, under the supervision of the commander thereof, and the amount thus collected paid over to the sufferers. When such assessments cannot be collected in money, property useful to the Government may be taken at a 140 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. fair valuation, and the amount paid in money by a disbursing officer of the Government, who will take such property upon hia returns. Wealthy secession citizens will be assessed in money and provisions for the support of Union refugees who have been and may be driven from their homes and into our lines by the acts of those with whom such secession citizens are in sympathy. All collections and payments under this order will be through disbursing officers of the Government, whose accounts must show all money and property received under it, and how dis- posed of. " By order of " Major-General U. S. Grant. "T. S. Bowers, Assistant Adjutant- General." THE BATTLES NEAR CHATTANOOGA— GEN- ERAL GRANT'S OFFICIAL REPORT. Of the great battles which took place in the vicinity of Chattanooga, no better account could be given than that which is to be found in the following official report of the Commanding General : "Head-Quarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, "In Field, Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 23d, 1863. "Colonel J. O. Kelton, Assistant Adjutant-General, Washing- ton, D. C. : "Colonel: — In pursuance of General Orders No. 337, War Department, of date Washington, October 16th, 1863, delivered to me by the Secretary of War, at Louisville, Kentucky, on the eighteenth of the same month, I assumed command of the ' Mili- tary Division of the Mississippi,' comprising the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, and telegraphed the order assuming command, together with the order of the War De- partment referred to, to Major-General A. E. Burnside at Knox- ville, and Major-General W. S. Rosecrans at Chattanooga. " My action in telegraphing these orders to Chattanooga, in advance of my arrival there, was induced by information fur- nished me by the Secretary of War of the difficulties with which the Army of the Cumberland had to contend, in supply- ing itself over a long mountainous and almost impassable road from Stevenson, Alabama, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and his fears that General Rosecrans would fall back to the north side of the Tennessee river. To guard further against the possibility of the Secretary's fears, I also telegraphed to Major-General Thomas on the nineteenth of October, from Louisville, to hold Chattanooga at all hazards, that I would be there as soon as possible. To which he replied, on the same date, ' I will hold the town till we starve.' " Proceeding directly to Chattanooga, I arrived there on the BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 141 twenty-third of October, and found that General Thomas had, immediately on being placed in command of the Department of the Cumberland, ordered the concentration of Major-General Hooker's command at Bridgeport, preparatory to securing the river and main wagon-road between that place and Brown's Ferry, immediately below Lookout Mountain. The next morn- ing after my arrival at Chattanooga, in company with Thomas and Brigadier-General W. F. Smith, Chief Engineer, I made a reconnoissance of Brown's Ferry, and the hills on the south side of the river and at the mouth of Lookout Valley. After the reconnoissance, the plan agreed upon was for Hooker to cross at Bridgeport to the south side of the river with all the force that could be spared from the railroad, and move on the main wagon-road, by way of Whitesides to Wauhatchie, in Lookout Valley. Major-General J. M. Palmer was to proceed by the only-practicable route north of the river from his position op- posite Chattanooga to a point ou the north bank of the Ten- nessee river and opposite Whitesides, then to cross to the south side, to hold the road passed over by Hooker. In the meantime, and before the enemy could be apprised of our intention, a force under the direction of Brigadier-General W. F. Smith, Chief Engineer, was to be thrown across the river at or near Brown's Ferry, to seize the range of hills at the mouth of Lookout Val- ley, covering the Brown's Ferry road, and orders were given ac- cordingly. " It was known that the enemy held the north end of Lookout Valley with a brigade of troops, and the road leading arouud the foot of the mountain from their main camps in Chattanooga Valley to Lookout Valley. Holding these advantages, he would have had but little difficulty in concentrating a sufficient force to have defeated or driven Hooker back. To remedy this, the seizure of the range of hills at the mouth of Lookout Valley, and covering the Brown's Ferry road, was deemed of the high- est importance. This, by the use of pontoon bridges at Chatta- nooga and Brown's Ferry, would secure to us, by the north bank of the river, across Moccasin Point, a shorter line by which to reinforce our troops in Lookout Valley than the narrow and tortuous road around the foot of Lookout Mountain afforded the enemy for reinforcing his. " The force detailed for the expedition consisted of four thou- sand men, under command of General Smith, Chief Engineer ; eighteen hundred of which, under Brigadier-General W. B. Hazen, in sixty pontoon boats, containing thirty armed men each, floated quietly from Chattanooga, past the enemy's pickets, to the foot of Lookout Mountain, on the night of the twenty- seventh of October, landed on the south side of the river at Brown's Ferry, surprised the enemy's pickets stationed there, and seized the hills covering the ferry, without the loss of a man killed, and but four or five wounded. The remainder of the 142 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. force, together with the materials for a bridge, was moved by the north bank of the river across Moccasin Point to Brown's Ferry, without attracting the attention of the enemy, and before day dawned the whole force was ferried to the south bank of the river, and the almost inaccessible heights rising from Lookout Valley at its outlet to the river and below the mouth of Lookout creek, were secured. By ten o'clock a.m., an excellent pontoon bridge was laid across the river at Brown's Ferry, thus securing to us the end of the desired road nearest the enemy's forces, and a shorter line over which to pass troops if a battle became in- evitable. Positions were taken up by our troops from which they could not have been driven except by vastly superior forces, and then only with great loss to the enemy. Our artillery was placed in such position as to completely command the roads leading from the enemy's main camps in Chattanooga Valley to Lookout Valley. " On the twenty-eighth Hooker emerged into Lookout Val- ley at Wa.uhatcb.ie, by the direct road from Bridgeport, by way of Whitesides to Chattanooga, with the Eleventh Army Corps, under Major-General Howard, aud Geary's division of the Twelfth army corps, aud proceeded to take up positions for the defence of the road from Whitesides, over which he had marched, and also the road leading from Brown's Ferry to Kelly's Ferry, throwing the left of Howard's corps forward to Brown's Ferry. The division that started, under command of Palmer, for White- sides, reached its destination, aud took up the position intended in the original plan of this movement. These movements, so successfully executed, secured to us two comparatively good lines by which to obtain supplies from the terminus of the rail- road at Bridgeport, namely: The main wagon-road, by way of Whitesides, Wauhatchie, and Brown's Feny, distant but twenty-eight miles, and the Kelly's Ferry and Brown's Ferry roads, which, by the use of the river from Bridgeport to Kelly's Ferry, reduced the distance for wagoning to but eight miles. " Up to this period our forces at Chattanooga were practi- cally invested, the enemy's lines extending from the Tennessee river above Chattanooga to the river at and below the point of Lookout Mountain below Chattanooga, with the south bank of the river picketed to near Bridgeport, his main force being forti- fied in Chattanooga Valley, at the foot of and on Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain, and a brigade in Lookout Valley. True, we held possession of the country north of the river, but it was from sixty d> seventy miles over the most impracticable roads to carry supplies. The artillery-horses and mules had become so reduced by starvation that they could not have been relied on foi moviug any thing. An attempt at retreat must have been with nun alone, and with only such supplies as they could carry. A retreat would have been almost certain annihilation, for the enemy, occupying positions within gunshot of and overlooking LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 143 our very fortifications, would unquestionably have pursued our retreating forces. Already more than ten thousand animals had ' perished in supplying half rations to the troops by the long and tedious route from Stevenson and Bridgeport to Chattanooga, over "Waldrou's Ridge. They could not have been supplied another week. " The enemy was evidently fully apprised of our condition in Chattanooga, and of the necessity of our establishing a new and shorter line by which to obtain supplies, if we would maintain our position ; and so fully was he impressed with the importance of keeping from us these lines — lost to him by surprise, and in a manner he little dreamed of — that, in order to regain possession of them, a night attack was made by a portion of Longstreet's forces ou a portion of Hooker's troops (Geary's division of the Twelfth corps), the first night after Hooker's arrival in the valley. This attack failed, however, and Howard's corps, which was moving to the assistance of Geary, finding that it was not required by him, carried the remaining heights held by the enemy west of Lookout creek. This gave us quiet posses- sion of the lines of communication heretofore described, south of the Tennessee river. Of these operations I cannot speak more particularly, the sub-reports having been sent to Washing- ton without passing through my hands. " By the use of two steamboats, one of which had been left at Chattanooga by the enemy, and fell into our hands, and one that had been built by us at Bridgeport and Kelly's Ferry, we were enabled to obtaiu supplies with but eight miles of wagon- ing. The capacity of the railroad and steamboats was not suf- ficient, however, to supply all the wants of the army, but actual suffering was prevented. "Ascertaining from scouts and deserters that Bragg was de- taching Longstreet from the front, and moving him in the direction of Knoxville, Tennessee, evidently to attack Burnside, and, feeling strongly the necessity of some move that would compel him to retain all his forces and recall those he had de- tached, directions were given for a movement against Mission Ridge, with a view to carrying it and threatening the enemy's communication with Longstreet, of which I informed Burnside by telegraph on the seventh of November. After a thorough reconnoissance of the ground, however, it was deemed utterly impracticable to make the move until Sherman could get up, because of the inadequacy of our force and the condition of the animals then at Chattanooga; and I was forced to leave Burnside, for the present, to contend against superior forces of the enemy until the arrival of Sherman, with his men and means of transportation. In the meantime, reconnoissances were made and plans matured for operations. Despatches were Bent to .Sherman informing him of the movement of Longstreet, and the necessity of his immediate presence at Chattanooga. 144 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. ■ : On the 14th of November, 1863, I telegraphed to Burnside as follows: " 'Your despatch and Dana's just received. Being there you can tell better how to resist Longstreet's attack than T can direct. With your showing, you had better give up Kingston at the last moment and save the most productive part of your possessions. Every arrangement is now made to throw Sherman's force across the river, just at and below the mouth of Chickamauga Creek. As soon as it arrives, Thomas will attack on his left at the same time, and together it is expected to carry Mission Ridge, and from there push a force on to the railroad, between Cleveland and Dalton. Hooker will at the same time attack, and, if he can, carry Lookout Mountain. The enemy now seems to be looking for an attack on his left flank. This favors us. To further confirm this, Sherman's advance division will march direct from Whitesides to Trenton. The remainder of his force will pass over a new road just made from Whitesides to Kelly's Ferry, this being concealed from the enemy, and leave him to suppose the whole force is going up Lookout Valley. Sher- man's advance has only just reached Bridgeport. The rear will only reach there on the 16th. This will bring it to the 19th as the earliest day for making the combined movement as desired. Inform me if you think you can sustain yourself until that time. I can hardly conceive of the enemy breaking through at Kings- ton, and pushing for Kentucky. If they should, however, a new problem would be left for solution. Thomas has ordered a divi- sion of cavalry to the vicinity of Sparta. I will ascertain if they have started, and inform you. It will be entirely out of the question to send you ten thousand men ; not because they cannot be spared, but how could they be fed after they got one day east of here. "'U. S. Grant, Major-General. "'To Major-General A. E. Burnside.' " On the 15th, having received from the General-in-chief a despatch of date the 14th, in reference to Burnside's position, the danger of his abandonment of East Tennessee unless immediate relief was afforded, and the terrible misfortune such a result would be to our arms, and also despatches from Mr. C. A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, and Colonel Wilson, of my staff, Kent at the instance of General Burnside, informing me more fully of the condition of affairs as detailed to them by him, I telegraphed him as follows : '"Chattanooga, November 15th, 1863. "'I do not know how to impress on you the necessity of hold- ing on to East Tennessee, in strong enough terms. According to the despatches of Mr. Dana and Colonel Wilson, it would seem that you should, if pressed to do it, hold on to Knoxville and that portion of the valley you will necessarily possess, hold- ing to that point. Should Longstreet move his whole force LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 145 across the Little Tennessee, an effort should be made to cut his pontoons on that stream, even if it sacrificed half the cavalry of the Ohio Army. By holding on and placing Longstreet be- tween the Little Tennessee and Knoxville, he should not be allowed to escape with an army capable of doing any thing this winter. I can hardly conceive the necessity of retreating from East Tennessee. If I did at all, it would be after losing most of the army, and then the necessity would suggest the route. I will not attempt to lay out a line of retreat. Kingston, look- ing at the map, I thought of more importance than any one point in East Tennessee. But my attention being called more closely to it, I can see that it might be passed by, and Knox- ville and the rich valley about it possessed, ignoring that place entirely. I should not think it advisable to concentrate a force near Little Tennessee to resist the crossing if it would be iu danger of capture, but I would harass and embarrass progress iu every way possible, reflecting on the fact that the Army of the Ohio is not the only army to resist the onward progress of the enemy. "'U. S. Grant, Major-General. "To Major-General A. E. Burnside.' " Previous reconnoissances, made first by Brigadier-General W. F. Smith, Chief Engineer, and afterward by Generals Thomas, Sherman, and myself in company with him, of the country opposite Chattanooga and north of the Tennessee River, extending as far east as the mouth of the South Chickamauga and vhe north end of Mission Ridge, so far as the same could be made from the north bank of the river without exciting sus- picions on the part of the enemy, showed good roads from Brown's Ferry up the river and back of the first range of hills opposite Chattanooga, and out of view of the enemy's positions. Troops crossing the bridge at Brown's Ferry could be seen and their numbers estimated by the enemy; but not seeing anything further of them as they passed up in rear of these hills, he would necessarily be at a loss to know whether they were moving to Knoxville or held on the north side of the river for future opera- tions at Chattanooga. It also showed that the north end of Mission Ridge was imperfectly guarded, and that the banks of the river, from the mouth of South Chickamauga Creek west- ward to his main line in front of Chattanooga, were watched only by a small cavalry picket. This determined the plau of opera- tions indicated in my despatch of the 14th to Bu.-nside. " Upon further consideration — the great object being to mass all the forces possible against oue given point, namely, Mission Ridge, converging toward the north end of it — it was deemed best to change the original plan, so far as it contemplated Hooker's attack on Lookout Mountain, which would give us Howard's corps of his command to aid in this purpose ; and on the 18th the following instructions were given Thomas : "All preparations should be made for attacking the enemy's position 146 LTFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. on Mission Ridge by Saturday at daylight. Not being provided with a map giving names of roads, spurs of the mountain, and other places, such definite instructions can not be given as might be desirable. However — the general plan, you understand, is for Sherman, with the force brought with him strengthened by a division from your command, to effect a crossing of the Tennes- see river just below the mouth of Chickamauga — his crossing to be protected by artillery from the heights on the north bank of the river (to be located by your Chief of Artillery), and to secure the heights from the northern extremity to about the railroad tunnel, before the enemy can concentrate against him. You will co-operate with Sherman. The troops in Chattanooga Val- ley should be well concentrated on your left flank, leaving only the necessary force to defend the fortifications on the right and centre, and a movable column of one division in readiness to move wherever ordered. This division should show itself as threateningly as possible on the most practicable line for making an attack up the valley. Your effort then will be to form a junction with Sherman, making your advance well toward the northern end of Mission Ridge, and moving as near simulta- neously with him as possible. The junction once formed, and the Ridge carried, communications will be at once established between the two armies, byroads on the south bank of the river. Further movements will then depend on those of the enemy. Lookout Valley, I think, will be easily held by Geary's division and what troops you may still have then belonging to the old Army of the Cumberland. Howard's corps can then be held in readiness to act either with you at Chattanooga or with Sher- man. It should be marched on Friday night to a position on the north side of the river, not lower dowu than the first pontoon bridge, and then held in readiness for such orders as may become necessary. All these troops will be provided with two days' cooked rations in haversacks, and one hundred rounds of am- munition on the person of each infantry soldier. Special care should be taken by all officers to see that ammunition is not wasted or unnecessarily fired away. You will call on the En- gineer Department for such preparations as you may deem necessary for carrying your infantry and ariillery over the creek. " ' U. S. Grant, Major- General. " ' To Major-General Georgk H. Thomas.' " A copy of these instructions was furnished Sherman, with i he following communication: •■ ' Inclosed herewith I send you a copy of instructions to Major. General Tin. mas. You having been over the ground, in person, and having heard the whole matter discussed, further instruc- tions will not be necessary for you. It is particularly desirable that a force should be got through to the railroad, between Cleveland and Dalton. and Longstreet thus cut off from com- munication with the South; but being confronted by a large LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 147 force here, strongly located, it is not easy to tell how this is to be effected, until the result of our first effort is known. I will add, however, what is not shown in my instructions to Thomas, that a brigade of cavalry has been ordered here, which, if it arrives in time, will be thrown across the Tennessee, above Chickamauga, and maybe able to make the trip to Cleveland, or thereabouts. " ' U. S. Grant, Major-General. "•To Major- General W. T. Sherman.' " Sherman's forces were moved from Bridgeport by way of Whitesides — one division threatening the enemy's left flank, in the direction of Trenton — crossing at Brown's Ferry, up the north bank of the Tennessee to near the mouth of South Chicka- mauga, where they were kept concealed from the enemy until they were ready to force a crossing. Pontoons, for throwing a bridge across the river, were built and placed in North Chicka- mauga, near its mouth, a few miles further up, without attracting the attention of the enemy. It was expected we would be able to effect the crossing on the 21st of November; but, owing to heavy rains, Sherman was unable to get up until the afternoon of the 23d, and then only with General Morgan L.Smith's, John E. Smith's and Hugh Ewing's divisions, of the 15th Corps, un- der command of Major-General Frank P. Blair, of his army. The pontoon bridge, at Brown's Ferry, having been broken by the drift consequent upon the rise in the river and rafts sent down by the enemy, the other division — Osterhaus' — was de- tained on the south side, and was, on the night of the 23d, or- dered, unless it could get across by 8 o'clock the next morn- ing, to report to Hooker, who was instructed, in this event, to attack Lookout Mountain, as contemplated in the original plan. "A deserter from the rebel army, who came into our lines on the night of the 22d of November, reported Bragg falling back. The following letter from Bragg, received by flag of truce, on the 20th, tended to confirm this report : " 'Head-Quarters, Army of Tennessee, " ' In the Field, November 20th, 1863. '"Major- General V. S. Grant, Commanding United States Forces at Chattanooga: '"General : — As there may still be some non-combatants in Chattanooga, I deem it proper to notify you that prudence would dictate their early withdrawal. ' ' I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant. '"Braxton Bragg, General-Commanding. .' " Not being willing that he should get his army off in good order, Thomas was directed early on the morning of the 23d, to ascertain the truth or falsity of this report, by driving in his pickets and making him develop his lines. This he did with the troops stationed at Chattanooga, aud Howard's Corps (which 148 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. had been brought into Chattanooga because of the apprehended danger to our pontoon bridges from the rise in the river, and the enemy's rafts), in the most gallant style, driving the enemy from his first line, securing to us what is known as 'Indian Hill,' or 'Orchard Knoll,' and the low range of hills south of it. These points were fortified during the night, and artillery put in position on them. The report of this deserter was evidently not intended to deceive, but he had mistaken Bragg's movements It was afterward ascertained that one division of Buckner's corps had zone to join Longstreet, and a second division of the same corps' hud started, but was brought back iu consequence of our attack. "On the night of the 23d of November, Sherman with three divisions of his army, strengthened by Davis' division of Thomas', which had been stationed along the north bank of the river, con- venient to where the crossing was to be effected, was ready for operations. At an hour sufficiently early to secure the south bank of the river, just below the mouth of South Chickamauga, by dawn of day, the pontoons in North Chickamauga were loaded with thirty armed men each, who floated quietly past the enemy's pickets, landed and captured all but one of the guard, twenty in number, before the enemy was aware of the presence of a foe. The steamboat Dunbar, with a barge in tow, after having finished ferrying across the river the horses procured from Sherman, with which to move Thomas' artillery, was sent up from Chattanooga to aid in crossing artillery and troops, and by daylight of the morning of the 26th of November eight thousaud men were on the south side of the Tennessee and fortified in rifle trenches. By 12 o'clock M. the pontoon bridges across the Tennessee and Chickamauga were laid and the remainder of Sherman's force crossed over, and at half past 3 p.m., the whole of the northern extremity of Mission Ridge, near the railroad tunnel, was in Sherman's pos- session. During the night he fortified the position thus secured, making it equal, if not superior in strength, to that held by the enemy. " By three o'clock of the same day, Colonel Long, with his brigade of cavalry, of Thomas' army, crossed to the south side of the Tennessee, and to the north of South Chickamauga Creek, and made a raid on the enemy's lines of communication. He burned Tyner's Station, with many stores, cut the railroad at Cleveland, captured near a hundred wagons and over two hun- dred prisoners. His own loss was small. " Hooker carried out the part assigned to him for this day equal to the most sanguine expectations With Geary's division (Twelfth Corps) and two brigades of Stanley's division (Fourth corps), of Thomas' army, and Osterhaus' division (Fifteenth corps), of Sherman's army, he scaled the western slope of Lookout Mountain, drove the enemy from his rifle-pits on the northern extremity and slope of the mountain, capturing many prisoners, without serious loss. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 149 "Thomas having done on the twenty-third, with his troops in Chattanooga, what was intended for the twenty-fourth, bettered and strengthened his advanced positions during the day, and pushed the Eleventh corps forward along the south bank of the Tennsssee river across Citico creek, one brigade of which, with Howard in person, reached [Sherman just as he had com- pleted the crossing of the river. "When Hooker emerged in sight of the northern extremity of Lookout Mountain, Carlin's brigade, of the Fourteenth corps, was ordered to cross Chattanooga creek, and form a junction with him. This was effected late in the evening, and after considerable fighting. " Thus on the night of the twenty-fourth our force maintained an unbroken line, with open communications from the north end of Lookout Mountain through Chattanooga Valley to the north end of Mission Ridge. " On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Hooker took possession of the mountain top with a small force, and with the remainder of his command, in pursuance of orders, swept across Chatta- nooga Valley, now abandoned by the enemy, to Rossville. In this march he was detained four hours building a bridge across Chattanooga creek. From Rossville he ascended Mission Ridge, and moved southward toward the centre of that now shortened line. " Sherman's attack upon the enemy's most northern and most vital point, was vigorously kept up all day. The assaulting column advanced to the very rifle-pits of the enemy, and held their position firmly and without wavering. The right of the assaulting column being exposed to the danger of being turned, two brigades were sent to its support. These advanced in the most gallant manner over an open field on the mountain side to near the works of the enemy, and laid there partially covered from fire for some time. The right of these two brigades rested near the head of a ravine or gorge in the mountain side, which the enemy took advantage of and sent troops covered from view below them and to their right rear. Being unexpectedly fired into from this direction, they fell back across the open field below them and reformed in good order in the edge of the tim- ber. The column which attacked them was speedily driven to their intrenchments by the assaulting column proper. " Early on the morning of the twenty-fifth the remainder of Howard's co"ps reported to Sherman, and constituted a part cf his forces during that day's battle, the pursuit and subsequent advance for the relief of Knoxville. " Sherman's position not only threatened the right flank of the enemy, but from his occupying a line across the mountain, and to the railroad bridge across Chickamauga creek, his rear and Btores at Chickamauga station. This caused the enemy to mass heavily against him. This movement of his being plainly seen 150 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S Gis. To his indomitable courage and energy, to his un- paralleled celerity of movement, striking the enemy iu LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 167 detail, and beating him on every field, is the country in- debted for those wonderful successes of that campaign, which have not only challenged the gratitude and admira- tion of our own countrymen, but the admiration of the best military men of all ages. My colleague [Mr. Farns- worth] has well said, that General Grant is no carpet knight. If gentlemen could know him as I know him, and as his soldiers know him, they would not be so reluctant about conferring this honor. If they could have seen him as I saw him on that expedition ; if they could have wit- nessed his terrible earnestness, his devotion to his duty, his care, his vigilance, and his unchallenged courage, I think their opposition to this bill would give way. But gentlemen say ' wait, and confer this rank when the war is over.' " Sir, I want it conferred now, because it is my most solemn and earnest conviction that General Grant is the man upon whom we must depend to fight out this rebel- lion in the field, and bring this war to a speedy and tri- umphant close." Owing to some disagreements in the Senate, the bill went to a committee of conference, in which it was amended, making the appointment of Lieutenant-General to be during the pleasure of the President, and on the first of March, 1864, President Lincoln approved the bill, and on the next day sent into the Senate his message, appoint- ing, as Lieutenant-General of the armies of the United States, Major-General Ulysses S. Grant. The nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL AND THE PEOPLE. The action of Congress and the President in appointing General Grant to this position was earnestly looked for by the people, who had learned to love him, mainly because in every instance where responsibility had been reposed in 168 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. him, his indefatigable energy and perseverance, and his unsurpassed intrepidity in action, had worked out a vic- tory. GENERAL GRANT AT WASHINGTON. Lieutenant-General Grant arrived at Washington on the eighth of March, 1864, in obedience to the call of the Presi- dent, accompanied by General Rawlings and Colonel Comstock, of his staff, and by his son. His coming was devoid of any ostentation on his part. Indeed, his pres- ence was not known until some hours after his arrival, when he was recognized at the hotel tea-table by a gentle- man who bad seen the General at New Orleans. All the guests immediately rose to their feet in honor of the Lieu- tenant-General of the United States, and cheers rent the air. IS COMMISSIONED LIEUTENANT-GENERAL- PROCEEDINGS AT THE WHITE HOUSE. On the afternoon of the ninth of March, 1864, General Grant visited the White House, when he received his commission as Lieutenant-General. A large concourse of people had followed him to the executive mansion. President Lincoln greeted the general most cordially. There were present in the executive chamber, on this oc- casion, the entire Cabinet, General Halleck, and other dis- tinguished men. The President, holding the commission in his hand, said : " General Grant : The nation's appreciation of what you iave already done, and its reliance upon you for what still remains to do in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you Lieuten- ant- General of the armies of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you, also, a corresponding re- sponsibility. " As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add, that, with what LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 169 I here speak for the country, goes my own hearty personal concurrence." Having received the commission, Lieutenant-General Grant answered : "Mr President: I accept this commission with grati- tude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies who have fought on so many battle-fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibility now devolving on me. I know that if it is properly met, it will be due to these armies ; and above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men." Lieutenant-General Grant was then introduced to the Cabinet, and on the next day visited the Army of the Potomac in company with General Meade. LIEUTENANT- GENERAL GRANT AND GENERAL HALLECK. On the evening of March 9th he had a long interview with General Halleck in reference to further plans and move- ments, and the following order was subsequently issued : " War Department, Adjutant General's Office, " Washington, March 12, 1864. " General Orders, No. 98. "The President of the United States orders as follows : " First. Major-General Halleck is, at his own request, relieved from duty as General-in-Chief of the army, and Lieutenant-Gen- eral U. S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The head-quarters of the army will be in Washington, and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the tield. " Second Major-General Halleck is assigned to duty in Wash- ington as chief of staff of the army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly. " Third. Major-General W. T. Sherman is assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, composed of the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas. 170 LIFE OF GENEEAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " Fourth. Major-General J. B. McPherson is assigned to the command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. " Fifth. In relieving Major-General Halleck from duty as Gen- eral-in-Chief, the President desires to express his approbation and thanks for the able and zealous manner in which the ardu- ous and responsible duties of that position have been performed. " By order of the "Secretary op War." " HEAD-QUARTERS IN THE FIELD." If there was really any opposition to the appointment of Grant as Lieutenant-General, it came from a class of men of a practical turn of mind, who had witnessed General Grant's great ability in the field, and who had learned to think that his actual presence with our armies in action was of prime importance. They regretted this popular move- ment, because they could but regard it as detrimental to our success, if, as they supposed, the Lieutenant-General's head-cpuarters were to be established in Washington. But they little knew the man. When General Grant accepted his commission from the hands of the President, he was prepared to assume all the responsibilities of the position. It was not an empty title to him ; a distinction behind which he might hide himself in a military bureau at the capital. His motto was "Action." He understood per- fectly well that the country fully expected him to perso- nally superintend the movements of our armies ; but his own desire to see and know for himself the position of affairs was a sufficient incentive, and in his first order, on assuming supreme command, there was the ring of the true metal that served to reconcile all the shades of public sentiment. Not all the warm blandishments of society, and the civilities of public life and national distinction ten- dered him, could induce him to desert his sterner duties. GENERAL BURNSIDE ON GENERAL GRANT. Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside in a speech deliv- ered at Chicago, spoke as follows of Lieutenant-General Grant : LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 171 " I have known him for a great number of years. If there is any quality for which General Grant is particularly character- ized, it is that of magnanimity. He is one of the most magnan- imous men I ever knew. He is entirely unambitious and unselfish. He is a capital judge of men, and is possessed of a remarkable degree of common sense. Those qualities, 1 think, make a pretty good general — pretty good, like when he has good generals to deal with, because if he has magnanimity he will give credit to the general for what he has done. If he is not ambitious, he will not seek to undermine any other person who may seem to be in his way. If he has good common sense and judgment, he will pick each man for his specific duty with good judgment. So that the General who combines all these qualifications has every hope to succeed. Now, General Grant has thus far succeeded, aud really I believe the chances are that he will succeed in the future. He is to leave the West for the present, and take com- mand of the Eastern Army, and without saying any thing of the Generals who have heretofore commanded the Eastern Army, I think he will infuse into that army a degree of confidence, which it has not felt for some time, because success always carries with it confidence, and that is what you all want. There is not a gen- tleman or lady in this whole assemblage that does not desire suc- cess, to-night, and, inasmuch as he has been successful hereto- fore, he will have the confidence of the community, and have the qualifications, which I think he has, and which I have said to you he has, it seems to me we can all go home to night, believing that success is going to attend General Grant in the command of all the armies of the United States, during this campaign. Every loyal heart will go home to-night and sincerely and hon- estly pray to God he may be strengthened in the work he has to do, and that he will be enabled during this present campaign to^crush this infernal rebellion, which has threatened to ruin and disrupt the Government which we all love so much." THE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL'S ORDER ON ASSUMING COMMAND. A few days found him again at Nashville perfecting the movements to be made in the Division of the Mississippi. Here he issued the following order : " Head-quarters of the Armtes of the Untted States, " Nashville, Tennessee, March 17, 18G4. " In pursuance of the following order of the President : "'Executive Mansion, Washington, March 10, 18G4. " ' Under the authority of the act of Congress to appoint to the grade of Lieutenant-General in the army, of March 11 172 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1st, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is appointed to the command of the armies of the United States. '"Abraham Lincoln.' " I assume command of the Armies of the Unrted States. Head-quarters will be in the field, and, until further orders, will be with the Army of the Potomac. There will be an office head-quarters in Washington, to which all official communications will be sent, except those from the Army where the head-quarters are at the date of their address. " U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General." On the 23d of March, 1864, General Grant again arrived in Washington, accompanied by his wife and son. Brig. Gen. Rawlings, Col. Duff, Maj. Rawley, and Capt. Bedeau, of the General's staff, were with him. In a few days he had established his head-quarters in the Army of the Potomac, at Culpepper Court House. "ON TO RICHMOND." The transfer of the Lieutenant-General's head-quarters to the Army of the Potomac, showed that he intended to make Virginia the immediate theatre of action. Rich- mond seems almost to have been invulnerable — uncon- querable, and our armies had so often failed in their ad- vances upon the Rebel Capital, that that place had begun to assume more importance in the eyes of the world than any other in the so-called confederacy. The Army of the Potomac was still confronted by the Army of Northern Virginia, oscillating between points nearer and more distant from the goal of our ambition, without attaining any practical results. General Grant had a herculean task before him. He had in front of him an army that was unquestionably the largest and most splendid in the Rebel service, under command of a Gen- eral worthy of his steel. That army was covering its LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 173 Capita], to which it could but be expected it would hold on with grim desperation. But to take this place would have an immense moral effect upon both Northern and Southern minds. As it was, the moral effect of our re- verses was damaging to the national cause. " And why had «ve failed ?" was a not uufrequent question ; and Congress took up the refrain. Jealousy, rivalry and inordinate am- bition doubtless had much to do with our misfortunes ; but, the great fault did not lie there. It was mainly in the peculiar geographical and topographical configuration of the country. A military writer whose attention was at- tracted to this subject at this time, wrote : " Two armies of equal numbers and commanded with equal ability, being opposed to each other, their move- ments and achievements must be entirely determined by the nature of the theatre of operations. Perhaps never in the history of warfare has the character of the ground exerted more influence on campaigns, than that of the por- tion of Virginia which lies between Washington and Richmond. On the right of our army are chains of moun- tains which enable the Rebels to conceal any flanking movement they may undertake, while the valleys afford to them the means for an easy and uninterrupted passage to the Potomac above Washington, and one almost entirely secure from attacks in their rear. On our front is a suc- cession of rivers, presenting great natural obstacles to our advance, and at the same time easily defensible ; to make flanking movements by ascending them is to open our rear to attacks from Fredericksburg, and to cross below the Rebel army, leaves the railroad a prey to guerillas. The country is, moreover, masked in every direction by dense forests, rendering any thing like a surprise in force im- practicable. A few rebel scouts may at all times easily detect and thwart such a movement. Such are the natural features of the country." 171 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT AND MAJOR- GENERAL MEADE. It is necessary to premise our remarks upon the open- ing campaign by saying, that General Grant did not as- sume the immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, which remained under the direction of General Meade. The orders were issued by General Meade and he com- manded the army in person. General Grant held a super- visory control over the whole. His wishes were however respected and implicitly followed ; while at the same time the movements of all the armies, however far separated, were under the guiding hand of the Lieutenant-General. A RE-ORGANIZATION. On the 24th of March, 1864, a re-organization of the Army of the Potomac was effected. The number of army corps was reduced to three ; the Second, under command of Major General Winfield S. Hancock; the Fifth, under command of Major- General G. W. Warren ; and the Sixth, under command of General Sedgwick. On the fourth of April, 1864, Major-General Sheridan was placed in com- mand of the cavalry corps. Division officers were also re-assigned. A partial re-organization was also effected in the Army of the Southwest. By direction of the President, under dale of April fourth, 1864, the Eleventh and Twelfth corps were consolidated and placed under command of Major- General Hooker, and the new corps was called the Twen- tieth. The Lieutenant-General, accompanied by several of his staff officers, made a tour of survey of all our forces in Virginia, Gen. W. F. Smith, accompanying him in his visit to Butler's command. By order of General Grant, active measures were taken to get into the field all recruits, new organizations and all troops that could be spared. Reinforcements were con- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 175 stantly pouring into the Army of the Potomac. The notes of military preparation all over the country indicated the near approach of a most vigorous campaign. Now the Lieutenant-General is on a tour of inspection, then he is closeted with the authorities at Washington, until the close of April, 1864, when all the preliminaries seem to have been settled. Civilians and sutlers are ordered out of the lines and no more passes are granted to applicants for admission Meantime Lee was not idle. He busied him- self in the erection of additional fortifications along the south bank of the Rapidan, in anticipation of the coming contest. General Grant was not disposed to wait on the development of Lee's plans. He had well digested plans of his own, which he pre- pared to put into execution, and until the early part of May, 1864, he labored incessantly, concentrating his valiant troops preliminary to the grand onward movement. THE GRAND CAMPAIGN. With the genial month of May, 1864, opened one of the greatest military campaigns on record. Not only was the Lieutenant-General directing the movements of the Army of the Potomac, but he had taken the reins well in hand, and with the initiation of the new movement upon Richmond, Sherman commenced operations in Northern Georgia against Johnston; Banks had been ordered to protect our gunboats on the Red River ; General Steele in Arkansas was punishing Sterling Price, and Butler was safely lodged on the right bank of the James at Ber- muda Hundred, thus threatening the rebel Capital from a point where they least expected danger. General Grant's combinations were of a magnitude hitherto unknown in war. They extended over a vast territory ; from the Chesapeake Bay on the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, thence northward through the Indian territory to the 176 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT upper boundary of Missouri, and striking eastward, in- cluded Tennessee and all the States in rebellion. To a man of ordinary nerve and ability the prospect was ap- palling ; but General Grant was fully equal to the Her- culean task. With a mind of wonderful strength, an equanimity which is never disturbed in the most perilous moment, and an ability to comprehend the situation of his enemy as well as his own, he formed his plans for the spring and summer campaigns, and having forwarded his orders to his Lieutenants in the different portions of the vast field over which he was master, he advanced on the 3d of May, 1864, to the Rapidan. This river was crossed on the 4th, at two fords, toward the right flank of the enemy, the Union army thus placing itself on a line nearly parallel with the stream, between Orange Court House and Chancellorsville. The order to march was issued from General Meade's headquarters, on the morning of the 3d, and was dis- seminated through the army by 2 P. M. General Gregg's cavalry division, accompanied by a portion of the canvas pontoon train, moved in the afternoon toward Richards- ville, and were engaged until late at night repairing the roads to Ely's Ford. Soon after midnight that division moved to the ford named, to establish a crossing. About midnight the Third Cavalry Division, with another por- tion of the canvas pontoon train, left for Germania Ford, five or six miles above, there to establish another crossing ; both efforts were successful. The advance of the Second Corps, Major-General Han- cock, commanding, brole camp at midnight, and moved down the Stevensburg and Richardsville road toward Ely's Ford. The entire Corps were on the march before three o'clock in the morning, in the same direction, and effected a crossing soon after daylight. The Fifth Corps, under Major-General Warren, com- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 177 menced moving at midnight. The advance, consisting of two divisions of infantry and a portion of the artillery, passed through Stevensburg at midnight, closely followed by the remainder of the Corps — all marching toward Ger- mania Ford. The Fifth Corps was closely succeeded by the Sixth, under General Sedgwick, which quitted its camp at four o'clock, A. M. Both the Fifth and Sixth Corps crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford. General Sheridan, commanding the cavalry, encoun- tered Stuart's rebel cavalry, and after heavy fighting drove the enemy back on Orange Court House. General Lee prepared during the night of the fourth for battle on the ensuing day. BATTLES OE THE WILDERNESS. On Thursday, May 5th, 1864, the Fifth and Sixth Corps were early in motion, and at about eight o'clock, A. M., the centre of the Fifth Corps had reached the intersection of the pike and plank road leading from Fredericksburg to Orange Court House, marked on the maps as " Wilderness." And here it is necessary to pause a moment and say a word as to the topography of the surrounding country. The word wilderness conveys generally the impression of a deserted waste, and the term, applied to the region in which the great battle was fought, is no misnomer. It is an exceedingly broken table land, irregular in its con- formation, and so densely covered with dwarf timber and undergrowth as to render progress through it very diffi- cult and laborious off of the few roads and paths that penetrate it. This timber was so effectually an ally of the Rebels, for they had taken care to take position near its edge, leaving us an open country at our back, that a whole division drawn up in line of battle might be invisi- ble a few hundred feet off. The knolly character of the 178 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. ground, in conjunction with this timber, also prevented us almost entirely from using our artillery, depriving us of our undoubted superiority in that arm. At the Wilderness, is the crossing or intersection of the pike and plank roads from Fredericksburg to Orange Court House, in a general southwest direction. These roads are here reached by the roads from Culpepper and Brandy Station, via Ger- rnania Ford ; and at Chancellorsville, four miles and a half eastward of the Wilderness, the pike is crossed exactly at a right angle by the road from Ely's Ford to Spottsylvania Court House. On Thursday morning, the army lay on the Germania Ford road and the pike. The army was in column ; the trains of the various headquarters were drawn up by the roadside, and men, teamsters and subordinate officers were expecting the order to move on and wondering why it did not come. The Second Corps was beyond the Wilderness at this moment, and thus occupying our left; the Fifth and Sixth Corps occupying our centre and right respectively. The morning wore slowly away, and still our splendid legions lay in the road whiling the time away by the various devices that only idle men can invent. At last the headquarters' standard of the Army of the Poto- mac was struck into the earth near the old Wilder- ness Tavern, and the Generals began gathering around it. Meade was there, his greybeard seeming to bristle a little in expectation of the coming fight. Hancock, Warren, Sedgwick, and various other general officers, gathered into little knots and engaged in earnest consul- tation. Maps were drawn out and being spread upon the ground, and lines were traced and points indicated. It looked ominous. Still, not a single sign of battle reached the main body of the army. No rumors of cavalry en- gagements nor sound of desultory shots gave it warning, LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 179 and it lay in the sunshine expecting the preliminary com- mand and the sonorous " Forward !" At last Warren galloped off, and the head of his column began filing over the point of a hill a little to the left of Wilderness Tavern, and to the summit of the same hill the headquarters of the army were removed. In an incredibly short space of time, an army on the march was changed into an army in line of battle. At about this time, dropping shot were heard to the right and south of Wilderness Tavern, and a gallop of two miles and a half down the pike, in the direction of Orange Court House, revealed a brigade of Griffin's Division in line of battle, far to the front. Gradually the contest grew from picket- firing to skirmish, from skirmish to battle, and by twelve o'clock, meridian, the action fairly commenced. A small disaster marked its opening. The brigade had scarcely formed for action, when it was met by a terrible volley of musketry, and the Rebels, taking advantage of the momentary confusion, came rushing up to the charge. We had not yet learned the character of the ground thoroughly, and were attempting to use artillery, having two guns of Battery D, First New York, in position, and these the Rebels captured, but they were all the trophies in that line they secured during the entire action. From Warren's lines the battle spread to Sedgwick's early in the afternoon, and that veteran and accomplished soldier met it grandly. Steadily and firmly he met the Rebel attack, and finally, and almost inch by inch, he pressed the Rebels back from his front until they began to tire of the sport— and, earlier in the clay than on other points of the lines, the action dwindled into a skirmish. On our left, Hancock took the initiative, and gave Longstreet a lesson in the art of war that will be long remembered. The conflict on that part of our lines was terrific. It seemed that muskets had become endowed 180 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. with supernatural powers, and spoke in one long continu- ous diapason, horrible to hear, so suggestive was it of mangled, lifeless forms, laid forever at rest ; or worse, of writhing, bleeding, suffering humanity stretched upon mother earth. As the day drew to its close, the contest there and everywhere upon our lines gradually ceased, until at last only now and then a desultory shot told that the defiant foe of law was on our front in battle array. Thus ended Thursday, May 5th. During the day, General Grant was on the field, calm and imperturbable as usual. His confidence was un- shaken through all the varying fortunes of the day. Lee had met our army on his own chosen ground, and though we had not driven him from his position, the Lieutenant- General was satisfied with the day's work, and commenced making his dispositions for renewing the battle on the next morning. THE BLOODY CONTEST OP FRIDAY. Friday, destined to be a bloody, eventful, and almost a disastrous day in American history, was hardly graced with morning light before the action was recommenced. It was general, but during the earlier, and in fact during the entire day, it was fiercest before Hancock. This magnificent soldier, backed by a magnificent corps, bad terrible work before him. Pressed by the apparently constantly increasing forces of Longstreet, he struggled hard, fiercely, and long, to hold his own, but was twice driven back to his breastworks; and once the adventurous Rebels ventured to plant their colors within his field- works — but the insult was instantly avenged, by hurling the enemy neck-and-heels out of the sanctuary. At last relief came in the shape of the Ninth Corps, under the gallant Burnside, and Hancock was allowed to breathe free once more. Such fighting as Hancock did that day LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 181 had probably never been seen before. Back and forth — first charged and then charging — the bodies of Union and Rebel dead lying side by side by hundreds on the con- tested ground, attested the unparalleled severity of the conflict. Later in the day came Sedgwick's hour of trial. A lull succeeded the tempest. On our left they seemed de- termined to turn one or the other of our flanks, and half an hour before sunset, A. P. Hill fell with wonderful celerity and crushing force upon the extreme right of Sedgwick. That attack will long be remembered by all in its vicinity. The battle had apparently closed for the day, when all at once the silence of the deepening evening was broken — first, by a volley of musketry to which all other firing had seemed but boyish playing, then with a yell, at once defiant and exultant ! Our right was turned at once — the two brigades composing the extreme right, with their commanders, Seymour and Staler, were in- stantly swallowed in the wild waves of yelling Rebels, whose appetite, whetted by what it fed on, still rushed on for fresh food. The day seemed utterly lost ; and de- struction not only to the Corps, but the army, appeared inevitable. In that moment of extreme peril, the nation and the army was fortunate enough to have Sedgwick at the point of danger. Out of that instant of uttermost peril, his ability and fortitude plucked, if not victory, at least safety. Taking advantage of the reflux that always follows the first impetus of a charge, he quickly reformed the Corps — and driving the enemy beyond his breast- works, once more was in safety. From out of this desperate attack grew another inci- dent, fearful always in an army, but doubly so at night. , Just at dark, a stampede began — first, among the strag- gling soldiers watching the fight from a safe distance. They rushed in wild confusion to the rear. The instinct 182 LITE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. of safety in the army teamsters is wonderfully acute, and the sight of these frightened fugitives soon started the wagons in wild confusion and galloping haste over the low hills. The rush of the wagons started every thing else, and where but a moment before all was quiet confi- dence, was now all hastening alarm. This scene lasted some half an hour, when the iron hand of military law succeeded in re-establishing order, and hardly had quiet been restored, when the movements of other of the same wagons gave us a premonition — it was the general move of all the army transportation on the turnpike in the direction of Chancellorsville. What could it mean ? Had the attack on our right been fatal, and were we retreating from a field sanctified with patriot blood and rendered illustrious by such heroic fortitude as our men had here displayed ? Subsequent events proved that this was not the case, but the days of hard knocks were over, and those of strategy at hand. We were still to have one more example of what desperate things desperate men will do. At eleven o'clock, a night attack was made on War- ren's line. Night attacks are always terrible things to the party attacked, but coupled with the partial disaster on our right it was doubly so this night. Without warn- ing of any kind, the Rebels leaped upon the Fifth Corps. No Corps in the service had a more honorable record than the Fifth, and none under the circumstances could have borne itself more bravely ; yet, in spite of its bravery, the corps was driven back and pressed until at last the line of Rebel skirmishers were in dangerous proximity to Grant's and Meade's headquarters. But not for this brief episode of battle, thundering amid the darkness of the night but a little way to the front of the pike, was the movement of the trains interrupted even for a moment. Still on they went, in an almost inter- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 183 minable stream, and by daylight nearly all had passed to the left of the right centre. During the night the wounded from the hospitals in the rear of the right and right centre were also removed in the same direction, but the exact purport of the movement could not be even guessed. Friday, May 5th, had closed partially in disaster. We had succeeded certainly in repelling most of the enemy's attacks, but we were not there with that object. The army of the Potomac had begun its present movement with the intention of sweeping Lee's army from the earth, and it had not accomplished its mission on Friday. GRANT OUT OF THE WILDERNESS.-SATUR- DAY AND SUNDAY'S OPERATIONS. The enemy had turned our right flank, and the imprac- ticability of a further engagement against the enemy in that position was easily perceived. Our right was turned, and Germania Ford was potentially in the hands of the enemy. Our line was now bent into an angle, and facing both south and west. The losses in killed, wounded and missing, could not thus far have been less than fifteen thousand, and we had only gained a slight advantage on the enemy's right. But the enemy, though successful against our right flank, was unable to profit by the advan- tage gained. Saturday morning came and went, and the enemy showed no signs of ability to improve the advantages gained. Soon from along our lines there came reports that the enemy were retreating, and it became evident that only a small force was before us, and that the rebels were making the most diligent improvement of their time in getting safely back to such a position as would give them the start in a race toward Richmond. Indeed, it was to be feared that the enemy had already moved so far on the route as to put us second in chase. 184 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. But Saturday was, however, not unimproved on our side in preparation for anticipating the enemy in such a movement, and the Cavalry Corps, under the command of General Sheridan, had been sent out on the road which leads through Spottsylvania Court House to Granger's Station and Hanover Court House. The cavalry encountered the enemy at Todd's Tavern, commanded by Fitzhugh Lee, which offered a most de- termined resistance on Saturday morning, and before the day closed the whole of Stuart's Cavalry Corps was in position to resist the efforts we were making to turn the right flank of General Lee's army. We had now possession of the road to within two and a half miles of Spottsylvania Court House. Preparations were accordingly made for moving the whole army on the enemy's flank toward Richmond, hoping that by pro- longed and forced marches, and by pushing our troops vigorously into action, we might be able, having the ad- vantage of interior lines, either to reach Richmond before the enemy, or, if we should be unable to turn his flank, and the enemy should succeed in presenting himself in force upon our front, that we might gain so complete a victory over him as to render the capture of Richmond a comparatively easy task. At sunset, on Saturday night, the infantry commenced to move on the road to Richmond to anticipate the enemy at Spottsylvania Court House, to turn his right flank being the proximate object of the march. The Ninth Army Corps was the first upon the route, but soon halted to allow General Warren with the Fifth Corps to pass. The Sixth Corps left their intrenchments quietly at ten o'clock, the Second Corps followed, keep- ing up the rear, and cavalry protected their flank. Thus before midnight the entire line of our earthworks was vacant, and the army was again upon its march. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 185 General Grant, with his staff and escort, moved their headquarters at eight o'clock. An alarm occurred on the road as the Genei'al passed the lines of the corps which were nearest to those of the enemy. A short rattle of musketry was heard, and the General halted at General Hancock's headquarters on the road, and scouts were sent along the picket lines, who ascertained that the enemy had raised a shout in reply to the shouts of our troops, which provoked the pickets to discharge their pieces and rush back to their supports. The General and his escort went on dashing through the woods, upon by-roads, to avoid the troops and wagon trains, his escort trailing behind him. They galloped along through the darkness, occasionally overtaking a body of troops, who, as they ascertained that General Grant was passing, raised such shouts and cheers as to place any similar demonstration which this army had manifested into utter insignificance. The party reached Todd's Tavern soon after midnight, where headquarters were established. The wagon train was encamped in a park near Chancel- lorsville. General Warren's Corps passed on through Todd's Tavern on Saturday night, toward the front, and at sunrise were within two and a half miles of Spottsyl- vania Court House, and immediately were put into action to relieve the cavalry. The enemy were also just in time for a similar movement, and Stuart's cavalry were sim- ultaneously relieved by Longstreet's corps of infantry. The Fifth Corps, tired with a long night march, rushed into action with a double-quick, General Robinson's Division leading the charge. Tbe rebels yielded before them, and we pushed them on for three miles. During the battle General Robinson was wounded. The last engagement of this morning's fight was very severe ; our losses were great ; General Robinson was 186 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. severely wounded, but we charged them so far and so im- petuously that our men were outflanked on the left and had to fall back a short distance to form their lines anew. Many of the men who were engaged in this action were so exhausted and overcome with weariness and fatigue that they could hardly support themselves, and after they had charged through a clearing and a strip of wood, were forced to retire eight rods. The enemy gained no advan- tage, for our artillery was brought into action, and the rebels were unable to occupy the position which our men had abandoned. The Fifth Corps had suffered in the previous fight so severely that there was not a single division of it in per- fect fighting trim ; but General Augur, commanding the Regulars, filed in from the right, and the position was held at last. We had now nearly advanced to where two roads form a junction, within two miles and a half of Spottsylvania Court House. The crest at the junction of these roads once attained, an important advantage would have been achieved. This was not quite accomplished. Another desperate effort must be made before Spottsylva- nia Court House would be in our possession. That point once reached, an open country and fair battle fields lay before the army, and it already began to realize, to some extent, the advantages of " getting out of the Wilderness." The greater part of the Sabbath was occupied in ex- amining the positions, in resting the men, and in making preparations for a renew r al of the attack at night. Noth- ing transpired during the day with the exception of an artillery duel. About noon the batteries were posted, ours in the edge of a piece of woods ; theirs on an opposing hill. As evening approached, General Grant started to the front to take another glance at the position, and to inspire our troops for the grand onset which was soon to be LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 187 made. Before the General arrived at our left flank, the rattle of musketry from the advance skirmishers, and the straggling back of wounded men, indicated that the moment had almost arrived. Troops from the Fifth and Sixth Corps, in several heavy lines, were concentrated in front of the position to which the rebels had fallen back after the engagement in the early part of the day. Gene- ral Wright's division, already distinguished by most gallant conduct, took the lead. At quarter before seven a shout was raised, and the attack commenced as our troops moved out of the woods through a narrow open space and up a tangled thicket, which was held and for- tified by the enemy. Mills' Brigade and the Jersey troops were once more in the thickest of the fight, reduced though they were in one regiment from four hundred and thirty men to one hundred and eighty, and commanded by a captain. Deafening musketry and a dense volume of smoke raised up from the place where they engaged the enemy for half an hour. At a quarter after seven, as the light began to fade away, the heat of the firing began to cease. Hitherto the ear could scarcely distinguish any fluctuation in the sounds which came from those gloomy pines. But now the enemy commenced to give way, and the shouts of our men receding as the enemy were pushed along, showed that the issues of the attack were favorable and decided. We had beaten the enemy, had drawn them from the position which they had so strongly contested, but the darkness was now so great that we could not safely press them further, and Spottsylvania Court House still remained, that night, in the hands of the rebels. MONDAY'S OPERATIONS. Monday afternoon was spent quietly in camp, both for the much-needed rest of the soldiers and for replenishing 12 188 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. the army with rations. We lost General Sedgwick during the clay, not in the thickest of the fight, where he had so often exposed himself, but by the hand of a sharp- shooter during the interval of preparation. The General was inspecting the picket lines in front, attended by two of his staff, when a ball passed in below his eye, passing through the base of the brain and the medulla oblongata, killing him instantly. Our train of ambulances, containing some thirteen thou- sand wounded, was started on the road across Ely's Ford, but was attacked and turned back. It finally proceeded to Fredericksburg, where almost every house was con- verted into a hospital. TUESDAY'S GREAT BATTLE. FIRST DAY AT SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. Hancock, during the night, left the line occupied by him during Monday, and swung his front around early in the morning, taking a position about one mile and a half in advance of his former position, driving the enemy before him and making good use of artillery and in- fantry fire. About half-past ten o'clock, Cutter's Division of the Fifth Corps, left their previous position, and formed a line of battle on the edge of a piece of open country to the right and rear of Hancock's left. A column was deployed across this piece of ground and formed in line within easy musket range of a piece of woods filled with the rebels. This column maintained the position occupied by them nearly the entire day, and were subject to terrible artillery and musketry fire, which was returned with great spirit and effect. A portion of Griffin's Division, of the Fifth Corps, were sent to drive the rebels out of a copse of woods held by them, on the. right of the Fifth Corps. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 189 They entered the woods by brigades, which were relieved alternately, and for hours a deadly and determined fight continued, in which a little ground was gained by our troops with much difficulty, the rebels contesting every inch of the same. Batteries D and H, of the First New York Artillery, held positions to the left of these woods, and did fine execution in throwing shell and grape-shot, which told with effect on the enemy. Cooper's First Pennsylvania Battery was held in reserve on the brow of a hill, ready to cover any reverse that our men, who were fighting so desperately in the woods in front, might sus- tain. About 12 o'clock, General Rice, who gallantly led the Fourth Division of the Fifth Corps into action, re- ceived a musket ball in the knee. He was carried to the rear, and died during the afternoon. The division com- manded by General Rice were stoutly engaged during the day, and at one time were subjected to a murderous fire from different points for a period of three hours, without intermission. From ten o'clock in the morning until the shades of night fell, the battle raged with the greatest fury. Di- vision after division went into the woods and pressed steadily forward. ~No column retired, except to take a rest on the edge of the woods while being relieved by others. The roar of artillery and sharp rattling of the musketry was absolutely fearful. Shells were bursting in every direction, and either side most resolutely maintained their respective positions for hours. Early in the afternoon, two divisions of Hancock's Corps changed positions from right to left, and after a brief rest went into the woods with great spirit, and were shortly in close conflict with the enemy. Two batteries on the right of Wright's Corps were in active service during the morning, engaged in shelling the woods to the right, which were filled with rebels. This firing ceased 190 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. during the afternoon, the Rebels retiring to safer positions. The enemy, about half-past three o'clock, succeeded in maintaining a cross-fire for a short time on some of our advancing columns, but the well-directed fire of some of our batteries soon put a stop to such work. About dusk the general headquarters were removed a mile nearer to the front. Shortly before the close of the day's fighting, Generals Grant and Meade, occompanied by their staffs, rode to the front and took a position affording a fine view of the operations in front. Late in the day a line of Rebel intrenchments were assaulted by one of our divisions, and carried, after a bloody resistance. Our men were compelled to crawl over these intrenchments on their hands and knees, and precipitate themselves on the other side. Late in the afternoon, a heavy body of Rebels made an onslaught on Upton's Brigade, of the Sixth Corps, and got for a brief period to the rear of our lines. It did not take them long to find out that they were caught in a trap, for our lines at once closed in on them, and the whole party, about two thousand in number, were captured, including several pieces of artillery. A piece of strategy of General Lee was displayed during the day, which, if it had been carried into success- ful effect, would have materially deranged the plans of General Grant. He had been massing troops in front of our centre, for the purpose of breaking our line of battle at that point, and as a blind, had sent two brigades of infantry to make a demonstration on our right, in order to draw the attention of General Grant to that point. It so happened that both rival Generals had conceived the same idea at the same time, for both were strengthening their centres for an assault. General Lee, when he commenced his movement on our centre, found to his surprise that the dodge of making a LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 191 feint on our right did not work, for no troops had been sent to counteract the flank movement, and Lee found such force directly in front of him that the only result of the movement was a most desperate attempt on the part of either side to break the line of the other. The losses of both armies in this day's engagement were very heavy. Many thousand men were killed and wounded and a large number of officers were placed hors du combat. The fighting was of an extraordinary nature, as indeed it had been during the series of battles fought since crossing the Rapidan. The men felt that it eclipsed all the engagements on the Peninsula in 1862, and they realized that at last there was a man at the head of our armies who was in earnest in his efforts to put down the rebellion by force of arms. WEDNESDAY'S OPERATIONS.-SECOND DAY'S BATTLE AT SPOTTSYLVANIA. On Wednesday morning, May 11th, the fighting was again renewed, and continued with varied success until about eleven o'clock, our line being somewhat advanced. At that hour a flag of truce was sent in by General Lee, who asked for a cessation of hostilities for forty-eight hours that he might bury his dead. General Grant replied that he had not time to bury his own dead, and would advance immediately, and some parts of our line were, therefore, pushed forward. The woods were shelled, but no response was met from where the enemy's centre had been a few hours before. The prisoners captured on Tuesday and Wednesday numbered over four thousand, and the rebel dead and wounded were found covering almost every foot of ground wherever our troops surged forward and the rebels gave way. The slaughter amongst our troops was terrific, but not near so great as that of the enemy, and but few captures were made by the latter. 192 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. The same morning, Lieutenant-General Grant tele- graphed as follows to Secretary Stanton : " Head-Quarters in t the Field. May 11, 186.4. 8 A. M. " We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result, to this time, is much in our favor. " Our losses have been heavy as well as those of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. " We have taken over five thousand prisoners by battle, whilst he has taken from us but few, except stragglers. " ' I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.' " U. S. Grant, "Lieutenant-General Commanding, " the Armies of the United States." THURSDAY'S BATTLE.— HANCOCK'S SPLENDID VICTORY. Thursday, May 12th, was destined to witness one of the most complete triumphs ever vouchsafed our arms. The Lieutenant-General had ordered General Hancock, in whose gallantry, heroism, and ability, he had unbounded confidence, to move during the night quietly toward the line of intrenchments held by E well's Corps, who were in his front. Slowly and surely his men crept forward, and the dawn of day found them close upon the sleeping and unsuspecting Rebels. At the proper moment the order was given to charge, when, with a yell the devoted band of heroes sprang forward, and ere the Rebels were aware of the proximity of their opponents, and before they had time to recover from the surprise of the attack, Hancock's men were leaping over their intrenchments and using the butt end of their muskets, in all directions, on the devoted heads of the Rebels. The firing amounted to little or nothing; there was no time or necessity for such work. The shelter tents of the enemy, erected near their li'ie of intrenchments, were entered by our troops before the Rebels had time to escape from them ; they were sur- rounded, cornered, hemmed in and fairly dumbfounded, and on the command being given to surrender, they at LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 193 once dropped their arms and became passive, resistless prisoners of war. The artillery had not time to limber up and get away or fire a single volley before our dashing troops were among them. Even their General, whose quarters were somewhat in the rear, did not escape, and he, together with the greater portion of his command, became subservient to the orders and commands of the gallant Hancock. The results of the morning's surprise were, that between thirty and forty pieces of artillery were taken, all of which were successfully brought within our lines. General E. Johnson, who commanded the surprised and captured Rebel division, was taken to General Grant's headquarters about seven o'clock, A. M. He was treated with becoming courtesy and entered freely into conversation with Gen- erals Grant, Meade, and other officers. Information was imparted by him to some of our Generals regarding the condition of different Generals in the Rebel service, with whom some of our own were class-mates at West Point, At nine o'clock in the morning, the artillery firing on the right of Hancock's Corps was tremendous. In addition to the brilliant night advance mentioned, which culminated so successfully, the whole line of Hancock's Corps ad- vanced during the morning, and although ground was gained inch by inch, the Rebels contesting every point with great determination, still we advanced, and in the face of such desperate resistance every foot of ground gained was a triumphant success. Before noon, the whole line was actively engaged in the fierce and bloody strife. All the morning it rained in torrents, and the terrible nature of the contest in the front, the uncertainty as to the issue, the tired condition of the troops after seven days hard fighting, the drenching rain, the incessant volleys of musketry and roar of cannon, the anxiety depicted upon 194 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. every countenance at headquarters, all combined to make the time a trying one. An incident occurred during the morning that illustrates the coolness and self-possession of the Commander-in- Chief of the Armies of the United States. While the heaviest artillery firing was in progress, General Grant was standing, in company with General Meade, near a lire, talking and endeavoring to keep themselves dry, when a Rebel shell struck within a few feet' of the twain. A disposition to move was manifested on the part of a number of officers standing around, when General Grant, looking slowly around and fixing his eye on the spot where the shell struck, asked at once for a pocket com- pass, which, being furnished, he examined the course of the shell, found out the location of the battery, and it was not long before shells were thick among the men working said battery. Perhaps we could not epitomize the activity of our armies during these eventful daj's better than by inserting here the official despatches of Secretary Stanton to Generals Dix and Cadwalader, all appearing on the same day, May 14, 1864. They reveal the magnitude of Grant's combinations, and show how well they were being executed by his Generals. FIRST BULLETIN PROM SECRETARY OF WAR. Headquarters, Philadelphia, May 14, 6 P. M. — The following despatch has just been received from the Secretary of War : "To Major-General Cadwalader: — Washington, May lhli. 4 P. M. — Despatches from General Grant, dated yesterday evening at six o'clock, have reached this Department. The advance of Hancock yesterday developed that the enemy had fallen back four miles, where they remained in position. There was do engagement yesterday. We have no account of any general officers being killed in the battle of the preceding day. Colonel Carroll was severely wounded. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 195 "A despatch has just been received from General Sherman' dated near Resaca, May 14. It states that, by the flank move" ment on Resaca, Johnston had been forced to evacuate Dalton' and our forces were iu his rear and flank. The weather was fine, and the troops in fine order, all working well, and as fast as possible. " No intelligence has been received from General Butler. Guerillas have broken the telegraph lines between Williamsburg and Old Jamestown. This is believed to be the reason why no report has been received from him. " Despatches from General Sigel, report him to be at "Wood- stock. The rumor that he had broken the railroad between Lynchburg and Charlottesville is not true. " Our wounded are coming in from Belle Plain as fast as the transports can bring them. " Grant's army is well supplied. "Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War." SECOND BULLETIN.— GENERAL MEADE'S AD- DRESS TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. Washington, May 14. — Despatches, dated Headquar- ters Army of the Potomac, May 13th, 12 M., have been received. General Meade has issued the following con- gratulatory address to his troops : — "Headquarters Army of the Potomac, May 13th, 1864. — Soldiers: — The moment has arrived when your commanding general feels authorized to address you in terms of congratula- tion. " For eight days and nights, almost without intermission, in rain and sunshine, you have been gallantly fighting a desperate foe, in positions naturally strong, and rendered doubly so by in- trenchments. " You have compelled him to abandon his fortifications on the Rapidan, to retire and attempt to stop your onward progress, and now he has abandoned the last intrenched position so tena- ciously held, suffering a loss in all of eighteen guns, twenty-two colors, and eight thousand prisoners, including two general officers. " Your heroic deeds and noble endurance of fatigue and priva- tions will ever be memorable. Let us return thanks to God for the mercy thus shown us, and ask earnestly for its continuation. "Soldiers! your work is not yet over. The enemy must be pursued, and, if possible, overcome. The courage and fortitude you have displayed renders your Commanding General confident your future efforts will result in success. 196 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. " While we mourn the loss of many gallant comrades, let us remember the enemy must have suffered equal, if not greater losses. " We shall soon receive reinforcements, which he cannot ex- pect. Let us determine to continue vigorously the work so well begun, and under God's blessing in a short time the object of our labors will be accomplished. " George G. Meade, Major-General Commanding. " Official — S. Williams, A. A. G. " {Approved), "U. S. Grant, " Lieutena?it-General Commanding " the Armies of the United States." THIRD BULLETIN.— DESPATCHES PROM GEN- ERAL BUTLER. War Department, Washington, May lith, 1864. Major-General Dix : The following telegrams have just reached this department from General Butler. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " Half- way House, May 14/7i— 3 A. M. "To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: We are still before the base of the enemy's works at Drury Bluff, Fort Darling. " The enemy are still here in force. " General Gillmore, by a flank movement, with a portion of his Corps and a Brigade of the Eighteenth Corps, assaulted and took the enemy's works on their right at dusk last evening. It was gallantly done. " The troops behaved finely. '•We held our lines during the night, and shall move this morning again. (Signed) " Benj. F. Butler, Major-General" " Headquarters, Half-way House, May \4th — 10 A. M. "To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War : General Smith carried the enemy's first line on the right, this morning, at eight o'clock. The loss was small. "The enemy have retired into three square redoubts, upon which we are now bringing our artillery to bear with effect. " (Signed) " Benj. F. Butler, Major-General Commanding" LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 197 FOURTH BULLETIN. — DESPATCHES FROM MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN. — HIS GREAT CAVALRY RAID. "Washington, May \Uh — Midnight. " To Major-General Cadwalader : An official despatch from General Sheridan, dated Bottom Bridge, via Fortress Monroe, May 13th, states that on the ninth instant he marched around the enemy's right flank, and on the evening of that day ' reached the North Anna River without serious opposition. During that night he destroyed the enemy's depot at Beaver Dam, three large trains of cars, and one hundred cars, two fine locomotives, two hundred thousand pounds of bacon, and other stores, amounting in all to a million and a half of Rebel rations ; also, the telegraph and railroad track for about ten miles, em- bracing several culverts, and recaptured three hundred and seventy-eight of our men, including two Colonels, one Major, and several other officers. " On the morning of the tenth he resumed operations, cross- ing the South Anna at Grand Squirrel Bridge, and went into camp about daylight. " On the eleventh he captured Ashland Station. At this point he destroyed one locomotive and a train of cars, an engine- house, and two or three government buildings, containing a large amount of stores. He also destroyed six miles of railroad, embracing six culverts, two trestle bridges, and the telegraph wires. At about seven o'clock A. M., of the eleventh, he resumed the march on Richmond. He found the rebel Stuart with his cavalry concentrated at Yellow Tavern, and immediately attacked him. After an obstinate contest, he gained possession of the Brockle Turnpike, capturing two pieces of artillery and driving the enemy's forces back toward Ashland and across the north fork of the Chickahominy — a distance of four miles. At the same time a party charged down the Brock road and captured the first line of the enemy's works around Richmond. During the night he marched the whole of his command between the first and second line of the enemy's works, on the bluffs over- looking the line of the Virginia Central Railroad and the Mechanicsville turnpike. After demonstrating against the works and finding them very strong, he gave up the intention of as- saulting, and determined to recross the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge. It had been partially destroyed by the enemy, but was repaired in about three hours, under a heavy artillery fire from a Rebel battery. General Merritt made the crossing, attacked the enemy, and drove him off handsomely, the pursuit continuing as far as Gaines's Mill. The enemy, observing the recrossing of the Chickahominy, came out from his second line of works. A brigade of infantry and a large number of dismounted cavalry attacked the divisions of Generals Gregg and Wilson ; but, 198 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. after a severe contest, were repulsed and driven behind their works. Gregg and Wilson's Division, after collecting the wounded, recrossed the Chickahominy on the afternoon of the twelfth. The Corps encamped at Walnut Grove and Gaines's Mill. ''At nine o'clock A. M., of the thirteenth, the march was re- sumed, and our forces encamped at Bottom Bridge. The command is in tine spirits. The loss of horses will not exceed one hundred. All the wounded were brought off except about thirty cases of mortally wounded, and these were well cared for in the farm- houses of the country. The wounded will not exceed two hun- dred and fifty, and the total loss not over three hundred and fifty. The Virginia Central Kailroad bridges over the Chicka- hominy, and other trestle-bridges, one sixty feet in length, one thirty feet, and one twenty feet, and the railroad for a long dis- tance south of the Chickahominy, were destroyed. Great praise is given the division commanders, Generals Gkegg, Wilson, and Merritt, Generals Custer and Davies, and Colonels Gregg, Divine, Chapman, McIntosh and Gibbs, brigade commanders. All the officers and men behaved splendidly. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." FIFTH BULLETIN.— DEATH OF GENERAL J. E. B. STUART. " Washington, May 15th— 12:30 A. M. " Major-General Cadwalader : In a despatch this moment received from Admiral Lee, he reports to the Secretary of the Navy that the Richmond papers of yesterday mention the death of General J. E. B. Stuart, shot in battle. This, no doubt, happened in the battle with General Sheridan. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." SIXTH BULLETIN.— RETREAT OF LEE, AND GENERAL GRANT'S PURSUIT. " Washington, May loth — 8:50 A. M. "To Major-General Cadwalader: An official despatch from the battle-field at Spottsylvania, yesterday morning, at 6:30, states that during the preceding night (Friday) a movement was made by the Fifth and Sixth Corps to our left, and an attack was to have been made at daylight, but no sound of battle had been heard from that quarter. This manoeuvre, it is said, if successful, would place our forces in Lee's rear, and compel him to retreat towards Lynchburg. No cannon nor any sound of battle was heard yesterday at Belle Plain or Fredericksburg, which affords ground for the impression that Lee had retreated during Friday night, and before the advance of the Fifth and Sixth Corps. Nothing later than 6:30 A. M. yesterday has been LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 199 received from the army by this Department. All our wounded that had reached Belle Plain yesterday evening have arrived here. The surgical report from the headquarters of the army states that the condition of the supplies is satisfactory, and that the wounded are doing well. The Medical Director at Belle Plain reports that every thing at that point is satisfactory. The surgical arrangements have never been so complete as now. General Sheridan's command had reached the left bank of Turkey Island at three o'clock yesterday afternoon, and have formed a junction with the forces of General Butler. "Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." SEVENTH BULLETIN.— THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE FRONT. " Washington, May lbth — Midnight. " To Major-General Cadwalader : Despatches from Gen. Grant have been received by this Department down to seven o'clock this morning. There had been no engagement for the last two days. " Despatches from General Sherman down to eight o'clock last night, state that his forces had been actively engaged during the day with advantage to our side, but no decided result. " Nothing has been heard of General Butler's operations since his telegrams of last night, heretofore published. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." FRIDAY'S BATTLE, MAY 13TH.— BURNSIDE'S FIGHT WITH A. P. HILL. At early daylight on Friday morning, May 13th, 1864, the engagement commenced by an advance on our part and lasted for six hours, the battle being fought with an obstinacy not surpassed during the campaign. General Burnside's command, the Ninth Corps, lay across the pike leading from Fredericksburg to Spottsylvania Court House, at a distance of from two to three miles from the latter place. His left extended a short distance east of the road. His advance was made simultaneously with that of General Hancock, thus making a heavy concerted attack upon the enemy's right wing, which covered Spott- sylvania Court House on the north, and covered also the road running through that town, which formed the Rebel 200 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. line of retreat. The success of General Hancock in driving the enemy from two lines of breastworks, and making valuable captures, has already been noticed. General Burnside was less fortunate in his part of attack, for (although he moved early) he found the enemy thoroughly on the alert, and considerably over a mile in' front of their main line of breastworks. The intervening country was extremely broken, hilly and densely covered with timber, chiefly small pines, whose branches, matting together, rendered it almost impossible fur a man to walk erect through them. Through this wilderness, difficult to penetrate at best, the Rebels had dug small detached rifle-pits at every favorable point, from which they fired with deadly effect as we advanced ; but, in spite of their advantages, they were steadily pushed back, driven from their advanced earthworks, and compelled to take refuge in their main line of intrench- ments. So severe had been the fighting in the woods, the enemy contesting every foot of ground as they receded, that it was not deemed advisable to attack them in their fortifications, and accordingly fighting ceased for several hours. But in the afternoon, several batteries of artillery having in the meantime been brought up and placed in position, an assault was ordered in accordance with in- structions from headquarters of the army, and about three P. M. the attack was renewed. The line of battle was formed with Potter's Second Division on the right, Crittenden's First Division in the centre, and Wilcox's Third Division on the left. Our advance met with a warm reception from the enemy, who had also been preparing for an attack and would soon have taken the initiative. After advancing some distance under a heavy fire, a brigade of Rebels who had previously been placed in position, opened suddenly on the left flank of General Wilcox's Division, composed of troops of LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 201 Colonel Hartranft's Brigade. Three regiments on the left, the Seventeenth Michigan, Fifty-first Pennsylvania, and One-hundred-and-ninth New York, were thrown into some confusion, being attacked in front and on flank at the same moment. A flanking brigade of Rebels demanded their surrender, but the demand was not acceded to, and an extremely sharp hand-to-hand conflict ensued, our men bravely holding their ground for a time and gallantly de- fending their colors. About three hundred men of the Seventeenth Michigan and Fifty-first Pennsylvania were, however, ultimately made prisoners, including Lieutenant- Colonel Chas. N. Swift, of the Seventeenth Michigan. Colors of the Seventeenth Michigan were also finally cap- tured. After making a gallant stand, these three regi- ments were forced to fall back, but the Seventeenth Mich- igan, or rather what was left of it, had, however, to bring off the field more than their own number as prisoners, in- cluding Colonel Barber, of the Fifth North Carolina, who was in command of the brigade on their flank. The re- mainder of the line stood firmly at the point where the flank attack was first made, and on the right a New Hamp- shire regiment of Colonel Griffin's Brigade, Potter's Division, actually entered the enemy's intrenchments, but, being unsupported on right and left, they were compelled to return. On the left, the enemy, encouraged by the repulse of the three regiments already spoken of, rushed on in eager pursuit, but were suddenly checked on emerging from the woods into an open field by finding themselves literally mown down by a tempest of grape and canister from two or three batteries planted in line and nearly together on the opposite side of the field. They retreated in confu- sion, leaving their dead and wounded lying in heaps upon the ground at the edge of the woods. The portions of our line which had given way was then brought up, and 202 LIFE OF GF.NERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. although it was not possible to resume the attack on the Rebel fortifications with any prospect of success, we held our ground up to the furthest point attained, and gained the advantage of a considerably better position than that previously occupied. The losses of the entire corps in this engagement, were not quite three thousand. Colonel Hartranft's Brigade lost seven hundred and fifty, including three hundred prisoners, and the loss of General Wilcox's entire Division is stated at fifteen hundred. General Potter's Division lost about eight hundred, of whom six hundred were wounded. The loss in General Crittenden's Division was probably about the same. The conduct of our troops throughout this battle merited the highest com- mendation ; the men could not have exhibited greater firmness or more determined bravery. SATURDAY, MAY 14th, 1864. Saturday was a day of comparative quiet. For the eight days previous, both armies had been engaged in a series of battles surpassing any ever fought either in ancient or modern times. Scores of thousands of men had fallen, and those who were still able to march were wearied and exhausted by the hardships which they had endured. But while the army rested, General Grant's active mind was at work, and his keen eye was upon the wary antago- nist on his front, During the day Lee changed his lines, which compelled a corresponding change on the part of our forces. Heavy rains rendered the roads impassable^ and neither army could move, although Lee showed some signs of attempting a retreat. Affairs remained thus until the eighteenth, when Gen- eral (I rant determined to make an attack upon Lee's position Our forces had been massed on the enemy's left during tho night previous, and it was hoped by an LOT Of GHECTEBAL 0LY«SM & &SA9& 206 early assault, that bis left might be broken, and bi /lank turned, an i more rea onably to b pected to be made from a portion ( abandoned ment towards the left. Every thing baring been pat m readiness during the Digfat, the assault was made *f : 'i ; . ■ Dorps, Gfenera] Wmmt, m ctreme right, tl ' to the left, a portion of Genei i B mtff Corps, Early hi the assault wan con.,- ly wan found to be perfectly wide awake, and fully prepared. Their ad- vanced line iraa readily pushed back, and our troops re- took the rifle-pits captared in the assault of the I without difficulty, bo roeing against the next line of intrenebmen found that Ihey irere to ice. '1 be ipened fir': wr of bat- .- into our rank-; a EU ma of extreme! • I elab- rre defended in front by a great depth of B rough which our o d haw Bo tear their way, exposed all the time to a deadly fire from the Rebels in their pit- Such an attempt would ands of liven within a very f and its impracticability being perceived, our troop- ■•'•ere at once withdrawn. There irasbut little musketry, and our chief aed from I .:' the e.'.e.-.. v : - artillery. On \ the I9tib of May, Bw*a C .. i of I.kf.'-; army mad< 'urn our i prom everely ; I byl ■'■ D i commanded by Major-Gene nfc*. Wh -were apparency Inert G ', ■ .. . -_■■ bis thinned column.-: refilled with new and fresh men. Within a fe r l that ty-fire the I .'ended troop-, had been forwarded to the Armv of th P ae. 13 204: LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. GENERAL GRANT FLANKS LEE. On the 20th of May, the army was once more in motion, the commanding general intending to flank Lee out of his works at Spottsylvania Court House. In this he was suc- cessful, and the rebels began their retreat toward Richmond, falling behind the North Anna river, and taking up a strong position. Our army followed closely. The Fifth and Sixth Corps marched by way of Harris' store to Jericho Ford, and the Fifth Corps succeeded in effecting a crossing and getting into position without much opposition. Shortly after, however, they were violently attacked and hand- somely repulsed the assault, which was without much loss to us. We captured some prisoners. The opposition made by Lee was not so great as was anticipated, and finding himself again flanked, he fell back to the South Anna. Here the enemy's works were found to be of ex- traordinary strength and magnitude, and General Grant declining to make an assault which would cost so much blood, recrossed the North Anna, and moved his army off in the direction of Hanover Junction, thus flanking Lee's position on the South Anna, and forcing him again to evacuate his elaborately constructed fortifications. On Friday morning, the 21 th of May, General Sheridan, with two divisions of cavalry, took possession of Hanover Ferry and Hanovertown, the points designated for cross- ing the army over the Famunkey river. By the 29th the whole army was across, and in position three miles south of the river. Thus was another of General Grant's bril- liant and daring manoeuvres crowned with complete sui- cess. On Sunday, the 29th, his army was encamped in a fertile country, within fifteen miles of Richmond. By this admirable movement he not only turned Lee's works on the Little river and the South Anna, and avoided the hazards of crossing those two strongly defended rivers, but LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 205 made himself master of the situation with regard to his new base of supplies. He was furthermore left entirely free as to the route by which he would attack Richmond, and be in full communication and co-operation with the column under General Butler. All this was accom- plished within twenty-four days from the day when he struck tents at Culpepper Court House. What enormous strides he made towards the heart of the rebellion within that brief period, and all by disembar- rassing his movements of the necessity of looking back to one inflexible line of communications and one unchanging base of supplies. This was his simple strategy, though the execution of it was as brave and brilliant as its con- ception was bold and original. It was this same strategy that made the march from Bruinsburg to Yicksburg one unbroken series of victories. In that march, General Grant at once cut himself loose from his base ; but, with the forethought of a great general, he so directed his columns as to open another at Grand Gulf immediately after his first encounter with the enemy. Moving on to- ward Raymond, he made provision for still another by way of Warrenton, just below Vicksburg. But all the time he had his far-seeing vision fixed upon a third at the Yazoo river, above the beleaguered city, and that was his final base until Yicksburg fell. Just so he moved in this campaign, and the successes which made the month of May, 1863, forever illustrious in the American calendar, were rivalled in glory by those of the month of May, 1864. By these masterly operations, General Grant moved on regardless of his rear. He left nothing there for the enemy to attack. In one great particular he had no im- pediments. His columns, if not literally in " light march- ing order," were the next thing to it. Hence the ease with which he baffled his cunning adversary, and rendered 206 LIFE OF GENEEAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. all his elaborate and formidable field works just so much labor in vain. Although General Grant was always prompt to " move against the enemy's works" when it was necessary, he never undertook that costly operation when it was not. He had experience of the relative merits of the two modes of proceeding at Vicksburg, and he is a soldier upon whom experience is never lost. It was remarked that his movement across the Pamun- key made him master of the situation. This was no idle repetition of a favorite phrase. He was master of the Peninsula without having uncovered Washington for a single hour, and without having created the necessity of leaving one-fourth of his army behind for the defence of that city. He had uncontrolled choice of a line of attack on Richmond on every side but one. His cavalry had traversed the whole country, and knew all the roads and all the topography. He had communication with General Butler's force, and could unite the two armies whenever the occasion demanded. And finally, he could supply his troops by the Pamunkey or the James at his own option. These results were the achievements of a master hand in the art of war. This removal of the seat of war from the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to the very walls of Richmond, com- pleted a cycle of two years in the history of the rebellion. Hanover, White House, Cold Harbor, Shady Grove Church, are names with which we were familiar on the 31st of May, 1862. Then, however, every stream, every swamp, every line of rifle pits, brought our forces to a halt, until days ran into weeks, and weeks into weary months of waiting. But now the great column moved irresistibly on, for at its head there was a skilful and active soldier, a man who knew no such word as halt after he was once in LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 207 motion, and who was appalled by no obstructions, and least of all by phantoms. And so closed what will be hereafter called THE GREAT BATTLE MONTH. The great movement of the Army of the Potomac com- menced on Tuesday night, May 3d, 1864, when the Rapidan was crosssed without serious opposition. The telegraphic news which gave us the first intelligence of the advance of General Grant, was hailed by the people as an omen of success, and from that time down, the same hopeful feeling was maintained, while the faith of the people in General Grant and the gallant army of the Potomac was strengthened and moulded into a firm conviction of victory. From the very first movement made by General Grant, he was successful throughout, all of which was due to his masterly generalship and the indomitable courage of his army. General Lee was forced to fall back from the strong positions which he held in front of our army during the fall and winter, and this was the first step in the grand tactics of General Grant, which subsequently rendered all the rebel field fortifications and defences of no avail. The line which General Lee expected General Grant to follow, the latter, by the most consummate skill, avoided ; and the rebels had not only to endure the chagrin of all their labors and preparations going for nothing, but they saw, at the same time, the Army of the Potomac flanking them at every important position of their expected defence, and getting nearer and nearer to Richmond by every move. But it was not only in Virginia that the month of May witnessed the greatest series of battles of a month re- corded in history within the period. The gallant army under General Sherman, in the Southwest, was alike vic- torious from Buzzard's Roost Mountain, Dalton, and Resaca to Dallas, and it seemed highly probable that 208 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. General Sherman would reach Atlanta, Ga., about the same time that General Grant would reach Richmond. Every thing looked favorable. Our army was in the best of spirits, while Lee's was despondent and whipped, and in no condition apparently to check our onward advance. Yet the events of JUNE, 1864, Proved their tenacity and courage to be still unsubdued. The bloody battles around Cold Harbor were fought, in which many thousand men were killed and wounded on both sides. On the evening of the 4th of June, Lieutenant General Grant telegraphed to the War Department " that about seven, P. M., of Friday, June 3d, the enemy suddenly attacked Smith's Brigade of Gibbons' Division. The battle lasted with great fury for half an hour, and the attack was unwaveringly repulsed. At six, P. M., Wil- son, with his cavalry, fell upon the rear of a brigade of Heth's Division, which Lee had ordered around to his left, apparently with the intention of enveloping Burnside. After a sharp but short conflict, Wilson drove them from their rifle pits in confusion. He took a few prisoners. He had previously fought with and routed Gordon's Brigade of rebel cavalry. During these fights he lost several officers, among them Colonel Preston, First Vermont Cavalry, killed ; Colonel Benjamin, Eighth New York Cavalry, seriously wounded. General Stannard, serving in the Eighteenth Corps, was also severely wounded. Our entire loss in killed, wounded and missing during the three days operations around Cold Harbor did not exceed, according to the Adjutant-General's Report, seven thousand, five hundred. This morning, (Saturday, June 4th,) the enemy's left wing, in front of Burnside, was found to have been drawn in during the night." Rendered desperate by the narrowing circle which Grant was gradually drawing around them, the rebels LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 209 made repeated attacks upon our entrenchments, but in every instance they met with disastrous repulse. Mean- while General Grant was making arrangements for new dispositions, and his movements bewildered and annoyed the enemy. His lines were extended to the Chickahominy, and White House was made the base of supplies for his army. A NEW MOVEMENT. On the night of the 12th of June, General Grant with- drew his forces from Lee's front at Cold Harbor and Gaines' Mills. General Wm. F. Smith's Corps, the Eighteenth, marched to the White House, embarked on transports and went down the Pamunkey and York rivers, and up the James. The Sixth and Ninth Corps, under Major-Generals Wright and Burnside, crossed the Chickahominy at Jones' Bridge, while Hancock's Second and Warren's Fifth Corps crossed at Long Bridge, whence they marched to the James river, crossing it at Powhatan Point. The great movement was carried out without a single failure, and without notice to the enemy, who waked up on the morning of June 13th, to find that the army which menaced them on the previous night had disappeared, and was already beyond the hope of successful pursuit. A flank march is the most perilous of military operations. General McClellan executed his celebrated " change of base " harassed at every step, fighting by day and retreat- ing by night, so that when his army upon the seventh day reached Harrison's Landing, fifteen thousand men who had crossed the Chickahominy were no longer in the ranks. Their corpses lay thick upon the route; their bleeding bodies were frequently left to the tender mercies of the enemy, and six thousand of them were captured and con- signed to the horrors of a living death at Libby and Belle Isle. But to this startling movement of General Grant, 210 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. the military critic cannot refuse the tribute of high admi- ration at the consummate skill which effected so great a change with scarcely the loss of a man. The great features of the movement were simply these : For some days previous the attention of the rebels was di- rected towards the means of crossing the Chickahominy at Meadow bridge, New bridge, Bottoms bridge and White Oak bridge. Strong demonstrations were made at those points, and attempts made to carry them. Lee applied himself busily to the strengthening of those bridges by defensive works. Efforts to carry them would have un- doubtedly caused a great loss of life. But it was not General Grant's intention to force a passage there. Hence, whilst Lee was amused by his feints, he was preparing a decisive movement in another direction. When all was ready, Major-General Smith, with the Eighteenth Army corps, which had come to White House from Bermuda Hundred upon transports, moved back to the former point, and in the same transports returned to the James river. General Wright and General Burnside moved with the army corps under their respective commands to Jones' bridge, about ten miles southeast of Bottoms bridge, where they crossed without hindrance and then marched due south to Charles City Court House ; Hancock and Warren crossed the Chickahominy at Long bridge, about six miles southwest of Bottoms bridge. They marched by a road nearly parallel with that leading to Charles City Court House from Jones' bridge, and on the average not more than four miles and a half distant. They came out upon the James at Wilcox's wharf, which is about five miles east of Harrison's Landing. The James was crossed at Powhatan Point, which was formerly Windmill Point, now occupied by Fort Powhatan. At the place of landing the army was not more than ten miles from General Butler's entrenchments at Bermuda Landing. Having left Cold LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 211 Harbor on Sunday night, the whole movement was effected and the troops in position for crossing the James river in about thirty hours. In thirty-six hours the whole army had crossed to the south side of the James river, and by that time General Smith's transports were up to Bermuda Hundred and his soldiers had joined their old comrades. ATTACK ON PETERSBURG. General Grant moves rapidly, and never was known to let an opportunity pass without striving to embrace its advantages. On Wednesday, June 15th, General Smith was ordered to attack and carry the works defending Petersburg. It was believed there were but few troops in the forts, and the object was to take the city before Lee could send it assistance. The assault was promptly and gallantly made, and the first line was taken, together with sixteen cannon and several hundred prisoners. The enemy, however, hastily withdrew a large force from General But- ler's front, and threw them into the rear line of fortifica- tions, and all the afternoon and evening Lee was hurry- ing troops from Richmond by rail to the Cockade City. During Thursday and Friday the Second and Ninth Corps captured a number of redoubts, and the investing lines were drawn closer about the beleaguered place. Several assaults were delivered against the enemy's works which were unsuccessful, and during the week our losses were heavy, amounting to several thousand men in killed and wounded. The following was the position of the united armies of Meade and Butler, which enveloped Petersburg in about the quadrant of a circle; Butler's force (the Tenth and Eighteenth Army Corps) being placed north of the Appomattox, facing Petersburg on the east- ern side, and the Army of the Potomac fronting it from the south, in a line stretching from the Appomattox across the 212 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Petersburg and Suffolk railroad, where our left rested on Poo creek. It soon became apparent that Petersburg would require a siege, and the Lieutenant-General, to make its invest- ment as complete as possible, set his cavalry to work. General Wilson, with six thousand picked troopers, left Prince George Court House, June 22d, to operate on the railroad communications south of Petersburg and Rich- mond. The Weldon railroad was struck at Reams' Station, the South Side Road at Ford's Station, and some sixty miles of track, together with bridges, depots, locomotives, and cars, were destroyed. The Sixth Corps, General Wright, co-operated to a certain extent by moving on the Weldon road below Petersburg, and destroying five miles of the track. Heavy fighting fre- quently occurred in front of Petersburg during the re- mainder of the month of June. In July, the enemy, finding it impossible to shake loose the strong hand with which Grant had grappled the throat of the Rebellion at Richmond, resolved to try another plan, the invasion of Maryland, thereby threaten- ing Washington, and trusting in this to induce Grant to withdraw his army from the James to the defence of the National Capital. But the ruse was fruitless. General Grant remained confronting Lee, and did not weaken his army to any material extent. He had troops enough and to spare, and sending the Sixth Corps, under General Wright, to the assistance of Major-General Lew. Wallace, commanding the Middle Department, he con- tented himself with the situation, satisfied that his own plans would thwart those of his crafty but worried antagonist. His theories were correct. Breckinridge was defeated before the walls of Washington, and beat a hasty retreat into Virginia, leaving over five hundred of LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 213 bis men killed and wounded under the guns of Fort Stevens. Little was clone before Petersburg until the close of July, but in the Shenandoah valley there was more or less fighting. BURNSIDE'S MINE EXPLODED. On the 30th of July, 1864, Burnside's mine was ex- ploded under one of the largest of the rebel forts at Petersburg, blowing up a South Carolina regiment, and wrecking the interior of the work. Within a few minutes after the explosion, the two brigades of the First Division — the second, Colonel Marshall, of the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, commanding, in the lead, followed by the first, under command of Brigadier-General Bart- lett, of Massachusetts — jumped over the breastworks forming our main line, and advanced at a charging pace. They were hardly in motion when they received a volley from the enemy, who, although surprised by the explosion, were evidently prepared against an attack, owing to the noise inevitably made by the concentration of troops, and the movements of trains and artillery, &c, for hours, close to their front. The explosion, although it had destroyed the rebel battery, had not affected the abattis and other obstructions in the front, and the attacking column experienced con- siderable trouble in working their way over them. Part of our lines passed into the fort, and part to the right of it, upon curtain-like entrenchments connecting the right of the battery with the line of breastworks beyond it. The interior of the exploded work was a confused mass of earth, broken guns, camp equipage, and human bodies. It had been occupied by a battery of artillery, manning six rifled field pieces, and part of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third South Carolina regiments. Over two hun- dred men had gone up with the work, and were buried 214 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. among the ruins. The rifle-pits and entrenchments to the right of the work were occupied by several hundred of the enemy, two hundred and fifty of whom were taken prisoners and sent to the rear. As soon as the First Division had moved, the Second and Third followed it to the right and left, and closed up with it at the work. The enemy, meanwhile, had opened a vigorous musketry and artillery fire from their entrench- ments, that enclosed the work in the form of an angle, giving them an enfilading fire. Several attempts were made by our troops to continue the advance toward Cemetery Hill, but they failed under the severity of the fire. About six o'clock, the Colored Division, General Fer- rero commanding, was ordered to take up the attack, and push to the right of the other divisions for Cemetery Hill, distant four hundred yards beyond. It advanced in line with great steadiness, until it came up in line with the other divisions, and received a severe fire, when the column turned to the left, and the mass of it became mixed up with troops in and about the work. About one thousand of the colored troops rushed over the parapet into the interior of the work, which the explosion had caused to make a pit-like form, and was already crowded to overflowing with officers and men. The negroes tum- bled headlong down the sloping sides, when a scene of in- extricable confusion ensued. Efforts were made by officers to get them out of the work and form outside, but they failed, and the strangely mingled mass of human beings continued to crowd the pit, the upper portion of which was about one hundred feet in diameter. When the attack commenced, all our heavy and light batteries in position, over one hundred pieces in all, opened and kept up a tremendous fire, mostly with shell, upon the enemy's line, but, nevertheless, the Rebel fire in- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 215 creased in severity. The enemy could be plainly seen from our main line, moving his troops from right and left to the point of attack, and it was evident that they were massing their whole available force to meet the attack. Between seven and nine o'clock, three attempts were made by our troops to chai'ge, but each of them was checked by the enemy's fire. Squads of men during that time were continually trying to make their way back to our main line, but the intervening space — open ground, about one hundred and fifty yards in width — was so thoroughly swept by the enemy's fire, that many were shot down in the attempt to escape. About nine o'clock the fire from our batteries slackened, and soon afterward the enemy rushed out of his entrench- ments and charged upon the position held by our troops. They were at first checked, but finally succeeded in gain- ing most of the ground between the work and their line, and came within a short distance of our troops. Large numbers of the latter attempted to get back to our lines from the work and the rifle-pits and minor intrenchments about it. Many succeeded, but many also were killed and wounded. About ten o'clock the enemy made another charge, when a great swarm of men, estimated by some at a thousand, mostly blacks, broke out of the fort and at- tempted to escape to our lines. Hundreds of them never reached it. What was left of our troops in the work now became completely hemmed in, the Rebel standards being planted close to the parapet west of the work, and the Rebel fire causing retreat impracticable. They continued in that predicament for nearly an hour, when an order was issued directing the whole army to fall back to its original position. Whether the order ever reached those still outside of our lines is not definitely known, but it is certain that about two o'clock, General Bartlett, who was 216 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S, GRANT. in the fort, being unable to move, owing to the breaking of his artificial leg, sent in a note by a private, stating that, being out of ammunition, he and those with him, if not speedily relieved, would soon have to surrender. Shortly afterwards the Rebels made another charge, to which the party surrendered. Our losses in the assault and inside the mined fort were over two thousand killed, wounded and missing ; those of the enemy were about twelve hundred. The experiment of General Burnside proved disastrous, and no further attempt was made for the time against the rebel lines. It promised success, but tardiness in obeying orders lost us the day. SHERMAN IN THE WEST. While Grant was directing, personally, operations in Virginia, his chosen Lieutenant, Wm. Tecumseh Sher- man, was faithfully executing his plans in Northern Georgia. In a series of splendid battles he had driven Johnston from Dalton to Atlanta, where the latter was superseded by Hood, " a fighting man," who in three days bloody battles before Atlanta, lost over thirty thousand men killed, wounded and prisoners. Hood's terrible defeats occurred on the 20th, 22d and 28th days of July, 1864, and resulted in his being forced into the defences of Atlanta. A siege of the place was opened, but on the 26th of August, Sherman moved his main army by the right flank to the rear of the rebel fortifications, and on the 31st reached Jonesboro, where Stephen D. Lee and Hardee attacked Howard's Corps, but were repulsed. The next morning, General Jeff. C. Davis attacked the rebel position, and carried it at the point of the bayonet. This secured us Jonesboro. During the night the rebels fled, and Hood retreated also from Atlanta under cover of the darkness, General Slocum's Corps entering the city LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 217 early the following morning. Thus fell the great strong- hold of the rebellion in the southwest. The gigantic combinations of the Lieutenant-General were gradually developing, and the country began to realize the fact that a General had at last been found who was equal to the great emergency. He had so distributed the armies, that at every point of the compass they were hammering away at the supports of the rebellion. Although in front of Petersburg little was accomplished during the summer and autumn, yet Georgia, the very heart of the rebellion, was virtually conquered, and the power of the South proven to be centred in the two great armies of Lee and Hood. Sherman had demonstrated his ability to defeat the latter in a score of battles, and Grant had forced Lee from the Rapidan down be- hind the protecting works at Richmond. His keen vision penetrated through the deception which caused the North to believe that the South could carry on the war indefi- nitely. He believed the Rebellion was like an egg-shell, and impressed with this belief, he ordered Sherman to leave Atlanta and pierce through Georgia to the sea- board. Sherman obeyed, and the world remembers his grand march, and how he proved General Grant's opinions to be correct. In the months of September and October, 1864, several heavy and decisive battles were fought, all resulting trium- phantly for the Union arms. Early was completely de- feated in the Shenandoah Valley, by Sheridan, at Opequan and Fisher's Hill, in September. The Army of the Potomac was not wholly quiet, and on the 29th of the same month General Ord, having crossed the James the previous night, attacked the strong entrenchments of the enemy at ChafiSn's Farm, and carried them at the point of the bayonet, while General Birney advanced from Deep Bottom and carried the New Market Road and fortifica- 218 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. tions General Kautz with his cavalry making a recon- noissance within two miles of Richmond. On the 30th General Meade moved from his left and stormed the rebel line of works near Poplar Springs Church. At Cedar Creek, on the 19th of October, Sheridan almost annihi- lated Early's army, which fled from the field demo- ralized, leaving ten thousand men killed and wounded and prisoners in our hands. In every quarter the rebel armies were worsted, and despondency settled over the " Confederacy." There was still a hope, however, entertained by the leaders, that during the winter they would have rest and opportunity to fill up their depleted ranks. But in this they were destined to grievous disappointment. The Lieu- tenant-General did not favor inaction even during the cold rains, the heavy snows, or the keen frosts of winter, and the plans of his campaigns were steadily adhered to and elaborated. While he lay before Richmond watching with eagle eye the grand army of the Rebellion, Sherman and Thomas and Canby were carrying out his instructions in their several departments. Between the 10th and 13th of November, 1864, the troops of General Sherman moved from Atlanta, Rome, and Kingston, Georgia, and on the 12th, Sherman broke up his headquarters and set out on the expedition which was to immortalize his name and establish the prowess of the American soldier on the march as well as on the bat- tle-field. His army consisted of four corps of infantry, two divisions of cavalry, four brigades of artillery, and two horse batteries. Brevet Major-General Jeff. C. Davis commanded the Fourteenth Corps ; Brevet Major- General Osterhaus the Fifteenth Corps ; Major-General Frank Blair the Seventeenth Corps ; and Major-General Slocum the Twentieth Corps. Major-General Ktlpatrick was in command of the cavalry. This magnificent army LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 219 left Atlanta fully equipped and provisioned for the enter- prise, which was nothing more or less than a march through the heart of the enemy's country to the Atlantic coast. The march was made, and the problem was satis- factorily solved. The enemy could not effectually resist Sherman. Their spasmodic efforts with militia were of no avail. He went through Georgia without opposition, and Savannah fell into his possession. The tidings of his success filled the North with joy, and General Grant again realized the fact, that the rebellion was in his power. Thomas was looking after Hood, and the commander of our armies knew that he could trust the lion-hearted and loyal old Virginian, to care for the last formidable army which the dying rebellion had in the field in the Southwest. The battle of Franklin gave Hood a foretaste of what he might expect, and the terrible engagement near Nashville, on the 15th of December, which resulted in the total overthrow of Hood's splendid army, broke the power of the rebellion in that region, and lifted anew the hopes of the North respecting an early termination of the war. THE CLOSE OP THE YEAR. So stood military affairs at the end of 18G4. Sherman was at Savannah : Hood's army, which was to march to the Ohio, and invade Indiana and Ohio, was crushed and scattered, its artillery captured, and its elan gone. Price was routed in Missouri ; Early was used up in the Shenan- doah ; Breckinridge was checkmated in East Tennes- see ; Canby was operating effectively in Louisiana, and preparing to capture Mobile ; and Grant at Richmond •was holding Lee in a vice from which there was no re- lease. The rebellion had seen desponding days, but they were radiant compared to those which now came over it in gloom and Egyptian darkness. There was no slacking 1-i 220 LIFE OF GENERAL UL\ciSES S. GRANT. of the advantages gained by our arms. Instead of pausing for weeks or jnonths to announce the victories, General Grant steadily kept on, allowing nothing to interfere with his one first and patriotic purpose — the suppression of the rebellion. He lost no opportunity — he let slip no advan- tage, but, firmly and certainly as fate itself, pressed for- ward his victorious columns, in the West, the Southwest, on the Atlantic coast, and in Virginia. Lee grew desperate, but was able to accomplish little. He promised great deeds, and Davis promised greater, while at the same moment he knew that the toils were gathering around him from which escape was impossible. COMMENCEMENT OF THE NEW YEAK, 1S65. With the New Year came new victories. Fort Fisher fell, and Wilmington was no longer the artery to feed the heart of the rebellion. Sherman was on his second irre- sisti^e march. He was penetrating South Carolina. Charleston had dropped into our arms without the loss of a man, and the invincible army of the West was moving by rapid marches toward North Carolina and Virginia. Lee foresaw the end, but he was powerless. He did not dare to detach any large force from in front of Grant. That General was watching for such a movement on the part of his adversary, and such a movement would insure the fall of Richmond. Lee was helpless. Grant was his master, and the rebel chief tacitly acknowledged it. The spring campaign was at hand, and Sherman rapidly approached through North Carolina, driving Johnston, his old opponent in Georgia, back at every step. Rebel affairs daily became more critical, yet what could Lee do but wait ? When Grant saw proper to open the ball then Lee might be able to decide as to his course, not before. His army was composed of the best fighting material, and it numbered fully sixty thousand men, and LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 22 L was protected by a line of fortifications of the most for- midable nature. Would Grant order an assault upon these works ? This was what Lee desired ; what he hoped for. The sequel will show that his hopes were vain, aad that the man who had foiled him at every point during the battles of May, 1864, was once more to exhibit a strategy which would thwart all the genius of the rebel- lion, and bring the " Confederacy" tumbling in ruins about the heads of its supporters. March, 1865, was destined to see all our armies in mo- tion. Canby was operating with a powerful force against Mobile, aided by the fleet; General Wilson with ten thou- sand picked cavalry moved from Eastport on an expe- dition through Alabama ; Sherman and Schofield were nearing the borders of Virginia from the South, and it now only remained for the Army of the Potomac to gird on its armor and strike the finishing blow to the rebellion. Conscious of his peril, Lee resolved to take the initiative, and by a bold stroke drive Grant from his works. THE ATTACK ON PORT STEADMAN. At half-past four A. M., March 25th, 1865, Gordon, at the head of three divisions, made a sudden rush upon Fort Steadman, overpowered the garrison, and took pos- session of the fort. But the rebel success was destined to be of more value to ourselves than it was to Gordon. With the dawn of day, General Hartranft charged the fort with his reserves, recaptured it with the bayonet, and took two thousand seven hundred prisoners. The rebel loss out- side the work was fearful. The guns of all our adjacent forts were trained on the ground over which the enemy had to pass to regain their own lines. When they commenced their retreat, grape and canister, and round shot, and storms of bullets swept through their ranks, and in a brief space, three thousand rebels lay prone upon the earth in 222 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. the agonies of wounds and death. The experiment was a dear one, and it revealed to Lee the truth that our army was on the alert, and that all such attempts to break our lines would meet with the same terrible punish- ment. The entire loss to the enemy in that morning's work reached the enormous figure of six thousand men. It was a lesson to Lee which he profited by, and ns further efforts were made to dislodge our army. When this attack was made upon the right of our line, a portion of the troops who were used"in it were brought from the front of the extreme right of our line at Hatcher's Run. In order to conceal their withdrawal, the pickets in that neighborhood made very bold demonstrations at that point. The capture of Gordon's men gave General Grant a full key to the mystery, and he ordered an advance upon the extreme left at Hatcher's Run, which had been weak- ened by the withdrawal of Gordon. Our troops made a very successful advance, gained several strong positions, and extended their lines toward the South Side railroad, taking some important field-works, which they held. Our loss at Hatcher's Run was six hundred and ninety. The rebels lost three hundred and sixty-five prisoners, and their loss in killed and wounded, by estimate of General Humphreys, was about sixteen hundred. The Second Corps, which was more in the centre, was also ordered to attack and take advantage of the rebel dis- comfiture at Fort Steadman. It pushed forward in front of Fort Fisher and captured the enemy's intrenched picket line. PRESIDENT LINCOLN ON THE FIELD. On the 24th of March, 1865, President Lincoln arrived at General Grant's headquarters, at City Point, and was warmly welcomed by the Lieutenant-General. On Sat- urday afternoon, the 25th, he visited the scene of the LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 223 morning's battle in company with Generals Grant and Meade. The day had been fixed for a grand review, but the bloody events of the forenoon had decided that there should be none, and the President, cheered by the great victory just achieved, remarked, " This is better thau a review." COUNCIL OF WAR. On Tuesday, March 28th, President Lincoln, Lieuten- ant-General Grant, and Major-Generals Meade, Sher- man, Sheridan and Ord, held a Council of War on board the steamer River Queen, at City Point, and shortly thereafter, General Sherman was again under way to rejoin his army. THE GRAND CAMPAIGN.— WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29th. Movements of troops had been in progress for two or three days, their purpose being merely concentration and their disposition at proper points. These preliminary movements wer,e simply the placing the arrow on the bow and tightening the string. Early Wednesday morning the bow was bent and the arrow launched out. The march was commenced in that direction in which we have always found the enemy, and always found him ready to fight. The Second Corps, com- mencing its march at six o'clock A. M., passed outside our entrenchments, near Hatcher's Run, and advanced along the Yaughn road. Before noon, a new line of battle had been formed, the right of which rested on the extreme left of our former line. This position was taken without opposition, and the corps commenced entrenching. This new line was formed front, or to the northwest of the Vaughn road, and its general direction was similar to that of the road. The Fifth Corps, which had been massed in rear of the 224 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GKANT. Second, started at three and a half o'clock A. M., from a point near the Schenck House, or about one and a half miles from the old left of our line. They advanced over bye-road* across the country, so as to reach the Yaughn road at a point further advanced than the Second Corps was to proceed. This arrangement obviated the necessity for two corps marching on the same road, and thus saved time. Hatcher's Run was crossed before striking the Vaughn road, which was entered at a point about five miles from Dinwiddie Court House. An advance was first made towards the latter place, General Ayers' Division up to this time taking the advance. After the head of the column had reached a point probably not more than three miles from Dinwiddie, a change of direction was ordered. One brigade of General Ayers' Division, under General Gwin, was posted near the Scott House, to cover the Vaughn road, and the remainder of the division being held back in reserve, Griffin's Division was then placed in advance. The column now left the Vaughn road at a point dis- tant three or four miles from Dinwiddie Court House, and advanced northwardly up what is known as the Quaker road, in the direction of the Boydton Plank road, some three miles distant. Within something less than a mile from the Vaughn road, the troops crossed Gravelly Run, and ascending a slight hill beyond that stream, found a line of abandoned breastworks, from which the Rebel pickets had just retired. Here a skirmish line was thrown forward, and quite sharp firing commenced at once. The skirmish line crossing an open plantation was brought to, being near the farther side of it, by rebels posted on the edge of a tract of woods. The First Brigade of General Griffin's Division was now ordered forward to support the skirmishers. When arriving within short rifle range of the woods aforesaid, a LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 225 tremendous volley of musketry greeted their advance, causing them to waver and fall back. The Second Bri- gade now came up to the support of the First, and the latter rallied and stood firm. Sharp musketry continued for nearly an hour, and in the meantime Battery B, of the First United States, was got into position and com- menced firing with considerable effect. The enemy used no artillery at all. While the fight lasted, General Warren was engaged forming his line of battle, placing the Third Division (General Crawford's) and the Third Brigade of the First Division (Griffin's) respectively on the right and left of the Quaker road. The enemy perceiving the force that was being massed against them retired to a point further back. We captured here about one hundred prisoners. Our loss in killed and wounded was estimated at nearly three hundred. The action commenced at about half past three o'clock P. M., and closed soon after four. It was short, but extremely sharp while it lasted. Bushrod Johnson's Division was the force engaged on the part of the enemy. No other fighting occurred at any point on the line. Sheridan was on the extreme left at Dinwiddie Court House and beyond. That night, General Meade's headquarters were on the Vaughn road, some three miles beyond Hatcher's Run, and General Grant's about a mile further out. A heavy rain prevailed throughout Thursday, and tho army moved with difficulty, yet portions of it were ad- vanced. The Second Division of the Second Corps, Gene ral Heys, being the pivot of the army moving, remained stationary during the day on the line assumed the pre- vious night, the right being at Dabney Mills. General Mott, with the Third Division, had been slightly ad- vanced ; General Miles with the First rather more ; the 226 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Fifth Corps still more, the movement as a whole having developed itself into a grand left wheel. THE BATTLES OP FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. During Friday, March 31st, Saturday, April 1st, and Sunday, April 2d, General Grant's whole line was en- gaged with the enemy, and he telegraphed the progress of the battle at intervals through each day to President Lincoln, who remained at City Point. The following brief despatches which the President transmitted as he received them to the War Department at Washington, tell in few and modest words the story of the victories won at all points on those eventful days. FIRST BULLETIN.— TELEGRAPH FROM PRESIDENT LINCOLN. City Point, Va., March 31, 1865—8-30 P.M. Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: — At 12 30 P. M. f to-day, General Grant telegraphed me as follows: " There has been much hard fighting this morning. The enemy drove our left from near Dabney's House back well toward the Boydton Plank road. We are now about to take the offensive at that point, and I hope will more than recover the lost ground." Later he telegraphed again as follows : " Our troops, after being driven back on to the Boydton Plank road, turned round and drove the enemy in turn, and took the White Oak road, which we now have. This gives us the ground occupied by the enemy this morning. I will send you a Bebel flag captured by our troops in driving the enemy back. There have been four flags captured to-day." Judging by the two points from which General Grant telegraphs, I infer that he has moved his headquarters nbout one mile since he sent the first of the two de- spulches. A. Lincoln. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 227 SECOND BULLETIN. Washington, April 1 — 11 P. M. Major-General J. A. Dix, New York : — The following letter from the President, received to-night, shows the desperate struggle between our forces and the enemy continues undecided, although the advantage appears to be on our side. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " City Point, Ya, April 1, 5-30 P.M. "Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: — A despatch just received shows that Sheridan, aided by Warren, had at two o'clock P. M., pushed the enemy back so as to retake the Five Forks and to bring his own head-quarters up to Boissua. The Five Forks was barricaded by the enemy, and was carried by Devin's Division of Cavalry. This part of the enemy seems to be working along the White Oak Road to join the main forces in the front of Grant, while Sheridan and Warren are pressing them as closely as possible. "A. Lincoln." THIRD BULLETIN. Washington, April 2 — 6 A. M. Major- General Dix, New York : — A despatch just re- ceived from General Grant's Adjutant-General, at City Point, announces the triumphant success of our armies, after three days of Ijard fighting, during which the forces on both sides exhibited unsurpassed valor. Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " CiTy Point, April 2, 5'30 A. M. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War : — A despatch from General Grant states that Sheridan's Cavalry and Infantry have carried all before them, capturing three brigades of infan- try, a wagon train and several batteries of artillery. The pri- soners captured will amount to several thousand. " T. C. Bowers, A. A. G." FOURTH BULLETIN. Washington, April 2 — 11 A. M. Major-General Dix, New York: — The following tele- gram from the President, dated at 800 this morning, 228 LIFE OF GE1STEKAL ULYSSES S. GRA^T. gives the latest intelligence from the front, where a furioua battle was raging with continued success to the Union arms. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " City Point, Va., April 2—8-30 A. M. " Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : Last night General Grant telegraphed that General Sheridan, with his cavalry, and the Fifth Corps, had captured three brigades of infantry, a train of wagons, several batteries, and several thousand pris- oners. This morning, General Grant, having ordered an attack along the whole line, telegraphs as follows : — ' Both "Wright and Parke got through the enemy's lines. The battle now rages furiously. Sheridan, with his cavalry, and the Ffth Corps, and Miles' Division of the Second Corps, which was sent to him since one o'clock this morning, is now sweeping down from the west. All now looks highly favorable. General Ord is engaged, but I have not yet heard the result in his front.' "A. Lincoln." FIFTH BULLETIN. Washington, April 2, 12 30 P. M. Major-General Dix, New York : — The President, in the subjoined telegram, gives the latest news from the front. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " City Point, Va., April 2, 11 A. M. " Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: Despatches come in frequently. All is going on finely. Generals Parke, Wright and Ord, extending from the Appomattox to Hatcher's Run, have all broken through the enemy's iatrenched lines, taking some forts, guns and prisoners. Sheridan, with his cavaky, Fifth Corps, and part of the Second, is coming in from the west, on the enemy's flank, and Wright is already tearing up the South Side railroad. ; 'A. Lincoln." SIXTH BULLETIN— VICTORY— TWELVE THOU- SAND PRISONERS AND FIFTY GUNS CAP- TURED. Washington, April 2. Major-General Dix, New York : — The following tele- grams from the President report the condition of affairs at half-past four o'clock this afternoon : Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 229 " City Point, Ya., April 2—2 P. M. " To Hon .E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : At 10-45 A. M., General Grant telegraphs as follows : ' Everything' has been carried from the left of the Ninth Corps. The Sixth Corps alone captured more than three thousand prisoners. The Second and Twenty-fourth Corps both captured forts, guns and prisoners from the enemy. I cannot tell the number. " 'We are now closing around the works of the line immedi- ately enveloping Petersburg. All looks remarkably well.' I have not yet heard from Sheridan. His head-quarters have been moved up to T. Banks' house near the Boydton road, about three miles southwest of Petersburg. "A. Lincoln." City Point, Ya., April 2, 1865, 830 P. M. Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : At 430 P.M. to-day, General Grant telegraphs as follows : — " We are now up, and have a continuous line of troops, and in a few hours will be entrenched from the Appomattox below Petersburg, to the river above. " The whole captures since we started out will not amount to less than twelve thousand men, and probably fifty pieces of artillery. "I do not know the number of men and guns accurately, however. "A portion of Foster's Division of the Twenty-fourth Corps made a most gallant charge this afternoon, and captured a very important fort from the enemy, with its entire garrison. "All seems well with us, and every thing is quiet just now. " A. Lincoln." THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE WAR— SUN- DAY, APRIL 2d, 1865. On Sabbath morning, April 2d, 1865, amidst the roar of artillery, and the crash, and flame, and smoke of burning houses, the great Rebellion died. Richmond and Peters- burg were captured. Hundreds of guns, and thousands of prisoners taken. Lee's army shattered, broken, and scattered to the four winds ! This is the history of the day. How can it be told ? What pen can so write it that all who run may read its full significance — its mighty import ? 230 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. The turning-point of the movement was Sheridan's BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS, Fought Saturday afternoon, with his cavalry and the Fifth Corps. The battle was, pi*actically, Longstreet's ruin. Fifty-seven hundred prisoners, and three batteries of artillery, were the material trophies of the victory, but the moral results were of far greater importance. Our loss in the battle was severe. The only general officer lost was Brevet Brigadier-General Winthrop, command- ing the First Brigade of General Ayers' division of the Fifth Corps ; one of those chivalrous soldiers New Eng- land sent into the war. The battle was fought and won in Sheridan's accus- tomed style. Custer, Devins, and Davis, of the cavalry corps, Griffin, Ayers, Crawford, and Bartlett, of the Fifth Corps, won new laurels in the fight, and the enemy was driven pell-mell from his last Virginia battle-field, with heavy loss in killed and wounded. Longstreet, after his defeat, fled, first north and then westward, probably with the hope to effect a junction with Johnston in North Carolina. Going from their right to left, the three divisions of Hill's Corps were holding the line from the Boydton road below Burgess' Mill to opposite the centre of the Sixth Corps, where it joined with Gordon, who held from that point around Petersburg to the Appomattox river. Time now became the essential element of the situation, and to fully comprehend the rapid changes that followed, it is necessary to bear in mind not days, but hours and minutes. SATURDAY NIGHT, APRIL 1st, 1865. During the terrible cannonading which lasted all Saturday night, it was determined to assault the line we LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 231 had been confronting so long. It was known that it must be weak somewhere, and a grave suspicion rested in the minds of many of our officers that it was in that pre- dicament everywhere. It was known positively that Longstreet was not attempting to return to Petersburg as yet, and that Hill and Gordon were alone on the line. It might chance that some one or more of the forts were heavily manned, and be so stubbornly defended as to dis- arrange our whole programme ; but if so, something else might be done. We knew exactly what was before us so far as physical obstacles were concerned. We had been looking on, into and beyond the rebel line of works for months. Our pickets and sharp-shooters knew every inch of the ground ; our generals had correct diagrams of their works ; every slashing, rifle-pit, fort, abattis, were old-time acquaintances. The only point on which we would necessarily be in the dark — and it was an all-im- portant one — was as to what disposition Lee might make of his force during the night. Should he leave them scattered along his whole line, from Burgess' Mill to the Appomattox, we could break it and hold it everywhere. Should he mass at certain points during the night, we might be there repulsed, which would cause the whole programme to miscarry. To guard as much as possible against this, it was determined to assault first with the Ninth Corps, immediately in front of Petersburg, in the hope that Lee might be induced to mass to some extent, and leaving his right, the vital point, more exposed to the attempt of the Sixth, Twenty-fourth, and Second Corps. How admirably the ruse succeeded, this narrative will show. It will show further, that, while Grant's general- ship completely baffled Lee, he succeeded as thoroughly in befogging the North, and those who were present as lookers-on. Men and newspapers talked of a raid to Burkesville by Sheridan, of an attempt to reach the 232 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Soutl Side road, at or near Black and White ; of every thing and any thing but what was actually intended and accomplished. No one dreamed on Saturday that Grant's plans for the succeeding twenty-four hours involved the cutting in two and annihilation of Lee's army, the capture of Petersburg and Richmond, the death of the rebellion. Not a man, outside the confidence of Grant, Meade, Ord, and the corps commanders. SUNDAY, APRIL 2d, 4 O'CLOCK A. M. The Ninth Corps initiated our glory. Still lying directly in front of Petersburg, General Parke was in his old-time position, pressing close up to the town. His divisions were, as of old, Wilcox on the right, resting on the Appomattox ; Hartranft, with the glow of Saturday's glory still bright upon him, and his new star to be bap- tized, was in the centre, and Potter, with the Second Division, was on the left, joining Wheaton, of the Sixth Corps. The programme was for Wilcox to make a feint upon the rebel fort upon the Appomattox. It was made promptly to the time, but was a somewhat vigorous feint. Creeping up to within a few feet of the fort, at the word of command the gallant First Division sprang to its feet, and, with the old-time yell, rushed on the work. At four and a quarter o'clock they were in the fort, had captured the astonished garrison of fifty men, and four guns. This was the feint of Wilcox, and, almost simultaneously, Hartranft and Potter advanced. It was in the same style. Creeping up under cover of the darkness, the two divisions sprang to their feet, and at the double-quick, without firing a shot, broke through the rebel line, capturing four forts, twenty-seven guns, and hundreds of prisoners. The moment they were in possession of the works, they turned their guns on the flying enemy, some- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 233 what ungraciously using rebel ammunition to accelerate rebel flight. Thus at daylight Parke had gained entire possession of the rebel line in his front, and without loss. Later in the day, he had stubborn fighting to do, and heavy losses to sustain. • Simultaneously with the advance of the Ninth Corps, the old Sixth, heroes already, but to be rebaptized in glory to-day, began their work under General Wright. His divisions also advanced in the same order in which they had occupied our works, Wheaton's First Division on the right, Seymour's Third Division centre, and Getty's Second Division on the left, joining at Fort Sampson the new line of the Twenty-fourth Corps, with Foster's Division on its right. General "Wright had to sustain a volley before he reached the rebel line, but his loss from it was very slight. They had orders to carry the rebel line, and carry it they intended to do, and did. The ground between the two lines, all along from Fisher to Lee, where the advance was made, is entirely open, and comparatively level, the only ravine being nearly to the rebel line, and running for some distance parallel with it, a circumstance that was of material advantage to us. Not five minutes elapsed from the time Wright gave the signal to storm, before Sey- mour, Wheaton and Getty were over the rebel line, in possession of all its guns, and hundreds of its occupants as prisoners. The enemy flying in wild disorder across the open country to their interior line, we opened upon them with their own pieces, and although without great effect, it served admirably to frighten them. Oh, the wild haste they made from the conquering Yankees in their rear. Many regiments claimed the honor of being first over the rebel line, and among them the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, and the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania Infantry; 234 LIFE OP GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT- but amidst conflicting accounts, it is impossible to deter- mine these matters with sufficient accuracy. All regi- ments, every man, did well, did nobly, could not do better. In the first charge, Wheaton took twelve pieces of artillery, and nearly the entire Mississippi Brigade of IIeth's Division, composed of the Second, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Sixteenth, Nineteenth, and Forty-second Mis- sissippi. Thus by five o'clock we had miles of the rebel line in full and complete possession, and the demoralized enemy was flying in dismay to his interior lines, drawn close in to Petersburg on the south and west. A pause followed the work of the early morning, but at SEVEN O'CLOCK The Second and Twenty-fourth Corps began the work assigned them. First, of the Twenty-fourth, which joined the Sixth. Generals Ord and Gibbon had been along its front as late as one o'clock in the morning, and satisfied that all was ready, they and their weary staffs snatched a couple of hours of sleep, in the midst of hun- dreds of great guns thundering along the lines. At the hour named, Turner and Foster assaulted the rebel line in their front, and carried it with very little loss. The ground over which they advanced was difficult in the ex- treme, cut up into ugly ravines, and encumbered with in- tricate slashing. The distance was short, fortunately, and somehow the two divisions got over it and over the rebel works at the same time, the One-hundred-and- twenty-third Ohio, of the First Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Potter, Thirty-eighth Massachusetts, being first, had time enough to capture four guns and a large portion of Cook's Brigade, of Heth's Division, consisting of the Third, Fourth, Twelfth, Twenty-first LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 235 and Twenty-third Georgia, and the Twenty-third North Carolina. •Simultaneously with the assault of the Twenty-fourth, the Second Corps advanced immediately on the opposite side of Hatcher's Run. If the ground was difficult before the Twenty-fourth Corps, it was apparently impassable before the Second. It was a gradual ascent all the way, and covered with a slashing almost unparalleled in the experience of the war. Through it Hayes must go with the Second Division, and through, in some way, he did go. He had with him only his First and Second Brigades, the Third, under General Smyth, having been sent to operate with General Mott, further to the left. Under cover of the guns of Battery B, First Rhode Island Artillery, Colonel Olmsted with the First Brigade, and Colonel McIvor with the Second, rushed into the two forts before them, and with a loss of less than a dozen, found themselves in possession of five guns (twelve-pound Napoleons) and nearly all of Macomb's Brigade of Heth's Division, comprising the Fifth, Seventh, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Seventeenth Tennessee. Here the Nineteenth Massachusetts and Seventh Michigan entered the fort first, of the First Brigades ; Massachusetts and Michigan, the far East and far West joining hands this Sabbath morning in the last ditch of the Rebellion ! Of the Second Brigade the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery was ahead, Lieutenant James Young, of Com- pany G, going first into the fort with twenty men. The fort on the left was first entered by a sergeant of the Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania. Further to the left of our line, General Mott, with hi.s famous Red Diamonds, kept step with the white trefoil of the Second Division of the Second Corps. The Eighth New Jersey, of McAllister's Brigade, is reported as the regiment that first entered the enemy's lines. General 15 236 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Miles captured the rebel line where it crosses the Boyd- ton road at Burgess' Mill, aud he was immediately in full march on the Boydton road toward Petersburg. AT EIGHT O'CLOCK, We had broken in the entire rebel line from the Appo- mattox to Burgess' Mill, and the Sixth Corps had swung around, facing the doomed Cockade City from the west; the Twenty-fourth Corps was marching from Hatcher's Run, east, inside the rebel line, and the Second Corps in the same direction, on the Boydton road. No army was ever in more magnificent spirits. Every man seemed to be endowed with intuitive power to understand the full significance of the mighty events they had been enacting. The smile of triumph was on every lip, the sparkle of joy in every eye. At this moment General Grant rode along the lines towards Petersburg. He had left his headquar- ters at Dabney Mills a few minutes bofore, and was on his way to personally overlook the work yet to be done. The Army of the Potomac has long out-lived its cheering days. It cheered General McClellan frequently, but since then its comraauder has been paid the compliment at rare intervals. But now it greeted General Grant with shouts of triumph, it cheered him long and lustily. The scene brought vividly to mind those early days of Napoleon's Italian campaign, since when we have had no such manifestations of military genius as this day fur- nished us. The Lieutenant-General acknowledged the salute by lifting his hat, but never stopped riding on at that brisk pace so natural to him. So far our success had been splendid beyond precedent, perhaps beyond expectation. Would it last ? Grant, surveying the interior lines of Lee, running at right angles with his old line, and from it to the Appomattox, thought so, probably, but as ever before, his countenance LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 237 afforded no clue to what he thought. A word in ex- planation of these interior lines is necessary. Appa- rently four in number, the three outer ones were isolate forts built as outposts for the fourth and last, which was one of great strength, and looked down upon us most frowningly from the slight range of hills upon which it was located, and it was these outer forts spoken of as lines which were carried. AT NINE O'CLOCK, The Twenty-fourth Corps being in short supporting dis- tance, the Sixth Corps went to work again. Now comes that portion of the day where everything was seen plainly but nothing certainly known. The spectator be- held the magnificent panorama of war spread out like a map before him, the scene bathed in the soft April sun- shine. It was a scene of indescribable grandeur, but out of it, hour after hour, great, events emerged. Wheaton still on the right, Seymour having swung to the left, and tearing up the South Side road, leaving Getty in the centre, the corps advanced on to the first of the rebel lines. We had four batteries of field pieces playing on it, a,t short range, which, once in a while would elicit a reply from the rebel works, when a shell whizzing as angrily as if ashamed of the cause in which it was sent, whizzed over the heads of our men, to bury itself in the earth be- yond, or harmlessly explode over a deserted field. Little our troops cared for all this. Forming in short range of the rebel works as leisurely and orderly as if they were on dress parade, the divisions of the Sixth Corps ad- vanced on the first line. At the double-quick, never stopping to fire, with a wild yell of delight, over they went. The enemy fled again, leaving the guns in the fort in our possession. Some few of our men were killed and wounded, but the loss was still insignificant. 238 "Life of general ulysses s. grant. It was a strange sight to see the flag of the Union and the cross of the Sixth Corps flying over the rebel lines, and stranger still, after a moment's pause, to see those very guns which but an instant before had been firing on us now turned in the opposite direction and sending their iron hail after the flying foe. After the carrying of the first line there was another halt. The batteries were shifted right and left and advanced beyond the captured line. There was marching to and fro of brigades. The Twenty-fourth Corps came up on the left. Gibbon and Turner and Foster were on the ground to share the further glories. From the right of the line a long line of muskets glancing in the sunshine could be seen, and with a good glass the trefoil of the Second Corps could be distinguished floating over the columns, a symbol of victory as well as the Second Corps. Vic- tory travelled with that column, for Humphreys, Miles, Mott, and Smyth, and scores- of others whose names are historic in the land were there. It may be remarked here, although slightly out of its order, that this column, after travelling the Boyd ton road to within four miles of Petersburg, turned square off to the left, taking a road leading to the Appomattox, and soon disappeared from the scene. The Sixth Corps still lay upon the side of the hill facing the second line of rebel works, and while the Twenty-fourth filed by to take position on its left, the batteries opened again, and soon that peculiar light smoke — a strange mixture of blue and a dingj white, known since the days of gunpowder as battle smoke — arose in fantastic wreaths and covered the field. There was other smoke there. Dozens of houses, an hour ago substantial and elegant dwellings, dotting the splendid landscape, were in flames, and the columns of smoke arising from them in heavy clouds, shrouded our lines for LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 239 a moment, and then, lifted by the wind, floated off with it to the northeast. The pause continued, Grant had laid out a pro- gramme for the army. Meade, and Wright, and Gibbons' commands were to execute it, and did. The commanders rode slowly up and down the line. You could see theii various flags waving now on some little hillock, where they stopped to examine the rebel line, now disap- pearing in a hollow as the little party trotted on to another part of the line. All was ready in a few minutes. The forts to be assaulted had been selected, and again the command to charge was given. The shrill bugle, sounded over the plain, and Wheaton, Seymour, Getty, Turner and Foster, moved again. The scene of the previous half-hour was re-enacted again. In three columns they moved on each fort. Again the wild cry of anticipated triumph arose from the ranks of blue. Again the Rebels made a feeble and ineffectual resist ance, and again our soldiers swarmed over their works, and planted the flag of freedom upon tbe ramparts. Once more guns and prisoners, this time from Wilcox's North Carolina Division. We began to be oppressed with the magnitude of our triumphs. There were re- peated instances where a guard of one man escorted a squad of ten or fifteen prisoners to the rear. In this charge one fort mounting several guns was taken by the Vermont Brigade. There Kiefer and L. O. Grant shone like gods of war. Grant showed the persistence of his namesake, our great Ulysses. Wounded through the hand he refused to leave, had the wound dressed on the field, and continued in charge of his brigade. There were other heroes. Getty's, and Wheaton's, and Seymour's Divisions were heroes ; every man. So were Turner's and Foster's. The jovial Foster, true type of the Hoosier, a man of the Logan stamp, enjoyed the work of the morning far more than anything earth could furnish. 240 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. TEN O'CLOCK Came, and leaving our left pausing in front of the third line of the rebel works, we must sweep around to the right where the Ninth Corps is still battling. Here the rebels made what seemed a determined effort to re- take what they had lost, but which was in reality an attempt to cover their withdrawal from Petersburg. Gordon made the effort, but Lee was in the town per- sonally superintending everything. The rebels made a charge, and seemed for a time likely to drive the Ninth Corps from the line it had won so easily. The fire was particularly heavy on the Second Division and on the Third. General Potter, commanding the Second Division, was shot through the groin, and borne dying from the field, and his men fell in scores around. Still the division stood firm to the works, and repulsed the enemy at last. Hartranft was overworked and overtasked. His little division of two brigades had been put to a severer test than ever new troops had been called on to undergo. Covered with the glory of Steadman, they had been in the trenches night and day since, and their physical strength was so weak that for a moment they retired. But only for a moment. One last effort, a straining as of the mus- cles of an overstrung horse, and with the effort the enemy was beaten back. But we lost one fort at last, and the line was to that extent broken. More troops were needed on this part of our lines. Where should they come from ? Every man of the Army of the Potomac was already in use. The Fifth and Second Corps were already en route to cut off the anticipated retreat of the enemy ; and not a man of the- Sixth, Twenty-fourth, or of Birney's Division of the Twenty-fifth Corps could be spared from the line west of Petersburg, for although not yet meeting with any LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 241 opposition they could not overcome, the ground we had gained there must be held against any possible attack. But Forts Steadman and Hill, and all the others on the front must have more men, and they were found. There were five splendid regiments and hundred's of Sheridan s dismounted men at City Point, and City Point was stripped of them. All were hurried instantly to the front, and all the garrisons, prisons, and wharves of the Point were left with only one hundred and forty men. The critical hour was past now. For the first time every man in the armies operating against Richmond was employed in active operations against the enemy. These troops arrived at Meade station at noon, and were hurried to the front ; but the yeoman service they did was some two hours later in the day, and we again hurry to the left, where, AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK, The splendid war programme was still visible, with all its shifting, glorious changes. Glorious they were, because each spoke in thunder tones of the demoralization of Lee's army. Meade and Wright and Gibbon were still at work. The Sixth Corps was shifting to the right, and how was it being done ? In plain view and easy range of the third interior line of Lee, we were moving in column as if on a gala-day parade, and so in truth it was ; the Army of the Union in joyful attendance on the funeral of the Rebellion. At this hour not a sound came from the field ; not a gun was speaking anywhere ; not a shout heard on all the line. The rebel lines were as hushed as our own ; their guns looked down frowningly upon us from the huge forts in which they were incased, but not one of them spoke ; not a horse neighed ; not a dram or bugle sounded ; 242 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. not one of the ammunition wagons moving hither over the sanely soil of the undulating landscape gave forth a sound. The whole field was stilled as if in death. Suddenly one of the guns upon the fort on the rebel left belched forth a dull report ; a wreath of rising smoke, the bursting of a shell, and all was still again. The next moment another, then another, then three guns opened in a continuous roar. They were attempting to retard the march of three of our brigades gaining the shelter of a small skirt of timber upon their left, from which to assault them. Yain hope ! The columns move on, paying them not even the compli- ment of a moment's pause, or of a gun in reply. Poor Lee ! struggling like a child in the hand of a giant deter- mined to destroy him. Thus the hour passed, and by TWELVE O'CLOCK It was discovered that Lee was in retreat across the Ap- pomattox. From our signal towers his columns could be seen beginning to move over the river on three separate pontoons, just above the city, and huge fires were already raging in the town itself, showing that the Rebels had applied the torch to accelerate their own ruin. Provision had already been made for Lee's anticipated retreat. It was not a part of the programme that any part of his army should escape, and the Second and Fifth Corps had long ago moved to the Appomattox, and must have been at this hour across it or near it. At any rate, the calcula- tions were that they were near enough to force Lee and his flying hordes to battle and ruin long before he reached the Danville road. AT TWO O'CLOCK All was activity again, both right and left. On the left the Sixth Corps assaulted the large fort I have men- tioned, and another next to it, on the left, and TmtNEB LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 248 and Foster, of the Twenty-fourth Corps, stormed one each, further to the rehel right. The scene was again in full view, and had all the elements of grandeur of its predecessor of the morning. The bugle sounded, and the mass of blue sprang forward, as before ; and, as before, the rebels made a feeble and ineffectual resistance. Our movements were like lightning. From the moment the charge sounded until the instant we swarmed over the works was the shortest appreciable period of time, and before the dumbfounded enemy well knew we had started, our flags were flying over the ramparts, our shout of triumph ringing along their lines, some of them flying, with their own guns turned upon them, and the remainder going to the rear as prisoners. Carrying this line, getting into position before the fourth and last, occupied the hour from two to three on the left. Our triumph was assured — the way to Petersburg, by the Boydton road, was all but open — an hour more, and Meade, if he so willed, could have marched into the Cockade City. ON THE RIGHT. On the right this same hour of two o'clock was an hour of triumph. It had been determined to retake the rebel fort they had wrested from us, and the fresh brigade of General Collis, from City Point, w T as assigned to the duty, composed of the Sixty-eighth and One-hundred-and- fourteenth Pennsylvania, the Twentieth New York, Sixty-first Massachusetts, and the New York Engineers, veteran regiments all. Collis himself headed the charge, having left his post at City Point to share the glories of the day. A terrible fire greeted the brigade, but it swept through it and over and into the disputed fort, settling at once and forever the question of its ownership. Our loss had been severe. Captain J. M. Eddy, of the One-hundred-and-fourteenth 244 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Pennsylvania, commanding the regiment, and leading it like a hero, fell mortally wounded, shot through the head ; and of the officers there were wounded, Lieutenant John Wicher, Company A, in the thigh ; Lieutenant George W. Bratton, Company C, leg ; and Lieutenant Edward Marrian, Company I, in the arm. Of the Sixty-eightn Pennsylvania, Captain Michael Fulmer, Company A mortally wounded, and Captain J. C. Gallagher severely ; and in the Sixty-first Massachusetts, Lieutenant Thomas C. Hart was killed. But we took the fort, and we held it, notwithstanding the efforts of Gordon to regain it, and we held all the others against similar attacks. Wilcox's, Porter's and Hartranft's Divisions, still displaying the valor that won back Steadman, and in the morning had won the rebel line. Thus, at half-past three o'clock the day was decided ; irretrievable ruin was upon the Rebel- lion. It had no last ditch or last legs ; it had been ejected from the former, the latter had been struck from under it. Now is the proper time to remark that this disaster came upon Lee suddenly and unexpectedly. It is true, he was preparing for contingencies by removing the pub- lic stores and works, but he intended to hold these lines to the last gasp. The whole rebel army was here. Since Sheridan began the battle of Five Forks, prisoners had been taken from nearly every brigade. In fifteen captured forts the guns were mounted, the magazines supplied with ammunition, and all the personelle of the soldier was there. In every foot of the miles of their camps there were indi- cations that the inhabitants had left home very unex- pectedly, and from a pressing necessity. In many huts on the left, the unfinished breakfast was left upon the ground floor, muskets were strewed about, and blankets and knapsacks were scarce, only because the Rebels had none. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GKANT. 245 AT SIX O'CLOCK, Our triumph was complete — our prisoners almost like the sauds on the sea-shore. We were burdened with them, and obliged to call the marines and sailors from Porter's fleet to help guard them. The day's work was over. Generals Grant and Meade established headquarters for the night on the Boydton road, three miles west of Petersburg, and our forces were poured over the Appo- mattox above the city. Petersburg was of no use, and Grant was pursuing Lee with the wrath of an avenging angel. TRANSACTIONS ON THE JAMES RIVER. The picket boat of Porter's fleet the night of the 2d of April, was the Commodore Perry, lying immediately under Howlett House. The rebel rams Virginia and Rappahannock had been for a long time lying in the river some distance above Howlett House, but in plain sight. At three o'clock in the morning, the watch on board the Perry saw a dark object floating by. It was grappled and proved to be the raft used by the Rebels to moor alongside their vessels when in need of repairs. It had all the tools on board. Here the scene shifts to Richmond. Here was the first positive sign of intended evacuation. An hour later and the earth was shook as by a volcanic eruption. At City Point the terrible concussion shook the frail buildings in every timber, and awakened every weary sleeper. The sight as viewed from the deck of the Perry, and from the ramparts of Fort Harrison, on Weitzel's lines, was grand in the extreme. A deafening, crashing roar, a thousand hissing, glowing masses of fiery matter, suspended for an instant in mid-air, then falling with a heavy sound and mighty splash into the vexed river. Thus one of the rebel rams passed from existence. A few minutes later and the scene was repeated, and the 246 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. other ram followed its mate. The slighter explosions and great conflagrations, further up the river at the same time, were the destruction of the rebel wooden fleet. Around our lines from Hatcher's Run to Petersburg, in the changing, shifting scenes of Sunday up the James, the story is complete ; but to the full recital of the glories of the day there yet remains Weitzel's lines on THE NORTH SIDE OF THE JAMES To chronicle. When General Ord withdrew to the lines investing Petersburg he brought with him exactly one- half of his army, being Turner's and Foster's Divisions, of the Twenty-fourth Corps, and Birney's Division of the Twenty-fifth (colored) Corps. On the north side, occu- pying his entire line, he left Weitzel, with Kautz's Division of the Twenty-fourth Corps, and Asborne's and Thomas' Divisions, of the Twenty-fifth Corps. Sunday, while the greatest scenes of history were enacting around Petersburg, Weitzel's entire line was perfectly quiet, not a shot anywhere. The enemy made a great show ; every man on the line doubtless had orders to make himself appear as much as possible like six. Weitzel's command certainly had such orders ; both sides were playing the same game, and one was probably as little deceived as the other. When night came on the rebel bands played vociferously and persistently in various parts of their lines : probably half the bands in the rebel camps had been called into requisition in the game of attempted deception. Weitzel followed the ex- ample set him : he set all his bands at work upon our National airs, and the night was filled with melodious strains, conflicting somewhat, however, in their political significance. Toward midnight, however, this musical contest ceased, and silence, complete and absolute, brooded over the con- LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 247 tending lines. At the hour specified the camps were startled into life again by the explosions already detailed. To Weit- zel's clear brain the full meaning of the event came home at once, and he did not need the confirmatory lurid light he saw hanging over the rebel capital to tell him that the hour had almost come. His orders were to push on whenever satisfied of his ability to enter the city, and summoning what patience he could he waited the short in- terval until daylight, when he sent out the Fifth Massa- chusetts Cavalry to reconnoitre. Its report soon came in — no enemy to be found ; his camps deserted of whatever force had been there. The way to Richmond was open. Southwest of Petersburg had been found the key that had unlocked its stubborn gates, and Weitzel was instantly on the road. Let his own despatch tell the story. " City Point, Va., April 3, 11 A. M. " General Weitzel telegraphs as follows : — " We took Eichmond at 8.15 this morning. I captured many guns. The enemy left in great haste. " The city is on fire in one place. We are making every effort to put it out. "The people received us with enthusiastic expressions of joy. " General Grant started early this morning, with the army, towards the Danville road, to cut off Lee's retreating army, if possible. "President Lincoln has gone to the front. " (Signed) " T. S. Bowers, Assistant Adjutant- General. " E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War." And so Richmond fell ! Richmond, the capital of the so-called Confederacy ; the city which for four years baffled all efforts for its reduction. Thanks to the genius of Grant and a favoring Providence the Rebellion was now in the last throes of dissolution. Right and justice were again vindicated, and the long, weary and bloody war for the Union, the Constitution and the perpetuity of American Liberty was rapidly drawing to a close. The chief of the Rebellion was a fugitive, his main army was 248 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. broken and flying, and there remained now no hope in his mind, or those of his followers, that the Union could ever be overthrown, and a Southern Confederacy established. THE PURSUIT OP GENERAL LEE. With the energy which characterizes General Grant, was the pursuit of Lee's flying and shattered columns maintained. On the 4th of April he telegraphed as fol- lows to Seci'etary Stanton : "Wilson's Station, Va., April Ath, 1865. "Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: — The army is pushing forward in the hope of overtaking or dispersing the remainder of Lee's army. " Sheridan, with his cavalry and the Fifth Corps, is between this and the Appomattox. General Meade, with the Second and Sixth, following. General Ord following the line of the South Side railroad. All of the enemy that retains anything like organization have gone north of the Appomattox, and are apparently heading for Lynchburg, their losses having been very heavy. "The houses through the country are nearly all used as hos- pitals for wounded men. In every direction I hear of Rebel soldiers pushing for home, some in large and some in small squads, and generally without arms. The cavalry have pur- sued so closely that the enemy have been forced to destroy probably the greater part of their transportation, caissons, and munitions of war. " The number of prisoners captured yesterday will exceed two thousand. From the 28th of March to the present time, our loss in killed, wounded, and captured will probably not reach seven thousand, of whom from fifteen hundred to two thousand are captured, and many but slightly wounded. " I shall continue the pursuit as long as there appears to be any use in it. "U. S. Grant, IAe\denant-General." Lee had been defeated, and General Grant was deter- mined that he should have no opportunity to recover him- self, and on the morning of the 3d of April, while the right of our line was pressing across the works at Petersburg, to find the city evacuated, the Fifth Corps and the cavalry, on the left, started out to intercept the retreat of Lee. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 249 Custer's Third Division was in the cavalry advance, with Wells's Second Brigade leading. Camp was broken about three miles east of Namozine Creek, and the route lay towards the creek along the "Namozine road. At the creek the enemy's rearguard was found strongly entrenched behind earthworks, covering the crossing, the bridge being destroyed, and trees felled across the road leading down to it. Four guns, two ammunition wagons, and two ambulances were found abandoned on this side of the creek, hid in the woods. A section of artillery was instantly opened against the works, while the cavalry easily forded the stream above and flanked them. A short skirmish ensued, and the enemy was driven off, and the obstructions removed. The road beyond was filled with felled trees* and piled-up rails, and with emptied caissons surrounded by fire, the latter designed to explode, and so delay our pursuit. The retreat of the enemy was evidently of that sort which follows a rout — the path being strewn with wagons, ambulances, dead and wounded horses and mules, caissons, boxes of ammunition thrown out to lighten the load, mess utensils, arms, accoutrements, blankets, clothing, loose cartridges, and similar wrecks. Several miles of rapid riding brought the column to Namozine Church, at the intersection of two roads, the left leading direct to Lynchburg, the one to the right of the church to Bevil's bridge, across the Appomattox, on to Amelia Court House. Wells passed the church to the left, and soon came up with apartof Barrenger's cavalry brigade. The latter were pretty well exhausted with their hopeless task, but turned and fired on our advance, the Eighth New York. That regiment, however, charged without a pause in the pace, and dispersed the rearguard, and, the rest of Wells's Brigade and Pennington's Brigade coming up, prisoners, horses, and arms were captured in abundance, and tbo 250 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. eueniy scattered through the woods. Among our killed or dangerously wounded were Captains Goodrich, Skiff, and Farlee Wells pressed upon the fugitive enemy along the same road for some distance, and then rejoined the column on the other road. Capehart's Third Brigade, meanwhile, took the road to the right of jSamozine Church, pushed on rapidly towards Dennisville, crossing Deep Creek at the lower ford, the bridge having been destroyed. Immediately upon crossing, the brigade charged the enemy, and a running fight was kept up for miles, the enemy now halting, now flying, and delivering many a fatal Parthian shot in his flight. Pennington's First Brigade was hurried up, as the enemy, driven into more compact form by our own pressure, began to resist with determination. The skirmishing and pursuit now con- tinued with great zest, our men being in high spirits, and driving the enemy with all ease, killing and wounding many, and capturing small squads here and there con- tinually. At length Bevil's ford was reached ; but the bridge being down, the enemy struck off to the left, on a road leading towards a crossing, seven miles further up the river. Pennington here halted to gather up our men scattered in pursuit of fugitive prisoners, while Cape- hart went on after the enemy. The latter, it is said, had charge of a long wagon train, which impeded his progress, and forced him to fight briskly here and there. Wells had now come across from the road on the left of Namo- zine Church, and his brigade was prompt in support of Capehart's pursuit. The enemy at length turned once more to the right, to cross the Appomattox, and rejoin Lee's main army on the other bank. At this turning, where roads crossed, the enemy's cavalry rallied, and a body of infantry appeared to their support. Capehart's Brigade charged as before, but received a volley which checked them ; and, immediately after, the enemy's LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 251 infantry, with all their old spirit, deployed in an open field on the left of his line, crossed our right flank, turned and enfiladed it. Our men retreated before the fire for half a mile, to where McKenzie's Division (Kautz's old Division) was now in line. Lord's Battery A, Second Artillery, opened briskly on the enemy, shelling the woods. He was checked, and our men soon resumed the pursuit. But night was now falling, and the whole column encamped. The enemy had been pursued full twenty miles, and about three hundred and fifty prisoners, two flags, four cannon, and several ammunition wagons were captured. Our loss was not more than sixty or eighty. Early on Tuesday, the 4th, McKenzie's Division was in advance, the First Division next, and Custer's Division in the rear. Late in the afternoon, McKenzie came upon the enemy, who appeared to be posted with both infantry and artillery in works about two miles from Bethany. Skirmishing began at once, and continued until dark, when our troops went into camp and waited for the rest of the column. But soon after eleven o'clock the same night, the cavalry were again aroused and started off, with Custer in advance, and marched all night. The advance, at six o'clock the next morning, reached Jetters- ville, and there found the whole Fifth Corps well en- trenched across the Danville railroad. It was now learned that Lee, in his retreat from Richmond, had got as far as Amelia Court House, while our forces had siezed Burkesville, and were assembling at Jettersville. Burkesville is in Prince Edward County, the junction of the Richmond and Danville and the South Side railroads, fifty-two miles west of Petersburg. Jettersville is in Amelia County, on the Danville railroad, about half way between Burkesville and Amelia Court House, and fifty- four miles southwest of Richmond. Amelia Court House 16 252 LIFE OP GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT, is in the same county and on the same railroad, forty- seven miles southwest of Richmond. On Wednesday, April 5th, Custer's Division was posted, with artillery, on the left of the Fifth Corps. The First Division and McKenzie's Division then pro- longed the line to the left. Davies' Brigade of Crook's Division was sent by Sheridan, immediately on arriving, around on his left flank, towards Burkes- ville, to seize that important junction, to ascertain what was going on in that direction, and to disperse any enemy that might be found there. Davies came upon the enemy's cavalry at Fame's Cross-roads, and, attacking him, captured several hundred prisoners, five new and very beautiful Armstrong guns and caissons, about two hundred wagons, mostly empty, and seven or eight battle flags. The enemy's infantry then came up to the support of his cavalry, and, rapidly forming, drove off Davies' gallant brigade. The wagons were burned, but the prisoners were brought to camp. Amongst our killed was Colonel Janeway. The skirmish was short and sharp. Sheridan, at three o'clock P. M., on hearing this news, and finding the condition of the enemy, sent the following remarkable despatch to General Grant : SHERIDAN'S DESPATCH TO GRANT. " Jettersville, April 5, 1865. — 3 P. M. "To Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant: " General : — I send you the enclosed letter, which will give you an idea of the condition of the enemy and their where- abouts. I sent General Davies' Brigade this morning, around on my left flank. He captured at Fame's Cross, five pieces of artillery, about two hundred wagons, and eight or nine battle flags, and a number of prisoners. The Second Army Corps is now coming up. I wish you were here yourself. I feel confi- dent of capturing the Army of Northern Virginia if we exert ourselves. I see no escape for Lee. I will send all my cavalry out on our left flank, except McKenzie, who is now on the right. ''(Signed) "P. H. Sheridan, Major- General." LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 253 LETTER SENT BY SHERIDAN TO GRANT. "Amelia Court-House, April 5, 1865. "Dear Brammia : — Our army is ruined, I fear. We are all safe as yet. Theodore left us sick. John Taylor is well ; saw him yesterday. We are in line of battle this evening. Gene- ral Robert Lee is in the field »ear \is. My trust is still in the justice of our cause. General Hill is killed. I saw Murray a few moments since. Bernard Perry, he said, was taken prisoner, but may get out, I send this by a negro I see passing up the •■ailroad to Michlenburgh. Love to all. Your devoted son, " W. B. Taylor, Colonel" Meanwhile, the Second Corps had come up, and went into position. Sheridan had written to Grant, " I see no escape for Lee. I will put all my cavalry out on our left flank, except McKenzie, who is now on the right." This he proceeded to do. Slight skirmishing in the afternoon now foretold the attack of the morrow. But we must trace the progress of the infantry to the new field of battle. The Fifth Corps started on the pursuit during the morn- ing of Monday the 3d, soon after the cavalry, both corps apparently being under the command of Sheridan, for the purposes of this movement. At two o'clock, the corps had arrived in sight of the Appomatox. Thence it turned to the left, without crossing the river, along the Namozine road, behind the cavalry, marching through Amelia county and crossing Deep and Namozine creeks. The same evi- dences of the disorderly retreat already described were evident on every hand. Few people were to be seen, ex- cept the contrabands, many of whom joined our column. The day's march was sixteen miles, and the blocking of the trains in the miry roads prevented it from being longer. The next day's, Tuesday's march, was like Mon- day's, except that it was twenty miles long, and its con- clusion brought the corps to Jettersville, where it was massed in an open field, and lay across the railroad. Strong earthworks were at once thrown up, and, as the 254: LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. enemy was only from five to ten miles distant, great cau- tion was used. No fires were lighted, and the corps lay ready for battle. In the rear of the Fifth Corps marched the Second, whose progress, however, was not so much hurried. In the rear of the Second was the Sixth. These two coips were directed by General Meade, and were on the river or Namozine road. The Second Corps marched about six miles on the 3d, the protection of the trains, which went slowly, requiring tardy progress, and the troops were very hard at work in repairing the roads for the passage of the artillery trains. The scarcity of rations caused an amount of " foraging," which must have con- trasted pleasantly with the old Peninsular campaign. Not a few prisoners were captured or surrendered along the line of march. At midnight the corps was again roused, and, after much delay, caused by the obstruction of the roads by trains, the column got off. A long march until two o'clock of the 4th, brought the corps to Jetters- ville. Sheridan immediately had the Second and Third Divisions posted on the left of the Fifth Corps, in the position from which he had now withdrawn the First and Third Divisions of cavalry. An attack from Lee was hourly apprehended, but none took place. Ord's column of the Army of the James, comprising Turner's and Foster's Divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps and Birnet's Division of the Twenty-fifth, marched down the Cox road on the fourth, from Sutherland's station, ten miles west from Petersburg on the South Side road, where it separated from the main column. The Cox road is the direct road to Burkesville, along the South Side '•ailroad Generals Grant and Ord were both with this column. It encamped near Wilson's station that night, having marched along the railroad a distance of about fif- teen miles. Next day, the fifth, it continued with Tur- ner's Division in advance alone 1 the railroad as far as LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 255 " Black's and White's," which was reached about two o'clock. Thence the roads being very good indeed, the column pressed briskly on to Nottaway Court House on the railroad, nine miles from Burkesville and about eleven from Jettersville. Here it was proposed to halt, the column having marched twenty miles. But at six and a half o'clock, Sheridan's despatch before referred to reached Grant, and he immediately pushed forward the two divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps, leaving Birney at " Black's and White's." At eleven o'clock the Twenty- fourth Corps marched and camped at Burkesville Junction, having undertaken the supplementary march of nine miles with great enthusiasm on hearing the good news. Grant himself had immediately ridden over to Jettersville, which he reached about eleven o'clock. On the fourth, two divisions of the Ninth Corps marched from Petersburg to Ford's station, on the Southside road, about twenty miles west of Petersburg. On the fifth it started again, and still moving on the Cox road towards, Burkesville, along the railroad, camped at night at Wellers- ville, twenty-one miles distant from the latter point. The corps had charge of most of the army trains and moved along briskly. The next day (the sixth) it pressed on along the same road, and encamped at night about ten miles from Burkesville, with one brigade of the Second Division thrown forward to the Junction. On that day, the 6th of April, occurred the decisive victory of Deatonsville. On the night previous, the army lay in line of battle, stretching across three or four miles of country and facing substantially northward. Custer's Division of cavalry lay on the right flank and McKenzie's on the left flank. The infantry line was formed with the Sixth Corps on the right, the Fifth in the centre and the Second on the left. Next morning began our manoeuvres. The Sixth Corps was transferred from the right to the left, The whole army had before 256 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. noon, marched about five miles on the road to Deatons- ville, six miles distant from Jettersville. The enemy was retreating towards Painesville, which was the next town westerly from Amelia Court House to Lynchburg. Our cavalry, however, was there before him. The battle at Deatonsville and Painsville left nothing for Lee to do but to surrender. This he did, and on the 9th of April, 1865, the whole Army of Northern Virginia passed into the record of things that were. SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE. The following is the correspondence which passed be- tween General Grant and General Lee : War Department, \ Washington, April 9, 1865—9 o'clock, P. M. J To Major-General Dix, New York : This Department has received the official report of the sur- render, this day, of General Lee and his army to Lieutenant- General Grant, on the terms proposed by General Grant. Details will be given as speedily as possible. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Headquarters Armies »f the United States, } April 9—4-30 P. M. J Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia this afternoon, upon the terms proposed by myself. The accom- panying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully. ^ U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. War Department, Washington, D. C, ) THANKS TO GENERAL GRANT AND THE ARMY. srr, Washington, D. < April 9—9-30 P. M. Lieutenant-General Grant : Thanks be to Almighty God for the great victory with which he has this day crowned you and the gallant Armies under your command. The thanks of this Department, and of the Government, and of the people of the United States — their reverence and honor have been deserved — will be rendered to you and the brave and gallant officers and soldiers of your army for all time. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 257 SALUTES ORDERED. War Department, "Washington, D. C, ) April 9—10 o'clock P. M. J Ordered : That a salute of two hundred guns be fired at the headquarters of every army and department, and at every post and arsenal in the United States, and at the Military Academy at West Point, on the day of the receipt of this order, in com- memoration of the surrender of General R. E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant-General Grant, and the army under his command ; report of the receipt and execu- tion of this order to be made to the Adjutant-General, Wash- ington. EnwiN M. Stanton, Secretary of War. THE CORRESPONDENCE. Clifton House, Va., Ap^iX 9, 1865. Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: The following correspondence has taken plaro between Gen- eral Lee and myself. There has been no relaxation m the pursuit during its pendency. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. April 7, 1865. General R. E. Lee, Commander C. S. A.: General : The result 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 C. S. army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. Very respectfully, your obedient servant. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-Gen. Commanding Armies of the United Stales. 258 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. II. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. April 7, 1865. General: I have received your note of this date. Though not entirely of the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer, on condition of its surrender. R. E. Lee, General. To Lieutenant- General U. S. Grant, Commanding Armies of the United States. III. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. April 8, 1865. To General R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Army : General : Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there is but one condition that I insist upon, viz : That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States until pro- perly exchanged. I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may 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 re- ceived. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- Gen. Commanding Armies of the United Stales. IV. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. April 8, 1865. General : I received at a late hour your note of to-day in answer to 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. But as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all. I desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 259 I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia, but so far as your proposition may affect the Confederate States forces under my command, and lead to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at ten A. M., to-morrow, on the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket lines of the two Armies. Very respectfully, your obedient servant. R. E. Lee, General Confederate States Annies. To Lieidenant- General Grant, Commanding Armies of the United States. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. April 9, 1865 General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. : General : Your note of yesterday is received. As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed for ten A. M., to day, could lead to no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself; and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hun dreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties maybe settled with- out the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General U. S. A. VI. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. April 9, 1865. General: I received your note of this morning on Hie picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain de- finitely what terms were embraced in your proposition of yes- terday with reference to the surrender of this army. I now request an interview in accordance with the offer con tained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. Lee, General. To Lieutenant- General Grant, Commanding United States Armies. 260 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 711. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. April 9, 1865. General R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies : Your note of this date is but this moment (11.50 A. M.) re- ceived. In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg road to the Farmville and Lynchburg road, I am at this writing about four miles west of Walter's Church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place will meet me. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. THE TERMS. Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865. General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. : In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the eighth instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery and public property to be packed and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to re- ceive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. Very respectfully, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 261 THE SURRENDER, Head-quarters Army of Northern Virginia, } April 9, 1865, | Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, Commanding U. S. A. : General : I have received your letter of this date, contain- ing the terms of surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you ; as they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the eighth instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipu- lations into effect. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. Lee, General. LEE'S ENTIRE LOSSES. In the battles around Petersburg and in the pursuit, Lee lost over ten thousand men in killed and wounded, atid twenty thousand men in prisoners and deserters, in- cluding those taken in battle, and those picked up in pursuit ; including all arms of the service, teamsters, hos- pital force, and everything, from sixteen to eighteen thousand men were surrendered by Lee. As only fif- teen thousand muskets and about thirty pieces of artil- lery were surrendered, the available fighting force could hardly have reached much above fifteen or twenty thou- sand men. Our total captures of artillery during the bat- tles and pursuit, and at the surrender, amounted to about one hundred and seventy guns. Three or four hundred wagons were also surrendered. In the agreement for surrender, the officers gave their own paroles, and each officer gave his parole for the men within his command. The following is the form of the personal parole of officers, copied from the original docu- ment given by Lee and a portion of his staff : "We the undersigned, prisoners of war belonging to the Vrmy of Northern Virginia, having been this day surrendered by General R. E. Lee, commanding said army, to Lieutenant- 962 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. General Grant, commanding the Armies of the United States, do hereby give our solemn parole of honor that we will not hereafter serve in the armies of the Confederate States, or in any military capacity whatever, against the United States of America, or render aid to the enemies of the latter until pro- perly exchanged in such manner as shall be mutually approved by the respective authorities. " R. E. Lee, General. "TV. H. Taylor, Lieutenant- Colonel and A. A. G. "Chas. S. Venable, Lieutenant- Colonel and A. A. G. " Chas. Marshall, Lieutenant- Colonel and A. A. G. " H. E. Praton, Lieutenant- Colonel and Ins. -General. "Giles Booke, Major and A. A. Surgeon-General. "H. S. Young, A. A. General. " Done at Appomattox Court House, Va., this ninth (9th) day of April, 1865." The parole is the same given by all officers, and is countersigned as follows : " The above-named officers will not be disturbed by United States authorities as long as they observe their parole, and the laws in force where they may reside. " George H. Sharp, General Assist. Provost-Marshal. ." The obligation of officers for the subdivisions under their command is in form as follows: " I, the undersigned, commanding officer of , do, for the within-named prisoners of war, belonging to the Army of North- ern Virginia, who have been this day surrendered by General Robert E. Lee, Confederate States Army, commanding said army, to Lieutenant-General Grant, commanding Armies of the United States, hereby give my solemn parole of honor that the within-named shall not hereafter serve in the Armies of the Confederate States, or in military or any capacity whatever against the United States of America, or render aid to the ene- mies of the latter, until properly exchanged in such manner as shall be mutually approved by the respective authorities. "Done at Appomattox Court House, Va., this ninth day of April, 1865. " The within-named will not be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside." The surrender of Lee was followed by the voluntary surrender of most of the regular troops of the enemy in the Shenandoah. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 263 GENERAL GRANT'S MOVEMENTS AFTER THE SURRENDER. General Grant never makes an unnecessary delay. The terms of the surrender having been arranged, he im- mediately left the army for Washington, without turning aside to visit the fallen Capital, or pausing longer by the way than was requisite for refreshment. On the 13th of April, 1865, he reached Washington, established his head- cpuarters, and went direct to the War Department, where he met the President and Secretary Stanton. He repre- sented to them that the Rebellion was virtually at an end,, and that the Government should at once commence cut- ting down its expenses. That evening the Secretary telegraphed the following important despatch northward, the first despatch that bore to the nation the welcome news, that peace was at hand. STOPPING THE DRAFT. " War Department, ) " Washington, April 13th, — 6 P. M. } • To Major-General Dix, Neio York : — "The Department, after mature consideration and consulta- tion with the Lieutenant-General upon the results- of the recent campaign, has come to the following determinations, which will be carried into effect by appropriate orders to be imme- diately issued. " First. — To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States. " Second.— To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition, quar- termaster and commissary supplies, and reduce the military establishment in its several branches. '• Third. — To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the actual necessities of the service. "Fourth. — To remove all military restrictions upon trade and commerce, so far as may be consistent with public safety. " As soon as these measures can be put in operation it will be made known by public order. "Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." General Grant remained at Washington, aiding the 264 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Government with his counsels, and using every effort to reduce the expenses of the military departments. GENERAL GRANT GOES NORTH TO VISIT HIS FAMILY. It was announced in the Washington morning papers of April 14th, that General Grant would accompany Presi- dent Lincoln to Ford's Theatre in the evening, but the General had made arrangements to run north and visit his family, that day, so that he was not present when Mr. Lincoln was assassinated. The evidence adduced at the trial of Payne and his associate conspirators clearly proved that it was their design to murder General Grant during the evening. The dagger which Booth flourished was undoubtedly intended for Grant. Providence did not permit the crime, and although the nation's beloved President was martyred, Grant was spared to his country. On learning of the assassination of President Lincoln, he at once returned to Washington, and was present at the funeral of his noble friend, and formed one of the mourners who followed the remains to the Capitol on the 19th of April, 1865. GRANT LEAVES WASHINGTON EOR RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA. Shortly after, the terms which Sherman granted to Johnston were received. The President, Cabinet, and the Lieutenant-General repudiated the arrangement promptly, and Grant left Washington the same day for Sherman's army, arriving at Raleigh, North Carolina, on the 24th of April. He apprised Sherman of the fact that his agreement with Johnston was disapproved of, not only by the National authorities, but by himself, and Sherman at once notified Johnston of the non-acceptance by the Government of the old terms, and, later, demanded his LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 265 surrender on the terms accorded to Lee. On the 25th, Johnston replied, and, on the 26th, the surrender was made in an interview between Sherman and Johnston at Durham Station. General Grant telegraphed the news to the War Depart- ment from Raleigh, on April 26th, as follows : " Johnston surrendered the forces in his command, embracing all from here to Chattahoochee, to General Sherman, on the basis agreed upon between Lee and myself for the Army of Northern Virginia." Next to Lee's army, Johnston's was the most powerful force the Rebellion had in the field, and with its fall, fell the last slender hope which Davis yet entertained of making headway against the Armies of the Union. j* GENERAL GRANT RETURNS TO WASHING- TON, PEOM RALEIGH. In a few days afterward, General Grant was again at his headquarters in Washington, and, on the 28th of April, the following order was issued by the War Department, and at the same time the several corps, composing the Army of the Potomac, were ordered to march via Rich- mond to Washington, where they were to be reviewed, before their final disbandment : IMPORTANT ORDER OP THE WAR DEPART- MENT, REDUCING THE EXPENSES OP THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT. " War Department. Adjutant General's Office, ) " Washington, April 28lh, 1865. ) " General Order No. 77, "For reducing the expenses of the Military Department. " Ordered, First — That the chiefs of the respective bureaus of this department proceed immediately to reduce the expenses of their respective departments to what is absolutely necessary, in view of an immediate reduction of the forces in the field and garrisons, and the speedy termination of hostilities, and that 266 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. they severally make out statements of the reductions they deem practicable. "Second — That the Quartermaster-General discharge all ocean transports not required to bring home troops in remote depart- ments. All river and inland transportation will be discharged except that required for the necessary supplies of troops in the field. Purchases of horses, mules, wagons, and other land trans- portation will be stopped ; also purchases of forage, except what is required for immediate consumption. All purchases for railroad construction and transportation will also be stopped. "Third — That the Commissary General of Subsistence stop the purchase of supplies in his department for such as may, with what is on hand, be required for the forces in the field to the 1st of June next. "Foxirth — That the Chief of Ordnance stop all purchase of arms, ammunition and material therefor, and reduce the manu- facturing of arms and ordnance stores in government arsenals as rapidly as can be done without injury to the service. "Fifth — That the Chief of Engineers stop work on all field fortifications and other works, except those for which specific appropriations have been made by Congress for completion, or that may be required for the proper protection of works in progress. "Sixth — That all soldiers in hospitals who require no further medical treatment, be honorably discharged from service, with immediate payment. All officers and enlisted men who have been prisoners of war and are now on furlough or at parole camps, and all recruits in rendezvous, except those for the reg- ular army, will be likewise honorably discharged. Officers whose duty it is under the regulations of the service to make out rolls and other final papers connected with the final discharge and payment of soldiers, are directed to make payment without delay, so that the order may be carried into effect immediately. "Seventh — The Adjutant-General of the army will cause im- mediate returns to be made by all commanders in the field, garrisons, detachments and forts, of their respective forces, with a view to their immediate reduction. "Eighth — The Quartermasters of Subsistence, Ordnance. Engineers, and Provost Marshal General's Departments, will reduce the number of clerks and employees to that absolutely required for closing the business of their respective Depart- ments, and will, without delay, report to the Secretary of War the number required of each class or grade. The Surgeon- General will make a similar reduction of surgeons, nurses, and attendants in his bureau. "Ninth — The chiefs of the respective bureaus will immediately cause proper returns to be made out of public property in their charge, and a statement of property in each that may be sold upon advertisement and public sale, without prejudice to the Bervice. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 267 "Tenth. — That the Commissary of prisoners will have rolls made out, of the name, residence, time and place of capture, and occupation of all prisoners of war who will take the oath of allegiance to the United States, to the end that such as are disposed to become good and loyal citizens of the United States, and who are proper objects of Executive clemency, may be relieved upon terms that the President shall deem fit and insistent with the public safety. "By order of the Secretary of War. " W. A. Nichols, A. A. G. u Official— Thos. M. Vincent, A. A. G." THE REBEL FORCES IN ALABAMA, MISSIS- SIPPI, AND EAST LOUISIANA, SURRENDER TO GENERAL CANBY. On the 4th of May, 1865, General Richard Taylor, commanding the rebel forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, surrendered to Major-General Canby, and this closed up our account with the rebels east of the Mississippi river. GENERAL SHERIDAN GOES TO NEW OR- LEANS.— SURRENDER OF KIRBY SMITH. Beyond the Mississippi, Kirby Smith exhibited a deter- mination to hold out and prolong the war. General Grant resolved to use efficient measures to bring him also to terms, and a powerful expedition was fitted out at Fortress Monroe, and Major-General Philip Sheridan was assigned to its command. The General proceeded forthwith by way of the Mississippi river to New Orleans, but before reaching that point, Smith had heard of the surrender of Lee, Johnston, and Taylor, and he too accepted the terms granted to Lee, and surrendered the forces under bis command. CLOSE OF THE WAR. There was no longer a doubt but that the fierce and bloody war which for four years had desolated the south- ern land, and filled almost every household throughout the entire country with mourning, had terminated. It 17 263 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. terminated with honor to the Union. Our free institutions were permanently established. Slavery, the curse, had gone down, crushed forever, by the madness of the very men who were its supporters and who commenced the war for the avowed purpose of perpetuating human bondage on the American continent. A thousand sanguinary battles attested the valor and patriotism of the Northern and Western States, and though defeats were frequently experienced, they served only to make stronger the brave arms which were ultimately to win enduring renown and restore peace and harmony to the nation. PRESENTATION TO GENERAL GRANT OF A MANSION IN PHILADELPHIA. General Grant's modesty is proverbial, and since the conclusion of the war he has declined all invitations to speak at receptions, reviews, or serenades. A number of public spirited gentlemen of Philadelphia purchased a magnificent mansion on West Chestnut street, in that city, and presented it to the General on May 3d, 1865. The house was elegantly furnished from cellar to attic, and the larders were amply stocked with the best of every- thing, the whole costing over fifty thousand dollars. The presentation was made quietly and without ostentation, the General and lady and family being present. In a few words he expressed to the Committee his gratitude for their princely gift, his manner proving more conclu- sively than his utterance, that his heart fully appreciated the handsome and substantial compliment which his friends and admirers conferred upon him. ANOTHER PRESENT TO LIEUTENANT- GENERAL GRANT. On the 20th of July, 1865, General Grant was presented with a magnificently bound copy of Webster's Unabridged LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 269 Dictionary. On the covers were printed in gilt letters the following legends : " Lieutenant-General Ulysses Simpson Grant." " I propose to move immediately on your works." "I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." GENERAL GRANT'S NORTHERN TOUR. On the 25th of July, 1865, General Grant started on a tour of inspection and pleasure, through the Northern and Western States, and was received in a most flatter- ing manner everywhere. At Boston he was introduced to the people by Mayor Lincoln, and made the following brief speech : " Ladies and Gentlemen : — I would like to shake you all by the hand, but I find that it would be impossible. 1 thank you for your reception and your kindness, and bid you good afternoon." On the 5th of August, he arrived at Quebec, Canada, where Governor-General Doyle awarded him distinguished honors. From Canada he passed into the north-western States, and paid a visit to his home at Galena, Illinois, where he spent several days. On the 15th of September, he visited St. Louis, and stopped a week with the father of Mrs. Grant, General Dent, for some years a member of his personal staff. Subsequently, at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Phila- delphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Burlington, New Jersey, ovations were tendered to the distinguished chief- tain. He arrived back at his head-quarters at Washington, on the 6th of October, and had a prolonged interview with President Johnson and Secretary Stanton, on the condi- tion of the army, and the state of the country. He after- wards visited Philadelphia to see his wife and children, returning to Washington on the 24th of October. 270 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. PUBLIC RECEPTION IN NEW YORK. On the 18th of November, 1865, General Grant visited New York city, and was tendered a public reception by A. T. Stewart, and all of the prominent men of that city, which reception was accepted and took place at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, on the 20th of the month. Speeches of welcome and honor were made by Hons. Horace Greeley, James Brooks, Manton Marble, Henry Ward Beecher, John T. Hoffman, and many others. General Grant made no speech, but personally thanked his friends and ad- mirers for their kindness. He next proceeded for several days to visit all of the public institutions. In the latter part of November, he visited Richmond, Yirginia, and thence proceeded south, having previously handed to Mr. Johnson, his masterly report of the last days of the war for the Union, in which he embraced the correspondence relative to the surrender of the Rebel ar- mies under Generals Lee and Johnston, and a succinct account of the breaking up of the Southern Confederacy, arrest of Jefferson Davis, etc GENERAL GRANT'S REPORT ON THE CON- DITION OF THE SOUTH. This document was brief and pointed, and bears the date of December 18th, 1865. His conclusions are given as follows : " The following are the conclusions come to by me : — I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The questions wRich have heretofore divided the sentiments of the people of the two sections, slavery and State rights, or the right of a State to secede from the Union, they regard as having been settled for- ever by the highest tribunal, arms, that man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the leading men whom I met. that they not only accepted the decision arrived at as final, but now that the smoke of battle has cleared away and time has been given for reflection, this decision has been a fortunate one LIFE OP GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 271 for the whole country, they receiving the like benefits from it with those who opposed them in the field and in the council. " Four years of war, during which the law was executed only at the point of the bayonet throughout the States in Rebellion, have left the people possibly in a condition not to yield that ready obedience to civil authority the American people have generally been in the habit of yielding. This would render the presence of small garrisons throughout those States necessary until such time as labor returns to its proper channel, and civil authority is fully established. I did not meet any one, either those holding places under the Government, or citizens of the Southern States, who think it practicable to withdraw the military from the South at present. The white and the black mutually require the protection of the General Government. There is such universal acquiescence in the authority of the General Government throughout the portion of the country visited by me, that the mere presence of a military force, with- out regard to numbers, is sufficient to maintain order. " The good of the country and economy require the force kept in the interior, where there are many freedmen. Elsewhere in the Southern States than at forts upon the sea coast no force is necessary. They should all be white troops. The reasons for this are obvious, without mentioning many of them. The presence of black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor, both by their advice and by furnishing in their camps a resort for the freedmen for long distances around. White troops generally excite no opposition, and therefore a small number of them can maintain order in a given district. Colored troops must be kept in bodies sufficient to defend themselves. It is not the thinking portion who would use violence towards any class of troops sent among them by the General Government, but the ignorant in some places might, and the late slave seems to be imbued with the idea that the property of his late master should by right belong to him : at least should have no protec- tion from the colored soldier. There is danger of collision being brought on by such causes. "My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the Southern States are anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon as possible. That whilst reconstruct- ing they want and require the protection from the Govern- ment that they think is required by the Government, not humiliating to them as citizens, and that if such a course was pointed out they would pursue it in good faith. It is to be regretted that there cannot be a greater commingling at this time between the citizens of the two sections, and particularly of those intrusted with the law making power. " I did not give the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau that attention 1 would have done if more time had been at my disposal. Conversations on the subject, however, with officers 272 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. connected with the Bureau, led me to think that in some of the States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment or economy, and that the belief widely spread among the freed- men of the Southern States, that the lands of their former owner will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come from the agents of this Bureau. This belief is seriously interfering with the willingness of the freedmen to make con- tracts for the coming year. " In some form the Freedmen's Bureau is an absolute necessity until civil law is established and enforced, securing to the freed- men their rights and full protection. At present, however, it is independent of the military establishment of the country, and seems to be operated by the different agents of the Bureau according to their individual notions. Everywhere, Gen. How- ard, the able head of the Bureau, made friends by the just and fair instructions and advice he gave ; but the complaint in South Carolina was that when he left, things went on as before. Many, perhaps the majority, of the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau advise the freedmen that by their own industry they must expect to live. To this end they endeavor to secure employment for them, and to see that both contracting parties comply with their engagements. " In some instances, I am sorry to say, the freedman's mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that the freedman has the right to live without care or provision for the future. The effect of the belief in the division of lands is idleness and accumulation in camps, towns and cities. In such cases I think it will be found that vice and disease will tend to the extermination or great reduction of the colored race. It can- not be expected that the opinions held by men at the South for years can be changed in a day, and therefore the freedmen require for a few years not only laws to protect them, but the fostering care of those who will give them good counsel, and on whom they rely. The Freedmen's Bureau being separated from the military establishment of the country, requires all the expense of a separate organization. One does not necessarily know what the other is doing, or what order they are acting under. " It seems to me this could be corrected by regarding every officer on duty with troops in the Southern States as agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, and then have all orders from the head of the Bureau sent through department commanders. This would create a responsibility that would secure uniformity of action throughout the South, would insure the orders and in- structions from the head of the Bureau being carried out, and would relieve from duty and pay a large number of employees of the Government. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 273 PROTECTION OF OUR SOLDIERS IN THE SOUTH. On the 12th of January, 1866, General Grant issued his famous order directing that no officer of the army should be sued, tried or punished in any way by a civil court for acts done during or since the rebellion. Any complaints made against officers could be lodged with the commanders of districts alone. This order created quite an excitement throughout the South, but its wisdom has never been doubted. GRANT REFUSES TO HAVE THE SOUTHERN MILITIA ARMED. When General Grant was applied to by Governor Par- sons, of Alabama, for permission tore-organize the militia of that State, and have the same armed and equipped, the authority to do so was refused. General Grant said he " could not see the propriety of putting arms in the hands of the militia until the rights of all classes of citizens should be perfectly secure, and the regular United States forces withdrawn." ECONOMY IN THE ARMY. During the year 1866, General Grant issued several orders to the various general officers of the army, instruct- ing them to reduce expenses wherever practicable, and to report any regiment or company of men that could be spared and mustered out of service. In this praiseworthy and patriotic effort, the (then) Lieutenant-General was seconded promptly by Generals Sherman, Thomas, Meade, and Sheridan, and nearly all the prominent statesmen, soldiers, and public men of the country. DEATH OF GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott died on the 29th of May, 1866, and on the day following, General Grant 274 LIFE OF GENEEAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. issued an order embracing the following graceful notice of that stern old warrior : " His history is a part of the history of the country. It is al- most needless to recall it to those who have venerated him so long. Entering the army as a captain in 1808, at the close of the war 1812-14 he had already, by the force of merit, won his way to the rank of brevet major-general. In 1841, Major-General Scott was assigned to the command of the army. In the spring of 1847, the Mexican war having already began, he commenced, as Commander-in-Chief of the army in Mexico, the execution of a plan of campaign, the success of which was as complete as its conception was bold, and which established his reputation as one of the first soldiers of his age. "A grateful country conferred on him, in 1855, the rank of Brevet Lieutenant-General, as a token of its estimate of his brilliant services. As the vigor of his life, whether in peace or in war, had been devoted to the service of the country he loved so well, so in his age, his country gave to him in return that veneration, reverence and esteem which, won by a few, is the highest reward a nation can give. Of most commanding presence, with a mind of great breadth and vigor, pure in life, his memory will never fade from the minds of those who have reverenced him so long." General Grant, a few days after, attended the funeral of General Winfield Scott, at West Point, accompanied by his personal staff. GRANT IS MADE GENERAL. On the 25th day of July, 1866, the name of Lieutenant- General Grant was presented to the Senate by President Andrew Johnson to fill the highest office ever created for our army, that of General, a rank made especially by Con- gress as a compliment to Grant. The appointment was uuanimously confirmed, and the commission was at once issued. At the same time, David Glasgow Farragut was commissioned Admiral of the Navy of the United States, and thus the two heroes of the rebellion were elevated to positions, more exalted in rank and importance than any ever known in this country before. The Republic could not afford to be ungrateful in these cases, and it was even appreciative of the valuable services of Grant and Farra- gut, beyond precedent, by this very act. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 275 By this promotion of General Grant it was decided that the office of Lieutenant-General should be continued in its proper meaning, and Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman was elevated to that rank over Major-General Halleck, by special enactment, and Major-Geueral George Gordon Meade was named as the next officer for the suc- cession, to be followed by Major-Generals Sheridan and George H. Thomas. During the months of August and September, 1866, President Johnson made his noted tour of the northern and western States, in which he was accompanied by General Grant and the members of his Cabinet. Grant made no speeches, and only appeared and bowed to the people when called for. So frequent and marked were the ovations offered to General Grant, that the President is accused of having grown jealous over them, and to have growled at Grant on several occasions in consequence. The General replied invariably that he "could not help it." On the 20th of September, 1866, General Grant issued the following order. "For the General the same as for Major-General, except that on the coat there shall be two rows, of twelve buttons each, on the breast placed by fours, and on the shoulder straps and epaulets four silver stars. " For the Lieutenant-General the same as for Major-General, except that on the shoulder straps and epaulets there shall be three silver stars." GRANT'S POLITICS IN 1866. During the fall of 1866, the following letter to General Gresham, of Indiana, was published and had a profound effect in the last days of the campaign : "Head-Quarters, Armies of the United States, "Washington, D. C, Sept. 15, 1866 " General W. Q. Gresham : " General : — General Grant directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of September 10th, and to forward you the 276 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. accompanying copy of a letter sent by him this day to General Hillyer. You are at liberty to make what use you please of the inclosed. " I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " Adam Badeau, " Colonel, and A. D. C." " Head-Quarters Armies of the United States, " Washington, D. C, Sept. 15, 1866. " I see from the papers that you have been making - a speech, in which you pledge me to a political party. I am further in receipt of a letter from General Gresham, of Indiana, in which he says that his opponent for Congress had published an ex- tract from a letter received from you, in which you pledged me to the support of President Johnson, and opposed to the elec- tion of any candidate who does not support his policy. You, nor no man living, is authorized to speak for me in political matters, and I ask you to desist in the future. I want every man to vote according to his own judgment, without influence from me. Yours, &c. " U. S. Grant. " To Brevet Brigadier-General W. S. Hillyer, New York. " Adam Badeau, A. D. C." During the same campaign, Grant wrote a letter in which he endorsed General Geary, the Republican candi- date for Governor of Pennsylvania, against Hon. Heister Clyiner. In this letter, General Grant said there could be no halting between two opinions. The soldiers should vote for the man who had fought for the Union in prefer- ence to the politician who had refused to vote for the sup- ply of men and money to prosecute the war. This epistle caused great excitement, and had much to do with the result of the elections all over the Union, as Grant was not only beloved by the soldiers, but was rapidly becom- ing the idol of the people. RECONSTRUCTION OP THE SOUTHERN STATES. On the 7th of March, 1867, Congress passed the famous military reconstruction acts over the veto of President Johnson, and General Grant was placed in immediate com- mand of the five new military districts created by those acts. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 277 On the 11th of March, 1867, General Grant issued an order, assuming his new position, and appointing the fol- lowing commanders for the districts named : First District — State of Virginia — Major- General John M. Schofield. Second District — North and South Carolina — Major- General Daniel E. Sickles. Ihird District — Georgia and Alabama — Major-Gene- ral John Pope. Fourth District — Arkansas and Mississippi — Major- General Edward 0. C. Ord. Fifth District — Louisiana and Texas — Major-Gene- ral Philip H. Sheridan. From this time Grant became identified with the great work of reconstruction, and his course throughout the try- ing year of 1867, was marked by an unflinching and persistent effort to prevent wrong to the people or Gov- ernment, and while he was kind and just to both parties, he for many months prevented an open rupture between the President and Congress. He insisted that the Union men of the South should be protected, whether white or black, in their rights, whilst the repentant rebels should be treated with leniency, but upon correct principles of justice. He advised the removal from office of all persons who were not good Union men, and anxious to renew their allegiance to the flag of the country. His faithful captains in the South — Sheridan, Sickles, Pope, and Ord — had no objection to the orders of their chieftain, and executed them with alacrity. In these acts they made a few enemies for themselves and their great commander, now grown illustrious almost in his youth, but they secured the friendship of all reasonable white residents, and the lasting affection of that black race which had just foretasted freedom in the emancipation decreed by Abraham Lincoln. 278 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. GRANT'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE CABINET. On the 23d of May, 1867, President Johnson sent for General Grant, and asked him to take a seat in his Cabi- net. The subject under consideration was the constitution- ality of the Reconstruction acts, and the powers of officers commanding districts. At this meeting General Grant took a bold position, and maintained the legality of all acts under the laws of Congress. He gave it as his opin- ion, that the acts were entirely constitutional, but said that was a question to be decided by the Attorney-Gene- ral, (Mr. Stanbery,) and by the Supreme Court of the United States. He stood up manfully for the progress made by his subordinates, and insisted that General Sher- idan had a perfect right to remove any rebel who held a State office, and was either directly or indirectly an obsta- cle to reconstruction. THE REGISTRATION OF VOTERS IN THE SOUTH. In the summer of 1867, Attorney-General Stanbery issued an opinion to the effect that any person in the South, who was willing to take the oath of allegiance, should be allowed to register as a voter. This idea General Grant scouted as not only unpatriotic and unjust, but as nonsensical, because it would act as a complete amnesty for the rebels in the South, no matter what their crimes might have been during the war, or their present feeling towards the Union, and the flag of the country. General Grant accordingly issued the following order to the commander of the Fourth District, the importance of which will be understood after reading the remarks above : "Washington, June 23, 1867. "Brevet Major-General E. 0. C. Ord, Commanding the Fourth District : "General: A copy of your final instructions to the Board of Registration, of June 10, 1867, is just received. I entirely dis- LIFE OF GENEEAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 279 sent from the views contained in paragraph four. Your views as to the duty of the Registers to register every man who will take the required oath, although they may know the applicant perjures himself, is not sustained by the views of the Attorney- General. " My opinion is that it is the duty of the Board of Registration to see, as far as it lays in their power, that no unauthorized person is allowed to register. To secure this end, Registers should be allowed to administer oaths and examine witnesses. The law, however, makes the district commanders their own in- terpreters of their power and duty under it, and in my opinion the Attorney-General or myself can do no more than give our opinion as to the meaning of the law. Neither can enforce their views against the judgment of those made responsible for the faithful execution of the law- — the district commanders. " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, General." RECONSTRUCTION TESTIMONY. On the 18th of July, 1867, General Grant was sum- moned before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, to testify relative to the actions of the President in regard to the execution of the reconstruction acts. The testimony was all in favor of the propriety of executing the laws more vigorously, and completely, but General Grant could not say that the President had done anything to obstruct the laws. He thought he had been, perhaps, dilatory or tardy, but had not failed to exe- cute the laws when exigencies seemed to require. He thought the opinion of Mr. Stanbery, previously alluded to, had gone far to prevent an acquiescence to needful regulations, made by the military commanders, on the part of some of the southern people. POPULAR OVATIONS TO GENERAL GRANT. During July, 1867, General Grant paid a visit to Long Branch, New Jersey, in company with his father-in-law, General Dent, and Mrs. Grant. At every city, hamlet, or railroad station, along the various routes, the people assembled in great crowds, and tendered him receptions 280 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. that might have been gratifying to a monarch, and must have been exceedingly pleasant to the great military leader of the republic, who could feel that he deserved these ovations in return for the gigantic labor he had performed in securing to the people their lives, property, rights, and liberties. THE CABINET DIFFICULTY.— SECRETARY STANTON" SUSPENDED FROM OFFICE, AND GENERAL GRANT APPOINTED SECRETARY OF WAR, AD INTERIM. During the months of July and August, 1861, Presi- dent Johnson became displeased with the Secretary of War, Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, and requested him to resign. This Mr. Stanton declined to do, and under the Tenure of Office act determined to hold on to his office un- til Congress met in November. Mr. Johnson became in- censed at the course pursued by Mr. Stanton and on the 1 2th of August formally suspended Mr. Stanton from the office of Secretary of War, and appointed General Grant to act as Secretary ad interim. This act created the greatest excitement all over the country, and might have caused outbreaks in the large cities, but for the confidence and love that all classes and parties entertained for the noble Commander-in-Chief of our Army. In order that the American people may fully appreciate and understand the action of General Grant on this momentous occasion, we reproduce here the whole of the official correspondence in this affair : "Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C. "August 12, 1867. " Sir : — By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President, by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby suspended from office, as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions pertaining to the same. You will at once transfer to General U. S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 281 War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and charge. " Very respectfully yours, "Andrew Johnson. " To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Washington, D. C." "War Department, Washington City, "August 12, 16fi7. " Sir : — Your note of this day has been received, informing me that, by virtue of the power and authority vested in you as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, I am suspended from office as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions pertaining to the same, and also directing me at once to transfer to General Ulysses S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad, interim, all records, books, papers and other public property now in my custody and charge. Under a sense of public duty I am compelled to deny your right under the Constitution and laws of the United States, without the advice and consent of the Senate, and without legal cause, to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, or the exercise of any or all functions pertaining to the same, or without such advice or consent, to compel me to transfer to any person the records, books, papers and other public property in my custody as Secretary of War. But inasmuch as the General com- manding the Armies of the United States has been appointed Secretary of War ad interim, and has notified me that he has accepted the appointment, I have no alternative but to submit, under protest, to superior force. " Very respectfully yours, " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " To the President." " Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C. "August 12, 1867. « Sir : — The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day suspended as Secretary of War, you are hereby authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will at once enter upon the discharge of the duties of that office. The Secretary of War has been instructed to transfer to you all records, books, papers and other public property now in his custody and charge. " Very respectfully yours, "Andrew Johnson. " General Ulysses S. Grant, Washington, D. G." " Headquarters Armies of the United States, "Washington, August 12, 1867. " The Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " Sir : — Inclosed herewith I have to transmit to you a copy of 282 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. a letter just received from the President of the United States, notifying me of my assignment as Acting Secretary of War, and directing me to assume those duties at once. In notifying yon of my acceptance, I cannot let the opportunity pass with- out expressing to you my appreciation of the zeal, patriotism, firmness and ability with which you have ever discharged the duty of Secretary of War. " With great respect, "Your obedient servant, " U. S. Grant, General." " War Department, Washington City, "August 12, 1867. " General : — Your note of this date, accompanied by a copy of a letter addressed to you August 12, by the President, appointing you Secretary of War ad interim, and informing me of your acceptance of the. appointment, has been received. Under a sense of public duty, I am compelled to deny the Presi- dent's right under the laws of the United States to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, or to authorize any other per- son to enter upon the discharge of the duties of that office, or to require to transfer to you or any other person, the records, books, papers, and other public property in my official custody as Secretary of War, but inasmuch as the President has assumed to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, and you have notified me of your acceptance of the appointment of Secretary of War ad interim, I have no alternative but to submit, under protest, to the superior force of the President. You will please accept my acknowledgement of the kind terms in which you have notified me of your acceptance of the President's appointment, and my cordial reciprocation of the sentiments expressed. " I am, with sincere regard, truly yours, " Edwin M. Stantom, Secretary of War " To General Ulysses S. Grant." General Grant entered upon the duties of his new office with the full determination to be as faithful there as in every other position held by him. He at first made him- self familiar with the immense routine of the war office, and then turned his attention to a reduction of the ex- penses as far as practicable, discharged scores of civiliian clerks and hired only tens of Veteran volunteers to fill clerkships. In the prosecution of this work he was ap- plauded by all parties, a3 it was evident that the sooner economy eould be practiced in the various departments LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GARNT. 283 the better. Thus we have proved that whether it was organizing victory, or directing ordinary routine business, our hero displayed at all times marked ability and a determination to do right that neither threats nor bribes could effect. REMOVAL OF GENERAL P. H. SHERIDAN.— PROTEST OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. Perhaps if there was any General in our army that Grant loved more than another for his brilliant services, superior generalship, indomitable pluck, dash, and patriot- ism, that man was " Cavalry Sheridan." In fact, " Little Phil," was looked upon by Grant as a man who could do no wrong, because he had never made a mistake, and was slow to action, but quick in execution. Sheridan had been elevated through extraordinary merit, to a lofty posi- tion in the army, and now he was exhibiting a respectable statesmanship, in directing the reconstruction of possibly the most refractory State in the South ; but he was doing it in his own rough way, and this did not please President Johnson, and so he removed him — cut him down before the eves of that chieftain whose heart had often been cheered by his magnificent successes in the West, jn the valley of Virginia, around Richmond — everywhere. — Sheridan was removed in the face of one of the most beautiful and patriotic, yet strong and positive protests that has ever been penned by man. GENERAL GRANT TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON. "Headquarters, Armies of the United States, •• Washington, D. C, August 17, 1867. " His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. " Sir :— I am in receipt of your order of this date, directing the assignment of General G. H. Thomas to the command of the Fifth Military District, General Sheridan to the Depart- ment of the Missouri, and General Hancock to the Department of the Cumberland ; also your note of this date (inclosing these instructions), saying, ' Before you issue instructions to carry 18 284 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. into effect the inclosed order I would be pleased to hear any suggestions you may deem necessary respecting- the assignments to which the order refers.' " I am pleased to avail myself of this invitation to urge, earn- estly urge — urge in the name of a patriotic people who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of loyal lives, and thousands of millions of treasure to preserve the integrity and union of this country — that this order he not insisted on. It is unmistaka- bly the expressed wish of the country that General Sheridan should not be removed from his present command. This is a republic where the will of the people is the law of the land. I beg that their voice may be heard. " General Sheridan has performed his military duties faith- fully and intelligently. His removal will only be regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of Congress. It will be interpreted by the unreconstructed element in the South — those who did all they could to break up this government by arms, and now wish to be the only element consulted as to the method of restoring order — as a triumph. It will embolden them to renewed op- position to the will of the loyal masses, believing that they have the Executive with them. "The services of General Thomas in battling for the Union entitle him to some consideration. JTe has repeatedly entered his protest against being assigned to either of the five military districts, and especially to being assigned to relieve General Sheridan. " General Hancock ought not to be removed from where he is. His department is a complicated one, which will take a new commander some time to become acquainted with. " There are military reasons, pecuniary reasons, and. above all, patriotic reasons, why this order should not be insisted on. " I beg to refer to a letter, marked private, which I wrote to the President when first consulted on the subject of the change in the War Department. It bears upon the subject of this re- moval, and I had hoped would have prevented it. " I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant. " U. S. Grant, General United States Army. and Secretary of War, ad interim." PRESIDENT JOHNSON TO GENERAL GRANT. " P]xecutive Mansion, W.ashtngtox. P. C. "August 1!». 1867. " Gexeral:— I have received your communication of the 17th inst., and thank you for the promptness with which you have submitted your views respecting the assignment directed in my LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 285 order of that date. "When I stated in my unofficial note of the 1 7ih that I would be pleased to hear any suggestions you might deem necessary upon the subject, it was not my intention to ask from you a formal report, but rather to invite a verbal statement of any reasons affecting the public interests which, in your opinion, would render the order inexpedient. Inas- much, however, as you have embodied your suggestions in a written communication, it is proDer that I should make some reply. '• You earnestly urge that the order be not insisted on, re- marking that 'it is unmistakably the expressed wish of the country that General Sheridan should not be removed from his present command.' While I am cognizant of the efforts that have been made to retain General Sheridan in command of the Fifth Military District, I am not aware that the question has ever been submitted to the people themselves for determina- tion. It certainly would be unjust to the army to assume that, in the opinion of the nation, he alone is capable of commanding the States of Louisiana and Texas, and that, were he for any cause removed, no other general in the military service of the United Slates would be competent to fill his place. " General Thomas, whom I have designated as his successor, is well known to the country. Having won high and honor- able distinction in the field, he has since, in the execution of the responsible duties of a department commander, exhibited great ability, sound discretion and sterling patriotism. He has not failed, under the most trying circumstances, to enforce the laws to preserve peace and order, to encourage the restoration of civil authority and to promote, as far as possible, a spirit of reconciliation. His administration of the Department of the Cumberland will certainly compare most favorably with that of General Sheridan in the Fifth Military District. There affairs appear to be in a disturb condition, and a bitter spirit of antagonism seems to have resulted from General Sheridan'a management. He has rendered himself exceedingly obnoxious by the manner in which he has exercised even the powers conferred by Congress, and still more so by a resort to au- thority not granted by law nor necessary to its faithful and efficient execution. His rule has, in fact, been one of absolute tyranny, without reference to the principles of our govern- ment or the nature of our free institutions. " The state of affairs which has resulted from the course he has pursued has seriously interfered with a harmonious, satis- factory and speedy execution of the acts of Congress, and is alone sufficient to' justify a change. His removal, therefore, cannot ' be regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of Con- gress.' for the object is to facilitate their execution, through an officer who has never failed to obey the statutes of the land, and to exact, within his jurisdiction, a like obedience from others 286 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GEANT. It cannot 'be interpreted by the unreconstructed element in the South — those who did all they could to break up this govern- ment by arms, and now wish to be the only element consulted as to the method of restoring order — as a triumph ;' for, as intelligent men, they must know that the mere change of mili- tary commanders cannot alter the law, and that General Thomas will be as much bound by its requirements as General Sheridan. It cannot ' embolden them to renewed opposition to the will of the loyal masses, believing that they have the Executive with them ;' for they are perfectly familiar with the antecedents of the President, and know that he lias not obstructed the faithful execution of any act of Congress. " No one, as you are aware, has a higher appreciation than myself of the services of General Thomas, and no one would be less inc jined to assign him to a command not entirely to his wishes. Knowing him as I do, I cannot think that he will hesitate for a moment to obey any order having in view a com- plete ar.>J speedy restoration of the Union, in the preservation of which he has rendered such important and valuable services. " Gen-'.ral Hancock, known to the whole country as a gallant, able ami patriotic soldier, will, I have no doubt, sustain his high reputation in any position to which he may be assigned. If, as yon observe, the department which he will have is a complicated one, I feel confident that, under the guidance and instruction of General Sherman, General Sheridan will soon be- come familiar with its necessities, and will avail himself of the opportunity afforded by the Indian troubles for the display of the energy, enterprise and daring which gave him so enviable a reputation during our recent civil struggle. " In assuming that it is the expressed wish of the people that General Sheridan should not be removed from his present com- mand, you remark that ' this is a republic^where the will of the people is the law of the land,' and ' beg that their voice may be heard.' This is indeed a republic, based, however, upon a written constitution. That constitution is the combined and expressed will of the people, and their voice is law when reflected in the manner which that instrument prescribes. While one of its provisions makes the President Commander- in-Chief of the army and Navy, another requires that ' he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.' Believing that a change in the command of the Fifth Military District is absolutely necessary for a faithful execution of the law, I have issued the order which is the subject of this correspondence, and in thus exercising a power that inheres in the Executive, under the Constitution, as Commander-in-Chief of the military and naval forces, I am discharging a duty required of me by the will of the nation, as formally declared" in the supreme law of the land. " By his oath the Executive is solemnly bound, ' to the bes+ LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 287 of his ability, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." and although in times of great excitement it may be lost to public view, it is his duty, without regard to the consequences to himself, to hold sacred and to enforce any and all of its provisions. Any other course would lead to the destruction of the republic, for. the Constitution once abolished, there would be no Congress for the exercise of legislative powers, no Executive to see that the laws are faithfully executed, no judiciary to afford to the citizen protection for life, limb and property. Usurpation would inevitably follow, and despotism be fixed upon the people in violation of their combined and expressed wish. "In conclusion, I fail to perceive any 'military.' 'pecuni- ary' or 'patriotic reasons' why this order should not be carried into effect. You will remember that in the first instance I did not consider General Sheridan the most suitable officer for the command of the Fifth Military District, Time has strengthened my convictions upon this point, and has led ine to the conclusion that patriotic considerations demand that lie should be superseded by an officer who. while he will faith- fully execute the law, will at the same time give more general satisfaction to the whole people, white and black, North and South. '• I am, General, very respectfully yours, " Andrew Johnson. " General U. S. Grant, Secretary oj IVar, ad interim:'' It will be observed in the above correspondence that a^ letter is spoken of not given and marked " private." This will be found on page 291. REMOVAL OF GENERAL SICKLES. Only a few days after the removal of General Sheridan, the President relieved General Daniel E. Sickles from command of the Second District, comprising tbe States of North and South Carolina. This was another blow to Grant, as if he had selected the five commanders himself, he could not have chosen better or more faithful men. Grant made no further protest, however, except as a member of the Cabinet, and verbally. President Johnson was not to bo coaxed or driven in these matters. He imagined he was right, and he made his will law, even before he had jumped at a sagacious conclusion, lie bad 2bb LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. no mercy for Grant, who was just then being worked sick with the duties of two great offices on his shoulders, and any number of disturbing private and public incidents and occurrences. General Grant had but one resource, and that was to succumb to his superior officer. He did so, gracefully, but not without a struggle for justice. He issued an order on the first of September, directing officers in the South not to reinstate any civil officer without his (Grant's) permission. This order had the effect to ob- struct the President's policy and to strengthen the laws of Congress. It also prevented the Southern command- ers from falling into errors of omission or commission. GRANT AND SICKLES. In August, 1867, General Daniel E. Sickles, com- mander of the Second Military District, had refused to de- liver up the bodies of certain prisoners to the United States Court, thus denying the jurisdiction of that court in cer- tain instances. This action called forth a flaming procla- mation from the President, ordering that the courts were not to be interfered with, and resulted in the removal of General Sickles. The following dispatches will show exactly where General Grant stood in this important con- troversy : SECRETARY OP WAR TO GENERAL SICKLES. ""Washington, August, 13, 1867. " To Major-General Sickles, Charleston, S. C. "Paragraph 2. General-Order No. 10, current series, must not be construed to bar action of a United States court. The authority conferred on District Commanders does not extend in any respect over the acts of courts of the United States. " Ulysses S. Grant, General.'' GENERAL SICKLES TO GENERAL GRANT. "Head-Quarters Second Military District, "Charleston, S. Q., August, 17, 1867. " Ad.iittaxt-Gexeral U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. " The commanding officer at Wilmington reports to me this LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 289 morning that the United States Mashal for North Carolina is instructed by the Attorney-General to enforce immediately all executions of the United States Courts, and to report the names of persons offering obstructions, with a view to proceed against them under the criminal laws of the United States, and asks for instructions. I advised the commanding officer to be informed that on receipt of the report he had been ordered to make in relation to the pending cases he will receive further instructions, and that meanwhile he will not permit the order or decree of any court to be enforced in violation of existing mili- tary orders. ' These threats of the Attorney-General, reported by the Marshal, are foreshadowed in a false and scandalous article on this subject, published, it seems, not without authority, in the National Intelligencer of Monday last, and to which 1 respectfully invite attention. " I will remark that the question now raised in this matter is not new. Last July, the United States Court in South Carolina ordered me to surrender four citizens, under sentence of death for the murder of three soldiers of the garrison at Anderson Court House. I refused, and the court ordered the Marshal to arrest me. The case having been reported to the Adjutant- General of the Army, the Secretary of War instructed me not to give up the prisoners, nor to submit to arrest, but to take into custody any and all persons attempting either. The President afterwards commuted the sentences of these men to imprisonment for life, when they were sent to Fort Delaware, and there discharged by a Judge of the United States District Court. , „ , „ , , '• If the United States Courts in Rebel States be allowed to control the military authorities, the execution of the Recon- struction acts will, for various reasons, soon become impracti- cable. Some of these courts will begin by declaring these acts of Congress void. "(Signed) "D. E. Sickles, "Major- General Commanding. GENERAL GRANT'S LAST DISPATCH TO GENERAL SICKLES. On the same day the following reply was received from the General-in-Chief: — "War Department, "Washington-, "August 17, 1867. ''Major-General Sickles, Commanding, etc. " Your dispatch of this day received. Follow the course of action indicated by you as right, and regard my dispatch ot the 13th as entirely withdrawn. "(Signed) "U.S. Grant, General. 290 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Early in September, 186?, President Johnson issued his celebrated amnesty proclamation, by which many rebels were at once relieved from the political disabilities that had been entailed upon them by their action during the rebellion. General Grant, in Cabinet council, opposed this proclamation, on the ground that it was entirely un- necessary at the time, as the persons amnestied would not be allowed to vote, at least for the present, and not until Congress should take action in the matter. CUTTING DOWN THE EXPENSES. On the 15th of September, 1867, Grant issued an order directing the district commanders in the South to co-op- erate with the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and to as- sign regular soldiers for duty at all points where practi- cable, so as to insure the mustering out of such volunteer officers as were yet remaining in the service. He also directed that the expenses of both the Freedmen's Bureau and the officers and boards of registration, should be re- duced wherever and whenever it was possible. ULYSSES S. GRANT FIRST NAMED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. On the evening of the lGth of October, 1867, the first Grant club was formed in the United States, in the twelfth ward of the city of Philadelphia. At a subsequent meeting of this club, Colonel William B. Mann was chosen presi- dent, and that gentleman proceeded to organize Grant clubs all over the city. So popular had the General be- come by his recent actions, that the whole effort to have him nominated for the presidency was called the " Grant Hurrah Movement." Indeed it swept the country like a whirlwind. Gradually the great men of the country began to endorse him, and finally it became a foregone conclusion that General Grant would be the choice of the Republican party — of the friends of the lamented Lincoln — to succeed to the presidency by the choice of the people. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 291 On the 11th of December, 1867, the National Union Republican Executive Committee met at Washington, and ordered that the National Republican Convention should meet on Wednesday, May 20th, 1868, at the city of Chicago, Illinois, for the nomination of candidates for President and Yice President of the United States, and this decision added great importance to the Grant move- ment, as he is a citizen of Illinois. PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S REASONS FOR REMOVING SECRETARY STANTON. On the 13th of December, 1867, President Johnson sent a lengthy message to the Senate, giving his reasons for sus- pending Secretary Stanton from office. The principal one was that Mr. Stanton did not act in good earnest with the President, and had hesitated in carving out certain schemes indicated by the chief magistrate as proper and necessary, and as, under the Tenure of Office act, the Presi- dent had not the right to remove the Secretary, he had re- sorted to a suspension as being the only prerogative left to him. He had appointed General Grant as Secretary of War ad interim, and desired to know the pleasure of the Senate in regard to this action. The message was referred to the judiciary committee of the Senate, and time was allowed Secretary Stanton to make a reply to the statements made in the message prejudicial to his public character. Shortly after this, the following copy of a private letter of General Grant relative to the removal of Secretary Stan- ton was transmitted to the House of Representatives. LETTER FROM GENERAL GRANT TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON. [private.] "Head-Quartkrs Armies of the United States, "Washington, D. C, August 1, L867. "His Excellency, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States : . " Sir :— I take the liberty of addressing yon privately on the 292 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. subject af the conversation we had this morning, feeling as I do the great danger to the welfare of the country should you carry out the designs then expressed. First. On the subject of the displacement of the Secretary of War. His removal cannot be effected against his will, without the consent of tbe Senate. It is but a short time since the United States Senate was in session, and why not then have asked for his removal if it was desired ? '• It certainly was the sentiment of the legislative branch of the government to place Cabinet ministers beyond the power of Executive removal, and it is pretty well understood that so far as Cabinet ministers are affected by the Tenure of Office bill, it was intended especially to protect the Secretary of War, in whom the country felt great confidence. The meaning of the law may be explained away by an astute lawyer, but com- mon sense and the views of loyal people will give to it the effect intended by its framers. "Second. On the subject of the removal of the very able commander of the Fifth Military District, let me ask you to consider the effect it would have upon the public. He is universally and deservedly beloved by the people who sustained this government through its trials, and feared by those who would still be the enemies of the government. It fell to the lot of but few men to do as much against an armed enemy as General Sheridan did during the Rebellion ; and it is within the scope of but few in this or any other country to do what he has. His civil administration has given equal satisfaction. He has had difficulties to contend with which no other district commander has encountered. " Almost, if not quite from the day he was appointed Dis- trict Commander to the present time, the press has given out that he was to be removed, and that the administration was dissatisfied with him. This has emboldened the opponents to the laws of Congress within his command to oppose them in every way in their power, and has rendered necessary measures which otherwise may never have been necessary. " In conclusion, allow me to say, as a friend, desiring peace and quiet, and the welfare of the whole country. North and South, that it is. in my opinion, more than the loyal people of the country — I mean those who supported the government during the great Rebellion — will quietly submit to, to see the very man of all others who they have expressed confidence in, removed. I would not have taken the liberty of addressing the Executive of the United States thus, but for the conversa- tion on the subject alluded to in this letter, and from a sense of duty, and feeling that I know I am right in this matter. '• With great respect, your obedient servant, " (Signed) " U. S. Grant, General.'" LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 293 GENERAL GRANT LEAVES THE WAR OFFICE. On the 14th of January, 1868, the Senate of the United States declared that the reasons assigned by the Presi- dent for the suspension of Secretary Stanton were entirely insufficient, and that that gentleman should resume the functions of his office at once. Mr. Stanton accordingly visited the War office and took possession. General Grant delivered every thing into his hands, and notified the President of his action in the following note : " Head-Quarters Army United States, "January 14, 1868. u His Excellency , A. Johnson, President. " Sir : — I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of offi- cial notice, received by me last evening, of the action of the Senate of the United States in the case of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, according to the provisions of "an act regu- lating the tenure of civil offices. My function of Secretary of War ad interim, ceased from the moment of the receipt of the within notice '■ I have the honor to be respectfully your obedient servant, u U. S. Grant, General." This letter when published created the wildest excite- ment, as it proved that Grant was determined to obey the laws to the letter and to bow to the will of the Senate. As to the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office act he said it was not proper for him to judge, as that must be left to the Supreme Court. GENERAL GRANT AND PRESIDENT JOHNSON. Secretary Stanton having quietly received the posses- sion of the War office from General Grant, the President accused the latter of betraying him, and of breaking a promise either expressed or implied. This whole matter is completely eliminated in the following correspondence, which was laid before Congress on the fourth of February, 1868, and which greatly augmented the excitement among the people : 29-i LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. E. M. STANTON" TO SCHUYLER COLFAX. "War Department, February 4, 1868. " Sir : — In answer to the resolution of the House of Repre- sentatives on the 8th, I transmit herewith copies furnished me by General Grant, of the correspondence between him and the President, relating to the Secretary of War, and which he re- ports to be all the correspondence he had with the President on the subject. I have had no correspondence with the Presi- dent, since the 12th of August last. " After the action of the Senate on his alleged reason for my suspension from the office of Secretary of War, 1 resumed the duties of that office, as required by the act of Congress, and have continued to discharge them without any personal or written communication with the President. No orders have been issued from this Department in the name of the Presi- dent, with my knowledge, and 1 have received no orders hum him. " The correspondence sent herewith, embraces all the corres- pondence known to me on the subject referred to in the resolu- tion of the House of Representatives. " I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your obe- dient servant, " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. " Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Represen- tatives." \ GENERAL GRANT TO THE PRESIDENT. "Head-Quarters Armies of the United States, "Washington, D. C, January 'lb, 18G8. "His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, " Dear Sir : — On the 24th instant, I requested you to give me in writing, the instructions which you had previously given me verbally, not to obey any order from Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, unless I knew that it came from yourself. To this written request, I received a message, that has left doubt in my mind of your intentions. To prevent any possible misunderstanding, therefore, I renew the request that you will give me written instructions, and until they are received, will suspend action on your verbal ones. I am compelled to ask these instructions in writing, in consequence of the many gross misrepresentations affecting my personal honor, circidated through the press for the last fortnight, purporting to come from the President, of conversations which occurred either with the President privately, in his office, or in Cabinet meet- ing. What is written, admits of no misunderstanding. In LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 295 view of the misrepresentations referred to, it will be well to state the facts in the case. "Sometime after I assumed the duties of Secretary of War, ad interim, the President asked my views as to the course Mr. Stanton would have to pursue in case the Senate should not concur in his suspension, to obtain possession of his office. My reply was, in substance, that Mr. Stanton would have to appeal to the courts to reinstate him, illustrating my position by citing the grounds I had taken in the case of the Baltimore Police Commissioners. In that case, I did not doubt the tech- nical right of Governor Swann to remove the old Commis- sioners, and to appoint their successors, as the old Commis- sioners refused to give up. However, I contended that no resource was left but to appeal to the courts. Finding that the President was desirous of keeping Mr. Stanton out of office, whether sustained in the suspension or not, I stated that I had not looked particularly into the Tenure of Office bill, but that what I had stated, was a general principle, and if I should change my mind in this particular case, I would inform him of the fact. Subsequently, on reading the Tenure of Office bill closely. 1 found that I could not, without violation of the law, refuse to vacate the office of the Secretary of War, the moment Mr. Stanton was reinstated by the Senate, even though the President ordered me to retain it, which he never did. Taking this view of the subject, and learning on Saturday, the 11th instant, that the Senate had taken up the subject of Stanton's suspension, after some conversation with Lieutenant-General Sherman, and some members of my staff, in which I stated that the law left me no discretion as to my action, should Mr. Stanton be reinstated, and that I intended to inform the Presi- dent, I went to the President for the sole purpose of making this decision known, and did so make it known. In doing this, I fulfilled the promise made in our last preceding conversation on the subject. The President, however, instead of accepting my view of the requirements of the Tenure of Office bill, con- tended that he had suspended Mr. Stanton under the authority given by the Constitution, and that the same authority did not preclude him from reporting as an act of courtesy, his reasons for the suspension to the Senate. That, having been appointed under the authority given by the Constitution, and not under any act of Congress, I could not be governed by the act. I stated that the law was binding on me, constitutional or not, until set aside by the proper tribunal. An hour or more was consumed, each reiterating his views on this subject, until getting late, the President said he would see me again. I did not ag>ee to call again on Monday, nor at any other definite time, nor was I sent for by the President, until the following Tuesday. From the 11th to the Cabinet meeting on the 14th instant, a doubt never entered mv mind about the President's 296 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. fully understanding my position, namely : That if the Senate refused to concur in the suspension of Mr. Stanton, my powers as Secretary of War, ad interim, would cease, and Mr. Stan- ton's right to resume, at once, the functions of his office would, under the law, be indisputable ; and I acted accordingly. With Mr. Stanton I had no communication, direct or indirect, on the subject of his reinstatement, during his suspension. I knew it had been recommended to the President, to scud in the name of Governor Cox, of Ohio, for Secretary of War, and thus save all embarrassment; a proposition that I sin- cerely hoped he would entertain favorably, General Sherman seeing the President at my particular request, to urge this, on the 13th instant. On Tuesday, the day Mr. Stanton re-entered the office of the Secretary of War, General Comstock, who had carried my official letter, announcing that, with Mr. Stanton's reinstatement by the Senate, I bad ceased to be Secretary of War, ad interim, and who saw the President open and read the communication, brought back to me, from the President, a message that he wanted to see me that day, at the Cabinet meeting, after I had made known the fact that I was no longei Secretary of War, ad interim. At this meeting, after opening it as though 1 were a member of his Cabinet, when reminded of the notification already given him, that I was no longer Secretary of War, ad interim, the President gave a version of the conversation alluded to already. In this statement, it was asserted that in both conversations, I had agreed to hold on to the office of Secretary of War, until displaced by the courts, or resign so as to place the President where he would have been, had I never accepted the office. After hearing the Presi- dent through, I staled our conversations substantially as given in this letter. I will add that my conversations before the Cabinet, embraced other matter not pertinent here, and is, therefore, left out. I in nowise admitted the correctness of the President's statement of our conversation, though to soften the evident contradiction my statement gave, I said, alluding to our first conversation on the subject, the President might have understood me the way he said, namely, that I had promised to resign if I did not resist the reinstatement. / made no such promise. " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedien' servant. "(Signed.) " U. S. Grant, General." " Head-Quarters Armies of the United States, " Washington, January 24, 1868. "His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. " Sir : I have the honor, very respectfully, to request to have in writing, the order which the President gave me ver- bally, on Saturday, the 19th instant, to disregard the orders of LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 297 the Honorable E. M. Stanton, as Secretary of War, nntil I knew from the President himself, that they were his orders. " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, "(Signed.) " U. S. Grant, General." "The following is the indorsement on the above note: x " As requested in this communication. General Grant is in- structed, in writing, not to obey any order from the War Department, assumed to be issued by the direction of the President, unless such order is known by the General com- manding the armies of the United States, to have been autho- rized by the Executive. " (Signed.) " Andrew Johnson. " January 29, 1868." " Head-Quarters A.rmies of the United States, " Washington, January 30, 1868. " His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. " Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the return of my note of the 24th instant, with your indorsement thereon, that I am not to obey any order from the War Department, as- sumed to be issued by direction of the President, unless such order is known by me to have been authorized by the Execu- tive, and in reply thereto, to say that I am informed, by the Secretary of War, that he has not received from the Execu- tive any order or instructions, limiting or impairing his autho- rity to issue orders to the army, as has heretofore been his practice, under the law and customs of the department. While his authority to issue orders from the War Department, is not countermanded, it will be satisfactory evidence to me that any orders issued from the War Department ' by direction of the President,' are authorized by the Executive. "1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " (Signed.) " U. S. Grant, General." THE PRESIDENT TO GENERAL GRANT. "Executive Mansion, January 31, 1868 " General : — I have received your communication of the 28th instant, renewing your request of the 24th, that I should repeat in a written form, my verbal instructions of the 19th instant, viz. : ' That you obey no order from the Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, as Secretary of War, unless you have in- formation that it was issued by the President's direction.' In submitting this request, with which I complied on the 29th instant, you take occasion to allude to recent publications in reference to the circumstances connected with the vacation by 298 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. yourself, of the office of Secretary of War, ad interim, and with the view of correcting the statements which you term ' gross misrepresentations,' and give at length your own re- collections of the facts under which, without the sanction of the President, from whom you had received and accepted the appointment, you yielded the Department of War to the pre- sent incumbent. As stated in your communication, sometime after you had assumed the duties as Secretary of War, ad in- terim, we interchanged views respecting the course that should he pursued in the event of the non-concurrence by the Senate in the suspension of Mr. Stanton. I sought that interview, calling myself at the War Department. My sole object in thus bringing the subject to your attention was to ascertain defi- nitely what would be your own action, should such an attempt be made for his restoration to the War Department. That object was accomplished, for the interview terminated with the distinct understanding that, if upon reflection, you should pre- fer not to become a party to the controversy, or should conclude that it ivould be your duty to surrender to Mr. Stanton, upon action in his favor by the Senate, you were to return the office to me. prior to a decision by the Senate, in order that, if 1 de- sired to do so, 1 might designate some one to succeed you. It must have been apparent to you, that had not this understand- ing been reached, it was my purpose to relieve you from the further discharge of duties as Secretary of \V r ar, ad interim, and to appoint some other person in that capacity. Other conversations upon the subject ensued, all of them having, on my part, the same object, and leading to the same conclusion as the first. It is not necessary, however, to refer to any of them, excepting that of Saturday, the 11th instant, mentioned in your communication. As it was then known that the Senate had proceeded in the case o!' Edwin M. Stanton are ringing in these walls to day. From his grave the dead Stanton rebukes the living S 'nator. In the name of millions of our loyal people, in the name of his own comrades, the living and the dead, in LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GEANT. 337 the name of the dead Secretary of War, New York endorses the nomination, and asks God's blessing on the cause." The roll was then called, and when the vote of "Wy- oming had been recorded, the chairman of the Conven- tion, Judge Thomas Settle, of North Carolina, said : — " It is a pleasure to the Chair to announce that Ulysses S. Grant has received 752 votes, the entire vote of every State and Territory in the Union." The announcement was received with the greatest manifestations of rejoicing by the vast concourse in the Academy, and having been made almost at the same moment to the thousands of persons who were awaiting the glad tidings in the streets adjacent to the building, the cheers from within and without mingled, the music of the different bands appeared to emanate from one im- mense set of instruments, and the cannon firing near by, all combined, made a scene of excitement, enthusiasm and noise, such as is rarely witnessed. Such a wonderful gathering has never before been witnessed, whether we consider it in point of numbers, in enthusiasm, or in the unanimity with which the hero-President, U. S. Grant, was selected for another term of four years. Opponents of the administration had, for months before, predicted that the Convention would be composed of persons who were holding office under the Government, but, with a very few exceptions, the delegates were not only not office holders, who would naturally have had their mo- tives in supporting the President commented on, but were solid business men, of nearly every avocation, whose only object and ambition was, to have a faithful servant properly rewarded. He deserved the compli- ment so unanimously tendered, and the unanimity of the nomination is only a precursor of his victory at the election in November. 338 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. THE PLATFORM. The following platform of principles was adopted unanimously by the Convention : " The Republican -party of the United States assembled in National Convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June. 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its position upon the questions before the country. 1. "During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with grand courage the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic rebellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political offences, and warmly welcomed all who proved loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily decreased with firm hand the resultant disorders of a great war, and initiated a wise and hu- mane policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar vast enterprises have been generously aided and suc- cessfully conducted, the public lands freely given to actual settlers, immigration protected and encouraged, and a full ac- knowledgment of the naturalized citizens' rights secured from European powers. A uniform national currency has been pro- vided, repudiation frowned down, the national credit sustained under the most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds nego- tiated at lower rates. The revenues have been carefully col- lected and honestly applied. Despite annual large reduc- tions of the rates of taxation, the public debt has been reduced during General Grant's Presidency at the rate of a hundred millions a year, great financial crises have been avoided, and peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorably com- posed, and the honor and power of the nation kept in high re- spect throughout the world. This glorious record of the past is the party's best pledge for the future. We believe the peo- ple will not entrust the Government to any party or combina- tion of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted every step of this beneficent progress. 2. "The recent amendments to the National Constitution should be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated because they are law, and should be carried out ac- cording to their spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforce- ment of which can safely be entrusted only to the party that secured those amendments. 3. " Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 339 of all civil, political, and public rights should be established and effectually maintained throughout the Union, by efficient and appropriate State and Federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of race, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude. 4. "The National Government should seek to maintain honorable peace with all nations, protecting its citizens every where, and sympathizing with all peoples who strive for greater liberty. 5. " Any system of the civil service under which the subordi- nate positions of the Government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally demoralizing, and we. therefore, favor a reform of the system by laws which" shall abolish the evils of patronage, and make honesty, efficiency, and fidelity the es- sential qualifications for public positions, without practically creating a life-tenure of office. 6. " We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set apart for free homes for the people. 7. -'The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pensions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate balance for the reduction of the principal, and that revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importa- tions, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the indus- tries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country. 8. " We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and the widows and orphans of those who died for their country are entitled to the care of a generous and grate- ful people. We favor such additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the government to all our soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who, in the line of duty, became disabled, without regard to the length of service or the cause of such discharge. 9. " The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers concerning allegiance — 'once a subject always a sub- ject' — having, at last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned, and the American idea of the indivi- dual's right to transfer allegiance having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our Government to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the as- sumption of unauthorized claims by their former governments, and we urge continued careful encouragement and protection of voluntary immigration. 10. "The franking privilege ought to be abolished, and the way prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage. 840 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 11. "Among the questions which press for attention is that which concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Re- publican party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor — the creator of capital — the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civilization. 12. "We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled an imperative duty in their measures for the suppres- sion of violent and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box, and therefore they are entitled to the thanks of the nation. 13. " We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form or disguise, as a national crime. Y\~e witness with pride the reduction of the principal of the debt, and of the rates of interest upon the balance; and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will be perfected by a speedy re- sumption of specie payment. 14. "The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction, and the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional rights should be treated with respect- ful consideration. 15. " We heartily approve the action of Congress in extend- ing amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land. 16. "The Republican party proposes to respect the rights reserved by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegated by them to the State and to the Federal Government. It disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils, by interference with rights not sur- rendered by the people to either the State or National Govern- ment. 17. " It is the duty of the Federal Government to adopt such measures as may tend to encourage and restore American com- merce and shipbuilding. 18. " We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest pur- pose, the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorrupt- ible integrity, and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him to the heart of the American people, and with him at our head we start to-day upon a new inarch to victory. I!*. "Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice-Presidency. known to the whole land from the early days of the great struggle of liberty as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legislator and representative man of American institutions, is worthy to associate with our great leader and share the honors which we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon them." LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 341 THE NOMINATION RATIFIED. On the evening of the nomination an immense ratifi- cation meeting was held in Broad street, Philadelphia, near the Academy of Music, and for hours the -wide highway was thronged with the largest concourse of citizens and strangers that ever assembled in the City of Brotherly Love. Among the resolutions adopted at the meeting were the following: "Resolved: That the National Convention has given true ex- pression to the sentiments of the Republican Party by the un- animous re-nomination of President Ulysses S. Grant. In his military career we recall the unwavering and devoted labors of our greatest soldier; in his civil administration, the rule of our most distinguished citizen, under his Chief magistracy the na- tional debt and national taxes have been reduced, prosperity has increased, and our honor and power have been maintained at home and abroad ; and grateful for his services, and recog- nizing his ability, we pledge ourselves to his triumphant re- election. '■Resolved: That in Henry Wilson we have a candidate for Yice-President endeared to the country by years of wise states- manship; an early and constant advocate of equal rights; an unflinching supporter of the Union, and an earnest and out- spoken friend of the laborer of every race and color." PRESIDENT GRANT OFFICIALLY NOTIFIED OF HIS NOMINATION. On the 10th of June, the President and Vice-Presi- dents of the National Convention visited the Executive Mansion at Washington for the purpose of officially notifying President Grant of his re-nomination. After the ceremony of introduction had been performed, Judge Settle, the President of the Convention, said: — Mr. President. — We are before 3-011 to perform a very agreeable duty. We are here to officially inform you of your unanimous nomination for the Presidency by the National Republican Convention assembled in Philadelphia on the Gth instant. Beyond this I do not kuow that we have anything to say. 342 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. The following letter was then handed to the Presi- dent. "Washington, June lOiTi, 1872. " To the President: — ,s7,\ — i n Pursuance of our instructions, we the undersigned Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the National Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia on the 5th and Gth inst., have the honor to inform you of your nomination for re-election to the office of President of the United States. As it is impossible to give an adequate idea of the enthusiasm which prevailed, or the unanimity which hailed you as the choice of the people, we can only add that you received the entire vote of every State and Territory. " Regarding your re-election necessary to the peace and con- tinued prosperity of the country, we ask your acceptance of the nomination. THOMAS SETTLE, President of the National Republican Convention. Paul Strobach, of Alabama, "] Elisha Baxter, of Arkansas, 0. A. Sargent, of California, I Vice Sabin L. Sage, of Connecticut, Presidents. Isaac Jump, of Delaware, Benjamin Conley, of Georgia, Emory A. Storrs, of Illinois. General Solomon D. Meredith, of Indiana. W. H. Serves, of Iowa. John C. Carpenter, of Kansas. R. M. Kelly, of Kentucky. Lewis Frazier, of Louisiana. P. F. Rohey, of Maine. Thomas Kelso, of Maryland. A. H. Rice, of Massachusetts. Eber B. "Ward, of Michigan. C. T. Benedict, of Minnesota. R. W. Flannery, of Mississippi. J. F. Benjamin, of Missouri. John S. Bowen", of Nebraska. Wm. II. G. Hackett, of New Hampshire. Dudley S. Gregory, of New Jersey. II. B. Claflin, of New York. Edward Cantwell, of North Carolina. Jacob C. Moehler, of Ohio. John F. Booth, of Oregon. H. W. Oliver, of Pennsylvania. General A. E. Burnkide, cd' Rhode Island. A. J. Rensier, of South Carolina. LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 343 William H. Wisner. of Tennessee. A. B.Norton, of Texas. J. Fairbanks, of Vermont. Charles. J. Ma lord, of Virginia. Charles Horton, of West Virginia. General Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin. Dennis Bgan, of Florida. George M. Chiloott, of Colorado. John F. Cook, of District of Columbia. John R. McBride, of Idaho. ' John W. Donnellon, of Wyoming. J. F. Hollister, of Utah. F. Breeden, of New Mexico. L. B. Church, of Montana." The President said : " Gentlemen, I am not now ready to respond to your letter, but will take an early oppor- tunity to do so in writing." Later in the day he addressed them the following letter : "Executive Mansion, ] "Washington, D. C, June 10th, 1872. j " Hon. Thomas Settle, President of National Republican Con- vention ; Paul Strobach, Elisha Baxter, C. A. Sargent and others, Vice-Presidents: — "Gentlemen, — Your letter of this date, advising me of the action of the Convention held in Philadelphia, Pa., on the 5th and 6th of this month, and of my unanimous nomination for the Presidency by it. is received. " I accept the nomination, and through you return my heart- felt thanks to your constituents for this mark of their confi- dence and support. If elected in November and protected by a kind Providence in health and strength to perforin the duties of the high trust conferred, I promise the same zeal and devo- tion to the good of the whole people for the future of my offi- cial life as shown in the past. Past experience may guide me in avoiding mistakes inevitable with novices in all professions and in all occupations. '•When relieved from the responsibilities of my present trust, by the election of a successor, whether it be at the end of this term or next, I hope to leave to him as Executive a country at peace within its own borders, at peace with outside nations, with a credit at home and abroad, and without embar- rassing questions to threaten its future prosperity. " With the expression of a desire to see a speedy healing of all bitterness of feeling between sections, parties or races of 344 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. citizens, and the time when the title of citizen carries with it all the protection and privileges to the humblest that it does to the most exalted, I subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT." ABILITIES OP PRESIDENT GRANT. Of all men Ulysses S. Giant deserves the commenda- tion, endorsement and support of the American people. No one labored more assiduously to break the power of the Rebellion than General Grant. He entered the service to lend his abilities and his personal efforts to this one great end. With a pure heart, a steady nerve, an abiding faith in the justness of the cause, and a re- solution which nothing could shake, he moved forward in the discharge of his duties. Step lyy step, he rose to the exalted and responsible position of Lieutenant- General ; and finally, a grateful Congress gave him the highest rank known in military service. To him were confided the destinies of our armies, and the welfare of the country. He was equal to the task, and he at- tained a prominence in history second to no military chieftain who ever lived. As President he has made a record which is unsurpassed in its brilliancy. His public and private character is spotless, and his sole ambition has been to serve his country, and further the holy cause of American liberty. No one dares question his patriotism or bravery, his skill, his modesty, his disinterestedness or his firmness. To him is universal^ attributed the final triumph of our arms in the late struggle, the result of strategy the most skilful, combinations the largest and most over- whelming, and courage, persistent, self-reliant and dauntless. Whether as a subordinate and in the con- duct of isolated campaigns, or at the head of the whole army, and directing its entire movements — reticent, modest, thoughtful, discreet ; the wise man, who says LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 345 little and does much; of "imagination all compact," he pursued an unbroken career of triumph, without having had to repair a single error. Not only may we therefore place him as the foremost among our military men— and this itself is praise in the extreme — but we may also claim for him an equal, perhaps the highest place among all the generals of modern times. It was no common foe he conquered, no ordinary war he fin- ished, no trifling cause he maintained, and when called by his fellow-citizens to the highest office in their gift he entered upon a civic career with a determination which he has fully carried out, to relieve his country- men of their burdens, and in every way to advance the prosperity of the nation. The people of the United Skates, well aware that a man might be a great and successful military comman- der, ami yet not be the possessor of the qualifications necessary to make him an available or successful Chief Magistrate of the nation, naturally watched with anxiety the early official course of the new President, satisfied that he would meet their expectations, willing to pardon trivial errors, and yet fearful that the change from mili- tary to civic responsibility might result in something that would lead them to regret that they had promoted him to the highest position within their gift. Three years and a half of his allotted term have however ex- pired, and w T e find all fears have been proved to have been baseless, and the highest expectations have been realized. Equall}- great as the ruler of the Republic has he been found who directed so successfully our enormous armies during the rebellion. Whatever has tended to the welfare of the country, and aided in re- storing peace and prosperity to all sections, has met with his prompt approval. Under his administration the laws have been executed to the letter, and no more 3i6 LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. convincing proof of the admirable manner in which he has performed every trust is needed, than the fact that he has now in his aspirations for re-election the support of many citizens of the South who were most prominent in the ranks of his opponents when he was leading the forces of loyalty and patriotism to victory during the late war. When General Grant became President, he declared that his policy in all things should be con- trolled by the wishes of the majority of the people, and notwithstanding the growls and slanders of the mino- rity, he has never forgotten his declaration. To the workingmen of the country he has ever been a stead- fast friend, and he has by his successful financial course convinced the capitalist, that the only certain plan of securing a reduction of the enormous public debt in- curred in our struggle for the salvation of the Republic, and at the same time accomplish a diminution of taxa- tion, is to continue in the Presidency for four years lon- ger the man who has proved his ability to accomplish so much pecuniary good. The political organization which in 1868 so earnestly combated the nominee of the Republican party for the Presidency, and which then so signally tailed, is, in 1872, strengthened by a band of office-seekers who have been disappointed in their aspirations ; but from far and near, from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, come the satisfactory tidings that Ulysses S. Grant is even more beloved and respected than he has ever been, that his course and policy as Chief Executive is generally ap- proved, that the slanders of his enemies are estimated at their proper value, and cannot injure his fair fame and honorable record, and that he will be re-elected by a large majority of the electoral vote. THE LIFE OF HOK HENRY WILSON. Henry Wilson, the nominee of the Republican Party for Vice-President, is no stranger to the people of the country, he having for more than thirty years been identified to a greater or lesser extent with the political history of the nation. In the little town of Farmington, New Hampshire, on the 16th of February, 1812, an infant boy was born to two of the most humble and poorest residents. With all their poverty, the little stranger was not unwelcome, and having been as early as practicable christened with the name of Henry, he continued to grow under the limited care of industrious parents until infancy and childhood had added a decade to his years. It was at that period of his life, a time when children generally require the most offices of love and attention from those to whom they owe their exist- ence, that little Henry Wilson's parents found it impossible to longer retain him as a member of a house- hold to which every addition caused an increased cost, small as the extra expenditure might be, and with sor- rowing hearts it was decided to bind him out to a neighboring farmer as an apprentice. 22 347 348 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. During his apprenticeship he was faithful to the obligations his parents had assumed in his name, and by availing himself of every opportunity he could grasp, more especially at night when others were sleeping, he not only became self-instructed in the rudiments of education, but by the time that his term of service had expired, he had intelligently read several hundreds of instructive volumes, all works that could not give useful information of some kind being carefully omitted from the youth's catalogue. The disadvantages sur- rounding his youthful work is best told in a speech he made at Great Falls, N. H.,.on February 24th, 1872. He said : " I left my home at ten years of age, and served an apprenticeship of eleven years, receiving a month's schooling each 3'ear, and at the end of eleven years of hard work, a yoke of oxen and six sheep, which brought me eighty-four dollars. Eighty-four dollars for eleven 3'ears of hard toil ! I never spent the amount of one dollar in rnoney, counting every penny, from the time I was born until I was twenty-one years of age. I know what it is to travel weary miles, and ask my fellow-men to give me leave to toil. "I remember that in October, 1833, 1 walked into your village from my native town, and went through your mills, seeking employment. If anybody had offered me nine dollars a month, I should have accepted it gladly. I went to Salmon Falls, I went to Dover, I went to Newmarket, and tried to get work, without success, and I returned home footsore and weaiy, but not dis- couraged. I put my pack on m} 7 back, and walked to where I now live in Massachusetts, and learned a mechanic's trade. I know the hard lot that toiling men have to endure in this world, and every pulsation of my heart, every conviction of my judgment, every aspira- LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 349 tion of my soul, puts me on the side of the toiling men of my country — aye, of all countries." Attaining the age when in pursuance to legal agree- ment he could consider himself a freeman, he deter- mined to forsake a country life, and to seek one in the more exciting and busy town of Natick, Massachusetts ; and bidding adieu to the hills and dales of the section in which he had passed his boyish days, he sought and obtained employment with a shoemaker in JSatick. Persistent industry and uninterrupted interest in his new vocation soon made him an efficient maker and mender of shoes, and at the end of three years he was able to carry out his long coveted desire of obtaining a collegiate education ; and throwing aside his lapstone, he, with the small sum saved from his labors, returned to New Hampshire, and at twentj^-four years of age entered Strafford Academy, full of determination and enthusiasm. A terrible blow, however, was in store for him. For security he had, when enrolling his name upon the list of pupils at the Academy, given his money • — all that he possessed in the world — to what he con- sidered safe hands; but unfortunately his confidence was misplaced, and the holder becoming insolvent, the funds were wholly lost. Recovering from the shock, and painfully aware that a young man, without money or friends who could assist him, could not remain at an educational institution of the kind he was attending, he bade farewell to its halls, and returned to Natick, where for a time he taught school, and then engaging in the business of shoe manufacturing, began to realize the rewards of industry. During the exciting Presidential campaign of 1810, Mr. Wilson took an active part in behalf of Harrison and Tyler, making, during the canvass, more than three score of speeches, and earning for himself a reputation 350 LIFE OF HOIST. HENRY WILSON. as au eloquent and popular political speaker which ex- tended throughout the length and breadth of the com- monwealth of which he was such a worthy citizen. His praiseworthy efforts and his powers of oratory were appreciated by the people among whom he resided, and iu the following autumn he was elected to the State House of Representatives, an honor which was again accorded in the following year. In 184-4 and 1845, he was a member of the State Senate, and at the expiration of the term was again elected to the lower branch of the Legislature. During the several years in which he represented his district in the State councils, he, by word and action, alwa3 7 s showed himself to be a conscientious, determined oppo- nent of slavery, and the liberal, uncompromising friend of the colored race. He fearlessty advocated the ad- mission of colored children into the public schools and the granting of equal rights to all men ; he earnestly spoke in advocacy of the protection of colored seamen in South Carolina ; and no man was more ardent or sin- cere in his opposition to the annexation of Texas, his zeal and energy backed by his detestation of the system of Southern bondage having prompted him to use suc- cessful efforts to get up a convention in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, at which a committee was ap- pointed which secured nearly one hundred thousand signatures to a protest against the admission of Texas as a slave state, which protest was subsequently taken to Washington by Mr. Wilson and his friend and coad- jutor, the renowned poet, Whittier. / He also introduced and had passed, by a large ma- jority, a resolution declaring the unalterable hostility of the State of Massachusetts to the further extension and longer continuance of slavery in this country, and her determination to invoke all Constitutional means LIFE OF HON". HENRY WILSON. 351 for the removal of the curse, and in introducing the resolution, he delivered in its support an argument which was pronounced, hy competent journalistic critics, to be the most complete and exhaustive that had been made by any orator or statesman who had spoken upon the question. In 1848, Mr. Wilson was a delegate to the Whig National Convention, and during its deliberations gave a striking evidence of the firmness and independence for which he is noted, when he thinks he is right. The Convention, for reasons acceptable to the majority of its members, deemed proper to reject what is known as the Wilmot Proviso, a proceeding which was so dis- tasteful to the delegate from Massachusetts that he de- nounced the action without stint, and retiring from the hall, returned to his constituency, to whom he issued an address explaining and vindicating the step he had taken, and immediate^ enlisted his valuable services in promoting the organization of the Free Soil party, at the same time purchasing the Boston Journal, of which during the succeeding two 3'ears, he was the principal editor. In 1849, he was chosen chairman of the Free Soil State Committee of Massachusetts, a post which he filled for four years with credit and to the great advan- tage of the organization, having, among other judicious movements, originated the well-known coalition, which made Mr. Boutwell, the present Secretary of the Trea- sury, Governor of Massachusetts, and Messrs. Sumner and Rantoul United States Senators. In 1850, he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and was the Free Soil nominee for Speaker; and in 1851 and 1852, was a member of the State Senate and the pre- siding officer of that body. In 1852, he was a delegate to the Free-Soil National 352 LIFE OF HON". HENRY WILSON. Convention at Pittsburg, Peiina., and was made presi- dent of the convention, and subsequently was chosen chairman of the National Committee. In the same } r ear he was the Free-Soil candidate for Congress in the eighth district of Massachusetts, and, although his party- was in a minority in the district of nearly eight thou- sand, he was defeated by only ninety-two votes. He was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 1853, having been chosen by the town of Berlin, as well as by his fellow-citizens of Natick, to represent them, and during its sessions was a most at- tentive and active member. In the 3 r ears 1853 and 1854, he was the nominee of the Free-Soil party for Governor of his State, but was defeated, and in 1855 he was elected to the United States Senate, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Edward Everett. HIS CAREER IN THE SENATE. From the hour that Henry Wilson, the Natick cob- bler, took his place in the Senate at Washington, his name acquired a national interest, as he had scarcely taken the oath of office before an opportunity occurred to convince the learned men from all sections of the country who then composed the Senate, and the sensi- ble people of the nation, that a statesman who would soon wield vast influence had been entrusted with a seat in the Capitol. His life hitherto had been devoted, to a great extent, to the amelioration of the condition of the colored race, and he appreciated the innumerable advantages accorded by his honorable promotion. The projects for repealing the odious fugitive slave law, and for abolishing slavery in the District of Colnm bia and in the Territories, gave him the occasion and the inspiration ; and of all the oratorical displays and LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 353 complete arguments made by this distinguished gentle- man, but few, if any, surpass those -delivered from time to time during the debates on these bills. Advocating measures in opposition to the pernicious system which gave one man the right to hold another as a chattel, and to absolve under the hammer all the relations that exist between husband and wife, and parent and child, was at that time attended with innumerable dangers ; but the Massachusetts champion never flinched ; and when, in the spring of 1856, his colleague, Charles Sumner, was assaulted in the Senate chamber b} r Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, for words spoken in debate, Mr. Wilson, rising in his place, denounced the act as " bru- tal, murderous and cowardly." These words, publicly uttered as they were, drew forth a challenge from Brooks, to which Mr. Wilson replied, in language which was enthusiastically endorsed by the people of the nation, and which convinced Mr. Sumner's assailant so entirely of the fearlessness of the speaker, that fur- ther proceedings in the matter were permanently sus- pended. Mr. Wilson's response was as follows : " 1 have always regarded duelling as a lingering relic of barbarous civilization, which the law of the country has branded as a crime. While, therefore, I religiously be- lieve in the right of self-defence, in its broadest sense, the law of my country and the matured convictions of my whole life, alike forbid me to meet you for the pur- pose indicated in your letter." On another occasion he said to a Southerner who menaced him with a revolver, " Threats have no terrors for freemen. I am ready to meet argument with argument, scorn with scorn, and, if need be, blow with blow. It is time the champions of slavery in the South should realize the fact that the past is theirs, the future ours." During his entire term he received the endorsement 354 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON". of the citizens of his State, even those who were his political opponents being willing to concede that his ac- tions were always prompted by the most honorable and commendable motives. His speeches were numerous, but always to the point, and among the most elaborate were those upon the Kansas matters, the Treasury note bill, the expenses of the Government, the Tariff, the Pa- cific Railroad, and other topics of National importance. A lengthy and magnificent argument in defence of free labor, in reply to Senator Hammond of South Carolina, attained an immense circulation through the free States. In 1859, he was rewarded for his valuable services by a re-election to the Senate, and when that body two months later assembled, be was selected by Vice-Presi- dent Hamlin, as the most suitable person to fill the po- sition of Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, a post which the threatened civil war promised to make one of extreme responsibility and unremitting labor. Mr. Wilson was prepared for the emergency, and accepted the trust with the determination to do his full duty. He had been a member of the Committee for a few years, and had become thoroughly familiar with all matters connected with the organization of the army, so that, when the threats of rebellion were no longer unbelieved murmurings, and the attack on Sum- ter assured the patriotic residents of the North, East, and West, that a war of treason had actually com- menced, the Chairman of the Military Committee was able to bring experience and knowledge of details to his work. It may be stated here, that Mr. Wilson had always taken a deep interest in military matters, and had filled the positions of Major, Colonel and Briga- dier-General of the Militia of Massachusetts. During the long years of war, while hundreds of thousands of gallant men were battling in defence of their imperilled LIFE OF HON. HEN'RY WILSON". 355 country, and while millions of others were either en- rolling their names upon the records of patriotism as defenders of the Union or as aiders and abettors in a holy cause, Mr. "Wilson was alwa} - s at work origina- ting or promoting legislation having for its object the organizing or governing of the land forces, or consider- ing the thousands of names submitted to the committee by the Senate, to which body they had been nominated for appointment b}' President Lincoln. At the earliest moment practicable after the first call for volunteers was issued, in the spring of 1861, Mr. Wilson hastened to Massachusetts to attend some business connected with his official duties, but he had scarcely reached Boston before he received the astound- ing tidings that the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment had been attacked and fired upon while passing through Baltimore. He left the next day for Washington, and reaching New York, sailed immediately afterwards with some forces leaving for Washington, and found General Butler at Annapolis, and communication with the Capi- tal closed. At the request of General Butler he returned to New York, obtained several heavy cannon for the protection of Annapolis, and then went to Washington, where he remained until the meeting of Congress, franking letters for the soldiers, laboring in the hospi- tals, and preparing militaiy measures to be presented when Congress should meet. The session of Congr< ss commenced on the fourth of July, and on the second day Mr. Wilson introduced some important bills and a joint resolution, which, although it failed to be adopted, had most of its provisions subsequently incor- porated into another measure. One of the bills authorized the employment of five hundred thousand volunteers for three years, to aid in enforcing the laws ; a second increased the regular 356 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. army by the addition of twenty-five thousand men, and a third provided for the "better organization of the militaiy establishment." These measures were referred to the Military Committee, expeditiously acted upon, promptly reported back by Mr. Wilson, slightly amended, and enacted into laws. The joint resolution referred to above as having failed to pass, proposed to ratify and confirm certain acts of the President for the suppression of insurrection and rebellion. He also introduced and advocated the passage of a bill which authorized the President to accept five hundred thou- sand more volunteers, and to appoint such number of Major-Generals and Brigadier-Generals of volunteers as in his judgment might be required; also hills "to authorize the President to appoint additional aids-de- camp," containing a provision abolishing flogging in the army; "to make appropriations for the military service ; " " to provide for the purchase of arms, ord- nance and ordnance stores ; " " to increase the corps of engineers," and " to increase the pay of privates," which raised the pay of the soldiers from eleven to thirteen dollars per month, and at the same time had a provision adopted which provided that all the acts of the President respecting the army and navy should be approved, legalized and made valid. At the close of the session, General Scott, who neces- sarily had ample and excellent opportunity to know of what he spoke, declared that Senator Wilson had done more work in that short session than all the chairmen of the military committees had done in a score of years So impressed indeed was the veteran with the ability and usefulness of Mr. Wilson, that, without conferring with that gentleman, he, as soon as the extra session of Congress was over, recommended President Lincoln to change the Senatorial toga for a military uniform, LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON 357 having on the shoulder a single star ; but the person most interested respectfully declined the honor, express- ing his preference for a seat in the Senate to the posi- tion of Brigadier-General of Volunteers. He did not object, however, to taking the field in a less prominent position, and while arranging with General McClellan for an appointment upon his staff as a volunteer aid-de- camp, with the rank of Colonel, he was importuned by high Government officials to raise in his native State a regiment of infantry, a battery, and a company of sharp shooters. Feeling that he might, by his actual presence at the head of a command during the Con- gressional recess, add to the enthusiasm of the gallant men who were anxiously awaiting within the borders of the Commonwealth the announcement that their ser- vices were needed at the front, he went to Massachu- setts, addressed a stirring appeal to his fellow-citizens, and in little more than five weeks completed the organi- zation of one regiment of infantry, one company of sharp-shooters, and two batteries, and filled nine com- panies of another regiment, in all nearly two thousand three hundred men. He was commissioned Colonel of the full regiment (the Twenty-second), and with the greater portion of the command he had enlisted went to Washington, and was assigned to General Martin- dale's Brigade, in General Fitz John Porter's Division, stationed in Virginia. • After serving for a brief period he, at the solicitation of the Secretary of War, resigned his commission, and took the position of volunteer aid, with the rank of^ Colonel, on the staff of General McClellan. The Secre- tary of War, in pressing him to resign his commission and take this position, said that he did so because he believed that it would enable him, by practical observa- tion of the condition and actual experience of the 353 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. organization of the army, the better to prepare the proper legislation to give the highest development and efficiency to the military forces. He served on General McClellan's staff until the 9th of January, 1862, when the necessity of his presence in the Senate compelled him to resign. Daring the pending session Mr. Wilson introduced, and was instrumental in passing numerous bills of great importance to the nation, among them the follow- ing: "relating to courts-martial;" "to provide for allotment certificates;" "for the better organization of the signal department of the army;" "for the ap- pointment of sutlers in the volunteer service, and defining their duties;" "authorizing the President to assign the command of troops in the same field or department, to officers of the same grade, without re- gard to seniority.;" "to increase the efficiency of the medical department of the army ; " " to facilitate the discharge of enlisted men for physical disability ; " "to provide additional medical officers of the volunteer ser- vice ; " "to encourage enlistments in the regular army, and the volunteer forces;" "for the presentation of medals of honor to enlisted men of the army and volun- teer forces, who have distinguished, or who may distin- guish themselves in battle during the present rebellion;" "to define the pay and emoluments of certain officers of the army, and for other purposes;" and "to amend the act calling forth the militia to execute the laws, suppress insurrection and repel invasion," the last authorizing for the first time the enrolment in the militia, and the drafting of negroes, and empowering the President to accept, organize, and arm colored men for military purposes. Mr. Wilson's activity and zeal were acknowledged and complimented officially and unofficially, but by no LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 359 one was the verdict of the Government and of the people more forcibly expressed than it was by Simon Cameron, the Secretaiy of War, in a letter to Senator Wilson, written in January, 1862, iu which he said : " No man, in my opinion, in the whole country, has done more to aid the War Department in preparing the mighty army now under arms, than yourself ; and, be- fore leaving this city, I think it nry duty to offer to you my sincere thanks, as its late head. As chairman of the Military Committee of the Senate, your services were invaluable. At the first call for troops, 3-011 came here ; and up to the meeting of Congress, a period of more than six months, your labors were incessant ; sometimes in encouraging the administration by assu- rance of support from Congress, by encouraging volun- teering in your own State, by raising a regiment your- self, when other men began to fear that compulsory drafts might be necessary ; and in the Senate, by preparing the bills and assisting to get the necessary appropriations for organizing, clothing, arming, and supplying the army, you have been constantly and profitably employed in the great cause of putting down this unnatural rebellion." During the succeeding 3'ears of the rebellion, and until the great chieftain, whose name is now upon the same ticket with the honored statesman submitted for the suffrage of the Republican party, brought the san- o-uinary struggle to a close, Mr. Wilson labored with unabated earnestness and energy, and during each successive session of Congress introduced and assisted in their passage important bills, too numerous to men- tion in detail, but among them the following: "An act to facilitate the discharge of disabled soldiers, and the inspection of convalescent camps and hospitals;" "to improve the organization of the cavalry forces;" 360 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. " to authorize an increase in the number of Major and Brigadier- Generals ; " "for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes;" "to establish a uniform system of ambulances in the armies ;" " to increase the pay of soldiers in the United States army, and for other purposes," raising the pay of pri- vates to sixteen dollars a month ; "to provide for the examination of certain officers of the army;" "to pro- vide for the better organization of the Quartermaster's Department;" "an act in addition to the several acts for enrolling and calling out the national forces ; " " to incorporate a national military and naval asylum for the relief of totally disabled men of the volunteer forces ; " " to incorporate the National Freedmen's Saving Bank ; " " to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences ;" " to encourage enlistments, and promote the efficiency of the military and naval forces;" "to amend the act entitled, 'an act for enrolling and calling out the national forces,' " — this bill made negroes a part of the militia, authorized the President to receive, into the military or naval service, persons of African descent, and made free such persons, their mothers, wives, and children, if they owed service to any persons who gave aid to the rebellion ; — and a joint resolution " toencom*- age the employment of disabled and discharged sol- diers." He also had the Army Appropriation bill of June, 1864, amended, so that all persons of color who had been, or who might be mustered into the military service, should receive the same uniform, clothing, arms, equipments, camp equipage, rations, medical attendance and pay, as other soldiers, from the 1st day of January, 1864. While attending to his duties as Chairman of the Military Committee, he did not forget the civil rights and requirements of the class whom the prowess of the LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 361 Union forces on land and sea, and the proclamation of the beloved President Lincoln, had released from a life of bondage, and among the measures of which he can with justice claim the paternity was the one abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, which became a law on the 16th of April, 1862, and one enacted May 21st, 1862, providing that persons of color in the Dis- trict of Columbia should be subject to the same laws to which white persons were subject ; that they should be tried for offences against the laws in the same manner as white persons were tried, and, if convicted, be liable to the same penalty, and no other, as would be inflicted upon white persons for the same crime. The various bills bavins reference to the organization and continu- ance of the Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights Bill, Negro Suffrage, Reconstruction, the Constitutional amendments, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and all other important measures in which the people of the country, of all colors and nationalities, native- born and adopted, have from time to time, as they came up, received his attention, and swelled the volume of his addresses, and his re-election, in 1865, proved con- clusively how well he satisfied his constituents. NAMED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. At the National Union Republican Convention, held in Chicago in May, 1868, Henry Wilson was one of the ten eminent citizens placed in nomination for Vice- President of the United States, and received 119 votes on the first ballot, 113 on the second, 101 on the third, SI on the fourth, and 61 on the fifth and last ballot, when Schuyler Colfax was nominated. During the cam- paign that ensued, he did much valuable service in be- half of his party and its candidates, his eloquent voice being heard in many of the States of the Union. 362 LIFE OF HOX. HENRY WILSON". HIS REPUBLICAN BELIEF. In 1811, Mr. Wilson was re-elected to the Senate, and at the opening of Congress, was again appointed Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, a posi- tion he holds at this writing. He has always been a warm friend and admirer of President Grant, and an undeviating advocate of the principles of the Republi- can party. To use his own language, expressed in a letter written in November, 1811, he said : " I am a Republican by conviction as well as by as- sociation. Born in extreme poverty, bound as an ap- prentice at an early age, I learned by bitter experience the trials and hardships the poor are doomed to suffer from boyhood. Every pulsation of my heart has been in sympathy with the sons and daughters of toil of all races. My early experiences made me abhor wrong and oppression, so I early became an enemy of slavery and of the rule of the slave-masters. 1 saw and felt the de- grading influences of a system that held workingmen in enforced toil, that allowed capital to own labor. For more than twenty years I strove to make a political power to emancipate the slave and end the iron rule of the master. " The R-epublican party came into being to break the power of the owners of labor and to deliver the laborer, to lift from the brows of the workingmen the dishonor of enforced toil, and to make our country a glorious land where labor can look up and be proud in the midst of its toil. I did what I could to bring it as a party into being. It has done grand work for the country and for the toiling men of the country, and of the world too. History records no nobler achievements. Its work is not yet secure, nor is it completed. I can do nothing to endanger that work ; nor can I do anything LIFE OF HON. HENllY WILSON. 363 to arrest the completion of the work imposed upon the Republican party by the needs of the country and the logic of its own principles, that require it to be as true to the interests of white workingmen as it has been to the interests of black workingmen. I am constrained by an imperative sense of duty to stand by the Repub- lican party till its great work is secured and finished. But whatever I can do shall ever be done to aid in im- proving, elevating, and rewarding labor." HE IS NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. At the National Convention of the Republican part} r held June 6th, 1872, Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, was nominated for Vice-President, he having been placed in nomination by Hon. Morton McMichael, of Philadel- phia, in the following words : " Pennsylvania, through her delegation, has instructed me to present to this Convention, as her candidate for the Vice-Presidency, that able and upright man, that honest and faithful Senator, that earnest and diligent supporter of human freedom, that eloquent advocate of the rights of labor and the laboring classes, Henry Wilson, of Massachu- setts." As soon as the loud applause, which greeted the nomi- nation, had subsided, Dr. Loring, of Massachusetts, said : " I have, but one word to say on this subject. Massachusetts has not occupied much of the time of this convention in speech- making. She has sat here silently and quietly, ready that her voice should be heard whenever called for, and ready to do her duty in solid column when the occasion demands it. I desire to say to this convention that there is no division in the Republi- can party of Massachusetts ; and, so far as the administration of General Grant is concerned [applause], I desire, in behalf of that Commonwealth, so true and so devoted to Republican principles, to express the gratitude of the delegation from that State to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, who has put in nomination her favorite Senator. 23 361 LIFE OF HOX. IIENRY WILSON". "It is not the first time in history that Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have stood together, side by side. The gentle- man who has just addressed you has told you the Republican party had its birth and baptism here. So they did, sir. In those days when Massachusetts sent here John Adams and Samuel Adams, and the blood of Joseph Warren and General Hancock gave birth to the cause of Republicanism, it, was in 1776 that Republicanism was baptized here, and Massachusetts stood by the cradle and was present on that great occasion. Now I desire to second the motion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Tn presenting the name of Henry Wilson as a candidate [applause] for the Vice-Presidency of the United States, he has not only paid a tribute to the fidelity of Mas- sachusetts Republicanism, but he has paid a tribute to that spirit of genius, and of devotion, and fidelity, and honesty, and honor which will always pave the way for great success to the poor and the toiling of this country. Henry Wilson repre- sents, in all his attributes, more than any other man I know of, the power of high principles, of thorough devotion, to over- come all the obstacles which fall in the path of childhood, and youth, and mature years. Here for more than a quarter of a century he has adhered to the great principles of that party. He was devoted to it long before it was a party ; and it was Henry Wilson's voice which was early heard in the cause of freedom. I ask you to name to me the Commonwealth in this Union where that voice has not been heard in the cause ; I ask you to point out to me the down-trodden and oppressed citizens of the United States who have not been encouraged by Henry Wilson, and aided by him in lifting themselves above oppres- sion. Warm-hearted, generous, devoted to Republican princi- ples this land over, he is ready to do his duty in season and out of season. And let me tell you that as General Wilson stood by the cradle of the Republican party in his poverty and in his youth, he, if this party is to fall, will follow it to the grave, the saddest and most broken-hearted mourner in all that mourning procession. He is devoted to this cause, and I assure you, my friends, that he will add strength to the ticket put in nomi- nation to-day, representing, as he does, the toiling people of this country." SPEECH OP OSSIAN RAY. Ossian Ray, of New Hampshire, spoke as follows : " Gentlemen of the Convention : Coming as I do from the State in which Henry Wilson was born, it gives me un- bounded pleasure to announce that we are united on Massa- chusetts' favorite and great Senator, Henry Wilson. We ought to nominate him as Vice-President, because he is a good LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 365 man and true, because he has always been the friend of the people, and always right. It is peculiarly appropriate we should honor ourselves by honoring him with the nomination. It is as fitting a disapproval on the part of the Republican party of the course of his colleague as could be given. " Another reason why I think he should be nominated on this ticket is, that 1 firmly believe, if we were to call up the entire nation and have its vote taken throughout the land, he would receive the. entire vote of the Republican party. If they could decide whether or not Henry Wilson should be nomi- nated or some other man selected as a candidate, he would carry the day by a million majority. We are here simply to register the voice of all our people. The name of Henry Wil- son is one which will add strength and fame even to that of the colossal name of the great Captain of the Western World. Like General Grant, he has been the architect of his own for- tunes. "He commenced life poor, by graduating from a shoemaker's shop. It is the pride of American civilization that, by the practice of honesty and perseverance, the highest offices within the nation's gift are within the possible reach of the humblest youth in the land. With a good tanner at the head of the ticket to tan the welts of the enemy, and with a good shoe- maker to sew them up, and drive the pegs, if need be, we shall win next November, by a large majority. I hope, gentlemen, for the nomination of the honest and noble Henry W t ilson." SPEECH OP MR. NOYES. Mr. Noyes, of Georgia, colored, spoke as follows : " Gentlemen of the Convention : I arise on behalf of a large portion of the Georgia delegation, and on behalf of a great majority of the Southern Republicans, and second the nomina- tion of the Hon. Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts. W'hile much honor is due to the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, this great hoary champion of human liberty and freedom in this country deserves something at the hands of the American people. " Sir, commencing his early life in poverty, he commenced almost coequal with his manhood the battles of humanity in this country. Massachusetts has repeatedly honored him, as she ought to have done, and he has a heart that is broader than the State of Massachusetts. It reaches out further than any State line can extend, and embraces his whole country. He has labored for his country earnestly and long. He has fought long and well in behalf of human liberty, American honor and dignity, and we think the time has come when the people of this country should give him a recognition for his services. We of the South have an especial interest in this 366 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. matter. We remember the fiery ordeal through which we have passed, and we remember that while bold and true men stood by us in that ordeal, Hexry Wilson was among the foremost. " Sir, we hold that this is due not only to the services of Henry Wilson, but that it is due especially to Massachusetts, and to the East. We have taken our President again and again from the West. The Republican party has never selected a candidate for the Presidency from the East. We have taken our Vice-President at the last election from the West, and now we hold that some recognition is due to the East for its devotion to the country. "Mr. Chairman, then, sir, in behalf of much the larger por- tion of the Georgia delegation, in behalf of the great loyal heart of the people of the South, it gives me inexpressible pleasure to second the nomination of the Hon. Hexry Wilson, of Massachusetts." On the first and only ballot the vote stood as follows: Henry Wilson, 364±; Schuyler Colfax, 32H; John F. Lewis, 22; E. J. Davis, 16; Horace Maynard, 26; Governor Hawley and E. F. Noyes, 1 each. Before the Chairman could announce the result, one State after another changed its vote to the winning candi- date, until at last, a motion to make unanimous the nomination of that " good man and distinguished patriot. Hexry Wilson," was adopted amid great enthusiasm. HE IS NOTIFIED OP HIS NOMINATION. On June 10th, the officers of the Convention pro- ceeded to the National Capital to apprise Mr. Wil- son officially of his nomination. Judge Settle handed the Senator a letter, of which the following is a copy : "Washington, June l(V7i. 1£72. "Hon. Henry Wilson: Tn accordance with a resolution passed by the National Republican Convention, held at Phila- delphia on the 5th and 6th inst., we. the President and Vice- Presidents of that body, have the honor to inform you of your unanimous selection as the candidate of the Republican Party for the position of Vice-President of the United States. The enthusiasm and unanimity which prevailed among so many LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 367 leading men, from every State and Territory, point unmis- takably to the triumphant election of our ticket. As there i3 no one more worthy of the position, or whose election would give more universal satisfaction, we beg your acceptance of the nomination. " Your obedient servants, "THOMAS SETTLE, " President National Republican Convention, " And the Vice-Presidents." Mr. Wilson made the following reply : " I will in a day or two give you an answer in writing to this com- munication. I take this occasion, however, to thank 3 r ou and the members of the Convention you represent for this manifestation of confidence. As I neither asked nor wrote to any member of the Convention to give me a vote, I am all the more grateful for their generous support. I am grateful, too, for the friendly tone of the Republican press of the country. For thirty-six years, in public life and in private life, I have striven to maintain the distinguishing idea of the Re- publican party, the freedom and equality of all men ; I have striven ever to be true to my country and to the rights of our common humanity, to know no sectional interest nor race nor color. In the future, as in the past, I shall unfalteringly adhere to those principles which are the convictions of my judgment, heart and conscience. I am clearly of the opinion that the great soldier who rendered such illustrious services to the country in the great civil war will be re-elected Presi- dent of the United States. His humanity to the van- quished, his firmness to vindicate the rights of the humble and defenceless, and his devotion to the lead- ing ideas of the Republican party, cannot be questioned. I esteem it a high honor to be associated with him in the coming contest. While I am grateful to the friends who gave me such generous support, I honor those who adhered with such devotion to Mr. Colfax. We have 368 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. been personal and political friends for nearly twenty years, and it is a source of profound satisfaction to me that our personal relations have not been disturbed by the recent contest. While I shall never cease to feel grateful to friends who honored me by their support, I shall ever entertain sincere respect for those who deemed it to be their duty to give their support to others. I hope we shall all strive to win to our support every honest and patriotic man in the countiy, every man true to the rights of humanity, every man who would elevate the condition of the toiling millions, and have our republic become a great Christian nation and example to the world. " Let it be understood that our ranks are wide open to receive all devoted to the countiy, and who would advance the happiness and general well-being of all sections of the land, and all conditions of the people. We, Republicans, should offer the hand of reconcilia- tion to all fair-minded and honorable men, and use all legitimate means to achieve success, for the honor and salvation of the countiy, as well as for that of the party which saved the Union and established freedom in every part of the land." Four days later, Senator Wilson wrote the follow- ing letter of acceptance : Wasuingtox June \Ath. 1872. "To Hon. Thos. Settle and others, Presidents and Vice-Presi- dents of the National Republican Convention, held at Phila- delphia on the 5th and 6th of present month : " Gentlemen : — Your note of the 10th inst., conveying 1 to me the action of the Convention in placing my name in nomina- tion for the office of Vice-President of the United States is before me. I beg you will accept the assurance of my grateful appreciation of the "high honor conferred upon me by the action of the Fifth National Convention of the Kepublican Party. Sixteen years ago, in the same city, was held the first meeting of the men who, amid the darkness and doubts of that hour of slave-holding ascendency and aggression, had assembled in National Convention to confer with each other on tin. v.vigen LIFE OF HOX. HENRY WILSON". 369 cies to which that fearful domination had brought their country. After full conference, the highest point of resolve they could reach, the most they dared to recommend, was the avowed purpose to prohibit the existence of slavery in the Territories. Last week the same party met by its representatives from thirty-seven States and ten Territories, at the same great centre of wealth, intelligence and power, to review the past, take note of the present, and indicate its line of action for the future. As typical facts, headlands of the nation's recent history, there sat on its platform, taking prominent and honorable part in its proceedings, admitted on terms of perfect equality to the lead- ing hotels of the city, not only the colored representatives of the race which were ten years before in abject slavery, but one of the oldest and most prominent of the once despised aboli- tionists, to whom was accorded, as to no other, the warmest demonstrations of popular regard and esteem, and ovation. Not to him alone, but to the cause he had so ably and for so many years represented, and to the men and women, living and dead, who had toiled through long years of obloquy and self-sacrifice for the glorious fruition of that hour. It hardly needed the brilliant summary of its platform to set forth its illustrious achievements. The very presence of those men was alone signi- ficant of the victories already achieved, the progress already made, and the great distance which the nation had travelled between the years 1856 and 1S72. But grand as has been its record, the Republican party rests not on its past alone. It looks to the future, and grapples with it problems of duty and of danger. It proposes as objects of its immediate accom- plishment 'Complete liberty and exact equality for all; the enforcement of the recent amendments to the National Consti- tution ; reform in the civil service ; the national domain to be set apart for homes to the people ; the adjustment of duties on imports so as to secure remunerative wages to labor ; the extension of bounties to all soldiers and sailors, who. in the line of duty, became disabled; the continual and careful encour- agement and protection of voluntary immigration, and the guarding with zealous care the rights of adopted citizens; the abolition of the franking privilege and the speedy reduction of the rates of postage ; the reduction of the national debt and the rates of interest, and the resumption of specie payment ; the encouragement of American commerce and of ship-building; the suppression of violence and the protection of the ballot-box.' It also placed on record the opinions and purposes of the party, in favor of amnesty, against all forms of repudiation, and indorsed the humane and peaceful policy of the Administration in regard to the Indians. But while clearly defining and dis- tinctly announcing the policy of the Republican party on these questions of practical legislation and administration, the Con- vention did not ignore the great social problems which are 370 LIFE OP HON. HENRY WILSON. pressing their claims for solution, and which demand the most careful study and wise consideration. Foremost stands the labor question. Concerning the relations of capital and labor, the Republican party accepts the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure the full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor, the creation of capital, the largest opportunities, and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civilization. To woman, too, and her new demands, it extends the hand of grateful recognition, and proffers its most respect- ful inquiry. It recognizes her noble devotion to country and freedom, welcomes her admission to wider fields of usefulness, and commends her demands for additional rights, to the calm and careful consideration of the nation. " To guard well what has already been secured, to work out faithfully and wisely what is now in hand, and to consider the questions which are looming up to view but a little way before us, the Republican party is to-day what it was in the gloomy years of slavery, rebellion and reconstruction — a national necessity. It appeals, therefore, for support to the patriotic %nd liberty-loving, to the just and humane, to all who would dignify labor, to all who would educate, elevate, and lighten the burdens of the sons and daughters of toil. With its great record, the work still to be done under the great soldier whose historic renown and whose successful Administration for the last three years begat such popular confidence, the Republican party may confidently, in the language of the Convention you represent, start on a new march to victory. •• Having accepted, thirty-six years ago, the distinguishing doctrines of the Republican party of to-day— having during years of that period for their advancement subordinated all other issues, acting in and co-operating with political organiza- tions with whose leading doctrines I sometimes had neither sympathy nor belief; having labored incessantly for many years to found and build up the Republican party, and having, during its existence, taken an humble part in its grand work, 1 gratefully accept the nomination thus tendered, and shall endeavor, ii'it shall be ratified by the people, faithfully to per- form the duties it imposes. " Respectfully yours, "HENRY WILSON." HENRY "WILSON'S SPEECH AT NATICK. Soon after the nomination of Mr. Wilson, the citi- zens of Natick, Mass., assembled for the purpose of congratulating him, on which occasion he made the following speech: LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. 371 " Mr. Chairman, Frtendk and Neighbors :• — I have no words adequately to express to yon my gratification at this assem- blage of those with whom I have so long- lived, those that I have the pleasure of knowing, and those who through so many years have been kind to me and to mine. During the past two weeks I have received letters from eminent men in various positions of our country ; I have met friends wherever I have been; I have received kind and cordial greetings and con- gratulations. I prize all this, for to a public man who bus been long in the public service, who has little else in this world, the kind words of political friends and of personal acquaintances are ever grateful. But I say to you from the depths of my heart that the kind words, the look of recognition and of approval of my neighbors and my friends are dearer to me than the congratulations of any other portion of my coun- trymen. More than thirty-eight years ago I came into your town on foot from my native home; I came here to earn a livelihood, to find a home, to support myself and those near to me. During all these thirty-eight years, I have received from the citizens of this town evidences of friendship, of personal respect and of devotion, such as few men have ever received in any portion of our country. And here to-night, ladies and gentlemen, one and all, I give you the gratitude of my heart for your kindness to me in the years gone by, and your kind- ness and affectionate regard so often bestowed upon one who is not here to-night, one dearer to me than all the world be- sides. D is not proper that here to-night I should address you on political affairs. You have heard my voice in the years that are past, upon the various questions that have risen for solution. I can only say to you to-night that I have striven ever to be true to my country in peace and in war, to maintain the cause of equal, universal and impartial liberty, to maintain a policy that tended to enlighten our countrymen, lilt burdens from the toiling millions, and make our country what all wish our country should be — a great democratic, Christian republic, the admiration of all the world. I believe that during our time much has been done to strengthen and build up our country that we love so well ; that much lias been done for freedom, for education, for development, for the lifting up of the masses of our countrymen, and God grant that whatever lias been done for good may stand forever, and that the errors that have been committed may be rectified in time to come. Friends, I stand before you to-night, having been supported over and over again through public life by your generous con- fidence. I count you all friends here to-night, of whatever political opinions you may be. It may be that there are those around me and about me who have thought unkind thoughts or said unkind words; I have forgotten them, and have no memory for them here to-night. I thank God there is not a 372 LIFE OF HON. HENRY WILSON. man or woman in my country that I cannot meet and offer the hand of friendship to. Thanking you for your support, for your kindness, for the many evidences of your affectionate regard, I and those near and dear to me have received, I will close by simply saying that whatever shall be the result in the country in the coming canvass — if defeat comes, I shall en- deavor to bear it as I ought to do; if victory comes, I will simply say I shall strive in the future, as I have in the past, to serve my country with fidelity, with clean hands and a pure heart, and be true to the interests of my fellow-men, and always to side with the weakest and the poorest portion of my countrymen who need sympathy." WHAT IS THOUGHT OF MR. WILSON. Mr. Wilson's nomination has received the endorse- ment of the Republican party ; he is very popular with the working classes, and the colored people fully recognize him as a consistent and true friend. Born to hard work himself, he has always sympathized with the laboring classes in their troubles, and has ever been a prominent advocate with tongue and pen of their inter- ests ; not a blatant, selfish professor of ideas and prin- ciples in which he really took no interest, but an earnest and honest friend of those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. In the home of the wealthy too, as well as in the more humble dwelling place of the representatives of industry and hard work, Henry Wilson's name is a synonym for all that is good and honorable ; and from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, his nomination was hailed with delight, and his election to the Vice-Presi- dency is considered a certainty. A statesman and an orator, Mr. Wilson is also an author of considerable celebrity, his contributions to political literature pub- lished from time to time having been largely circulated throughout the country, among them being the following: "A History of the Anti-Slavery Measures of the Thirty- seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses;" "Military LIFE OF HON". IIEXRY WILSON. 3(3 Measures of the United States Congress;" "History of the Reconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses;" "A History of the Part which Congress Played in the War to Suppress the Rebellion," and "A History of the Rise and Fall of Slavery in thp United States." Senator Wilson was a confidential and much beloved friend of the lamented Lincoln; and that friendship, combined with the love of country, which was a part of his being, and with his hatred of oppression in any form, made him the true and undeviating patriot he was during the rebellion — a representative of patriot- ism, whose loyalty was only the more apparent when the death of his only son, an able and popular officer of the Union army, agonized his heart. Colonel John W. Forney says of Mr. Wilson : "A little too impulsive perhaps, his is one of the truest of hearts — warm, generous, and forgiving. His frugal habits accord with his strict integrity. He is inexpen- sive in his tastes and desires, and lives among his books and his friends. He visits a great deal, and reads much. Active and quick, regularly in his seat in the Senate, he is often seen on the Avenue and in society, though he never touches wine or cigars. He is a thorough common sense man, and a natural medium between quarreling friends. His blows are for the enemy ; his forgiveness for his associates. He hates corruption as he hated slavery, and he will go far to punish a faithless trustee." THE END. ' ' ^ v* -f r * x £ "^ ^ ^ ^ c^ "%. "^v c^ x .