Tf^XH^i ^^^^M A HISTORY OP THE CIVIL WAR TN THE UNITED STATES; WITH A PSELIMmiRY YEW OF ITS CAUSES, AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS HEROES. BY SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKER, LL.D. ArrnoR of "lives of the four Georges, kings of England," "history op MAPOLEON III.," "ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES*' " LIFE OF ALESAXDBB HAIIILTOX," "history OF NICHOLAS I. AND THE CRIMEAN WAR," ETC. PART FIRST. PHILADELPHIA: J. W. BRADLEY, 66 N. FOURTH STREET. 1863. \\ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by SAMUEL MOSHEIM SCHMUCKER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ^y -^ 6TERE0TYPKD BT S. A. GEORGE, 607 SANSOM STREET, PHILADELPHIA. PRINTED BY KIMQ & BAIRD. PREFACE No event has occurred on the American Conti- nent since the glorious Revolution of 1776, equal in magnitude and interest to the contest which has taken place between opposite and hostile portions of the Federal Union ; and which all true patriots stigmatize by the unequivocal and significant epi- thet of the Southern E,ebellion. So important was this struggle that it not only enlisted the most vigorous energies of the national government, and summoned its armies into the field, but it became the paramount topic in every mind. All classes of professions regarded it with intense interest, and watched the progress of events' with profound anxiety. For this purpose scholars suspended their studies in recondite and learned subjects of inquiry ; synods and general assemblies discussed the issues involved with solemn earnestness ; the ordinary Y)ursuits of the community seemed in a great measure to be modified and controlled by the novel and startling aspect of the times. This universally prevalent feeling was amply justified by the im- mense interests and the vital principles which were 3 4 PEEFACE. to be disposed" of by the conflict. Nor is it singu- lar, that the war should ultimately engage the attention of mankind in all civilized countries, and that it should be regarded as the event of chief importance then transpiring on the globe. There can be little doubt that a reliable history of the incidents connected "with this memorable drama, and even more than one such history, would be acceptable to the public. In the following work, therefore, the writer has undertaken to describe its thrilling and marvellous scenes. He has set forth at some length the most potent of the causes which gave it birth. He has introduced, from time to time, biographical sketches of those soldiers and statesmen, who distinguished themselves by their heroism or by their patriotism during its progress. He has followed the march of the Federal armies, as they achieved one victory or suffered one tempo- rary reverse after another ; and the narrative will be continued, Deo volente, until the record is com- plete, and he has described how the Republic was conducted by firm and skillful hands through all the storms which have assailed it, to the attainment of a permanent and honorable peace. The general rule according to which the foUoMdng work has been written, was to describe events with more or less minuteness of detail, according to the proportion of their historical importance. Many incidents necessarily happen in such a struggle, spreading as it does over so vast an area, which may possess an intense though momentary interest. PREFACE. O and greatly excite the public mind at the period of their occurrence, which are nevertheless insignifi- cant in their essential nature, and trivial in their ultimate consequences. As it was the design of the present writer to prepare a history of the war within a convenient and moderate compass, it became necessary to omit all, or at least any extended allusion to such events, so that the necessary space might remain in which to dwell with appropriate fullness upon the really decisive incidents of the contest. For the same reason no reference is made, in the biographical sketches which are introduced, to those ephemeral and factitious reputations .which were created from time to time ; which, going up sud- denly and glaring portentously like rockets, de- scended again as quickly, and relapsed into their legitimate oblivion. An eifort has thus been made throughout the work, to do justice to those events and persons to whom a genuine and permanent immortality appertains ; at the same time to realize and exemplify the excellent maxim, Parva sed ap- ta^ not voluminous, but condensed and comprehen- sive. The author has been assiduous and careful in regard to the materials from which the contents of the work have been derived. He has applied to his use every attainable source of information which was worthy of confidence and attention. Official reports of eminent commanders, and the narratives of intelligent and truthful eye-witnesses of the scenes described, together with various other depositories 6 PEEFACE. of facts, have been thoroughly exammed, compared and appropriated. The author has not the pre- sumption to imagine that he has in all cases attained perfect accuracy ; but he does not hesitate to assert, that he has left no effort or expedient unemployed to avoid error and misstatement in every part of the work. An historical narrative of events of recent date labors under some disadvantages, while, at the same time, it may possess facilities and merits of which the record of more remote and unfamiliar transactions will be destitute. It has been affirmed that a correct history of a war like that against Secession could not be written till after the lapse of many years. We believe this statement to be erroneous. If the writer be impartial, laborious, and possessed of the necessary literary skill, he will have all the qualities essential to the elaboration of a satisfactory history of such a series of events ; and these qualities he may possess immediately after their occurrence, as well as at a more distant period. At the same time he will enjoy a superior ad- vantage in the vividness and strength of the impres- sion which the events have made, both upon his o^vn mind, and upon the minds of those whose productions he consults in the preparation of his work, S. M. S Philadelphia, Dec, 1862. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Origin of the Southern Rebellion — Classification of its several Causes — The Act of 1816 respecting a Tariff — Agency of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams — Position of John 0. Calhoun — 'He first conceives his project of Nullification — His Memorial to Governor Ham 'Hon — The operation of a high Tariff" — The Legislature of South Carolina — Outbreak of the Nullification Movement — Vigorous measures of Presi- dent Jackson — Mr. Calhoun in the United States Senate — A memorable Debate — Final settlement of the difficulty — American Slavery — Its origin — The proposition of Thomas Jefferson — Slavery in the Territories — The compact of 1787 — Compromise of Henry Clay — Annexation of Texas — The Wilraot Proviso — Compromise of 1850— Slavery in Kansas — Rise of the Republican Party — Its Principles and Policy — Administration of James Buchanan — Treason in the Federal Cabinet — Preliminary operations of the Conspirators — Policy of Mr. Buchanan respecting Secession— Presidential Cam- paign of 1860— Election of Mr. Ijincoln — The Doctrine of State Sovei'eiguty as opposed to Federal Centralization 15 CHAPTER I. Effect of Mr. Lincoln's Election in the South — Political Move- ments in South Carolina and Georgia — Excitement in Charles- ton — Preliminary Acts and Events — Resignation of Federal Officers — Election of Members to the State Convention — Opponents of Secession — Federal Property seized in Charles- ton — Conventions summoned in Georgia and Alabama — As- sembling of the Convention of South Carolina — The First Act of Secession from the Union passed — A pathetic statement of Grievances — Reflections on the Result — Popular Feelings in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida 55 CHAPTER II. Treasonable Proclamation of Governor Pickens — Resignation of the Representatives of South Carolina in Congress — The Crittenden Propositions of Compromise — Their Provisions — Scramble for Federal Property— Commissioners of South Carolina to the Federal Government — Major Anderson — The removal of his Command to Fort Sumter — Mr, Secretary Floyd — His Resignation — The Convention of the Slav©' holding States — Important Events at Savannah — Secession of Mississippi — Pernicious influence of Jefferson Davis — Rcsig- 7 8 CONTENTS. nation of liis Seat in the United States Senate — The Secession of Alabama — Of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.... 69 CHAPTER III. Various efforts made for Compromise and Settlement — Concilia- tory meetings held in the Northern States — Their Ultimate Failure — Apostacy of Alexander H. Stephens — Resignation of the Southern Representatives in the Federal Congress — The Rebel Congress Convened at Montgomery — Its Organi- zation — Adoption of a Provisional Constitution — The Organi- zation of the Southern Confederacy — Jefferson Davis elected President — Biographical Sketches of Jefferson Davis, of Stephens, of the Cabinet Ministers of the Southern Con- federacy, Memminger, Toombs, Mallory, Walker, Benjamin.. 83 CHAPTER IV. Assembling of the Peace Congress at Washington — Proposals of Compromise — Attitude of President Buchanan — Public Sentiment respecting Fort Sumter — Mission of-the " Star of -the West" — Establishment of the Confederate Government at Montgomery — Inauguration of Jefferson Davis as Presi- dent — Inauguration of President Lincoln — His Address — The famous Oration of A. H. Stephens at Savannah — Its historical importance — His First Position — He refutes Jefferson, Hamil- ton, and Madison — His Second Position — The foundation stone of the Southern Confederacy 97 CH.APTER V, The Mission of Mr. Yancey and his Associates to Europe — Their Representations to the French and English People — The Rebel Commissioners at Washington — Their absurd deportment — General Beauregard demands the Surrender of Fort Sumter — Preparations for the Bombardment of the Fort — Size and Strength of the Works — Sketch of Major Anderson — Sketch of General Beauregard — Commencement of the Bombardment — Incidents of the first Day's attack — Events of the ensuing Night — 'J'he continuance of the Bom- bardment during the next Day — Sufferings of the Garrison — Deputation from General Beauregard — Propositions of Sur- render — They are accepted by Major Anderson — Why the Garrison was not reinforced — Proclamation of Governor Letcher — Proclamation of President Lincoln lOB CHAPTER VI. Enthusiasm of the Rebel States — Projected Concpiest of Wash- ington — Proofs that it was contemplated — Seventy-five thou- sand troops ordered out — Davis • issues Letters of Marque and Reprisal — Secession of Virginia — Blockade of the South- ern Ports — Aspect of the Loyal States — The Attack of Federal Troops in Baltimore— Fury of the Rebel Mob — Results of the Attack — The Federal Forts are Garrisoned — Secession of Missouri — The Chicago Zouaves — The Gallant CONTENTS. y Ellsworth — Origin of the term Zonave — History of the French Zouaves in the Algeria, in the Crimea, in Italy — Their Pecu- liar Characteristics 124 CHAPTER YIT. Secession of Tennessee — Parson Brownlow — Declaration of War by the Confederate Congress — Skirmish near St. Louis — Secession element in Baltimore — Fort McHeiiry — Seces- sion of North Carolina — Adjournment of tlie Rebel Congress to convene at Richmond — Assembly of Federal Troops at Washington — The Occupation of Alexandria — Assassination of Colonel Ellsworth — Sketch of his Career — Famous Tour of the Chicago Zouaves— ^Ellsworth's Military tastes and talents — His personal appearance and characteristics — His peculiarities as a speaker — He organizes the New York Fire Zouaves — General Robert Patterson's Campaign in Yirginia — Crossing the Potomac at Williamsport — Battle of Falling Waters — Pursuit of the Enemy — The March to Bunker Hill — To Charlestown — Occupation of Harper's Ferry 137 CHAPTER YIII. The encounters with the Rebel Troops at Fairfax Court House, at Acquia Creek, at Romney, at Philippi — Gallantry of Colonel Kelley — Battle of Great Bethel— Causes of the disaster — Death of Lieutenant Greble — Sketch of his Career — Union sentiment in Western Yirginia — The New State of Kanawha — Harper's Ferry devastated by the Rebels — The Ohio troops fired on near Yienna — Operations of General McClellan in Western Yirginia — His admirable plans — The Battle of Rich Mountain — Colonel Rosecranz — Results of the engagement — Sketch of General McClellan — His Reconnoissance of the Cascade Mountains— His secret mission to the West Indies — His journey to the Crimea — His official report as Commis- sioner — His subsequent movements — He becomes Commander of the Department of Ohio 152 CHAPTER IX. • Extraordinary Session of Congress in July. 1861 — Message of President Lincoln — Sketch of 'i'haddeus Stevens— His Politi- cal Career — His action as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means — Important Bills passed by Congress — Messrs. Yallaudigham and Burnett — The civil war in Missouri — The Grand Army equipped at Washington — Order given to General McDowell to advance toward Manassas— Arrangement of t|ie Army — The advance reach Bull Run — The preliminary con- flict at that place — Position of the Rebel Army at Manassas — General Beauregard— 'i'lie impending contest 165 CHAPTER X. The Federal Army at Centreville— General McDowell's plan of attack — The divisions of Generals Tyler, Hunter and Heint- zelman— Their several duties— The march from Centreville — 10 CONTENTS. Interesting' spectacle — General Tyler first reaches the Battle- field — He comraeaces the Engagement — Movements of Gene- rals Hunter and Heintzelman — The engagement becomes general — The Rebels gradually overpowered — The Federals victorious at mid-day — Rebel admissions to that efiect — General Johnston's troops from Winchester arrive — They reverse the tide of victory — Sudden panic in the Federal Army — A general Retreat ensues — Incidents of the Flight — Results of the Battle — Failure of the Rebel Commanders to improve their Victory — Ultimate consequences 177 CHAPTER XI. The impression produced on the public by the battle of Manas- sas — Various causes of the Federal Defeat — The preceding March — Inferiority of numbers — Effect of Masked Batteries — Incompetent officers — Remote position of the Reserves — Pernicious presence of Spectators — The Coup-de-grace — Arrival of General Johnston's troops on the field — Was the Defeat in reality a misfortune to the Union — Its immediate effects — Its influence on the Army— Its influence on the Administration — It was the cause of subsequent success to the Federal Forces 192 CHAPTER XII. Increased energy of the Federal Government — Events in Mis- .souri — Important battle at Carthage — Retrograde Movement of General Lyon to Springfield — Pursuit of the Rebels under Generals McCulloch and Price — Condition of their army — The great Battle of Springfield — Temporary success of the Rebels — Incidents of the Contest — Heroism of General Lyon — His last effort against the enemy — Its success — General Lyon's death — Results of the Battle — Sketch of General Lyon — ■ General Fremont made Commandant of the Department of Missouri — His Anti-slavery Proclamation — It is modified by President Lincoln 203 CHAPTER XIII. Expedition against the Rebel Forts — The forces appropriated to this enterprise — Sailing of the Expedition — The Bombard- ment — The surrender of the Forts — Commodore Barron — Commodore Stringham — Results of the victory at Hatteras — Operations oj" Rosecranz — Battle at Carnifex Ferry — Defeat and flight of Floyd — Results of the Victory — Events in Mis- souri — Colonel Mulligan's forces at Lexington — Incidents of the Battle of Lexington — Surrender of Colonel Mulligan — Sketch of his Career — Battle at Bolivar — The Battle of Balls Blufi" — Incidents of the Engagement — Defeat and rout of the Federal troops — Death of Colonel Baker — National sorrow at his Fate — Sketch of his remarkable Career 217 CHAPTER XIV. Peculiarities of the War against Secession — Federal Expedition CONTENTS. 11 nnclej Coraraodore Pupont and General Sherman — Its de- parture from Annapolis — Its destination — Terrible storm near Cape Hatteras — The Expedition reaches Port Koyal — Rebel forts on Bay Point and Hilton Head — Incidents of the attack — Surrender of the Forts — Results of the Engagement — Naval disaster below New Orleans — Events in Missouri — Bold achievement of Colonel Zagonyi near Springfield — The Battle of Belmont — Its results — Dismissal of General Fremont from his Department of the West — Causes of his removal — His admirable demeanor on this occasion — His subsequent ap- pointment as commander of the Mountain Department 234 CHAPTER XY. European recognition of the Southern Confederacy — Mission of Messrs. Mason and Slidell — Their arrest — Legality of that Arrest — The British Government demand them — Reasons of their surrender — Diplomatic note of Mr. Seward on the subject — the Battle of Draiusville — Incidents of the engage- ment — General McCall — Sketch of his Career — Dismissal of Mr. Cameron from the Federal Cabinet — The War in Ken- tucky — The Battle of Mill-Springs — Incidents of the Conflict — Death of General Felix ZoUicoffer— His character — Results of the Battle of Mill-Springs 247 CHAPTER XVI. The Burnside Expedition — Its departure from Annapolis — Another gale otf Cape Hatteras — Loss of the steamer City of New York — The Expedition enters Pamlico Sound — It steers for Roanoke Island — Rebel Works erected on that Island — The Federal troops disembark — Incidents of the engagement — Defeat and flight of the Rebels — Capture of their Forts — Results of the victory — Death of Colonel De Montueil — Sketch of General Burnside— Attack on Fort Henry— Strength of the Fort— Incidents of the Bombardment — Surrender of the Rebel Works — Loss on both sides — Skill and heroism of Commodore Foote — Sketch of his Career 2G1 CHAPTER XVII. Position and strength of Fort Donelson — General Grant and Commodore Foote prepare to attack it — Repulse of the Gun- boats — The assault from the land side — Proposition of Gene- ral Buckner to surrender — The capitulation of the Fort — Results and trophies of the Conquest— Sketch of Ulysses S. Grant — Sketch of General Charles Ferguson Smith — Attack on the Rebels at Bloomery Gap — Sketch of General Lander — Re-election of Jefferson Davis as President of the Southern Confederacy — Occupation of Columbus, Kentucky, by Federal troops — Desertion of Nashville by the Rebel Forces — The Rebel Battering Ram Merrimac — Incidents of the engagement — Arrival of the ^Monitor in Hampton Roads — Battle between The Monitor and the ]\Lerrimac 276 12 CONTENTS. CIIArTER XYIII. Battle of Pea Rid^re — General Curtis — Attack of the Rebels on the rear of the Federal Array — Gallantry of General Sigel — Conthiuauce of the Battle ou the second day — Incidents of the contest — It is renewed upon the third day — Rout of the Rebels — Sketches of Generals Curtis and Sigel — President Lincoln's orders to the Federal Armies — General McClellan's Address to the Army of the Potomac — Sudden evacuation of Manassas by the Rebels — Bombardment of Island Number Ten — Operations of General Pope — Artificial Channel cut through James Bayou — General Pope attacks the Rebels- at Tiptouville — Capture of Island Number Ten — Sketch of General Pope — General Burnside attacks Newberu — The Rebels surrender — Consequences of this victory 294 CHAPTER XIX. Movements of the Army of the Potomac — The battle of Win- chester — Its results — Sketch of General Shields — Concentra- tion of the Rebel troops near Corinth — Approach of the Federal Army under General Grant — Commencement of the Battle of Pittsburg Landing — Attack and capture of General Prentiss's troops — Efforts of General Sherman and McCler- nand — Gradual repulse and retreat of the Federal Army — Terrific scenes — Interposition of the Federal Gunboats — End of the first day's Battle — Arrival of General Buell — The second day's Conflict — Incidents of this day — The tide of victory is gradually reversed — Ultimate Qefeat of the Rebels — Their retreat to Corinth — Results of the Battle of Shiloh. . 512 CHAPTER XX. The Federal Army under General McClellan approach York- town — Attack on detached Rebel Entrenchments — Establish- ment of the Federal Camp, and erection of Federal Batteries — Preparations for a conflict at Yorktown — Operations of General Mitchell in Alabama — Sketch of General Mitchell — Events in Georgia — Capture of Fort Pulaski — Strength of the Rebel Works — Incidents of the Bombardment of that Fort — The conquest of New Orleans — Federal armament under Commodore Farragut — Bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip — An engagement of six days — Reduction of these Forts — The Federal Fleet approach New Orleans — The Rebel troops evacuate it — The Summons to surrender — New Orleans occupied by Federal troops- -Sketch of Commodore Farragut — The Bombardment of Fort Macon — Incidents of the assault — Results of its capture by the Federal Troops, . . CHAPTER XXI. Operations of General McClellan at Yorktown — Battle of Lee's Mill— Retreat of the Federal troops — Evacuation of York- town by the Rebels— Pursuit by the Federals — Engagement between Cavalry near Williamsburg — Second conflict near 330 CONTENTS. 13 Williamsburg — General Hooker's Division — Federal victory — Sketch of General Hancock — Battle at West Point — Rout of the Rebels — Bombardment of Sewall's Point — Expedition of General Wool against Norfolk — Operations of General Fremont in the Mountain Department — McDowell's Division at Fredericksburg — Rout of Colonel Morgan in Tennessee — Bombardment of Fort Wright commenced — Engagement of the Federal Gunboats at Fort Darling on James River — Advance of McOlellau's Army towards Richmond — It crosses the Ohickahominy — Decisive Engagement anticipated — Gene- ral Hunter's Abolition Proclamation — President Lincoln's policy respecting It 347 CHAPTER XXII. The Corps d'armee of General Banks — Reduction of its numbers — The Rebels under Jackson attack the Advance at Front Royal — Design of the Rebels to overpower Banks' Division — The latter orders a general retreat toward Winchester- Various Engagements on the route — Battle at Middletown — . Action on the March to Winchester — Battle at Newtown — The Battle of Winchester — Its results — Continuance of the retreat to Williamsport — Adventure of the Zouaves D'Afrique — Federal losses during the Retreat — Sketch of General Banks — Attitude of the Federal and Rebel Armies at Corinth — A great battle anticipated — Commencement of the attack by General Halleck — Its results — Evacuation of Corinth by the Rebels — Cause of this event — An extraordinary spectacle — Pursuit of the retreating foe — A reconnoissance on the Chicka- hominy — Skirmish at the Pines — The Battle of Hanover Court House — Destructioh of the Richmond and Fredericks- burg Railroad — Gallant Exploit of Lieutenant Davis 360 CHAPTER XXIII. Approach of the Federal Army to Richmond — The Corps of General Keys cross the Chickahominy— Their exposed posi- tion — The Battle of Seven Pines — Position of the Federal troops — Commencement of the Attack — Disposition of troops made by General Casey — Rout of Casey's Division — General Couch's troops become engaged— Desperate fighting — Victory of the Rebels — The Federals reinforced — The Engagement of June first — Incidents of this Battle — Heroism of the Irish Regiments and of Sickles' Excelsior Brigade — The victory of Fair Oaks — Popular impatience for the occupation of Rich- mond — General Fremont ordered to expel them — They abandon Winchestep— Their retreat through Strasbnrg and Woodstock — Battle of Cross Keys — Battle of Port Republic — Incidents.of this Engagement — Retreat of General Jackson toward Richmond — Appointment of General Pope as Com- mander of the Department — Withdrawal of General Fremont — His military achievements — His true renown 386 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. Prominence of tlie Mississippi Eiver in the events of the "War — Fleet of Gunboats commanded by Commodore Davis — Evacua- tion of Fort Pillow — The Naval Battle before Memphis — In- cidents of the Engagement — Defeat of the Rebel Fleet — General Xegley's Expedition against Chattanooga — Incidents of the Expedition — General Morgan expels the Rebels from Cumberland Gap — Disaster to the Federal Arms at James Island — Incidents of the Engagement — Ultimate defeat of the Federal troops — Their Retreat — Gallantry of the Rebel Commander Lamar — Expedition of Colonel Fitch up the AVhite River — The Engagement at St. Charles — Accident to the Mound City — Cruelty of Captain Fry — Capture of the Rebel Forts — Excursion of Colonel Howard from Newbern to Swift Creek — Bombardment of Yicksburg commenced — Peril- ous passage of Commodore Farragut's Fleet 407 CHAPTER XXY. The Entrenchments of the Federal Army before Richmond — Their extent — Inactivity of the Federal Forces — Concentra- tion of Rebel troops in Richmond — Glowing expectations of the loyal community — Their disappointment — The transfer of McClellan's base of supplies and operations to Harrison's Landing — First attack of the Rebels on his troops at Me- chanicsville — Incidents of the Battle — Commencement of the march toward the James River — Battle of Gaines Mill — Desperate fighting — Heroism and valor on both sides — Yicis- situdes of the Struggle — The Retreat continued toward James River — Disposal of the sick and wounded — Pertinacious pursuit by the Rebels — Singular Caravan of wagons, cattle, and fugitives — Battle of Peach Orchard — Its results — Battle at Savage's Station — Resolute Assaults of the enemy — Ap- palling scenes — Important results — The race to "White Oak Swamp — The Federal troops win the race 427 CHAPTER XXYI. The Battle of White Oak Swamp — Position and order of the Federal troops — Temporary panic — Desperate fighting — For- tunate assistance of the Gunboats on James River — Heroism and skill of General Heintzelman — A general Bayonet Charge on the Rebels — Its results — First Engagement at Malvern Hill — Incidents of the Fight — The Irish Brigade — Complete defeat of the Rebels — The Federal Army removes to Harri- son's Landing — Results of the several Battles before Rich- mond — Artillery Duel on the James River — General Hooker sent to reconnoitre and occupy Malvern Hill — The march thither — Engagement with the enemy — Their defeat — Im- mense Reinforcements ordered from Richmond — Return of the Federal troops to Harrison's Landing — Final evacuation of their Camp by the Federal Army — Its future Destination — Federal losses during the Peninsula Campaign 415 THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. INTEODUCTION. ORIGIN OF THE SOUTHERN REBELLION — CLASSIFICATION OF ITS SEVERAL CAUSES— THE ACT OF 1816 RESPECTING A TARIFF— AGENCY OF HENRY CLAY AND JOHN QUINCT ADAMS — POSITION OF JOHN C. CALHOUN HE FIRST CONCEIVES HIS PROJECT OF NULLIFICATION— HIS MEMORIAL TO GOVERNOR HAMILTON — THE OPERATION OF A HIGH TARIFF THE LEGISLATURE OF SOUTH CAROLINA — OUTBREAK OF THE NULLIFICATION MOVEMENT— VIGOROUS MEASURES OF PRESIDENT JACKSON— MR. CAL- HOUN IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE— A MEMORABLE DEBATE— FINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE DIFFICULTY- AMERICAN SLAVERY— ITS ORIGIN— THE PROPOSITION OF THOMAS JEFFERSON— SLAVERY IN THE TERRITO- RIES—THE COMPACT OF 1787— COMPROMISE OF HENRY CLAY— AN- NEXATION OF TEXAS — THE WILMOT PROVISO — COMPROMISE OF 1850 SLAVERY IN KANSAS — RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ITS PRINCI- PLES AND POLICY— ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN— TREASON IN THE FEDERAL CABINET— PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS OF THE CON- SPIRATORS—POLICY OF MR. BUCHANAN RESPECTING SECESSION— PRESI- DENTIAL CA3IPAIGN OF 1860— ELECTION OF MR. *LINCOLN— THE DOC- TRINE OF STATE SOVERIGNTY AS OPPOSED TO FEDERAL CENTRALIZA- TION — DISCUSSION OF THE SUBJECT, From the period of the establishment of the Federal Government, the people of South Carolina have been remarkable for their restive and troublesome temper. They were among most tardy and reluctant of the states in announcing their approval and acceptance of the Federal Constitution. They have always entertained a false and exaggerated estimate of their own importance 15 16 , INTEODUCTION. in the Union ; and in all the troubles which have dis- turbed and alienated the opposite portions of the coun- try, in all the conflicts in the National Legislature which have endangered the perpetuity of the Union, they and their leading statesmen have had an unenviable promi- nence. Their pernicious influence has been extended on various occasions to the communities immediately around them ; and in some instances their disloyal example has been followed by not a few of the Southern States. Thus it was that they were gradually instrumental in foment- ing a feeling extremely hostile to the Federal Government, which at length culminated in the outbreak of the South- ern Eebellion. Although the censure due to the origi- nators and chief perpetrators of that great crime does not belong exclusively to the people of South Carolina, it is but justice to ascribe to their agency a predominating share of it. We may arrange all the controversies which contributed to the birth of this Eebellion, under the three following general heads : I. The Free Trade Policy, which, under the influence of Mr. Calhoun, led to the experiment of Nullification. II. The Advocacy of Slavery, both as already existing in the Southern States, and as proposed in the new terri- tories of the Federal Union. III. The Dgctrine of State Sovereignty and Supremacy, in opposition to the policy of Federal Centralization and Power. In discussing the various causes which led to the Southern Eebellion, we will treat of them as comprised under these three general topics, and in the order of their historical sequence. I. In the year 1816 an act was passed by the Federal Congress, by which a reduction of five per cent, was made on imported .woolen and cotton goods. The people INTRODUCTION. 17 and the statesmen of the country who were in favor of the policy of protection, were opposed to this reduction, aud determined as soon as possible to secure the adoption of a higher tariff Accordingly, in 1824, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams succeeded in obtaining the passage of a law, by which the profits of certain kinds of manufactures were greatly increased. It was soon dis- covered that the manufacturers of the Eastern States, those engaged in the iron trade in Pennsylvania, and the producers of wool and hemp in the Northern and Western States, who constituted the most important portions of the mercantile community in the nation, were not sufficiently protected by this tariff'. Accord- ingly, in the session of Congress of 1827-8, after a long and desperate conflict with the advocates of the interests of the single staple of the South — cotton — a bill was passed imposing a tariff of duties, the average rate of which was nearly fifty per cent, on' imports. This act received the votes of all the representatives of the nation except those of the more prominent Southern States. The latter condemned it in the most violent terms ; stig- matized it as a "bill of abominations;" and began to mutter threats of future resistance and vengeance. At that period the most distinguished member of Congress from the South, with the single exception of the patriotic Henry Clay, was John Caldwell Calhoun, of South Carolina. No man excelled hira, among that high and brilliant galaxy of genius, in logical acuteness, in his power of close, clear, demonstrative reasoning, in his general knowledge of the principles of international and municipal law, and in the boldness and fearlessness of his character. He was even then the Magnus Apollo of Sectionalism ; and as soon as the tariff of 1828 was passed, in spite of his opposition and that of his con- 2 18 INTRODUCTION. federates, by which the interests of the Cotton States were made secondary to the welfare of the whole nation, he commenced to revolve in his mind the desperate scheme of Nullification. If the National Government would not become subservient to the promotion of the interests of the South, could it not be possible to resist and overpower that government within the limits of the offended states ? Calhoun's answer to this inquiry was an affirmative one. Immediately after the adoption of this high tariff, meetings were held in several portions of South Carolina, in which the policy of Nullification was introduced, dis- cussed, and finally commended. At the request of some of his constituents, Mr. Calhoun prepared a document, in July, 1831, which defended this policy under the existing state of aflairs. This production was styled " The South Carolina Exposition and Protest on the Subject of the Tarift'," and was a'ddressed to the Legislature of the State. That body ordered a large number of copies to be printed and distributed, and afterward passed a reso- lution which declared the Tariff Acts of Congress for the protection of the manufacturers of the North and East unconstitutional ; asserted that they ought to be resisted ; and invited other States of the South to unite with South Carolina in opposing the execution of those acts within their respective limits. At that period Andrew Jackson and Mr. Calhoun were personal and political friends. But soon the latter became dissatisfied with the administration of the former, and was gradually alienated from him. The President did not condemn the high tariff, as Mr. Calhoun believed it his duty to do; and from the year 1831 Mr. Calhoun took the position of an open enemy to his policy and his person. One cause of the hostility which henceforth ex- INTRODUCTION". 19 isted between these remarkable men, was the fact, tbat at that period General Jackson discovered that Mr. Cal- houn had, while a member of Mr. Monroe's Cabinet, advised that he should be reprimanded for his conduct during the Seminole war, in putting Arbuthnot and Armbruster to death. Thenceforth there was a bitter and implacable hostility between them, which endured without abatement till the end of their lives. Mr. Calhoun continued his active agency in preparing the people of South Carolina for forcible , resistance to the Federal Government, and in preparing the way for practical Nullification. In August, 1882, he addressed a memorial of great length and marked ability to James Hamilton, at that time Governor of South Carolina, pre- senting all the arguments which could be devised in favor of that policy. In this production, which the people of South Carolina regarded as their Magna Oharta, he assumed and defended the position that the Federal Constitution was a mere compact, which had been made and ratified by the several states which had adopted it, and that they had done so in their capacity as sovereign and independent governmeuts. He further contended, that in adopting the Federal Constitution, the several States regarded the General Government merely as their agent in the exercise of certain powers and functions which they had delegated to that government, of the extent and nature of which the states them- selves were, and always must remain, the final and supreme judges. He concluded by endeavoring to prove, that when the General Government abused the powers thus delegated to it by the several States, in the opinion of all or any of them, the State or States so regarding it, possessed the right to resist and nullify the illegal acts 20 INTRODUCTION performed by the Federal Grovernment, eacli within its own particular limits. These positions Mr. Calhoun defended with great vigor of thought and force of reasoning. His views were, how- ever, in opposition to those of Washington, Hamilton, and nearly all the founders of the Federal Government. They were condemned by the whole Whig party through- out the nation ; and even the majority of the Democratic party throughout the South, with the exception of South Carolina, withheld their approval of them. The results produced by the existence and operation of a high tariff' were found to be most beneficial. The surplus of the revenue constantly increased. The public debt was rapidly melting away from the ample resources furnished by the duties on imports. President Jackson stated, in his annual message of December, 1831, that soon the public debt would by this process be entirely liquidated ; and recommended that, inasmuch as so high a tariff" would then be no longer necessary, it should be afterward reduced. Accordingly the act of 1832 was i passed by Congress, which was declared by its sup- porters to be the ultimatum, the permanent proportion, d'f imposts which ought to exist and be retained in the co.untry. But this wise policy did not satisfy Mr. Calhoun and his confederates. He and they insisted that if the public debt had been liquidated by the public revenue, then there was no longer a necessity for any tariff whatever ; and that the reduced tariff just adopted was entirely too high to remain as the permanent law of the land, after the exigencies of the nation and of the government had been met. As no one except the people and representatives of South Carolina could discover the force or the conclu- ' INTEODUCTION. 21 siveness of fhis reasoning, they stood alone in tlie advo- cacy of their position. The rest of the nation contended and believed that the machinery of the National Govern- ment involved other expenses, and required other re- sources, beside those connected with the public debt; and consequently they insisted that there should still remain a reasonable tariffj which might furnish a suffi- cient revenue to meet other inevitable expenditures. They therefore refused to adopt the free trade policy, as contended for by the people and the politicians of South Carolina. This determination was the signal for an immediate resort to desperate measures by the disaffected. The representatives in Congress from South Carolina is- sued an address to the people of that State, informing them that the Federal Government had at laslr adopted the protective system as its permanent and unalterable policy ; asserting that no hope of future relief could be entertained from that source, and urging them to adopt such measures as would effectually remedy the evil. An election for members of the State Legislature was about to take place, and the issue was at once formed for or against Nullification, among the candidates voted fo|t A violent contest ensued. Although the .great majority of the electors in the State were in favor of the policy of Mr. Calhoun, there was another party in existence, small, but highly respectable, and very determined, headed by the distinguished statesman Joel E. Poinsett, who sup- ported the measures of the General Government. But their efforts in behalf of law and order were unavailing, and the struggle terminated in the election of a large majority of Nullifiers to the Legislature. That body assembled in October, 1832, and chose delegates to a State Convention, which met at Columbia / 22 INTRODUCTION. on the 19th of November. On the 24th of the month, the Convention passed the famous ordinance of Nullifica- tion. That ordinance declared the acts of Congress of 1828 and 1832 to be wholly null and void within the limits of the State of South Carolina. It forbade any appeal to be made to the Supreme Court of the United States in any case involving the validity of the ordinance itself. It prohibited the authorities of the State of South Carolina, or of the Federal Government, from executing the acts of Congress aforesaid within the state, from and after the first of February, 1833 ; and it declared that any attempt made by the Federal Government to enforce the revenue laws otherwise than through the civil tribunals, which would of course be abortive, would be an outrage so great as to "justify the State in seceding from the Union, and in establishing a separate and independent Government.'''' The Legislature of South Carolina was still in session, and that body immediately passed resolutions which ap- proved of this ordinance, and gave it greater effect. It did more. It ordered the State to be placed in a position of defence; it organized, armed, and equipped the number of troops which were deemed necessary to resist the General Government in its efforts to enforce the col- lection of the revenue ; and it encouraged the citizens to maintain their position and to defend their invaded rights until the last extremity. As soon as the action of the Nullifiers of Soutli Carolina became known to the inflexible hero and patriot who then sat in the chief executive chair of the nation, he took the most vigorous measures to crush them. He issued a proclamation declaring the ordinance of the State Convention treasonable, and subversive of the Federal Constitution ; he announced his determina- tion to enforce the collection of the national revenue at INTEODUCTION, 23 all hazards ; and he cautioned the people of the State of South Carolina against the ruinous policy which they were tempted to adopt. This proclamation was answered by another from Mr. Hayne, at that time Governor of the State, in which the policy of Nullification was justified. At the same time the latter summoned twelve thousand volunteers to take arms in opposition to the Federal troops. During the progress of these events, Mr. Calhoun had remained in South Carolina, and had been the prime mover in the rebellion. In December, 1832, he was chosen to succeed Mr. Hayne in the United States Senate, and to defend the conduct of his native State in the National Legislature. At that moment President Jackson was undecided whether it were not his duty to arrest Mr. Calhoun before he reached Washington, on the charge of treason ; and the general impression was, that such an event would take place. Beyond the limits of South Carolina Mr. Calhoun was generally regarded with dis- trust, sometimes with abhorrence, as being in heart a traitor to the Government ; and on his way to Washing- ton, he was repeatedly assailed by the clamors and insults of the indignant people. But he was at that time Vice President of the United States, and he remained invested with that office until he took his seat in the Senate. That fact and other prudent consideratious, induced Jackson to refrain from the extreme measure which he had once contemplated. But it is worthy of remark, that the stern hero of New Orleans afterward bitterlv regretted his lenity on this occasion, and continued to do so during the remainder of his life. Shortly after Mr. Calhoun took his seat in the Senate, he introduced a resolution requesting the President of the United States to lay before that body the documents 24 INTRODUCTION'. connecteLl witli the NulUlication ordinance, certified copies of which had been transmitted to him by Governor Hayne. Immediately, and before his request could be complied with, General Jackson addressed a message to the Senate bearing date January 16th, 1833, in which he condemned the conduct of South Carolina in reference to the question of Nullification. This message, and all the documents having reference to the matter, were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for consideration. Daniel Webster was a prominent member of this Com- mittee, and exerted himself to procure the adoption of such a report as should effectually crush the scorpion head of Nullification. Under his guidance the Com- mittee reported the famous Force Bill, which invested the President with additional powers in reference to the matter, and extended and increased the jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States in cases arising under the revenue laws. The acknowledged purpose of this bill was to enable and encourage the President to put down Nullification by force of arms. At this crisis Mr. Calhoun came forward, and enacted the most distinguished and important achievement of his life. He addressed the Senate, and proposed that, before the discussion of the provisions of this bill should be commenced, the important abstract questions of constitu- tional law, which were involved in the issue, should be debated ; and in order to bring about that result, he in- troduced a number of resolutions, which included the topics at issue. These resolutions contained the substance and the germ of the whole policy of Southern resistance to the Federal Government, and they have been since, and still remain, the creed and catechism of Secession poli- ticians. The overwhelming majority which was arrayed against Mr. Calhoun in the Senate, soon laid those resolu- INTRODUCTION. 25 tions upon tlie table ; and the bill reported by the Com- mittee was then taken up for consideration. A memorable debate ensued, Mr. Calhoun delivered on this occasion his ablest eflfort, known as his " speech against the Force Bill." But his logic and eloquence were useless. The bill passed, after one of the most magnificent displays of forensic power and genius ever witnessed in that hall, which has been the arena of so many masterly and con- summate orators. The bill became a law on the 28th of February, 1833. Immediately afterward, General Jackson adopted the most vigorous measures to crush the power and the life of the hydra of Nullification. He dispatched General Scott with a body of troops to Charleston. Forts Sumter and Moultrie, which have been since invested with an unfortunate celebrity, were strongly garrisoned. When the rebels discovered that they had no time-serving, imbecile, pusillanimous "■ Public Funetionarif to deal with ; when they saw that, if they persisted in resisting the processes and the writs of the Federal Government, Charleston would be bombarded, and they would feel the full weight of the just indignation of the Government, they retraced their steps, their ardor died out, they approved of more prudent measures ; and eventually the same State Convention which had adopted the infamous Ordinance of Nullification repealed it, and ceased their opposition to the authority of the United States. Such was the termination of the first attempt of the politicians of South Carolina to resist the execution of the laws, and to destroy the Unity of the National Government. Nor can we forbear here to indulge the reflection that if, on the more recent outbreak of rebellion which has occurred in that State, so thoroughly infected with treason, a Chief Executive officer, possessing the 26 INTRODUCTION. same energy, sagacity, and patriotism, had occupied the highest seat of power, measures of the same effective nature would have been adopted, which would have speedily led to the accomplishment of the same glorious and felicitous results. The seed, however, which Cal- houn and his associates sowed, fell into productive soil, took deep root, sprang up, and brought forth deadly and noxious fruit, some sixty, some even a hundred fold. His memorable saying was not forgotten : " If you should ask me the word that I would wish to have engraven on my tombstone, I answer, it is Nulli- fication." 11. The second cause which led to the Southern Rebellion was the contest, often characterized by extreme bitterness and malignity, which has been progressing during many years between the opposite portions of this Union in reference to the extension and restriction of Slavery, its perpetuity in those States in which it already existed, and its introduction into those new Territories which have been, and which might hereafter be, from time to time, organized by the Federal Government. In March, 1830, John C. Calhoun declared, in the Senate of the United States, that he had believed from the first that "the agitation of the subject of Slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in the dissolution of the Union." His prediction was verified. The " agitation" of so important an institution can never be prevented or suspended, even on the part of prudent, moderate, and conservative states- men, and hence the expedient of Disunion was at last resorted to. We will present a brief survey of the facts connected with the past history and discussion of this irrepressible subject in our country. On the 22d of December, 1620, a Dutch trading vessel. INTEODUCTION. 27 a slave ship, sailing directly from the coast of Africa, passed up James river, in Virginia, and landed twenty negroes, who were immediately sold to the chief inhabi- tants of Jamestown, Tliey were the first slaves of African origin who ever existed on the American conti- nent. The purchasers were English adventurers, aristo- cratic cavaliers, who, at home, had been accustomed to idleness and luxury, but having become reduced in wealth, had emigrated to the New World to improve their broken fortunes. To men of such habits and tastes the presence of such chattels as slaves, compelled to obey all their whims and minister to all their caprices, was a very acceptable and novel addition to their means of enjoy- ment. The example of this Dutch slave dealer, whose name has passed into an ignominious oblivion, was soon followed by others; and in a short time vessels, crowded with the manacled and helpless children of Africa, sailed into every port of the American continent, and freely sold their human cargoes to the inhabitants of every colony which had then been planted. By this means, and by the natural increase of the negroes, slavery became gradually established in all the thirteen colonies. Immediately after the conclusion of the Eevolutionary "War, and while the several States were still governed by the Articles of Confederation, Thomas Jefferson introduced a resolution into the Continental Congress to the effect that, after the year 1800, no slavery should exist in any of the Western Territories or on any soil not included within the established and ancient limits of the States themselves. This proposition was made in April, 1784. But it was overruled because, though sixteen delegates voted for it, and only seven against it, the Articles of Confederation required that the votes of nine States should be given in favor of any resolution, to 28 INTKODUCTION. give it the validity of law. Wben the Federal Constitu- tion was discussed, previous to its adoption, this subject was the most difficult with which the immortal sages and statesmen who composed that instrument were called upon to deal. Already had this institution become closely interwoven with all the customs, interests, and associations of the citizens of the Southern States ; and whatever might be the abstract opinions which the people of those States entertained in reference to the subject of human liberty, and the equal rights of man, their personal feeling and their individual interests had become identified with negro bondage, as an essential feature of their social and political existence. All, therefore, that could be done by the advocates of the discontinuance of this institution was, to obtain the introduction of a clause in the amend- ments to the Constitution, somewhat ambiguous in its meaning, which enacted that "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." As this provision amounted to little or nothing in restricting the diffusion of slavery, when new Territories were occupied and settled in the South, and were after- ward elevated to the dignity and invested with the prerogatives of sovereign States, slavery invariably went hand in hand with that process. Thus, when Kentucky was formed out of the limits of Virginia, when Tennessee was carved out of those of North Carolina, when Alabama and Mississippi were created from those of Georgia, this institution constituted a component element of their political and social existence. When first these regions were ceded to the Federal Government as Territories, it was with the express understanding, that Congress should not attempt by any law or statute to abolish slavery INTRODUCTIOlSr. 29 witliin their boundaries ; and tliey even stipulated, by an express condition, that when these Territories had acquired the requisite number of white inhabitants to entitle them to admission to the Union as States, they should be thus admitted with the institution of slavery, as it then already existed in them, fully recognized, allowed, and protected. The sixth article of the compact made in 1787, between the United States and the people and States west and northwest of the river Ohio, prohibited the introduction of slavery in those immense regions. An attempt was itiade in January, 1807, in the American Congress, to suspend this article for ten years throughout the vast "Indiana Territory," of which General Harrison was then the Governor. It failed, and thus those States and Territories have ever since remained exempt from the presence and the incubus of negro slavery. On three several occasions a desperate struggle oc- curred in Congress, in reference to the existence of slavery in the territory comprised within the State of Missouri. The first was in 1817, when she was admitted as a Territory. Then an efibrt was made to have a clause forbidding the existence of slavery in her limits inserted in her Constitution. After a long and angry debate that clause was expunged. The second contest occurred in 1819, when Missouri presented her claim to admission to the Union as a State. Henry Clay was then Speaker of the House, and the committee appointed by him to re- port on the subject, were all, with a single exception, representatives from the South. They reported in favor of the recognition of slavery in the Territory. Their recommendation, after another protracted and vigorous conflict, was supported by both Houses ; and slavery was recognized by an express clause of the Constitution of 30 INTRODUCTION. the State. The third combat on this subject occurred in 1820. It was called forth by an attempt of the pro- slavery advocates to amend the Constitution of the State, so as to prevent free negroes from entering and residing within the limits of Missouri ; and asking the approval of Congress to the measure. On this occasion, after a lengthy discussion, Henry Clay, who may justly be termed the Napoleon of Compromises, came forward with his famous Missouri Compromise, as the best possible settlement of a difficulty which became apparently more complicated and more pernicious from hour to hour. He proposed, in the report of .a committee of which he was the chairman, that a pledge should be required of the Legislature of Missouri, that the Constitution of that State should not be interpreted to authorize the passage of a law, by which any of the citizens of either of the states should be excluded from the enjoyment of all the privileges and immunities to which they were any- where entitled, under the Constitution of the United States. The meaning of this proposition was, that as negroes were then recognized by the Constitutions of several of the States, as citizens possessing certain rights ; and as the Federal Constitution recognized the validity of those State Constitutions, therefore, the State of Mis- souri should not pass any law which deprived the free negroes residing within her limits of the rights which they might elsewhere have possessed. The measure introduced and advocated by Mr. Clay, was eventually passed, and became the law of the land in February, 1821. The Territory of Texas was originally a province belonging to the Vice-royalty of Mexico, while that State was yet a portion of the Spanish monarchy. After the deliverance of Mexico from Spanish power and tyranny, INTRODUCTION. 31 Texas remained a part of the Mexican Eepublic. In 1835 her inhabitants revolted from the authority of that Republic, and established an independent government. In 1836 the decisive victory of San Jacinto secured the perpetuity of their liberties, by delivering the Texans from the authority of their former rulers. In 1844 the new Republic applied for admission to the Federal Union ; and as slavery already existed within her limits, that difficult and eternally obtrusive theme became a prominent element of the discussions which ensued in consequence of her application. Texas was finally ad- mitted to the Union in 1845, with a clause in her Con- stitution fully recognizing the existence of slavery within her borders. The war with Mexico, whose government had protested against the admission of Texas, immediately followed. The armies of the United States, \mder the generalship of the gallant Scott and Taylor, marched into the terri- tory of the enemy, and carried the Stars and Stripes in triumph from one field of glory to another, until they were unfurled, and waved in majestic splendor, from the summit of the towers and spires of the city of Monte- zuma, During the progress of this memorable war, the Federal Congress voted liberal supplies to our armies in Mexico ; but in August, 1846, when President Polk de- manded an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars for immediate use, and two millions more for subsequent exigencies, a number of the representatives from the North determined to embrace the opportunity to place some restriction, as the price of their votes, upon the extension of slavery in the territory which had been the cause of the war. Hon. David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, was chosen as the representative of thi^ faction ; and he offered in the 32 INTRODUCTION. House his famous proposition, known as the Wihnot Proviso. That Proviso set forth : " That as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any ter- ritory from the Eepublic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said Territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." This proposition, after being adopted by the House, was rejected by the Senate. It was subsequently revived in various forms, and under different disguises. Meanwhile the war progressed to a glorious conclusion, and other topics of grave and absorbing interest occupied the attention of Congress and the nation. But the pecu- liar circumstances under which the Wilmot Proviso happened to have been originally proposed, gave it a prominence in the annals of American political affairs, to which it was not entitled by any inherent importance or merit of its own. After the triumphant termination of the war with Mexico, a grateful nation elevated Zachary Taylor to the Presidential chair. It became the duty of the Con- gress which immediately afterward convened, to determine whether or not slavery should be admitted into the newly acquired territories of California and New Mexico. This topic elicited, as was usually the case, a discussion of ex- treme duration and violence. At length, in January, 1850, Henry Clay proposed his resolutions in the Senate known as the Compromise of 1850. The most important propositions contained in this remarkable document were these : That it was inexpedi- ent for Congress to provide by law, either for the intro- duction of slavery into, or for its exclusion from, any of INTRODUCTION. 33 the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico ; that territorial governments should be provided by Con- gress for all those new acquisitions, without adopting any provision whatever respecting slavery ; that it was inex- pedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, as long as slavery existed in Maryland ; that, however, it was expedient to prohibit, within the District, the sale of slaves which should be brought into it from other states, either for the purpose of being sold in it, or of being transported through it to slave markets elsewhere. In support of this compromise Mr. Clay exhausted, for the last time, all the resources of his marvelous and matchless eloquence ; — an eloquence whose persuasive power and pathos the heavy burden of years had been unable to diminish or enfeeble. The venerable statesman presented in the Senate of the United States, on that occasion, one of the sublimest spectacles ever exhibited by pure patriotism, by exalted genius, and by dauntless heroism, in the annals of mankind. He believed that the safety and perpetuity of the Federal Union, to whose power and glory he had himself contributed so much and so long, depended upon the adoption of the measures which he then proposed ; and he acted and spoke accordingly. One of the most memorable debates which ever oc- curred in the National Legislature ensued, in the discus- sion of these propositions. Eminent senators delivered some of their most elaborate and masterly arguments. Among these who opposed them with great zeal, was Jefferson Davis, then honored as the Senator from Mis- sissippi. During the long period of two months, the subject occupied the exclusive attention of Congress. Mr. Clay's propositions gradually became modified by so many amendments, mutilations, and addenda, that they were finally termed, with considerable show of propriety, 3 84 INTRODUCTION. the Omnibus- Bill. As the Omnibus Bill, they were eventually passed by both Houses; but when thus adopted; they retained very little of the spirit and of the purposes which characterized them, when they first proceeded from the gifted mind and the patriotic heart of the Sage of Ashland. Another important feature of this act, was the adoption of a more efficient Fugitive Slave Law, by which the slave property of the South was protected still more zealously and efficiently than before. All these struggles, to which the institution of slavery had thus far given rise, were mere impalpable conflicts of words. A time now approached, in the history of this controversy, when it assumed mere tragical and desperate aspects, and became invested with more formidable and repulsive features. In the session of Congress of 1852-3, Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill for the purpose of organizing the Territory of Nebraska out of the region lying immediately west of Missouri. It is evident that this Territory was included within the limits of that tract from which slavery was forever to be excluded, and to which exclusion the Southern States had themselves consented, by the terms of the Missouri Compromise, in order that they might obtain the admission of Missouri as a slave state. In 1852 the National Conventions both of the Whig and the Democratic parties indorsed and accepted the Compromise of 1850, which implied that the Territory of Nebraska should not be made a slave region. In January, 1854, Mr. Douglas reported a bill for the purpose of organizing the Territory of Nebraska, in which a clause was introduced, which declared that the Missouri restriction on slavery in that Territory was inoperative and void. In May, 1854, this bill passed both Houses of Congress, was signed by the President, INTRODUCTION. 85 and became a law. During the progress of the discussion, however, the bill had been variously modified ; and when finally adopted, it contained the following im- portant provision : that it was the true meaning and intent of the act of 1850, not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom ; " but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to regulate their own domestic institution in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States ;" and that such a policy of non-intervention, neither protecting, establish- ing, prohibiting, nor abolishing slavery within the Nebraska Territory, should remain a fundamental prin- ciple in its Constitution. Subsequent to the passage of this law, and expressly covered by its provisions, the Territory of Kansas was organized. It unquestionably left the people, that is, those who were the laioful citizens of both Territories, at liberty to determine for themselves whether or not slavery should exist in future within their limits. It devolved the important duty of deciding the matter upon the legal authorities of each Territory, chosen in a legiti- mate manner, and expressing their will in a constitutional way. Then the great struggle began in regard to the ultimate decision of the people respecting the existence of slavery in future among them ; and then were enacted all those horrors and outrages which have rendered the annals of Kansas a dark and repulsive spot on the pages of American history. After the organization of the Territory, successive Governors, appointed by the President, administered its affairs with different degrees of integrity and success, some of them being honest, sober, and capable men; others being knavish, drunken, and imbecile. The legal inhabitants of Kansas began to assemble in various L 86 INTRODUCTION. portions of the Territory, to express tlieir opinions in public meetings, to arrange tlieir plans of political action, and to perform other duties which devolved on them as good citizens. Prominent among these duties, in the progress of time, were the adoption of a State Constitution, and the formation of a State Government, The para- mount question to be decided by them still was, whether slavery should be recognized and permitted as a future element in the laws and the social condition of the com- munity. Conventions were held at Lawrence, at Topeka, and elsewhere. The convention which sat at Topeka in September, 1855, possessed all the sanctions and forms of law in its favor, which were necessary to invest its act3 with a legitimate and binding authority. It was summoned by an express proclamation of the Governor. It was attended by all the executive officers of the Territory, by the Clerk of the Supreme Court, and by the Attorney General. Its members were chosen in a legal manner, and they represented the lawful inhabitants of the Territory. They passed a resolution providing for the better government and organization of the State, designated the proper qualification of voters, and ap- pointed the times and places where these voters should assemble to determine whether slavery should in future exist within their limits. The large majority of the inhabitants of Kansas were ardently opposed to slavery. The Territory had long been the scene execrable acts of violence and disorder which were perpetrated chiefly by that class of depraved and irresponsible persons who will always constitute a part of the inhabitants of any new territory. But at the period which now arrived, these outrages assumed a more terrible form, and events occurred in that remote and primitive region, which make the citizens of a well INTRODUCTION. 37 ordered and a prosperous social state sliudder with, horror. This contest also assumed importance in another respect. Kansas became representative ground, and the struggle a representative one between the whole North and South — between the partisans of slavery and the advocates of freedom throughout the entire nation. As the question whether Kansas should thenceforth be a free State was to be determined at the ballot-box, the ballot-box became the centre around which many of these violent outrages clustered. The majority of the opponents of the freedom of Kansas were to be found among the desperate and savage adventurers who lived in Missouri, in the vicinity of the Kansas border. Im- mense crowds of these ruffians, infuriated by political rancor, and still more by excess in intoxicating drinks, rode over to the places appointed for holding the elections ; and sometimes by threats, sometimes by actual violence, defeated the purposes of the law, and interfered with, and often entirely suppressed, the rights of the citizens at the ballot box. The Convention which was held at Topeka, in Kansas, adopted a Free State Constitution for the future govern- ment of the Territory. That Constitution was afterward presented in due form to Congress for their approval, by Commissioners appointed for that purpose. In the House the document was referred to the Committee on Terri- tories; a majority of whom reported in favor of the admission of Kansas, under its provisions, as a free State. A desperate contest then ensued between the advocates of slavery and its opponents, in which Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, afterward the Yice President of the Southern Confederacy, especially distinguished himself. At length, however, on the 3d of July, 1856, the final vote was taken upon the subject and the bill passed ; 38 INTRODUCTIOX. thus receiving the sanction of law, so far as the approval of that particular department of the National Legislature was concerned. In this review of the causes which led to the Southern Eebellion, it is proper that a brief notice be taken of the famous " Dred Scott case," by which the advocates of the interests of slaveholders succeeded in obtaining from a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States a decision which threw the weight and the influence of that august tribunal in favor of pro-slavery interests and pretensions. The Court, however, were not unanimous in their views ; two of the Justices, equal in profound legal learning to any of their associates — McLain and Curtis — having dissented from the opinion of the majority. Two points were decided in that case. The first was, in substance, that no negro could bring a suit in the United States Courts. The second was, that Congress possessed no right to prohibit slavery in the Territories. The first decision was equivalent to the assertion that no negro, imported as a slave from Africa, nor any descendant of such slave, could ever be regarded as a citizen of the United States, in the meaning of that term as it is used in the Federal Constitution ; and that consequently no negro could possess any absolute rights in the United States. The second point was equivalent to a declaration that no power or authority existed in the country, neither in Congress nor in a Territorial Government, which was competent to exclude slavery from any of the Territories of the United States. This decision, so monstrous and anomalous in its nature, was hailed by the South as a grand and glorious victory. The rest of the nation regarded it with repug- nance and contempt ; and although no higher judicial tribunal existed which could reverse it in legal form, it INTRODUCTION. 39 was condemned and overruled by that tribunal wliicli is paramount, in a republic, to every other source of authority— by the loud and overwhelming thunder-tone of Pithlic Opinion. The events which had occurred in Kansas during the administration of Mr. Pierce, and the mysterious disap- pearance of the Whig party, once so powerful and respectable in the arena of American politics, led. to the sudden rise of a new and formidable political organization, which took the not inappropriate name of the Eepublican party. It owed its birth, in reality, to the apprehensions created by the continual and insatiable aggressions of the Slave Power in the United States, which seemed deter- mined, by every expedient which could possibly be rendered available for that purpose, so to mould and control the Federal Government, in all its various branches, legislative, judicial, and executive, as to convert it into the mere tool of a slave propagandism. The new party was composed oi old Whigs, moderate anti- slavery men, some native Americans, and some Demo- crats, who, having become convinced that the old Demo- cratic party had entirely betrayed and ignored its primi- tive principles, felt themselves fully justified in abandoning it. In this new political creation, whiclj thus suddenly emerged into vigorous life, was found a large and im- posing conglomeration of the talent, patriotism, wealth, and personal respectability of the nation ; and the South beheld with mingled astonishment, aversion, and fear, the colossal proportions and dauntless spirit of the young and rising Hercules. The cardinal doctrine of the Republican party was, not to interfere with the institution of slavery as it already existed, either in the slave States or even in the slave Territories. Its fundamental principles and purpose, as 40 INTRODUCTION. set fortli first in the Philadelphia platform, under which Mr. Fremont was nominated, and afterward in the Chicago platform, under which Mr. Lincoln was nomi- nated, were simply to prevent, by legitimate and constitu- tional means, the extension of slavery in those territories which were as yet untainted by its presence and its power. On the 18th of June, 1856, the National Con- vention of the Kepublican party, having convened in Philadelphia, nominated Mr. Fremont as their candidate for the presidency ; and then the struggle commenced. Now, for the first time, were the great issues connected with slavery-extension in the territories placed before the nation in such a form, that the voice of the whole people could be heard upon them without the mixture of fanati- cal zeal or ultra partizanship. The contest was, however, one of the most violent which had ever taken place in any free government, in connection with the strict ob- servance of law and order. In its desperate throes with the new organization, the ancient Democratic party was shaken to its centre. It had selected as its candidate for the presidency, one of the most crafty and experienced of its politicians. James Buchanan guided his confeder- ates through the storm, with that consummate skill which might have been expected from a man whose whole life had been spent in threading the mazes and in practicing the intrigues of political contests ; and who had always acquitted himself with abilitj^ and with more than an ordinary share of success. The result of the contest was favorable to his aspirations. Never before had so young a party made so magnificent a display of organization and strength as did the Eepublican on this occasion ; but Mr. Buchanan was elected President by an inconsiderable majority. In March, 1857, the new President entered upon an INTRODUCTION. 41 administration whicli deserves, in some respects, to be regarded as the most ignominious whicli has occurred in the annals of the Federal Government. His election, indeed, postponed the act of Secession on the part of the South for a limited period ; for there is sufficient proof to satisfy every impartial mind, that the leading politicians of the South had already determined in 1856, that, if the Republican candidate had then been chosen, the act which disgraced the year 1861, would have been antici- pated in the year 1857. The success of the Democratic party, however, deprived them both of the excuse and of the motive for immediate secession. The propitious hour decisive of the destinies of a new republic had not yet arrived. Another chief magistrate had been elected, who, they thought, would certainly equal, possibly he might even excel, all his predecessors in subserviency to Southern arrogance and Southern interests. This hope was more than realized by the result. Nevertheless, the grand enterprise of Secession re- mained constantly uppermost in the minds of the very same men who afterward achieved it. The Southern Convention which met at Montgomery, Alabama, in 1858, deliberately contemplated the ultimate and inevita- ble purpose of breaking up the Union intp fragments. Already at that period a man of superior talents, of daring spirit, and of perverted ambition, had devoted himself to the attainment of the bad eminence of beinsr O regarded as the most active, resolute, and indefatigable of the foes of the Union. William L. Yancey vras a prominent member of that Convention, and all the re- sources of his powerful eloquence were employed to give perfect form and vigorous spirit to the enterprise of Secession. In order to prepare the way for the attain- ment of ultimate success, he announced the fact that the 42 INTRODUCTION. South were entitled, and would thencefortli assert their right, to what he termed Congressional Protection to Slavery in the Territories; and that doctrine was an- nounced as being a fundamental part of the future issue in party politics. Soon this idea was promulgated by those journals in the South which were devoted to Seces- sion. In September, 1858, the New Orleans Delta pro- claimed this doctrine as being a leading element of future agitation. The Richmond Enquirer, then under the con- trol of Henry A. Wise, took the same position. But these demagogues never expected to achieve so disgrace- ful a result, as to render the Federal Grovernment sub- servient to that measure. Their real purpose was to make the demand in Congress, knowing that it would be rejected ; thus to create a fresh hostility between the North and the South, and by the assistance of that hostility to commence the agitation of Secession with the greater probabilities of success. The disunion chiefs took time by the forelock, and provided for distant emergencies. In September, 1858, Jefferson Davis alluded in a speech delivered at Jackson, Mississippi, to the possibility of the election of a Repub- lican President, and made the following declaration : " If an abolitionist be chosen President of the United States, you will have presented to you the question whether you will permit the Grovernment to pass into the hands of your avowed and implacable enemies. Without pausing for an answer, I will state ray own position to be, that such a result would be a species of revolution, by which the purposes of the Government would be destroyed, and the observance of its mere forms entitled to no respect. In that event, in such manner as should be most ex23e- dient, I should deem it your duty to provide for your safety outside of tlie Union, from those who have already INTRODUCTION. 43 sliown tlie will, and would have acquired the power, to deprive jou of your birthright, and reduce you to worse than the colonial dependence of your fathers," This sentiment, uttered in 1858, increased in intensity and strength until it Avas realized in 1861. As the adminis- tration of Mr. Buchanan progressed, it became evident that he regarded the interests and the demands of the South with a partial eye. Probably unaware of the desperate extremes to which their leaders were capable of going, and unable to penetrate the ultimate purpose of their designs, he aided them whenever it lay in his power so to do. One important act of this description was the Presi- dent's agency in reference to the Lecompton Constitu- tion. The Senate not having approved of the instrument which had been adopted by the Topeka Convention, excluding slavery from Kansas, a subtle scheme was contrived by Southern representatives for the purpose of forcing Kansas into the Union as a slave State, from a knowledge of which scheme even the Governor and Secretary of the Territory were carefully excluded. A new Constitution was prepared at Washington, under the auspices of the Administration, the ultimate effect of which was to secure the admission of slavery into the future State. A convention was summoned to meet at Lecompton, for the express purpose of approving and adopting that Constitution ; — at the same time, the pro- vision made to exclude the Free State men from an equal share of influence at the ballot-box ; the use of United States troops to overawe citizens in the exercise of their legitimate rights ; and other arbitrary acts, clearly de- monstrated the perverted feelings which animated the Chief Executive. When infamous frauds were com- mitted at the ballot-box in Kansas, and returns of the 44 INTRODUCTION. elections were made to the Federal Government, which were known and demonstrated to have been illegal, Mr. Buchanan refused to go behind'those returns, and insisted on receiving the voice of one fifth of the population of the Territory as the fairly uttered sentiment of the legal majority. Fortunately there was a formidable power in the legislative department of the Government, which was able to overrule the perversity of the Executive. The result was, that the people of Kansas escaped the misfor- tune of having an institution forced upon them which was repugnant to their feelings, to their principles, and to their interests. Kansas was eventually admitted to the Union as a free State, in spite of the opposition of the Southern politicians, and in spite of the compliant artifices of the President. This event was another heavy grievance to the South ; and it confirmed the foregone conclusion of their leaders in favor of Secession. The politicians and statesmen of the South were now convinced, from various indications, that the probabili- ties in favor of the success of the candidate of the Eepub- lican party in 1860 were overwhelming. They accord- ingly commenced to take the preliminary steps which were necessary to accomplish their favorite project. Unfortunately for the Union, the Cabinet of Mr. Bu- chanan was infested with men unworthy of their high trust. In the formation of that Cabinet the South had, as usual, obtained an undue and exaggerated proportion. When the chief conspirators sounded Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War, they found him a willing and ready tool. He prostituted all the influence and resources of his ofQ.ce to their designs. Quietly and gradually, so as not to excite public suspicion, an immense number of muskets belonging to the Federal Government, were transported by that traitor to places in the Southern INTRODUCTION. 45 States, where they could be of no possible service in time of peace, but would be ready at hand in the event of war. During the year 1860, a hundred and twenty -five thousand stand of arms were sent southward from the armory at Springfield alone. During that year, not a single musket was sent to any fort or arsenal in the Northern or Western States. Twenty thousand muskets were also sold to the South at a merely nominal price. Thus munitions of war were plundered from their rightful owners, and placed in the hands of the secret enemies of the Government, for the express and antici- pated purpose of destroying it ; and this was done by one who himself held a distinguished post in that Govern- ment, and had sworn to support the Federal Constitution. Mr. Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, assisted the in- famous enterprise, as far as the functions of his office permitted him. Mr. Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, was also a particeps criminis. A large proportion of the Cabinet being in the secret service of the enemies of the Union, they commenced their treasonable purposes with decisive advantages in their favor. It is not probable, however, that Mr. Buchanan suspected, much less that he approved of, the designs of these traitors. No reason- able motive can be assigned, or imagined, which could have induced him so to do. He had attained the highest honor known to exist in any free government. He had occupied the seat which had been adorned by the genius and virtues of Washington, Jefferson, and Adams ; and no Southern Confederacy, however successful and power- ful it might become, could give him any glory or profit as great or greater than that which he had already at- tained. The loftiest aspirations of his ambition had been realized. He had likewise gratified some of the less noble instincts of his nature ; for he had rewarded his 46 INTRO DUCTIOIsr. worst enemies, and had punished bis best friends, to a monstrous and marvelous extent. Why should he desire to see the Union broken into fragments, and his own name descend to posterity surrounded with the execrable distinction of having contributed to destroy that Govern- ment which, while it had accomplished many better and more commendable things, had also rendered him so illustrious and distinguished? The supposition is ex- tremely improbable and absurd. The Presidential campaign of 1860 presented several very remarkable features. It was a four-sided conflict, in which almost every shade of political opinion was represented by a separate candidate for^ the Presidency. The old Democratic party nominated John C. Breckin- ridge of Kentucky for that office ; against whom the friends of Stephen A. Douglas pitted that talented and ambitious statesman. An organization which took the name of the Union Party, selected John Bell of Tennes- see as their champion ; while the great Eepublican party, buoyant with confidence and hope, nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois as their standard-bearer. It cannot be denied that the ultra pro-slavery faction in the South, found greater sympathy with their own views in the sentiments and policy of Mr. Breckinridge, than in those of any other candidate ; and had he been chosen, it is probable, perhaps it is certain, that, as in the case of Mr. Buchanan's election, the act of Secession would have been postponed for a brief period.* But such was not destined to be the result. The Ee- * Tlie division of the Democratic party by the friends of Mr. Douglas, and his nomination to the Presidency, thereby insuring the election of Mr. Lincoln, may be regarded as having exerted a powerful influence, though innocently and indirectly, in precipita- ting the outbreak of this pre-destined Rebellion. INTRODUCTION. • 47 publican party entered into the struggle with the resolute determination to leave no fair means untried to attain success. In vain was it urged against them that they were a sectional party, that they were an abolition party, that they were a disunion party. To the first charge they answered that, to call them sectional, was mQTQly ii petitio prineipii ; because it yet remained to be demonstrated at the ballot-box, whether they were sec- tional : if they elected their candidate by a constitutional majority, they could not be a sectional party, but the party of the majority of the whole nation. To the second charge, that they were an abolition party, they answered by a direct traverse or denial; and they supported that denial by the assertion that no abolition sentiment could be found in the Philadelphia or the Chicago platform, and that no representative man of the party, who was authorized to speak for them, was, or could be called, an Abolitionist. Because indeed a few Abolitionists chose to vote for their candidate, that fact did not make the whole party Abolitionists, any more than, because some Free- masons voted for him, that did not make the whole party Masonic. To the third charge, that they favored dis- union, they replied that they supported the Constitution and the laws ; that they would never secede from the Union ; that in fact they would fight for it to the last extremity ; that if they gained the control of the adminis- tration, it should only be by constitutional means ; and that they would then administer it only in accordance with the settled and lawful machinery of the Govern- ment. The event proved that the greater portion of the nation was with the Eepublican party. Mr. Lincoln was elected by a decisive majority. He was a person every way worthy of the high position to which he was 48 INTRODUCTION. elevated. He was a man of the people ; the architect of his own fortune ; accustomed to hardship, to vicissitude, to triumph ; familiar with the laws and Constitution of his country ; eminent as a prudent and practical states- man ; with a character not only free from every stain, but adorned by many great and rare virtues. His elec- tion to the Presidency at once capped the climax of that long train of unspeakable wrongs and outrages which the chivalrous South had suffered with such exemplary patience during so many years, from the Northern portion of the Union ! There was an extreme and an excess of injury, however, which transcended the limits of even Southern patriotism and endurance, and that extreme had at last been perpetrated ! III. We stated at the beginning, that the third cause which led to the Southern Eebellion, was the assertion of the supremacy of State Eights in opposition to the policy of Federal Centralization. Before concluding this Introduction, it may be proper to dwell briefly on that point. The seceding States affirmed their privilege to with- draw from the Union on the ground that each individual State possesses the right to take back and recall from the National Government those powers which it delegated to it when the Union was formed, thus resuming its own isolated position and sovereign functions ; and that each State possesses this right, separately, at any time, when it may think itself aggrieved. Never was a greater ab- surdity uttered. If indeed the separate States possessed any such right, then each State would in reality be para- mount to the Federal Government, and the idea of Federal consolidation becomes an impalpable phantom and a visionary myth. But that no State which once formed a part of this Union possesses, or can possibly INTRODUCTION". 49 possess, any such prerogative, is evident from the follow- ing considerations : The Federal Grovernment was established, not by the States as such, individually, but hy the people of tit e whole collection of States. The Constitution was framed and adopted by those who expressly called themselves " The People." Therefore it is the people of the entire Union only who possess the right to dissolve the Federal Gov- ernment, if, in any case, they feel disposed, for good and sufficient reasons, so to do. This cardinal doctrine was plainly acknowledged by the very men who adopted the Federal Constitution. Among other declarations of a similar character, we may cite the language of Virginia, uttered when she gave her adhesion to the General Government. She then declared that "the powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them, whenever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression." In this statement no allusion is made to the reserved and sovereign right of the individual States to withdraw. When the people of the seceding States became integral portions of the Federal Government, they bound themselves, as a part of the grand aggregate of the people, to support it, unless, as a gravid aggregate, they should become convinced that their interests would be promoted by its dissolution. The Federal Government was established on this basi^, not only for those who framed it, but with the express un- derstanding and covenant that its provisions should benefit and should bind with equal force those who came after them. The makers of it declared that they established it "for themselves and their posterity." Whatever obli- gation, therefore, bound the party of the first part attached inevitably to the party of the second part. Botli live 50 INTRODUCTION. under the same conditions, and are controlled by the same duties. If the separate States which established the National Government could not as States secede, neither could their descendants or legal representatives secede ; for the latter could inherit and possess no pre- rogatives which the former did not possess. That those who framed the Constitution never intended that any- individual State as such should claim the right to with- draw from the -Union is evident from the significant fact that they made no provision in the Constitution itself for such a process. There is no clause in that instrument which designates the way in which a State shall secede. If those who framed the Federal Government intended that either themselves or their descendants should possess the right, as separate States, to withdraw, they would undoubtedly have provided for the exercise of so impor- tant and so fundamental a function. Those who established the Federal Government ex- pressly condemned this doctrine of State supremacy. They say, " This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land, any thing in the Constitution or laws of a State to the contrary notwithstanding." No assertion could possibly be plainer. This clause declares in sub- stance that the people who established the Federal Government organized it for themselves and for their posterity ; that they went into the Union for the purpose of forming component parts of one grand organic political structure, intended for permanent and perpetual duration ; .and they teach that, should any State imdertake to pass laws, or even to adopt a Constitution, which shall in any way conflict with the provisions already contained in the Federal Constitution, and in opposition to this purpose, they shall be null and void. Thus, therefore, if any State as a State, or the people of a single State, shall pass INTKODUCTIOIT. 51 a law in favor of Secession, and against the supremacy of the National Government, that law is ipso facto null and void. Now, those States which seceded approved of this clause in the Federal Constitution by their own representatives in Congress assembled at that time. It therefore binds them and their descendants forever ; and the act of secession by any State is, by their own provisions and solemn stipulations, a fraud and a viola- tion of the law which they themselves had sanctioned. Those who asserted that the Southern States, or any other portion of the Union, have a right to secede on the ground that the Union is a mere compact or partnership between the several States, may be answered and con- demned out of their own mouths. Let us admit, for the sake of argument, that the Federal Grovernment is a mere partnership, what then ? It necessarily follows that, in order to dissolve it legally and rightfully, the process must be accomplished precisely as all other partnerships are dissolved. According to the established principles of municipal law there are four processes by which a partnership may be dissolved. The first is by the death of one of the contracting parties. The second is by the expiration of the time for which the partnership was entered into. The third, where no definite period was specified, during which the partnership should continue, by the mutual consent of all the parties to the contract. The fourth is, where such general consent has not been obtained, by giving previous notice to all the parties in interest of an intention to withdraw, and by making a full and final settlement of all the accounts existing between those involved in the partnership. Now, in the present instance, none of these essential conditions were complied with. No one of the parties who formed the alleged partnership of the Federal 52 INTRODUCTION, Government was extinct.. The period of time for wliicli the alleged partnership was entered into had not expired, because no particular period had ever been specified. There remained, therefore, the third condition — the unanimous consent of all the parties to the compact. But that consent was not given ; it was refused pertina- ciously and clamorously by twenty-three partners out of thirty-four, and those twenty-three were the parties who had furnished nine tenths of the capital, who had borne three fourths of the expense of the concern, and who had always derived the least profit from its operations. Lastly, no previous legal notice had been given of an intention to withdraw ; nor had any provision been made for a full and final adjustment of the accounts and interests exist- ing between the various members of the alleged partner- ship. If then the Federal Government were a mere compact, where was the right of the rebel States to secede as they did? By their own showing, theii* act was illegal ; it was a public and national fraud ; it was a violation of law and order. It was as unjustifiable as their subsequent repudiation of the debts which they owed the citizens of the North, for almost every com- modity which promotes the comfort, refinement, and civilization of human society. The secession of one or more States from the Union, in this illegal manner, was unjustifiable in another point of view. When the people who established the Federal Government ceded certain sovereign powers to it, which they would otherwise have enjoyed and exercised under their separate State Governments, they did it with the implied pledge that they should receive in exchange therefor the benefits of a permanent nationality, which would result from the greater power and influence invested in and exercised by a General Government. INTUODUCTION. 53 That nationality is destroyed, and the benefits once con- ferred by it are lost, by the secession of a single State. Therefore the State which thus secedes inflicts an in- calculable injury on the rest of the community. What nation was more respected throughout the world, what flag was more honored as it floated majestically in every clime under heaven, than that of the " United States of North America?" There was a grandeur and glory associated with that name; bright recollections of the past, glowing visions of the future, inspiring thoughts of freedom, prosperity, enterprise, clustered around it, which invested it with deathless interest. Despots trembled in the recesses of their palaces, the people everywhere shouted with exultation and joy, when they heard it repeated. What was the cause of this ? It was because the nation was then a unit. Uunion fait la force. But now, because the nation was divided, its glory departed ; it became a laughing stock to tyrants ; and the friends of humanity and rational freedom in every land sighed with regret at the lamentable spectacle. This result produced by the act ' of Secession, which inflicted an incalculable injury upon those who were entitled to benefits. But the seceding States had also themselves enjoyed advantages from the same source in a^ preeminent degree; they were bound, therefore, both by gratitudt^ and by interest, to preserve the Union intact and per- petual. There was but one answer to these arguments, and that answer is an absurdity. It was asserted by the advocates of secession that, having no longer the majority in Con- gress, they could no longer mould the laws so as thereby to promote their own interests ; and especially that they could not obtain the admission of new Territories into the Ujiion with slavery expressly protected and allowed 54 INTRODUCTION. in tliera. People from the free States, they said, could convey their various kinds of property, to those new Territories, and could have their titles thereto protected ; but emigrants from the Southern States could not remove their slaves thither and retain possession of them ; hence, it was high time to secede. The answer is: that the Southern States themselves assisted in establishing those very laws by which a certain definite majority rules in the National Legislature. They approved of those laws and obeyed them, as long as they operated to their own benefit and promoted their own aggrandizement. But if, in the course of time, the South lost the majority which the Constitution requires, and with that majority the controlling power, were they justified in repudiating the Government which they had helped to construct, and had sworn to support? On the contrary, they were obligated as men of honor, honesty and veracity, to accept the legitimate consequences of their own free and deliberate acts. CHAPTEE I, EFFECT OF MR. LINCOLN'S ELECTION IN THE SOUTH — POLITICAL MOVE- MENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA EXCITEMENT IN CHARLES- TON PRELIMINARY ACTS AND EVENTS RESIGNATION OP FEDERAL OFFICERS ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO THE STATE CONVENTION OPPO- NENTS OF SECESSION ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS FEDERAL PROPERTY SEIZED IN CHARLESTON — CONVENTIONS SUMMONED IN GEORGIA AND ALABAMA ASSEMBLING OF THE CONVENTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA THE FIRST ACT OF SECESSION FROM THE UNION PASSED — A PATHETIC STATEMENT OF GRIEVANCES SECESSION LOGIC REFLECTIONS ON THE RESULT POPULAR FEELINGS AT THIS TIME IN GEORGIA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI AND FLORIDA LEVITY AND RECKLESSNESS OF THE SECES- SION LEADERS. On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was chosen President of the United States, receiving the votes of seventeen States, or of one hundred and eighty electors out of three hundred and three. As soon as the unwelcome intelligence was conveyed by telegraphic flashes to South Carolina and Georgia, an ebullition of intense indignation and disgust instantly burst forth throughout the length and breadth of those' ancient com- munities. How quickly and promptly they were pre- pared to assume the attitude of rebels against the Federal Government, was demonstrated by the significant fact, that, on the very day after the one on which the general election was held, resolutions wer(s adopted by both branches of the Legislature of Soutli Carolina, then as- sembled at Columbia, in favor of calling a convention of the people of the State to act upon the question of Secession, to re-organize the militia, and to prepare for (55) 56 A HISTORY OF military operations. There seemed to be so settled a determination among the politicians and representatives of that State to assume the part which they afterward enacted, that very little preliminary deliberation was necessary to fit them for decisive measures. Nor were the leaders of popular opinion in South Carolina much in advance of their confederates in the neighboring State of Georgia. On the 8th of November a large meeting of the prominent citizens of Savannah was held in that city, who adopted resolutions admitting the necessity and commending the policy of Secession. Great enthusiasm prevailed in the assembly, which passed without a dissenting voice, a series of resolutions which set forth, that the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was an outrage which " ought not and will not be sub- mitted to ;" that a petition be sent to the Legislature, then in session at Milledgeville, desiring them to co- operate with the Governor of the State in calling a con- vention of the people to determine on measures of re- dress ; that the Legislature be requested to pass laws to meet the commercial crisis which impended, and organize and arm the forces of the Commonwealth ; and that the senators and representatives of Georgia in the Federal Congress be duly informed of these transactions. The spirit of rebellion and disaffection spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the State. The ancient colonial flag of Georgia was unfurled, and flung to the breeze at Savannah ; and an immense assemblage, convened at Augusta on the same day, commenced active operations by enrolling a corps of minute men. Notwithstanding these spirited measures elsewhere, the city of Charleston seemed determined to achieve and to retain the first place in the inglorious enterprise of Secession. On the 8th of November the time-honored THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 57 Stars and Stripes, which had so long waved in graceful splendor over the Federal edifices in Charleston, were dis- placed ; and the Palmetto flag substituted in their stead. The leading officers of the Federal Government, the District Attorney, the Collector of the Port, and the Deputy Collector, resigned their several positions, and duly notified Mr. Buchanan, who still occupied the White House, of that important and calamitous event. Their example was soon followed by less insignificant personages. On the 10th of the month Mr. Chesnut resigned his seat in Congress, as senator from South Carolina. The Legislature then adopted a resolution appointing the eighth of the ensuing January as the period for the election of delegates to the Convention, which was to determine the future action of the State in reference to Secession ; and they designated the 15th of January as the date of its assembling. These events were the natural and necessary prelimi- naries to the great revolutionary movement which was destined soon to follow. But it is worthy of remark, that at this early period of the process, the politicians of South Carolina, and the citizens of that State whom they controlled so despotically, either by fear, or by convic- tion, or by delusion, were unanimous in th^ir support of the policy of rebellion ; whereas no such unanimity ex- isted at that time in the other Seceding States. Thus, on the 10th of November, a conservative meeting was held at Augusta, Georgia, composed of very respectable citizens, and presided over by the Mayor ; which adopted resolutions setting forth that, living as the people did under a government of law and order, it was their duty, if they felt that they suffered from the infliction of grievances, to seek redress for them only by legal and constitutional means. But their words of prudence and 53 , A HISTORY OF monition were like the -voice of one calling in the wilder- ness ; or rather like the sound of a gentle whisper amid the roar and thunder of a furious tempest sweeping over the deep, unheard and unheeded by those around them. The feeling in favor of Secession gradually became pre- dominant throughout the States of South Carolina and Georgia ; and it was confidently asserted, that before the period arrived for the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, Ala- bama, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas, would have united their fortunes with those of the two leading States. The latter had already gone too far to recede; they felt that the confidence and respect of the Union were now lost to them ; and they had but one course left, to persevere to the end in the ignominious career which they had begun. At this stage of the Eebellion there was much doubt in the minds of several distinguished statesmen of Georgia as to the propriety and the policy of Secession. The most eminent of these was Alexander H. Stephens, who then held a high place in the estimation of the whole nation, for his undoubted talents, and his prudent, conservative disposition. At this period he opposed Secession with earnestness ; and stated his solemn convic- tion, that the act would be injurious and pernicious to the South in every respect. He contended that the ad- vocates of slavery would be able to protect their rights much more ef&ciently while in the Union than when out of it ; and of the veracity and wisdom of this opinion there could be no possible doubt. But soon it became known that he had begun to waver in his position ; and the hope was entertained by the Secessionists that he might be won over to their cause. Whether it was the bribe of the profiered ofiice of the Vice Presidency of the new Confederacy about to be created, or whether it was the result of further and deeper research into the supposed THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 59 interests of the South ; or whether he had become con- vinced that it was useless to resist the overwhelming tide which he saw rushing around him on every hand, we <■ pretend not to say. But it was soon announced that the ablest statesman of Georgia, who had spoken so clearly, decisively and boldly in defence of the Union, had at length abandoned that honorable position, and had de- clared himself in doubt on the subject of Secession. This event greatly elated and encouraged those who had at one time despaired of his co-operation, and had feared his resistance to their enterprise. Further acts of hostility to the General Government continued to be perpetrated at Charleston. On the 13th of November, a company of South Carolina troops took possession of the United States Arsenal near that city. At Columbia the Legislature passed a bill authorizing the organization of ten regiments, containing a thousand men each, for defence against the forces of the Federal Government, should the latter attempt to coerce the State into obedience to Federal authority. Soon afterward a public meeting was held in Institute Hall in Charleston, for the purpose of receiving the members of the State Legis- lature, who had returned from Columbia. An immense crowd assembled ; resolutions were passed commending these functionaries for their conduct in reference to Secession ; and addresses were delivered by leading citizens in favor of the policy of withdrawing from the Union. The enthusiasm became still more intense when it was announced that Messrs. Toombs, Iverson, Howell Cobb, and Herschel. V. Johnson, of Georgia, had made known their determination to aid the cause of Disunion. Meetings were then held in all the districts and parishes of South Carolina, in which the justice and necessity of Secession were earnestly defended by popular speakers, 60 A HISTORY OF who tbus impressed that doctrine more fully and deeply upon the minds of the people. , At this period the attention of the citizens of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, was chiefly occupied in the selection of delegates to the Conventions, who were to decide the action of those States in reference to the subject of Secession. The ablest men in the community were chosen for that important function — in South Caro- lina, Senators Hammond and Chesnut, Messrs. Khett, Barnwell, Memminger, Keitt ; in Georgia and Alabama, Messrs. William L. Yancey, T. H. Watts, Toombs and Cobb. The prevalent feeling among the great majority of those chosen by all these States was in favor of Seces- sion ; so that little doubt existed in the public mind in reference to the policy which they would ultimately adopt when they met and acted in an ofi&cial capacity. Meanwhile, financial difficulties began to oppress the mercantile community. As soon as the other portions of the National Confederacy discovered the prevalence of the Secession sentiment, they lost confidence in the integrity and capability of those who advocated it. No longer were the drafts of the merchants of the seceding States honored at the North ; no longer were their bank notes received as a circulating medium beyond their own borders, except at a heavy and ruinous discount. Already did the Secessionists commence to feel the in- jurious effects of the loss of public confidence. The banks of those States were constrained to suspend the payment of specie; and business of all descriptions became more depressed and stagnant than had ever been the case before. This was, however, but the beginning of evils, which did not in the least degree diminish the treasonable and suicidal zeal of the Secessionists. The Convention who were selected by the people of THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 61 South Carolina to determine upon the question of Seces- sion, met at Columbia on the 17th of December, 1860. It is recorded that, at the moment when this body assembled, several signs of indignant nature were ex- hibited, which an ancient Greek or Eoman would have asserted superstitiously, to have indicated and foreboded the wrath of the gods at the act about to be perpetrated. A heavy fog of unusual dampness and thickness hung over the city, enveloping every thing in gloom and dark- ness. At the same time, the fearful ravages of the small- pox struck terror into the hearts both of strangers and citizens. Undeterred, however, by these sinister omens, the Convention assembled at noon ; General Jamison was chosen temporary chairman ; the names of the delegates were enrolled, and the Convention was organized. At a subsequent election for permanent ofl&cers, the same gentleman was again elected President. So overpowered was he by his feelings of gratitude, when he rose to thank the Convention for the exalted honor conferred upon him, that, having uttered a few incoherent and absurd re- marks, he concluded by declaring, with perfect truth: " I can't say any thing ; I can't express ray feelings" — and resumed his seat amid the sympathy of the audience. One of the first and most prudent acts of the Convention was to remove its sessions from Columbia to Charleston, in consequence of the prevalence and virulence of the small-pox. Hon. Howell Cobb was present as Com- missioner from Alabama ; Messrs. Elmore and Hooker were the Commissioners from Mississippi. When the Convention re-assembled at Charleston on the 18th of December, its first achievement was to appoint a committee to prepare and report a Secession Ordinance, together with a Declaration of Independence, Lawrence M. Keitt, one of the most violent and rabid of Southern 62 A HISTOEY OF agitators, was selected as the cTiairman of this Com- mittee. At the same time Mr. Ehett offered a resolu- tion, which was adopted with great unanimity, to the effect that a committee be appointed to provide for the assembling of a Convention of all the seceding States, for the purpose of forming a Constitution, and establishing a new Confederacy. It was on the 20th of December that South Carolina consummated her treason and her disgrace by finally adopting the Ordinance of Secession.* When the ballot was taken upon the passage of this ordinance, it was sustained and approved by an unani- mous vote. Out of one hundred and sixty -nine members, not a single dissenting voice was heard in favor of the glorious and time-honored Union. As soon as the action of the Convention was communicated to the populace in the streets, loud and long acclamations rent the air. It was ordered by the Convention that the momentous and decisive act which had just been performed should be communicated by telegraph to the representatives of South Carolina in Congress ; and provision was made for engrossing the ordinance, and for its signature by all the members of the Convention, with great pomp and ceremony at Institute Hall. * Tills document was as follows : " An Ordinance to Dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the comptct entitled the Constitution of the United States of America: ''We, tlie people of tlie State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and or- dained, that the ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on tlie 23d day of May, in tbe year of our Lord 17SS, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying the amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved. ' ' THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 63 Subsequent to the passage of this memorable act, a discussion ensued in the Convention in reference to the new position and responsibilities thus assumed by South Carolina. It was asserted that, by the adoption of that ordinance, no person within the limits of the State possessed, or could exercise, any authority which he had previously derived from the Federal Government. There was no Collector of the Port, no Postmaster, no United States Judge, or Attorney, or Marshal ; and it would become necessary to appoint other officers in their stead. One member boasted that at last, after a struggle of forty years, there was no man in the State who dared to col- lect the revenues, of the Federal Government. It was asserted by another, and the whole Convention seemed to sympathize intensely with the remark, that great care should be taken in the measures which were adopted ; because nothing should be done which might affect the dignity, honor, and glory of South Carolina, There was a difference of opinion, however, among the assembled wisdom, whether the passage of the ordinance of Seces- sion abrogated all, or only some, of the laws of the United States within the limits of South Carolina. It was an argument which could not be answered, that the legal tender in the State must remain gold and silver ; and what gold and silver could there be, except such as bore the stamp and the superscription of the Federal Govern- ment ? That conclusive consideration settled the point, that South Carolina could not as yet wholly ignore the existence of the Government of the United States of North America They must for the present allow that Government at least a quasi existence. And so indeed they generously did. They agreed still to permit the Federal Government to spend money at the rate of a million per annum in carrying the mails through the L_- 84 'A HISTOEY OF seceding States. It was finally settled tliat tlie spirit of the Ordinance must be observed, until they could treat with the General Government in regard to the further adjustment of details. On the 22d of December, the Committee of the Con- vention which had been appointed to prepare an address to the Southern States, for the purpose of obtaining their co-operation and sympathy, reported. The chairman read an elaborate declaration of the causes which existed, and which they regarded as sufiicient justification for Secession. It set forth, inter alia, that the Federal Government had signally failed to perform its duty toward the slave-holding States ; especially in regard to the matter of executing the fourth article of the Federal Constitution, which provided that persons held to service and labor in one State, and fleeing to another, should be delivered up on the demand of the party to whom such service or labor was due. It declared that all the Northern, and many of tl;ie Western States, had passed laws within their respective limits which effectually nullified this provision of the Federal Constitution; that some States had resisted the right of transit for slaves in the custody of their masters ; that others had directly refused to surrender to justice fugitives charged with murder ; and that in one or two States, slaves were pro- tected by the connivance of ministers of the law, from the power and grasp of their owners, who had pursued, had overtaken, and had demanded their property. It added that, in view of these great and unspeakable out- rages on the Federal Constitution, and on the rights of the South, it was time that the slave States should with- draw from a compact in which the legitimate ends con- templated by its establishment were defeated. To incense the South still more, it was asserted that the free States THE SOUTHERlSr REBELLION. 65 had been guilty of the immeasurable impudence and presumption of assuming to decide upon the propriety of their domestic institutions ; to denounce as sinful the sacred institution of slavery; to establish societies among themselves whose express object it should be to disturb the peace and injure the property of the South, by enticing their slaves away from their homes, and by inciting those who remained to commit acts of rebellion and servile insurrection. This extraordinary document enumerated other causes of complaint against the North, which must indeed deeply move the sympathy of the universe. It declared that this malignant spirit, so hostile to the interests of the South, had continued its restless and pernicious agita- tions for twenty-five years, until at last it had secured a supremacy in the Federal Government. Aggravated, therefore, as former injuries had been, the future promised others still more insufferable. At this stage of the argu- ment, a specimen of South Carolina logic was introduced which presented an astonishing instance of dialectical skill. It was asserted that a sectional party had obtained control of the Federal Government, while, however, it had observed all the forms of the Constitution in so doing. It will remain an impene^able mystery to all rational beings out of the seceding States, how a party can be sectional whose operations are carried on in strict accord- ance with the forms and provisions of the Federal Constitution, and yet is so powerful, both in force and in numbers, as to exceed every other party, and obtain a supremacy over all competitors in strict accordance with' the provisions of that same Constitution. We may answer, that the triumphant party was either sectional or it Avas not. If it were sectional, then the National Government must also be sectional. If the Government 5 66 A HISTOKY OF was not sectional, then the triumphant party could not have been sectional. Bat the National Government is not sectional, according to the admission of the Seces- sionists themselves. Therefore, the party which, by legal and constitutional means, cotild and did obtain control of that unsectional Government, could not possibly have itself been sectional. But as South Carolina had a logic of its own, so also had it a policy peculiar to itself. After the passage of the ordinance of Secession, the Convention resolved that, until otherwise provided, the Governor of the State should be authorized to appoint collectors and other officers connected with the Customs for the several ports of the State, postmasters, and other necessary persons, instead of the Federal functionaries who had been displaced. The oath to be administered to those persons appointed for that purpose was prepared and enjoined. It was as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and true in the allegience I bear to South Carolina, so long as I may continue a citizen thereof; and that I am duly qualified according to the Constitution of this State to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been appointed ; and will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties of the office, and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of this State. So help me God." Thus the Rubicon was at length passed, and Secession became a stern yet absurd reality. When the news of this event was conveyed to different portions of the Union, it produced in different localities the most opposite effects. The inhabitants of the free States, both in the East, in the West, and in the centre, received the intelligence with mingled surprise and disgust. They regarded it as an evidence of the amazing stupidity, THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 67 obstinacy, and malignity of the people of Soutli Caro- lina; who, without any cause or excuse, except such as must excite the derision of all intelligent people, had dissolved their connection with a gWrious and beneficent Government, and had plunged themselves into all the inevitable horrors of political chaos and ruin. It was evidently a case illustrative of the familiar maxim: Quern Deus vult ]^eTdere, priusquam dementat. Even that party in the North from whom the Secessionists had confidently expected to receive sympathy and comfort, the former advocates of Southern interests, disappointed them in this respect ; and joined heartily in the general chorus of censure and condemnation which resounded throughout the land. The border slave States regarded the event with suspicion and apprehension, and sent no message of encouragement or congratulation. It was only in those States which had already expressed their approval of Secession that any sympathy with the policy of South Carolina was expressed or exhibited — in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. It is not impossible that this grand and prominent isolation in evil and in ignominy, may have flattered the vanity and strengthened the determination of that State, which has always been so remarkable and eminent for patriotism, and for that extreme modesty which is invariably an accompaniment of superior merit ! They had already accomplished what was probably the chief motive of the movement — they had attracted to themselves the attention of the entire nation ; and they flattered themselves, doubtless, that soon they would be the object of the admiring scrutiny of the whole world. That eminence would indeed be an ample compensation for all that they would be called upon to suffer and to sacrifice in the future ; and they 68 A HISTORY OF therefore might select for their motto that other maxim: Post nubila Phoebus. Nevertheless, he who carefully considers the circum- stances which attencted this important event will be sur- prised at a singular and anomalous peculiarity connected with it. He will observe that, in this instance, the most sacred of all political relations, involving in its embrace other ties more tender, other associations more solemn still, was ruptured with a degree of thoughtlessness, of exultation even, which indicated the mastery of malignant passions, and the presence of callous hearts. The jictors in this melancholy drama, as they went forth from their ancestral homes and their ancient associates, sent no words of kind farewell, they uttered no parting benediction to those wdth whom they had been so long donnected, and from whose society they thus tore themselves. They made no allusion to past eventful incidents, to storms which, in other and happier times, they had nobly breasted should'er to shoulder ; to scenes of sadness, where their gushing tears had mingled in one hallowed stream ; to fields of glory, where they had joined in common struggles and had achieved united triumphs. In that dark hour they seemed unconscious of the real extent of the peril, the disaster, and the disgrace, which, in the impartial judgment of the civilized world, they thereby brought upon themselves. True' patriots, disinterested philanthropists, and wise statesmen, do not disport them- selves with such levity in the great crisis of human responsibility and destiny. It was indeed a spectacle calculated to excite the pity of the wise and good of all lands and ages. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 69 CHAPTER II. TREASONABLE PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR PICKENS — RESIGNATION OP THE REPRESENTATIVES OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN CONGRESS THE CRIT- TENDEN PROPOSITIONS OF COMPROMISE — THEIR PROVISIONS SCRAMBLE FOR FEDERAL PROPERTY — COMMISSIONERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAJOR ANDERSON — THE REMOVAL OF HIS COMMAND TO FORT SUMTER — MR. SECRETARY FLOYD — HIS RESIGNATION — DEMEANOR OF THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS AT WASHINGTON — THE CONVENTION OF THE 8LAVEH0LDING STATES IMPORTANT EVENTS AT SAVANNAH SECESSION OF MISSISSIPPI PERNICIOUS INFLUENCE OP JEFFERSON DAVIS — RESIGNATION OF U18 SEAT IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE — THE SECESSION OF ALABAMA — OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA, LOUISI- ANA, AND TEXAS. On the twenty-fourtli of December, 1860, Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, issued a proclamation setting forth that the State, having seceded from the Federal Union, was thenceforth an independent and sovereign community ; and as such had the right to levy war, to conclude peace, to negotiate treaties, and to do all other acts whatsoever which appertain to a free and indepen- dent government. On the same day, the representatives of that State in Congress — Messrs, McQueen, Bonhara, Boyce, and Ashmore — addressed a letter to the Speaker of the House, containing the resignation of their respec- tive posts. That document was as follows: "We avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity, since the official communication of the intelligence, of making known to your honorable body that the people of the State of South Carolina, in their sovereign capacity, have resumed the power heretofore delegated by them to the Federal 70 A HISTORY OF Governmeut of tlie United States, and have thereby dissolved our connection with the House of Eepresenta- tives. In taking leave of those with whom we have been associated in a common agency, we as well as the pepple of our commonwealth, desire to do so with a feeling of mutual regard and respect for each other — cherishing the hope that in our future relations we may better enjoy that peace and harmony essential to the happiness of a free and enlightened people." It was at this period that John J. Crittenden of Ken- tucky, came forward in the Senate with his famous propositions of compromise, for the purpose, if possible, of healing the difficulty. As these propositions possess an historical interest and importance, it may be proper here to state their principal contents. They provided that thenceforth slavery or involuntary servitude, ex- cept for crime, of which the party should be duly con- victed by process of law, should be prohibited in all the territories of the United States lying north of latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; that in all the territories south of that latitude, slavery should not be interfered with by Congress ; and that when the terri- tories north of that line were entitled to admission as States to the Union, they should be so admitted, with slavery or without it, as their respective inhabitants might themselves at that period determine. They also provided that Congress should possess no right to abolish slavery in the district of Columbia ; they denied the same right in the national dockyards and arsenals ; they maintained the right of the transit of slaves through the free States ; and they proposed, that States in which fugitive slaves had been rescued from the possession of their masters, when in pursuit of them, should pay the value of them to their alleged owners. But the patriotic THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 71 efforts of Mr. Crittenden, on this occasion, were useless; the extreme views held by both the Northern and the Southern senators upon the questions involved in his compromise, rendered an accommodation utterly im- possible. The great State of South Carolina having withdrawn from the Union, the next thing to be done was, to re- move all the monuments of Federal power, and take possession of all the Federal property, which existed within her limits. It was beneath her dignity to permit these to remain before her eyes as mementos of her former degradation, as an humble member of the repu- diated and rejected General Government. Accordingly, the assembled Convention proceeded to select Commis- sioners to proceed to Washington as their representa- tives, and make a formal demand for these various objects of dispute. Immediately on their arrival at the seat of Govern- ment, the Commissioners announced their presence to Mr. Buchanan. In a communication to that functionary, Messrs. Barnwell, Adams, and Orr, respectfully yet firmly set forth that they had been delegated by the State of South Carolina to inform the Federal Govern- ment of their withdrawal from the Union;. to negotiate in her name upon all such questions as necessarily arose in consequence of that act ; and that they were prepared to enter upon these negotiations in a friendly spirit, with the desire to inaugurate their new relations so as to pro- mote the mutual advantage of both parties. They added, however, that " the events of the last twenty-four hours render such an assurance impossible. We came here the representatives of an authority which could, at any time within the past sixty days, have taken possession of the forts in Charleston harbor, but which, upon pledges 72 A 'HISTORY OF given in a manner that we cannot doubt, determined to trust to your honor rather than to its own power. Since our arrival here, an officer oi' the United States, acting as we are assured not only without, but against your orders, has dismantled one fort and occupied another — thus altering to a most important extent the condition of affiiirs under which we came. Until these circumstances are explained in a manner which relieves us of all doubt as to the spirit in which these negotiations shall be con- ducted, we are forced to suspend ail discussion as to any arrangement by ■ which our mutual interests may be amicably adjusted. And, in conclusion, we would urge upon you the immediate withdrawal of the troops from the harbor of Charleston. Under present circumstances they are a standing menace which renders negotiation impossible, and, as our recent experience shows, threaten speedily to bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled with temperance and judgment." To this address Mr. Buchanan replied evasively ; and his answer elicited a lengthy and haughty rejoinder from the Com- missioners, Meanwhile, the subject and the destination of the forts in Charleston harbor assumed an increasing importance. At that period Fort Moultrie was com- manded by Major Anderson, under whose orders there had been placed a small garrison. On the 26th of December that officer transferred his command from Fort Moultrie, to the greater and stronger fortress of Sumter. This act was one indicating in- trepidity, sagacity and skill. Major Anderson thereby gained an important advantage over the Secessionists; and he received the deserved applause of the nation in return. Immediately afterward the troops of South Carolina took possession of Fort Moultrie, and thus held their first armed position against the Federal Govern- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 73 ment. That position was of little service to them, how- ever, inasmuch as Major Anderson, before withdrawing from it, had spiked the cannon, had burned the gun carriages, and had left the works in a mutilated and useless condition. Secretary Floyd was greatly incensed at the conduct of Major Anderson. Being secretly in the service of the Secessionists, he now began more openly to advocate their interests in the Federal Cabinet. Finding that the voice of public opinion was beginning to condemn him with general and harmonious censure, he read the following paper to the President in the presence of the Cabinet, and afterward resigned his office : " It is evident now, from the action of the commander of Fort Moultrie, that the solemn pledges of the Govern- ment have been violated by Major Anderson. In my judgment but one remedy is now left us by which to vindicate our honor and prevent civil war. It is in vain now to hope for confidence on the part of the people of South Carolina in any further pledges as to the action of the military. One remedy is left, and that is to with- draw the garrison from the harbor of Charleston. I hope the President will allow me to make that order at once. Tliis order, in my judgment, can alone prevent bloodshed and civil war." The Commissioners who were sent from South Caro- lina to the Federal Government, conducted themselves at Washington with such a degree of arrogance as effectually to defeat the purpose of conciliation between the rival Republics, if any such purpose had been enter- tained. Their last communication, addressed to Mr. Buchanan, was a singular effusion of combined impu- dence and imprudence. They assumed the dictatorial tone of masters, and assured the President that he had, in effect, compromised his honor by not immediately 7-i A HISTORY OF withdrawing the Federal troops from the forts in the harbor of Charleston. They reminded him, also, in language which was absurd and ludicrous in itself, that " gentlemen of the highest possible public reputation, and the most unsullied integrity," had advised him to with- draw those troops as a measure due to the claims of peace and the continued prosperity to the country. They added that the authorities of South Carolina, were fully justified in taking possession of that portion of Federal property which they had already seized ; and that the President should have followed the counsel of Mr. Floyd in regard to the disputed matters, as that personage was his legitimate adviser in the premises. This assertion was erroneous, to use a gentle and courtly phrase ; be- cause Mr. Floyd had already become strongly and justly suspected for those acts of treason against the Federal Government which were afterward clearly and un- answerably proved against him. The Commissioners also charged, that by approving of the removal of Major Anderson's command to Fort Sumter, the United States virtually commenced hostilities and declared war against the State of South Carolina. This declaration was equally false ; because the three forts in the harbor of Charleston were exclusively Federal property, erected by Federal money, and therefore the Federal Government possessed an unquestionable right to transfer its own troops to and from its own fortresses precisely as it pleased, without involving a menace to any one. They concluded by declaring that the Administration, by re- fusing to comply with the demands of those whom the Commissioners represented, assumed the entire responsi- bility of rendering civil war inevitable ; that the State of South Carolina accepted the issue ; and they appealed to him, "who is the God of Justice as well as the God THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 75 of Hosts," for the propriety of tlieir conduct. They declared that South Carolina would perform the solemn and momentous duty which devolved upon her, "hope- fully, bravely and thoroughly." They concluded by informing the President of the important and calamitous fact, that they purposed to return forthwith to Charles- ton. However much posterity may condemn the con- duct and policy of Mr. Buchanan in reference to the Eebellion, he will deserve their commendation for the manner in which he treated this extraordinary commu- nication. As soon as he became aware of its character and contents, he instantly ordered it to be returned to those from whom it emanated, without the undeserved courtesy of an answer. On the 26th of December Mr. Ehett introduced an ordinance into the Convention of South Carolina, recom- mending the assembling of another Convention, consist- ing of representatives from all the slaveholding States. This ordinance consisted of six separate clauses. The first provided for the summoning of the Convention afore- said at Montgomery, Alabama ; whose duty it should be to adopt a Constitution for the government of a Southern Confederacy. The second clause recommended to the slaveholding States the appointment by eaqh State re- spectively of as many delegates therefrom as they had members in Congress ; and suggesting that the proposed Constitution should be voted on by States. The third ordained that, as soon as that Constitution should have been adopted by the Convention appointed for the pur- pose, it should be referred to the Legislatures of all the States concerned, for their ultimate discussion and ap- proval. The fourth article affirmed that, in the opinion of the State of South Carolina, the Federal Constitution would form a suitable basis for the Confederacy of South- 76 A HISTORY OF ern States. The fifth clause declared that the Convention of South Caroliaa should select eight delegates to repre- sent that Commonwealth in the Convention of the South- ern States. The last article provided for the election of one commissioner from each slaveholding State, whose duty it should be to call the attention of the people of his State respectively to the duty of complying with the provisions of this ordinance, as adopted and recom- mended by the Convention of South Carolina. This important document had been laid upon the table of the Charleston Convention, for the purpose of future and more deliberate discussion. On the same day another ordinance was adopted, whose purpose was to gain the cooperation and aid of the Federal office-holders in the Palmetto State to the cause of the Rebellion. It enacted, that all citizens of South Carolina who, at the period of the passage of the ordinance of Secession, held Federal offices within the limits of the State, were thereby appointed to have and hold the same offices under the new Government, and to receive the emoluments of the same until it was otherwise ordered. It also enacted that "the revenue and navigation laws of the United States being abolished, as regards the Federal Govern- ment, they shall, as far as may be applicable, be adopted by the State of South Carolina, and executed thenceforth as such ; and that all moneys which may thereafter accrue under those laws shall, when the salaries and expenses of the officials have been duly paid therefrom, be de- livered to the Treasurer of South Carolina, and not, as heretofore, be paid to the Federal Government." This important act concluded by authorizing and commanding the officials of the State to " take possession of, and re- tain in their custody, all the property and funds of the United States which may come within their reach." THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 77 This ordinance passed the Convention with general unanimity. Immediately afterward the Palmetto flag was unfurled from the Charleston Post Ofiice, from the Custom House, from Fort Moultrie, from Castle Pinck- ney, and from the Arsenal. It must be admitted that the Charleston Convention proceeded in the work of political organization with a considerable degree of sagacity and ability. They passed ordinances amending the Constitution of the State in all those particulars which were rendered necessary by the new attitude which she had assumed as an inde- pendent sovereignty. They authorized the Governor of South Carolina to receive foreign ambassadors, to ap- point representatives to foreign courts, to make treaties " by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," to fill vacancies in the Senate during its recess, to convene that body under extraordinary circumstances ; in a word, to enact a rOle similar to that of President of the United States, as far as the limited circumstances of the case would permit. The Convention also adopted laws governing the future rights and defining the future quali- fications of citizens of the State. While these important events were transpiring in South Carolina, the political virus was being rapidly and efiectually difiased throughout other portions of the Union. The Commissioners who had been previously appointed by the Convention of that State to proceed to each of the slaveholding States, and lay before the Con- vsntions which might there assemble the ordinance of Secession, and solicit their approval and co-operation, had been both diligent and successful in the execution of thei!r trust. The new year 1861 was inaugurated at Savannah by the seizure of the Federal forts Pulaski and Jackson, by order of the authorities of the State of 78 A HISTORY OF Georgia, This example was immediately followed by the Executive of Alabama, by whose orders the United States Arsenal at Mobile, and Fort Morgan, in the port of that city, were taken possession of by the State troops. The first Southern State which followed in the wake of South Carolina in the act of Secession was Mississippi. The Convention assembled at Jackson, on the 7th of January, and it soon appeared that the prevalent feeling among the delegates was in favor of withdrawing from the Union. The President, when assuming the duties of his office, delivered an address in which he advocated that policy in bold and unequivocal language. A com- mittee of fifteen was immediately appointed to prepare and report an ordinance of Secession, providing for the immediate withdrawal of the State from the Federal Union, with special reference to the establishment of a new Confederacy, to be composed of the Seceding States. That committee reported on the 9th inst. Their report was wholly in accordance with the prevalent treasonable spirit. It was read, briefly discussed, and then adopted by a vote of eighty -four yeas to fifteen nays. By this precipitate act Mississippi became an outcast from the Union. The fifteen delegates who had opposed the ordi- nance made several efforts to postpone action in accord- ance with its provisions ; but in vain. The torrent of opposition was overwhelming. On the next day those fifteen appended their signatures to the ordinance, thereby making the voice of the Convention unanimous. Then the demonstrations of joy on the part of the populace were enthusiastic in the extreme.^ The city of Jackson was illuminated, and as the news spread from town to town, and from village to village, glad shouts of rejoicing resounded throughout the State. THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 79 That State was represented at this period in the Federal Senate by an individual who has since achieved an unenviable immortality. Jefferson Davis had long been known as one of the most violent and extreme ad- vocates of Southern and sectional interests ; and thougli a man of acknowledged abilities, he had been too closely identified with the advocacy of disloyal sentiments to have gained the confidence or esteem of the nation. As soon as the news arrived at Washington that the State which he represented had withdrawn from the Union, it was announced that he would resign his seat in the Senate, and when so doing would deliver a brief address. The occasion would be one of unusual interest ; and great curiosity was felt to ascertain how the Senator would acquit himself of the difficult and delicate task before him. Accordingly he arose at the first conveni- ent opportunity, and proceeded, with a tone and manner not destitute of solemnity and pathos, to announce, that the State which he represented in that august body having withdrawn from the Union, it became' his duty to resign his seat and his functions in it. He continued by reminding those who heard him that he had invariably advocated, during the long period of his public political career, the right of each State to withdraw from the Union whenever she may choose so to do. This right was an abstract and paramount one, even where a State might not in reality possess any real ground of complaint against the Federal Government. But the case became stronger, and the right of Secession more undeniable, when such a ground of complaint does exist. Such was the fact in the present instance. lie held that the slave- holding States, and Mississippi among the rest, had serious causes of offence against the Federal Government. He also asserted that a material difference existed be- 80 A HISTORY OF tureen Secession and Nullification. The former was a total withdrawal from the Union ; the latter was an at- tempt to resist the authority of the General Government, while the parties so resisting still formed a portion of that Government. After dwelling upon these general topics he adverted to considerations more personal to himself; and in a tone of sympathy and cordiality which could scarcely have been expected from his hard and stern nature, gave utterance to those feelings' of regret which naturally rose within him, at the severance of re- lations with which many pleasing and grateful recollec- tions would forever be associated in his mind. After the delivery of this address Mr. Davis withdrew from the Senate chamber amid the adieux of his political and personal friends. The example already given by the States of South Carolina and Mississippi was quickly followed by Alabama. A powerful and malignant genius controlled the destinies of that State, and led her on to perpetrate the most unfortunate event in her history. In the Convention which met at Montgomery, William L. Yancey was the leading and commanding spirit ; for on the 11th of January the secession ordinance was passed by that body. That ordinance was a singular and anomalous production. It commenced by asserting that the "election of Messrs. Lincoln and Hamlin to the two highest executive offices in the Union by a sectional party was an insult to the South too great to be borne." We cannot refrain from remarking here what a palpable absurdity appears upon the very face of this declaration ; because" it is self-evident to every calm and clear thinker, as we have already asserted, that that party which proved itself at the ballot-box to be the most numerous and powerful in the whole nation, whichever party that might be, could not be called a sectional one ; and whatever THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 81 other defects it miglit exhibit, it must, in the 'nature of the case, be more national and universal than any- other. The inhabitants of Alabama generally received the news of the secession of the State with immense exultation. In the towns, the villages, and the country, the wildest excitement prevailed. In Mobile particularly the enthusiasm was boundless. Throughout the length and breadth of the entire Commonwealth Secession poles j were planted. Secession flags were unfurled to the breeze, j bands of music brayed forth Secession melodies, Seces- i siou cannon thundered, and Secession eloquence re- j sounded, in honor of the glorious and propitious event. ! The next member of the Union which followed this ! ignominious example was Florida. Her apostacy was I consummated on the 12th of January. The Convention of that State met at Tallahassee, and after a short debate, the secession ordinance was passed. It was signed by each member of the Convention in one of the porticos of the Capitol; and it is recorded that, as eacJi delegate appended his name to the instrument, he was hailed with cheers, and a salute fired in his honor. Immediately afterward the Federal property at Pensacola was seized by the Eebcls, with the exception of a single fortress. Fort Pickens was then held for the United States by Lieutenant Slemmer, who presented so firm and bold a resistance to the demands of the Secessionists, that they desisted from any hostile demonstration for its acquisition. On the 19th of January, 1861, the ordinance of Seces- sion was passed in Georgia. The vote stood two hundred and eight against eighty-nine. It is worthy of note, that prominent among those eighty-nine who opposed this inglorious act, not only by their speeches, but by their votes, was Alexander H. Stevens, afterward elected Vice President of the rebellious Confederacy. This was a rare 6 82 A HISTORY OF and extreme instance of that inconsistency of conduct and principle which is so frequent and prevalent a vice among American politicians. This ordinance was re- markable for its brevity. The important act of Secession was performed by means of an instrument no longer or more elaborate than the following : " We, the people of the Sate of Georgia, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances adopted hy the people of the State of Georgia in Convention in 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratified, and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assemby ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Consti- tution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated. And we do further declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States under the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is in full posses- sion and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State." Immediately after the adoption of this ordinance Fort Pulaski was taken possession of by the troops of Georgia, acting under the order of the Governor of the State. But the catalogue of rebel States was not yet complete. On the 28th of January, 1861, the Convention summoned in Louisiana passed the secession ordinance. The usual process of plunder against the property of the United States ensued immediately after the passage of this ordi- nance ; and revenue cutters, arsenals, moneys, and other effects of the United States, were seized by the orders of the Governor of the State. It was not until the 1st of February that the last of the States, which at that time united their fortunes with the Secessionists, consummated the act. On that day Texas withdrew by a vote of her Convention, from the Federal Union. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 83 CHAPTER III. VARIOUS EFFORTS MADE FOR COMPROMISE AND SETTLEMENT — CONCILIA- TORT MEETINGS HELD IN THE NORTHERN STATES THEIR ULTIMATE FAILURE APOSTACY OF ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS — RESIGNATION OF THE SOUTHERN REPRESENTATIVES IN THE FEDERAL CONGRESS THE REBEL CONGRESS CONVENED AT MONTGOMERY ITS ORGANIZATION — ADOPTION OF A PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY — JEFFERSON DAVIS ELECTED PRESIDENT — A. H. STEPHENS CHOSEN VICE PRESIDENT — PROPHECIES OF SENATOR WIGFALL BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, OF STE- PHENS, OF THE CABINET MINISTERS OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, MEMMINGER, TOMBS, MALLORY, WALKER, BENJAMIN THE PERSONAL QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE OFFICERS. Notwithstanding the rapidity with which the act of Secession had been consummated in so many of the dis- affected States, hopes were entertained that a resort to arms might yet be averted, and the schism be eventually healed. Several efforts were made in Congress to pass resolutions so amending the Federal Constitution as to satisfy the South. But those efforts failed, for two reasons : First, because it was not possible, in the nature of things, where such antagonistic interests and principles existed, for any amendment to be made to the Constitu- tion which would meet the requirements and conscientious convictions of honest statesmen on the subject in dispute. Secondly, because it was equally impossible, in such a case, to propose any amendment which would find favor with selfish party leaders, with mercenary politicians, who flourish by means of the distinctions and strifes of factions, and whose occupation would be utterly gone if 84 A HISTORY OF concord and unanimity prevailed throughout the whole country. Hence it was that, during the brief remainder of Mr. Buchanan's term of oflB.ce, the several efforts which were made in Congress to heal the difl&culty proved abortive. Other expedients which were adopted elsewhere were equally inefl&cient. One of these deserves to be noticed. It became the fashion in jnany of the cities of the North to hold public meetings, at which resolutions were adopted, setting forth how much the inhabitants of the free States deprecated the secession of the South ; how much they abominated abolitionists and fanatics of every description ; how earnestly they desired the South to draw a broad and clear distinction between these fanatics and the great mass of the conservative people of the North ; how much the latter valued the good will and the intelligence, which really meant the commerce and the trade, of the slave States. These demonstrations, instead of accomplishing the end intended by them, merely excited the contempt of Southern fanatics, and gave the entire population of the Cotton States an undue conception of their own importance. If they had not been deficient in arrogance before, their vanity became greatly exaggerated afterward, in consequence of these pusillanimous and mercenary movements at the North. As soon as the several States had seceded, many of those persons who had, within their respective limits, opposed the act on various grounds, gradually yielded to the pressure of the prevalent sentiments hostile to the North, changed their position, and gave in their adhesion to the opponents of the Union. The most extraordinary instance of such conversion was that of Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia. That able man, as we have already stated, had at first opposed Secession, and had refused to THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 85 sign the ordinance when it was passed by the Convention. But immediately afterward, when he discovered that his State no longer remained in any respect identified with the Federal Union, and that there could be no further prospect of dignities and honors for him in that Union, he began to waver in his position. The art and tact with which he prepared the way for his complete apostacy are worthy of notice. Nothing could have been more adroit or more specious. He wrote a preamble and resolution which were adopted by the Convention, to the following effect : " Whereas, the lack of unanimity in the action of this Convention on the passage of the ordinance of Secession indicates a difference of opinion amongst the members of the Convention, not so much as to the rights which Greorgia claims, or the wrongs of which she complains, as to the remedy and its application before a resort to other means of redress ; and whereas it is desirable to give expression to that intention, which really exists among all the members of the Convention, to sustain the State in the course of action which she has pronounced to be proper for the occasion ; therefore resolved, that all the members of this Convention, including those who voted against the ordinance, as well as those who voted for it, will sign the same as a pledge of the unanimous determination of this Convention to sustain and defend the State in this her course of remedy, with all its ' responsibilities and consequences, without regard to individual approval or disapproval of its adoption." That is to say, those who voted against Secession, and refused to sign the ordinance, promised, nevertheless, to sustain the State in the execution of it ; those who condemned Secession, and regarded it as pernicious, illegal and wrong, would nevertheless support those to their utmost who have pledged themselves to 86 A HISTORY OF adbere to that pernicious, illegal and injurious policy, to whatever results it may lead ! American political liistor}'" presents many instances of profound and logical reasoning, of consistent and cohesive policy ; but "\ve imagine that this case transcends the rest ! At this period all the representatives of the seceding States in the Federal Congress, except Mr. Bouligny of Louisiana, had resigned their seats and returned to their constituents. During the month of January, 1861, a number of the Conventions which had passed the ordi- nance of Secession continued to sit, and to adopt those additional measures which were rendered necessary in consequence of their withdrawal from the Union. The Georgia Convention demanded from the Federal Govern- ment possession of all the Federal property within the limits of that State; and appointed commissioners to proceed to the other apostate States, and give tliem counsel and encouragement. The Convention of Ala- bama adopted a resolution approving of the action of the representatives of the State in withdrawing from the Federal Congress. All the Conventions of the seceding States elected delegates to the Congress which had been appointed to meet at Montgomery, Alabama, for the purpose of establishing a Southern Confederacy. The Convention of Florida commended the action of Com- modore Armstrong, who, being in command of the Pensacola Navy Yard at that time, surrendered it to the authorities of the State, without making the least effort at resistance. We fancy that Commodore Armstrong will scarcely take rank, in the history of this memorable war, by the side of Anderson, Slemmer, Ellsworth, Lyon, and other heroic defenders of the Union. Thus had these seven States, which once formed a part of this beneficent Union, persisted in the suicidal THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 87 act of completely destroying their connection with it. All the preliminary steps toward the establishment of a rival, and perhaps a hostile, republic in the South had now been successively taken. The foundations of the new political edifice had been laid with a degree of prudence, resolution and harmony, worthy of a more glorious and commendable enterprise. The Southern Congress of Montgomery, destined to achieve an unen- viable immortality, was about to convene and to com- plete all the features and details of the architectural monster which had been begun. The Congress of the seceded States met at Montgomery, Alabama, on Monday, February -ith, 1861. They as- sembled in the Senate chamber of the Capitol. A full representation from every rebel State appeared and took their seats. The Convention was called to order by Mr. Chilton, a delegate from Alabama. He- moved that E. W. Barnwell, of South Carolina, be chosen temporary Chairman. The motion prevailed. Mr. Barnwell too.k the chair and made a thankful speech. He then invited the Eev. Dr. Manly to offer a prayer. That individual at once came forward and prayed. The chairman then reminded the Convention that the first duty which devolved upon them was to provide for their more perfect organization by electing permanent'officers. But it appears that the Chairman was precipitate in his suggestion ; for Mr. Ehett rose and asserted that the first thing in order was not that measure, but to exantine and approve the credentials of the delegates. The Chairman admitted the truth of the observation, and the verification was commenced. That preliminary process being com- pleted, the delegates signed the roll The whole Con- vention consisted of forty-one members, one delegate only being absent. 88 A HISTORY OF The Congress being thus organized, Mr. Rhett pro- posed that the body proceed at once to the election of permanent officers ; and without giving the members any opportunity to express their approval or their disapproval of the proposition, he proceeded to nominate Howell Cobb, of Georgia, as President of the Convention. He also proposed that the election be made by acclamation. This proposition was also complied with, and Mr, Cobb was chosen by the accl amatory process. The result being announced, and indeed being plainly apparent of itself, it was followed by "much applause." Mr. Cobb then took the Chair, and addressed the Convention. He too was oppressed with more than an ordinary and painful degree of grateful emotion ; but he gave utterance to the best of his ability to his " sincere thanks" for the honor conferred upon him ; after which the remaining officers of the Congress were elected. These also received their honors by the exaggerated and superfluous process of acclamation. Mr. Stephens then moved that a committee be appointed to report rules for the government of the Convention. This proposition was agreed to ; and the committee being appointed, the proceedings of the first day terminated. It is not pertinent to our purpose to follow the details of the less important transactions of this Congress. "We will allude merely to those of leading interest, and having a direct bearing upon the events which ensued. The body adopted the novel but doubtless commendable expedient of holding secret sessions, so that a portion of their transactions remains unknown to the general public. Resolutions were passed from day to day per- fecting the organization of the new Confederacy. The most important of these had reference to the adoption of a Constitution, the election of Executive officers, pro- THE SOUTHEKN KEBELLION. 89 viding suitable buildings and accommodations for the inferior functionaries of the Confederacy, and selecting a flag and other emblematical and official contrivances. On the sixth day of their deliberations the delegates adopted a Constitution, which had been reported by the committee appointed for that purpose. This Constitution was termed a "provisional" one, intended to govern the new Confederacy for one year from the inauguration of the future President, or until a permanent confederation between the States should be put in operation. On the same day which was signalized by the adoption of this Constitution, the chief executive officers of the new republic were chosen by the Congress: Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected President, and Alexan- der H, Stephens of Georgia Yice President. It must be admitted that great sagacity and prudence were exhibited in the selections thus made. Among the very consider- able number of eminent men who resided within the limits of the rebel States, it is probable that none could have been chosen so well adapted to the peculiar posi- tions which were then to be filled. It was evident that the future President must needs be a man possescing both civil and military talents. He should be familiar with the machinery and principles of government in the cabinet, as well as with the command and .conduct of an army in the field. He should also be well acquainted with the structure and aims of that great and powerful Eepublic against whose lawful control they had rebelled. He must be shrewd, resolute, firm, desperate. Above all things, he must be extremely fanatical in his Southern prejudices, and be thoroughly infected with secession principles. Such a man preeminently was Jefferson Davis. The Vice President must resemble him in all these respects except one. He need possess no military 90 A HISTORY OF knowledge, no martial experience. It would be liis duty to carry on the Government in the absence of the chief Executive ; and while the latter was at the head of the victorious armies of the Southern Confederacy, sack- ing Washington, driving Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet in hot haste from the Capital, striking terror into the in- habitants of the North, burning cities, blockading ports, capturing ships upon the high seas ; during the progress of all these heroic and magnificent deeds, which it was confidently and exultingly asserted the invilicible Davis would soon be achieving, he, the Yice President, must be conducting the home government with prudence, harmony and skill. These boasts respecting the future achievements of the rebel President formed a prominent feature, at this period, of the prevalent sentiment and utterances in the seceding States. No person was more enthusiastic and constant in giving expression to these vauntings than ex-senator WigMl of Texas. But Wigfall's prognostications were liable to an objection of a very peculiar and serious character. King Charles II. of England was accustomed to assert that Prince George of Denmark, who had married his niece, the Princess Anne, afterward Queen, was extremely shallow; that he^had tried the Prince when sober, and he had tried him when drunk ; but that, whether drunk or sober, there was nothing in him. This was precisely the defect of the prophecies of Senator Wigfall. It did not produce the slightest difference whether the prophetic frenzy came upon him when in- toxicated, or when not intoxicated ; in either case there was nothing in him ; in no case did his predictions prove to be in accordance with the event. "We venture to predict that the rOle which Jefferson Davis and his chief associates have enacted, will be re- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 91 garded by posterity, when the passions and prejudices of this stormy time shall have been lulled to repose by the Lethean flood of years, as the most unenviable and execrable which has ever fallen to the lot of any human being. We do indeed read of that " aspiring youth who fired the Ephesian dome," that he might thereby secure an immortality of fame ; yet we have never learned that any — except the cruel and infamous Gloster, and such as he — commended him for the rash act. Those who have striven, from the promptings of a similar motive, to mar and desolate the nobler fabric of the American Union, will incur a condemnation during after ages, more intense, more univei'sal, more enduring than his. Let us glance briefly at the personal histories and character- istics of these great historic criminals. Jefferson Davis will occupy in future ages a position in the annals of the great republic of the New World not very unlike that of Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. That he is a remarkable man in many respects, capable of high and great as well as of base and mean achievements, is an unquestionable fact. His personal history, vv^hich is full of variety and interest, clearly demonstrates the truth of this assertion. He was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in June, 1808. His father, who was a wealthy planter, removed soon after his birth to Wilkinson county, Mississippi. His son gave early proofs of superior intelligence and talent, and at the usual age was sent to Transylvania College, in his native State. Having completed the course of study there, he was admitted to the Military Academy at West Point in 1824. He graduated in that institution in 1828 ; and so high was his reputation then for energy and ability, that he immediately obtained the appoint- 92 A HISTORY OF ment of brevet second lieutenant, and commenced active service in the regular army. Mr. Davis distinguished himself in the thrillins: events which occurred in the Black Hawk War, and remained in the army five years until 1832. In the following year he was promoted to a first lieutenancy of dragoons, and in that capacity made a number of expeditions against the Camanches, Pawnees, and other hostile Indian tribes upon the frontiers. It was in 1835 that, chiefly in conse- quence of ill health, he resigned his commission, returned to Mississippi and commenced the pursuits of a planter. He remained in retirement and repose till 1843, when he began to take an active part in political life. He entered the arena of politics as a Democrat, and was chosen one of the Electors for the State of Mississippi, who gave their ballots for Polk and Dallas in 1844. In the following year he was chosen to represent his adopted State in Congress, and thus began a new and more pacific career. In that body Mr. Davis soon ac- quired fame and assumed a prominent position, as a public speaker and an energetic partisan. His clearness and force of thought, his bold and impressive delivery, his fluency and freedom of utterance, always commanded respect and attention from his auditors. He was evi- dently no common man, destined to achieve no common career. • He was thus winning his way to a high political repu- tation when, in July, 1846, the first regiment of Missis- sippi elected him their colonel, when they were about to serve in the Mexican war. He immediately accepted the post, resigned his seat in Congress, proceeded to New Orleans, took command of the regiment, and led them forward to the assistance of General Taylor, then posted on the Rio Grande. At the storming of Monterey in THE SOUTHERN KEBELLI02T. 93 September, 1846, he acted with great gallantry, and was appointed one of the Commissioners to arrange the terms of the capitulation of that city. At the bloody battle of Bueua Vista in February, 1847, he won new laurels, ex- hibited superior heroism and bravery, was severely woimded, and extorted from the unwilling commander- in-chief an unusual compliment in his dispatch of March, 1847. In the following summer he returned to Missis- sippi, and was immediately appointed by the Governor of the State to fill a vacancy which had occurred in the Federal Senate. In January, 1848, he was elected by the Legislature of that State to the same high office ; and after the expiration of his term in March, 1851, was again chosen for another period of service in the Senate of the United States. In 1851 he was nominated by the Democratic party in Mississippi for Governor against Henry S. Foote, but was defeated by a small majority. After the nomination of Mr. Pierce for the Presidency in 1852, Mr. Davis took a very active part in the cam- paign, and spoke ably in favor of his old comrade in arms throughout the entire 'State. As a reward for his efficient services the new President appointed him to the office of Secretary of "War. Then ensued the most honorable and n;ost useful period of his life. He possessed every necessary qualification for the duties of his high position, and he conducted its affiiirs with eminent energy, ability and success. He was exceedingly popular with the army, and he made some important improvements in the service. He introduced the use of the minie rifle, he in- creased the inland and coast frontier defences, he explored the best route for the Pacific Railroad, he amended the light infantry tactics, he revised the whole code of the army regulations. What the zeal and ability of Arnold had been previous to his treason to his country, the efibrts 94 A HISTORY OF and services of Davis were before the origin of the Southern Rebellion. After the termination of the ad ministration of Mr. Pierce, Mr. Davis was elected by the Legislature of Mississippi to the Senate of the United States, for the term ending in March, 1863 ; but before that term had half expired he had abandoned his post, left the serene haven of high official life, and embarked upon the stormy ocean of rebellion against a great and beneficent Government. In this rash act, a desperate ambition was unquestionably his leading motive. He vainly imagined that he would attain still higher emi nence, and that he would at length strike the stars with his sublime head — suhlimi feriat sidera vertice. Of the remaining members of the rebel Government, it will be unnecessary to speak at much length. Alex- ander Hamilton Stephens, the Yice President, was born in 1818, and was a man of superior natural talents, a sophistical and powerful thinker, an able and effective orator. He represented the State of Georgia during a series of years in the National Legislature ; and he attained a distinguished position in that body, so richly adorned by diversity, profundity and profusion of talent, among its members, at different periods. Laboring during all his life under extremely ill health, hovering continually and feebly over an open grave, the slender and uncertain hold which he maintained upon existence did not prevent him from taking an active part in the great debates and forensic battles which occurred in the House during the period of his presence in it. When the project of Secession was first agitated in Georgia, he opposed it, as has already been stated, with the utmost zeal. We have previously narrated how he changed his position, stultified his own arguments, and espoused the cause of the rebels. The reward of his services was the THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION". 95 second dignity in the new Confederacy. As to his quali- fications for the duties of his position, there could be no question ; for he was well adapted to them, both by superior natural talents and by long experience in politi- cal life. The most remarkable of the men who were subsequently appointed to the rebel Cabinet was Charles G. Memminger, who became Secretary of the Treasury. This person was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1804, and was brought to Charleston when two years of age by his parents. Soon afterward their premature death left him friendless and destitute in the world. He then became an inmate of an orphan asylum ; but after some years was so fortunate as to obtain the patronage of Governor Bennet of South Carolina. That gentleman became interested in his fate, and assisted him to commence a career which afterward attained no small degree of distinction, Mr. Memminger's intellectual qualities were much above the ordinary range. His mind was clear, strong, sagacious. In temper he was ambitious, persevering, determined, self-confident. Small in person, he compensated for that deficiency by unusual activity and energy of movement. He was for a long time prominent in political life in South Carolina. For many years he was Chairman of the Committee of Finance of the Legislature of the State. He always opposed the existence of banks and the use of paper money. In truth, he had been to the State of South Carolina what Albert Gallatin was to the Federal Government in the Eevolutionary era. He was however a man of details, and never rose to grand national views, nor achieved a national fame in the arena of politics. By his zeal and earnestness in advocating Secession, he invested his name with an unenviable and 96 A HISTORY OF execrable notoriety, and forever tarnisTied tlie "honorable eminence which he had previovsly secured. Next in the order of importance in the rebel Cabinet was Mr, Toombs, the Secretary of State. This person distinguished himself in the Federal Congress, during a number of years, as a zealous advocate of Southern interests. He was noted for liis impetuous and declama- tory style of speaking. He was an admirable represen- tative of the peculiarities of Southern eloquence — ardent, rapid, noisy Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, formerly occupied a seat with honor in the United States Senate. He was a man of practical talents and utilitarian tendencies. General L. Pope Walker, the Secretary of War, was comparatively unknown to the nation at large, but he had acquired some military reputation in the South. J. P. Benjamin, the Attorney General, had previously represented the State of Louisiana during some years in the Federal Senate. He possessed no inconsiderable attainments as a jurist, and some ability as a forensic orator; but his most remarkable and prominent charac- teristic was his acquisitiveness, as was demonstrated both by his earlier and by his maturer history. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 97 CHAPTER IV. ASSEMBLING OF THE PEACE CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON — THEIR PRO- POSALS OF COMPROMISE — THEIR REJECTION AND FAILURE — ATTITUDE OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN — PUBLIC SENTIMENT RESPECTING FORT SUM- TER MISSION OF THE " STAR OF THE WEST" FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT AT MONTGOMERY INAUGURATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS AS PRESIDENT — HIS ADDRESS INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN HIS ADDRESS— HIS CABINET OFFICERS — THE FAMOUS ORATION OF A. H. STEPHENS AT SAVANNAH ITS HISTORICAt IMPORTANCE HIS FIRST POSITION — HE REFUTES JEFFERSON, HAMILTON, AND MADISON HIS SECOND POSITION — THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY ABSURDITY AND FALLACY OF THAT FOUNDA- TION THE FUTURE CONDITION AND DESTINY OF THE NEGRO RACE. AYhile the founders of tlie Soutliern. Confederacy were thus completing their work at Montgomery, a vigorous effort was being made by eminent men in the nation — beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Con- gress — to heal the difficulty, and avert the horrors of civil war. A Peace Congress was convened at Wash- ington, whose special aim and purpose it was to accom- plish this desirable result. Ex-president Tyler presided over its deliberations; and during the progress of its sessions a committee was appointed, consisting of one member from each State, for the purpose of drawing up pacific propositions, which might be acceptable to both parties. The chairman of this committee was the venerable James Guthrie of Kentucky. After much discussion, certain proposals of compromise were agreed upon. Having adopted a number of elaborate Articles, every word of which had been carefully weighed and discussed, 7 98 A HISTORY OF the Congress provided for their being communicated to the hostile and rival Governments, for their considera- tion and approval. They then adjourned. But the ulti- mate fate of these propositions was unfortunate. They satisfied neither party, over whose minds the spirit of extreme irritation prevailed ; and thus they failed in ac- complishing the benevolent and patriotic purpose for which they were evidently intended. The leaders of the Southern Eebellion at Charleston were not disposed to permit themselves or their achieve- ments to disappear from public view ; and although the attention of the nation was chiefly directed to the events then progressing at Montgomery, they managed to make sufl&cient commotion to be the subjects of continued astonishment and general scrutiny. Fort Sumter was still held by Major Anderson for the United States with a small gar^-ison. The administration of James Bu- chanan continued to drag out its ignominious length ; and the sole purpose of that personage seemed to be, to keep things as quiet as possible, and to avoid decisive and bold measures of any kind, until he should escape from the difficulties of his official position. But the voice of public sentiment imperatively demanded, that some demonstration should be. made for the assistance and support of the commandant of Fort Sumter, which seemed to be in greater peril at that moment than any other of the Federal fortresses. Accordingly, a vessel named the Star of the West, was freighted with provi- sions and ammunition, and dispatched from New York to the port of Charleston. It was the hope of the nation that efficient relief would by this means be afforded to Major Anderson ; and that he would be so far strength- ened, as to be able to resist with success any attack which the Eebels might make upon him. Such, how- THE SOUTHERiS' REBELLIO]Sr. 99 ever, was not destined to be the case. As the Star of the West hove in sight off the bar of Charleston, she was greeted with a discharge of artillery from the shore. As she continued to approach, the salute became warmer and more effective. At length the fire from Morris Island assumed a really dangerous vigor and fury. Then the commander of the vessel gave the order to port her helm ; she turned her head ; doubled upon her track ; proceeded out over the bar ; and thence sailed back to New York. A more miserable and abortive attempt to accomplish any purpose could not possibly be conceived. This result excited general surprise and disgust through- out the nation. People of every class and every party inquired why the Federal Government, once so powerful and so prompt in the public service, both civil and mili- tary, had suddenly become so utterly imbecile and worthless, that an armed rebellion against the Govern- ment could pursue its insulting and defiant course, could plunder public property, could declare its intention to attack and capture Federal fortresses ; and yet, all that the General Government could accomplish, after three months of menace on the part of the enemy, and of deliberation on the part of the Administration, was the sending of a single unarmed vessel, with a few men and some supplies, to make, as it were, a mere dumb show of relief, and then return again, without having accom- plished any thing. What the real secret of this myste- rious policy may have been, the future historian and apologist of the administration of James Buchanan must explain, and if possible, must vindicate. Meanwhile, the establishment of the Eebel Govern- ment was progressing at its infant seat of empire. On the 15th of February the Congress at Montgomery appointed a committee to make suitable arrangements 100 A HISTOKY OF for the reception of the new President, and for the cere- monies of his inauguration. This committee performed their duties with energy and success ; and Jefferson Davis was inducted into his ofl&ce on the ensuing 18th of the month, in the capitol of the State, with as much pomp and ceremony as could be mustered for the occasion. The speech delivered by the new President was elabo- rated with much care, and was well adapted to the cir- cumstances under which it was uttered. Mr. Davis concluded his address with pious allusions to the blessings of Providence, and with devout petitions for future guidance and direction from the Supreme Being. After the close of the ceremonies, the signing of the Provisional Constitution by the members of the assembled Congress ensued. Great exultation prevailed throughout Montgomery on that day ; and at night the general rapture was displayed by fireworks, by melodies from brass bands, and by all the usual methods of joyful popular demonstration. Thus at last the Southern Confederacy was fully and permanently organized. Immediately afterward the members of the Cabinet of Mr. Davis were confirmed by the Congress without hesitation. They immediately entered upon the duties of their several offices. One of the first acts of the President was to appoint General Peter G. T. Beauregard, late a major in the United States engineer corps, to proceed to Charleston and take com- mand of the forces assembled there for the attack and capture of Fort Sumter. "While the attention of the seceding States was occu- pied by those events, the chief interest of the nation was engrossed by the events transpiring at Washington. On the 4th of March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inau- gurated as President of the United States and assumed THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 101 tlie functions of his high office. No man ever inherited a more difficult or a more perilous post than fell to his lot. No man ever left a Government in a more wretched state of anarchy and confusion than his predecessor had done. Mr. Lincoln delivered an Inaugural Address characterized by great moderation, by extreme prudence, and by practical sagacity ; and the nation derived fresh confidence from its manly tone and spirit, in his fitness for the anomalous position in which he was placed. He selected his Cabinet with equal judgment and felicity. William H. Seward, one of the most able and eminent of living American statesmen, was appointed Secretary of State. Simon Cameron, an adroit and experienced man of business, became Secretary of War. Gideon Welles, already favorably known for his official ability, became Secretary of the Navy. Salmon P. Chase, one of the most accomplished and profound financiers of the day, was placed at the head of the Treasury. Eeuben C. Smith took charge of the Interior ; Mr. Blair presided in the Post Office Department ; Mr. Bates became Attor- ney General. It was on the 21st of March that Alexander H. Stephens, Yice President of the Southern Confederacy, delivered- a memorable speech in the city of Savannah, which was commended by his partizans aS a prodigious achievement of logical ability and skill. The professed purpose of this oration was to describe and to defend the leading principles of the Constitution of the Ptebel Eepublic. It was regarded by the Secessionists as an unassailable and impregnable bulwark of their peculiar institutions. Its delivery was a prominent event in the establishment of the new government. It was cited as a representative speech uttered by a representative man ; and it was applauded as the greatest intellectual monu- 102 A HISTORY OF ment erected by tlieir statesmen during the progress of the war. As it will always retain an historical impor- tance and significance, we may be permitted briefly to examine some of its leading positions. Mr. Stephens commenced his oration by observing, in substance, that the preeminent and most valuable ingre- dient of the Southern Constitution was its admirable settlement of the whole subject of slavery, by which that vexed question was clearly defined and practically adjusted forever. He then proceeded to say that the founders of the Federal Government, Jefferson* Hamilton, Madison and their associates, maintained the position that slavery was a violation of the laws of nature ; that they believed it to be inherently wrong, socially, morally and politically ; and that they indulged the hope that at some future time it would be wholly abolished and removed. This opinion, Mr. Stephens asserted, was false. The sages of the Eevolutionary era were in error. Their views were limited, superficial, absurd. He had dis- covered that slavery is not a violation of the laws of nature ; that it is not wrong, socially, morally or politi- cally. JSTor was it destined to be evanescent, and event- ually to pass away. Such was Mr. Stephens's bold and positive assertion. But where is the proof that the founders of the Federal Government on this point were in error ? None whatever is adduced in this speech. Not a single argument is advanced by the orator to demonstrate it. He makes a simple and unsupported declaration to that effect. It then becomes a mere question of veracity and authority between A. H. Stephens on the one side, and those whose wisdom and sagacity he calls in question on the other. Either he is right, and Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and their associates were wrong; or their judgments were THE SOUTHERN EEBELLTOX. 103 correct and liis erroneous. Mr. Stepliens having placed the argument and the issue on this basis, thereby im- posed upon his opponents the necessity of inquiring who possesses the greater weight of authority, he, or the Federal founders ? The real question to be decided is : AVill A. H. Stephens outweigh in the scales of authority the vast and powerful gravitation of those renowned sageS; philosophers and statesmen? "We imagine tliat he will not. In any instance in which he and they would be balanced against each other, his authority would be as the weight of a feather • against the pon- derosity of an Alp. Hence it was an act of weakness on his part to put the argument on that ground ; and that weakness demonstrated the folly of those who applauded his speech in such extravagant terms. He makes an issue before the public, which issue an impartial public must, at a single glance, discover to be so overwhelm- ingly against him that an adverse decision of their judgments is instantly and inevitably extorted from them. Mr. Stephens's second position was the most important, and also the most fallacious, contained in his speech. He asserted that the Southern Republic was based upon the great principle that the " negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to tlie superior race, is his natural and normal condition ;" and he adds with exultation, that the new government " was the first in the history of the world based on that great physical, philosophical and moral truth." We will not deny that the latter part of this declaration may be true. The bound- less and immeasurable absurdity of a professedly free government being based, and absolutely founded, on a despotic and tyrannical dogma such as the worst tyrants who ever trampled human rights in the dust, and defied 104 A HISTORY OF all laws human and divine would have approved and applauded; that monstrous contradiction we verily believe has never before been perpetrated by any race of rational beings. It is a glory belonging not to Turkish, or Russian, or Austrain autocrats, but to the enlightened statesmen of the Southern Confederacy alone ! But in itself considered this declaration of Mr. Ste- phens set forth first, a great falsehood, and second, if it were true, it was a most iniquitous and execrable principle on which to establish any government, and especially a government which called itself a Republic. We affirm that it is a false assertion that the negro is essentially and inherently an inferior race, as regards his natural, intellectual and moral capabilities of culture. That he has been made thus inferior, that he now is so, that he may for ages remain inferior is unquestionable. But that he would have been inferior if surrounded by the same elevating influences which the white races have enjoyed is not proved. If the negro be inferior in the United States to the white man, is that fact not to be attributed to the despotism and prejudice under which he has always lived ? How could it be otherwise, when, from the day on which the race was transported hither to the present time, it has been fewer in numbers than the whites, destitute of means of improvement, ground into the dust by tyranny, enervated by degrading and exhausting labor, and their minds shut out by a stronger power from the genial influences of education, science, art, liberty and social improvement. It is evident that if the relative positions of the races had been exchanged, if the first inhabitants of the North American colonies had been free negroes, if a few whites of the lowest grade from Ireland, Germany, or England, had been THE SOUTHERN REBELLION" 105 transported hither as slaves, and if they and their descend- ants had existed for several centuries precisely as ne- groes have lived during that interval, they would now occupy the same relative position in intelligence with regard to the rival race which the negroes do at the present hour. The truth of this conjecture is demonstrated by the fact that, in cases where negroes have enjoyed favorable influences and opportunities, they have attained a degree of culture and intelligence very far in advance of the status of those negroes who are condemned to endure a life of bondage. This fact' proves the capability of the race for improvement. It is useless to adduce many instances which go to illustrate that capability; because one solitary example would establish the truth of the position as well as hundreds; and with some such examples all men are familiar. But no absurdity is greater than the assertion that in the abstract, and by nature, when living under equally favorable influences, the negro is neces- sarily and normally inferior to the white race. It cannot be proved, because no case has ever existed in which an equal opportunity was afforded to a whole community of negroes ; therefore no decision against their equality as a race can be derived with conclusive certainty from historical facts. To meet the surprise and disgust with which Mr. Stephens justly suspected that this sentiment would be received, he proceeded to argue that this great trutli which the Southern Republic had discovered and had made the corner-stone of its structure, might be very tardy in gaining the assent of mankind ; but that fact would be no argument against its truthfulness, because other great and true principles had been equally slow in their diffusion, and yet had at last attained universal 106 ' A HISTORY OF supremacy over tlie convictions of men. Tlius it was, said he, with the discoveries of Galileo in Astronomy, and with the principles of Adam Smith in Political Economy. It was no argument against the truthfulness of their doctrines, that it required a long lapse of time before the world appreciated and believed them. It would be so, he added, with this new discovery of the statesmen of the Southern Confederacy. But, unfor- tunately, the opposition of mankind to new doctrines is no evidence of their absolute truthfulness. If men have long opposed novelties founded in truth, they have also opposed novelties founded in error with equal obstinacy. Hence the opposition of men to new doctrines is no argument either way. If it were an argument to establish the excellence of a principle, then the opposition which has, during many years, resisted the claims of the Mor- mons to credibility, would be an evidence in favor of their veracity. To deduce the truth of any new dogma from the fact that men condemn and oppose it, is there- fore a non scquitur. This memorable argument of Mr. Stephens concluded, so far as the question of slavery was concerned, with the declaration that slavery, a condition of inferiority, was not only the natural and legitimate position of the negro, but that experience had also taught, " that it loas best for himP What a marvelous specimen of logical absurdity and fallacy is here ? The negro is inferior, degraded and debased ; therefore it is right to enslave him. But it is found by experience that slavery, which retains him in this inferior, degraded and debased condition, "is best 'for him." Therefore it is best for a certain race of men to remain inferior, degraded and debased. It is a legitimate inference which follows from this premise, that whatever is best for one race must be advantageous THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 107 for all races ; lience, if it be best for the negro thus to be inferior, degraded and debased, it is also most de- sirable for all mankind so to be. Any government based on so monstrous and absurd a foundation, carries within its own bosom the elements of its inevitable de- struction. 108 A HISTORY OF CHAPTER V. THE MISSION OF MR. YANCEY AND HIS ASSOCIATES TO EUROPE — THEIR REPRESENTATIONS TO THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH PEOPLE EVENTS AT C-HARLESTON — THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS AT WASHINGTON — THEIR ABSURD DEPORTMENT — GEN. BEAUREGARD DEMANDS THE SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER MAJOR ANDERSON RESPECTFULLY DECLINES PRE- PARATIONS FOR THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE FORT — SIZE AND STRENGTH OF THE WORKS — SKETCH OF MAJOR ANDERSON SKETCH OF GEN. BEAU- REGARD — COMMENCEMENT OF THE BOMBARDMENT HEROISM OF THE GARRISON INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST DAY'S ATTACK — EVENTS OF THE ENSUING NIGHT THE CONTINUANCE OF THE BOMBARDMENT DURING THE NEXT DAY — SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON EX-SENATOR WIGFALL A DEPUTATION FROM GEN. BEAUREGARD — PROPOSITIONS OF SURRENDER THEY ARE ACCEPTED BY MAJOR ANDERSON — EXULTATION OF THE REBELS — WHY THE GARRISON WAS NOT REINFORCED — PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR LETCHER PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. Soon after the organization of the Southern Con- federacy, as has been ah-eady narrated, an important step was taken to obtain its recognition as an indepen- dent and established government by the leading sover- eignties of Europe. A Commission was appointed to proceed to England and France, of whom William L. Yancey was the chief, whose duty it was to effect that desirable result. It is curious to note the grounds upon which success in this enterprise, the importance of which is admitted, and need not be discussed, was based by_ the Rebel cabinet and their emissaries. It was urged in the South — and when the Commis- sioners ar lived in Europe they repeated the same repre- sentations there — that the Union was irretrievably destroyed ; that the seven seceding States would never THE SOUTHERN REBELLIOX, 109 willingly return to the Federal Government ; and that the idea of compelling them so to do was absurd and visionary in the extreme. It remained therefore to con- sider what the interests of England and France would be in reference to this new Government, whose separate and permanent existence should now be accepted as an un- questionable and inevitable fact. The Commissioners asserted that ^' Eyigland must have cotton f'' and in that great overwhelming want lay the absolute necessity that she should recognize the new Government, and enter into a treaty of commerce with it. Nowhere else on the globe could this indispensable staple be produced in sufficient quantities, except in the Southern States. As soon as England perceived — as in a few months they asserted she would perceive — that thousands of her own manufacturing population were starving for the want of tbis commodity, her ships would force the blockade of the Southern ports, and recommence the trade which had been suspended. The Commissioners declared that the cotton crop for the summer of 1861 would be as abundant as usual, after making allowance for the greater proportion of corn and wheat which had been planted and sown. A potent motive would thus be offered to England to induce her to resume her commercial inter- course with the Southern States. And if this result occurred, it was highly proper and necessary that the formal recognition of the new Republic should have previously taken place. The Commissioners furthermore urged, in their infor- mal interviews with the English and French ministers, that the Seceding States, rather than return to the Federal Government, after all that had occurred to irri- tate and alienate them, would greatly prefer to become a colony of England or France. If they were unable to 110 A HISTORY OF maintain their separate attitude, rather than again become members of the Federal Union, they would be willing to descend to the humbler relation of dependants ujDon a royal or imperial sovereign . In that view it would be prudent, in the very beginning of the contest, for France and England to recognize the new republic; because by so doing, they would render the subsequent act of submission to either of their own monarchs more legitimate and binding. Strange and utterly false ideas were also set forth by the Commissioners in regard to slavery, as it existed in the Eebel States. They asserted that the opposition of the inhabitants of the North to that institution was based solely on the fact that, before Secession took place, the whole nation was held responsi- ble for it in the eyes of the world ; that as soon as the Southern Eepublic was recognized by European powers, whereby the stigma of slavery would be removed from the North, the latter would in no respect interfere with it, and it would never constitute any ground of future trouble or conflict between the two Governments. As a proof of this position, it was alleged that the black servants of the inhabitants of the West Indies, while sojourning in the Northern States, were never disturbed, nor were any efforts made to entice them from their masters. To overcome that repugnance which all intel- ligent Englishmen and many Frenchmen feel to slavery, it was urged that the existing slavery in the South was in reality a patriarchal institution ; that the negro race flourished under it ; that in 1808, when the foreign slave trade was abolished, there were but one million negroes in the slave States ; that now, after half a century of ex- periment, the negroes have increased fourfold ; and that when English and French statesmen closely examined the institution as it now exists, it would be found to be THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. Ill not only profitable for the master, but also most advanta- ' geous for the slave. While Mr. Yancey and his associates were zealously proclaiming and defending these questionable doctrines in England and France, and were oscillating between London and Paris with alternate hope and despair, im- portant events were transpiring at Charleston. Until the 7th of April, 1861, friendly relations had existed to some, extent between Major Anderson, in command of Fort Sumter, and the authorities of Charleston. Till then he had been permitted to obtain fresh provisions from the markets of the city ; but on that day General Beauregard issued an order to the effect that no further intercourse would be allowed between the fort and the shore. He then sent a messenger to Major Anderson apprismg him of that determination. The immediate cause of this decision seemed to be, that the Commissioners who had been recently dispatched from the Kebel Government to Washington for the purpose of settling all questions in regard to rival interests, geographical boundaries, and other issues which necessarily resulted from the full and absolute withdrawal of the seceding States from the Union, sent word to the rebel President that all their efforts had proved abortive. Mr. Seward, on the part of the Administration of Mr. Lincoln, .first refused their request for a private and unofficial interview. He then further informed them that it would be impossible for him, as Secretary of State for the United States, to hold any official intercourse with them whatever, to recognize them even as diplomatic agents of anybody ; and he declined to appoint a day on which they might present the evidences of their authority and the purpose of their visit to the Federal Government. The Commissioners, Messrs. Forsyth of Alabama, and 112 A HISTORY OF Crawford of Georgia, received this intimation as an insult ; flew into passion of the most approved Southern intensity, informed the rebel government at Montgomery of the treatment which they had received, and left Washington in high dudgeon. When the inhabitants of the seceding DO . O States received the intelligence of these events, they caught the general and infectious rage ; a universal out- burst of execration resounded over the South, and curses both loud and deep were heaped upon the head of the person who then occupied the White House, and who had thus dared to snub the Southern Chivalry. Immediately after the occurrence of these events General Beauregard dispatched Messrs. Chesnut and Lee, his Aids-de-camp, to Major Anderson to demand of him formally the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter. To this polite requisition Major Anderson returned an equally courteous refusal. He declared that his sense of honor, and his obligations to his Government, would absolutely prevent his compliance with the demand. On the 12th of April, about 3 o'clock, A. M., a second depu- tation, was sent by the rebel general to the commandant of the fort, who were commissioned to say, that, if the latter would designate the time, at some future, and perhaps even distant period, when it would suit his con- venience, from want of provisions, or from any other sufiicient reason, to abandon the works, they would give him the assurance that, in the meantime, he should not be fired upon. The reply of Major Anderson to this proposition was equally unsatisfactory to the deputation; who consequently left the fort, giving him the agreeable assurance that the batteries of Charleston would open on him within an hour. And now the most startling and momentous event which had taken place since the commencement of the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 113 rebellion was about to occur. For the first time since tbe foundation of tbe Federal Government, tbe alienated cbil- dren of tbe once glorious Union commenced actual bostili- ties against eacb otber ; and brotbers strove to stain tbeir bands witb fratricidal blood. Yet melancboly as was tbe spectacle wbicb was now presented to tbe view of mankind, it exbibited at tbe same time some comical features, wbicb migbt almost interject roars of laugbter amid tbe groans of tbe wounded and tbe moans of tbe dying. At tbis very period, according to tbe statement of tbe Cbarleston Mercury — a journal wbicb will not be suspected of injustice to tbeir own side — tbere were seven tbousand men under arms, and a bundred and forty pieces of beavy ordnance, wbicb were more guns tban Napoleon bad at Waterloo, actually in position, and ready for use, in and around tbe barbor of Cbarleston ; and tbis formidable armament was marsbaled by tbe cbivalrous and invin- cible State of Soutb Carolina, in order to capture a fort garrisoned by seventy balf-starved men ! Tbe fortification wbicb was about to become tbe scene of conflict, and around wbicb tbe events and tbe interest of tbe wbole rebellion were now to cluster, was named after Tbomas Sumter of Eevolutionary fame, and was one of tbe strongest and largest wbicb bad been erected by tbe Federal Government. In form Fort Sumter was a truncated pentagon, one of tbe five sides being parallel witb tbe sbore. On tbat side was tbe landing and entrance to tbe fort from a wbarf wbicb extended along tbe entire lengtb of tbe fortress and projected toward tbe land. Tbe beigbt of tbe walls above tbe water line was sixty feet, and tbey were from eigbt to twelve feet in tbickness. Tbe wbole number of guns mounted at tbe period of tbe attack was seventy-five, altbougli tbe full armament was a bundred and forty. These were placed 8 114 A HISTORY OF in three tiers. The heaviest, consisting of thirtj-fcwo and sixty-four pounders, were arranged on the lowest tier. The guns next in size, being twenty-four pounders, frowned from the port holes of the second tier. From the lofty parapet thirteen-inch columbiads and heavy sea- coast mortars menaced the foe. In the area within the fort there were two furnaces for heating shot. Oq the eastern and western sides were the barracks and mess halls of the privates. On the southern side were the quarters of the ofS.cers. The magazines of powder were well supplied; the only deficiency under which the garrison labored was that of fuses, men and provisions. The fortress was at this period under the command of Major Robert Anderson. This meritorious officer was born in 1810, and graduated with honor at West Point. His first important service was in the Black Hawk war, in which he behaved with gallantry. His superior merits are indicated by the fact that, in 1838, he was appointed assistant instructor and inspector at "West Point. In the following year he published a work entitled " Instruction for Field Artillery, Horse and Foot ; arranged for the Service of the United States." He was brevetted captain in April, 1838. He afterward was made assistant adjutant general. In March, 1848, he proceeded to Mexico with the Third Regiment of Artillery, and assisted in the siege of Vera Cruz. On that occasion he had command of one of the batteries. He accompanied General Scott in his triumphal march to the city of Mexico. For his gallant services in the war he was promoted to the brevet rank of major; and in October, 1857, received the position of major in the First Artillery. Throughout his whole military career Major Anderson had been remarkable for his bravery, coolness, general ability as a soldier, and bis incorruptible integrity as a patriot. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 115 The officer who commanded the rebel forces in Charleston, and who was about to conduct the assault upon the fort, was not unworthy, in some respects, to be the rival of so admirable a soldier. General Peter Gr. Tou- tant Beauregard was a native of Louisiana, and was born in 1817. He was descended, on his mother's side, from Italian ancestors, who are said to trace their lineage to the illustrious ducal family of Reggio. He graduated at "West Point with honor in 1838, and was immediately appointed to the corps of Engineers. In January, ISIO, he obtained a first lieutenantcy ; and afterward served with distinction through the Mexican war. After the battle of Churubusco he was brevetted on the field as captain, for his gallant and meritorious conduct. After the conflict of Chepultepec he received a similar compli- ment, with the higher grade of major. His conduct during the entire war was distinguished for superior skill and fortitude ; and he had already attained the reputation of possessing military talents of a high order. It would doubtless have been impossible for the President of the Southern Confederacy to have confided the important service of reducing Fort Sumter to more able and experienced hands. Major Anderson had informed the deputation from Charleston, which waited upon him before daybreak on the 12th of April, that his provisions would be exhausted on the following Monday, the 15th of April. This infor- mation was given in an unofficial manner ; and the com- munication was perfectly proper under the circumstances. Accordingly, when the chivalrous warriors of South Carolina commenced the bombardment of the fort, it was done with the perfect knowledge of the fact that the siege must end in its capture, if it were only continued for three days. In truth, the commandant would have been 116 A HISTORY OF compelled to evacuate at that period, whether attacked or not ; or else starve to death. Therefore it is evident that the bombardment of the fort was in reality a com- plete farce, a mere dumb show of unnecessary, superfluous, ostentatious heroism. This important fact should be borne in mind when we contemplate the events which ensued, and the boundless boastings of the victors. At length, on Friday morning, April 12th, at half- past four o'clock, the commencement of the attack was announced by the discharge of a single bombshell, which, after describing a graceful curve through the murky heavens, descended, and burst directly over the fort. The darkness of the early dawn was suddenly illu- mined, far and near, by the flashing meteor. The sound reverberated over the silent fort, over the watery waste, over the adjacent shores, and over the slumbering city, starting thousands from their repose, and announcing that the last act' of the drama had commenced. Major Anderson instantly ordered the sentinels to descend from the parapets, the posterns to be closed, the stars and stripes to be unfurled from the summit of the flag-staff, and the men to remain within the bomb-proofs. After a short pause of preparation, the rebels commenced to fire upon Sumter from all directions, not only from the forts which had previously existed in the harbor, but also from those works which they had recently erected ; from the iron masked batteries at Cumming's Point, at a distance of sixteen hundred yards ; from the iron floating battery at the end of Sullivan's Island, distant two thou- sand yards ; and from the enfilading batteries on Sulli- van's Island and on Mount Pleasant. In consequence of the smallness of the garrison, Major Anderson did not return a single shot until his men had breakfasted, that they might husband their strength as much as possible. THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 117 At seven o'clock they were divided into three equal relief parties, with orders to work the batteries bj turns for four hours each. Then old Sumter opened her iron mouths, and poured forth an indignant and contemptu- ous hail-storm of shot and shell upon her multitudinous assailants, which told that her ancient vigor had not degenerated. The garrison displayed the utmost enthu- siasm in working the guns ; and the several reserve parties could scarcely be restrained from service till their proper turns arrived. The first relief was commanded by Captain Doubleday, of the Artillery, and Lieutenant Snyder, of the Engineer corps. Their compliments were chiefly paid to Fort Moultrie, whose shattered embra- sures soon testified to the superior skill and vigor of their gunnery. The immense superiority of the rebel batteries in numbers soon began to tell effectively upon the fortress. Their fire was uninterrupted and vigorous. A deluge of shot poured into Sumter from every quarter at once ; and the assailants must have been pigmies in warfare had they not been able to overpower the feeble garrison, and demolish the solitary fort. Loose brick and stone now flew in every direction; portions of the parapet were torn away ; six of the guns were disabled ; and it became certain death to undertake to work the barbette guns on the upper uncovered casement. About one o'clock, on Friday, the cartridges in the fort were ex- hausted ; and a party was detailed to use the blankets and shirts in the magazines to supply the deficiency. At length a greater evil than the shot of the enemy began to assail the heroic garrison. During the first day of the siege the barracks caught fire three several times ; and soon the fort was filled with smoke, which blinded the men and almost stifled them. By prodigious exer- 118 A HISTORY OF tions the fire was extinguished. In the meanwhile the guns were served with the same alacrilry. The men — their faces begrimed with powder, the flames roaring within the works and apparently approaching nearer and nearer to the magazine, the batteries of the enemy reverberating from every quarter, and their red-hot shot exploding above, around and near them, without intermission — still worked with dauntless resolution, and the officers gave their orders with the utmost coolness. Amid such a pandemonium the darkness of night descended upon the scene ; and Friday, the first day of the assault, closed. But the fort was not yet reduced. During the night Major Anderson ordered his men to suspend their fire. Not so the assailants. Perfectly aware that after the third day the commandant must evacuate for want of provisions, they determined to make all the bluster and display possible ; and hence they continued their useless and superfluous assault during the entire night. It was a grand spectacle for the populace of Charleston. Never before had they witnessed such an exhibition. Never before had there been such a display of sky-rockets, at the public expense, as was made during that night in Charleston harbor. Accordingly, the whole population were out. The wharves, »and what is called the Bat- tery, were filled with a delighted and astonished multi- tude, who gazed with mingled wonder and exultation at the countless shells as they described their symmetrical parabolas through the midnight heavens, and then descended upon the silent fortress. That, however, for the most part was a display merely intended to de- monstrate the prowess and skill of the besiegers. Little damage was done during the night; Major Anderson THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 119 spent the interval in recruiting his men and preparing for the next day's work. At length Saturday dawned, and Sumter began to respond to the fire of the enemy. The seven thousand Rebel ti'oops who were assembled at the scene of conflict had not yet become exhausted ; they still discharged their guns with uninterrupted regularity and frequency. Early in the day the barracks within the fort were set oa fire for the fourth time ; and it soon became evident that it would be impossible to extinguish the flames. No sooner would the exertions of the men succeed in suppressing the conflagration in one quarter, than the red-hot balls of the enemy would kindle them with fresh fury in another. Then it became necessary to remove the powder from the magazine. Ninety barrels were rolled through the very flames, wrapped in wet woolen blankets, to the port-holes, and thrown overboard. At last it was impossible to accomplish even this; and the doors of the magazine were closed and locked upon the remainder. And now the smoke became more stifling and insupportable than ever. The men were blinded and smothered beyond endurance. They could only breathe through wet cloths, and by lying on the ground. It is said that, at one moment, had not a propitious eddy of wind lifted the dense smoke from the area within the fortress, -nearly all the garrison must have been suffo- cated. In such a situation there was yet no thought of surrender ; but the guns of the fort could not be worked with the usual rapidity. They were fired slowly, only as fast as cartridges could be made in the darkness pro- duced by the smoke, and merely to announce the fact to the assailants and to the admiring citizens that the fort had not yet been silenced. Amid such scenes the hours of Saturday wore away. 120 A HISTORY OF The final catastrophe was rapidly approaching. Seven thousand valiant soldiers would not easily desist from the conquest of seventy men. Hence the attack was kept up more furiously during this day than on the preceding. A deluge of red-hot shot was still poured upon the shattered works ; the fire within continued its unrestrained ravages ; the smoke became more intense, and swelled high up into the heavens, a black rolling mass, which could be seen from afar above the fort ; the main gate was battered down ; the walls were full of breaches ; and the towers had all been demolished. These were the results of the second day's assault, yet the stars and stripes still waved from the flag-staff; their graceful lines of beauty being occasionally visible, as the thick curtain of smoke would be wafted aside by the breeze. The sun was beginning to descend the western heavens, when ex-senator Wigfall suddenly and unaccountably pre- sented himself at one of the embrasures, with a white flag tied to his sword. Such a spectacle, at such a time and place, at once attracted attention. Lieutenant Snyder immediately approached him, and demanded his business. He received for answer, that the stranger was no less a person than General Wigfall, who came from General Beauregard with an important message ; and he desired to know why, the flag being down, the fort did not stop firing? The truth however was, that "Wigfall had not come with any message from Beauregard, and that the flag was not down. Nevertheless a parley ensued, which amounted to nothing. The visitor then disappeared through the embrasure, and soon afterward a deputation arrived, consisting of Messrs. Chesnut, Pryor, Lee, and Miles, who had been sent by General Beauregard. They brought propositions of surrender, which Major Ander- son approved and at once accepted. It was stipulated THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 121 between them, tliat the garrison should remove all their individual and company property ; that they should inarch out with all their arms, at their own time, and in their own way ; that they should salute their flag with the honors of war, and then take it away with them. Thus was this memorable assault terminated. On Sunday morning, at half-past nine o'clock, the garrison withdrew, firing a salute of a hundred guns. They then embarked upon a transport furnished by the rebels ; the patriotic strain of Yankee Doodle floating meanwhile upon the breeze. They were subsequently transferred to the "Baltic," and sailed for New York. It is superfluous to say that Major Anderson and his men behaved during the bombardment with the utmost gallantry and heroism. It would have been impossible to have defended the fort more ably, or to have surmounted the difficulties of their position more resolutely, than they had done. The fact that none were killed during the assault must be attributed to the precautions used by the commandant, who stationed a man at every port-hole who gave notice of the approach of shot or shell. President Lincoln subsequently ex- pressed to Major Anderson, officially, his entire approval of the manner in which he had discharged his arduous duties on this occasion. After the victory came the exultation, and it was such exultation as had never before convulsed the chivalrous South. Seven thousand men had conquered seventy men ; and shouts of joy reverbrated throughout the whole length and breadth of the rebel States. General Beaure- gard immediately issued a proclamation, in which he congratulated the troops under his command for their success; spoke of the great privations and hardships which they had endured in the conflict ; and declared that 122 A HISTORY OF they " had exhibited the highest characteristics of tried soldiers," He took occasion also to thank his staff, the regulars, the volunteers, the militia, and the naval forces for the prodigious heroism and gallantry which they had exhibited. Much surprise was expressed at the time that President Lincoln did not reinforcQ the garrison, and that surprise seemed founded in justice. But the Executive himself explained at a later period the reason of this apparent anomaly. That reason, which was amply suf&cient, was briefly this : It was the opinion of the chief officers, both of the army and navy, at Washington, whom Mr. Lincoln consulted on the subject — and it was also the opinion of Major Anderson himself — that it would require twenty thousand men to defend the fort successfully, and that the possession of it was not really worth so great an expense and outlay of men and money. Accordingly the orders given to the commandant simply were, that he should vindicate the honor of his flag by making such ■ a resistance as his resources enabled him to make, and then, if necessary, abandon the fort. This he would have done at any rate on the Monday after the attack, and thus would have saved South Carolina the half million dollars which her two days of empty glory cost her. On the 17th of April Governor Letcher of Virginia issued a proclamation, in which he recognized the inde- pendence of the rebel States, and ordered that all armed volunteers, regiments and companies in Virginia should hold themselves in readiness for efficient service. On the same day the Convention, which had been summoned to discuss the policy of secession, passed an ordinance repealing the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Virginia, and resuming THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 123 all tlie rights and powers granted under said Constitu- tion. Immediately after tliese events President Lincoln issued a proclamation, calling for seventy-five thousand troops to suppress the rebellion, and supimoning the Federal Congress to meet at Washington on the ensuing fourth of July, 1861, in extraordinary session. 124 A HISTORY OF CHAPTER YI. ENTHUSIASM OF THE REBEL STATES PROJECTED CONQUEST OF WASHING- TON PROOFS THAT IT WAS CONTEMPLATED WHY IT WAS NOT ACCOM- PLISHED SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FEDERAL TROOPS ORDERED OUT DAVIS ISSUES LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL PROCLAMATION OF GOV. LETCHER SECESSION OF VIRGINIA BLOCKADE OF THE SOUTHERN PORTS ASPECT OF THE LOYAL STATES FIRST IN THE FIELD — THE ATTACK ON FEDERAL TROOPS IN BALTIMORE FURY OF THE REBEL MOB RESULTS OF THE ATTACK — ITS INFAMY — THE FEDERAL FORTS ARE GAR- RISONED — SECESSION OF MISSOURI — RAPID MARCH OF FEDERAL TROOPS TO WASHINGTON THE CHICAGO ZOUAVES THE GALLANT ELLSWORTH ORIGIN OF THE TERM ZOUAVE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH ZOUAVES IN ALGERIA, IN THE CRIMEA, IN ITALY THEIR PECULIAR CHARACTERIS- TICS AMERICAN ZOUAVES. The fall of Sumter, together witli the proclamation of President Lincoln summoning a large body of troops to convene at the Federal capital, which followed that event, appear to have inflamed the military ardor of the rebel States to a prodigious degree; and gorgeous visions of extensive conquests rose to their excited views. Promi- nent among these -was the immediate attack and capture of Washington. It has been seriously doubted whether the leaders of the secession movement ever really entertained that ambitious purpose, and especially at so early a stage of the Rebellion. It has been asserted that their views were always confined to the defence of the invaded territory of these States, whicb had become identified with the secession movement ; and that the project of the threatened march on Washington was the sole product of the groundless terrors of the inhabitants of THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 125 the North. This supposition is erroneous. At the period of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, it was boldly asserted by the rebel leaders that their next movement, after the reduction of that fortress, would be the capture of the Federal capital. Mr. Walker, the Secretary of War to the rebel Government, declared on the 12th of April at Montgomery, that no man could prophesy where the war would end; but that he would predict that the flag of the Southern Confederacy would float in splendor over the dome of the capitol at Washington before the first day of May. He moreover warned the "hostile Yankees" that, if they were not careful how they insulted the chivalry of the South, they would ere long see that flag waving in defiant majesty over Faneuil Hall itself. A similar sentiment was expressed at the same time by many of the leading journals of the South. The Richmond Inquirer declared that nothing was more probable than that President Davis would soon march a triumphant army through North Carolina and Virginia into Washington. The Richmond Examiner asserted that Washington was perfectly within the power of Maryland and Virginia, and added that the whole popula- tion of the South desired, with the utmost unanimity, the achievement of that enterprise. It was a singular fact that, when the troops of North Carolina proceeded to join the rebel camp in Virginia, it was with the- express expectation that their destination was an immediate attack on the Federal Capital. Other Southern journals were still more sanguine. The Ifillidgeville Recorder endeavored to incite the rebel Government to immediate action ; declared that the Confederate States must possess Washington ; and insisted that it was folly to imagine that it could be permitted to remain any longer the head- quarters of the "Lincoln Government." Southern pride 126 A HISTORY OF demanded that that city shoiild not continue under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. The Charleston Courier asserted, on the 14th of April, that the desire to capture Washington increased every hour among the valiant and patriotic citizens of the South, Similar authorities might be accumulated to a very large extent, to show how widely diffused and how intensely ardent this wish to possess the Federal city was throughout the Southern States. That the rebel armies, therefore, did not make the attempt, was evidently the result, not of a want of inclination, but of a want of -ability ; and it is equally plain that this achievement formed a prominent element in the colossal plan of re- sistance, disorganization and ruin, which their leaders conceived, and which they were able to some extent to realize. Immediately after the proclamation of President Lincoln calling out seventy-five thousand men, the rebel Con- gress, then in session at Montgomery, authorized the raising of an additional force of thirty-two thousand men. Of this number. General Pillow declared that Tennessee alone would willingly furnish ten thousand. Alexander H. Stephens uttered the formidable boast that it would require seventy-five times seventy-five thousand soldiers to intimidate the South, and that even then "they would not stay intimidated." Jefferson Davis inflamed the warlike spirit of the rebels to a still intenser pitch by issuing, on the 17th of April, a Proclamation, in which he invited all those who might desire, by service in private armed vessels on the high seas, to aid the rebel Government in resisting what he termed a wanton and wicked aggression, to make application for letters of marque and reprisal, which would be issued under the seal of the Confederate States, and would be freely THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 127 gi-anted to tliose who furnislied the necessary securities for the observance of the laws of those States, The result of this proclamation was, that an eager host of thieves and pirates immediately sprang forward to obtain the benefit of the Proclamation, and enrich themselves by plundering under the cover of law and public justice. The Legislature of Virginia was at this period in ses- sion. That ancient Commonwealth had lono^ hesitated as to the policy which she would pursue in reference to Secession. Many potent considerations bound her to the old Union, with which all her most glorious and honora- ble associations were connected. But her present in- terests, and especially the identity of her sympathies with the South in reference to slavery, led her to cling to the faction of the Kebels. In addition to this, her people were greatly influenced by the intrigues of a number of detestable traitors, of whom Ex-Secretary Floyd was the chief, who were active in their efforts to alienate the minds of the people from the Union. On the 18th of April John Letcher, Governor of the State, issued a Proclamation, in which he declared that the action of Mr. Lincoln in calling for an armed force of seventy-five thousand men was in effect a declaration of war ; that the President possessed no power to issue such a Proclamation ; that Congress alone was competent to fieclare war ; that therefore this act was illegal and un- constitutional ; and that the General Assembly of that State having so pronounced it, he, the Governor, then and there ordered all the armed volunteers within the State to hold themselves in readiness to enter upon mill tary duty against the threatened encroachments of the Federal Government. At the same period, the Conven- tion which had been summoned for the purpose of de- termining whether the State would join the Southern 128 A HISTORY OF Confederacy or not, voted iu favor of Secession. There were but seven members who opposed the measure, and four of those seven came from Western Virginia. It had now become evident to the most obtuse and the most unwilling observer that the day of reconciliation had passed by ; and that the Federal Government had no other alternative left, in order to vindicate its own honor and suppress the rebellion, than the adoption of the most stringent and hostile measures. The blockade of all the Southern ports was immediately ordered and immediately executed. The great steamship Niagara, the pride of the American Navy, was stationed off Charleston harbor, where her heavy guns and her gallant crew would eifectually suspend the commerce of that city, the virulent hot- bed of Secession. The blockade of the Chesapeake was maintained by the steam frigate Minnesota, off Old Point Comfort ; by the Dawn and the Yankee, off Fortress Monroe ; by the Quaker City, off ,the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay ; by the Montecello, off York river, by the Harriet Lane, off the mouth of James river. Other vessels were dispatched to Savan- nah, to Mobile, and to New Orleans, whose trade was effectually sealed and suspended by the terror of their guns. At this period the loyal States presented to the eye of an observer a strange and unaccustomed spectacle. Their vast and rich domains, usually the scenes of peaceful pursuits, of manufacturing industry, of agricultural thrift, were now teeming with those incidents which are con- nected with warlike operations. The Proclamation of Mr. Lincoln summoning seventy-five thousand men to the field, infused into the nation a new spirit. That number of men which, in comparison with the more colossal requisitions of later times seems insignificant, THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION". 129 then appeared to be an enormous armament ; and tlie business of recruiting, of arming, of drilling, so un- familiar to our pacific eyes and ears, became visible and audible on every hand. In a very short time the neces- sary number were enlisted, and were ready to march tb the Federal Capital. The honor of having responded with commendable celerity to the Proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, and of having been among the first in the field, belongs to a regiment of Massachusetts' volunteers, and to a body of troops collected and enlisted in Philadelphia by Colonel Small. On Friday, the 19th of April, these troops com- menced their journey from that city. They filled thirty- six cars, and arrived without any accident or detention at Baltimore, on their way to Washington. The loyalty of the chief city of Maryland had been justly suspected ; but no suspicions were entertained that the hostility of a portion of its inhabitants to the Union, would be de- veloped in so violent and so tragical a manner as in the end occurred. When the cars containing these troops arrived in Baltimore an immense assemblage had collected at the intersection of Gay and Pratt streets, for the purpose of making a hostile demonstration against them. The feel- ings which animated the crowd were readily ascertained and clearly apparent ; nevertheless the Massachusetts troops, who occupied the cars in the advance, being well armed and well disciplined, boldly confronted the danger, defied their assailants, and pressed on through the city. The majority of them succeeded in effecting their passage before the rioters were able to barricade the railway track. This they effected by loading it with heavy anchors obtained in the vicinity. This movement inter- cepted the further progress of the Pennsylvania troops^ 9 130 . A HISTORY OF who, till this period, had remained in the cars. As they were without arms or equipments of any kind, they would have been unable to resist a hostile force much superior to themselves in numbers. After a period of uncertainty and suspense, however, they descended from the cars and formed in line in the street adjoining the depot. Then the order to advance was given. This forward movement was the signal for the attack of the mob — a vast assemblage, who filled the neighboring streets and spaces, at whose front was borne a Confederate flag. They discharged a volley of stones at the troops, which compelled the head of the column to fall back. Gradually the attack became more general ; and those among the soldiers who were provided with arms, dis- charged them in self-defence. But the number of these was comparatively small ; and soon a deluge of stones and the discharge of pistols and guns from the crowd, assailed the defenceless troops. The latter, after a sliort interval of hand-to hand combats, were collected together in a train of cars, an engine was attached, and their return toward Philadelphia was commenced. A number had been wounded, several killed, and a still greater proportion were scattered during the mtlee. The latter afterward effected their escape with considerable delay and difficulty. The fact that the soldiers were without uniforms, which the regiment expected, to procure, together with arms, at "Washington, enabled many to elude the fury of the populace who would otherwise have become their victims. This attack on unarmed men engaged in so noble a service, by the inhabitants of a prominent city of the Union, was one of the most des- picable acts recorded in the annals of a war, so profusely disgraced as this became, by innumerable deeds of infamy, treachery and cruelty. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 131 The nation was surprised and alarmed by this unex- pected display of treasonable sentiments at Baltimore; and the immediate effect was to spread the flame of patriotic ardor more widely, and induce the administra- tion at Washington to adopt more active measures. Forts McHenry, Monroe, and Pickens were quickly furnished with stronger garrisons ; and camps of instruc- tion were formed in various places for the purpose of drilling those troops who, in answer to the President's Proclamation, had devoted themselves to the service of their country. It soon became evident that a much greater number of these men were ready to respond to the appeal than had been called for; and the large number of regiments which arrived successively at Washington, removed all apprehensions in regard to the immediate safety of that city from the minds of the President and his cabinet. On the 3d of May 1861, the Legislature of Missouri con- vened, and a message was received by them from the Chief Magistrate of the State. In that document Gover- nor Claiborne Jackson declared that Mr. Lincoln, by calling out troops for the purpose of subduing the seces- sion movement, had committed an unconstitutional and illegal act. He proceeded to defend the right of seces- sion ; and maintained that the proceedings jof the States which had withdrawn from the Union had been per- formed in the exercise of an undoubted right ; that the interests of Missouri were identical with the other slave- holding States ; and that the similarity of their social and political institutions clearly demonstrated that it was the duty of Missouri, at the proper time, to follow their ex- ample. He concluded by recommending that the Legis- lature should make such appropriations as would enable the State authorities to resist any attempt which might L_. 132 A HISTORY OF be made by tbe Federal Government to enforce the Federal laws. This message was the commencement and cause of that long series of desperate and bloody events which afterward occurred in Missouri in connec- tion with the Southern Eebellion, and which increased in importance as time progressed. Among the large number of troops which the Procla- mation of President Lincoln drew forth for the defence of the Union, there was one peculiar class of soldiers, whose name, whose discipline, and whose history consti- tute one of the military novelties of the present age. A year before the outbreak of the rebellion, the American public were surprised and gratified by the appearance and martial drill of a corps of men, organized in Chicago, calling themselves Zouaves. The term was new and harsh to the majority of Americans; but to those who were familiar with the military events of recent times in Europe and Africa, it conveyed a startling and impres- sive meaning. The Chicago Zouaves were commanded by a youth of no ordinary spirit and ability ; and the inhabitants of the principal cities of the Union admired, and with justice praised, the peculiar qualities and the soldier-like virtues of the gallant Ellsworth. When the rebellion elicited the Proclamation of the President, the Chicago Zouaves did not tender their services to the country in a body, but their commander obtained in New York suitable materials for another corps, which he drilled in the old method, and upon whom he conferred much of the old exactitude and perfection. This corps now marched to Washington under the orders of Ells- worth. As this peculiar arm of the service was a novelty in its way — as the origin, the history, and the achieve ments of the European Zouaves, after whom they were named and modelled, are a topic of no ordinary interest — THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 133 we will here briefly digress from the direct current of events, and introduce an episode in reference to that subject. What the Tenth Legion was to Coesar, what the Jani- zaries were to the Sultans, what the Imperial Guard was to Napoleon I., that the Zouaves proved to be, both to Louis Philippe and to Napoleon III. The word Zouave was derived or corrupted from the Arabic Zawaioah, which is the name of a tribe of Kabyles in the province of Algiers. These people have resided for generations in the most remote and mountainous . portions of the Jurjura ; and were remarkable for their superior industry, their bravery, and their love of freedom. They were of Arab descent, and they alone, of all the inhabitants of Algeria, had never been cpmpletely subjugated by the Turkish power. After the invasion of Algeria by the French, it became necessary for the security and per- manency of their authority that a large and formidable force should be constantly maintained under arms in that province. Already had the Zawawah contingent in the Algerian army become distinguished for their superior qualities as soldiers, for their excellent disci- pline, their desperate courage, their willingness to endure privation and suffering in the execution of the most difficult and dangerous commissions. In July, 1830, Louis Philippe appointed Marshal Clausel Governor of Algeria ; and that officer determined to organize a native corps of cavalry and infantry as one of the first acts of his administration. By a decree bearing date October 1, 1830, he created two battalions, to be composed of such materials; and as the martial fame of the Zawawahs already stood high, he took care that the greater proportion of these new troops should be composed of them. But natives of all sorts were 134 A HISTOBY OF admitted into their ranks, without any distinction of origin, religion, or race: inhabitants of the mountains, and dwellers on the plains, Kabyles, Arabs, Negroes, Turks ; and thus it was that this heterogeneous corps, to whom the name of Zouaves was then applied, obtained that anomalous, rude, and ferocious character, which has ever distinguished them. Together with the savage cjualities which they possessed as natives, they soon com- bined that military efi&ciency which was derived from their being drilled by the best French officers. Some of the most eminent generals in the French service were connected, at an early period of their career, with this remarkable corps. One of their first commanders was Lamoriciere, who afterward became illustrious. Subse- quently they were led to battle by Cavaignac ; then by St. Arnaud, and later still, by Baraquay d'Hilliers and Bosquet. The Zouaves of Algeria distinguished themselves in many of those bloody conflicts which attended the subju- gation of the Arab tribes, who, under the heroic Abdel Kaderj endeavored to rescue their country from the tyranny of its French invaders. Scarcely six weeks had elapsed after their organization as a separate corps, when they took part in the famous expedition against Medeah, under Marshal Clausel. The French on this occasion were compelled to retreat; and nothing saved them from being cut to pieces in a narrow defile except the daunt- less courage of the Zouaves, who, passing to the rear, set up their hideous war shouts, fell upon the victorious Kabyles with the ferocity of tigers, and hewed them to the earth. This achievement at once gave them an honorable fame and position in the French army. In every subsequent service of danger, in every expedition of difficulty, they were ordered to take part ; and on all THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 135 occasions they behaved with a degree of valor which won for them the confidence and admiration of their foreign masters. Their drill was remarkable for its pre- cision and energy; and their costume, which was a singular mixture of Oriental dress with French colors, contributed to render them still more unique and extra- ordinary. A portion of that activity in which they ex- celled all the French soldiers in Algeria, was to ^ be attributed to the convenience and freedom of their dress. It gave ample room for the use of the limbs, and was utterly unlike the usual attire of European and American soldiers, by which the body is so squeezed, hampered and choked, as to render ease and vigor of movement almost impossible. The Zouaves took part in the expeditions against Oran in 1835, and against Mouznia in 1836. They especially distinguished themselves at the siege of Con- stantine, where they led the first column of assault and greatly contributed to the victory. In all the conflicts in 1843 and 1844, which took place between the French and Abdel Kader, the Zouaves held a conspicuous place. Their peculiar habits fitted them admirably to resist and to vanquish the Arab soldiery. At the capture of Smalah, and especially at the famous battle of Isly, they fought with a heroism which received, as it richly de- served, the enthusiastic plaudits of their more civilized masters. After tne submission of Abdel Kader in 1847, there remained little opportunity in Algeria for the display of the peculiar qualities of the Zouaves. Their chief service then consisted in maintaining garrisons for the French in remote and dangerous positions, exposed to the sudden attacks of the conquered Arabs. In 1852 their corps were reorganized ; they were armed with rifles ; and 136 A HISTORY OF another regiment was added to their numbers, thus fnaking three regiments, each consisting of three battalions. Then at length they were transferred from their native soil to that of France. The fame of their heroism, so strangely united with ferocity, preceded them ; and they were everywhere the objects of curiosity not unmingled with fear. In 1854, when the war in the Crimea com- menced, they proceeded with the French forces to the East. The bloody struggles of Alma, Balaklava, In- kerman, and Sevastopol, witnessed their extraordinary qualities; and in the more recent war in Italy they maintained their ancient fame by prodigious displays of their ancient valor. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 137 CHAPTEE YII. THE SECESSION OF TENNESSEE — PARSON BROWNLOW — DECLARATION OP WAR BY THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS SKIRMISH NEAR gT. LOUIS SECESSION ELEMENT IN BALTIMORE FORT MCHENRY — SECESSION OP NORTH CAROLINA — ADJOURNMENT OP THE REBEL CONGRESS TO CON- VENE AT RICHMOND — ASSEMBLY OF FEDERAL TROOPS AT WASHINGTON THE OCCUPATION OF ALEXANDRIA ASSASSINATION OF COLONEL ELLSWORTH — SKETCH OF HIS CAREER HIS LIFE IN CHICAGO — FAMOUS TOUR OP THE CHICAGO ZOUAVES — ELLSWORTH'S MILITARY TASTES AND TALENTS HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS — HIS PECULIARITIES AS A SPEAKER HE ORGANIZES THE NEW YORK FIRE ZOUAVES — HIS DEATH A LOSS TO THE CAUSE OF THE UNION — GENERAL ROBERT Patterson's campaign in Virginia — crossing the potomao AT WILLIAMSPORT BATTLE OP FALLING WATERS PURSUIT OF THE enemy to HAINSVILLE — TO MARTINSBURG THE MARCH TO BUNKER HILL TO CHARLESTOWN — OCCUPATION OF HARFER'S FERRY — RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. On the 6tli of May, 1861, another defection took place among the States of the Union, and another member was added to the cluster of apostate communities. On that day the Legislature of Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession, and adopted the terms of an alliance with the Confederate States. The instrument by which tliis act was accomplished was absurdly called a "Declaration of Independence ;" and it set forth, as all its predecessors had in substance set forth, that the citizens of that State maintained the right of every free and independent people, to alter or abolish their form of government as they pleased ; and that, in the exercise of this right, they, of Tennessee, ordained and declared that all laws which had heretofore constituted the State a member of the 138 A HISTORY OF Federal Union, were thereby abrogated and annulled; and that henceforth the State should become, what they had indeed immediately before declared it had always previously been, "a free, sovereign and independent community." The announcement of this event elicited various and opposite expressions of sentiment throughout Tennessee, for a large Union element existed among her population. Parson Brownlow, the well-known editor of the Knoxville Whig, gave utterance to his indignation in terms extremely forcible and appropriate, in a torrent of invective which immediately afterward graced his journal. He stigmatized the act of secession as " a black deed," perpetrated by traitors who had taken a solemn oath to support the Constitution of the United States ; and he affirmed that the ordinance itself was unconstitu- tional, unjustifiable, "a vile act of usurpation." He characterized the agents of the movement as " unprincipled politicians ;" and for this resolute and patriotic conduct he afterward became the victijn of the vengeance of the rebel autliorities. On the 7th of May the Congress of the Confederate States convened at Montgomery, passed an act by which that important body recognized and declared the existence of war with the United States ; and affirmed that hostili- ties had been begun against them by Abraham Lincoln, which it was their duty to resist and to suppress. The falsehood of this assertion stands out so plainly on the face and front of it, that none except rebels and traitors could be so blind as not readily to detect it. It was in the State of Missouri that the warlike elements of the two parties first came into active collision. On the 10th of May a brigade of the militia of that State, commanded by General Frost, encamped on the western outskirts of St. Louis, and defied the forces of the Federal THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION^. 139 Government. The latter were then under tlie orders of Captain Lyon; who, before running the hazards of a battle against superior numbers, wisely resolved to try the effect upon the rebels of a formal demand to surrender. That demand was made, accompanied by the assurance that those who laid down their arms should be treated with humanity. The gallant Frost immediately complied with this requisition. Eight hundred men became prisoners of war, and were escorted into the city of St. Louis by the Federal troops. During this march an unfortunate conflict took place between the latter and a portion of the populace, in which about twenty persons in the crowd were killed. The captive State troops were afterward released on parole, having taken the oath not to serve again against the United States. Their of&cers, their camp equipage, their artillery, and their ammunition, were retained. These events formed the prelude to other and more important events, which subsequently occurred in that distant portion of the Union. Meanwhile the proclamation of President Lincoln calling out seventy-five thousand troops for three months, had been responded to throughout all the loyal States. Thousands of men volunteered, whose superfluous ser- vices could not be accepted. The largest proportion of troops was required from New York and Pennsylvania ; from the former eleven regiments, from the latter ten, were demanded. By the 15th of May Baltimore was occupied by a numerous Federal force commanded by General Butler. The secession element was still vigorous in that city, and it was strengthened from day to day by the treasonable conduct and influence of Marshal Kane, the head of the police force. Fortunately, Fort McHenry, which commands the city of Baltimore, was 140 A HISTORY OF well provided with artillery, men and stores, and was in the possession of Federal officers. Its formidable guns, which in^n hour might render the city a smouldering ruin, produced a beneficial effect in suppressing the trea- sonable spirit of rebellion. On the 21st of May the State of North Carolina consum- mated her misfortune and disgrace by seceding from the Federal Government and uniting with the Southern Con- federacy. She was the last in the order of time to perpetrate this ignominious deed. Eleven States had preceded her — South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mis- sissippi, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Virginia and Tennessee. Immediately after receiving official notice of the defection of North Carolina, the Congress at Montgomery adjourned — greatly elated by the success of their operations — to convene at Eichmond on the 20th of July ensuing. By the 20th of May the Federal Government possessed the number of troops called for by the proclamation of the President ; and was prepared to commence active operations agaiiast the rebels, and invade their territory. The several loyal States had responded with alacrity to the requisition of the Chief Magistrate ; and the soldiers who assembled at Washington, as well as those who occupied several positions in Maryland and Virginia, were eager to meet the enemy. On the 23d, the order was given to advance from the Federal Capital to those regiments which had been selected to perform this service. The purpose of the movement was to take possession of Alexandria, on the opposite side of the Potomac, and attack and dislodge any rebel force which might have been posted on Arlington Heights. Eight thousand infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two sections of Sherman's artillery batallion, crossed the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 141 Long Bridge, under the command of General Mansfield. Four New New York regiments, which had been quartered at Georgetown, proceeded at the same time over the Chain Bridge, under the orders of General McDowell. The New York Zouaves embarked on board the " Baltimore" and " Mount Vernon," and proceeding down the Potomac, reached Alexandria at five o'clock in the morning. At six they landed, and formed in line upon the dock. The main body of the Federal troops entered Alexan- dria at the same time. The first Michigan regiment immediately advanced to the railroad depot and took possession of it. They also surprised and captured a troop of rebel cavalry numbering one hundred. The Zouaves, commanded by Ellsworth, proceeded at once to active service, and commenced by destroying the railroad track to Kichraond. Their next aim was to take posses- sion of the telegraph, ofiice, and intercept its connection with the rebel camp. Ellsworth now led the way, but his gallant career was destined to be of short duration. It had been written in the mysterious book of fate, that his should be one of those brilliant but transient lives, which, while they elicit the admiration of men, will forever be attended by emotions of regret. As the Zouaves were advancing in double quick time up the street, Ellsworth observed a secession flag waving from the summit of the Marshal House, a prominent hotel of the place. To such a man such a spectacle could not be other than most offensive, and as his fearless eye gazed upon the floating emblem, he impulsively exclaimed, " That flag must come down !" Accompanied by a few privates he rushed into the house, ascended to the roof, eagerly cut down the flag, and taking possession of it, commenced his descent. He was met in the hall by Jackson, the 142 A HISTOKY OF enraged proprietor of the house, who, armed with a double-barreled gun, leveled it at Ellsworth, and dis- charged it. The instrument of death was but too well aimed. Its contents entered the body of Ellsworth, between the third and fifth ribs, and tore his vitals with destructive force. He fell, attempted to open his dress and to staunch the flowing blood ; but rapidly the pallor of death spread over his features, his hands became power- less, he sank upon the floor, gasped for breath, and quickly expired. Before this event occurred his assassin had himself been slain ; for a private nanied Brownell, who had accompanied Ellsworth to the roof, the moment after his commander was shot, leveled his musket at Jackson and discharged it. The rebel and the fallen hero died at the same moment, under the same roof, within a few feet of each other. The body of the former was soon riddled with balls by the frantic Zouaves, and his brains scattered over the scene of his crime and his punishment. The remains of Ellsworth were subsequently conveyed to "Washington to be embalmed. Immediately afterward the Federal troops occupied Alexandria without further opposition. A portion of the population, apprehensive of a hostile invasion, had previously deserted the town. The seventh New York regiment, with others, took possession of Arlington Heights. They met no resistance or interruption in the execution of this task, and they commenced to throw up intrenchments. Three thousand men were constantly employed in the works. General McDowell retained the command of all the troops which were placed beyond the Potomac, and superintended the necessary operations. It is usual when a popular favorite passes away, for his admirers to magnify and exaggerate his merits to such an absurd and extravagant degree that, could he THE SOUTHEKN REBELLION. 143 return to life again, it would be impossible for him to recognize his own portrait in their delineations; and were he honest he would exclaim with astonishment, that he was not himself aware that he had ever been so wise or so good, or so great a man. This declaration, which applies with truth to nine tenths of those whom mankind blindly but often unanimously agree to applaud, was not applicable to the case of Ellsworth. The report of his death was the signal for the outburst of such a deluge of regret and praise, as has rarely been accumulated upon the memory and the grave of any departed hero ; but he really deserved it. He was in many respects, though young, a remarkable man, possessed of rare qualities, and adorned by great virtues. Elmer E. Ellsworth was a native of Massachusetts, and at the period of his death was about twenty-six years of age. In his youth his father suffered serious reverses in business ; and thus he was thrown upon his own resources, and initiated into a career of privation and toil, which commenced almost with his boyhood. The hope of finding a more congenial and facile field for pushing his fortunes induced him, as it has induced thousands of other aspiring and generous spirits, to journey westward ; and in 1852 he reached Chicago, at that time the rising commercial metropolis of the West. But he was desti- tute of money and friends, without any profession or trade, and his first experiences of stern life in his new abode were sufficiently dark and cheerless. But he possessed the inestimable boons of health, youth and hope, and with the aid of these he soon acquired friends, and hewed out for himself an honorable name and a means of living. His pursuits from time to time were somewhat diversified. At one period he commenced the study of law in the office of Mr. Lincoln, at Springfield. 144 A HISTOEY OF He had always felt a great fondness for military life, but no scope had yet been afforded to his martial aspirations. When the exploits of the French Zouaves at Sevastopol excited the surprise and admiration of the world, they kindled the kindred sympathy and ardor of Ellsworth. He studied the principles and peculiarities of their drill with intense interest, and conceived the design of raising from the large circle of friends whom he had acquired among the young men of Chicago, a company who should imitate, and perhaps even emulate, the perfection of the genuine Zouave drill. He succeeded in his purpose ; many of the most estimable and adrairabJe youths of that city joined his company, and some months were spent by them and their young captain in laborious and assiduous drilling. At length Ellsworth found the grand conception which he had formed realized. * The Chicago Zouaves, under his guidance, attained a degree of exacti- tude and skill in the manual of arms, such as had never before been seen in America, and which perhaps could be found alone in Europe among the genuine Zouaves from Algiers. It was very natural that Ellsworth should be proud of his handiwork, and that he should desire to exhibit to the world how much could be accomplished by industry and perseverance in that department of mental and physical effort. He published a respectful challenge to the military corps in the United States, inviting them to a trial of skill. Soon afterward, that memorable tour was made by him and his associates, through the chief cities and towns of the United States, which formed one of the most extraordinary military events of this age. But it should not be imagined that this famous expedi- tion was undertaken simply for the purpose of display. In all that Ellsworth did — such was the inherent nobility THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 145 and elevation of his nature — there was a lofty and noble aim. The chief design, therefore, of that journey was to show, by a plain and practical example, how superior scientific drilling was in giving efficiency and power to the soldier, to the ordinary method ; to illustrate what the great principle of military training should be, a principle of which not one commander or soldier in a thousand had the slightest conception, namely, that a jDcrfect identity of spirit and feeling should exist, for the time being, between the commanding officer and those to whom his orders are given ; as also to illustrate how the true soldier should inure himself to bodily fatigue and self-denial ; how the accomplished soldier will also become an accomplished gymnast ; and how, as much as any thing else, temperance in eating and drinking is not only promotive of bodily health and vigor, but is absolutely indispensable to it. It was during the progress of this expedition that another remarkable quality of Ellsworth was revealed to the admiring public. This was his extraordinary power over the minds of his associates. He possessed that faculty in a high degree, which is always an element of intellectual greatness — the faculty of controling the wills of others around him. There was also an originality, we may even say grandeur and dignity, in his manner, his voice, his whole person, while engaged in the process of drilling, which was a triumph of martial genius and beauty. At his first word of command, uttered by a voice singularly manly but melodious, with an accent remarkably firm and crisp, every eye brightened, every head became erect, each man instantly became himself, in all his physical and mental fullness ; and then followed such a display of skill and precision in the most elabo- rate and difficult species of drill known to the profession 10 146 A HISTORY OF of arras, as was rarely witnessed. ThougTi not large in person, Ellsworth exhibited as much graceful sublimity and physical grandeur in a field exercise, as any orator could display in the midst of his most imposing and impassioned flight of eloquence. Nor will this result appear anomalous when we remember the masterly thoughts which lay at the foundation of his military system. When he commenced his training oi the Chicago Zouaves, he trained himself with a degree of rigor which was astonishing. He practiced the manual of arms with so much industry, that he became one of the best marksmen and ablest swordsmen in America. He investigated the theory of every motion with particu- lar reference' to the principles of anatomical science; and so^ arranged each movement that it became the logical and legitimate groundwork of the one which succeeded it. Thus it was that he introduced a sort of scientific unity and harmony into the manual of arms which had not before existed in it. This was the stroke of a master ; this, the indication and the presence of superior, creative genius — a genius similar in nature to that which the young Napoleon exhibited when, to the horror of all the military drones and fossils of Europe, he not only constantly vanquished the Austrians in Italy, but van- quished them in utter defiance of the established and immemorial usages of the military art. So far had Ellsworth trained himself, in order that he might suc- cessfully train others, that a photograph of his naked arm, taken at the period of his visit to Philadelphia, was a model of anatomical and physical beauty ; it was an arm whose formidable accumulation of muscles and sinews, and whose faultless proportion of outline pre- sented such a picture as Michael Angelo or Eubens would have painted, when representing on canvas the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 147 ancient Greek conception of the forms of Hector or Hercules. After tlie return of the Chicago Zouaves to that city, Ellsworth engaged with zeal in the Presidential campaign which ensued ; and strange as it may appear; this youth, so richly gifted as a soldier, proved himself as highly endowed for another sjDhere. He distinguished himself as one of the most effective and popular of the orators, who, in the State of Hlinois, advocated the claims of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency. As a speaker he was peculiar for his strong, clear sense, mixed with a degree of wit and repartee such as few orators possess. After the termination of the campaign, and when the war- clouds began to darken the political horizon, and roll up with portentous gloom from the rebellious South, he tendered his services to the new President. He then proceeded to the city of New York in order to select, from the numerous body of firemen in that city, the materials for an entire regiment of Zouaves. Having obtained these, he removed to Fort Hamilton for the purpose of drilling. After his new recruits had become partially fit for service, through his untiring labors, he proceeded with them to "Washington, Their subsequent career is involved in the history of the events which ensued in the vicinity of the Federal CapitsJ. Had this gallant young commander survived to take part in the battle of Bull Eun, it is not improbable that the presence and influence of his dauntless courage on the field, might have diminished, though it could not have averted, the horrors and the ignominy of that struggle. It is proper that at this stage of our history, we should narrate the chief incidents connected with the three months campaign of the Federal forces in Virginia, under the command of General Eobert Patterson. On the 30th of L_ 148 A HISTORY OF June, 1861, the different brigades comprising the divi- sion were consolidated into one body, preparatory to their crossing the Potomac. Two enterprises of import- ance to the Federal cause, were assigned by popular opinion and popular wishes, to this portion of the Union forces. The first was the expulsion of the Eebels under Johnston from Harper's Ferry ; the second was inter- cepting the march of that general to Manassas, and pre- venting the junction of his troops with those commanded by General Beauregard. Neither of these purposes was ultimately accomplished. When the Union forces, nearly tAventy thousand strong, began to move toward Virginia, instead of advancing directly to Harper's Ferry, for the achievement of the first of these enterprises, the route taken was toward Williamsport. The enemy were left in undisturbed possession of Harper's Ferry, until, at a later period, when the Rebel generals perceived the greater importance of concentrating their forces at Manassas, General Johnston evacuated the place, having previously destroyed a vast amount of Federal property, and the public works erected there. After its evacua- tion, General Patterson, instead of intercepting, if his force were sufficiently large for that purpose, the march of Johnston toward Manassas, proceeded to occupy the deserted and desolate town ; and entered it on the very day on which the battle of Manassas was fought, and by the very road on which the Rebel general had marched from it. It was thus that neither of the enterprises anticipated by the popular will was achieved by the divi- sion of General Patterson. It was on the 2d of July, that his troops crossed the Potomac by the ford at Williamsport. The process began at dawn of day, and continued until near nightfall. Before the fording commenced, a skirmish took place THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 149 between the Federal pickets, wliicli had been thrown over the river on the preceding day, and the Berkley Border Guard. General Abercrombie's brigade were in the advance of the Federal forces; and having crossed the Potomac, they continued their march on the turnpike leading from Williamsport to Martinsburg, across the neck of land which is formed by the bend of the river, which takes place at that point. The pickets of the enemy were first seen at Falling Waters, five miles dis- tant from Williamsport. They retired, and about a mile beyond, the encounter took place which has been designated as the battle of Falling Waters. This im- posing title was applied to a small but pretty stream, whose limpid waters flow over a mill-dam, and perform the useful function of filling the race, which turns the wheels of a solitary grist mill. It was situated a short distance from the Potomac. The skirmish which ensued was sustained on the Federal side by a portion of Abercrom- bie's brigade, consisting of the eleventh Pennsylvania and first Wisconsin regiments, McMullen's Independent Eangers, the Philadelphia City Troop, and Perkins' battery of six guns. After a short but spirited engage- ment the Rebels were routed, and were pursued for the distance of two miles as far as the village of Hainesville. The rear guard of the enemy were about being captured, when orders arrived from General Patterson to stop the pursuit. Both the battle and the chase occupied nearly two hours. The Rebels were commanded by Colonel, afterward General, Jackson ; and his forces in the action comprised an entire brigade. The Federal troops then proceeded to encamp ; and occupied the position which Jackson had deserted. On the next day they advanced to Martinsburg, which the enemy evacuated at their approach, and it was thus occupied without opposition. ., -^ 150 *' A HIiTOEY OF The Federal loss at Falling Waters was insignificant, being two killed and five wounded. After a delay of nearly two weeks • at Martinsburg, by wliicli means the period of the enlistment of the Federal troops was very sensibly diminished, General Patterson again commenced to move. On the 15th of July the march began toward Winchester. Nearly the whole division proceeded as far as Bunker Hill, ten miles from Martinsburg, before nightfall. At Bunker Hill a small body of Eebels had been encamped, who retreated as the Federal troops approached. At this place, which is twelve miles distant from Winchester, the Federals re- mained for two days. Here the pickets of the armies of Johnston and Patterson were often within hailing dis- tance of each other. On the 17th of July the march was resumed by General Patterson before daylight, and the advance toward Winchester was continued ; but before his rear guard had entirely descended the sides of Bunker Hill, or had reached the road which led to Winchester, a counter march was ordered, the route to that town was abandoned, and the whole division proceeded twelve miles eastward. By this detour Winchester was left on the flank, and a wide area was opened by which General Johnston might transport his troops at any moment, and with perfect safety, toward Manassas. The Federal forces were placed in camp at Charlestown ; and as soon as Johnston became assured that this flank movement was not intended to operate against him, and that there was no danger that he would be attacked in his entrench- ments at Winchester, he left a small detachment to occupy them, and hastened to Manassas. After remain- ing four days at Charlestown, General Patterson en- larged the space between himself and the enemy, by pro- ceeding to Harper's Ferry, which had been evacuated and THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 151 burned by the Eebels some time previous. Soon after this date the terra of tlie enlistment of the Federal troops, as well as the period of the appointment of General Patter- son as their commander, expired ; and thus the first army of the Potomac dissolved and vanished from view. If the men and the officers who composed this army had not achieved any result of importance to the cause of the Union, if they had not gained any victory of conse- quence over the forces of the enemy, it was not from the want of valor or patriotism on their part ; for on every occasion on which they were permitted to encounter the Rebels, or to exhibit the spirit which actuated them, they displayed the coolness and bravery of veterans, the zeal and ardor of patriots. 152 A HISTORY OF CHAPTER YIII. THE ENCOUNTRRS WITH THE REBEL TROOPS AT FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE, AT ACQUIA CREEK, AT ROMNEY, AT FHILIPPI GALLANTRY OF COLONEL KELLEY BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL CAUSES OF THE DISASTER GENERAL PIERCE — DEATH OF LIEUTENANT GREBLE SKETCH OF HIS CAREER — UNION SENTIMENT IN WESTERN VIRGINIA — THE NEW STATE OF KANAWHA — harper's FERRY DEVASTATED BY THE REBELS THE OHIO TROOPS FIRED ON NEAR VIENNA — RESULTS OF THE ATTACK — OPERA- TIONS OP GENERAL MCCLELLAN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA HIS AD- MIRABLE PLANS THE BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN GENERAL OARNETT COLONEL ROSECRANZ RESULTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT SKETCH OF GENERAL MCCLELLAN — HIS CONDUCT DURING THE MEXICAN WAR HIS RECONNOISSANCE OP THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS HIS SECRET MIS- SION TO THE WEST INDIES HIS JOURNEY TO THE CRIMEA — HIS OFFICIAL REPORT AS COMMISSIONER — HIS SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS HE BECOMES COMMANDER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF OHIO Many incidents occur during the progress of a conflict like that against the rebels of the South, which excite intense interest, and which are in themselves not entirely destitute of importance at the period of their occurrence, but which, after the lapse of time, and when thej are considered in connection with the grand current of events, necessarily become of trivial and inferior conse- quence. Among such incidents it is proper here to enumerate the different skirmishes which took place between the detachments of Federal and Rebel troops at Fairfax Court House, at Acquia Creek, at the village of Bomney, and at Philippi in Western Virginia. At Romney a rebel camp had been formed. Colonel Wallace, who commanded one of the Indiana regiments, marched from Cumberland to Hampshire county and THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 153 attacked the troops collected there. The Eebels were surprised by the movement and completely routed ; their camp equipage, their provisions and their arms were captured; and a decisive reverse inflicted on them by the bravery of Colonel Wallace and his men. A similar contest attended by a similar result took place at Philippi. The assault upon the enemy who held possession of that town, was led in person with great gallantry by Colonel Kelley. The Eebels were defeated and expelled from their position. The most important incident connected with this engagement was the wounding of the command- ing officer, who was shot in the breast. The wound was at first regarded as mortal ; but Colonel Kelley eventually recovered, to resume active service in defence of the Union, and to receive the rank of brigadier general, to which his merits fully entitled him. The first serious disaster to the Federal arms which occurred during the progress of the war, took place at Great Bethel, on the 10th of June, 1861. General Butler, who then commanded a large body of troops at Fortress Monroe, having ascertained that there was established a camp at a place ten miles distant from Hampton, which they had strongly fortified, determined to attack and dislodge them. He therefore ordered Colonel Duryec, with his regiment of Zouaves, and Colonel Townsend with his Albany troops, to cross the river at Hampton at midnight, and thence pursue their march toward Great Bethel. At the same time the regiment of Colonel Benedix, with a number of men from Vermont and Massachusetts, who were stationed at Newport News, were directed to advance so as to effect a junction with the forces sent from Fortress Monroe, at Little Bethel, three miles distant from the position of the enemy. The entire expedition seemes to have been badly 154 A HISTORY OF planned. So great was the neglect of tlie commanding officer, that proper signals had not been arranged between the troops proceeding from Newport News and those from Fortress Monroe, by means of which thej could recognize each other in the darkness. Accordingly, the first disaster which took place resulted from the want of such recognition. Duryed's Zouaves passed Little Bethel between three and four o'clock in the morning. The regiment of Benedix soon followed, and took up its position at the intersection of the roads. As Colonel Townsend's regiment approached for the purpose of making a junction with them, they were mistaken for the enemy and were fired into. After a number had been slain and wounded the error - was discovered, the firing ceased, and the united body advanced toward Great Bethel. As soon as the Federal troops came within range of the guns of the Eebels, the latter opened upon them with a formidable array of artillery. The Federals attempted to advance, and by a rapid charge and a bold assault, to obtain possession of the works. But they were saluted with such' a hail-storm of shot, and the expert riflemen of the foe seconded the efforts of their artillery so efie'c- tively, that the utmost bravery and desperation proved of little avail. Terrible havoc was produced in the ranks of the Federal troops, partly through the confusion and in- competency of General Pierce, who commanded the expe dition, and partly in consequence of the immense advan- tage in artillery and position possessed by the Eebels At length it became evident that further effort would be vain, and after an unequal and disastrous contest of two hours, the order to retreat was given. As the beaten troops retired they were pursued by the cavalry of the enemy, and some were slain on both sides. One of the chief disasters of this disgraceful day was THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 155 tlie deatli of Lieutenaut John T. Greble, who accompanied the expedition in command of the few cannon which were taken with it. Durino- the eno-as-ement he had acted with great gallantry, and the chief impression produced upon the enemy was effected by the skill and vigor with which he worked his two guns. Eleven artil- lerists of the regular army had been placed under his orders. When at last the command to retreat was given, he directed his cannon to be limbered up, and was about to retire, when a cannon ball struck him on the right temple. He fell and expired instantly. This young officer, whose early and heroic death at this period rendered him the first martyr to the cause of the Union from among the officers of the regular army, had commenced, and until that hour had pursued, a career of more than ordinary brilliancy and promise. He was a native of Philadelphia, and at the time of his decease was twenty-seven years of age. His early educa- tion was received in the High School of the city of his birth. Having obtained admission to the Academy at West Point, he graduated in that institution with honor in 1854. He received the rank of brevet second lieu- tenant, and was subsequently ordered to Florida, where ho served two years in the war against the Seminole Indians. In March, 1857, he was promoted "to a first lieutenantcy, and was afterward appointed to a position on the Academical Staff at West Point. In October, 1860, he was ordered to Fortress Monroe ; and there he remained until May, 1861, when he was transferred to his last command — that of the artillery at the advanced post of Newport News. Lieutenant Greble was descended from ancestors who had held honorable positions in the army of the Ameri- can Revolution. He had always distinguished himself 156 A HISTORY OF in the performance of his official duties by superior intelligence, fortitude, and energy. In the battle of Great Bethel he had displayed the utmost coolness and heroism. It was he who, when the firing took place between the several Federal regiments, first discovered the mistake, rode up to the combatants, and succeeded in putting an end to the work of mutual destruction. He then exclaimed in agony that he had rather himself been shot, than that such a disaster should have taken place. He seems in fact to have entertained a foreboding of the fatal result of the expedition ; and remarked to a brother officer, when he received the order to accompany it: " this is an ill advised and badly arranged movement, no good will come from it ; and as for myself, I shall not return from the battle-field alive." After the action began he was left alone with his men on the field, by the confused and irregular operations of the troops ; but he remained undaunted, working his guns with the utmost resolution, and with much success. Several officers, at a later period of the combat, seeing his exposed position, urged him to take better care of himself, and suggested that he should dodge the balls. He replied con- temptuously, "I never dodge, nor will I retreat till I hear the notes of the bugle commanding it." At length these notes reached his ears, and not till then did he think of retiring. During the progress of the battle he sighted every discharge of his guns in person. It was noticed that his aim was extremely accurate. When he fell, the troops retreated, leaving his body on the field. A short time afterward Lieutenant Colonel Warren and Captain Wilson rallied a few of the men, returned, rescued his remains and the two cannon, and then sadly joined in the general flight. The Federal loss was seventeen killed, forty-five wounded. THE SOUTHER^ EEBELLION. 157 While the destructive tide of Secession was surging to and fro like a mighty deluge, devastating the once feir domains of the South, it is gratifying to notice an opposite current arising in the western portion of Virginia, in favor of the time-honored Union. A con- vention had been called together at Wheeling consisting of delegates from many of the western counties of the State, for the purpose of deliberating on the propriety of disavowing the acts of the Richmond Convention, in adopting the secession ordinance ; and to form a new State which should remain a constituent portion of the Union. On the 17th of June the final decision was made in reference to the subject. An unanimous vote was given by the Convention in favor of the establishment of a separate Commonwealth, which was then named Kanawha, but was afterward called New Virginia, and in favor of its admission to the Federal Union. There was not a dissenting voice, but a small number of the delegates were absent. There were fifty-six ballots cast in favor of the measure ; and the declaration which em- bodied the action of the Convention was signed by each of those fifty-six. In the meantime the martial events of the Rebellion progressed, and the future plans and purposes of the armed traitors became more apparent. The force of fifteen thousand men which, under the rebel General Johnston, had taken possession of Harper's Ferry, evacu- ated that place, as already stated, on the 14th of June, after destroying a large portion of the public property which there existed. The motive of this withdrawal was judi- cious on the part of the Rebels ; it being simply for the pur- pose of rendering their forces more available in connec- tion with the anticipated struggle at Manassas, On the 18th of June they inflicted a slight reverse upon that loo A HISTOEY OP portion of tlie Federal troops, consisting of the First Ohio regiment, which was commanded by General Schenck. They had pLaced a concealed battery on an eminence adjacent to the railroad to Vienna; and when the cars which contained these troops approached that town, they were suddenly fired upon. The Federal loss was eight killed and twelve wounded ; a temporary panic ensued ; but the troops ultimately resumed their journey, and reached their destination without further opposition. More important and decisive events were now about to transpire in. Western Virginia. On the 6th of May, 1861, General George B. McClellan was appointed to the command of the regiments raised in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; and he formed the plan, in conjunction with General Morris, of an invasion of Virginia from the West. This project he submitted to the War Department. The evident ability and skill which it exhibited gained it an immediate approval, and McClellan at once proceeded to active operations. On the 28d of June that of&cer com- menced to execute his purposes. The plan to which we have referred was in substance as follows : — The main army of the Eebels in Western Virginia, commanded by General Garnett, was then posted at Beverly, about fifty miles south of Grafton. It was proposed to attract and to occupy their attention by marching a force toward them from Grafton through Philippi ; while another division should proceed in a parallel line through Clarks- burg and Buckhannan, and penetrating further to the Sotxth, reach a point in their rear, prevent their retreat, and by a combined attack, vanquish and capture them. This admirable arrangement was executed in spite of unexpected difficulties, in an equally admirable manner. The Rebels anticipating no attack except in their front, took a new position twelve miles north of Beverly, and THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 159 strongly fortified it. General Morris then led a brigade of Ohio and Indiana troops toward the enemy from the North, At Bealington, when within range of their guns, he halted, fortified his position, completely obstructed their further advance, and then awaited the operations of McClellan. That ofiicer also executed his part of the plan with signal energy and ability. With the main body of the Federal troops which had been posted at Grafton he advanced through Clarksburg to Buckhan- non. At Eich Mountain he unexpectedly found a Eebel force of two thousand men, under General Pegram, posted in a strong position. He divided his troops into two di- visions ; placed one under command of Colonel Eosecranz, and himself led the other. Pegram's position was turned by a flank march through the woods. Many of his men were killed and taken ; a total rout ensued ; and on the following day the main body, under Pegram, was com- pelled to surrender. A small detachment afterward effected their escape. "When these fugitives reached the camp of General Garnett, they quickly apprised him of his real danger. Then it was that he attempted to retreat to Beverly ; for had he reached that position he might have effected his escape from superior numbers, by crossing the mountains at Cheat Mountain Gap. He might thus have joined the rebel forces in Central Virginia, or else have united with the troops of General Wise stationed on the Kanawha. But he was defeated in the accomplishment of this purpose by the energy and promptitude with which McClellan executed his part of the plan. His timely advance to- ward Beverly interrupted the movement. Only one alternative, therefore, yet remained to General Garnett, which was to retreat by a road running to the northeast, up Cheat river, until he could obtain a passage through 160 ~ A HISTOEY OF the mountains into tLe central valley of Virginia. He immediately abandoned his baggage and artillery, and commenced a rapid march toward St. George. The Federal commander immediately detected this movement and pursued the retiring foe. Then followed a grand and desperate chase, which was in itself an ex- traordinary achievement. During forty hours, with one single intermission, the Federal forces continued the pursuit. Through a mountainous, rugged, often almost impassable country, sometimes by fording rivers, some- times by facing storms of wind and rain, they advanced ; and at length reached the rear of the exhausted and re- treating Rebels. The latter were at once attacked with the utmost energy and resolution. A decisive victory was gained. The Rebels abandoned their camp, their few remaining guns, some prisoners, and fled in the utmost precipitation. Their commanding oi^cer. General Garnett, who seems not to have been deficient in courage or skill, was slain during the engagement. The scattered wreck of his army sought safety, and disappeared from view, in the deeper and remoter recesses of the moun- tains. It must be admitted that few military plans were ever conceived with greater sagacity, or executed with more signal ability, than this. To whom the chief credit both of the plan and of its execution may be due, is another question. It is clear that it was first known as an enter- prise proposed by General Morris, who was in command of the Federal forces stationed at Grafton previous to the arrival of General McClellan. But as General Morris was not a professional soldier, it is probable that the complete conception of the arrangement is to be chiefly attributed to McClellan, To him also was assigned the execution of much the more difficult portion of the combination. THE SOUTHERN RELJELLIOX. 161 In the practical part of the achievement the honors must to some extent be divided among, several brave men. Colonel E-osecranz fulfilled his commission with equal valor and skill. Captain Benham, the principal staff offi- cer of General Morris, also distinguished himself. Never- theless, with that partiality with which mankind generally over-praise those whom they elevate to the position of favorites, the sole glory of the brilliant movement was attributed by the popular voice, to the most prominent actor in it. One of the inevitable consequences produced by a revolution, either civil or military, is, that it develops latent greatness of character, and gives an opportunity to men of superior ability to attain eminence, who would otherwise have remained comparatively obscure. This remark applies with truth to the Southern Eebellion-. Among its other results, its stirring events introduced George" Brinton McClellan to the special notice and scrutiny of mankind. This officer was born in Philadelphia in December, 1826. In his sixteenth year, having chosen the military profession as his future pursuit, he entered the academy at West Point. He ranked second in his class for merit and ability among a number of young men, all of whom were his seniors. He graduated in 1846, and received a commission as brevet second lieutenant of engineers. The war with Mexico breaking out, he assisted in training an engineer company which had been raised at West Point, and then proceeded with them to active service. He landed with General Scott at Vera Cruz, and took part in all the battles which signalized the career of that commander in Mexico. The progress of his promotion was rapid, but not more rapid than was the development of his merit. In August, 1847, he was breveted first 11 162 A HISTORY OF lieutenant for his gallantry at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, In the next month he was breveted captain for his heroism in the conflicts of Molina del Rey and Chepultepec. He was subsequently, in May, 1848, pro- moted to the rank of commandant of sappers, miners and pontoniers. There was scarcely another instance among the many talented young men who distinguished themselves in that war, of a person whose rise in the profession was so rapid and so constant as his. The war being" ended, McClellan returned to West Point, where he remained till 1851. The ensuing interval he employed in preparing a manual for the bayonet exercise, which was introduced into the army. That work became a standard authority on the subject. During the summer and fall of 1851 he superintended the build- ing of Fort Delaware. In the following spring he joined the expedition under Major Marcy for the purpose of exploring the Red river. Thence he proceeded to Texas as senior engineer, to survey the rivers and harbors of that State. "While in Mexico he had attracted the atten- tion and won the confidence of Jefferson Davis, whose sagacious eye easily detected his superior qualities. When Davis became Secretary of War under President Pierce, he employed McClellan to make a reconnoissanee of the Cascade mountains on the Pacific, with special reference to the future construction of the Pacific Rail- road. This difficult duty he discharged to the entire satisfaction of the Secretary ; who, having set his heart upon the accomplishment of that important enterprise, was very exacting in regard to every thing which might promote its attainment. In 1854 McClellan was dispatched on a secret mission to the West Indies. In the next year he received a captaincy in a regiment of cavalry; and then followed THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 163 the most important commission with which he had yet been honored. He was selected by Mr. Davis, in con- nection with Kichard Delafield and Alfred Mordecai, to proceed to the Crimea for the purpose of making observa- tions upon the military operations which were then in progress; and to examine the most noted military establishments of Europe. The commissioners were absent two years, and after their return, each of them submitted to the Government a separate report containing the results of his observations. It may safely be aJ0B,rmed that, though the reports of Delafield and Morel ecai were creditable performances, the production, of McClellan was superior to them both ; and it was so regarded by the Government for whom it was prepared. This elaborate work was published in 1857. It was illustrated by admirable plates, diagrams and maps. Its contents were of the utmost value, including not merely reports upon the events on the great struggle in the Crimea, but also dissertations on many topics of import- ance connected with military science. It described with accuracy the characteristics of the French, Austrian, Prussian and Sardinian infantry, the various departments of the Eussian army, and the regulations for military service in the chief countries of Europe. The author discussed the peculiar tactics, discipline and, equipments of all the great European armies. Nothing of interest which appertained to the organization of troops and camps, the construction of field works, the most approved method of reducing fortified positions, the peculiar merits and defects of British and French, Eussian and Sardinian soldiers, was omitted. The principles of modern warfare, hospitals, commissariats, the Zouaves, military instruction in general — these and many other subjects of great interest and value were investigated in the various reports which 164: A HISTORY OF constituted this volume ; and they were treated with the ability of a man as well practiced in handling the pen as in wielding the sword. The style of the work is clear and forcible, the research exhibited is thorough and deep, the reflections made are sagacious and original, the learning displayed is accurate and profound. After his return from Europe in 1857, McClellan resigned his position in the army, and assumed that of Vice President and Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central Eailroad. This office he retained until he was elected President of the Ohio and Mississippi Eailroad. It was from this position that he was transferred, immediately after the commencement of the Rebellion, to the military command of the Department of Ohio, comprising that State, together with Illinois, Indiana and Western Virginia. His achievements in the latter field we have already narrated. After the battle of Bull Run the Administration at Washington, discovering the incom- petence of some of those in high command, felt the neces- sity of summoning to the Capital the best military talent within their reach. Then it was that they conferred upon General McClellan the most responsible, the most difficult, but also the most honorable post ever bestowed upon any young American officer, since that memorable day when George Washington was chosen by the Continental Congress, in another great crisis of the nation's destiny, to conduct the armies of the rising Republic to scenes of victory and glory. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 165 CHAPTER IX. THE EXTRAORDINABY SESSION OF CONGRESS IN JULY, 1861 — MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN — ITS CHARACTERISTICS ITS DEMANDS SKETCH OF THADDEUS STEVENS HIS POLITICAL CAREER HIS PERSONAL QUALI- TIES — HIS ACTION AS CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF WAYS AND MEANS — IMPORTANT BILLS PASSED BY CONGRESS — OPPOSITION OP MESSRS. VALLANDIGHAM AND BURNETT TO THE POLICY OF THE ADMINIS- TRATION — THE CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI — THE GRAND ARMY EQUIPPED AT WASHINGTON COMPLAINTS OP ITS PROLONGED INACTIVITY ORDER GIVEN TO GEN. MCDOWELL TO ADVANCE TOWARD MANASSAS — ARRANGEMENT OF THE ARMY — THE ADVANCE REACH BULL RUN — THE PRELIMINARY CONFLICT AT THAT PLACE — REPULSE OF GENERAL TYLER'S DIVISION — POSITION OF THE REBEL ARMY AT MANASSAS — GEN. BEAU- REGARD — THE IMPENDING CONTEST — TEMPER OF THE REBEL TROOPS THE ARTS EMPLOYED TO INFLAME THEM. The extraordinary session of Congress wliicia convened at Washington on the 4th of July, 1861, will always remain an event of supreme importance in American history. It assembled under circumstances such as never before existed since the foundation-of the Federal Govern- ment ; and it may be added, that the peculiarities which marked its deliberations were such as have rarely been exhibited in the proceedings of the National Legislature. A regard was paid, to some extent, to the real purposes for which the members had been summoned to meet; and wordy speeches for popularity and profit, as well as brutal assaults for supremacy or revenge, were for the time being abandoned. On the 5th of July President Lincoln sent in his message, which was read to both Houses, and became at once the subject of scrutiny and attention. J^ 1j6 a history of This message was also novel in its character. Unlike Presidential messages in general, it was characterized by brevity, clearness, and practical good sense. II went directly to the heart of the great theme which then absorbed and influenced every mind. It was indeed destitute of the polish of style and the elegance of language which have generally embellished, but have as often obscured or enfeebled, the ofl&cial addresses of the Chief Magistrate. But every man in the nation could understand it. It possessed the qualities of sagacity and intelligence, which recommended it to the most culti- vated and fastidious. It displayed a vigor of purpose and an earnestness in defense of the Union, which elicited the applause of the most illiterate and obscure. It was precisely the right thing in the right place. It was a faithful response to the convictions and sentiments of every patriot in the community. In this message the President made a requisition upon Congress for four hundred thousand men, and four hundred millions of dollars ; in order that, by adopting the most vigorous measures, the most decisive results might at once be attained. One of the first acts of the Speaker of the House was to appoint the chairman of the Committee of "Ways and Means. That committee, under the existing circumstances, was invested with even more importance than it ordinarily possessed. Upon the ability and industry of its members, and especially of its chairman, the efficiency of the whole body in a great measure depended ; and the Speaker in this instance made a selection which was marked by eminent appro- priateness and prudence. No man then occupied a seat in the Federal Congress who was more highly gifted by nature, or possessed greater experience and skill in the management of deliberative bodies, than Thaddeus THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 167 Stevens ; and upon him this responsible post was wisely conferred, to the exclusion and the mortification of not a few aspiring politicians, who imagined that their vast abilities and their extraordinary services entitled them to it, Mr. Stevens was one of the most remarkable of a generation of American statesmen, who have now nearly all passed away. His name and his influence were dis- tinguished in the political history of Pennsylvania for thirty-five years ; and for twenty years he was prominent among our politicians of national reputation. He was a native of Vermont, and was born in 1796. In his early manhood he removed to York, and afterward to Gettys- burg, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the practice of the law. He quickly become the head of a bar adorned by such men as Judge Eeed of Carlisle, Charles B. Pen- rose, Senator James Coopei', and others of high repute. Being elected to represent his district in the State Legis- lature, he there took the first rank among many talented men ; and domineered over both Houses, over the Whig Governors, over their Cabinets, and over the affairs of the State generally, during several administrations, with an influence which was well nigh absolute. The chief secret of his power and of his success was his superior ability in debate, and his matchless tact in controlling a deliberative assembly. In all the highest arts of a popular and forensic orator, in earnestness and pathos of declamation, in shrewdness and sophistry of reasoning, in scathing severity of sarcasm, in dauntless resolution of temper, in readiness of reply, and in quickness to detect and expose the weak points of an adversary, — in all those qualifications Mr. Stevens, when in his prime, had few superiors among the most renowned and accom plished of American orators. 168 A HISTORY OF In the Federal House of Kepresentatives he always maintained a high rank ; although he did not take his seat in it till after he had passed the most vigorous period of his life. His achievements as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, in the memorable extra session of 1861, formed a noble and appropriate climax to his long career ; and his name will descend to future generations as one of the ablest and most efficient of those coadjutors of the President, who, in that perilous crisis of the nation's history, infused energy, liberality and patriotism into the legislative branch of the Govern- ment. Though he made no long speeches in the per- formance of his duties, he accomplished greater things than long speeches could then achieve, by the use of tact, and even by the maintenance, in some cases, of prudent and significant silence. More than once, when Yallan- digham and Burnett — the chief representatives of a treasonable policy in the House — had delivered them- selves of impetuous and frothy harangues against the measures proposed by the Committee, and briefly advo- cated by its chairman ; when they had fumed and fretted for an hour, and imagined that they had so effectually badgered the Chairman of the Committee that he must needs respond, and endeavor to vindicate himself by a speech equally convulsive and equally frantic as their own ; — more than once, under such circumstances, and after such a tremendous assault, did Mr. Stevens annihi- late all that the adverse orators had uttered, by maintain- ing an unexpected and contemptuous silence, or, at most, by uttering a few words of poisoned and deadly sarcasm. Many able men have served as Chairmen of the Congres- sional Committees of Ways and Means, in many difficult crises of our national history ; but no one ever acquitted THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 169 himself with more ability and success than did Mr. Stevens in that position. On the 10th of July a bill was passed, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow, on the credit of the United States, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty millions of dollars ; for whtch he was authorized to issue certificates of coupon or registered stock, and treasury notes. The stock was to bear interest not exceed- ing seven per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, and to be irredeemable for twenty years. The treasury notes were to be payable three years after date, with interest at the rate of seven and three-tenths per centum per annum. The faith of the United States was pledged for the payment of the interest, and the redemption of the principal of the loan. This act conferred on the President the necessary means to carry on the war, and was preliminary to many other important bills which were subsequently passed, and which provided for the continuance of efl&cient military operations. Two members of the House and one of the Senate particularly disgraced themselves during the entire pro- gress of this session, by their sj'-stematic opposition to the patriotic policy of the Government, These were Messrs. Vallandigham of Ohio, and Burnett and Breck- inridge of Kentucky. It is difficult to conceive what could have been the real motive of their action, unless it were that perversity which characterizes some minds, and impels them to resist what all other men unanimously approve. It is the unenviable distinction of these persons that, in this perilous crisis they exerted themselves to aid the Eebels by obstructing the wheels of legislation, and by the use of every possible expedient — by direct opposition, by offering substitutes, by proposing amend- ments, by calling for .the previous question, by moving 170 A HISTOKY OF to lay on the table, and by moving to adjourn — by these and other tricks they endeavored to hamper the onward march of the most honorable measures which were ever adopted by any American Congress. They will proba- bly receive their reward; and by the decision of a just posterity, when the storms and perils of this disasterous time shall have passed away, they will be classed with the Floyds and Davises of the present era, with the Burrs and Arnolds of a former age. It is not necessary here to enumerate all even of the most important of the bills which were passed by Congress during this extraordinary session. It will be sufficient to observe, that every appropriation which the safety and honor of the nation required, was liberally made. Such harmony and unanimity had never before existed in any American Congress. So far indeed did these qualities prevail, that they led to the occurrence of a phenomenon unknown before in the annals of modern legislation. We read, in the history of the Christian Church, of certain harmless and perhaps excusable expedients termed "pious frauds," which were resorted to in different ages and countries, for the purpose of accomplishing results in themselves beneficent and good.* In the present case a measure was adopted which may with equal propriety be termed a patriotic fraud, by which two separate and independent bills were passed, apparently by accident, doubtless by design, which in effect conferred on the President the power to summon a million of men into the field, if he should deem that number necessary for the defence and preservation of the Union. To whom the credit or the blame of this patriotic fraud ought to be attributed, there can be but little doubt ; for in legislative * Vide Moslieim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. 1, pp. 65, 112. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 171 adroitness of this kind, tlie chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means had few superiors. The civil war in Missouri now assumed more tragical features from day to day. The inhabitants of that State were thoroughly divided on the subject of Secession, and the greater ferocity and cruelty which characterize many of the inhabitants of those outposts of civilization, produced the effect that there the war assumed a more desperate character than it had yet exhibited in any other scene of conflict. Two rival governors claimed the executive authority of the State. Two camps and two armies were gradually collected. The rebels were commanded by General Claiborne Jackson, the Federal troops were led by General Franz Sigel ; and it was evi- dent, from the hostile and vigorous spirit which charac- terized both armies, that a collision between them was imminent. In a republican government such as our own, every man regards himself as a political sovereign, and each one claims the right to interfere in the administration of public affairs. Nor do these individual sovereigns choose to recognize any difference between things military and things civil ; all alike must be subject to their scrutiny and jurisdiction. This disposition v/as very clearly exhibited in reference to the operations of what was absurdly termed the " Grand Army," by those whose patriotism was more ardent than their sagacity was penetrating. By this term were meant the Federal troops who were collected at Washington ; and during the early portion of July great impatience was expressed by some leading journals, chiefly in New York, that so powerful an army should be allowed to remain so long in ignoble repose. A general complaint or appeal was made by those journals, that it was high time something decisive 172 A HISTORY OF ehould be done, that a battle should be fought, that a victory should be achieved, merely, if for nothing else, to show the rebels how utterly insignificant they were, and to demonstrate to the world that the Federal Government was omnipotent, and could crush with its finger the whole body of the presumptuous foe. It was doubtless in consequence of the impatience of these military tyros, and the pertinacious clamors for a battle with which they persecuted the Commander-in- Chief and the Secretary of "War, that orders were at length issued, that on the 17th of July the Grand Army, numbering thirty thousand men, should move forward toward Richmond, under the command of General Irwin McDowell. This army, though composed of the best possible raw materials, though brave, though patriotic, though ardently devoted to the cause of the Union, was nevertheless, in the opinion of every man of scientific military attainments, little more than an armed mob ; for it is not possible for any human power to convert the mere citizen into a real soldier by six weeks drilling. The military editors, however, prevailed, and the follow- ing dispositions were made: The first division, under General Tyler, forming the right centre, marched toward Vienna. The column of the extreme right, commanded by Colonel Hunter, moved toward Centreville. The left centre column, under the orders of General Miles, pro- ceeded by the Little River turnpike toward Fairfax Court House. The column of the extreme left, led by Colonel Heintzelman, advanced by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Previous to this date Fairfax had been occupied by a number of Rebel troops. On the morning of the 17th they abandoned their position without making any resistance. The Federal forces first entered the town at THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 173 noon on that day. The Secession flag still waved insultingly from the Court House ; but it quickly gave place to the national colors. The rebel troops who had retreated from Fairfax were about five thousand in number, and were commanded by General Bonham, who had recently been a member of Congress from South Carolina. On the 18th of July the march of the Federal army was resumed toward Manassas Junction. The fourth brigade of General Tyler's division, commanded by Colonel Eichardson, led the advance. General Tyler pushed forward with his staff, and a small escort, to reconnoitre the position of the enemy. When he reached a height opposite to Bull Run, he discovered, in a long slope or valley which stretched out before him, a number of the Rebel cavalry and infantry moving in the distance. He immediately sent back orders for two twenty-pounders to be brought forward. With these he attacked the enemy, then distant about a mile and a half. This can- nonnading commenced at half past twelve o'clock. Soon the Rebels brought forward a battery of four guns, with which they responded to the Federal artillery. Their shots exhibited such excellent markmanship that it was evident they had taken the range of their guns before. The first body of Federal troops which arrived at the scene was the brigade of Colonel Richardson. He was directed by General Tyler to advance on the right along the outskirts of the forest, for the purpose, if possible, of capturing the enemy's guns. The brigade proceeded to execute the order ; but when they approached the spot at which the rebel guns had been posted, an attack was suddenly made upon them by a strong force of the enemy. These had, in reality, formed an ambus- cade, and they now poured a deadly deluge of rifle shot 174 A HISTORY OF into the Federal ranks, while concealed in trenches, lying behind embankments, and sheltered by the woods. Soon the field was covered with a dense cloud of smoke, and the Federal troops fought under the immense disad vantage of not knowing the ground, and of being unable to see the foe. Not expecting to encounter so fierce and general an attack, our artillery was not provided with sufficient ammunition to maintain a lengthened contest. After the lapse of an hour from the commencement of the engagement, the Federal troops retired. The enemy did not advance from their position, but continued to fire upon the retreating column. The latter brought away with them all their guns. The killed on the Federal side were about sixty, with an equal proportion of wounded. The loss of the enemy is unknown to us. It was probably much less than our own, in consequence of the superior advantages possessed by them, both in position and in numbers. Seven regiments only were engaged on the Federal side. Four times as many troops joined in the action on the part of the Eebels. The effect of this rebuff to our arms was extremely injurious. It gave hope to the Eebels, and depressed the Federals. It was doubtless an imprudent movement to permit a detachment of troops to advance into what might be, and into what actually proved to be, a treacherous and deadly ambuscade ; for they encountered the risk of being overpowered by vastly superior numbers. In such a dilemma the bravest will falter, the most valiant fail. And now the critical moment was approaching when a great and memorable conflict was destined to occur. During several months all the martial zeal of the seceding States had been expended in concentrating their military resources at one favorable point, in order that, at that point, they might resist, and if possible hurl back the I — THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 175 advancing forces of tlie Federal Government. The position which they had selected as the scene of this achievement was a spot till then unknown to fame — a spot scarcely marked down on any general map ; but a spot fated thenceforth to be immortal as Manassas Plains. It was admirably adapted by nature to the purpose of defence ; and its natural advantages had been increased and improved by the assiduous use of every device known to the military art, of which it was capable. The place con- sists of a succession of hills, nearly equidistant, protected in front by a deep and thickly wooded ravine. It lies half way between the eastern spur of the Blue Eidge on the one hand, and the Potomac river on the other. Its more elevated points command the whole intervening country. The right wing of the entrenchments extended toward the head of the Occoquon, where the thick forest rendered an approach difiicult and dangerous. The left occupied a rolling table land, interspersed with successive eleva- tions, which fully commanded its entire expanse. The centre of the Rebel army was posted precisely upon the key of the whole admirably-chosen position. That position had been as efiectively fortified as it had been admirably chosen. A line of batteries had been erected two miles in extent, whose outline was zigzag in shape, and was strengthened, at the necessary points, with bastions and other structures, with all the skill of a Yauban or a Cohorn. The Rebel camp was abundantly watered by mountain rivulets which murmured through it, on their way to the tranquil bosom of the Potomac. In the rear there lay a fertile country, where wheat, oats, corn, pasture and meadow fields, furnished ample subsis- tence to the troops. The number of men whom Beaure- gard had assembled at this point it is impossible for us precisely to state ; but the lowest conjecture, based upon the most reliable evidence within sOur reach, would make 176 A HISTORY OF it about forty thousand men. These were composed of an enraged and frantic conglomeration of human beings, chiefly from South Carolina. Mississippi, Louisiana, Ala- bama, Georgia, and Virginia ; though smaller contingents had been furnished by several other seceding States. They were well provided with artillery and ammunition. The larger portion of their guns had been directly stolen from the United States ; and these the Eebels now pur- posed to employ against the Government which they had defrauded. The energy and ability which General Beauregard had exhibited in collecting, training and fortifying this array, had inspired them with the utmost confidence in his abilities and in his fortunes. He and his officers had inflamed the passions of their troops to the highest pitch, by all the arts of the demagogue and the soldier. No means had been neglected which might render this formidable host confident of success, contemptuous of their opponents, efficient in combat, and comparatively safe within the shelter of powerful and well constructed batteries. Traitors at Washington and elsewhere, had given the enemy timely warning of the approach of the Federal army. They were not, therefore, to be taken by surprise. As the decisive moment approached the last stirring appeal was made. The Eebels were reminded that the hour of victory, the hour of glory, and the hour of revenge, had at length arrived. Now was the time to slake, in a deluge of Yankee blood, that growing thirst for vengeance which had been accumulating during half a century. Now was the time to demonstrate to the world the immeasurable superiority of the native of the South over the native of the North. And to a deadl}'- combat with such a foe, superior in numbers, in position, and in artillery, the Federal forces marched, little conscious of the real nature of the service before them. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 177 CHAPTER X. THE FEDERAL ARMY AT CENTREVILLE — GENERAL MCDOWELL'S PLAX OF ATTACK — THE DIVISIONS OF GENERALS TYLER, HUNTER AND HEINTZEL- MAN THEIR SEVERAL DUTIES — THE MARCH FROM CENTREVILLE INTERESTING SPECTACLE GENERAL TYLER FIRST REACHES THE BATTLE- FIELD HE COMMENCES THE ENGAGEMENT — MOVEMENTS OF GENERALS HUNTER AND HEINTZELMAN — THE GALLANT SIXTY-NINTH NEW YORK — THE ENGAGEMENT BECOMES GENERAL VIGOROUS CANNONApiNG THE REBELS GRADUALLY OVERPOWERED THE FEDERALS VICTORIOUS AT MID-DAY REBEL ADMISSIONS TO THAT EFFECT — GENERAL JOHNSTON'S TROOPS FROM WINCHESTER ARRIVE ON THE BATTLE-FIELD THEY REVERSE THE TIDE OF VICTORY — SUDDEN PANIC IN THE FEDERAL ARMY A GENERAL RETREAT ENSUES INCIDENTS OP THE FLIGHT INDI- VIDUAL INSTANCES OP HEROISM RESULTS OF THE BATTLE FAILURE OF THE REBEL COMMANDERS TO IMPROVE THEIR VICTORY ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES. It was on Sunday, July 21st, 1861, that the memorable battle of Manassas, the most decisive and desperate which had yet occurred on the American continent, took place. The Federal Army during the preceding day and night reposed at Centreville, about seven miles distant from the scene of conflict. It was placed under the command of General Irwin McDowell — an officer who had received a military education at West Point, had distinguished himself during the Mexican war, had been rapidly pro- moted from rank to rank, had invariably conducted himself with gallantry and heroism, and who was worthy of the important trust which was on this occasion con- ferred upon him. The plan of attack which this officer devised, and pur- posed to execute, was, in the opinion of those most cora- 12 178 A HISTORY OF peteut to judge, an admirable one. The army was sepa- rated into three divisions, which were ordered to advance to the position of the enemy by three routes. Two of these movements were to be genuine assaults ; the third was to be a feint for the purpose of distracting the attention of the foe. The division of General Tyler was directed to march forward by the Warrington road, and to cross Bull Kun a mile and a half to the right. This division comprised the first and second Ohio, and the second New York regiments, under General Schenck ; the sixty-ninth, seventy-ninth, and thirteenth of New York, with the second Wisconsin regiments. Three ef&cient batteries — those of Carlisle, Ayres and E,ickett — accompanied them. The second road was taken by General Hunter, on the extreme right, who commanded the eighth and four- te^th New York regiments, a battalion of the second, third and eighth regular infantry, a number of artillery, the first and second Ohio, the seventy-first New York, two New Hampshire regiments, and the powerful Ehode Island battery. The third route was to be taken by the division of General Heintzelman, comprising the fourth and fifth Massachusetts and the first Minnesota regi- ments, the second, fourth and fifth Maine, and the second Vermont regiments, supported by cavalry and artillery. General Hunter's orders were to pass a small stream called Cub Run ; to turn to the right, then to the north, to pass the upper ford of Bull Run ; then, marching southward, to attack the enemy in the rear. General Heintzelman was directed to cross Bull Run at the lower ford, and there attack the Rebels when they were being driven before the advancing lines of Hunter. The reserve, under General Miles, was posted at Centreville, numbering six thousand men. The actual number of ttroops who marched to the attack of the rebels at Manas- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 179 sas was abovit twenty-three thousand. The duty assigned to Hunter and to Heintzelman was, to drive the enemy from the right and from the rear upon the force of General Tyler on the left ; so that, hemmed in between the three bodies, their defeat might be more certainlj? efficiently accomplished. General McDowell had at first intended to commence the march from Centre vi lie on Saturday afternoon, July 20th, and orders had actually been given to that effect. But it was discovered at the moment of starting, that a deficiency of heavy ammunition existed, and that a large supply must first be obtained from Fairfax. This process rendered a short delay necessary, and then it was determined to postpone the advance until the following day. Accordingly, at half-past two o'clock on Sunday morning, the command was given to strike the tents and to commence the march. Soon the vast multitude began to move forward. The scene which was then presented to the view of an observer was one of imposing magnificence, and of solemn, martial splendor. The moon shone brightly and serenely in the distant heavens, which were spangled with myriads of sparkling gems ; while the immense assemblage of human beings, swarming over many a hill and vale, hurried forward with eager tread toward the field of blood. The mellow light of the dim luminaries served only to add the charm of a mystic and mvsterious grandeur to the spectacle. The solemn silence of the Sabbath morn was broken by the rumbling sound of the artillery, by the confused tread of horses and of men, intermingled with the occasional echo of the stern word of command, or the gladsome voices of laughter and song. General McDowell and his staff accompanied the central column of General Tyler's command. 180 A HISTORY OF At length the clearer light of the early dawn spread over the face of the earth. Then, after a short interval, the sun appeared in full effulgence in the rosy East ; and as he commenced to mount the azure heavens, the head of General Tyler's column reached the eminence, from which the first distant view of the position of the enemy could be obtained. Seldom had a fairer, calmer, or love- lier scene been presented to the charmed eye of the en- thusiastic admirer of nature, than that which the wide sweep of country before them exhibited, soon to be torn and riven by the impetuous rush of infantry and cavalry, by the terrific discharges of the artillery — soon to be covered with human gore, and with the bleeding bodies of the dying and the dead. There is nothing more difficult in the whole range of historical inquiry than the attempt to describe a great battle with perfect accuracy and truthfulness. It is easy to imagine or exaggerate a series of thrilling events, and to embellish a narrative with highly-colored pictures, which may interest, excite, and sometimes even appall the reader. But that process will merely produce a work of imagination ; it will not elaborate a scene of historic verity. And if it be perplexing to an observer who has been an actual witness of a great engagement to furnish any thing like a reliable descriptive coiip d'oeil of the whole conflict, extending over an area of five, and in some cases of ten miles — as it undoubtedly is — how much more difficult must his task be, who attempts to extract from the conflicting and diversified statements of others, the material of a pen-picture of his own? The more he studies, scrutinizes, and compares the various narratives and versions which others give, all equally confident and equally sincere, the more he will detect the contradictions and incono-ruities which exist between THE SOUTHERN REBELLIOlSr. 18l them ; and lie will be at a loss to know how to act as arbiter, what to credit and Avhat to reject. In such a dilemma his highest aim must be to approximate as near the truth as he possibly can. It was ha.f-past five o'clock in the morning when the head of General Tyler's division reached a position flivorable for commencing the attack. The enemy could be seen from that position busily forming their lines about a mile in front. Skirmishers were immediately thrown forward, who soon encountered the Rebel pickets and exchanged shots with them, A ponderous thirty- two pound Parrot rifled cannon was then advanced upon the road, and a number of shells were thrown into their ranks. To this salute they made no reply, and General Tyler ordered his division to move forward, so as to be in nearer contact with the enemy, who seemed to have concealed the principal portion of their numbers behind tlie woods and the rolling hills. They had, in fact, taken their position, in great part, in the forest on the right and left, and had posted their artillery and masked their guns behind the groves which were scattered over the intervening country. The second Ohio and second New York regiments were then ordered by General Tyler to advance and attack the enemy in their concealed position. They obeyed, and soon the response of the guns of the Rebels demonstrated the fact that they had posted themselves in such a manner as to entice our men forward, that they might be more completely within the range of their bat- teries. So heavy an attack of artillery was now opened upon them from cannon which were almost invisible, and which seemed to pour forth a deadly deluge froni fiery mouths opening upon the very surface of the earth, that General Schenck at length gave the order to retire 182 A HISTORY OF from the unequal contest. But at tlie same moment Carlisle's battery was ordered forward to respond to the masked artillery. His great guns replied with terrible effect. In half an hour the concealed cannon of the foe at this point were completely silenced. While these events were progressing in the front of the enemy's main position, the divisions of Hunter and of Heintzelman were operating on the extreme right, so as to reach the flank and the rear of the Eebels. The circuit which they made was an extensive one of some miles ; the march was difficult, and it was half-past ten before they reached the presence of the enemy. The latter were posted in a strong position beyond Ludley Springs. General Hunter at once attacked them with the fourteenth New York, the Rhode Island regiment commanded by Burnside, the second New Hampshire and the New York seventy-first. As these troops ad- vanced the enemy poured upon them a destructive deluge of shot and shell ; but they continued to advance with firmness and unflinching heroism. This was the northern extremity of the battle ground, and some of the fiercest fighting of that bloody day took place in this part of the engagement. The gallant Sixty-ninth rushed forward to the encounter with yells of mingled fury and exultation. They formed the van of a column which General Tyler had sent forward to cooperate with Hunter's division in surrounding the foe ; and they fell upon the Rebels with that combination of gallantry and ferocity which have characterized the Irish soldier in every country on the globe. These various operations were but preliminary to the grand and chief contest of the day. The cannonading between the two armies now became general. All the guns of the enemy were by this time brought into play, THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 183 and nearly all the Federal forces except the reserves, had come into action. The battle-field, the range of the artillery, and the various operations of the assailants and defendants, extended over an area of about five miles. The discharges of artillery were very numerous ; the re- verberation was deafening; the energy, the intensity, and the efl'ect of the combat, were terrifhc. The sullen sound of the guns was heard at Centreville, at Fairfax, at Alexandria; it was even perceptible at Washington. The widely-spread and still-extending scene of conflict over the hills, the valleys and the ravines of Manassas, was now enveloped in countless up-rolling volumes of smoke ; and only at intervals, by the friendly aid of fitful eddies of the wind, could a glimpse be obtained of the exact position and operations of the combatants. Thus far, however, it was evident that all had gone well with the Federal arras. Hunter had succeeded in turning the flank of the enemy, and masses of fugitive Mississippians, retreating before his advancing columns, gave evidence that the tide of victory was his. But as the Federal troops pressed forward in pursuit, new batteries, till then concealed in the rear, opened their deadly mouths upon, them, hurling death into their serried ranks. The foe here fought indeed with the utmost desperation. Occa- sionally a furious charge from their retiring columns would recover for a moment the lost advantage ; but it would be only to suffer in return a new reverse, and to commence a new retreat. Then again fresh batteries, skillfully masked, would open upon the advancing victors, inflicting upon them additional penalties for their success. But the general sweep of the contest here was favorable to the Federal army. Hunter and Heintzelman were successively progressing toward a junction with Tyler, and the arc of a grand and overwhelming circle IS-i A HISTORY OF of destruction and defeat was being inexorably drawn around the Eebel host. And now cheer after cheer rose upon the air, which were wafted by the breeze over the field, from one portion of the exultant and victorious troops to another. At half-past twelve, it may with truth be asserted that, in all essential respects, a decisive triumph had been gained by the Federal arms. Hunter and Heintzelman had penetrated far into the position of the enemy. On the heights toward the enemy's left, regiment after regi- ment of the foe had been driven in by the heroic charges of our troops. Fresh regiments could be discovered by the distant observer, hastening up to the support of those which were wavering ; and then, after a desperate combat, the whole defeated mass could be seen to recoil, and to plunge into a promiscuous retreat. The Federals made such impetuous assaults, that the personal presence and frantic efforts of Beauregard himself could not resist them. Whole regiments of the Eebels were here cut to pieces, and the torn and scattered fragments were hurled back in fearful panic and disorder. But still, such was the marvelous ability with which that com- mander had fortified his position, that fresh triumphs and fresh pursuits on the part of the Federal troops only conducted them into the jaws of additional batteries, which had been posted and concealed in endless succes- sion, up to the very centre of his position at Manassas ; so that it seemed as if Satanic skill and malignity had contrived an inevitable ruin for the victors. Notwith- standing all this, the deadly toils were gradually drawing closer around the foe. His desperate efforts were be- coming more and more impotent. He had abandoned all his breastworks, in this portion of the field, except one ; and even this was stormed later in the day by several THE SOUTHERjST REBELLION, 185 regiments whicli were the last to abandon the contest and join in the retreat. , At one o'clock on this memorable day the Eebel host at Manassas, in spite of all their advantages of position and of numbers, were virtually defeated. This may he proved even hy their own concessions. Thus, the special correspondent of the Louisville Courier declared, in a com- munication to that paper, after stating that General Tyler's attack on the centre of the Eebel position was not discovered to be a mere feint until almost too late, that reinforcements were then sent to the troops who were resisting the ^attack of Hunter and Heintzelman, From that part of the field he confessed that they had "been driven back some two miles." He added: "Now came the tug of war. The fortunes of the day were evidently against us. Some of our best officers were slain, and the flower of our army lay strewn on the field, ghastly in death or gaping with wounds. At noon the cannonading is described as terrific. It was an incessant roar for more than two hours, the havoc and devastation at this time being fearful. McDowell was just in the act of possessing himself of the railway to Richmond. Then all would have been lost. But most opportunely, I may say providentially, at this juncture General Johnston, with the remnant of his division, reappeared and made one other desperate struggle to obtain the vantage ground." A similar concession was subsequently made by the correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, who, when describing the death of General Bee, the commander of the South Carolinians on this day, said : " The brunt of the morning's battle was sustained by his (Bee's) command until past twelve o'clock. Over- whelmed by superior' numbers, and compelled to yield to ~1 186 A HISTORY OF a fire that swept every thing before it, General Bee rode up and down his lines, encouraging his troops by every thing that was dear to them, to stand up and repel the tide which threatened them with destruction. At last — his own brigade dwindled to a mere handful, with every field officer killed or disabled — he rode up to General Jackson and said : ' General, they are beating us back !' " To this testimony we may add the admissions of the Eichmond Dlspatdi. The correspondent of that paper wrote as follows : " Between two and three o'clock large numbers of men were leaving the field, some of them wounded, others exhausted by the long struggle, who gave us gloomy reports ; but as the fire on both sides continued steadily, we felt sure that our brave Southern- ers had not been conquered by the overwhelming hordes of the North. It is, however, due to truth to say, that the result at this hour hung trembling in the balance. We had lost numbers of our most distinguished officers. Generals Bartow and Bee had been stricken down; Colonel Johnston, of the Hampton Legion, had been killed, and Colonel Hampton had been wounded. Your correspondent heard General Johnston say to General Cocke, just at this critical moment, 'Oh, for four regi- ments !' His wish was answered, for in the distance our reinforcements appeared. The tide of battle turned in our favor by the arrival of General Kirby Smith, from "Winchester, with four thousand of General Johnston's division." It is perfectly evident from such statements, of the highest authority, as well as from the position of affairs on the scene of conflict, that previous to the arrival of Johnston's army on the field the strength of the Rebels was broken, and that victory had been legitimately earned by the Federal arms. At this crisis the fire of THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 187 the enemy had become languid. All over the ensan- guined hills and plains their remaining guns responded slowly and feebly. At two o'clock the foe seemed ex- tremely disheartened and confused. Three times had they been dislodged from a locality known as "a hill with a house on it," which was one of the strongest positions on the field. At that point the enemy was commanded by General Beauregard in person ; and his troops had been driven a mile and a half from the fiercely contested point, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of that able commander. • This discomfiture, which had been accomplished by the regiments under Heintzelraan, added still more to the desperate nature of the situation of the Rebels. And yet, after all this heroism and this success, when victory seemed inevitable to the Federal arms, when the exhausted host of the Eebel chiefs ap- peared to be in extremis, the final issue was completely reversed, and one of the most disgraceful retreats which is inscribed on the historic page, ensued. How was this unexpected and wonderful catastrophe produced ? It was about three o'clock when large bodies of troops were observed by the Federal commanders, darkening the hill-tops in the farthest distance opposite the centre of the battle-field. Soon they were seen hastening to join in the conflict ; and their secession banners waving in the breeze, and the freshness and vigor of their move- ments, clearly proved that they were reinforcements, which had endured nothing of the heat, the exhaustion, or the agony of the long struggle. They were in fact a portion of the army of General Johnston ; who, having made good their escape from Winchester, had arrived by railroad at the Junction, and were now hastening to the field to rescue the cause of the Rebels from destruction. This terrible apparition, at such a time and in such a 188 A HISTOEY OF juncture, miglit well liave appalled the stoutest heart ; yet, at the .moment of its occurrence, no thought of flight existed, and additional troops were ordered forward to confront the advancing masses. Among these were three Connecticut regiments, the fourth of Maine and the first Tyler Brigade. Notwithstanding the prodigious exertions which these Federal troops had already made during the protracted contest, they approached their new foes with the utmost heroism. A terrible onslaught ensued between them. One battery was eight times taken and eight times lost. Meanwhile fresh accessions to the Eebel forces were arriving in successive trains. They deployed upon the field, and were gradually and stealthily winding them- selves around the left of the Federal army, with the evident purpose of surrounding them and cutting off their retreat. Nevertheless, an hour of the most des- perate fighting ensued, during which prodigies of valor were performed by our exhausted troops. Still, how- ever, the deluge of fresh reinforcements to the enemy continued to pour down upon the field. The left of the Federal army was slowly becoming surrounded and their rear attained. The fresh troops of the Eebels rushed upon their opponents in successive tides with sanguinary fury. One regiment of Mississippians, armed with immense bowie knives, fell upon them with the yells of maniacs and the ferocity of fiends. Then it was that, for the first time during the long and desperate conflict, our troops began to exhibit confusion and dismay, and the first indication of a panic commenced to appear. A vast body of Rebel cavalry now came pour- ing out of the woods upon our left, attacked the troops which happened to be near them, and assailed a multitude of unarmed teamsters, who, without any orders to that THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 189 effect, had moved tlieir wagons forward with the general advance. The fatal panic which had arisen now spread rapidly from regiment to regiment. IMasses of men, in the utmost disorder, rushed down from the distant hills in full' retreat. The flight became general, and then ensued that marvelous and ignominious stampede from Manassas to Washington, which will forever remain one of the chief wonders and scandals of American history. No reasonable person will condemn the Federal troops at Manassas for not maintaining the advantage they had gained, or even for retreating. A complete djefeat, under such circumstances, was excusable. The crime which cannot be palliated or forgiven is, that the flight should have been continued so long and so far ; that such extreme disorder and frantic fear, such groundless despair and such excesses of weakness, so total an oblivion of all shame, and such a disregard of the dignity of man- hood, should have characterised the conduct of men who had exhibited such admirable heroism and endurance so shortly before. Eegiment after regiment now came rushing along the road and over the fields toward Centreville. But soon all distinctions of regiments and companies, of infantry, cavalry and artillery, were lost. The confusion of Babel was synthetic order and perfect symmetry wh^n compared with .the chaotic confusion which now prevailed. Many of the men threw away their arms and knapsacks, lest they might be impeded in their escape. The heavy guns were abandoned, the traces cut, and the horses, covered with fugitives clinging to them on all sides, were spurred forward in the flight. Soon the passage became choked with private conveyances, with terrified civilians, with broken gun carriages, all tumbling and crashing against each other. Wounded horses plunged to and fro in the 190 A HISTORY OF midst of tlie demented mass of human beings.. Many were crushed to death. Many threw themselves upon the earth, being either wounded or exhausted, and unable to continue their flight. A few officers indeed en- deavored to stem the tide and stop the panic, but their efforts were utterly fruitless. Thus the tumultuous sweep of fugitive wretches continued to roll onward without the least pause or abatement, until they reached Centreville. There the presence of the reserve under General Miles, and especially Blenker's brigade, tended to diminish the disorder to some extent. But this effect was only partial. The great mass continued to hurry forward to Fairfax, to Alexandria, and even to Washing- ton, where they arrived during the ensuing night and day. Our dead and wounded were left on the battle- field. Much heavier losses of artillery and ammunition occurred during the flight than during the engagement. No officer eminent for ability on the Federal side had fallen. The loss of the Eebel army in this particular was much greater than that of their opponents. The only pursuit attempted by the victorious and astonished enemy was made with their cavalry, and the assaults of these were effectually terminated at Centreville by the vigorous charges and deadly aim of Blenker's rifle brigade. That officer even recovered some of the guns which had been abandoned during the flight. Thus ended the battle, the defeat and the rout of Manassas. At first the loss on the Federal side was supposed to be much greater than actually proved to be the case ; as was subsequently demonstrated by the offi- cial return made by General McDowell to the Govern- ment. According to that return, the Federal army lost four hundred and eighty-one killed, one thousand and eleven wounded, twelve hundred and sixteen missing. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 191 The missing included the prisoners taken by the enemy, and those who, having escaped from the slaughter, never returned to the service. The number of artillery lost was seventeen rifled cannon, eight small-bore guns, twenty-five hundred muskets, and thirty boxes of old firearms. But, though the Rebels had obtained a victory, there never was an instance in whicb conquerors more signally failed to improve their advantages. One of the highest arts of a military commander, is the art of follow- ing up effectually the opportunities which the favor of fortune may have bestowed upon him ; and more ability has been displayed by some generals in the skill with which they turned a triumph to good account, than they exhibited in gaining it. Many other generals have shown higher genius in the success with which they have averted the consequences of a defeat, than their success- ful opponents exhibited in gaining the victory. In the present case it proved almost a barren triumph on the one side, and nearly a harmless repulse on the other. The Rebels might, in the midst of that overwhelming and preposterous panic, have marched upon Washington, entered it, dispersed or captured the officers of the Federal Government, and thus have struck a blow as deadly and decisive as that which Hannibal might have inflicted, if, immediately after the terrible slaughter at Cannas, he had thundered with his legions at the gates of Rome, and had taken possession of the Eternal City. But, like Hannibal, Beauregard failed to improve the propitious moment ; and, that moment being once lost in the vicissitudes of nations, it never returns again. 192 A HISTOBY OF CHAPTER XI. THE IMPRESSION PRODUCED ON THE PUBLIC BY THE BATTLE OF MANASSAS — VARIOUS CAUSES OF THE FEDERAL DEFEAT — THE PRECEDING MARCH INFERIORITY OF NUMBERS — EFFECT OF MASKED BATTERIES — INCOMPE- TENT OR INEXPERIENCED OFFICERS REMOTE POSITION OF THE RE- SERVES PERNICIOUS PRESENCE OF SPECTATORS THE COUP-DE-GRACE ARRIVAL OF GENERAL JOHNSTON's TROOPS ON THE FIELD IMMENSE LOSSES OF THE REBEL ARMY — WAS THE DEFEAT IN REALITY A MISFOR- TUNE TO THE UNION — ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS — ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ARMY ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ADMINISTRATION IT BECAME THE MEANS OF AVERTING GREATER CALAMITIES IT WAS THE CAUSE OF SUBSEQUENT SUCCESS TO THE FEDERAL FORCES. The defeat of the Federal army at Manassas over- whelmed the nation with astonishment, indignation and shame. They were astonished^ because such a catas- trophe was previously considered as beyond the range of possibility. They were indignant^ because they regarded it as the result of inexcusable neglect, incapacity and cowardice. They were mortified, because victory had graced the arms of an enemy whom they despised and execrated. Various theories were subsequently offered to account for the occurrence of this disaster. At the present time, when the excitement and confusion of the crisis have passed away, and men may scrutinize events calmly and dispassionately, it is evident that the causes of it can be easily indicated; so clearly, indeed, as to show that a contrary result must have been almost impossible. A number of adverse events conspired to produce the defeat of the Federal army, though som.e of these were more THE SOUTHERN REBELLION, 193 important and more potent than others. In tbe first place, it was evidently imprudent to exhaust the physical energies of the Federal troops, by marching them from two o'clock in the morning, immediately before engaging the enemy. The physical powers of men have their limits of endurance ; and when we remember that the battle continued to rage during the whole day, from sun- rise almost until sunset, it is not singular that, toward the termination of the struggle, the strength of the troops should have become exhausted. Nor did the Federal commanders gain an3''thing on the score of secresy, by thus postponing the march until the day of the battle ; for the enemy were amply forewarned of their approach when they lay at Centre vi lie. It is evident also that the number of Federal troops was too small, and was inadequate to the difficult service of assailing and taking Manassas. Not much more tlian twenty thousand men took part in the engagement ; and against these twenty thousand there were arrayed in the end, nearly forty thousand ; who, in addition to their superiority in numbers, possessed also an important advantage in being familiar with the ground, in being fresh to the encounter, and in being entrenched behind powerful batteries. The peculiar manner in which these batteries had been arranged contributed greatly to the Federal defeat. The guns of the enemy, in this instance, were placed at irregular and zigzag points, in endless retrocession ; so that as soon as the troops which served one of their batteries had been overpowered, and were compelled to give way, they merely fell back upon other guns served by fresh men, who received the advancing victors with a fresh volley of shot and shell. The Federal troops took many of these batteries seriatim ; they drove the Rebels for more than a mile from battery 13 194 .A HISTORY OF to battery ; and yet they still encountered other guns, which were worked with an energy and effect equal to the first. The peculiar manner in which these batteries were hidden added to their formidableness. They were so masked and concealed, either by brushwood or by being planted in holes dug in the ground, with their muzzles only protruding above the surface of the earth, that they were invisible to the assailants, and were thereby rendered more deadly. It must also be admitted that, though the men fought bravely, many of the subaltern officers were utterly in- competent to perform their duties. There were many majors, colonels, lieutenants, and other ofiicers, who had never received any military training, who possessed no military knowledge or experience, and who were useless on the battle field. Nor will this appear singular when we remember that many of the ofl^icers were mere civil- ians, whose patriotism or ambition had urged them to enter the career of arms, and who had been able to obtain military rank, without possessing a particle of militai-y skill. It is not possible for such men, however intelligent they may be, to acquire a competent knowl- edge of military affairs by six weeks' drilling. What little they may have been able to learn during that interval would be of small service in the midst of the fearful excitement and confusion of an actual battle. The drill-room is a very different arena from the tumul- tuous field of strife and blood. A scientific military training is just as indispensable to the officer on land, as it is to the ofiicer at sea. Naval tactics are not more intricate and difl&cult than those of the land service. Let us suppose that a British fleet of a hundred sail suddenly menaced the Atlantic coast ; that an American fleet of equal strength was sent to attack them ; and that THE SOUTHERX REBELLION. 195 this fleet was for the most part commanded and officered bj men who had never before sailed upon the deep, much less had charge of a vessel, and had only six weeks' ex- perience in studying the details of naval architecture, service and warfare. It is clear that the sailors might be brave, the ships might be staunch, the artillery might be powerful, the officers might be personally heroic ; but that such a fleet, in the face of a veteran British arma- ment, would be battered to pieces, and the wrecks of our vessels would soon be scattered far and wide over the ocean and the strand. It must be thus with any land force officered by lawyers, merchants and other civilians, who, in a moment of danger, take commands in it. So incompetent were some of these officers, that it is certain that many of the orders of General McDowell were never delivered to those to whom they were sent ; and thus fatal errors were committed, against the express precau- tions of the chief officer. It is probable that the position of the reserve under General Miles was much too far in the rear, to be of actual service in the crisis of the battle. Seven miles is manifestly too great a distance to intervene between the main body of an army, and the reinforcements which must be used in the last extremity. If, when the troops of Johnston deployed upon the field, the regiments stationed at Centreville could have marched against them and checked their advance, the issue of the day might have been different. The field was also encumbered with a host of spectators and visitors, whose presence was most pernicious. If all went well, their shouts would indeed rend the heavens and cheer the victors. But if any disaster occurred, they would be the first to set the example of cowardice, and their flight would "Jievitably become contagious with troops who had 196 A HISTORY OF already been disheartened by the duration and diflSculty of the struggle. Such actually proved to be the result at Manassas. Prominent in that vast and tumultuous torrent of retreating men were to be seen terrified and frantic civilians ; and among the many who, on that day, fled in hot haste, they led the van, and kept it. It is clear also that many minor blunders were com mitted which served to consummate the disaster. The unarmed teamsters were permitted to advance with their wagons too near the enemy, and within the range of their attack. The Federal army was not sufficiently provided with cavalry to pursue the retreating foe. Proper care was not taken, when batteries had been captured, to secure possession of them, and turn them upon the Eebels. The left flank and the rear of the Federal army were not suitably guarded against attack. An order to fall back a short distance was mistaken for a general order to retreat. To this must be added the desperate courage of the Eebel troops, the skill and bravery of the Rebel commanders, and the immense advantages of their position. Nevertheless, all these causes combined together would not have inflicted the repulse at Manassas, had it not been for another and a still more potent cause. It would have been a victory to the Federal arms, or at least a drawn battle, had not the troops of General Johnston arrived by railway from Winchester, and deployed upon the field precisely at the critical moment. That calamity turned the scale with decisive and resistless effect. The prodigious influence produced by the sudden accession of fresh troops on the battle-field, to one side or to the other, after a long and obstinate struggle, has been illus- trated by the issue of many of the most memorable conflicts of modern times. Thus, the great battle of THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 197 "Wagram was lost by the Austrians, after tliey had in effect wrested the victory from Napoleon by prodigies of valor, because the Archduke John did not reach the field with his reinforcement of eighteen thousand troops, as he had been expressly ordered to do ; which accession would have completely broken the exhausted lines of the French. It is well known that at Waterloo, the issue of the day depended entirely upon the fact whether Bliicher would arrive with his Prussians to reinforce the English, or Grouchy would arrive with his division to reinforce Napoleon. Bliicher rushed upon the field when "Wellington was almost frantic with despair, and thereby changed the fortunes of the world. Thus also at the battle of Inkermann, forty thousand Russians attacked fifteen thousand British troops. After a pro- tracted and desperate conflict the latter were about to break, when the arrival of a large French force under General Bosquet decided the issue of the engagement. It was precisely thus with the battle of Manassas. The accession of Johnston's regiments turned the scale, and wrested the triumph from the wearied hands of the ex- hausted victors. By whose fault it was that Johnston was permitted to make good his hurried march to Manassas, we are not prepared to say. It was expected that the* junction would be prevented by the division under General Robert Patterson ; but whether the force under his com- mand was sufficiently large to enable him to achieve that result, it is not for us to determine. General McDowell, however, asserted in his official report of the battle, that it was expressly understood when he assumed the com- mand of the army marching against Manassas, that he was not to encounter the troops of Johnston; and that declaration, thus boldly and publicly made, was never 198 A HISTORY OF contradicted. If therefore the force under Patterson was not sufficiently numerous to intercept Johnston, it was a measure of indispensable importance that it should have been rendered such, before the advance of McDowell toward Manassas was commenced. It was natural that the Eebels should exult with frantic joy, and with boundless exaggeration, over their unexpected victory. The reports which were diffused throughout the Southern States in reference to it ex- ceeded any thing ever exhibited before in the art of misrepresentation. It was confidently asserted that the Federal army had been composed of a hundred thousand men; that twenty thousand had been slain and wounded ; that thirty thousand handcuffs had been taken, with which the Federals intended to manacle the defeated Confederates; that sixty pieces of artillery had been captured, with an innumerable number of knapsacks, and with provisions enough to support the Confederate army for months. The result of these fabrications was, that the whole South became still more enthusiastic for the war ; and many who, till then, had been reluctant to enter the struggle, now rushed forward, enlisted, and commenced with martial ardor to swarm northward toward Richmond. Soon, however, this general exultation began to give place to sadder and more sober thoughts, when the details of the losses of the Eebels at Manassas began to be known throughout the South. Then it was that they discovered at what an enormous price their victory had been bought ; and, like Pyrrhus of old, after vanquishing the Romans, they might exclaim, that another such triumph would complete their ruin. The Eebels had lost many of their best officers. They made great exer- tions to conceal the precise number of their dead and THE SOUTHERN REBELLIOlSr. 199 wounded ; so much so that even Southern journals com- plained that the relatives of the soldiers who fought at Manassas, could obtain no information as to whether they were living or dead. Every thing was concealed on that subject for a long time. The reason was, that a knowl- edge of the real facts would have appalled and disheart- ened the people by the horrid details involved in them. But such secresy could not always be preserved ; and at length certain revelations began to leak out, which opened the eyes of men as to the actual state of the case. Thus, among other instances, the Richmond Disj^aich, when applauding the heroism of the eighth Georgia regi- ment, declared that " at length the}^ withdrew from the fight. Their final rally was made with some sixty men out of the six hundred they took in." This regiment, thus almost annihilated, was succeeded by the seventh Georgia regiment, who actually met the same fate, their commanding of&cer. Colonel Barton, being killed. One Louisiana regiment lost three hundred men out of eight hundred. The Hampton Legion and an Alabama regi- ment were almost totally destroyed by the terrible charges of the New York sixty-ninth and seventy-ninth. Single facts like these demonstrate how terrific and over- whelming the grand total loss must have been on the Rebel side. It was manifestly much greater than the Federal loss ; and it is not improbable that five or six thousand in killed and wounded were the number of the enemy placed hors du combat. In view of indisputable facts like these, it coukl scarcely be affirmed that the result of this engagement was very advantageous to the cause of the Rebel re- public ; while on the other hand, it may with truth be asserted, that under the outward and forbidding guise of a reverse, the general result of the catastrophe at 200 A HISTORY OF Manassas was propitious to the interests of the Federal Union. This declaration, which seems very like a para- dox or an absurdity, we believe to be strictly true ; and we will briefly state the grounds of this opinion. As adversity is often the wisest and best school for the individual learner, so also is it often the wisest and best school for the national learner. Especially in military affairs, a few disasters at the commencement of a war produce a beneficial effect. Many celebrated commanders began their careers with serious defeats, and by those very defeats were taught how afterward to triumph more gloriously. Frederic the Great, to whom reference has already been made, confessed that the first clear insight which he obtained into the military art, was when he was compelled by Charles of Lorraine to retreat with heavy losses from Silesia, at an early stage of the Seven Years War; yet Frederic subsequently became the greatest general of his age. "William of Orange, after- ward king of England, acquired more military skill from his defeats by the Prince de Conde than by all his other studies and experiences combined. The Emperor Charles V. of Germany, who agitated Europe during many years by his contests with the chivalrous Francis I., generally commenced his campaigns against that monarch with disasters, but invariably closed them with supremacy and triumph. Now it is well known that the American people began the war against Secession with an undue contempt of the resources and the prowess of the Eebels. No proper conception was entertained of the difficulty and intensity of the struggle which was about to commence. It was generally believed that the Southern soldiers would not fight ; that they possessed no powers of physical endur- ance; that they were enervated by drunkenness and THE SOUTHEEN' REBELLION". 201 debauchery ; that their conquest would be an easy and rapid achievement. All these were gross and fatal delu- sions ; but the result of their prevalence was, that a spirit of extreme carelessness and frivolity pervaded the Federal army. A reckless temper characterized the public journals. The march to Eichmond was to be a grand and exciting hunt for Rebels ; and the most rare and excellent sport would be the entertainment of those who took part in the chase, and of those who accom- panied it as spectators. With this hilarious spirit the army marched gaily forth toward Manassas. Inexcusa- ble neglect characterized every thing connected with their advance. Their numbers were deficient ; their ammuni- tion was not properly supplied ; the men had received but little drilling ; and some of the oflScers, it was charged, were on this occasion intoxicated. Let us suppose that this army had been successful at Manassas; and that, after a short and perhaps a feigned resistance, the Rebel forces had retreated toward Eich- mond. Elated with the easily-earned victory, entertain- ing still more contemptuous and absurd sentiments respecting the prowess of the enemy, our troops would have become more reckless and imprudent than before. As they advanced further into the bowels of the hostile country, the dangers which surrounded them would become much greater. Then, at length, when a facile and safe retreat to the entrenchments at Washing- ton would be rendered impossible, even by a Bull Eun race ; when the army of the Ecbels had been increased to three times the number it contained at Manassas ; when our officers and soldiers were regardless of prudence and vigilance, another attack would be made upon them. Is it not perfectly evident that the probability, the certainty even, is, that in that dreadful and unequal onslaught 202 A HISTORY OF scarcely a single man Avould have escaped, and that a calamity far greater than that at Manassas would have ensued to the Federal army, to the nation's honor, and to the cause of the Union ? But the effect produced upon the Federal troops by the check at Manassas was instantaneous and redeeming. Their eyes were at once opened to the terrific depths of that abyss toward which they had been madly rushing. They acquired more valuable information by one day of defeat than they would have attained by ten days of victory. The blow brought them to their senses, and sobered them at once. How soon was a new spirit infused into the service! How quickly did the most rigid discipline, the most careful precautions, the most extensive and systematic preparations, take the place of the previous neglect, laxity and bravado ! Every de- partment of the army underwent a thorough reformation ; and soon there was assembled, under the national colors, a well drilled, well-appointed, formidable force of several hundred thousand men. But nothing of this would have existed, had not the defeat at Manassas taught the nation and the Government wisdom. Therefore, we repeat, that that defeat was in reality not a misfortune, but a benefit to the Federal arms, and to the interests of the Union. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 203 CHAPTER XII. INCKEASED ENERGY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT — EVENTS IN MISSOURI — IMPORTANT BATTLE AT CARTHAGE — RETROGRADE MOVEMENT OP GENERAL LYON TO SPRINGFIELD — PURSUIT OF THE REBELS UNDER GENERALS MCCULLOCH AND PRICE CONDITION OF THEIR ARMY REASONS WHY GENERAL LYON ENGAGED THE ENEMY THE GREAT BATTLE OF SPRINGFIELD DISPOSITION OF THE FEDERAL FORCES TEMPORARY SUCCESS OF THE REBELS — INCIDENTS OF THE CONTEST HEROISM OP GENERAL LYON — HIS LAST EFFORT AGAINST THE ENEMY — ITS SUCCESS — GENERAL LYOn'S DEATH — DISCOMFITURE OF GENERAL SIGEL RESULTS OF THE BATTLE SKETCH OP GENERAL LYON — HIS RARE MERITS GENERAL FREMONT MADE COMMANDANT OF THE DEPART- MENT OF MISSOURI — HIS POLICY AND MEASURES — HIS ANTI-SLAVERY PROCLAMATION IT IS MODIFIED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN THE WAR AGAINST SECESSION NOT A WAR AGAINST SLAVERY. Immediately after the battle of Manassas, the Federal Government was busily employed in making every possible preparation to defend Washington against an apprehended attack from the Rebel forces. The .loyal States were called upon to send large masses of troops without delay to the Federal Capital. This requisition was speedily and heartily complied with ; and in the course of a few weeks, as we have stated, several hundred thousand armed men rallied around the seat of govern- ment. At the same time, various other measures, re- quired by the peculiar exigencies of the occasion, were adopted. General McClellan was summoned from West- ern Virginia to Washington ; other of&cers of merit, includ- ing Fremont, Wool, Banks and Lyon, were promoted to positions of importance ; and soon the Administration of Mr. Lincoln which seemed by one deadly blow to have 204 A HISTORY OF been brougtit to the very verge of ruin, presented to tlie enemy a front much more formidable and defiant than that which it had exhibited before the battle of Manassas. No military operations of any importance were destined to occur in that vicinity for several months ; but hostili- ties were carried on with great vigor in the southwestern department of the Republic. We have already described the process by which the State of Missouri became the scene of conflict between two hostile parties which had arisen within its borders ; and how its inhabitants had become much divided on the subject of their allegiance to the Union. The first important conflict which occurred between them, took place at Carthage, on the 5th of July, 1861, where eight thousand Missouri Eebels, commanded by the pseudo- Governor Jackson, attacked two thousand Federal troops, under Colonel Sigel. The battle was a desperate one. Notwithstanding the immense advantage of numbers on the Rebel side, their loss was very heavy, and the general issue of the day was adverse to them. This result was chiefly due to the superior skill with which Colonel Sigel served and directed his artillery. General Lyon, who commanded another Federal force in the State, was ninety miles distant from Carthage at the period of the battle, amd was therefore unable to effect a junction with Sigel. Nowhere, in any portion of the Union, had the ruinous effects of civil war been as terrible as within the limits of Missouri ; for at this time, throughout a large portion of the State, especially to the south of the Missouri river, solitude and desolation reigned throughout the country. Nearly all the houses and plantations had been deserted by their inhabitants. Wheat, corn, and the various products of the earth, rotted unharvested. In other portions of the State the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 205 dominion of terror prevailed, and there was no protection for life or property to the citizen or the stranger. As soon as General Lyon received the details of the battle of Carthage, he fell back with the troops under his command to Springfield. He had been informed that a powerful Rebel force under McCulloch and Price were advancing upon him by several different routes. He expected an immediate attack, inasmuch as he was as- sured that their commissariat was in a miserable condi- tion, and they would be compelled at once literally either to fight or to starve. General Lyon was well aware of the critical nature' of his position. The Rebel force had swelled to an immense multitude of desperate, disorderly, and sanguinary adventurers, twenty thousand in number, whose attack, though irregular, would still be energetic and destructive. His own troops did not then exceed five thousand men ; but they were well fed and clothed, and provided with a powerful battery of artillery. His army had been increased to that number by the junction of the force under Colonel Sigel; and he made every preparation which an able and skillful commander could possibly employ, to confront and overpower the danger which impended over him. The battle of Springfield, which soon ensued, was one of the most bloody and desperate which had occurred during the pri)gress of the war; and the conduct of General Lyon, on this occa- sion, covered his name and his memory with enduring renown. It was on the seventh of August that the Rebel force under McCulloch and Price reached a position twelve miles distant from Springfield. The inhabitants of that town at once became panic-stricken at the proximity of the foe ; and earnest api)cals were made to General Lyon to induce him to withdraw his troops from the place, and 206 A HISTOET OF not to subject it, by his presence, to the horrors of an attack. Many of his ofl&cers, discouraged by the im- mense superiority in numbers which the enemy possessed, regarded the risking of a battle as the height of impru- dence ; and asserted that it would lead to inevitable defeat. A council of war was called, and a majority were in favor of retreating at once toward Eolla. But General Sweeney earnestly opposed the measure, and General Lyon coincided with his bolder counsel. The considerations which induced the commander to risk a battle were the following : It was very true, indeed, that his numbers were greatly inferior to those of the enemy. He had repeat- edly besought the Federal Government to reinforce him ; and had set forth with clearness and power, the reasons which rendered such a course imperative. But the Government was either unable or unwilling to comply and he was left to his fate. But it was also evident that a retreat from Springfield would, at that critical moment, be highly pernicious to the cause of the Union in Mis souri, and might produce the most disastrous effects Thousands would thenceforth regard the Eebels as irre sistible, and identify themselves with their side. A defeat even would be preferable after a battle, than a flight without a conflict. But, like a brave and gallant officer, Lyon anticipated a victory even against over whelming odds ; and he resolved to try the issue of a desperate and deadly conflict. His first plan was to make a night attack on the foe ; but his arrangements could not be completed until several hours after the appointed time. He then determined to postpone the engagement until the next day. This was Saturday, August 10th, 1861. At eight o'clock on the preceding evening Colonel THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 207 Sigel was ordered to march with his command, with that of Colonel Solomon, in a southward direction from Springfield; to pass around the camp of the enemy un- observed ; to take a position in their rear, and when he heard the guns of Lyon's division in the front, to com- mence an attack on the Eebels. Sigel accomplished this journey by two o'clock on Saturday morning. He had taken six cannon with him. General Lyon advanced from Springfield with all the troops under his command during Friday night, and reached the position of the enemy, nine miles south of that town, at four o'clock in the morning. He then halted until the hour of attack arrived. At six o'clock the action commenced. The Eebels were posted in an advantageous position. Their camp had been placed at the northern end of a verdant vale ; but their troops were drawn out to meet the Federals upon the hills which intervened between them and their camp. The pickets of the latter were first driven in. Then Captain Wright, with four companies of mounted Home Guards, skirmished with a small body of horsemen who' had taken a position in advance on the left. These were the mere lures of an ambuscade ; and, by retiring, they endeavored to draw the Federal detach- ments into a position of danger. The artifice partly succeeded ; for three thousand Eebels rushed upon the Federals, and by superiority of numbers, compelled them CO give way. By this time the Federal troops on the other extremity of the line had engaged the enemy. The first Missouri regiment, the battalion of Osterhaus, and the battery of Totten, were advantageously posted on an eminence ; and they commenced a vigorous attack upon the Eebel host arrayed against them. Soon the latter broke, and fled in confusioQ, until they reached the summit of another 208 A HISTORY OF hill in the rear. The Federals pursued, but in their advance they encountered a fresh regiment of Louisiana troops. A desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued between them. This lasted about forty-five minutes. The Eebels were again routed ; and as they retired, were pursued till the victors reached the brow of a third eminence. There they encountered another fresh detachment of the enemy, and another desperate contest followed, more furious and deadly than had yet occurred. The contest here was also protracted, and the combatants struggled inch by inch for the possession of the field. The fire of the Rebels was very destructive, and the result was for a time doubtful. Fresh Iowa and Kansas troops were ordered forward to support those already engaged, and were assailed by treble their own numbers. Captain Gratz was slain while gallantly leading forward his men. Lieutenant Brown was disabled by a severe scalp wound, and was carried to the rear. The slaughter on both sides was fearful. The powerful batteries of Totten and Dubois, which were admirably served, mowed down the serried ranks of the enemy like frost work, and covered the ground with heaps of the wounded and the slain. But the vast numbers of the Rebels enabled them to repair their losses with new detachments, and to hurl back the tide of death upon their assailants. Thus the action became general between both armies along the whole line. The chief brunt of the battle had been borne by the Missouri, the Iowa and the Kansas regiments. General Lyon had superintended all the operations of the Federal troops. He rode fearlessly from regiment to regiment, encouraging the men, and giving the necessary orders. He had received two wounds, which, though painful, were not dangerous. Still he rode from rank to rank, inspired with a heroism THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. . 209 which, by voice and gesture, he endeavored to communi- cate to his men. He well knew the mighty and over- whelming odds against which he and they contended; and when he saw unusual acts of steadiness and bravery, he cheered the actors with almost boyish ardor. He had feared, before the battle began, that the first Iowa regi- ment, under Colonel Merritt, would not prove staunch when made to confront the foe. When, however, he saw them pass into action under a heavy fire with the utmost firmness ; assault the enemy with the vigor and energy of veterans ; compel the successive masses of fresh troops which the Eebels brought forward to recoil ; relieve the first Missouri regiment which, after two hours of fight- ing, were nearly exhausted and were about giving way, and thus recover the advantage over the exultant foe ; when General Lyon observed all this he cheered the Iowa regiment heartily, and expressed his admiration of them with the utmost enthusiasm. At length that heroic commander resolved to make a still more vigorous and combined effort to overpower the Eebel host and secure the victory. He gave the order to prepare to make a general bayonet charge. When all was ready and the troops were about to advance, it was discovered that the commanding officer of the lowas was missing. No time was to be lost, and General Lyon exclaimed: "Come on, brave men! I will lead you!" At the head of the gallant lowas he rode forward toward the enemy, whose inexhaustible numbers still swelled up toward them like the tumultuous tides of an endless and fathomless sea. The charge was made, the enemy wavered and fled after a terrific collision ; but General Lyon, during the struggle, was slain. He received a ball in the side, fell from his horse, and immediately expired. About the same moment General Sweeney was U I 210 A HISTORY OF •wounded in the leg and disabled. The command then devolved upon Major Sturgis. The partial retreat of the enemy now caused an interval of twenty minutes in the firing, after which they made a fresh assault. That assault was their most desperate one, but it was their last. The field was already covered with bleeding and mangled multitudes of their dead and wounded. Their immense hordes had been greatly thinned by the heroic and desperate valor of the Federal troops ; but the fire of Totten's battery, with the general energy and bravery of our men, again shattered and broke their columns, and again they fled. It was now eleven o'clock, and during five hours the battle had raged. Before retiring the enemy set fire to thirty or forty wagons, lest they might fall into the hands of the victors. At this time, though the Federal troops had gained a decisive victory, they were unable to continue the con- test or to make a pursuit. The reason was because the ammunition of Totten's battery had become exhausted, and because the death and wounds of so many officers on the Federal side diminished their confidence and vigor. Moreover, it had been ascertained that the troops under Sigel had been unfortunate, and had not effectually carried out their portion of the programme. As soon as that officer heard the guns of Lyon in the front of the enemy, he approached the scene of conflict and com- menced an attack. But he was met and overwhelmed by so vast a body of Rebel troops that, after a brief but vigorous contest, he was defeated, and compelled to give way. He lost five of his guns and many of his men, and effected nothing in favor of the Federal troops who were operating in front. He succeeded afterward in making his escape with the larger portion of his command. After the conclusion of the battle the whole of the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 211 Federal array retired in good order to Springfield, and still later to Eolla, under the skillful guidance of Colonel Sigel ; tlie defeated foe making no effort to pursue them. The loss of the Federal troops was considerable, being about two hundred killed and seven hundred wounded. Thej took four hundred horses and seventy , prisoners. The loss of the enemy was much greater than our own, though the precise number is unknown to us. The battle-field was covered with gory heaps of their dead and wounded. Their vast superiority in numbers, and their formidable batteries of twenty-one guns, were the sole causes that they maintained the contest so long, and the reason why their defeat was not still more disastrous. The praise of superior bravery, steadiness and skill, be- longed to the little band of heroes who, on this bloody day, fought for the honor and supremacy of the immortal Stars and Stripes. Many of them now sleep in a soldier's grave ; but the noblest and bravest of them all was he who commanded them, and led them to victory. The war for the Union has not failed to develop in- stances of the most exalted patriotism and valor, which will forever elicit the grateful pride and enthusiasm of every lover of his country^ One of the most remarkable of those who have challenged the close and admiring scrutiny of mankind was the conqueror ©f the Eebel hordes at Springfield. General Nathaniel Lyon was one of the genuine heroes of this stormy and disastrous time. There was no hypocritical sham, no false or arrogant pretence, no mean or selfish impulse about him His character realized, with rare completeness and clear- ness, Carlyle's definition of what constitutes a genuine hero. Said that profound thinker, in his fourth lecture on neroes and Hero worship : " We have repeatedly endeavored to explain that all sorts of heroes are intrinsi- 212 A HISTORY OF cally of the same material; that, given a great soul open to the divine significance of lifC; then there is given a man fit to speak of this, to sing of this, to fight and work for this, in a great, victorious, enduring manner ; there is given a hero, the outward shape of whom will depend on the time and the environment he finds himself in."* Every characteristic of General Lyon, and every act which he performed, indicated the presence and power of such a heroic soul within him. Nathaniel Lyon was born at Ashford, Connecticut, in the year 1819. He was well descended ; and his ances- tors on his mother's side distinguished themselves in the Eevolutionary War. One of those ancestors was the famous Colonel Knowlton, who commanded the Connec- ticut troops at the " Old Eail Fence," on the left wing of the patriot army at Bunker Hill. He was afterward killed at the battle on Harlem Heights, near New York. The future hero of Springfield gave indications of superior talent at an early age ; but the tendency of his mind was toward mathematical studies and mechanical contrivances. Having chosen the military profession, he entered the Academy at West Point. He graduated with honor in 1841, entered the regular service, rapidly rose to the rank of captain, and distinguished himself in the Mexican war. He displayed superior skill and bravery at Vera Cruz, Contreras, Cherubusco, and was wounded while fighting near the Belam Gate, in the city of Mexico. After the termination of the war he was engaged in active service in Missouri and California. His reputation stood high in both of those States. When the war of Secession began, he was chosen by the Mis- souri volunteers as their brigadier general. During the * Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History, by Thomas Carlyle, page 133. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 213 course of his adventurous life he had been familiar with the most difficult and dangerous kinds of service in Texas, Oregon, Kansas, and along the whole border of the western and southwestern territory of the United States. He was, therefore, particularly adapted to com- mand the Federal troops in Missouri ; and his courage- ous spirit found a congenial theatre for the exercise and display of its peculiar attributes amid the tumultu- ous camps, the desolate wastes, and all the semi- barbarous scenes connected with warfare in the outskirts of civilization. He was remarkable for his patriotic devotion to his country, and for the eagerness with which he sprang forward to her defence on every occasion of danger. To her he gave his best services, and his life. To her it may with truth be said, he devoted his all, for even his property he devised by his will to the cause of the Union. Being unmarried, and without domestic dependents, he felt at liberty to devote his wealth to that object which, above all others, he loved best ; and, like his immortal ancestors of the revolution, he consecrated to his country his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. The deeds and fame of such a man present a rare and grateful theme of contemplation. "When he marched against the enemy at Springfield he well knew, that the immense superiority of numbers on the side of the Rebels would inevitably entail a heavy loss upon his troops, and that his life would probably be the forfeit of his bold- ness. But he also felt that the cause of the Union demanded an heroic venture ; he willingly made it ; and he met a soldier's death on the field of honor and of victory. The Federal Government discovered the necessity, at an early stage of the Eebellion, of forming a military department in Missouri, of which St. Louis should be the — __ —, 214: A HISTORY OF capital and the centre ; and of placing it under tlie com- mand of an officer of ability, experience and patriotism. The person selected to fill this post was General John 0. Fremont, who had already distinguished himself in the annals of American conquest and exploration. When the Eebellion commenced, his services were demanded by the Government, and were rendered with the utmost promptitude. After his removal to St. Louis he was laboriously engaged in the performance of the duties of his office ; in fortifying that city ; in organizing the de- partment ; in raising an army ; and in preparing to defend the Union against the attacks of its foes in Missouri, In this station he was annoyed, and perhaps impeded, by the hostility of Colonel Frank P. Blair; who entertained the opinion that General Fremont did not exhibit the energy and capacity which the crisis demanded. In this judgment, however, the administration at Washington did not, for a long time, concur, and Fremont retained his difficult and responsible position. His most important and noteworthy act was the issu- ing of a proclamation, by which he endeavored to strike a powerful and deadly blow at the institution of slavery. In that proclamation he proclaimed, by virtue of the authority vested in him, that " the property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use ; and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared freemen^ This decisive step was hailed by the Abolitionists throughout the country with enthusiasm and exultation. They affirmed that now, at length, the axe had been laid to the root of the tree ; that the only true policy was therein indicated ; that all men would now THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 215 be convinced that this was pre-eminently a war against slavery ; and that in proportion as the cause of the Union triumphed, it would, in that same degree, overturn the peculiar and execrable institution of the Rebel States. But the more conservative people of the North and the West regarded this proclamation of Fremont with very different feelings. To them it appeared like a dangerous and illegal, though well-meant, exercise of power ; as subserviency to a fanatical faction, which, as they thought, had always been the bane and curse of the na- tion ; and as an attempt to assert a false theory, to the effect that the war against the Rebels was in substance and chiefly a crusade against slavery. The latter opinion was the one entertained in reference to the matter by the administration at Washington ; and accordingly, Mr. Lincoln immediately addressed a letter to General Fremont, directing him so to modify his pro- clamation as to make it correspond with the provisions of the act of Congress which appertained to the subject, and which had been passed during the late extra session. That act expressly provided that whenever slaves should be required or permitted by their masters and owners, to take up arms against the United States, or to assist the Rebellion in any manner whatever, in such cases only the said slaves shall become free, and, their former owners shall forfeit all their right, title and interest in them. This modification of General Fremont's decree was very essential and material. It effectually contra- dicted the erroneous assertion that this was a war against slavery, as such ; and it thereby disarmed the Rebels of one of the most potent levers with which they controlled public sentiment and intensified popular prejudice at the South. Nor could any more efficient expedient have been employed to render the war unpopular even 216 A HISTORY OF throughout the "Free States, than to diffuse abroad this delusion, that the war was in reality a mere crusade against slavery. On the contrary, it must be regarded by every intelligent and impartial observer, as simply an attempt to restore and to perpetuate the dissevered Union. Whatever lawful agencies would assist in ac- complishing that beneficent result, were employed. As a war to preserve the Union it received the hearty support of the nation ; but as an Abolition war, strictly speaking, it would have been rejected and discounte- nanced by a large proportion of those very men, whose blood and treasure were most lavishly expended in its prosecution. 1 THE SOUTHEKN REBELLION. 217 CHAPTEE XIII. THE FEDERAL EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE REBEL FORTS AT HATTERAS — THE FORCES APPROPRIATED TO THIS ENTERPRISE IMPORTANCE OF HATTERAS AND ITS POSSESSION SAILING OF THE EXPEDITION THE BOMBARDMENT THE SURRENDER OF THE FORTS — COMMODORE BARRON COMMODORE STRINGHAM SKETCH OF HIS CAREER RESULTS OF THE . VICTORY AT HATTERAS OPERATIONS OF ROSECRANZ IN WESTERN VIRGINIA — BATTLE AT CARNIFEX FERRY DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF FLOYD RESULTS OP THE VICTORY EVENTS IN MISSOURI — COLONEL mulligan's FORCES AT LEXINGTON HE IS ATTACKED BY GENERAL PRICE — INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON SURRENDER OP COLONEL MULLIGAN — SKETCH OF HIS CAREER BATTLE AT BOLIVAR SKETCH OF ITS HERO, COLONEL GEARY — THE BATTLE OF BALLS BLUFF GENERAL STONE — APPREHENSIONS OF COLONEL BAKER INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT DEFEAT AND ROUT OP THE FEDERAL TROOPS DEATH OF COLONEL BAKER NATIONAL SORROW AT HT^ FATE — SKETCH OF HIS REMARKABLE CAREER RESULTS OP THE DISASTER AT BALLS BLUFF. In the great and perilous game of war success fre- quently alternates from side to side, and he who exults over the laurels of victory to-day, to-morrow may be overwhelmed by the mortification and. calamities of defeat. The war against the Southern Rebellion was no exception to this rule: the disaster of Bull Run was quickly followed by the triumph of the Federal arms at Hatteras. The Federal Government had contemplated for some time an armed descent upon the coast of North Carolina, and had been quietly making preparations for such a movement. A combined land and naval force was placed under the orders of Commodore Stringham and General 218 A HISTORY OF Butler. The former commanded the Atlantic blockading o .•squadron, the latter a portion of the troops at Fortress Monroe. The fleet Avhich transported the expedition comprised the flag-ship Minnesota, the Adelaide, the George Peabody, the Pawnee, the Susquehanna, the Wabash, the Cumberland, the Harriet Lane, and the Fanny, — vessels of different sizes and armaments. About a thousand land troops were placed under the orders of General Butler ; a smaller naval force served under the Commodore. The special object of the expedition was the capture of the forts which had been erected on Cape Hatteras. This position was one of great importance to the enemy. It was the chief defense of the coast of North Carolina. The principal fort was of considerable strength, contain- ing ten heavy guns in position, with five unmounted. The works were nearly surrounded by water, the only approach on the land side being through a marsh five hundred ya]:;^s wide. One of the forts contained a bomb-proof capable of protecting four hundred men. Its form was octagonal, and it covered nearly an acre of ground. Both forts were abundantly provided with ammunition and provisions, and were occupied by a large body of troops. The place was the key of the Albe- marle, and was second in importance only to Fortress Monroe, on the Atlantic coast, as a depot for furnishing supplies to a blockading squadron, as a harbor for the coasting trade, and as a retreat either from stress of weather, or from the pursuit of pirates. It was an ad-' vantageous position, from which expeditions could start forth along the shore of Carolina to Bogue Inlet, to Newbern, and to Beaufort. The fleet sailed from Fortress Monroe on Monday, August 26th, and arrived off Hatteras Inlet on Tuesday THE SOUTHERIf REBELLION. 219 afternoon. Preparations were immediately made to dis- embark the troops, and early the next morning the process began. But a stiff gale blew from the south- west, and a heavy surf was breaking and rolling upon the beach. This rendered the task a difficult and dangerous one ; so that when three hundred and fifteen men had been landed, the iron boats were swamped and the flat boats were stove. This disaster put an end to the landing. An effort was subsequently made by Lieu- tenant Crosby to reach the shore in a boat from the war steamer Pawnee. But the boat was beached in the attempt, so that she could not be got off. The wind then rose higher, and the sea became still rougher, so that all further attempts to convey the troops on shore were abandoned. During this interval the ships of war had hauled in, and commenced to cannonade the forts. Only one of these responded to our guns. Immediately afterward a white flag was run up on the forts, which the Federal commanders interpreted as a signal of surrender. Gene- ral Butler then ordered the Harriet Lane to attempt to cross the bar and enter the smooth water, accompanied by the Monticello; and the Susquehanna towed the Cumberland to an offing, for the purpose of completing the capitulation. But the enemy either practiced an act of perfidy, or had changed their purpose, for on the approach of these vessels they renewed their fire, and several shots struck the Monticello. The fleet immedi- ately recommenced the bombardment and continued it with spirit. The troops on shore then advanced to attack the forts. They found the smaller one deserted, and they took possession of it. Night fell, and the attack was necessarily suspended. Part of the Federal 220 A HISTOEY OF troops on store occupied the forts; the remainder bivouacked on the beach near the place of landing. At eight o'clock on the eosuing morning the fleet resumed the attack. The Harriet Lane ran in to the shore for the purpose of protecting the troops on land. In this movement a large steamer was observed moving down the sound. It was the Winslow, and contained reinforcements for the enemy. But they were prevented from accomplishing their purpose by the vigilance of Captain Johnson, who opened a fire upon the Eebel steamer with several guns from a sand battery on the shoi^e. The vessel then returned up the channel, leaving the forts to their fate. The cannonading from the ships now became heavy, and did great execution. An attempt was made to land an additional number of troops. Before this purpose could be accomplished, a white flag was again run up from the remaining fort. A signal was made to the ships to cease firing. General Butler sent an ofl&cer on shore to ascertain the meaning of the flag. That ofl&cer proceeded to the fort, and was received by Commodore Barron, the commander of the Eebel forces. He authorized Lieutenant Crosby to com- municate to the Federal ofl&cers the fact that he had six hundred and fifteen men in the fort, but was anxious to spare the effusion of blood ; and would consequently surrender the fort, arms and munitions of war, provided the ofiicers were permitted to retire with their side arms, and the men without arms. To this proposition Greneral Butler replied that it was wholly inadmissible ; . and that the only terms which could be accepted were an un conditional surrender of officers and men, who were to be treated as prisoners of war. On receiving these conditions, Commodore Barron summoned a council of war, and submitted the matter to THE SOUTHERN" BEBELLION. 221 their consideration. Each of these heroes advised an immediate surrender. It was at this moment that several vessels of the Federal fleet had gotten into a perilous position, of which the Rebels might with ordi- nary energy and vigilance have taken decisive advantage. The Adelaide, in carrying the troops to the shore, ran aground. The Harriet Lane, in attempting to enter the bar, met the same fate. Both vessels were within full range of the guns of the fort, and both might have been s.eriously disabled and damaged. But they failed to take advantage of the opportunity. General Butler now informed the Rebel commodore that if the terms were accepted, the articles of capitulation must be signed on board the flag ship Minnesota. At length, after the deliberation of an hour, the terms were accepted by the enemy, and Commodore Barron, Major Andrews and Colonel Martin, proceeded to that .vessel and formally surrendered the forts to the United States ; the parties stipulating that the officers and men should receive the treatment due to prisoners of war. The instrument was duly signed and sealed, by Messrs. Stringhan and Butler for the United States, and by Messrs. Barron, Martin and AndreATO, for the Confederate States. Immediately afterward General Butler landed, took formal possession of the forts and munitions of war, inspected the troops and their arms, marched them out, embarked them on -board the Adelaide, manned the fort with his own troops, hoisted the stars and stripes, and saluted them with the very guns which had been shotted by the captive enemy. On the following day the Rebel troops were transferred to the Minnesota, which sailed for New York. A large number of Rebels had been killed and wounded during o the bombardment, though the exact amount of their loss was carefully concealed. They reported fifteen killed 222 A HISTORY OF and thirty-five wounded. During the attack all the war vessels of the fleet took part, and the cannonading was at certain periods very heavy. The capture of these forts was an event of decisive importance. They had become a pernicious and piratical nest, which seriously injured the commerce of the United States, and their possession was an achievement greatly to be desired. It astonished and terrified the Rebel States excessively, and was with justice regarded by them as a heavy calamity. The chief praise of this success is justly due to Com- modore Striagham, the commander of the fleet. This officer occupies a distinguished place in the American navy. He is a native of Orange county, New York, and entered the service as a midshipman in 1809. Twenty- two years of his life have been passed at sea. He rose gradually from rank to rank, and successively com- manded the Falmouth of the East India squadron, the John Adams of the Mediterranean squadron, the Inde- pendence of the Home squadron, the Ohio of the Brazil squadron, and other vessels. He has also been the com- mandant of the Brooklyn, the Norfolk and the Charles- town Navy Yards, When the administration of Mr. Lincoln determined on the blockade of the southern ports, he was summoned to "Washington, and ordered to take command of the blockading squadron whose opera- tions lay between Cape Charles, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on the north, as far as Key West on the south. A large fleet containing twenty-five vessels, manned by three thousand five hundred sailors and marines, was placed under his command. His first expe- dition proved eminently successful. The part performed in it by General Butler, the commander of the land forces, though commendable, was of secondary import- ance to that achieved by the gallant commodore. The THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 223 official reports of the expedition, however, were chiefly drawn up by General Butler. After the removal of General McClellan to Washing- ton, the command of the Federal troops in "Western Virginia was conferred on Brigadier General William S. Eosecrans, who had already distinguished himself in the events which had transpired in that portion of the Union. This officer, a native of Ohio, was born about 1821, and entered the Academy of West Point in 1888. He graduated in 184:2, and received an appointment as Second Lieutenant of Engineers. For a year afterward he officiated as Assistant Professor of Ens^ineerinsr at West Point, subsequently of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, and again of engineering, till 1847. In 1853 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. In 1854 he resigned his functions in that institution, entered civil life, and commenced manufacturing operations in Ohio. Immediately after the opening of the war he tendered his services to the Federal Government. They were accepted, and he was assigned a position under General McClellan in Western Virginia. His ability in this new position justified the confidence which had been reposed in him. Immediately after receiving the supreme command of the Federal forces in Virginia, Rosecrans ^commenced to augment and strengthen them. A large Rebel army under Floyd was now approaching him, and at length, on Tuesday, September 10th, an engagement took place between them at Carnifex Ferry, on the Gauley river. The battle was the most important and severe which had yet been fought in Western Virginia. The Rebels were well entrenched. They had six regiments of troops and a large number of artillery. The Federal forces reached the fortified position of the enemy after a march of 224 A HISTORY OF eighteen miles. Their pickets were driven in and an attack immediately commenced. The battle began at half-past three o'clock, and continued four hours. The entrenchments of Floyd were erected on the west side of the Gauley river, and were so surrounded by dense forests as to be almost hidden from view. The tenth Ohio regiment were ordered by General Eosecrans to commence the attack, they being in the advance. The thirteenth Ohio followed, together with the twelfth. The Eebels received the assault with spirit, and a hot fire was poured upon the Federal troops from cannon and all sorts of small arras. McMullen's howit- zer battery and Snyder's two field pieces responded with much effect. Their sharpshooters succeeded in picking off some of the Federal officers. Colonel Lowe was killed. Colonel Lyttle was wounded. But the fire of the Eebels grew feebler as night approached. Eosecrans then drew off' his men, and they lay upon their arms in front of the enemy's works during the night, ready to resume the attack with the ensuing dawn. But Floyd fled during the darkness. He eflected his escape by the ford and a bridge over the Gauley, in his rear. It is evident that his retreat was precipitate, for he left behind him his camp equipage, much of his ammunition and stores, several colors, and a large number of cattle. Eosecrans then took possession of the vacated entrench- ments ; but he thought it prudent not to pursue the retreating enemy, who was probably hastening to unite his forces with those of Henry A. Wise. The Federal loss was twenty killed and one hundred wounded. By this decisive action, which the flight of the foe prevented from being still more disastrous to his arm^, that part of Western Virginia was released from the presence and supremacy of the Eebel troops. The extremely rugged THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 225 nature of the country through which Floyd retreated, composed of deep ravines and rugged mountains, rendered the pursuit of him not only difficult, but scarcely remunera- tive to the victors. The latter were all Ohio troops, and they exhibited unusual coolness and fortitude during the engagement, and when surrounded by a deluge of shot and shell. The great battle of Springfield was indecisive in its results, and'Missouri still remained the abode of a divided and hostile population, and the destined theatre of future warlike and bloody events. In the early portion of September a powerful Eebel force was collected by General Sterling Price, and with these he commenced a march toward Lexington. That city had been occupied and fortified by Colonel Mulligan, with a number of Federal troops ; although, as seemed to be generally the case with the Federal commanders in the southwest, they were inferior in numbers to the armaments brought against them. Colonel Mulligan had fortified Lexington by heavy earthworks ten feet in height, and by a ditch twelve feet in width. The number of troops under his command was about three thousand ; that of General Price was about fifteen thousand. On Thursday, September 12th, Gene- ral Price reached the scene of conflict, and immediately commenced operations by driving in the Federal pickets. Mulligan ordered out four companies to confront the advanced guard of the enemy. These were about five thousand in number. The Federal troops attacked them with spirit, killing a large number, but were com- pelled to retire within the entrenchments. Price followed with six guns, and commenced to fire upon the college building in which the ammunition and provisions of Mulligan were stored. This attack commenced at three 15 226 A HISTORY OF o'clock in the afternoon, and continued till nightfall. Mulligan responded with his five guns with effect. He silenced one of the cannon of the Eebels, knocking it to pieces, and killed about seventy-five men. But when his firing ceased all his ammunition had been ex- pended. The engagement on the 12th was adverse to the enemy ; they had lost a greater number in killed and wounded than their opponents, and had accomplished nothing. They did not renew the attack on the ensuing day. It was not until the morning of the 17th that the Rebels were prepared to recommence the conflict. During this interval they had received reinforcements, and were now able to surround the city completely, and cut off all access to the river. At eight o'clock a signal gun from General Price's head-quarters announced the opening of the battle. His numerous artillery poured upon the Federal troops and entrenchments a tremen- dous shower of shot and shell, to which Mulligan replied with his guns, as well as his limited means permitted. Tho battle lasted from the 17th to the 20th. During the first two days the Rebels accomplished nothing, and advanced no nearer the entrenchments than they had been at first. On the 19th they commenced to erect breastworks of hemp bales, from behind which they continued to fire, and which, from time to time, they rolled nearer to the position of the Federals. About three o'clock on that day the enemy made a charge, and flouted their colors upon the summit of the Federal breastworks. Mulligan ordered the Irish brigade, who were posted on the oppo- site side of the works, to leave their position and retake the entrenchments of which the enemy had gained pos- session. This order was obeyed with the utmost alacrity; and, as seems to be the invariable fact during this war THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 227 in every case in which the Irish have been brought into action, they charged with such impetuosity and heroism as to completely overpower the enemy. They regained possession of the entrenchments, killed and wounded about three hundred, and captured their colors. Colonel Mulligan, who led the charge in person, was wounded, and his clothes were perforated by six balls. This decisive repulse put an end to the operations of that day. On the 20th the enemy recommenced the battle. During this day they made several desperate charges upon the works, and were as frequently repulsed with great slaughter. Still, the losses on the Federal side were heavy; and although Colonel Mulligan and his men fought with the utmost heroism, there were causes which rendered their ultimate defeat inevitable. During this day they exploded six mines successively, under the advancing Eebel forces, destroying them by hundreds. At length, at four o'clock, it became impossible to con- tinue the contest any longer. Colonel Mulligan and his men had been destitute of water for several days ; all their ammunition was expended ; and one half of their .cannon had been silent for some time, for want of balls. During the progress of the entire attack the Federal troops had been casting their own round shot at a foundry within the city, and even that resource had at last been exhausted. Retreat by the river had been cut off by the Rebels who swarmed upon the shores, and took possession of all the boats. The surrender was therefore unavoidable, though a decisive moral yictory had been achieved by the dauntless heroism displayed by the Federal troops. It was computed that, before the end of the contest, the number of men who had collected under the Rebel banners at Lexington amounted to twenty-five 228 A HISTOET OF tliousand. They had sixteen cannon, and were pro- vided with ammunition in abundance. Their loss was heavy, not less than a thousand in killed and wounded. The loss of the Federals was about one hundred killed and three hundred wounded. So deeply was the Eebel commander impressed with the bravery of Colonel Mulligan and his troops, that, at the surrender, he refused to accept the colonel's sword ; declaring with a magnanimity worthy of a better cause, that he was too brave an officer to be deprived of his arms, and well deserved to keep them. Colonel Mulligan and his troops became prisoners of war. Colonel James A. Mulligan, whose heroism thus stamped his name indelibly upon the annals of this contest, was born in Utica, New York, in 1829. His parents were natives of Ireland. He was educated at the Catholic College of Chicago. In that city he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1857 he accepted a clerkship in the Department of the Interior at Washing- ton. After spending a year in the Federal Capital, he returned to Chicago, and was elected captain of the Shields' Guards. When the war broke out he entered zealously into the contest, and proceeded to Washington, with a letter, penned by Senator Douglas on his death- bed, commending him to the confidence of the Adminis- tration. He had been elected colonel of the Irish regiment, whose services the Government at once ac- cepted. The rest of his public history is summed up in the heroic struggle of which Lexington was the memora- ble scene. It is a remarkable circumstance, which must have attracted the attention of every intelligent observer of the war against Secession, that the arena of the conflict was one of unusually vast and extensive circuit. It THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 229 spread over thousands of miles ; and at one and the same moment events of vital importance occurred at the most remote and distant points. In this respect few parallels are presented to it in the annals of modern warfare. From the shores of the Missouri river we return to the shores of the Potomac ; from the entrenchments of Lexington to the rugged heights near Harper's Ferry ; from the achievements of Mulligan to those of r Geary. On the 16th of October a battle occurred at Bolivar, between several Eebel regiments from Mississippi and Alabama, and several regiments of Federal troops, com- manded by Colonel Geary. Three thousand Eebels took a position on Bolivar Heights, and challenged their opponents to an engagement. The challenge was ac- cepted ; they were soon driven from their position ; and one of their heavy guns was captured. Their loss in killed and wounded was considerable. During this action Colonel Geary and his men exhibited much cool- ness and gallantry. This officer had already attained a name of some distinction in the annals of his country ; and his daring spirit and superior abilities seemed destined to conduct him to still greater eminence. He figured with credit in the Mexican war, and was promoted for his meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo and the city of Mexico. In 1848 he took up his residence in San Francisco, and was chosen the first Mayor of that city. In July, 1856, he was appointed Governor of Kansas by Mr. Buchanan; and he continued to act as the chief magistrate of the Territory until March, 1857. He then retired to private life until the commencement of the war, when his services were tendered to the Government and accepted. After his removal with his regiment to "Point of Eocks," he exhibited superior vigilance, activity and ability, in the performance of his military duties. "I 230 A HISTORY OF At a later period his merits were justly rewarded, by his promotion to the rank of brigadier general. On the 21st of October a portion of the Federal army of the Potomac, which had already spent a considerable period of time in apparent inactivity, was put into motion ; but with so little skill as to lead to the most disastrous results. The division uader General Stone had been posted between Washington and Harper's Ferry. That officer commanded Colonel Baker of the California regiment, to cross the river opposite Leesburg, and obtain possession of the Virginia shore, so that the remainder of his division and that of General Banks, might afterward pass over unmolested by the enemy. This order was to be executed by a body of eighteen hundred men, consisting of portions of the California regiment, of the Massachusetts fifteenth, and of the New York Tamany regiment. "When Colonel Baker received the order to make this movement, he expressed his surprise at it, and intimated that, under the circumstances, it was equivalent to his own death warrant and a disaster to the Federal arms. Nevertheless he prepared instantly to obey it. Never was an important military operation attempted under more unpropitious circumstances. General Stone had provided no proper means for transporting the troops; and what was more portentous still, he had neglected to furnish any facilities for escape across the river, should his forces be compelled to retreat. Three miserable scows were procured to convey the Federal troops to the Virginia side. Scarcely had they reached the opposite shore, about nine o'clock in the morning of the 21st, when they were attacked by the Eebels with an over- whelming superiority of numbers. Notwithstanding this disadvantage the Federal troops fought with the utmost THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 231 desperation ; and stood their ground with heroic firm- ness, during a large portion of the day. But in the afternoon the Eebels received heavy reinforcements, which gave them a superiority which was resistless. In vain did the bravest of men sternly confront their foes. In vain were prodigies of valor lavishly wasted. The overwhelming masses of the Eebels, led on by General Evans of South Carolina, surrounded them on all sides. Renewed assaults exhausted their failing energies. No reinforcements came, as they should have come, to the Union troops. General Stone seemed strangely to have forgotten the men whom he had ordered into the jaws of destruction. The result was that, toward the close of the day, the Rebels were victorious, in spite of the utmost fortitude on the part of the forces under Colonel Baker. The Rebels drove the latter to the brink of the steep bluft' whicb bordered the river ; and afterward, they poured their deadly fire upon the unwilling fugitives below, while they sought to flee over the stream, and beyond the reach of the guns of their assailants. The most necessary means of transport for the troops not having been provided, many perished beneath the waves. Many were slain by the sharpshooters of the Rebels, as they stood defenceless upon the shore. But before the flight began. Colonel Baker had fallen while cheering on his men to a most desperate charge. Never did a patriot and hero perish in a more noble cause, or under more glorious circumstances. While urging on his men to the unequal combat, he was pierced with five bullets. It was with difficulty that his body was rescued from the desecrating touch of the triumpliant foe. Lieutenant Colonel Wistar, an able and valuable officer, was severely wounded during the engagement, in which he had dis- tinguished himself by his coolness and his valor. The 232 A HISTORY OF broken remains of the Federal troops — the victims either of official stupidity or of official perfidy — reached the opposite banks of the Potomac in the most pitiable plight. They were destitute of every thing necessary to their comfort. With great difficulty the wreck of this brave corps made their way back to their former en- campment. The loss of Colonel Baker, who died the most heroic death which could be suffered by an officer of the army of the Union, was one of the chief incidents connected with this unfortunate expedition. The report of the death of Edward Dickinson Baker overwhelmed the community with profound sorrow; for he had gained their admiration and esteem in an eminent degree. He fully merited the popular interest which he had excited. He was in truth a remarkable man ; his life and genius were marvelous and romantic. He had been left an orphan in his youth ; and he became the sole architect of his high fame and fortune. He crossed the snowy Alleghenies on foot, at the commencement of his public career, and sought in the then remotest West, the most inviting arena for his exertions. He there devoted himself to the profession of the law, and at the bar of Springfield, Illinois, his eloquence made him the formidable and justly feared antagonist of Douglas and Lincoln. He was sent to Congress from that State in 1845, and he soon distinguished himself in the national councils. In the Mexican war, his demeanor was that of a brave and skillful soldier. At San Fran- cisco, whither his adventurous disposition afterward allured him, he took exalted rank as an orator and a statesman. Over the bleeding remains of his chivalrous friend Broderick, who was killed in a duel, he delivered one of the most magnificent and touching orations which ever fell from human lips. That oration was charac- THE SOUTHEKN EEBELLION. 233 terized by sucli overwhelming pathos, by such brilliant and gorgeous images, by such appropriate and impres- sive reflections, that it produced a profound and indeli- ble, impression upon a whole generation of readers. It created for him a national reputation. It was a master- piece, which alone would have rendered his name im- mortal. After taking his seat in the Federal Congress as Senator from Oregon, he delivered a powerful address in answer to a specious argument of Mr. Breckinridge, superior to any other which the events of the Eebellion had yet elicited. As an officer he was equally admira- ble — prudent, dauntless, patriotic. He passed away pre- maturely from the stage of action ; but his memory will live with fadeless beauty and lustre in the hearts of myriads of his admiring countrymen. In the battle of Balls Bluff the loss of the Federal troops was very heavy. It is probable that the killed, wounded, and prisoners amounted to nearly a thousand men. The circumstances under which this disaster oc- curred, added greatly to the intensity of that emotion of mingled indignation and regret, with which the nation beheld the slaughter or the captivity of so large a number of their bravest and best troops. 234: A HISTORY OF CHAPTER XIV. PECULIARITIES ON THE WAR AGAINST SECESSION FEDERAL EXPEDITION UNDER COMMODORE DUPONT AND OENERAL SHERMAN ITS DEPARTURE FROM ANNAPOLIS — ITS DESTINATION — TERRIBLE STORM NEAR CAPE HATTERAS — THE EXPEDITION REACHES PORT ROYAL REBEL FORTS ON BAY POINT AND HILTON HEAD THEIR BOMBARDMENT THEIR STRENGTH INCIDENTS OF THE ATTACK SURRENDER OF THE FORTS RESULTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT SKETCH OF ITS BERO, COMMODORE DUPONT — NAVAL DISASTER BELOW NEW ORLEANS — CAPTAIN JOHN POPE — EVENTS IN MISSOURI BOLD ACHIEVEMENT OF COLONEL ZAGONYI NEAR SPRING- FIELD THE BATTLE OF BELMONT — GENERAL U. S. GRANT — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT AT BELMONT ITS RESULTS — DISMISSAL OF GENE- RAL FREMONT FROM HIS DEPARTMENT OF THE WEST — CAUSES OF HIS REMOVAL HIS ADMIRABLE DEMEANOR ON THIS OCCASION HIS SUBSE- QUENT APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER OF THE MOUNTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE. Whoever examines with attention the operations of the Federal forces during the progress of the war against Secession, will observe that, from the nature of the case, it must become a conflict involving extensive military combinations and far-reaching strategy. The immense area of territory which was to be recovered, the numer- ous armies which were to be subdued, rendered it abso- 'lutely necessary, that various movements should be effected from different points, at nearly the same time ; that those movements should, while steadily pursuing their separate paths of victory, gradually converge tovyraxd a central position, and that, at that position, a few resistless blows should demolish the concentrated military strength of the Rebel States. This principle will furnish the key to the subsequent aggressive move- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 235 ments of tlie Federal troops wliicli occurred, and which were made as soon as the necessary preliminary prepara- tions could be effected. The Rebel States were still convulsed with that fi-antic and exaggerated exultation which usually elated them at the attainment of the least success, in consequence of their victory at Balls Bluff, when sudden terror and apprehension overtook them. The cause of this revul- sion of feeling was the departure of a powerful Federal fleet from Annapolis, for some unknown destination in the South. This armament consisted of nearly fifty vessels, including those used for transport, and was placed under the orders of Commodore Samuel F. Dupont. The expedition had been in preparation for several months, and was fitted out under the combined auspices of the Army and Navy Departments at Wash- ington. General Thomas W. Sherman commanded, the land forces which were embarked in the transports. The fleet sailed from Annapolis on the 21st of October, 1861, and proceeded to Hampton Roads near Fortress Monroe. The last necessary preparations there having been com- pleted, the vast squadron left its anchorage at early dawn on the 29th of October. A signal gun was fired from the commodore's flag ship, the Wabash, which led the way ; immediately afterward the fleet formed in line and proceeded seaward through the capes. The stately and numerous array as it sailed toward the broad bosom of the ocean, presented one of the most magnificent specta- cles which the imagination can conceive. This land and naval force was destined to invade the territory of South Carolina; and by a just but singular act of retribution, the very spot on which many of the designs of the conspirators had been originally conceived, or at a later day matui'cd, was destined to became deso- 2S6 A HISTORY OF lated bj the presence and the terror of the Federal troops ; for Beaufort, in the vicinity of Port Royal, had been the sumptuous summer retreat of some of those men, whose names will forever remain prominently connected with the annals of the Eebellion. AVhen the advancing fleet reached a position in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras, it was assailed by one of the most furious tempests which ever swept the surface of the deep. Excellent seamanship alone preserved it from destruction. In spite, however, of the utmost efforts of fortitude and skill, two transports were lost during the storm. At length, on the morning of the 7th of Novem- ber, the fleet, with the flag ship in the advance, reached the mouth of Port Royal Entrance. At that spot two Rebel fortifications frowned over the waves, and menaced the commerce of the loyal States. They were named Forts Walker and Beauregard, after the prominent Rebel chiefs. It was with some difficulty that the larger vessels of the Federal fleet could be brought over the bar, two miles in width ; but the skill of Commodore Dupont, and the determination of his troops, ultimately effected that result. Their merit in regard to this achievement was the greater, in consequence of the fiict, that all the usual aids to navigation had been removed from that vicinity by the vigilance and industry of the Rebels. At halfpast nine, on the morning of the 7th of November, the Federal ships cleared for action, were brought within range, and the bombardment of the two forts commenced. These were located on Bay Point and Hilton Head. They were strongly garrisoned, containing eighteen hundred men ; and were protected by a fleet of seven gunboats under the command of Captain Tatnal. As the Union ships approached the forts, the vessels of that officer, which might be fitly termed a diminutive THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 237 fleet, began to fire. But tliey were soon cliased, by a few Avell-directed shots, beyond the reach of the Federal guns, and were dispersed among the obscure streams leading toward Savannah. The bombardment of the forts was then continued with vigor. It had been agreed between the two Federal commanders, that the naval troops should alone be employed during the bombard- ment. The land forces therefore remained, though "unwillingly, idle spectators of the scene. The ships of war took positions six hundred yards distant from the forts, and frequently engaged the batteries on both sides at the same time. The Eebel forts had been constructed with skill, and were provided with heavy guns and abundant supplies. Their cannon responded at first to those of the Federal fleet with rapidity, but rarely with precision. They therefore produced little damage to their assailants. It soon became evident that their defense was useless, and the conquest of the works inevitable. The overwhelm- ing hailstorm of shot and shell which was poured upon the forts without intermission, and with superior ac- curacy of aim, was rapidly rendering them untenable. The large and increasing number of their killed and wounded, was convincing the Eebels that their doom was sealed. Their own guns in the forts were at length so badly served, that they frequently did more damage to their gunners than to their assailants. After a contest of four hours, the Rebels abandoned their works, and commenced a precipitate retreat. They carried their wounded and some of their dead with them. At a quarter before three o'clock, they struck their flag on Fort Walker, and before evacuating it ran up a white one. The Federal fleet, at a signal from Commodore Dupont, then ceased firing, and Captain Rodgers was 238 A HISTORY OF sent ashore to ascertain the state of aifairs. He found the fort deserted, and precisely at three o'clock, he un- furled the stars and stripes from the summit of the flag- staff. The glorious ensign was then greeted by long and enthusiastic cheers from the thousands of patriotic sailors and soldiers who manned the fleet, which echoed far and wide over the land and the sea. At nearly the same time Fort Beauregard was evacuated by the Rebels, and with the same precipitation which characterized their flight from Fort Walker. It should be noted that, during this attack, the Federal fleet did not remain stationary. As the Rebel forts were situated two miles and a half apart, on opposite sides of the strait, the ships continually made a detour in a line, by which means they came within range of the forts successively. They thus formed a formidable procession, resembling a convoy of destroying angels, who, with inexorable vengeance, approached the Rebel works from time to time, to inflict deserved destruction upon them. Each ship of war, as it passed, remained within range about twenty minutes ; and each of them delivered, during that interval, a very large number of shells. The spectacle thus presented was one of the most novel and imposing which could be imagined ; while the music of the deadly missiles as they coursed through the heavens, and the far resounding reverberation of the guns, which was heard both at Savannah and at Charleston, added to the intense interest of the scene. After the evacuation of the forts the process of landing the Federal troops immediately began. Though only a portion of them were then required on shore, the transfer of all of them was completed before nightfall. Fort "Walker, at Hilton Head, was found to be a work of great strength and of colossal proportions. It covered an area THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 239 of four acres, was angular in form, was surrounded by a deep ditch, and mounted twenty-four guns. Three of these had been disabled during the contest. Twenty-six dead bodies were counted in and near the fort, and it is probable that the killed and wounded of the Rebels numbered several hundreds. At a later period dis- coveries were made which justified the belief, that their loss had been very heavy. The Federal loss was eight killed and twenty wounded. It should not be inferred, however, from this circumstance, that the guns of the Rebels had been inefficient. They occasionally reached the objects of their aim. Thus the Wabash was struck thirty times. Nearly every vessel which had been engaged, bore some token of the assiduous attentions of the Rebel marksmen. The spoils of the conquest were considerable. A large amount of ammunition was taken, with various stores of necessaries and even of luxuries. It became evident from an inspection of the forts, that the enemy had abandoned them with the utmost trepida- tion. Innumerable articles of value were strewn around in confusion, and the soldiers were enriched by no in- significant plunder. Swords, pistols, guns, some of which were richly mounted, watches, jewelry, and even money, were found. The entire number of cannon captured was forty-three. Many of these were of very heavy calibre. Both forts were soon filled with Federal troops, and thus a permanent position was effectually secured on the soil of South Carolina. This great victory filled the inhabitants of that chivalrous State with terror. This feeling soon degen- erated into a panic among the inhabitants of the imme- diate vicinity, and especially among those of Charleston and Savannah. Of dwellers in the nearer BcaufoTt, there were no longer any left, except the jubilant negro popula- 240 A HISTORY OF tion. All others bad fled in tlie utmost dismay, and had sought refuge in more distant retreats. General Sherman, after taking possession of the forts, issued a proclamation, in which he endeavored to allay the fears of the people, to explain the real purpose of the expedition, and to reclaim the fugitive rebels back to loyalty to the Federal Government. Commodore Dupont, to whom the chief glory of this important conquest belonged, was born in New Jersey, and entered the naval service in 1815, During the forty- five years which he spent in that service, he occupied with honor a number of important positions. In 1836 he commanded the Warren, and cruised in the West Indies. In 1813 he commanded the brig Perry, on the same station, and subsequently the Congress and the Cyane. In 1859 he was appointed commandant of the Philadelphia navy yard. He had then spent twenty-two years at sea, and nine years in active duty on shore. The high reputation which he had won by energy and ability in various posts of danger and responsibility, amply justified the choice which placed him at the head of this expedition. The successful issue of that expedition filled up the measure of his fame. General Sherman, his associate in command, was born in Ehode Island, and graduated at West Point in 1836. He served with distinction in the Florida war, and afterward proceeded with General Taylor to Mexico. He was breveted major for his brave and meritorious conduct at the battle of Buena Vista, in February, 1847. After the commence- ment of the Eebellion, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the fifth artillery ; and at the battle of Manassas had command of the battery which was designated by bis name. The defeat which overtook him on that occasion, in common with many other brave and skillful THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 241 officers, did not dim the lustre of his reputation. He was subsequently elevated to the rank of brigadier general, and placed in Oommand of the land forces destined for the conquest of Port Eoj^al. "While these important events were transpiring along the eastern sea-board, other incidents of inferior moment were occurring in the southwest. On the 12th of October, 1861, the Eebel forces below New Orleans gave evidence of their activity by the use of a naval instru- ment of warfai'e, or rather by the revival of a means of destruction which had been prevalent among combatants during ages which have long passed away. At half past three o'clock, on the morning of the day just named, while the watch on board the Federal steamer Richmond were engaged in taking in coal from a schooner lying alongside, and while partial darkness still prevailed, tliey were astonished by the sudden approach of a steam battering ram toward the vessels. An alarm was instantly given, but before any means of protection could be employed, she struck the Eichmond with tremendous violence, and stove a hole through her side. Three planks were torn away, two feet below the water lino, making an aperture of considerable dimensions. The ram then passed to the rear of the disabled vessel ; but as she did so, the port guns of the Eichmond were discharged at her. At this moment three large fire rafts of the enemy were seen approaching the Federal ships, accompanied by several Eebel steamers. The Federal cas Lucas's Bend, three miles above Columbus, on the Missouri side of the river. At that point they landed. The Rebel encampment was placed on elevated ground, THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 2-13 several miles distant from the shore, and from their position they could clearly perceive the movements of the Federal forces. They therefore had ample time to prepare for their defense. As soon as the Union troops had disembarked, a large number of the Eebels, advancing from their camps, approached the river and commenced an attack upon them. A running fight ensued over the entire distance which intervened between the river and the camp. The Federal troops pressed on Yv^ith success, and each division seemed eager to gain the honor of having first reached the position of the enemy. That achievement was performed by the right division, led by Colonel Buford ; and the twenty-seventh Illinois was the first regiment to unfurl the stars and stripes within the Rebel encampment. That encampment contained about five thousand men, with an ample supply of arms and ammunition. Upon the arrival of the Federal troops at that point, a des- perate and bloody combat ensued. The whole camp became the wide scene of tumultuous collisions, of hand to hand combats, of advancing and retreating columns, of the capture and recapture of guns, of the conflagration of tents, bao-o^arre, and stores, of slaughter and of death. In the end, the Rebel troops were compelled to give way, and to flee in the utmost confusion, leaving the Federal forces in possession of the field, and of their position. Scarcely, however, had this important result been attained, when it was discovered that large and fresh masses of Rebels were rapidly approaching the scene of conflict, from the opposite side of the river, for the purpose of cutting off the return of the victors to their transports. These reinforcements came from Columbus, which was at that time strongly garrisoned by the enemy. 244 A HISTORY OF Quickly and clearly discerning the position of affairs, General Grant gave the order to fall back to the boats. "VVliile executing this movement, the Union troops encountered the advancing Rebels ; and as they had been compelled to fight their way to the captured camp, so they were now compelled to fight their way back again. They did it valiantly. They brought away with them several hundred prisoners, two cannon, and a quantity of arms and ammunition. They reached their boats after some very hard fighting, and then returned to Cairo. The conflict had lasted from ten o'clock in the morning till five in the afternoon. The loss was considerable on both sides ; that of the Federal troops being about three hundred in killed and wounded, that of the- enemy was perhaps greater. General Grant had two horses sliot under him. A similar accident befell General McClernand, As a whole, the battle was a brilliant achievement on the part of the Federal troops, who executed a daring and difficult enterprise, with great bravery and resolution. The Federal forces employed on this occasion were from Illinois, with the exception of the seventh Iowa regiment. On the 2d of November, 1861, General Fremont was relieved from the administration of the Department of the "West. During some time previous to that date, loud complaints had been made by men eminent in the civil and military service of the country, in regard to the manner in which he had conducted the affairs of his department. It was boldly charged that he was incom- petent to fulfill the duties of his responsible position ; that he was destitute of military skill; that he had given several hundred military commissions to men utterly unfit for them ; that he had permitted contracts to be made, and had ratified and endorsed them, by which the Federal Government had been defrauded of immense THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 245 sums of money ; that all his operations were carried on at an enormous and superfluous expense ; and that, not- withstanding that expense, little was accomplished during many months, except the erection of a few fortifications around St. Louis. For the purpose of ascertaining the truth of these charges Simon Cameron, then Secretary of "War, visited St. Louis, accompanied by Adjutant General Thomas. They reached that city on the 11th of October. They proceeded to examine into the state of affairs, and inspect the several camps in Missouri, including those at St. Louis, at Tipton and at Syracuse. At these places General Thomas collected the data which he subsequently embodied in a report, which was pub- lished and addressed to Mr. Cameron. In that report General Thomas alleged, that the evidence was conclusive, that Fremont might have reinforced General Lyon at Springfield, and might thus have averted one of the heaviest misfortunes of the war; that General Fremont had allowed himself to be surrounded by a number of adventurers and speculators, from various portions of the Union, by whom the Government had been defrauded of large amounts; that he had issued military commissions to incompetent men and to personal favorites, who possessed no military knowledge or ex- perience whatever ; that by these and .other offences, he had inflicted serious damage on the interests of the nation, and had retarded the operations of the war. These charges, and the proofs which accompanied them, eventually produced a .decisive effect on the mind of President Lincoln; and he felt compelled, though with much reluctance, to order the removal of General Fremont. He was succeeded in his command by General Iluntcr, a veteran officer who had fought with great gallantry" on several occasions. No reasonable and in- 246 A HISTORY OF telligent person doubted the integrity and tlie excellent intentions of General Fremont ; and his removal was not intended by the President, nor was it regarded by the nation as a stigma upon his private character, or on his loyalty and patriotism. He at once acquiesced with dignity and grace in the orders of the Executive ; and urged his ofl'ended and incensed troops, who at one time were disposed to mutiny, not to make the least display of dissatisfaction, but to serve his successor in office as faithfully as they had served himself It may with truth be asserted, that no part of General Fremont's military administration did him so much honor, or evinced his personal excellence more clearly, than his spirit and manner in resigning it. With that superior wisdom and equity which generally marked the official conduct of President Lincoln during his administration, he readily detected where the real difficulty lay ; and at a subse- quent period evinced his appreciation of the merits of General Fremont, by appointing him to the command of the Mountain Department of Western Virginia. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 247 CHAPTER XV. EUROPEAN RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN IT MISSION OF MESSRS. MASON AND SLIDELL THEIR ARREST ON BOARD THE TRENT LEGALITY OF THAT ARREST — THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DEMAND THEM THEY ARE SURRENDERED REASONS OF THEIR SURRENDER — DIPLOMATIC NOTE OF MR. SEWARD ON THE SUBJECT ARGUMENT OF MR. SUMNER IN THE SENATE — THE BATTLE OF DRAINSVILLE — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT ITS RESULTS GENERAL MCCALL SKETCH OF HIS CAREER DISMISSAL OF MR. CAMERON FROM THE FEDERAL CABINET THE WAR IN KENTUCKY THE BATTLE OF MILL-SPRINGS INCIDENTS OF THE CONFLICT BAYONET CHARGE OF THE NINTH OHIO REGIMENT — DEFEAT OF THE REBELS — DEATH OF GENERAL FELIX ZOLLICOFFER — HIS CHARACTER RESULTS OF THE BATTLE OF MILL-SPRINtJS — SUBSEQUENT FLIGHT AND DISPERSION OF THE REBEL TROOPS. The crafty and resolute leaders of the Southern Rebel- lion labored, from the beginning of their treasonable movements, with great zeal and earnestness, to obtain the approval and recognition of several of the most im- portant European powers. To this end William L. Yancey and his associates had been sent abroad at an early stage of the rebellion. For this purpose Messrs. Mason and Slidell were selected in October, 1861, to follow them to Europe, as the envoys of the Confederate Government, to unite their ellbrts with those of their predecessors -in accomplishing that desirable result. Scarcely had these commissioners sailed from Havana on board the British packet Trent, when they were arrested, through the vigilance and energy of an American officer. Captain Wilkes, who was already well known for his ability and usefulness in connection with the United States service, 248 A HISTORY OF commanded the Sa7i Jacinto^ then cruising in the West Indies ; and liaving been informed, while stopping at Cicnfuegas, that these diplomatic Rebels had escaped from the Soutli, and that they had embarked on board the Trent for England, determined immediately to start in pursuit of them. It was while sailing in the narrow- est ]:)art of the Bahama channel, that he was so fortunate as to encounter the packet. lie immediately bore down upon her, fired a shot across her bows to bring her to, and sent two boats under the command of Lieutenant Fairfax, for the purpose of making the arrest. The Eebels were personally known to the Lieutenant; and he, having boarded the Trent, and having made known to her commander the purpose of his visit, demanded his prisoners. The furious and profane blustering of the British captain, the solemn and mock-heroic protests of the Rebels, the frantic screams of their wives and children, the blows even which were inflicted by fair and delicate hands on the manly physiognomy of the Lieu- tenant, all availed nothing ; and ^Messrs. Mason and Slidell, with their two secretaries, descended with many grimaces from the deck of the Trent into the boats, and Avere forthwith transferred, with their baggage, to the San Jacinto. This novel and startling incident immediately con- vulsed the inhabitants of the loyal and the disloyal States, with intense though very dissimilar emotions. The for.mer rejoiced that the Rebels had been foiled in their purpose and mission. The latter were at first over- whelmed with indignation and dismay. But when they began to contemplate the possible consequences of the act; to hope that England might resent the fancied insult to her flag; and to imagine that the Federal Government would thereby become involved in an ex- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 249 pensive and ruinous war with that nation ; exultation assumed the place of every other, feeling in their breasts. The San Jacinto proceeded with her prisoners to Boston, whence they were immediately transferi'ed to Fort Warren, in the harbor of that city. Then followed the universal discussion throughout the land, of the r[uestions of the legality of the arrest, the duty of the Federal Government in the premises, and the probable policy of England in regard to the matter. Different opinions were expressed by eminent and learned men on the subject. But the prevalent sentiment was, that the arrest and capture were perfectly justifiable, so far as the abstract and settled principles of International Law were concerned, and the uniform practice of England herself in similar cases; and that the government of that country could not, if it had any regard for consistency of conduct, take the least offence at the arrest of the Rebels when on board an English neutral vessel. Though the legality of the cajJtnre of the Rebel com- missioners might be clear, so far as the abstract principles of law were concerned, the prudence and policy of their surrender, in case the British government should demand it, was quite a different question. The people of the United States, therefore, waited witli intense anxiety to learn what course England would adopt|^in the premises. As was generally apprehended by those who understood most correctly the spirit of that government, it imme- diately demanded the unconditional surrender of Mason and Slidell, as a reparation due for the fancied insult which had been inflicted on the British flag. Their con- duct demonstrated, that the ]5ritish government eagerly seized the opportunity which was thus affi)rded, to embarrass and annoy the people of the United States, in the darkest and most critical moment which had occurred 250 A HISTORY OF in their career since the period of the storms and struggles of the Kevolution ; andextort from them while thus embarrassed a humiliating and superfluous conces- sion, which, under other circumstances, would have been resolutely refused. The Eebel commissioners were forthwith surrendered. Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, in a long and elaborate communication, which he addressed to Lord Lyons, the British minister then resident at Washington, set forth with great ability, the reasons which induced the Federal Government to pursue that policy. He admitted that the four prisoners were contraband of war; that Captain Wilkes had the rio-ht to search the Trent for their O persons ; that the right of search had been exercised in this case in a lawful manner ; that Captain Wilkes had the right to seize the Rebels when thus found ; but he contended on the other hand, that this right of seizure had not been exercised in a legal manner. He held that Captain Wilkes ought to have also taken possession of the vessel which conveyed the Rebels ; that he ought to have brought her into a Federal port ; that he ought to have had her tried, condemned and confiscated by a Federal tribunal ; and that in no case should he have permitted her to proceed on her voyage to England. Because he failed in adhering to all these technical formalities, Mr. Seward contended that the whole pro- ceeding became legally vitiated ah initio. At a later period Mr. Sumner discussed the subject in the Senate, and vindicated the surrender of the Rebels on no other grounds. He affirmed that the arrest could not be justified by J.mf?'2can precedents and practice; that the Federal Government had never regarded the dispatches of a hostile nation as contraband ; that that government had heretofore considered no persons as contraband THE SOUTHERX REBELLION. 251 except those actually engaged in the military or the naval service of an enemy; and that it had always opposed and condemned the alleged power on the part of any single oflEicer, to adjudicate and decide personal rights by the ti'ibunal of the quarter deck. These |)ositions Mr. Sumner defended with immense erudition and with some logical force. Nevertheless, the question still remained unde- termined in the tribunal of popular judgment and common sense, whether in such cases it was proper and just to pursue toward England that policy which was indicated by English, or that indicated by American precedents; and to myriads of intelligent thinkers it seemed clear, that the British Government ought not to pursue a particular line of. policy toward the whole world, and claim the right of search and of arrest in such cases, against all other nations, and then demand, when the occasion served their interests, that all other nations should be required, under precisely similar circumstances, to pursue toward them a policy directly opposite to their own. When, therefore, the Eebel commissioners were surrendered to the British authorities, it was done chiefly from motives of expediency, which were concealed and disguised under delicate tissues of elaborate and far- fetched special pleading, which were intended rather *to excuse the act, than to demonstrate .its validity and correctness in the light of abstract equity, and the established principles of international law. The Federal army of the Potomac had been stationed in the vicinity of Washington, during several months, a.ssiduously employed in perfecting their discipline, and their familiarity with military evolutions, when, on the 20th of December, General McCall determined to send out a large foraging party, and to make a reconnoissance in force with a ])ortion of the troops under his command. 252 A HISTORY OF Tie had ascertained that a considerable number of Eebels had taken a position at Drainsville, and he resolved to attack them. He 2;ave orders to General Ord to march thither with his brigade. General Eeynolds was directed also to advance to Difficult Creek with the forces under his command, to support him. The troops which were thus brought into service consisted of the sixth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth Pennsylvania Eeserves, the first regi- ment of rifles, and Easton's battery. In the march toward the enemy, the rifles, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Kane, led the advance, with Easton's battery, and a portion of the first Pennsylvania cavalry. At half past one o'clock these troops encountered the Rebels, posted near Drainsville, and the action immediately commenced. A portion of the Rebel forces were con- cealed in the dense woods, and it was some time before their exact position could be ascertained. The guns of Easton's battery were brought to bear upon them with great effect. They then advanced, for the purpose of turning the left of the Federal troops, but General McCall, who had by this time reached the scene of action with his staff, detected and foiled this movement. He immediately notified Colonel McCalmot, who commanded the left of the Federal forces, of the impending danger ; and such a disposition was instantly made as defeated the purpose of the enemy, and compelled them to return to their position. , Meanwhile the engagement was progressing with spirit in the centre and on the right wing of the Union troops. The ninth infantry, under Colonel Jackson, had en- countered the Rebels and overpowered them. In the centre, the sixth regiment, under Colonel Ricketts, together with the Bucktail rifles, under Lieutenant Colonel Kane, received and repulsed the charge of the THE SOUTHEEN" REBELLION". 253 foe with much gallantry. As the enemy retreated, the Federal troops advanced, until the rout became precipi- tate and complete. As the victors proceeded through the woods, they met numerous evidences of the heavy losses wliich the enemy had suffered ; for the ground was strewn with the dying and the dead, with mangled horses, shattered gun carriages, caissons, arms, ammunition and clothing. The defeat of the Rebels was complete, and their flight ignominious. General McCall ordered the pursuit to be continued for a mile beyond the scene of conflict by two regiments ; but so rapid was the pace of the fugitives that it was impossible to overtake them. A hundred dead Rebels were afterward counted on the field ; their wounded, who were doubtless more numerous, they carried away wi^li them. They had probably four thousand men in the action, and were therefore more numerous than their assailants. The loss on the Federal side was seven killed and sixty wounded. After this engagement, General McCall proceeded to collect forage. He obtained sixteen wagon loads of hay and twenty-two of corn, with which he returned to his camp. The brigade of General Reynolds did not reach the battle field until the contest was over, though they made the latter part of the march with the utmost possible celerity. The engagement of Drainsville was gne of the most spirited and successful wliich had occurred during the progress of the war. General McCall, the cliief hero of the da}^, was a veteran officer, a native of Philadelphia. He entered the United States, army in 1818, After several promotions, h*e served with distinction under General Worth in Florida. lie acquired fresh laurels at the battle of Resaca de la Raima, and in July, 18-46, was appointed adjutant to General Zachary Taylor, with the rank of major. In 1850 he became inspector general, with the 254 A HISTORY OF rank of colonel. He afterward retired from the service, and resided near West Chester, Pennsylvania, until the commencement of the rebellion. He was then appointed major general of the fifteen regiments which were author- ized to be raised by the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Immediately after the battle of Manassas, the services of these troops, with those of their commanding officer, were tendered to the Federal Government, and accepted. The victory of Drainsville was a worthy continuation of General McCall's previous achievements. He subse- cjuently accompanied the army of General McClellan in the Peninsula, and took a prominent and distinguished part in several of the great battles which were fought in the vicinity of Kichmond. At length, in the fearful conflict on the 30th of June, he was taken prisoner, and removed. to the Rebel capital; but after a short captivity he was releas:ed. On the 13th of January, 1862, an important change took place in the Federal Cabinet, the announcement of which surprised, and perhaps gratified, the nation. On that day Simon Cameron, the Secretary of War, was notified by Mr. Lincoln that he was relieved from the duties of his office, and that he had been appointed minister plenipotentiary to Pussia, in the room of Cassius M. Clay. Edwin M. Stanton, a distinguished lawyer, originally from Ohio, but at that time a resident of AVashington, was selected as the successor of the retiring Secretary. On the 19th of January the Federal forces under General G. II. Thomas, and the Eebel troops under General Felix Zollicoffer, who had been gradually ap- proaching each other in Kentucky, met ; a desperate battle was fought between them near the village of Mill Springs; and the inhabitants of the loyal States were THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 255 clicered by the announcement of a splendid and decisive victory to the Federal arms. Previous to this date General Zollicoffcr had entrenched himself in a fortified position about fifteen miles southwest from Somerset, and twelve miles from the Cumberland river. This position commanded the whole of the surrounding country, and held the citizens of Pulaski, Wayne, and Russel counties in subjection to the Rebel power. General Thomas had formed the resolution to attack these entrenchments in conjunction with the troops under General Schoepff, who was then posted at Somerset. Accordingly, he commenced his march from Jamestown toward the position of the enemy. On the 17th, General ZoUicoffer having been informed by some treasonable means, of the contemplated enterprise of the two Federal commanders, determined to defeat it by marching forth from his works, attacking General Thomas first, and having routed him, to assail General Schoepff, thus van- quishing his opponents in detail. The hostile forces first came in contact at seven o'clock on the morning of the 19th, when the pickets of Colonel Manson's troops, who had been posted in the advance, were driven in. It was soon evident that the Rebel army was approaching in full force. The distant firing aroused tlie Federal camp, and a portion of the tenth Indiana regiment was ordered forward to the support of the pickets. The whole of that regiment soon afterward advanced against the enemy, who were gradually forming into line, regiment by regiment, and taking their posi- tions on the scene of conflict. After the firing had con- tinued for half an hour, an attempt was made by a body of Rebel cavalry, to outflank the Federal troops which had thus far been engaged. The movement was partially successful ; and the right wing, consisting of the tenth 256 A HISTORY OF Indiana, under Colonel Kise, was compelled to fall back to avoid beins^ surrounded. The order to retire was judiciously given ; for at that period of the battle the Rebel forces continually rolled forward like an inex- haustible flood ; they advanced with loud and frantic yells, intended to intimidate their foes ; and the supe- riority of their numbers at that juncture, might have given them an advantage which would have seriously affected the issue of the day. While thus retiring in good oi'der, the fugitives were met and supported by the fourth Kentucky, tlie ninth Ohio, and the second Min- nesota regiments. The combat was then renewed with desperate energy on both sides. The enemy had been strengthened by large accessions on their extreme left ; and a portion of the tenth Indiana was ordered to tliat point, to assist the troops there engaged. The nature of the ground rendered the operations of the troops exceedingly difficult, being covered, for the mc under McClellan, from the period of the eleva- tion of that of&cer to its chief command. The brilliant victory of Williamsburg afterward placed him among the prominent heroes of the war. Almost cotemporaneous with the engagement at Wil- liamsburg, was the attack and defeat of the Eebels at West Point on the York river. On the afternoon of the 6th of May, that portion of the army of the Potomac which was under the command of General Franklin arrived at West Point in transports, for the purpose of disembarking and forming a junction with the troops under General McClellan. During that day about twenty thousand men were transferred to the shore, on the south side of the Pamunkey river, at the distance of half a mile from the town. The troops immediately pitched their tents and formed their camp. During the ensuing night some of the Eebel pickets attacked the Federal videttes ; which event gave evidence, or at least created a suspi- cion, that the enemy were posted somewhere in the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 355 vicinity. General Franklin, expecting an assault the next morning, ordered the troops to be nnder arms at break of day ; but after standing in line of battle for some time and no foe appearing, the men were permitted to return to their camp. Soon, however, several regi- ments of Rebels appeared in the distance, toward the west side of the river. Orders were then given to the sixteenth, the thirty-first, and the thirty-second New York, the ninety-fifth and the ninety-sixth Pennsylvania regi- ments, to form and to advance against the foe. It soon appeared that the latter were posted and concealed in large numbers in the woods in front ; and from every portion of the shady and tangled retreat of the enemy, a destructive fire of musketry was now discharged upon the approaching Federals. The fifth Maine regiment led the advance upon the left, into the woods, with superior steadiness and gallantry; the thirty-second New York achieved the same service upon the right. During three hours the engagement continued with great spirit. It became evident, however, at length that the larger numbers of the Rebels were giving them the advantage; when the Federal cannon were opportunely brought to bear upon them. These soon effectually retrieved the fortunes of the day. The second Ulited States artillery, under Captain Arnold, was ordered forward into position on the right; the first Massachusetts battery, under Captain Porter, advanced and unlimbered on the left, and both commenced to shell the enemy. They dis- charged about ten shells per minute, which, bursting among the serried and partially concealed ranks of the foe, scattered death on every side. The Rebels then transferred their troops further to the left of the Federal lines ; when the gunboats on the river, which were thus brought within range, unexpectedly opened their bat- 856 A HISTORY OF teries upon them with still more deadly results. Soon the enemy fled in confusion, totally broken and routed. The salutes of the artillery from these several directions were insupportable, and quickly terminated the engage- ment. In the battle of West Point the Federal loss was about twenty killed and eighty wounded. That of the enemy is unknown, but it was probably much greater. After the conclusion of the engagement, General Franklin immediately sent a dispatch to General McClel- lan, informing him of the progress of events on the York river, and concerting measures with him for the union of their forces. This result was afterward successfully accomplished, and their united army then steadily advanced toward Richmond. On the 8th of May a squadron of Federal war steamers consisting of the Monitor, Naugatuck, Susquehanna, Dacotah, Seminole, the Stevens and San Jacinto, was placed by Commodore Goldsborough under the orders of Captain Lardner, for the purpose of bombarding the Rebel forts at Sewall's Point. The design of this attack was to ascertain the possibility of landing a body of troops in that vicinity, as well as to reduce the forts. The orders given were, that the wooden vessels should attack the Rebel works in enfilade^ and that the iron Moni- tor, together with the Stevens, should advance nearer and operate against them in front. Accordingly, the vessels already named sailed toward Sewall's point, and having arrived within range opened their batteries with shot and shell against the enemy. The position of the Monitor was in advance of the other vessels. The bombardment commenced about noon. For half an hour' no response was made from the Rebel works ; a number of shots were then fired at the Federal vessels, nob one of which reached its aim. At half-past two the Merrimac steamed THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 357 out from Norfolk, with the apparent intention of attack- ing the Monitor. But no such result followed. During the day all the Federal vessels took part in the bombard- ment, either of Sewall's Point or of Craney Island. As often as the Monitor advanced to engage the Merrimac, she steamed away toward Norfolk. It was thus impossi- ble to bring her within range or to engage her. During the day the flag-staff at Sewall's Point was twice shot away; and the Kebels could be distinctly seen from the Federal vessels, carrying off their dead and wounded. At five o'clock Commodore Goldsborough signalled to the Union ships to return to Fortress Monroe. The chief purpose of the demonstration had been accomplished, It had elicited the fact that the number of Q-uns in the principal fort at Sewall's Point had been reduced to seventeen, and that the garrison stationed there was so small as to be quite unimportant. During the action, the barracks attached to the fort had been set on firej and were considerably damaged. All the Eebel guns on Craney Island were silenced. So accurate was the firing from the Seminole and other vessels, that the breast- works were in some places levelled with the ground, and the sand and earth were seen flying in fragments over the tree tops in the rear. On the 9th of May the Eebels evacuated the forts at Sewall's Point, and retired to Norfolk, as the ultimate result of the assault of the Federal fleet. Their abode in Norfolk was destined to be of short duration. On the 10th of May General Wool commenced his march from Fortress Monroe to operate against that city. He landed five thousand troops at Willoughby Point, and by five o'clock in the afternoon the Federal forces had reached the vicinity of Norfolk. A desperate defense was anticipated from General Huger, who com- 358 A HISTORY OF manded the rebel troops in that city. This expectatioa was agreeably disappointed. Early on the 10th he evacuated the place, after having set on fire and blown up the famous battering ram Merrimac, that it might not fall into the hands of the victors. As General Wool approached Norfolk he was met by a deputation of citizens headed by the Mayor, who formally surrendered the city and the navy yard to the Federal authorities. General Viele was placed in command as military gover- nor, and orders were given for the protection of persons and property. General Wool, who had been accompa- nied by Secretary Chase, returned to Fortress Monroe during the following night. The possession of Norfolk necessitated that also of Portsmouth, which was likewise returned to its legitimate masters. The recovery of these places, which had been seized and so long occupied by the forces of the Eebel govern- ment, was an important event in the progress of the war. Thus from day to day the Eebellion was curtailed of its monstrous and hideous proportions, and thus the triumphs of the arms of the Union were enlarged and extended. While these events were taking place in the vicinity of Hampton Eoads, events of minor interest were occurring in other portions of the country. General Fremont, who was in command of the Mountain Depart- ment, occupied ijo sinecure; although his proceedings, from the nature of the case, glared less obtrusively upon the attention of the general public. The men under his command were required to engage the enemy from time to time in a novel kind of warfare, not inappropriately termed Guerilla fia;hting. Rovinsj bands of Rebels infested the rugged region over which his jurisdiction extended, who often attacked his men by stealth, and rendered their operations difficult and dangerous. On THE SOUTHEEN EEBELLION. 359 tlie 8tli of May General Milroy was assailed near Petersburg by a portion of the Rebel troops under " Stonewall" Jackson. During the action General Schenck fortunately reached the scene of conflict with his com- mand, after a forced march of thirty-four miles, and the enemy were routed. The Federal loss was five killed and seventy wounded. About the same period General Kelly encountered the Eebels at Spencer, and after a spirited contest, in which a number of the enemy were killed and wounded,, compelled them to retreat, and to disperse among the mountains. In Alabama the triumph of the Union arms, under the guidance of General Mitchell, continued with undiminished eclat. On the 13th of May he dispatched General Negley, supported by Colonel Little's troops, from Pulaski to Rogersville, in northern Alabama, for the purpose of driving the enemy across the Tennessee river and destroying their ferry boats. The Rebels fled at the approach of the Federal troops ; the latter obtained possession of the bridge across Shad Creek, and of the ferry below the mouth of that stream. The result of these operations was, that more than a thousand Rebel cavalry were enclosed on one side of the river, were cut off from all possibility of escape, and were so hemmed in as soon to fall inevitably into the power of the forces under General Mitchell. The triumphant progress of the Federal arms at this period was illustrated with striking effect by a proclama- tion which was issued by President Lincoln, in which he ordered the opening of the chief Southern ports, which, since the commencement of the Rebellion, had been sealed to the commerce and intercourse of the world, by the presence and agency of the Union war-steamers. On the 12th of May the ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and 860 A HISTORY OF New Orleans were thus tlirown open, as an evidence of the reinstated supremacy of the Federal Government in those recent centres of Kebel power and treason. The important division of troops which was com- manded by General McDowell, continued to advance, by steady marches, due south from Manassas, toward Eich- mond ; and having at length reached Fredericksburg, permanently occupied it. On the 11th of May a skirmish took place between a small number of his cavalry, who were scouting at the distance of four miles from the town, and a body of Rebels who were stationed and concealed in the woods. General Patrick, being informed that these men were attacked by a superior force of the enemy, ordered his brigade to advance at a double quick pace to the scene of conflict. The arrival of this rein- forcement was opportujie ; the Rebels then fled without offering any further resistance, losing eleven of their infantry and three of their cavalry as prisoners. Amonar minor enffa<]:ements of the class to which we are now referring, none were more spirited, or exhibited the bravery of the Union troops to better advantage, than the battle between cavalry which took place at Lebanon, Tennessee, on the 7th of May. The Rebel Colonel Morgan had become notorious in that region of the countr}'-, as the commander of a desperate band of mounted rangers and brigands, by whose means he had committed many depredations on the property of loyal citizens, and on the baggage and provision trains of the Union forces. General Dumont at Nashville, and Colonel DufEield at Murfreesboro, were ordered to combine their troops and attack him. The crafty Rebel attempted in various ways, and by numerous artifices, to elude the search of the Federal commanders ; and a protracted hunt took place before they found him. At length he THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 361 entrenched himself in the town of Lebanon, with eight hundred cavalry ; and there he was attacked by them. A desperate street fight ensued. Morgan and his men were driven from the town. A running battle then comme.nced, which continued for nearly twenty miles. A hundred and sixty Eebel prisoners were taken. Many were killed and wounded during the pursuit. At last Morgan^ his band being reduced to only fifteen men, succeeded in crossing the Cumberland river on a flat boat. Not till then did the chase terminate. A more complete and thorough rout had not taken place since the commencement of the Eebellion, During the occurrence of these events a great naval assault had been progressing against Fort Wright, on the Mississippi river, in Tennessee. A large number of Federal gunboats, under the orders of the gallant Flag Officer Foote, had been directed to attack that fortress. He was assisted in the command by Captain C. H. Davis, of the United States Navy. The bombardment had been progressing with various incidents and vicissitudes from the 8th of May. The Rebel works were protected by a formidable force of gunboats and battering rams, com- manded by Commodore Hollins, which attacked the Federal vessels with marvelous ferocity and frequency. It was not until a later period, and aft&r a very protracted bombardment, that the contest was ended by the com- plete evacuation of the fort, and its surrender to the Federal commander and his heroic troops. It was on the James river, at Fort Darling, situated eight miles below Richmond, that, on the 15th of May, the Federal cause received the first reverse which it had suffered for a considerable period of time. On that day the gunboats Monitor, Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal, and Naugatuck, having reached the position already named, 862 A HISTORY OF on their way toward the Eebel capital, for the purpose of cooperating with the army of the Potomac, suddenly encountered a fierce and formidable assault from the Eebel batteries which had been erected upon Ward's Bluff. At this point the stream makes an abrupt turn, and contracts its proportions. It thus rendered the batteries placed upon its banks more effective. At the foot of the bluff obstructions had been placed in the river, consisting of sunken vessels secured by chains, which effectually terminated the further advance of the gunboats. The fortifications on the shore were placed on ground two hundred feet above the surface of the river, and a body of Rebel troops were posted in the vicinity, to assist the attack on the gunboats. The latter having been anchored about a thousand yards from the batteries, a desperate engagement immediately commenced. The guns of the enemy poured down an incessant hailstorm of shot upon the decks of the Federal vessels, and seriously damaged them. The latter responded with great spirit, but it soon became evident that the disad- vantages of their situation were quite insurmountable. It was found impossible to elevate the guns of the Monitor to the unusual range required by the high position of the batteries, and therefore she was very nearly rendered useless. She was struck three times on her turret and twice upon her sides. The only effect produced by the balls was to bend the iron plates of the vessel. The Naug-atuck suffered a much more serious disaster. After O delivering several effective shots, her immense one hun- dred pound rifled Parrot gun burst, killing the gunner and wounding two men. The rest of her armament consisted of two boarding howitzers, which, in such a contest, were of little consequence. The casualties on the Galena were still more serious. The shots of the Rebel batteries THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 363 riddled her deck with ease, and several of their balls penetrated her side. Fourteen of her crew were killed and thirteen wounded. The narrowness of the channel at this point, which prevented this vessel from turning, so as to work to advantage, rendered her a helpless mai-k for the enemy. The other gunboats were not seriously injured. The action continued nearly five hours; after which time the uselessness of further effort being apparent, the boats dropped down the river to their former anchorage. The entire Federal loss was fifteen killed and sixteen wounded. This check did not delay for a moment the steady progress of the Federal forces under General McClellan toward Eichmond. On the 20th of May the advance under Stoneman reached New Bridge, eight miles distant from that city, driving the pickets of the enemy before them. The Rebels were no longer found in force on that side of the Chickahominy creek, which there becomes an insignificant stream. On the 21st a large portion of the troops crossed it at Bottom's bridge and at the Railroad bridge, and occupied a position a mile and a half beyond. On the 23d several skirmishes took place between portions of the two armies, in one of which the Rebels were driven from Mechanicsville, six miles from New bridge; and in another, the famous X-o^isiana Tigers were dreadfully cut up by the fourth Michigan regiment. Other skirmishes subsequently occurred at different points along the hostile lines, in which the Federal forces usually gained the advantage. These comparatively insignificant operations were viewed as merely prelimi- nary to the colossal and decisive engagements which were expected to take place between the rival hosts, in the vicinity of the Rebel capital ; which, with some probability of truth and reason, were regarded as the S64: A HISTORY OF final arbiters of the fate of the Confederate government, and were expected to prove mortal blows to their already- exhausted and expiring empire. A few days previous to the events which have just been narrated, the attention of the nation was temporarily diverted from the exclusive scrutiny of scenes of blood and conflict, by a proclamation which was issued by Major General David Hunter, then commanding the Department of the South, by which he assumed the re- sponsibility of declaring the States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina under martial law ; at the same time affirming that, as slavery and martial law were incompa- tible, he pronounced all those persons who had formerly been held to slavery in those States thenceforth forever free. This bold and sweeping proclamation elicited different judgments from the public, according to their previously entertained opinions ; some commending it, while others censured it. Whatever might have been the abstract merit and virtue of the measure, it did not harmonize with the more conservative and moderate sentiments of President Lincoln ; who, on the 19th of May issued a counter proclamation, repudiating the act of General Hunter as unauthorized, and setting forth that he, the President, by virtue of the authority vested in him, reserved to himself the right to determine whether he possessed the power to declare the slaves in any of the States free ; and whether, provided he possessed that power, it would ever become necessary to the mainte- nance and preservation of the Federal Government, for him to exercise it. At the same time the Chief Execu- tive set forth, that he had on a previous occasion recom- mended that Congress should pass a joint resolution, by which the United States would be obliged to assist any State which might, of its own accord, resolve to abolish THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 865 slavery within its limits ; giving it sucli pecuniary aid as might be necessary to enable it to execute such a purpose. That recommendation had been accepted and approved by the Federal Congress ; and it stood recorded in their proceedings as a solemn and authentic proposal from the nation to the slave States. Thus far and no farther did he deem it prudent and equitable then to de- termine or to legislate on the subject. The position thus assumed and maintained by Mr. Lincoln, received the approval of the majority of the inhabitants of the loyal States, who were not at that period in favor of any more radical or decisive measure in reference to the enfran- chisement of the victims of southern bondage. 366 A HISTORY OF CHAPTER XXIL TIIK CORPS D'aRMEK of GENKRAL banks — IMPRUDENT REDUCTION OF ITS NUMBERS — THF, REBELS UNDER JACKSON ATTACK THE ADVANCE AT FRONT ROYAL DESIGN OF THE REBELS TO OVERPOWER BANKs' DIVISION THE LATTER ORDERS A GENERAL RETREAT TOWARD WINCHESTER VARIOUS ENGAGEMENTS ON THE ROUTE BATTLE AT. MIDDLETOWN ACTION ON THE MARCH TO WINCHESTER — BATTLE AT NEWTOWN — THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER ITS RESULTS CONTINUANCE OF THE RETREAT TO WILLIAMSFORT ADVENTURES OF THE ZOUAVES d'aFRIQUE FEDE- RAL LOSSES DURING THE RETREAT — SKETCH OF GENERAL BANKS — AT- TITUDE OF THE FEDERAL AND REBEL ARMIES AT CORINTH — A GREAT BATTLE ANTICIPATED COMMENCEMENT OF THE ATTACK BY GENERAL HALLECK — ITS RESULTS — EVACUATION OF CORINTH BY THE REBELS — CAUSES OF THIS EVENT — AN EXTRAORDINARY SPECTACLE PURSUIT OF THE RETREATING FOE — A RECONNOISSANCE ON THE CIIICKAHOMIXY— SKIRMISH AT THE PINES THE BATTLE OF HANOVER COURT HOUSE DESTRUCTION- OF THE RICHMOND AND FREDERICKSBURG RAILROAD- GALLANT EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT DAVIS. That portion of the Federal forces which had been placed under the command of General Banks, had pursued the Rebels under General Jackson through the valley of the Shenandoah with steady and unvarying success as far as Strasburg, when on the 23d of May, 1862, a sudden reverse overtook the victors. The corps of General Banks originally consisted of an ef&cient body, comprising three brigades. These had been reduced from time to time to less than half of their first proportions, through the occult influence of various causes, by sending large detachments to other commanders in the field. The result of this policy was, that General Banks was eventually placed in a critical position, in the THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 367 heart of a hostile country, and liable to be attacked at any moment by an enraged enemy with an overwhelmins: preponderance of numbers. The commander of the Kebels in that region was too shrewd and vigilant an officer not to discover the immense advantages which were thus unfortunately placed within his reach ; and he soon gave the friends of the Union ample cause to regret the energy and skill with which he improved the oppor- tunity of revenge and conquest which this indiscretion tendered him. On the 23d of May the advance guard of General Banks, which was stationed under Colonel Kenley at t'ront Eoyal, consisting of the first Maryland regiment, was suddenly attacked by the Rebels with great fury, and with an immense superiority of numbers. As soon as in- formation of this event reached the headquarters at Stras- burg, General Banks ordered a detachment of cavalry and a portion of his artillery forward to the support of Colonel Kenley ; but when it was ascertained soon afterward, that the troops of that officer had been wholly scattered by the avalanche which had descended upon them, and that the enemy, twenty-five thousand strong, were rushing on like a deluge, for the purpose of surrounding and crush- ing the comparatively weak force of General Banks, the reinforcements thus ordered forward were recalled. That commander quickly discerned the full extent of his danger ; and the novel and perilous crisis summoned all his rare powers of discrimination into immediate action. He perceived that, under the circumstances, only one of three lines of conduct was possible for him : He might advance with his whole force from Strasburg toward Front Royal, and attack the enemy on the flank. He might retire across Little North Mountain, and thus reach the Potomac on the west. He might retreat to Winchester; 368 A HISTORY OF there preserve his communications with his original base of operations ; wait for reinforcements ; engage the ad- vancing enemy if necessary, or retreat to Williamsport as the event might demand. The objection to the first plan was fatal : his troops were too few to attack the augmented and greatly superior force which the Rebels had suddenly brought together at Front Royal. The argument against the second plan was equally potent : by it General Banks would have been compelled to abandon his whole train, consisting of five hundred wagons of ammunitions and stores. The third expedient alone was prudent and feasible ; for by a skillful retreat toward Winchester, and thence to the Potomac, the array might be saved from capture, his stores from total loss, and the cause of the Union from a greater disaster than any which had occurred since the commencement of the war. Accordingly, at three o'clock on the morning of the 24th of May, the hurried dispositions for the retreat were made. Colonel Donnelly's brigade Avas ordered forward in the advance with the wagon trains. Colonel Gordon was placed in command of the bulk of the infantry in the centre. General Hatch, with nearly the whole of the cavalry, and six pieces of artillery, was charged with the protection of the rear. By nine o'clock all the arrange- ments were completed ; every man was at his post ; General Banks was ubiquitous over the whole line ; the last orders to march were given ; and then began one of the most masterly retreats which can be found recorded on the checkered pages of history. Soon the Rebel forces came rushing on in full pursuit. The long line of troops and wagons was winding its tedious way, like an immense anaconda, stretching between Strasburg and Middletown, when the enemy, passing the Federal troops by a circuitous rout, reached the front of the column and THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 369 made an attack upon the heavy trains, and the troops which guarded them. The enemy had obtained posses- sion of the road at Middletown, for the purpose of inter- cepting the retreat; and now the fugitives from the front came running toward the rear in wild confusion, bringing the first tidings of the assault. The position and immedi- ate purpose of the Rebels being thus ascertained, Colonel Donnelly was instantly ordered forward with a body of troops to support the advance. He encountered the enemy in full force at Middletown, thirteen miles from Winchester. Colonel Knipe was directed, with the forty- sixth Pennsylvania, to attack the enemy posted in the woods on the right. He was supported by a portion of Cochran's New York battery and the twenty-eighth New York regiment. After a short though spirited contest the Rebels broke and fled. They were then pursued for more than two miles from the scene of action ; but as there seemed to be no visible end to the chase, the victors returned to the main column. As it was the purpose of General Banks to effect his return to Winchester, and not to win battles, except in so far as it was necessary to accomplish that result, he refused to waste valuable time in useless conquests. Thus Middletown was passed, and the heroic march was continued toward Winchester. It was now ascertained that the Rebels had taken another position, for the purpose of intercepting the Federal forces before they readied that city. General Ilatch, who still commanded the rear, was then ordered to advance with the greater part of his troops, leaving Colonel De Forrest to protect the rear. Hatch in vain attempted to join the Federal troops in front, being inter- cepted by the greater masses of the enemy ; he then moved to tlie left, and advanced by a pai-allel road toward Winchester. He found Colonel Gordon at New- 2-i 870 A HISTORY OF town, where lie effected a junction witk the main column. But six companies of the New York fifth under Colonel De Forrest, in the rear, were cut off by the enemy from the rest of the troops, and compelled to retreat to Stras- burg. At Newtown a spirited contest took place between a large body of the Rebels and a portion of the Federal troops commanded by Colonel Gordon, consist- ing of the second Massachusetts, the twenty-seventh Indiana, and the twenty-eighth New York. These troops attacked the Eebels with fury, drove them from the town, and the guns of the enemy were silenced by the Federal battery; but they found it impossible to effect a junction with the cavalry under General Hatch, or to recover the rear of the train which had been cut off. It was here that, as the Federal column continued their line of march, they were surrounded by numerous masses of the Rebel hordes, who repeatedly charged on them with cavalry, but were as often repulsed in solid squares, with all the gallantry and firmness of veterans. During these operations, the wagons which became disabled were burned from time to time, to prevent their contents from falling into the hands of the enemy ; while after each assault and each repulse, the line of march was quietly resumed. Many were wounded and slain on both sides ; and thus by slow stages the Federal forces approached, and finally reached Winchester. It was at this place that the most tragical scenes connected with this memorable and masterly retreat were destined to occur. The Rebels having concentrated twenty-five thousand men around the Federal forces as they lay in the vicinity of Winchester, commenced the attack at break of day on the 25th of May. The latter reposed upon their arms during their halt, and were ready at a moment's notice to THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 371 receive the eneray. The right wing, commanded by Colonel Gordon, comprised the third brigade, and the men were protected to some extent from the fire of the foe by stone walls in the vicinity. Colonel Donnelly commanded the remainder of the infantry, which was posted on the left. General Hatch and the cavalry occupied the centre. The enemy commenced the engage- ment by an attack on the left of the Federal line. Here they suffered severely, and the advantage remained with the Federals. On the right the enemy were more numer- ously posted, and were more successful in their opera- tions. They attempted to turn the flank of the Federal troops upon the Berryville road. A portion of the latter then retreated, the Rebels pursued, and a confused flight through Winchester took place. The right wing followed in better order, and covered the retreat through the town. On the opposite side of AVinchester order was again restored, and the line of march resumed. This battle continued during five hours. In it about five thousand men, of all arms, had confronted and en- countered with honor twenty-five thousand. The Rebels gained few laurels by the combat. The retreat was then continued toward Martinsburg, the Federal troops march- ing in three parallel columns. Bach of these columns was protected by a rear guard, which repeatedly and defiantly skirmished with the Rebels. At Martinsburg the Federal troops halted two hours and a half; thus demonstrating that they were not making a panic-stricken or precipitate retreat. After that interval the march was resumed; and at six o'clock on the same day, they reached the banks of the Potomac* at Williamsport. They had traveled fifty-three miles in forty-eight hours. A small number of the wearied troops crossed the river 872 A HISTORY OF during tlie night ; tlie remainder followed on tlie ensuing day. The Federal loss in this retreat was, under the circum- stances, a very small one. It was thirty-eight killed, one hundred and fifty-five wounded, seven hundred missing. All the Federal guns, sixteen in number, were saved. Out of a train of nearly five hundred wagons, only fifty- five were lost. Most of these were burned upon the road, because they had become wrecked, and not because they were abandoned to the enemy. Among the officers who especially distinguished themselves on this occasion was General A. S. Williams, commanding the division ; Colonels Donnelly and Gordon, command- ing the two brigades ; and General Hatch, the chief of cavalry. In the several engagements which took place during the retreat, not a few episodes occurred in which particular corps and single companies displayed the best and noblest qualities of the soldier. Our space forbids us to enumerate all of these. One of the most remarka- ble, which deserves special mention, was the eficape of the Zoudves tVAfrique, who had been the body guard of the comraander-in-chief. These men were selected to perform the dangerous duty of burning the bridges in the rear of the retreating column. They were com- manded by Captain Collis. When the overwhelming numbers of the enemy became evident, and it remained uncertain whether the Federal troops might not them- selves need the bridges by which to return, they aban- doned their task, pressed forward toward Winchester, and reached Middletown during the progress of the battle at that place. They there joined in the combat; but being only seventy in number, were overwhelmed by a vastly superior force, and compelled to retreat. They then pursued their march toward Winchester by a different THE SOUTHBEN EEBELLION. 373 route. In tlie vicinity of that town they again en- countered the enemy, and were compelled to turn back. Unable to unite with the main column in consequence of this obstacle, they took an obscure path over the mountains, intending to cross the Potomac at Pan-Pan tunnel. At Bloomery Gap they learned that a numerous body of the enemy were posted ten miles in advance, directly on their route. They therefore turned to the right, and marched to Hancock, on the Potomac, a distance of thirty miles ; escaping many perils, exhausted by excessive labors which would have overtasked the strongest frames, and yet safely bringing with them thirty-five wagons loaded with valuable stores, which had been abandoned by the army near Middletown. As Xenophon, in a former and distant age, derived the chief glory of a life not otherwise undistinguished, from the skill and valor with which he conducted the retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, after the death of the younger Cyrus at the battle of Cunaxa, through Asia Minor to the welcome shores of the Euxine Sea ; so the greatest renown of General Banks will hereafter probably be derived from the ability with which he effected the escape of his division from the Rebel hordes at Stras- burg, and led it in safety to Williamsport. This Federal hero was born in Massachusetts, in Jaauary, 1816. His early education was limited to the meagre routine.of the common school ; and his earliest industry was expended in the labors of a cotton factory at Walthara. He after- ward aspired to the craft and mastered the mysteries of a machinist. While engaged in this pursuit, he gratified his desire for intellectual improvement, and occasionally delivered popular addresses before temperance meetings, literary lyceums, and political assemblies. He afterward assumed the editorship of a rural newspaper, and engaged n 874 A HISTORY OF zealously in tlie political contests of tlie day. In 1849 he was elected a member of the Massacliusetts House of Eepresentatives. In 1851 be was chosen the Speaker of that body. In the following year he was promoted to a seat in the Federal Congress. In 1854 he was re- elected to that position ; and was chosen, after a spirited contest of nearly two months duration, to preside over the deliberations of the House. In 1857 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts ; and he performed the duties of that important office with eminent ability and success. The high reputation which he had gained for capacity, energy and integrity, turned the special regard of the administration upon him when the Eebellion broke forth ; and when a selection was to be made of some of the wisest and best men in the nation, to fill the offices of greatest responsibility in the military service of the country, tho once obscure cotton weaver of Waltham' was invested with the dignity and rank of major general in the Federal army. He was placed in command of a portion of the troops on the Potomac, and during many months evinced his fitness for his new sphere, by guard- ing a part of that river and the territory lying adjacent from the inroads of the Eebels. When at last the nation was gratified by the announcement that the march toward Bichmond was about to commence. General Banks led his forces into the bowels of the hostile land. We have elsewhere recorded the subsequent success which attended his movements in this important enterprise. We turn from the successful retreat of the Federal troops from Strasburg, to notice the mysterious flight of the Rebel forces from Corinth. Immediately after the battle of Shiloh, near Pittsburg Landing, the immense army which had conquered under General Albert Sidney Johnson, and had been defeated THE SOUTHERN BEBEELION". 375 on the next day under his successor in command, General Beauregard, retreated to Corinth, and entrenched themselves within the limits and in the vicinity of that town. Their future operations were unknown ; it was uncertain whether they would again advance, and try the fortunes of war in the open field, or whether they would await the attack of the Federal troops in their fortified position. The Union forces were soon afterward placed under the orders of General Halleck, an ofiicer whom, though riot as yet the victor in any great battle, the public unanimously agreed to applaud, as the ablest, or as one of the ablest, of the Federal commanders. By a combination of the troops under Generals Grant, Buell, Pope and Thomas, his army was augmented to the formidable number of over a hundred thousand men. An intense degree of interest centered around the struggle which, it was anticipated, would occur at that place. • During some weeks it was regarded by the popular mind, as equal in magnitude, importance, and the decisiveness of its results, to the final contest which was expected to occur at Eichmond. It was thought that, at Corinth, General Beauregard would attempt to revive and freshen the laurels which were writhered at Sliiloh ; to recover the crown which he had gained at Manassas, but which had been wrested from his brow at Pittsburg Landing. All these prognostications were destined to a sudden and complete disappointment. General Ilallcck had been slowly approaching Corinth during some days, feeling his way cautiously and prudently, when, on the 27th of May, he ordered General Sherman to advance toward the outer pickets of the enemy, select a position as near as possible to their entrenchments, and defend himself in it. Six or eight brigades were detailed to this service, and early in the 876 • A HISTORY OF morning of the day just named the operations began. At the first attack upon them the Rebels were taken by- surprise; but they quickly rallied, and their outposts being reinforced, an engagement of some severity ensued. This contest occupied a large portion of the day, but at three o'clock in the afternoon the whole line of the enemy broke and fled before the vigorous assaults of the Federal infantry and artillery. The latter advanced, and at the close of the day occupied the position deserted by the enem3^ This position was about thirteen hund'red yards distant from the main entrenchments of the Rebel army, upon which they had expended so much labor. General Sherman commenced at once to entrench his troops in their new post ; the lines were laid out after nightfall ; and so industriously did the Federal soldiers work that, before the dawn of the morning of the 29th their breast- works were completed. By nine o'clock of that day the siege trains were brought forward, and the artillery were placed in position. The Federal forces, consisting of a whole division, now occupied an immense curve around Corinth, facing southward ; the right wing resting on the Alobile and Ohio railroad, the left on the main road to Corinth. The two armies were in such close proximity to each other, that the sound of the drums and the voices of those in command, could be distinctly heard from the opposite camps. On the 30th of May it was expected that the last and greatest combat would commence. The attention of the Federal commanders had been attracted, and their suspicions aroused, during several previous days and nights, by the frequent noise of rail- road cars arriving and departing in a direction opposite to their own position. At six o'clock in the morning of the 80th, a succession of loud explosions which took place within the enemy's works, increased the mystery ; THE SOUTHERX REBELLION. 377 nor was that mystery solved until, after the order to advance had been given by General Sherman, it was discovered that the entrenchments of the Eebels were wholly deserted. The brigade of General M. L. Smith was the first to reach and to enter the redoubts of the fugitive foe. He then advanced into the town of Corinth, which he also found entirely evacuated by the Eebels. General Denver followed ; and by eight o'clock the entire division of General Sherman occupied the deserted town. An extraordinary spectacle now presented itself to the view of the Federal troops. Far and wide on every hand could be seen the remains of the abandoned camps. Numerous warehouses, in which the explosions referred to had taken place, were in flames or were smouldering in ruins. Immense quantities of flour and provisions, ammunition and clothing, lay scattered in the wildest confusion ; and» it was evident that the Rebels had evacuated their boasted stronghold by a rapid and dis- orderly retreat. Then it was ascertained from the re- maining citizens of the town that, during several days and nights, the immense army of General Beauregard had been transported over two railroads from Corinth ; although a portion of them had been compelled at last to leave in hot haste on foot, in order to escape the im- pending assault of the Federal troops under General Hal leek. The stars and stripes were soon unfurled over the recent fortifications of the enemy ; and in a few hours the victors occupied the various entrenchments which they had evacuated. That evacuation, so unexpected and so significant, excited tlie utmost astonishment throughout the nation ; and conjecture was busy in assigning the probable causes which might have produced it. The most prevalent and plausible supposition was, that the 878 A HISTORY OF Rebel commander was afraid to encounter the formidable Lost mustered under tlie banners of General Halleck ; and that they wisely averted the horrors and the disgrace of an overwhelming defeat, by a prudent and clandestine flight. This result was more acceptable and propitious to the Federal cause than a great though sanguinary victory would have been * A vast amount of stores and ammunition, several thousand stand of arms, and twenty- five hundred prisoners, afterward fell into the hands of the troops of the Union. Subsequent to the occupation of Corinth a pursuit of the enemy was ordered ; and General Pope's division was dispatched after that portion of them who had fled westward. He soon overtook their rear, six miles southwest of the town ; and an engage- ment ensued in which a number were slain on both sides, and some Rebel prisoners were taken. During the progress of these events, the Federal army in tlie Peninsula was steadily approaching Richmond. Its advance was marked from day to day by futile oppo- sition on the part of the enemy, and by several important and sanguinary contests between the opposing forces. On the 23d of May a reconnoissance was ordered by General McClellan, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the right wing of his army could cross the Chickahominy immediately, with safety and advantage. The troops detailed for this service proceeded up the left bank of the stream about three miles. The sixth Pennsylvania cavalry, who were in the advance, suddenly came in sight of the New Bridge which spanned it ; and before the Rebel pickets in the vicinity could apply the * The real motive for the evacuation of Corinth was, that the larger portion of the Rebel forces might he transferred thence to Richmond, and be united with those which afterward repulsed General McClellan from that capital. THE SOUTHERX REBELLION". 379 torch, they dashed forward and took possession of it. They immediately crossed over, together with Robinson's battery, and proceeded a short distance beyond the stream. As soon as these troops had ascended a liill, a few hundred yards distant from the bridge, the Rebels who were concealed in a dense woods, opened a fire upon them from several batteries. Robinson immediately responded with four guns, Titball with six guns, which they had quickly placed in a favorable position ; and a vigorous cannonade ensued. The Rebel artillery was sup- ported by a regiment of infantry, and by some squadrons of cavalry, who, in a short time endeavored to outflank their assailants. But this purpose was defeated by the latter, and they were in turn driven back. The action lasted nearly an hour, after which the Rebels abandoned the attack, and the Federal troops encamped for the night on the battle-field.. On the following morning the action was renewed. The Rebels assailed the Federals with a battery of four guns. But they effected little damage, in consequence of the inaccuracy of their aim. At length Wheeler's battery and Davidson's brigade were ordered forward to attack and capture the guns of the enemy, which were supported by several regiments of infantry, and by several squadrons of cavalry. The Federal troops advanced with great spirit, filling the air with their defiant shouts, and sending a hail-storm of balls into the ranks of the foe as they approached them. The latter did not wait for a nearer or closer contact ; but as soon as the order to charge bayonets had been given they broke and fled. They were pursued a short distance, after which the chase terminated and the Federal troops were recalled to their f(H'nier position. The Federal loss in this action was two killed and ten wounded. That of the enemy is unknown ; a partial yet 380 A HISTORY OF plausible conjecture would estimate it at a mucli larger number. A similar operation attended by a similar result, was effected on the left wing of the Federal army on the 24th of May. A reconnoissance was ordered on that day, to ascertain the strength of the Eebels in a position called the Pines ; and a considerable force consisting of infantry and cavalry, was placed under the command of General Naglee for that purpose. At ten o'clock these troops reached the spot where the enemy had planted two batteries, from which they immediately began to salute the Federals. The guns of the latter were quickly made to respond. The Eebel force consisted of these two batteries, containing eight guns, one regiment of infantry, and five hundred cavalry. During the progress of the contest which ensued, the eighth Pennsylvania cavalry attacked the horse of the enemy and completely routed them. The infantry also came into collision. But the chief execution was effected on both sides by the artil- lery. The batteries of the Eebels were shifted several times from their positions, and were driven in every instance from them with heavy loss. At length, after an engagement of two hours duration, the enemy retreated, and were concealed from the view of the victors by the foliage of a dense and shady forest. Skirmishers were then thrown forward to ascertain their location ; but as they could not be found within the compass of several miles, the pursuit was abandoned. They had retreated toward the right, in the direction of the Eichmond rail- road, in the vicinity of which, it was conjectured, a much larger force was then concentrated. The Federal loss in this action was five killed, sixteen wounded. That of the Eebels was probably much greater, as not a few of their cavalry were seen to fall from their horses, and were THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 381 afterward conveyed from the battle-field by the retreating enemy. These skirmishes and several others of less importance which took place at this period along the banks of the Chicahoniiny, were followed on the 27th of May by the more decisive battle of Hanover Court House. General McClellan readily discerned the necessity of cutting off the connection between the Eebel authorities at Rich- mond with those at Fredericksburg, which was preserved and maintained by the railroad running between those two cities. The task of destroying this road, and of routing the Rebel forces which might attempt to prevent the execution of the enterprise, was entrusted to the troops commanded by General Fitz John Porter. Ac- cordingly, at four o'clock in the morning of the 27th these troops were under arms, and the march began from the Federal camp. The sixth Pennsylvania cavalry were in the advance of the column, commanded by Major Williams. The line of march was along the New Bridge road, thence over the Hanover turnpike. The first glimpse of the enemy was obtained at McKinsey's Cross Roads, where their mounted pickets were encoun- tered. This place was six miles distant from Hanover Court House, and at noon the vicinity of that spot was reached. During the progress of the d^y three separate contests took place with the Rebel forces, in each of which they were routed. The first of these occurred at a locality known as Kinney's House. A number of Rebel troops had been concealed in and around this mansion ; and as the twenty- fifth New York regiment, who were then in the advance, approached it, a heavy fire was opened upon them. Their volleys were quickly returned while the Federals advanced. They then commenced to fire with a number 8S2 A HISTORY OF of field pieces, which they had posted on a road in front of the house. The Federal artillery were now placed in position, and responded to the guns of the enemy, while at the same time, Berdan's Sharpshooters were distributed to the right and to the left, for the purpose of picking off the Eebel gunners. These famous marksmen, lying flat upon the ground, according to their usual custom, took deadly and infallible aim at the foe ; and soon, one of the Eebel guns being wholly unmanned, they rushed forward and took possession of it. During this interval the Federal regiments in the rear were approaching the scene of action. Generals Butterfield, Martindale and McQuade brought their several brigades successively within range. A spirited contest of nearly two hours duration then ensued, between the Federal troops and the whole strength of the enemy collected at that point. At the expiration of that time the latter were driven from their position, and fled with precipitation through the woods. General Porter immediately ordered a pursuit ; and for three miles a chase followed, over boggy marshes, through dense forests, and among waving grain fields. The Eebels clearly demonstrated their superiority, if in nothing else, in their fleetness of locomotion ; and the best efforts of the Federals were defeated in the vain attempt to overtake the fugitives. While a portion of the Union forces were employed in this service. General Martindale's brigade was ordered to hasten to the Virginia Central railroad, and commence the work of its demolition. The order was obeyed with alacrity. In a short space of time forty rods of the road were destroyed, a bridge was burned, the telegraph was intercepted, and the communication of the enemy between Eichmond and Fredericksburg completely ruined. After this success an interval of several hours duration THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 383 ensued, during which the Federal troops rested upon their arms, and the Eebels were quietly receiving rein- forcements from Eichmond. At the end of that period the latter again appeared, and began to fire upon a house which had been occupied by the Federals as a hospital, and upon the troops who were in the vicinity. This attack quickly brought the forty-fourth New York regi- ment forward to the assistance of the assailed ; and soon the entire brigade of General Martindale was formed into line of battle. Thus the second engagement of the day began, during which the Rebels fought concealed in the woods. The firing on- both sides from cannon and musketry was rapid and continuous. Grif&n and Benson's batteries scattered shot and shell over the whole position of the enemy ; and after the lapse of an hour, the latter began to break and retreat. In a short time all those who had taken part in the action disappeared from view, and the Federal troops again remained masters of the field. But the labors and triumphs of the day were not yet terminated. At this crisis a more numerous body of Rebels took their position in the rear of Kinney's House, and recommenced the contest with great spirit. It is probable that they mustered fifteen thousand men, in this last effort to dislodge the Federal forces from the posses- sion of the railroad. General Porter, perceiving the importance of this final struggle, ordered his artillery to be brought forward and placed on both sides of the front of the enemy, so that he might shell them by diagonal fires, while the infantry made the attack in the centre, commanded by General Butterficld. These orders were executed with admirable skill and firmness. The troops advanced to the assault with hearty cheers which were suggestive of the inevitable victory which was to follow. Hard fighting again took place. The enemy remained 384 A HISTORY OF for the most part concealed in the woods ; but as the darkness of night approached, their fire slackened, and "before the close of the day they had evacuated their entire position. These two additional hours of fighting ended with the complete discomfiture and flight of the Eebel forces. A number of prisoners were taken. The victors slept on their arms, without any shelter, and occupied the field which they had signalized by their valor. The Federal loss during the entire day was forty killed, two hundred and twenty wounded. It was evident, from a subsequent examination of the woods in which the enemy had chiefly fought, and which they had evacuated, that their loss must have been much greater ; for the mangled bodies of their dead and wounded covered the ground both far and near. The various operations of an army so numerous as that then posted before Eichmond, would necessarily include many minor episodes and individual achievements which will never be recorded on the historic page ; in which the actors exhibited as much heroism as could be displayed on the most extensive and renowned battle- field. Our space permits us here to allude to but one of these. General McClellan having formed the determina- tion to open communications with the Federal gunboats on the James river, then fifteen miles distant from his camp, ordered Lieutenant Frank C. Davis, of the third Pennsylvania cavalry, to perform the task with an escort .of ten picked men. It was a service of considerable difiiculty and danger, from the fact that the intervening country was filled with the pickets of the enemy. The danger of capture or of death was imminent. A rare combination of prudence, tact and boldness was necessary to accomplish the feat. On the morning of Sunday, the 25th of May, the lieutenant started from the Federal THE SOUTHEKN REBELLION. 385 camp. Scarcely Lad he traveled four miles when lie encountered the pickets of the enemy posted in a wood. He avoided these by a sudden detour and pursued his journey. The same incident occurred several times, when his escapes from the impending peril were marvel- ous. At length he came within view of the James river, three miles distant, and beheld the Union gunboats riding at anchor upon its tranquil bosom. He hid his men in the woods and rode forward alone. Reaching the banks of the river, he obtained a small boat, and hired two negroes to row him to the Galena. He was met when half way by a cutter from the ship. The message with which he had been entrusted, though a very important one, had not been committed to writing, in order to avoid the possibility of its becoming known to the enemy by the capture of the messenger. The lieutenant having delivered that message and received his answer, commenced his return. He then encountered the same perils, and evaded them with the same success. He traveled with his escort during the whole night, and reached the camp in safety at eleven o'clock on Monday morning. General McGlellan directed his chief of staff to express to Lieutenant Davis his approbation of the prompt, discreet and satisfactory manner in which he and his men had performed the duty assigned them, in communicating with Captain Rodgers, the commander of the fleet of Federal gunboats in James river. 55 386 A HISTORY OF CHAPTER XXIII. APPROACH OF THE FEDERAL ARMY TO RICHMOND — THE CORPS OF GENERAL KEYS CROSS THE CHICKAHOMINY — THEIR EXPOSED POSITION HOSTILE PURPOSE OF THE REBEL LEADERS — THE BATTLE OP SEVEN PINES POSITION OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS COMMENCEMENT OF THE ATTACK DISPOSITION OF TROOPS MADE BY GENERAL CASEY INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE — ROUT OF CASEY'S DIVISION — GENERAL COUCH's TROOPS BECOME ENGAGED — DESPERATE FIGHTING — VICTORY OF THE REBELS — THE FEDERALS REINFORCED — THE ENGAGEMENT OF JUNE FIRST, GENE- BAL HEINTZELMAN IN CHIEF COMMAND INCIDENTS OF THIS BATTLE HEROISM OF THE IRISH REGIMENTS AND OF SICKELS' EXCELSIOR BRIGADE THE VICTORY OF FAIR OAKS — ITS RESULTS — POPULAR IMPATIENCE FOR THE OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND — REIiEL FORCES IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH — THEIR BRIEF OCCUPATION OF IT GENERAL FREMONT ORDERED TO EXPEL THEM — THEY ABANDON WIN- CHESTER THEIR RETREAT THROUGH STRASBURG AND WOODSTOCK BATTLE OF CROSS KEYS GALLANTRY OF THE BUCKTAILS RESULTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT BATTLE OF PORT REPUBLIC — INCIDENTS OF THIS ENGAGEMENT ITS RESULTS — RETREAT OF GENERAL JACKSON TOWARD RICHMOND APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL POPE AS COMMANDER OF THE DEPARTMENT-^WITHDRAWAI, OF GENERAL FREMONT — HIS MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS HIS TRUE RENOWN. The history of past ages demonstrates that, in every great struggle between contending nations, the contest will ultimately culminate in a few particular localities ; that there the chief resources of the combatants will be concentrated; that the engagements which take place at those points will be more colossal in their proportions, more obstinate and desperate in their spirit tlian those which preceded them ; and that they will produce a ■decisive effect on the issue of the contest one way or the oth^r. This maxim holds true with regard to the war THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 387 against the Southern Rebellion. It was in the vicinity of Richmond that some of the most terrible battles were destined to occur. There the chief military strength of the Rebels had been concentrated. Thither their ablest generals had been summoned. At that place they had evidently resolved, with a heroism not destitute of grandeur and dignity, but sadly perverted to an ignoble end, to conquer or to perish. We have now arrived, in the progress of this history, at the most sanguinary scenes which ever occurred on the American Continent and we will proceed, in this chapter, to describe a portion of them as they transpired at the spot which every patriot fondly hoped would prove the Arbela, the Phar salia, the Waterloo, of the Rebel Confederacy. The corps of General Keys, which formed a part of the army of General McClellau, comprised the two divisions of Casey and Couch. These troops were about twenty thousand in number. They first crossed the Chickahominy, as the pioneers of the grand army in the Peninsula, passing over by several bridges ; and they were thus placed in the advance in an isolated position. The camp of General Casey, whose troops led the van, was pitched in the vicinity of a spot designated by the name of Seven Pines. It was located about eight miles east of Richmond, near the highway wJiich runs between that city and Williamsburg. The first brigade was placed on the right, the second in the centre, the third on the left of the line. A number of breastworks had been thrown up immediately after the occupation of the camp ; and a line of rifle pits had been dug. The troops who composed this division, were for the most part new and raw levies, whose discipline was lax, and whose military experience was extremely limited. Many of them, unaccustomed to the hardships and privations of a 388 A HISTORY OF soldier's life, were sick ; and altbougli tlie men were individually as brave as their comrades, no corps of the entire army was less fitted than they, to repulse the first and sudden attack of an infuriated enemy. The division of General Couch consisted of twelve regiments. He had dug two lines of rifle-pits in front of his position, which was located in the interval between the camp of General Casey and Fair Oak Station. His troops were more familiar with the service, and were more numerous than those of General Casey. The Eebel commanders had conceived the plan of attacking these troops, with an overwhelming superiority of numbers, in their exposed position, while cut off from the rest of the Federal army ; and having destroyed them, to press on, break through the lines in the rear, and eventually intercept the communication of the army with the depot at White House, through which its supplies of ammunition and subsistence were obtained. On Friday, May 30th, the enemy made a reconnoissance in force for the purpose of ascertaining the precise position and strength of these troops, and the location of their camps. The Federal pickets, who were a mile in advance of the Federal lines, observed on that day and on the morning of the following, an unusual commotion in the camp of the Eebels, which was within their view ; but no apprehension was entertained of the momentous events which were about to follow. It was on Saturday, May 31st, that the first battle in the vicinity of Riclimond took place. On that d*ay the Rebels, having obtained accurate information respecting the exposed position of Generals Casey and Couch, made the attack. In the rear of the Federal troops the swollen waters of the Chickahominy rolled, effectually preventing their retreat in case they were overpowered. The plans of the Eebels THE SOUTHERN REB'ELLION. 389 were well laid ; their time of fiction was opportunely chosen ; their assault was commenced and continued with. energy and determination. At one o'clock in the day they advanced down the AVilliamsburg road, toward tlie Federal camp.* They fired three shells as a signal to the rest of their forces that all was ready ; and they then came upon the Federal pickets suddenly and unexpectedly. The pickets discharged their pieces, fell back, and com- municated the intelligence that the enemy were ad- vancing in considerable force. The one hundred and third Pennsylvania regiment was immediately ordered forward to support the pickets. So sudden was the attack, and so rapid the approach of the enemy, that before this regiment could load their pieces thc}^ received a volley of musketry. That volley was so effective that it disabled the regiment, not only by the loss of a fifth of its number, but also by completely demoralizing the * The position of the rJifferent brigades of General Casey's divi- sion before the engagement was as follows : General Naglee's brigade, consisting of the one hundred and fourth Pennsylvania, Colonel W. W. H. Davis ; eleventh Maine, Lieutenant Colonel Palmsteed; fifty-sixth New York, Colonel C. H. Van Wyck ; fifty- second Pennsylvania, Colonel J. C. Dodge : one hundredth New York, Colonel J. M. Brown, were on the right of the Williamsburg and Richmond stage road, and extended across the rail track for some distance. The second brigade, under command of General Wessels, consisting of the eighty-fifth Pennsylvania, Colonel T. I?. H. Howell ; one hundred and first Pennsylvania, Colonel T. II. Wilson ; one hundred and third Pennsylvania, Colonel M. H. Lehman ; ninety-sixth New York, Colonel J. Fairman, occupied the centre and guarded the turnpike. The third brigade, General J. N. Palmer commanding, consisting of the eighty-first New York, Lieu- tenant Colonel De Forest ; fifty-fifth New York, Colonel T. S. Bel- knap ; ninety-second New York, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson ; ninety-eighth New York, Lieutenant Colonel Durkee, were on the left of the road, and connected with the pickets of General Couch's division. L. n 390 -A HISTORY OF rest ; who, overcome and bewildered hy the suddenness of the surprise, broke and fled toward the rear in com- plete confusion. They carried with them to their comrades exaggerated reports of the vast numbers and the ferocious spirit of their assailants ; and announced the fact that their own regiment had been cut to pieces. This information, in itself so false, had the unfortunate effect of extending the panic to some extent among the remainder of the division, whose duty it now became to march against the exultant foe, and stem their advancing tide. For this purpose preparations were hastily made by General Casey. Spratt's battery was posted on the right, near the edge of the wood which skirted that extremity of the camp. Regan's battery was placed next to it. These were supported by the one hundredth New York, the eleventh Maine, the one hundred and fourth Pennsylvania, and the ninety-second New York regi- ments. The first salute the enemy received was from these batteries ; but they continued to advance with the steadiness of veterans. As they came within range of the musketry of the Federals, they returned the fire with such eflect, and still approached with such rapidity, that they compelled their opponents to retire a short distance. But now their progress was checked by an obstacle, undignified indeed, and unheroic, but quite unwelcome and considerable under the circumstances. Four hundred yards in front of the spot where the Federal batteries had been posted a rail fence ran, which it was necessary for the Rebels to cross or to remove. As often as they attempted to accomplish this feat, the Federal guns played upon them with grape and canister so destruc- tively, that their progress was arrested, and huge gaps were ploughed through their serried masses. It was not THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 891 until the ammunition of these guns was exhausted, and the wagons being still beyond the Chickahominy, it was impossible to bring forward a fresh supply, that the enemy were able to surmount and overcome the obstruc- tion. A closer combat then ensued. In vain did General Casey, with the coolness and valor of a veteran, ride along his shattered lines and endeavor to steady them, staggered and wavering as they were, from the fury of the assault made upon them by vastly superior numbers. He ordered a bayonet charge to be made, which was executed with as much force and effect as the strength and spirit of the' men permitted. But fresh and heavy masses of Rebels still rolled forward from their rear, to the front, so that the Federal troops were at length over- powered. They then retreated within their first line of defense. Here Bates' battery of six pieces was posted in a redoubt on the left, and Fitch's battery on tlie right. . These guns now opened on the advancing foe. Four Eebel batteries which had been brought forward responded to them, while the firing between the infantry was resumed with intense fury. They soon reached the redoubts and the rifle-pits, where the cannon of Bates and Spratt had been placed. It became impossible to save all of these, and in the end some of them were spiked and abandoned. The Federal troops vainlj'- attempted to resist the immense masses wliich now swelled forward, and swarmed like a countless host around them. Almost every regiment of Casey's division had by this time been eftectually broken and routed. It was now half past four. For three hours and a half those raw and inexperienced troops had stemmed the tide ; eight thousand men had resisted thrice their number ; and during all that period not more than half a mile had been yielded to the enemy S02 A HISTORY OF in retreat. During this period Grcneral Casey had ex hibited extraordinary courage, coolness and skill ; but this brave commander was unable to perform impossi- bilities. He had lost one fourth of his division, and many of his best officers. He had, however, rendered one essential service, by holding the Rebels in check until the Federal forces in his rear had time to prepare for their onset. A brief pause intervened between the retreat of Casey's division, and the renewed advance of the enemy against the division of General Couch. The troops of the latter were drawn up obliquely toward the foe, so that when they pressed forward, his right wing became first engaged. Here the twenty-third Pennsylvania regiment was posted, commanded by Colonel Neill. They reserved their fire until the enemy were close upon them ; a sheet of lurid flame and iron hail then flew into their ranks, and com- pletely staggered them. A bayonet charge by the gallant Pennsylvanians ensued, which added to their repulse, and to the extent of the slaughter which thinned their dense masses. Here a triumph was obtained which, had the Federal success been equal in other portions of the field, might have reversed the fortunes of the day. But soon the heavy fire of the enemy on their flank compelled them to recoil. The whole line was now engaged, and a disaster wliich occurred at this crisis on the left, produced a pernicions efiect. There the tenth Massachusetts regiment occupied a post near the rifle-pits ; but being ordered further to the left, was acci- dentally placed in an isolated position. When the enemy advanced the tenth engaged them heroically in front ; but during this action a portion of the Eebels succeeded in passing unobserved through the adjacent woods to the rear of that regiment. They then attacked THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 393 the tenth from that point with great fury. The result was that the men, surrounded bj destruction on both sides, broke and fled. They were afterward rallied, and subsequently took an honorable part in the engagement. Notwithstanding the heavy losses which the Rebels had already suffered, their endless masses still rushed forward into the conflict. Their batteries also were very effective. Accordingly, after a long and desperate struggle, the Federal lines began to give way. The first to retreat was the first Long Island regiment. In vain the fifty- seventh and sixty-third Pennsylvania endeavored to stop the flight. Their steady ranks crumbled like frost work before the terrific and well sustained fire of the enemy. Scarcely an officer remained on horseback. Slowly and reluctantly those heroic troops, which had hurled back the deluge of the Eebel hosts, three times their own number, were compelled to recede toward the Chicka- horainy, not " unaccountably and discreditably," as was asserted, but simply because human strength and valor, when placed in a desperate and helpless position, could not achieve miracles, or reverse the laws of physical nature. General Couch now fell back with his shattered column in the direction of the "Williamsbura: road. Here he asain arrayed his men in line of battle. At half past four o'clock, Greneral Sumner arrived on the field with Seds:- wick's division. These troops were disposed of as rapidly and judiciously as the occasion permitted; but not too soon to meet the advancing enemy. The thirtj^-first Pennsylvania, the first Minnesota, and the first chasseurs, were ordered to lie upon t^eir faces, and were thns con- cealed from their view. As the Rebels emerged from the woods, they delivered a volley at the Anderson Zouaves, who were posted in the rear. Then at the word 394 A HISTORY OF of command the prostrate troops bounded to their feet, and poured a deadly deluge of shot into the serried masses of the foe. Their ranks were mowed down like grain before the scythe of the reaper. The ground where they stood was covered with piles of dead and wounded. That discharge was the virtual end of the battle. Among the Rebel dead was General Davis ; among the wounded and prisoners was General Pettigrew. The troops of Sumner aided in stemming the victorious march of the enemy, and in saving the Federal forces engaged from total rout and destruction. Thus closed the battle of the Seven Pines. Both armies, exhausted, yet undismayed, passed the ensuing night upon the gory field, or near it, surrounded by the multitudes of the dying and the dead ; and anxiously awaited, during its solemn silence, the dawn of the next day, for the renewal of the fight and the decision of the struggle. The enemy had captured every thing which belonged to General Casey's camp, except the baggage wagons which had beeu sent to the rear several days before ; and they occupied the ground at the close of the day, which had been Casey's position at its com- mencement. On Sunday, June 1st, the Federal troops promptly stood to their arms in the dim and misty light of the early dawn. Important reinforcements had arrived during the night. On the right wing, the divisions of Eichardson and Sedgwick were posted, their left resting on Hooker's right. These divisions comprised the brigades of Burns, French and Meagher. Hooker's division occupied the centre of the line. The left wing was composed of the remains of the divisions of Generals Casey and Couch, whose futile valor had performed its thankless prodigies on the day before. At six o'clock General Heintzel- man, who had received the chief command of the forces THE SOUTHERN REBELLION'. 395 engaged, ordered a rcconnoissance to be mai^.e on the left and on the right, by wliich it was soon ascertained tliat the Rebels were posted in great strength in front of the Federal right and left flanks. It was nearly seven o'clock when the firing between the pickets gave evidence that the enemy had begun their advance, and were about to 2'enew the engagement. Heintzelman immediately ordered Hooker to attack the Rebels in front, and drive them back through the woods, from which they Ave re then emerging. Hooker's division comprised the Excel- sior brigade of Sickels, with the fifth and sixth New Jersey regiments. These troops advanced gallantly to the attack. They were warmly received by the enemy ; but as they approached, they loaded and fired repeatedly with the rapidity and i^egularity of trained soldiers. After an exchange of shots for some time, General Sickels ordered the second regiment of his brigade to clear the woods at the point of the bayonet. This order was executed with splendid effect. Colonel Hall led the charge in person. The front of the enemy was not a hundred yards distant; and as the Federal troops ap- proached, the Rebels fired a tremendous volley into their ranks ; but not a single man faltered. Onward rushed the bristling line of glittering steel. Then the shock came ; and soon the foe, shattered and broken, gave way and fled. Among the prisoners taken at this point was Major Herbert, of the eighth Alabama regiment. During the progress of this achievement, the division of General Richardson was gradually coming into action on the right. Here the ground was exceedingly difficult ; but the Irish regiments were fortunately in this part of tlie tight; and their powers of endurance and tlieir pugnacious spirit were well adapted to the emergency. As the brigades of French, Meagher and Howard com- 396 A HISTORY OF batted the foe, the men were sometimes up to their knees in the swampy and boggy soil. This unusual disadvan- tage would have disgusted or disheartened any other soldiers ; but it could not retard the impetuous sons of Erin, who rushed forward to the deadly encounter with jocular yells, and with all the mingled glee and furor of a " free fight." The enemy received them with a terrible discharge of musketry. General Howard had two horses shot under him, and was also wounded. A desperate struggle ensued. The superior numbers of the Rebels rendered the issue at one time extremely doubtful. At that moment the fourth and fifth Excelsior regiments of Sickels, who had already gained their share of the victory in another part of the field, were dispatched to the support of Eichardson's men. The battle now spread around to the New Jersey brigade, who stood up manfully to the enemy. At length the Rebels began to recede ; yet slowly and steadily. The Federal troops then pushed forward, crowding upon the yielding lines of the foe, as they floundered over the swampy ground. Two hundred of these were captured here. By eleven o'clock the firing ceased, the battle was over, the victory was won. The enemy were driven from every position which they had gained on the preceding day. Their main column rested a mile beyond the point which they held at the commencement of the engagement. Such was the battle, and such the victory of Fair Oaks, by which the misfortune and defeat of the Seven Pines were compen- sated for by ai)rilliant success. The Rebels were com- manded on this occasion by Generals Joseph E. Johnson, Longstreet, Pryor, Cobb, and linger. The guns and ammunition which they had captured on Saturday were not recovered ; they having been transported with prudent and thrifty haste to Richmond, immediately after the THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 397 close of tlie engagement on that day. On Monday the Federal forces were ordered forward to ^ccupy their first position, from which they had been driven on Saturday. The loss of the Eebel troops was very heavy, as the ground was covered thickly in many places with the slain and the wounded, whom they were unable to remove. The Federal loss during the battles of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks was eight hundred and ninety killed, three thousand six hundred and twenty-seven wounded, twelve hundred and twenty-two missing; making a total who were placed hors da comhat of five thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine.* After the battle of Fair Oaks, the loyal community of the United States generally expected that an immediate advance would be made by the Federal army against Bichmond ; and it is quite probable, that if such a move- ment had taken place without delay, and no further time had been allowed the enemy to concentrate their troops in colossal masses around the Rebel capital, as they afterward did with extraordinary promptitude and energy, the city might have been captured and occupied Avith little difiiculty. But such an advance of the Federal army at that moment was probably a physical im- possibility. A small proportion of McClellan's troops had as yet crossed the Chickahominy ; and these had been greatly weakened by two days' harcj fighting. Only two or three bridges had been constructed over the stream, and these were swept away by the violent storm * The loss of Uie Rebels, according to the official report subse- quently made by General J. E. Johnson, was four thousand two hundred and thirty-three, including killed, wounded, and missing. He also claimed to have captured ten pieces of artillery, six thousand stand of arms, five colors, beside a large amount of camp eq^uipage. 398 A HISTORY OF and freshet whicli ensued the day after the battle of Fair Oaks. The Eeljels had fought with heroism — with a desperation and firmness unsurpassed by any troops in modern times — filling up enormous chasms in their columns, when ploughed and shivered to pieces by the Federal guns, with -the most wonderful determination and readiness. To attack such troops with sudden and im- prudent haste, with inferior numbers, or at a serious disadvantage of position, would have insured the inev- itable defeat and destruction "of the Federal army, Eichmond was defended even then by eight immense fortifications, supported by nearly a hundred thousand effective troops ; and the operations intended to vanquish such formidable armaments and such resolute champions, must be executed with great deliberation and skill. Hence it is evident that the impatience for the immediate capture of the Eebel capital, which at this period pervaded the loyal community, and the censure which followed its disappointment, were based upon an ignorance of the real facts of the case, and were therefore unreasonable and unjust. In accordance with the maxims which controlled the conduct of General McClellan, he proceeded immediately after the victory of Fair Oaks, to select his camp, form his lines, and erect his breastworks, for the purpose of making his regular approaches to Eichmond. His entrenchments, after his position had been fully taken, presented a front of about fifteen miles, extending from Mechanicsville, on the extreme right, to a position at "White Oak Swamp, on the extreme left. Nearly a month was destined to elapse before any further military opera- tions of importance took place near the Eebel capital ; during which interval the Federal troops were employed in the completion of their breastworks, and the Eebels in THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 399 concentrating all tlieir available forces in tlie vicinity. In the meantime events of importance and interest were transpiring in other portions of the Union, to which we will now direct our attention. The sudden and brilliant expedition of the Rebel General Jackson, by which he expelled General Banks from Virginia, and restored the supremacy of their arms in the valley of the Shenandoah, produced results of a transient and inconsiderable character. The occupation of Front Royal by the victors was very brief. They took possession of it on Saturday, the 21th of May, and on the ensuing 30th they evacuated it. This movement was the commencement of a general desertion of the valley, and of the entire expulsion of the forces of Jackson from the scene of his late remarkable successes. After the arrival of General Banks at Williamsport, General Fremont was ordered to descend from his mountain department, and bring his troops to bear upon the enemy. Accordingly he sent forward a brigade, preceded by four companies of the Rhode Island cavalry, commanded by Major Nelson, with instructions to attack the Rebels, who held possession of Front Royal. These forces consisted of the eighth Louisiana, a portion of the twelfth Georgia regiments, and a body of cavalry. A spirited action ensued before the Rebels evacuated the place. The Federal loss was eight killed and six wounded. Eighteen Federal soldiers were retaken, who had been captured by the enemy a week previous, together with two engines, and eight cars loaded with ammunition. The loss of the Rebels in killed and wounded was severe. Then began the masterly retreat of Jackson, and the well-conducted pursuit of Fremont, through the valley of the Shenandoah. The latter left Franklin with the main body of his troops, and by rapid 400 A HISTORY OF marclies crossed the iuterveniug mountains, toiling over a hundred miles of difiicult roads, with very limited means of transportation and subsistence. About the same period General Jackson withdrew from Winchester. Fremont pressed on toward Strasburg, which the Eebels were approaching in their full strength. Colonel Chezerut, who commanded the advance of Fremont's forces, first encountered the enemy, five miles from Strasburg, on tlio Winchester road. The Federals were assailed by a spirited cannonading ; but when General Fremont pro- ceeded to draw out his troops in line of battle, in anticipa- tion of a general engagement, Jackson declined the challenge, and retreated; in the meantime holding the Federal advance in check. The Eebel general continued his retreat through Strasburg toward Woodstock, losing twenty-five prisoners in the chase which ensued. Stras- burg was then occupied by General Fremont without op- position. For the purpose of ascertaining the route and position of the enemy, he ordered Colonel Figgelraenzel with a number of men to make a reconnoissance at mid- night near that town. By this movement it was ascertained that Jackson's rear guard w^as lying in ambush a few miles beyond Strasburg, waiting for the advance of the Federal forces. They fired upon the Federal scouts as they approached, wounding three, of them. The next day the pursuit was continued by the cavalry brigade, under General Bayard. Constant skirmishing took place between the pickets of both armies. The Rebels passed through Woodstock without halting. The town was then occupied by General Fremont, the Eebel army lying three miles beyond it. During this portion of the chase, though no engagement of importance occurred, several hundred Eebel prisoners were captured. The retreat and the pursuit through the valley of the THE SOUTHERN KEBELLION". 401 Shenandoah continued without further incident of im- portance until the 8th of June. On that day the Rebels reached a position in the vicinity of Harrisonburg called Cross Keys, where an engagement took place. Colonel Windham had been ordered to advance four miles beyond that town, for the purpose of making a reconnoissance. The first New Jersey cavalry were detailed to this service. The colonel imprudently extended his march three miles further than the distance specified in his orders, and thus fell into an ambuscade which had been placed in the woods. The Rebels being posted in strong force, attacked him. A severe contest ensued. The Rebel General Ashby was conspicuous in this fight for his superior skill and daring. The Federal troops were driven back, and Colonel Wyndham was taken prisoner. The enemy were driving the New Jersey troops before them, when General Bayard was ordered to the rescue with the Bucktail regiment, the first Pennsylvania cavalry, the eighth and sixteenth Virginia regiments. The contest was then renewed, and was maintained with great spirit on both sides. The enemy were expelled from their position, with the loss of a portion of their camp equipage. The struggle was still continued with an uncertain issue. Night was approaching when General Bayard ordered Colonel Kane to proceed with the Bucktail rifles to explore the dense forest of pines to the left. This brave company, numbering about a hundred and thirty men, at once advanced toward the almost invisible enemy. They suddenly found themselves surrounded, both in front and on the flank, by a numerous body of Rebels,, consisting of four regiments of cavalry, together with artillery But the Bucktails did not flinch in this emer- gency, and opened their fire with deadly effect upon the serried masses around tliem. Their valor was vain and 26 402 A HISTORY OF fruitless against such overwhelming numbers. Their ranks were quickly thinned by the destructive attack of the foe. Their gallant commander was wouijded and captured. Nothing now remained but to retreat with the wreck of their corps. This feat they performed leisurely and without precipitation, halting from time to time to return the shots of the pursuing Rebels. The loss of the Bucktails was about six killed, thirty-six wounded, ten missing ; that of the remaining Federal troops was eighteen killed, forty wounded, thirty missing. The loss of the Rebels was also severe. As General Fremont did not wish at that unpropitious time to court a general engagement, his troops were withdrawn when darkness overspread the scene. In this battle General Ashby, the bold and chivalrous commander of the Rebel cavalry, was slain. On the next day, the 9th of June, the pursuit of- the enemy was continued. The Rebels were then in full retreat toward Port Republic. General Blenker com- manded the left wing, General Milroy the right, General Schenck the centre of Fremont's forces. The reserve .consisted of the brigades of Stahl and Bayard. The .advance of the Federals was so close upon the rear guard of Jackson, that the latter had scarcely time to cross the Shenandoah to avoid capture. General Tyler commanded the advance of Shields' division, which afterward engaged the enemy. The action which ensued took place at Port Republic, seven miles beyond Harrisonburg, on the route toward Staunton. The number of Federal troops en- gaged was about three thousand ; that of the enemy was at least eight thousand. General Jackson had posted the latter in the woods so as to outflank the Federals on the left. The batteries of Captains Clark and Robinson were ;i]rst brought forward and were made to bear upon them THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 403 ■with effect. Several companies of skirmishers were tlien ordered to penetrate into the woods, to feel the enemy. The Rebels soon advanced from their retreat, and prepared to attack the Federals by a combined front and flank movement. The seventh Indiana infantry, under Colo- nel Gavin, were sent to the right to counteract the operations of the Rebels at that point. They were there assailed by two regiments advantageously posted under cover of the banks of the Shenandoah. So destructive was the fire of the Rebels here, that Colonel Gavin was compelled to retire. The twenty-ninth Ohio was then sent forward to support him; while the seventh Ohio was dispatched to the aid of Clarke's battery, and the fifth Ohio to the help of Huntingdon's battery. The first Virginia regiment was posted on the extreme right ; and the whole of the Federal troops of General Tyler's brigade being at length in position, the battle became general. The artillery of the Rebels was served with great energy and skill. During the progress of the en- gagement on the right wing, the Rebel commander placed additional troops in such a position as to attack the Federal batteries posted there with immense vigor, and eventually to capture them. The seventh and fifth Ohio were afterward brought to bear upon the foe with such success that these batteries wgre retaken. For a short interval the heroism of the Federal troops, though fighting against a much superior force, rendered the issue of the day doubtful, and almost wrested a triumph from the inevitable victors in so unequal a struggle. But at this crisis immense reinforcements were seen crossing the river from the town of Port Republic to the aid of the Rebels ; and to have encountered these also, would have been to invite destruction. General Tyler therefore gave the order to retreat. Unfortunately, it was found 404 A HISTORY OF impossible to remove tlie heavy guns, the horses beiug nearly all either killed or disabled ; and they fell into the hands of the enemy. The Federals, however, captured one gun and sixty-seven prisoners. They retreated and the Eebels pursued, until the former ap- proached the main body of General Shields's division ; when the Rebels fled in their turn. The Federal loss on this occasion was about one hundred killed, four hundred and twenty wounded, three hundred missing. The loss of the Rebels, though its exact number is unknown to us, was also • heavy. On the advance of Fremont after the battle, two hundred of their dead were counted on the field, and many had already been buried. A number of valuable Federal officers had been slain. One of the companies of the Bucktail regiment lost all its officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned. The battle of Port Republic, though desperately contested during five hours, was in reality a repulse to the Federal arms. The exposed and isolated position of the advance of General Shields, rendered the troops who belonged to it an easy prey to the overwhelming and concentrated masses of the enemy, and invited their assault under circumstances extremely unfavorable to the Union forces. After this engagement the retreat of Jackson was continued toward Staunton, and eventually to Richmond. No engagement of any importance took place between him and the troops of General Fremont subsequent to the battle of Port Republic. On the 25th of June tlie armies of Fremont, McDowell, and Banks were consoli- dated by the President into one body, to be designated by the title of the Army of Virginia ; and the chief com- mand of it was conferred on General John Pope, the hero of New Madrid, and of Island Number Ten. By this arrangement the forces of Fremont constituted the first THE SOUTHERN REBELLIOJvT. 405 firmy corps; those of Banks, the second; those of McDowell the third. General McCall's division, ten thousand strong, which had formed part of McDoaa'cH's corps, was transferred at once to the army under McClellan. This new arrangement, which the President had adopted for the purpose of giving greater energy and efficacy to the movements of the troops in the valley of the Shenandoah, was readily acquiesced in by Generals McDowell and Banks ; but it did not meet the approba- tion of General Fremont. He regarded it as an act of injustice to him ; as calculated to diminish his personal consequence in the service, and to injure his reputation with the community. He therefore resolved to withdraw from the service, and notified the Secretary of War of his intention to that effect. Thus ended the brief campaign of General Fremont in the valley of the Shenandoah. It cannot be affirmed that the spirit which marked the abandonment of his command in Virginia, was characterized by the same rare degree of patriotism, dignity and self-denial which had adorned his conduct when removed from his administration in Missouri. From the camp and the battle-field he retired to the repose of private life, to observe in his retreat the marvelous vicissitudes of a contest in which he had enacted, if not the first, yet an honorable part. Never- theless, it must be admitted, that the chief glory of the career of this eminent man will always be associated with his adventures and achievements as an explorer of the untrodden solitudes of the remotest West ; where he became the pioneer to discover the way to new realms, in which a youthful but mighty people could find one of tlie most profitable and appropriate arenas for the exer- cise and development of their gigantic energies. As the heroic and resolute "Pathfinder" to the golden climes of 406 A HISTORY OF the modern Eldorado, across tlie frozen precipices and through the abysmal gorges of the Rocky Mountains, his name will live, and will be justly honored on the pages of American history through many generations to come. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 407 CHAPTER XXiy. PROMIXEXOE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN THE EVENTS OF THE WAR — FLEET OF GUNBOATS COMMANDED BY COMMODORE DAVIS — EVACUATION OF FORT PILLOW THE NAVAL BATTLE BEFORE MEMPHIS RELATIVE STRENGTH OF T1IE COMBATANTS INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT DEFEAT OF THE REBEL. FLEET — COLONEL ELLET — RESULTS OF THE VICTORY — GENERAL NEOLEY'S EXPEDITION AGAINST CHATTANOOGA COLONEL UAMBRIGHT — INCIDENTS OF THE EXPEDITION ITS RESULTS GENERAL JIORGAN EXPELS THE REBELS FROM CUMBERLAND GAP DISASTER TO THE FEDERAL ARMS AT JAMES ISLAND — DESCRIPTION OF THE REBEL WORKS — ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE ATTACK — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — ULTIMATE DEFEAT OF tHE FEDERAL TROOPS — THEIR RETREAT — FEDERAL LOSS — GALLANTRY OF THE REBEL COMMANDER LAMAR EXPEDITION OF COLONEL FITCH UP THE WHITE RIVER — THE ENGAGEMENT AT ST. CHARLES HORRIBLE ACCIDENT TO THE MOUND CITY EXECRABLE CRUELTY OF CAPTAIN FRY CAPTURE OF THE REBEL FORTS — FINAL SUCCESS OF THE EXPEDITION — EXCURSION OF COLONEL HOWARD FROM NEWBERN TO SWIFT CREEK — ITS RESULTS — BOMBARD- MENT OF VrCKSBURO COMMENCED PERILOUS PASSAGE OF COMMODORE FARRAGUT'S FLEET NEW CHANNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPI, OxE of the most brilliant pages in the history of the war against Secession, is that which records tlie achievements of the champions of the Union on the ^Mississippi river. On the great "Father of Waters" defeats and disasters, though not wholly unknown, were unfamiliar things: triumph and supremacy were the prevalent features which marked the scene. On the 6th of June, 1862, the fleet of Federal gunboats and rams commanded by Flag Officer C. 11. Davis, comprising eight vessels, approached Fort Pillow, located on the banks of the Mis.sissippi, in the vicinity of Memphis. It was the intenticm of the commodore to bombard the 408 A HISTORY OF Rebel works, wTiicli were of considerable strength, mounting six one hundred-and-twenty-eight pounders and fifteen sixty-four pounders. But the enemy evacuated the place, together with Forts Randolph and "Wright, rendering an attack unnecessary. These places were then occupied by a requisite number of Federal troops. Commodore Davis then proceeded with his fleet toward Memphis, A formidable Rebel flotilla awaited his approach. It consisted of eight gunboats which respec- tively bore the names of the General Bragg, the Lovell, the Jeff. Thompson, the Beauregard, General Van Dorn, the Sumter, General Price and the Little Rebel. They were commanded by Commodore Edward Montgomery. They bad previously been coasting steamers, and had been converted into gunboats. They carried from two to twelve heavy guns each, which were worked en harheiUi on carriages. In the action which ensued the gunboats of Commodore Davis which were brought into action, were the flag ship Benton, the Louisville, Cairo, Saint Louis, and Carondelet. In addition to these there were four steam rams, commanded by Colonel Charles Ellet, named the Queen of the West, Monarch, Lancaster and Switzerland. During the night preceding the battle, the Rebel fleet moved down the river toward Memphis. At that time Commodore Davis lay at anchor two miles above the city. When the morning of the 6th dawned, the Rebel fleet was seen steaming up in line of battle. They were soon met by the Federal vessels in gallant style opposite Memphis. The inhabitants of that city swarmed in multitudes upon the levee, the bluff, and the roofs of the houses adjacent to the river. The stores were closed and all business suspended, during a day which was destined to witness one of the most complete defeats to the Rebel arms which had yet overtaken them. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 409 The engagement began at lialf-past five in tlie morning. While the vessels were approaching each other Colonel Ellet ordered two rams, the Queen and the Monarch, to proceed down the river and pass between the Eebel boats and the shore. The current was strong, the river was narrow, and the enemy, from their position in fighting up stream, possessed the advantage of the steerage way. The two rams having reached the desired position, rounded to and commenced the engagement. The Queen drove with prodigious force into the General Price, one of the Rebel rams, taking her wheel completely off; and after a short exchange of shots the latter sank. Soon after- ward the Queen was herself run into by the Beauregard, and being struck on the wheel-house witb tremendous violence was severely disabled. The Monarch then approached the Beauregard, and saluted her with a ferocious butt in the bow, which completely disabled her. She subsequently sank ; though her crew were rescued by the timely interposition of the Little Rebel. The Benton and the Lovell then came into action. The fifty-pound Par- rott guns of the former produced an immense efi'ect on her antagonist. She was raked fore and aft, some of the shots penetrating her sides. In five minutes her boilers exploded, and the most horrible spectacle was presented to view. Iler crew, scalded, suffocated, and suffering the intensest agonies, rushed upon deck and filled the air with their frantic screams, praying for help. The vessel immediately began to sink, and it was with diffi- culty that a yawl, sent from the Benton, was able to take off a few of the sufferers, before she went down in a hundred feet of water. Nearly all her crew were drowned; and their last exclamations of terror and despair mingled with the seething and bubbling sound of the waves, as she descended forever from view. 410 A HISTORY OF The remainder of the Ecbcl flotilla had thus for been engaged at long range. The Beauregard had been com- pletely riddled with shot; was rapidly becoming unman- ageable ; was filling with water ; and was drifting help- lessly toward the shore. She eventually sank upon a shoal to her decks. The Little Kebel was struck by two shots upon her upper works ; she was then run ashore by her commander, abreast of President's Island, and was eventually abandoned by lier crew. Disasters now came thickly upon the rest of the vessels of the enemy. By this time the Jeft'. Thompson was on fire ; and the flames soon gained such headway that it was impossible to ex- tinguish them. The fiery tongues of the destroying element ran hither and thither over her whole extent, enveloping every portion of it. Soon her wheel-houses disappeared, then her chimney fell overboard, tearing with it a portion of her deck ; at length her magazine exploded. The concussion shook the earth, uprolled the tranquil bosom of the Mississippi in multitudinous billows, and filled the air with hundreds of flying shells. At last nothing remained of the once formidable vessel except a few blackened and charred timbers, which leisurely floated away in fragments on the surface of the river. The Sumter now became disabled by the steady and destructive shot of the Federal boats, and was drifted ashore at the foot of -President's Island. There she was abandoned. The General Bragg, unable any longer to continue the contest, retreated down the river, and was run ashore about three miles below Memphis. She was also abandoned by the Rebels. When the Federal victors from the Benton boarded her, they found twice the ordinary pressure of steam upon her boiler ; thus proving the evident intention, on the part of her late occupants when leaving, to blow her to atoms. A prize THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. ' 411 crew was tlien placed on board, tlie stars and stripes were unfurled, and she was towed to an ancliorage at Mempliis. About tbe same time, a shot penetrated the boiler of the active and dauntless Little Eebel. It ex- ploded, and she was at once completely disabled. She started to reach the Arkansas shore, but was overhauled and taken. Thus the entire fleet of the enemy was either captured or destroyed, in an engagement which did not continue longer than an hour and a half, with the single exception of the flag-ship Van Dorn. This vessel, in consequence of her superior speed, being fleeter than the Federal gunboats, made her escape. She was pursued eight miles below Memphis, where the futile chase was relinquished. A more complete and wholesale defeat could scarcely be imagined, than that which had thus overtaken this famous Mississippi flotilla. Its com- mander Commodore Montgomery, with most of his ofi&cers and some of his men, succeeded in making their escape to the forests on the Arkansas shore. Their loss in killed and wounded was heavy, probably not less than a hundred. The Federal loss was comparatively light. Commodore Ellet, the brave commander of the Union rams, was wounded during the action by a pistol shot in the leg. It was a singular fact that he alone, of all the Union soldiers in this engagement, should have been struck by the enemy ; and that he should afterward expire from the combined effect of the wound, general exhaustion, and unskillful treatment. Among the Fede- ral vessels, the Queen of tlie West had been the most severely disabled. Iler machinery was so terribly jarred by the vigorous butting of the Eebel rams, as to be unable to move, and she was towed to her anchorage after the termination of the battle. Immediately after the engagement the victorious fleet 412 A HISTORY OF steamed up to the lauding at Memphis. Commodore Davis then dispatched a messenger to John Parke, the major of the citj, informing him that he had taken possession of the place, that he would put it under military authority, and that he desired his cooperation in the preservation of order. To this communication Mayor Parke responded, that the municipal authorities of Memphis possessed no means of resistance, and that he would be happy to comply with the request of Com- modore Davis, and assist him in the preservation of peace and order. A portion of the Federal troops were subsequently quartered in the city, the national colors were unfurled from the public buildings, and the supre- macy of the Federal Government again established in one of the chief marts of Tennessee. The ultimate conse- quences of this victory were very important. It assisted materially in clearing the Mississippi of the presence and the power of the Rebel gunboats. With the single ex- ception of Vicksburg, every other stronghold of the foe on that great river had now been removed ; the conquest of Vicksburg alone was necessary to complete the triumph ; and by this means one of the chief arteries of the body of the Rebel Confederacy would be effectually severed. It was confidently expected that that desirable result would be accomplished at an early period. Other triumphs to the Federal arms occurred, nearly at the same time, on the soil of Tennessee. The Rebels had erected strong batteries at Chattanooga, a flourishing town in Hamilton county, a hundred and forty miles southeast of Nashville. It was the eastern terminus of the railroad from the capital of the State and the point of connection with the railways of Georgia. It was also a valuable shipping point for Middle and Eastern Ten- nessee. General Mitchell, appreciating the importance THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 413 of tlie position, determined to attack it with one of tliose brilliant and sudden assaults by which he had already distinguished himself. He entrusted the execution of his enterprise on this occasion to General Negley. Chatta- nooga being situated on the Tennessee river, at the head of the light draught navigation, commanding the moun tain region in East Tennessee, being also a great railway centre, and being directly connected by them with West- ern Virginia and even with Kichmond, fully justified the risks which were run to attain its possession, and to wrest it from the occupancy of the enemy. Starting forth from the camp of General Mitchell at Tluntsville in Alabama, Colonel Hambright, under the orders of General Negley, rapidly approached Chatta- nooga, routing and dispersing on his way a body of Kebel cavalry, commanded by General Adams. On the 7th of June he commenced an attack on the batteries of the enemy at that place. After a vigorous cannonading of three hours duration they were silenced and evacuated. On the next day the town was shelled. In six hours the Kebels were driven from all their works, and were forced to evacuate the place entirely. As they retired they burned the railroad bridges, in order to prevent the pursuit of the Federal victors. Eighty prisoners were taken. A large number of horses and cattle, intended for the Kebel service, were also captured. The Kebel works were completely destroyed, and the place unfitted for future hostile operations. This conquest relieved the loyal citizens of that vicinity from the heavy yoke of the Kebel authorities which had so long galled them, and confirmed their attachment to their legitimate government. It wrested from the enemy all the advan- tages which the possession of the town had given them, from its peculiar position as the great railroad centre, to 414 A HISTORY OF wliicli we have already referred. After this achievement General ISTeglej returned to camp with the trophies of his victory. His loss was two killed, seven wounded, three missing. The advantages thus gained were increased in Ten- nessee on the 17th of June, when General Morgan ad- vanced toward Cumberland Gap for the purpose of attacking and expelling the Eebel Generals Stevenson and Smith, who occupied it with thirteen thousand men. This gap is a cleft in the Cumberland Mountains, which run from the northeast to the southwest through the State ; and it is so deep and so narrow that there is room through the gap for only a single roadway. The Eebels had fortified it with great assiduity. Its importance as an entrance to Eastern Tennessee justified their efforts in reference to it. It was expected that they would defend its possession with the utmost tenacity. No such result followed. When the Eebel leaders were informed of the approach of the Union force under General Morgan, they evacuated the place. They left several hundred tents standing, and they threw vast quantities of their projectiles over the cliffs into the yawning ravines below. Their mortar guns were spiked and their carriages mutilated. After thus rendering what they left behind them as useless as possible, the whole force retreated. The Gap was then occupied by the Federal troops, another avenue of communication was. opened between the loyal citizens of Eastern and West- ern Tennessee, and another stronghold of the Eebels ^ destroyed. From these successes in the interior of the country, we turn to view the operations of the Federal arms on the Atlantic seaboard. There the tide of fortime turned against the Federal arms, and a disastrous defeat over- THE SOUTIIEKX REBELLION. 415 took tlicin in tlie vicinity of the renowned hotbed of rebellion. On the 16th of June General Benham, the second in command under' General Hunter in the Department of the South, attackec^ the works which the Eebels had erected on James Ishmd, in the neighborhood of Charles- ton ; and was ignominiously repulsed with heavy losses. The enemy had constructed a line of defenses running across this island, together with a fort and an observa- tory, in such a position as to enable them to overlook the operations of the Federal commanders. The purpose of General Benham was also to destroy a floating battery which had been anchored near Secessionville, and which, together with the works already named, presented serious obstacles to the further advance of the Federal forces toward Charleston and Fort Johnson. Secessionville was a small village, the summer resort of a few of the planters who resided on James Island, Its location is on the eastern side of the island, on the high bank of a creek which passes through the marshes of James and Morris Islands, and empties into the Stone river near its mouth. Five hundred yards south of Secessionville Colonel Lamar had erected a battery, flanked on its sides by the marsh and the creek. The Eebel troops posted here consisted of several companies *of the Charleston Light Infantry, and of the Charleston Battalion, with large detachments of the South Carolina volunteers, making in all about five thousand men. The Federal force selected to assault the works consisted of three brigades commanded by Generals Stevens, Wright, and Williams, comprising about three thousand five hundred men. The attack was commenced by General Stevens, whose troops consisted of the Michigan eighth, the Con- necticut sixth and seventh, and the Massachusetts twenty- 416 A HIriTORY OF eighth regiments, supported bj^ a battery of four guns. The Michigan eighth led the van, and suffered more severely than any of their associates. The assault began at break of day. The Rebel pickets were driven in ; and a rapid advance was then made toward the fort. In effecting this movement the Federals encountered an open battery of three guns, which were posted about a hundred yards in front of the entrenchments. The Rebels were driven from these pieces, which were captured. It was evident that the occupants of the en- trenchments had been taken completely by surprise; but they were quickly aroused from their slumbers, and received the assailants with the utmost resolution. In the engagement which ensued, General Wright's brigade supported General Stevens on the left, while General Williams was ordered to make a flank move- ment to the right, and from that quarter to join in tlie attack. As it was suspected that masked batteries were concealed in the woods in this direction, General Williams was advised to execute the movement with caution ; but he ordered his men to advance rapidly without taking any measures against surprise. The result \vas that, as soon as his forces reached their desired position at the side of the fort, a powerful battery opened upon them from an opposite direction, which, together with the fire in their front, produced a deadly effect. The fighting on both sides now became fierce and desperate. The works were surrounded by deep ditches, and surmounted by high parapets. The eighth Michigan and New York seventy-ninth assailed the fortifications in front with dauntless heroism. They succeeded in filling the ditch, and constructed a causeway at one point, under the close and heavy firing of the enemy. Repeated onsets were then made, and determined strug- THE SOUTHERN" EEBELLION". 417 gles took place to storm the works ; but though often on the verge of success, the Federals were as often repulsed and driven back by the indomitable resistance of the enemy. It is probable indeed, that if, at one time during the contest in front, a judicious and vigorous cooperative movement had been made on the flank, the assault might have been successful ; but such was not the case. The Eebels were effectually aided in their defense by the firing from Fort Johnson, which was located at some distance to the right. Many of the gunners in the fort were killed ; especially when, after being repulsed from the attack in front, the Federal troops drew off and renewed the assault on the right flank. There three regiments deployed in line of battle, and being partially protected by a growth of underbrush, poured into the fort a continuous and deadly fire, at the distance of a hundred and fifty yards. Some of the gun-carriages in the entrenchments were perforated by their balls. This assault might have proved more successful, had not the Louisiana battalion, commanded by McHenry, come to the rescue, formed on the right facing the marsh, and opened their fire upon their assailants with such effect that the latter were compelled to recede after suffering heavy losses. Another desperate attempt was made to carry the works by passing further out to the westward, and attacking the fort directly in the rear. But this intention was also defeated by the stubborn and resolute resistance made by the Eutaw regiment. At length it became evident that the assault was a total failure, and a general retreat was ordered. The third New Hampshire troops were the last to leave the disastrous field, and narrowly escaped being captured by several regiments of Soutli Carolina. Two Federal gun- boats which* then lay in tlie Stone ]-ivcr were unable to. 27 418 A HISTORY OF render mucli assistance, in consequence of their remote position ; but during the retreat, in attempting to shell the pursuing Eebels, they did nearly as much damage to their allies as to their foes. The entire enterprise was a most miserable disaster. Scarcely so great a military abortion had been perpetrated by any other Federal commander during the entire war. General Benhara was afterward summoned to Washington to explain and justify his conduct. The total loss of the Federal forces in killed, wounded, and missing, was five hundred and twenty-nine. This large number demonstrated that the Federal soldiers had fought with the courage and de- termination which usually characterized them ; and that their defeat was the result of causes which they could not possibly control, and for which they were not in the least degree responsible. In this action the Eebel Colonel Lamar was wounded. He had exhibited a degree of valor and skill which would have conferred honor upon a much nobler cause, than that in defense of which he had ex- pended it. The eifect of this misfrotune on the minds of the loyal community was extremely discouraging; inas- much as they regarded Charleston and the Eebel works in its vicinity with peculiar repugnance, as being the real centre and efi'ective source of a rebellion which had inflicted so many and such great calamities on the nation. On the 12th oi June an expedition was sent from Memphis under the orders of Colonel Fitch, for the purpose of sailing up the Whi:e river as far as Jackson- port, and conveying supplies and ammunition to the army of General Curtis. It was understood that the Eebels had placed obstructions in the stream, and that they had erected fortifications at St. Charles, an insignificant cv^illage about eighty -two miles above its junction with r' THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 419 the Mississippi. The expedition consisted of four iron- clad gunboats, namely: the flag-ship Mound City, the St. Louis, Lexington, and Conestoga, with the armed tug Spitfire, and three transports. The land force on board consisted of the forty-sixth Indiana regiment. The first success of the expedition was the capture of a new and valuable Eebel steamer, the Clara Dolsen. The second and more important achievement was the attack and reduction of the works which had been constructed at St. Charles. , It was on the 17th of June that the fleet, having pro- ceeded slowly about eighty miles up the White river, suddenly encountered the batteries which the enemy had erected. These were so concealed in the thick forest and brushwood on the Arkansas shore, that their position could only be conjectured from the direction of their shot. As the Union fleet approached, the Eebels com- menced to fire upon them. Their guns were not very heavy, but they were aimed with more than ordinary precision. Two shots struck the casemates of the St. Louis. The Mound City, being in the lead up the stream, which at this point is narrow though deep, immediately returned the fire. She was soon followed by the St. Louis and Conestoga. As the works of the Eebels con- sisted of two distinct batteries, the Mound City proceeded past the first toward the second, half a mile distant. Both were situated on a high bluff. As the Mound City advanced the second battery opened its fire upon her, to which she promptly responded. While the engagement was progressing between the gunboats and the forts. Colonel Fitch landed about five hundred men from the transports, on the southern shore of the river, for the purpose of attacking the works in the rear. Having reached the proper position, he signalled to the gunboats L_ 420 A HISTORY OF to suspend tlieir fire, as it might injure his own men, and he felt able to take the forts hj a land assault. At that moment one of the most horrible catastrophes occurred which the mind of man can conceive, and to which few parallels can be found in the bloody annals of war. A ball from the enemy, cylindrical in shape, armed with iron flanges on each side, known as a "pigeon shot," struck the Mound City on the casemate on her port side, near the first gun. It came at an angle of ninety degrees. It passed through the casemate and severed the connecting pipe of the boilers. Instantly* the steam rushed with the rapidity of lightning into every part of the vessel below, which was crowded with the crew, a hundred and seventy-five in number, who had descended from the deck to avoid the shells of the enemy. The horrors of the scene which immediately ensued transcended all powers of description. The hot vapor burnt and withered in a moment the mass of living victims, inflicting instant death upon some, and upon the rest, agonies far more terrible than death. Forty-five expired instantly. The remainder, scalded to a crimson hue, screamed and groaned, writhing with intense suffering. They rushed simultaneously toward the portholes. Maddened and frantic with their insup- portable torments they threw themselves into the river. Soon seventy or eighty persons were struggling in the water. At that awful moment, when common humanity would have dictated even among savages a cessation of the contest, the Rebels continued to fire upon the drown- ing wretches, as with desperation they strove to reach the land. Very few succeeded in doing so. Out of a hundred and seventy-five, who but a few moments before were in vigorous life, scarcely thirty escaped. Captain Fry, the commander of the Ecbels, ordered his sharp- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 421 shooters to distribute tbemselves along the shore, and to pick off the exhausted fugitives as they approached. This diabolical command was obeyed with an eagerness of cruelty such as would have disgraced a Fejee islander. The chief officer of the Conestoga promptly lowered his boats, and endeavored to rescue those who were yet alive. As soon as these emissaries of mercy came within range, they were also fired upon by the enemy. Both the gigs were struck, but fortunately were not sunk ; and they succeeded in saving some from a watery grave. In the meantime the Federal troops on shore had reached the Kebel works; and having witnessed the scene enacted upon the river, assaulted the enemy with a commendable and intensified degree of enthusiasm. They soon charged upon them with the bayonet. A brief but desperate resistance was made. In a short time, however, the two forts were carried and occupied by the Federals. The enemy then fled toward St, Charles. Their entire force consisted of five hundred men. Of these fifty were captured ; about a hundred were killed and wounded ; the rest escaped. Among the prisoners was Captain Fry, the commander of the Eebels. He had formerly been an ofiicer in the Federal service. The indignation of the Union troops against him was so intense, that it was with difficulty that Colonel Fitch could preserve his life from their assaults, by extending to him a clemency and a protection which he did not deserve. Except for the calamity on the Mound City, the expedition would have had unmixed success. In the end, nearly a hundred persons died in consequence of the terrible accident which had occurred. In a few days the Federal fleet renumed its progress up the White Eiver ; the obstructions in the stream were removed ; and 422 A HISTORY OF it eventually reached its destination witliout any further opposition or casualty. Among the minor movements which took place in different portions of the field of conflict, to which a brief allusion may be made, was one wliich, about this period, set forth from Newbern under Colonel Howard, for the purpose of expelling the roving bands of the Rebels from the peninsula which intervenes between the Neuse and the Pamlico rivers. The expedition consisted of the seventeenth Massachusetts, part of the Third New York cavalry, and a detachment of the Marine Artillery, with eight guns. These troops were placed on board the steamers Union, Allison, the Highland Light, and the gunboat Picket. Scarcely had these vessels sailed four miles up the Neuse, when they grounded on a bar, and their progress was stopped. General Foster was then informed by a messenger of the disaster which had occurred. He immediately sent the steamers Pilot Boy and Alice Price to the rescue. After some delay the vessels were relieved, and proceeded up the stream as far as Swift Creek, at which point the enemy were reported to have erected some breastworks, and to have made it the centre of their raids in the vicinity. The troops were disembarked, and so completely were the Eebels taken by surprise, that several of them were captured. The seventeenth Massachusetts, commanded by Colonel Fel- lows, then led the advance, and occupied Swift Creek village. Colonel Howard took possession of the bridge and shelled the Rebels, whose breastworks of shingle lay on the opposite side of the stream. A few shot were returned by the foe, when the order was given to the Federal forces to charge. The enemy did not await the onset. As the Union troops approached they abandoned their entrenchments in dismay, and fled through the J THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 4-23 woods in all directions. Their running was so much better than their fighting, that only two prisoners were taken, although a vigorous pursuit was made. On examin- ation the works were found to be insignificant, and they could have presented little resistance to the Federal guns. After this easy conquest the troops returned to Newborn. The effect produced by the expedition upon the Eebels in the vicinity was beneficial; as their excursions in that portion of the country, in small detached companies, thenceforth terminated. The Federal commanders on the Mississippi continued their operations for the purpose of opening the naviga- tion of that great commercial artery, with the most com- mendable energy and ability. Vicksburg now alone remained, throughout its whole extent, in the possession of the enemy. The situation of this city was remarkable. It is built on the eastern bank of the river, on a con- siderable elevation. Steep bluffs exist both above and below it, whose height above the level of the stream is nearly a hundred feet. The Rebels had erected strong batteries in the vicinity of the town ; and their position was such, that the guns of the besieging vessels could not be brought to bear with much effisct upon them, while they, from their superior elevation, possessed every advantage. In other respects also the situation of the place was peculiar. x\t this point the Mississippi makes an abrupt bend, in shape not unlike a horse-shoe ; in- closing within its embrace a strip of land little more than half a mile in width. At the extremity of this bend the city is built. These topographical oddities suggested to the minds of the Federal commanders, at a later period, the expedient of cutting a canal across this peninsula, thus opening a new channel for the river, and setting back the city several miles from the mal'gin of the 424 A HISTORY OF Stream which was the source of its opulence, the avenue of its commerce, and the chief implement of its resistance to the Federal Government. On the 21st of June Captain Porter, belonging to the fleet of Commodore Davis, who was then above Vicks- burg, made a reconnoissance in the Octarora, for the purpose of ascertaining the best position at which his flotilla might be anchored. General Van Dorn com- manded the Eebel forces at this place. These numbered eighteen thousand men. Having accomplished his purpose Captain Porter returned to his station. Commodore Davis then prepared to approach the city and commence the bombardment. On Thursday, the 26th of June, a formidable fleet consisting of about forty vessels of all descriptions, including transports, appeared before Yicks- burg.* An attack was immediately commenced which %vas chiefly directed against the fortifications on the bluflf below the town. The Eebel batteries responded with spirit. The firing continued during the whole day, and ceased only at the approach of night. On the next day it was resumed. In the afternoon the order was given to shell- the town. Then the water batteries of the enemy responded, and the contest was kept up during the rest of the day. At night all the Federal captains * The fleet of Commodore Porter consisted of the following vessels of war : Octarora, flag-ship, Geo. Brown Executive Officer ; Westfield, Commander W. B. Benham ; Harriet Lane, J. M. Wain- Wright ; Clifton, C. H. Baldwin ; Miami, A. D. Harrell ; Onasco, John Guest ; J. P. Jackson, S. E. Woodworth. Commanding divi- sions of the mortar flotilla were Lieutenant Watson Smith, com- manding first division ; Lieutenant W. W. Green, commanding second division ; Lieutenant R. R. Breese, commanding third division. The vessels composing the squadron of Commodore Davis were the Benton, Carondelet, Cincinnati, and Louisville. Those of Commodore Farragut, were the Hartford Brooklyn, Sciota, Oneida, Pinola, and the gunboats. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION". 425 of divisions were summoned to meet the commander on his flag-ship. They there received directions to resume the fire upon the city during that night, from all their ■ mortars ; and to continue the bombardment until further orders. Accordingly, at the appointed moment the entire fleet of mortars, twenty in number, commenced the deadly music of their assault. The scene which ensued was extremely grand and imposing. The sound ^ of the guns resembled a continuous peal of thunder ; and the loud reverberations seemed to emulate the most furious discharges of heaven's artillery. The repeated explosions of the shells illuminated the midnight heavens fiir and near with incessant flashes of lurid light. The earth and river shook with the terrible concussions. The enormous shells, as they descended upon the doomed city, appeared like messengers of destruction from some distant and hostile sphere. Soon the city was in flames in various places; and after the lapse of an hour the order was given to suspend the bombardment. On the next day Commodore Farragut, who lay five miles below Yicksburg with his fleet of wooden vessels, sent word to the commander of the mortars above, that if he would engage the forts on the following morning before day- light, he would attempt to pass the batteries on the bluff and unite their fleets. The suggestion was complied with, and Ins entire flotilla, consisting of three men-of-war, two sloops-of-war, and three gunboats, succeeded in making the passage during the bombardment. The flag- ship of the commodore was struck twice in the hull, suffering some damage. The other vessels escaped serious injury. This action lasted an hour and thirty minutes. Its result convinced the Federal commanders that however much their sliot might injure the town, it Would be impossible to capture or destroy the batteries 426 A HISTORY OF wliich lined the bluffs, "without the assistance of a land force. The entire fleet then proceeded a short distance above Yicksburg and anchored. The mere destruction of the town alone would have been barren of results. Commodore Farragut therefore resolved to reopen the navigation of the Mississippi, which was the chief matter in dispute, by digging a new channel across the peninsula already described, named Cross-bend, ' thereby leaving Vicksburg at a harmless and impotent distance from the passing stream. Hundreds of negroes were immediately impressed from the adjoining plantations, and set to work in digging. This novel undertaking would require to be half a mile in length, about fifty feet in width, and eio'ht feet below the water level. The chief disadvanta2;e which attended the enterprise was the fact that, at that period, the water of the river was falling instead of rising. ' During the engagement before the town, and in the passage of the fleet of Commodore Farragut, the Federal loss was fifteen killed and thirty wounded. That of the Eebels was severe among the troops of Van Dorn, who then occupied Vicksburg. Leaving the Federal commanders and their difficult enterprise at that city, which was still in an inchoate condition, we will turn our attention to the more important but not very felicit- ous events, which at this period transpired in the vicinity of the Eebel capital. THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 427 CHAPTER XXV THE EXTRE.NCHMEXTS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY BEFORE RICHMOND — THEIR EXTENT INACTIVITY OF THE FEDERAL FORCES CONCENTRATION OF REBEL TROOPS IN RICHMOND GLOWING EXPECTATIONS OF THE LOYAL COMMUNITY THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT THE TRANSFER OF MCCLELLAN's BASE OF SUPPLIES AND OPERATIONS TO HARRISON's LANDING FIRST ATTACK OF THE REBELS ON HIS TROOPS AT MECHANICSYILLE INCI- DENTS OF THE BATTLE — COMMENCEMENT OF THE MARCH TOWARD THE JAMES RIVER — BATTLE OF GAINES MILL DESPERATE FIGHTING — HERO- ISM AND VALOR ON BOTH SIDES— VICISSITUDES OF THE STRUGGLE THE RETREAT CONTINUED TOWARD JAMES RIVER — DISPOSAL OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED— PERTINACIOUS PURSUIT BY THE REBELS SINGU- LAR CARAVAN OF WAGONS, CATTLE, AND FUGITIVES— BATTLE OP PEACH ORCHARD— ITS RESULTS— BATTLE AT SAVAGE'S STATION- RESOLUTE ASSAULTS OF THE ENEMY APPALLING SCENES IMPORTANT RESULTS THE RACE TO WHITE OAK SWAMP THE FEDERAL TROOPS WIN THE RACE. After the battle of Fair Oaks, which occurred on the first of June, 1862, the Federal army under General McClellan proceeded to assume its position before Rich- mond, to dig trenches and erect breastworks, and to prepare for a final assault upon the city. This magnifi- cent army consisted, when it first arrived before York- town, of a hundred and twenty thousand men. Subse- quently the divisions of General Franklin containing twelve thousand, of General McCall numbering ten thousand, and a detachment from Baltimore and Fortress Monroe including eleven thousand, were added' to it. Thus the entire number of Federal troops who had marched to the conquest of Richmond, tbrmcd a magnifi- cent array of about a hundred and fifty thousand men. 428 A HISTORY OF The line of redoubts and entrencliments wliicli they erected and occupied as they lay before the city, extended nearly fifteen miles, in the form of a colossal crescent, the right extremity reaching to the Meadow Bridge at Hanover, the left resting upon Long Bridge at Henrico. Portions of this immense line were within view of Kich- mond, whose tapering spires and swelling domes were visible in the distance. The most efficient and numerous array of the nation, its pride and hope, after many months of assiduous preparation and of mysterious dela}'-, had at length reached the goal of their aspirations. The heart of this pestilent Rebellion lay directly before them. The last deadly blow at its pernicious life was anxiously expected from day to day by millions of patriots; when suddenly all was deranged by the new exigencies of tlie occasion, and by the unquestionable vigor, valor, and skill of the Rebel commanders who defended the city. During the long interval which elapsed between the battle of Fair Oaks and the first attack made on the Federal troops on the 26th of Jume, a large portion of the army which General Beauregard had unaccountably withdrawn from Corinth, was transferred to Richmond. General Jackson's force in the valley of the Shenandoah had also been summoned thither. It is probable there- fore that, at length, a hundred and fifty thousand Rebel troops had been concentrated in the vicinity of that city. These were the chief strength and glory of the apostate community whom they represented : and thus two nations were in reality to be the contestants on that far extend- ing and sanguinary field. One of the decisive battles of the world, at the occurrence of which the great horologe of time tolls out the extinction of an expiring age, and the birth of a new and a more glorious era, seemed now - to be impending. THE SOUTHEKN REBELLION". 429 Unfortunately for tlie interests of the Federal cause, it became necessary, just at that period, for General McClellan to change the entire base of his operations, in consequence of the unfitness and insecurity of his source or avenue of supplies at White House. This place was located on the Pamunky, a tributary stream of the York river, some fifteen miles in the rear of the Federal posi- tion. Its remote and isolated situation rendered it possi- ble for the enemy at any time to intercept General McClellan's communications with it, which were main- tained by means of the Eichmond and York river rail- road. It was constantly necessary to employ nearly a whole division of troops in guarding this road from the assaults of the Rebels, which had recently become more frequent and determined. The large number of Federal soldiers who had either died or had become unfit for duty, from diseases contracted in the swamps of the Chickahominy, through which a portion of their camps and entrenchments lay, and the increased superiority in numbers of the Rebel forces, rendered the continual defense of this line of communication both difficult and perilous. These considerations eventually convinced General McClellan of the necessity of receding from his position before Richmond, to a more secure and conveni- ent one at Harrison's Landing, on James river. Pre- liminary to commencing this retrograde movement, he made the proper arrangements for reshipping the vast stores of subsistence and ammunition which had been accumulated at White House, and transferring them by means of the fleet of Federal transports, to his newly selected cUp6L The order for the removal was issued about the 24th of June. It was executed between that date and the 28th. It was doubtless the novel and mysterious movement which was thus commenced, of 430 A HISTORY OF wliicli the Eebels obtained early intelligence, wliicli induced them to venture on offensive operations, and to begin that extraordinary series of engagements which, during a whole week, raged with such destructive fury near the Kebel capital. It was about ten o'clock on the 26th of June, that the Eebel forces issued in vast multitudes from their camps before Eichmond, and commenced their bold and desperate assaults upon the Federal array. Their first demonstra- tion was an attack on the cavalry commanded by General Stoneman, which were posted in the vicinity of Hanover Court House, on the extreme right. "While this opera- tion was progressing, they extended their assault to the troops stationed nearest to these, which were posted in the vicinity of Mechanicsville. They crossed the Chicka hominy at Meadow Bridge, above that town, with the evident intention of turning the right wing of the Federal forces. The troops placed here were the eighth Illinois cavalry, six companies of the Bucktail regiment, and five companies of the Pennsylvania Eeserves. These were protected by rifle-pits and breastworks. As soon as the assault of the enemy began, their vast numbers, which appeared to swarm inexhaustibly in front and around the Federal lines, clearly proved that an attempt at resistance by so small a corps would be wholly useless. General Eeynolds immediately dis- patched a messenger to General McCall for reinforce- ments. During the interval which occurred before these could arrive, the Federals made a firm resistance ; and the Bucktails maintained their position with such obsti- nacy, that a large number of them were captured. About two o'clock the engagement became more general and more desperate. While advancing down by the rear of Mechanicsville, through low, swampy ground, THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 431 the enemy were attacked by the Federals from the cover of their rifle-pits and earthworks with immense effect. A scene of great carnage and tumult ensued. Many of their men and horses sank in the mire, and became helpless targets for the Federal sharpshooters. By this time the action had spread along the line toward the left, and the troops of General McCall having been attacked, now engaged the enemy. A vigorous contest then took place, which occupied the remainder of the afternoon of the 26th. In vain the Eebels, advancing repeatedly with great resolution, endeavored to drive the Federals from their position. The latter remained immovable. At six o'clock, ap- parently becoming desperate at the want of success, the Eebels brought fresh troops to bear upon the assault, and the battle perceptibly increased in fury. At that period General Morell's division arrived opportunely on the field as a reinforcement. The second brigade of this division was called into immediate action. It was ordered to relieve the centre of General McCall's column. The fourth Michigan, the fourteenth New York volun- teers, the sixty-second Pennsylvania, and the ninth Mas- sachusetts, together with a battalion of Berdan's sharp- shooters, were drawn up in line of battle. The struggle which followed was well sustained and desperate on both sides. It continued without any advantage to either party, till half-past nine o'clock. The loss of the enemy during this period must have been very heavy ; as they were confronted by the Federal forces while protected in a great measure by their rifle-pits and breastworks. All their efforts to dislodge the latter proved fruitless. Late in the day they made a furious charge with cavalry. Tbey were met by a squadron of Federal horse, and driven back ; many of their horses sticking fast in the 432 ' A HISTORY OF marsh, and being abandoned by their riders. General Fitz John Porter, who commanded the entire corps to which the divisions engaged on this day belonged, was present in every part of the field, and was ably assisted by Generals McCall, Morell, and Griffin. During the whole battle the artillery on both sides did the chief execution. Easton's Pennsylvania battery was particu- larly effective. At some periods the firing shook the earth, and the rapidity of the discharges indicated a most furious combat. At seven o'clock the enemy made a special effort to break the centre of the Federal troops engaged. This effort was confronted and defeated with great gallantry by General Griffin. The Pennsylvania Beserves on the left, commanded by Seymour and Reynolds, also fought with much heroism ; and succeeded in defeating the attempts of the Rebels to cross the bridge over the Chickahominy. Thus, when the close of the first day's fight arrived, the enemy had really gained nothing and had lost heavily. But they were not dis- heartened. They had merely made a beginning of the gigantic enterprise which they had conceived, and were resolute in its prosecution to a successful issue. During the night which ensued, orders were given to commence the removal of the camp equipage, the stores, and the ammunition of the Federal army toward the James river. Soon, long trains of wagons, several thou- sand in number, began their slow line of march, extend- ing for miles in the direction indicated. The sick and wounded were also conveyed, some toward White House, some toward Harrison's Landing. General Porter had been ordered to withdraw his forces from their recent position, nearer to the river. While these movements were progressing in the Federal camp, the Rebels were not idle. Immense reinforcements were promptly brought THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 433 forward. The early dawn of the next day, the 27th of June, beheld sixty thousand Rebels under arms, ready to renew the assault. The Federals had gained some slight repose during the night; and though wearied, and about to be assailed by superior numbers, were undaunted by the impending terrors of their situation. General Porter had received orders to fall back to a position two miles beyond Gaines' Mill. In obeying this order General Sykes' division led the retreating column. Next came the division of General Morell. During the march perfect order was maintained ; but the enemy, mistaking the movement for a hasty flight, pressed forward in enormous masses, overtook the Federals near Gaines' Mill, and there resumed the assault upon them. Their advance had been temporarily impeded by the destruction of the bridge at the Mill. But soon they constructed a temporary causeway by which their artillery was con- veyed over, and the pursuit of the Federals was renewed. As their retreat was made at an unhurried and leisurely pace, it was not long before they were overtaken by the eager enemy. Then ensued the bloody action of Gaines' Mill. The scene of this conflict was an extensive area, about two miles in length, and one mile in breadth. This space was made up of green meadows, waving grain fields, thick woods, boggy marshes and rude ravines. Several farm houses existed within its limits, which were afterward used as hospitals. General Porter had been ordered to engage the advancing foe, if he were attacked, in this position. Accordingly at eleven o'clock all was ready to receive tliem; each division, each brigade, each regiment, and each gun had then been placed in its proper position. Along the far extending lines at proper intervals the immortal banners of the Republic appeared in view, waving 28 434 A HISTORY OF majestically and gracefully in the breeze, and bidding defiance to the approaching host. Bright guns in endless succession flashed in the morning light. The long ranks of Federal troops presented a firm and dauntless front. Generals with their staffs were seen riding rapidly from regiment to regiment, giving orders and perfecting their positions. After a short interval of silence and expecta- tion the sudden roar of the enemy's artillery, and the falling and bursting of their shells, gave evidence that they had recommenced the contest. The first firing came from the woods and from the roads on the right. The Federal cannon instantly thundered in reply at the still invisible enemy. At length, after a considerable period of time had been expended in this manner, masses of the Rebels emerged from the woods, deployed into positions in front of the Federal lines, and the engagement became general. It was fiercely contested on both sides. Several desperate attempts were made by the enemy to break through the Federal lines on the right and on the left ; but they were met in every instance with the unflinching firmness of veterans, and were invariably repulsed with heavy losses to the assailants. The battle continued to rage during the whole day, with the usual vicissitudes which characterize engage- ments in which brave men contend for the mastery with equal degrees of resolution and obstinacy. As evening approached, the energy of the attack of the Rebels diminished, and a sudden lull occurred ; but after a short -respite the contest was renewed by them with greater fury than before. It then became evident that, during this mysterious interval, the enemy had been largely rein- forced. Their troops now rushed forward in overwhelm- ing masses with savage and frantic yells. With answer- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 485 ing shouts the two armies approached each other, and dealt their death-blows upon their opposing ranks with increased ferocity. The combat now became most desperate and sanguinary. The Federals performed many deeds of the noblest daring and fortitude ; but soon the superior energy and vigor which portions of the Confederate columns exhibited, demonstrated that they had .the advantage not merely of a preponderance of numbers, but also of physical freshness. It was well that, at this critical moment, the Federals received some reinforcements from the other side of the Chicka- hominy. They consisted of the brigades of Generals Palmer, French and Meagher, with some cavalry. These Irish regiments, as was their usual custom, went into the fight with their coats off, and their sleeves rolled up ; and fought the exultant traitors with the fury and ferocity of tigers. Hundreds of Eebels then bit the dust, laid low forever by the stalwart blows of the gallant and pugna- cious sons of Erin, The carnage was still progressing all over the wide- spread field, when the sun disappeared in the western heavens, and the shadows of night were about to descend upon the tumultuous and sanguinary scene. The enemy had repeatedly endeavored to force the Federals into the low, marshy tract lying between Gaines' Mill and the bridge. To have been driven into that perilous position, would have insured the destruction of a large number of troops ; for it was impassable ground, and would have proved the weltering grave of thousands. At one time the Eebels had nearly succeeded in this undertaking. It was when the danger here was most imminent, that the wild rush and determined assault of the Irish regiments saved that portion of the army from destruction. During the progress of the day several partial panics had 433 A HISTOKY OF occurred, and some rapid and frantic running to tlie rear had been achieved, by frightened fragments of the Federal forces. But the vast majority of them fought nobly and well. About forty thousand Union troops took part in this battle. In addition to those composing the corps of General Fitz John Porter, the divisions of Generals Hooker, Kearney, and Sumner were also engaged. The number of Kebels who figured in the contest was at least sixty thousand, as has already been stated ; and a large portion of these were fresh troops, who were substituted from time to time for those who had become wearied during the progress of the struggle. Notwithstanding this disparity of numbers, at the close of the day the Federals had not been driven from their position. The main body were still in their first lines near Gaines' Mill. The losses on both sides were very heavy. Many valuable Federal officers were slain. among whom was Colonel Black, of the sixty-second Pennsylvania regiment. The field was covered in many places with heaps of the dead and the dying. The plaintive groans of the wounded, after the roar of the conflict ceased, burdened the midnight air, and added to the horrors of the scene. The combatants on both sides slept upon their arms, except those who were detailed to bury the dead, to convey the wounded from the field, and to perform picket duty. While these operations were progressing on the right wing of the Federal army, an engagement took place on the left, where General Smith held a position consisting of breastworks and two redoubts. He was attacked on Friday evening at seven o'clock by the Georgia brigade, commanded by General Toombs. The latter were en- countered by Hancock's brigade, consisting of the sixth Maine, fifth Wisconsin, forty-third New York, and forty- THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 437 ninth Pennsylvania regiments, and by Brooks' fifth Vermont regiment. The guns in the redoubts assisted in the engagement, which was brief but desperate. After losing a hundred killed, whom they left on the field, the Georgians retired in disorder before the deadly and continuous fire of the Federal troops. This was the first battle at Golding's Farm. The second ensued on the following morning. Mortified at their defeat, the chivalrous Georgians determined to renew the contest. At eight o'clock they again advanced toward the re- doubts, and resumed the attack. The Federal troops were either protected by the breastworks, or were con- cealed by lying on the grass. They gave the Georgians a deadly reception. Colonel Lamar was mortally wounded in the commencement of the engagement, and his lieu- tenant colonel was taken prisoner. The result of the contest was the same as before, the Eebels being com- pelled to retire, after suffering very severe losses. During the following night the removal of the baggage trains, of the sick, and the disabled, toward James river and the White House was continued. The enemy had thus far gained but little advantage, and had been very severely punished. Still, however, deluded by the absurd and fantastic conceit that the retrograde move- ment of the Federal army was a mete flight before their invincible forces, they were determined to continue the contest. In the afternoon of the 27th the headquarters of General McClellan were removed across the Chicka- bominy, to the vicinity of Savage's Station. Thither vast masses of stores and ammunition had been transported, on their way to their new dtput on James river. Through- out this whole route the houses were converted into hospitals, and were occupied by the wounded of the Federal army. During Friday night the larger portion _^ 438 A HISTOKY OF of the Federal forces crossed the Chickahominy, and thus obtained some advantage over the pursuing enemy. It should be observed here, that the battles of Mechanics- ville and Gaines' Mill took place on the left side of that stream. Those which afterward ensued were fought on the right side. This arrangement will be understood when it is remembered, that the Chickahominy flows southward into James river ; that in describing the events connected with it, the observer is supposed to be facing the mouth of the stream ; and that the points of the compass are to be taken accordingly. Notwithstanding the enormous losses which the Rebels had suffered, and although they had not as yet driven their opponents from a single one of their chosen positions, they persisted in claiming continual victories. Under this pleasing delu- sion they prepared, after the interval of a day, to renew the contest, and to endure additional and still more sanguinary slaughters, in the pursuit of a favorite and fanciful chimera. No attack was made on the main body of the Federal army on Saturday, the 28th of June. Early in the morning of that day the entire force which had so valiantly confronted the Rebel hosts, had crossed the Chickahominy by four bridges. These were then blown up or burnt, to intercept the pursuit of the enemy. Later in the day it was ascertained that they were cross- ing the stream at New Bridge, with the apparent inten- tion of moving round toward Bottom Bridge, to cut off the communication of the Federals with their railroad and telegraph. But Saturday wore away without any hostile operations on the part of the Rebels. The reason of this apparent inactivity was, that a large number of their troops were busily engaged in burying their dead, and in conveying their wounded from the scenes of the late THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 4:39 sanguinary engagements into Eichniond. Many of the wounded Federal soldiers also fell into their hands. During this day the Union army was withdrawn as far as Savage's Station. From that point several separate trains of cars, filled with the wounded, were sent down to White House. A third trip was about to be made, when it was ascertained that the enemy had cut the telegraph wires and had gained possession of Dispatch Station. A large proportion of the sick and wounded who were at Savage's Station were on this day placed in ambulances, and their removal to Harrison's Landing was commenced. But a sufficient number of these con- veyances were not to be obtained ; and except those who were able to walk, or even to crawl toward a place of safety, the remainder ultimately fell into the hands of the enemy. During Saturday night a vast amount of commissary stores, ammunition, and hospital supplies, for which there were no means of removal at command, were destroyed by orders of General McClellan. Four car- loads of ammunition, which had arrived from the White House during the previous week, were replaced in the cars ; and the entire train, headed by an engine, was let loose, sent down the railroad, and run into the Chicka- hominy at the bridge which had been burnt, to prevent it from falling into the possession of the Eebels. This train rushed forward on its pathway to destruction with fearful velocity, and at length plunged into the tranquil stream with a prodigious crash. Strange spectacles were exhibited by the multitudes of the wounded, and by the long lines of ambulances and wagons which, during this day, were toiling on their way toward James river. Hundreds of men went limping along, some with their arms in slings, some hobbling on crutches. The ambu- lances were all filled, and often the wounded would be 440 A HISTORY OF seen sitting in the end of the wagons, their broken legs or crushed ankles hanging out, and the blood dripping from them upon the ground beneath. The heavy siege guns formed a conspicuous part of this singular and melancholy cortege. These, together with droves of cattle, crowds of negroes, teamsters, sutlers, and fright- ened fugitives of every kind, together with the noise and tumult, the swearing and screaming, which inevitably i attended such a throng, at such a time, presented a most j extraordinary combination of contrasts. Sometimes a ' sudden terror pervaded the mass ; for then a report had I arrived that the enemy were interposing a powerful I column between them and the James river, thereby ! cutting off their only means of escape. Then again i w^hen the falsity of this rumor was ascertained by the return of messengers who had been sent to the front, j hope would revive, and a gayer tone would animate the volatile and motley assemblage. Meanwhile orders had been sent to "White House to hasten the departure of the Federal troops from that station. These orders were obeyed with all possible dispatch, and the place was finally abandoned by the assembled transports and steamers at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, June 28th. All the stores, ammu- nition and wounded had been previously embarked and safely removed. About seven o'clock in the evening, the pickets of the enemy began to make their appearance in the vicinity ; but they found only desolation and soli- tude. Even the insignificant building which had given a name and some celebrity to this locality, had been burned; although the author of the superfluous and barbarous de_ed remained unknown. At three o'clock on Sunday morning, June 29th General McClellan, attended by his staff and body-guard, THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 441 left tliG pceno of his night's repose and rode forward toward Charles City, He -had directed his generals to abandon their entrenchments, to follow with their several divisions until intercepted hy the enemy, and then to give them battle. At daylight on Sunday morning General Smith began to retire. G(inerals Sumner, Heintzelman, Keys, and Franklin soon followed with their respective forces. Then came McCall's division, and last of all, those of Hooker and Kearney, who brought np the rear. As soon as the Rebel commanders observed that the Federal army was again in motion, they commenced to close in upon them ; but it was not till later in the day that a regular engagement took place between them. Then ensued the battle of Peach Orchard. The enemy approached the Federal troops by the Williamsburg road, and had reached a position, three hundred yards from the Federals, when the latter opened upon them with their powerful gun.s. The effect of the discharge upon the serried lines of the enemy was terrific. Their ranks wavered and staggered like drunken men before the continuous hailstorm of shot and shell which was poured upon them. The battle lasted from eight in the morning until noon. During this period the Rebels endeavored to outflank the Federals on the left, and intercept them on the Williamsburg road, but without effect. They charged several times oh the brigades of Burns, Gorman, and Dana, with the evident intention of crushing them in detail, but with no better success. The troops of Richardson, Heintzelman, Sedgwick, Sumner, and Meagher, fought with distingui.shed gal- lantry. All the efforts made by the Rebels to drive the Federals into a retreat from their position, were absolute failures ; and it was not until the Federal generals had become assured that the caravan of wagons, ambulances, 442 A HISTORY OF and cattle of their army had crossed the White Oak swamp, and were safe from the immediate pursuit of the enemy, that they gave the order to fall back. This order was executed leisurely ; and having reached Savage's Station they again drew up in line of battle, to receive the advancinsr foe. O The contest which ensued at Savage's Station on the same da}'', was still more fierce and sanguinary. It commenced about five o'clock in the afternoon, and did not terminate until eleven o'clock at night. Before the attack began, the Eebels had been largely reinforced ; their next assault therefore was much more vigorous and destructive. They approached through a dense wood, which concealed them from view, until they were witliin a short distance of the Federal lines. They then suddenly emerged from the edges of the forest, ran out three or four batteries to commanding positions, and opened a rapid fire of shot and shell. This salute they kept up with such skill and resolution, that a portion of the Federals were overpowered and gave way. The one hundred and sixth Pennsylvania regiment broke and then fled in a panic, after losing a hundred men in killed and wounded. The Federal artillery could not for a time be served, all the men being either picked oft' or driven away from their guns. Never had the Eebels fought with more desperate courage. During the pro- gress of the battle the Federal forces were, on several occasions, in a very critical position. At one time an entire brigade of the enemy were observed to be moving stealthily down to the rig'ht, with the design of making an attack upon the flank. This intention was defeated by the promptitude with which Captain Pettit placed a battery in such a position as to sweep the entire column with grape and canister, which eventually compelled THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 443 them to recoil, and relinquish their purpose. During the progress of tlie fight the Irish brigades greatly distinguished themselves, charging in some cases up to the very cannon of the enemy. One of the Eebel bat- ^ teries they hauled off, spiked the guns, demolished the carriages, and then abandoned them. At length the shades of darkness descended upon this mortal combat, but they brought no termination to its horrors. The roar of the cannon, and the sharper, shriller sound of the musketry, continued to be deafening and incessant. The night was made as light as noonday at rapid intervals, by the lurid flashes of the artillery; and each discharge enabled the combatants to ascertain the position of their foes with more distinctness. To add to the terrors of the scene, the adjacent woods v/ere set on fire by the bursting shells ; and soon the conflagration rolled vast heaving volumes of smoke and flame far up into the vault of heaven, giving to the battle-field the appear- ance of a pandemonium. Thus the carnage and the contest raged until midnight. The losses on both sides were very heavy. The Rebels had done much damage by firing into the hospitals in which many of the wounded had been placed ; and they perpetrated this barbarity in spite of the significant white and red flags which were placed upon them. At twelve o'clock the Federal commanders received orders from General McClellan to fall back rapidly from Savage's Station, across White Oak swamp, inasmuch as the Rebels were endeavoring to intercept them. A desperate race ensued to determine who should first gain possession of that position. The Federals were compelled to leave all their wounded at Savage's Station in the hands of the enemy. And now the movement toward James river, which iiud begun in a leisurely and voluntary march thither, un- 444 A HISTORY OF avoidably degenerated into a flight on the part of the Federals, and into a pursuit on the part of the enemy. The Federal soldiers knew this fact, and the resolution, not of hope but of despair, now actuated them. That wearied, overworked, but heroic band, who had engnged the enemy so often and so bravely, were compelled to exhaust the last powers of human endurance, in order to escape complete destruction. The race to reach the swamp was one of desperate energy, accompanied by equally desperate fighting; for the vast superiority of numbers which the Eebels possessed enabled them to keep up an attack on the rear of the Union army, while their main body strained- every nerve to overreach and intercept the front. The divisions of Heintzelman, Sumner, and Franklin were compelled to keep continu- ally in line of battle across the country, during this part of the retreat, in order to beat off the hordes of the enemy as from time to time they renewed the assault. At length the last wagon and the last cannon plashed through the waters of "White Oak creek. It was eight o'clock on Monday morning, June the 30th. The day was bright and hot. The fugitives were exhausted with their superhuman efforts in fighting and retreating. After crossing the creek, hundreds threw themselves upon the ground to rest, or crawling to the green margin of the limpid stream, leaned over, and drank to slake the burning thirst which consumed them. THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION. 445 CHAPTER XXVI. THK BATTLE OF WHITE OAK SWAMP — POSITION AXD OP.DER OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS TEMPORARY PANIC — DESPERATE FIGHTING — FOR- TUNATE ASSISTANCE OF THE GUNBOATS ON JAMES RIVER — HEROISM AND SKILL OF GENERAL HEINTZELMAN A GENERAL BAYONET CHARGE ON THE REBELS ITS RESULTS FIRST ENGAGEMENT AT MALVERN HILLS INCIDENTS OF THE FIGHT THE IRISH BRIGADE — COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS' — THE FEDERAL ARMY REMOVES TO HARRISOn's LAND- ing results of the several battles before richmond artil- lery duel on the james river general hooker sent to recon- noitre and occupy malvern hill — thr march thither — engage- ment with the enemy — their defeat — immense reinforcemf:nts ordered from richmond — return of the federal troops to Harrison's landing — final evacuation of their camp by the federal army — its future destination federal losses during the peninsula campaign. A VERY brief period for repose was allowed to the Federal troops. They had indeed won the race to White Oak swamp ; but the vast army of the Rebels was in eager pursuit of them, and in a short time were upon their rear. Then followed another desperate engage- ment, named after the locality in which it took place Soon after crossing the White Oak creek the Federal generals formed their new line of battle with great energy and promptness. The chief of these officers were Heint- zelman, Sumner, Kearney, Porter and Hancock, The new position of the Federal forces extended about four miles in length. On the extreme right wing General Hancock was posted with his brigade. Next to him were placed the troops of Brooks and Davidson. The batteries belonging to this division were commanded by 446 A HISTORY OF Captain Ayres. Then came the divisions of Sumner, TIeintzelman and Porter. The battle commenced with an attack by the enemy on the column of General Hancock. They openedx with about twenty batteries, which were served with such vigor and skill that they soon blew up several of Captain Mott's caissons, shattered his guns, and spread confusion among the teamsters, cannoniers and troops who came within their range. It was at this period that so complete a terror pervaded some of the regiments, that one of them, the twentieth New York, fled in the utmost disorder, and scattered in fragments in every direction. For this disgraceful pro- ceeding General McClellan, on the following day, ordered the provost marshal to arrest all the stragglers as they came into camp. After a short time, however, the Federals who had been attacked recovered their self-possession, and their guns responded to those of the enemy. The latter had not yet crossed the White Oak creek, and the engage- ment was still confined to the operations of the artillery. At length a portion of the Eebels made an attempt to cross the stream, but were met and repulsed with success by General Smith, whose brisk fire of infantry extended continuously along whole columns. Finding it impossi- ble to cross in front, the enemy detached a powerful force to proceed four miles due south to Charles City Cross Eoads, for the purpose of interposing between the Federal forces and James river, thereby intercepting their retreat. The position which they purposed to reach was within a mile and a half of Turkey Bend on that river ; and had they succeeded in their intention, they would have inevitably accomplished the ruin of the army, and prevented its successful establishment at Harrison's Land- ing. Fortunately, information of this movement of the THE SOUTHERN EEBELLION". 447 Rebels was obtained in time ; and Generals Porter and Keys so marshalled their wearied troops as to prevent its achievement. They reached the advancing columns of the enemy at four o'clock in the afternoon, and attacked them. The Eebels fought desperately, and their artillery produced a dreadful havoc in the Federal ranks. The latter were nearly dead already from the effects of heat, exhaustion and thirst ; and so little disci- pline remained that a' portion of those regiments which were nearest the James river, at one time broke ranks, rushed to its shores, plunged in, and after slaking their thirst returned to their colors, and resumed the fiofht. But the resistance of the Federal troops gradually became weaker. Human nature could endure no more. The fresh masses of the exultant Eebel army continued to press forward with still greater resolution. An over- whelming and decisive victory seemed about to crown the persevering efforts of the Eebel hosts, when, at the critical moment, a deliverer suddenly appeared. As at Pittsburg Landing, so in the present instance, the gallant navy of the Union rescued the land forces from destruc- tion. At that crisis the gunboats on the James river opened their fire upon the enemy. At five o'clock the enormous rifled guns of the Jacob Bell, Galena, and Aroostook, which were anchored in Turkey Bend, belched forth their colossal shells, with a detonation which completely drowned the feebler chorus of all the artillery on land, and terrified the foe by the unexpected presence of a more formidable antagonist. As the shells descended upon the serried masses of the Eebels and burst among them, whole ranks were battered to the earth by the flying fragments. Horrible havoc ensued. Confusion and terror were quickly diffused through their columns ; and they who, a few moments before, 448 A HISTORY OF were confident of driving the Federal army into the James river, or of compelling it to surrender, themselves began to give way. Encouraged by the evident effect of the shot of the gunboats, the Federal commanders, of whom the most distinguished on this memorable field was General Heintzelman, determined to recover the fortunes of the day by making a combined and desperate charge. The gunboats were therefore signalled to suspend their fire. Preparations were quickly made to effect the intended movement. The great-hearted veteran whom we have just named galloped from column to column. He announced the purpose to charge in brief and thrill- ing words. He then returned to his position, and passed down, to right and to left, the stern order to advance. The bugles sounded ; and like the surging of a mighty deluge which had long been compressed within narrow limits, that mass of heroes, having caught new energy and strength from reviving hope, moved forward sublimely to the assault. The steady Massachusetts men of Grove r, the fierce and fiery brigades of Meagher and Sickels, the well drilled soldiers of Hooker, Kearney with his brave Jersey Blues, the resolute troops of Heintzelman, and others equally gallant, marched defiantly against the foe, with the determination to conquer or to perish. The enemy met their rushing tides at first with firmness; but nothing could long resist such a delirium of fortitude as seemed to pervade and to inflame their assailants. They gradually gave way; their lines broke; and they eventu- ally fled from the field in complete confusion. During this famous battle-shock, many were slain on both sides, and many prisoners were taken. The Eebels had previously captured a large number of guns, being portions of the batteries of Eandall, Mott and Ayres. In the entire THE SOUTHEKN REBELLION. 449 engagement at White Oak swamp the Federal loss in killed and wounded was not less than three thousand five hundred. That of the enemy was undoubtedly as great, if not much greater. But the contest saved the Federal army from ruin or from capitulation ; and covered both the generals who commanded, and the soldiers who fought in it, with enduring renown. In vain had the best Eebel officers repeatedly put in practice their favorite tactics, of hurling fresh masses of troops on the Federal lines, first on one wing, then on the other, and suddenly in the centre. All was in vain. The goal had been safely reached. The glancing placid waters of the James river had at last greeted the longing eyes of the soldiers of the Union; and the possibility of their destruction or of a still more disastrous capture was for- ever averted. At the close of the battle of White Oak swamp the Federal array took possession of Malvern Hill in the vicinity of the river. General McClellan had selected Harrison's Landing, six miles below, as his future permanent camp, and thither the convoy of wagons, ammunition stores, and supplies of all sorts continued to be directed. The James river was crowded with transports and vessels of all kinds, to assist in the work of transportation. During Monday night the heroes of a seven-days battle rested from their hercu- lean labors. But their task was not yet completed. On Tuesday, July the 1st, the last of this memorable series of engagements, the battle of Malvern Hill, was fought. As an attack from the enemy was anticipated, the Federal army was drawn out in battle array at an early hour. Their line formed a magnificent semicircle, which presented a formidable front. General Keys with his 29 450 A HISTOEY OF command was posted on the extreme right. General Franklin's corps came next, then the troops of Sumner comprising the divisions of Sedgwick and Eichardson. The extreme left was occupied by Fitz John Porter. Heintzelman's corps, embracing the divisions of Hooker, Kearney and Couch, occupied the centre. Fifty heavy guns bristled along the lines from their freshly made earthworks. The battle commenced about noon with a vigorous cannonading on both sides. The enemy were commanded by Generals Lee, Magruder and Jackson, and opened the engagement with great spirit. Several hours passed away before the infantry came into action. At four o'clock the Rebels advanced, fiercely attacked the troops commanded by General Couch, and attempted to break the Federal line. The effort failed, and the assailants were driven back with great slaughter at the point of the bayonet. But they were not easily disheart- ened. After a short interval they made a still more desperate effort to accomplish their purpose. The Kebel commanders threw forward heavy masses of troops, assisted and protected by artillery, against the ranks of Porter and Couch; and continued for more than an hour to hurl forward fresh columns upon the Federal line. At one crisis their determined efforts seemed about to be successful in driving back the Federals. At that critical moment General Porter dispatched a messenger to General Sumner, requesting immediate reinforcements. The Irish brigade of Meagher, whose valorous troops seemed, in almost every emergency, to be the protecting Aegis of the Federal army in the peninsula, were imme- diately sent to the rescue. They advanced to meet the enemy with their usual enthusiasm. The wavering Federal lines were quickly steadied ; the Rebel host in turn recoiled ; and the periled fortune of the day was THE SOUTHERN" REBELLION. 451 recovered. Thus the fight was continued until after nightfall. At ten o'clock the last gun was fired. During the progress of the engagement the most signal service had been rendered by the gunboats on James river. The immense shells from their rifled cannon tore shriek- ing and howling through the forests, and often exploded within the lines of the enemy, with a concussion which shook the solid earth, and scattered piles of dead and wounded on every hand. In all their efforts to drive the Federal forces from their position, the enemy had signally failed. After each advance they had been repulsed with heavy losses. The battle was to them an unquali- fied defeat. To prove that this statement should not be regarded as exaggerated or inaccurate, we might adduce many admissions made by the Rebels themselves. One of the most impartial of these will suffice. A leading Richmond journal said : " Ofiicers and men went down by the hundreds ; but yet, undaunted and unwavering, our line dashed on, until two-thirds of the distance across the interval was accomplished. Here the carnage from the withering fire of the enemy's combined artillery and musketry was dreadful. Our line wavered a moment, and fell back into the cover of the woods. Twice again the effort to carry the position was renewed, but each time with the same results. Night at length rendered a further attempt injudicious ; and the fight until ten o'clock was kept up by the artillery on both sides."* * Richmond Examiner of Friday, July 4th, 1862. The same jour- nal presents the following graphic picture of the ground which the Rebels had occupied during the progress of the engagement : "The battle-field, surveyed through the cold rain of Wednesday morning, presented scenes too shocking to be dwelt on without anguish. The woods and the field before mentioned were, on the western side, covered with our dead, in all the degrees of violent mutilation, while in the woods on the west of the field lay, in about equal numbers, the blue uniformed bodies of the enemy." 452 A HISTORY or Thus ended tlie battle of Malvern Hill. Thus termi- nated the last assault made by the troops of the Eebel Confederacy at this period, upon the army of the Union in the Peninsula. Thus concluded one of the most extraordinary series of engagements which has ever occurred in the blood-stained annals of ancient or modern warfare. The losses endured on both sides were appall- ing ; and impartial history will hereafter affirm from her hio-h seat, thaC the Rebels had little of which to boast, in the incidents and results of the battles which were fought near their capital. It is unquestionably true, that the Federal forces would have been withdrawn to James river without these assaults having been made upon them. While therefore the Confederates inflicted superfluous wounds and death upon thern, they were themselves in turn punished and mulcted to a much more destructive and ruinous extent. The Federal losses in these various engascements were as follows: in the battle of Me- chanicsville, the number in killed and wounded was about one thousand ; in that of Gaines' Mill, three thou- sand; in that of Peach Orchard, five hundred; at Savage's Station, one thousand ; in White Oak Swamp, three thousand five hundred; at Goldiug's Farm, four hundred ; at Malvern Hill, two thousand ; making a grand total of eleven thousand four hundred. This estimate does not include the missing, whose exact numbers are unknown. It it probable that the losses of the Hebels were fully twice as great as those which had been inflicted on the Federal troops. During Tuesday night, and on Wednesday the 2d of July, the concentration and establishment of the Union forces at Harrison's Landing were completed. The enemy were too much broken and exhausted to continue the pursuit or to renew the assault. Their self-imposed THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 453 task had been finished, with greater infliction of suffering and calamity on themselves than on their opponents. The new position which General McClellan had selected, consisted of a strip of land along the northern bank of the James river, five miles in length, where a number of suitable wharves existed, at which the transports could discharge their cargoes of supplies ; and whose external form toward the enemy was admirably adapted to the purpose of defense. It was soon made impregnable against all attacks by the skillful use of the spade ; for such formidable breastworks were quickly thrown up, as to convince the Eebels of the impolicy of any attempt to carry them by assault. On the 4th of July General McClellan issued an address to his troops, in which he bestowed upon them that praise for heroism and en- durance which they had richly merited ; and which will continue to be, until the end of time, the just reward of the brave and patriotic men, whose undying glory and misfortune it was to have belonged to the Federal army in the Peninsula. The repose of that army at Harrison's Landing re- mained undisturbed by the enemy during the period of nearly a month. It was not until the night of the 31st of July that their hostile presence and spirit were again exhibited. The Eebels had crossed the James river in considerable numbers, above the Federal camp; had posted several batteries opposite to the Landing, and in the vicinity of the Union fleet of transports ; and then began a vigorous cannonading, both upon the camp and the fleet. The assault continued during an hour and a half. Their guns threw shell of six and twelve pounds weight, both round and conical. They effected but little damage, inasmuch as they generally fell short of their mark. A few of them exploded within the Federal 454 A HISTORY OF camp, and some of them reached the shipping. In con sequence of the fact that no attack was expected from the foe in that direction, all the Federal guns had been posted in the front ; so that a considerable interval elapsed before a sufficient number could be transferred to the proper position to respond to the enemy. In half an hour the latter commenced to reply, and in a sbort time the Rebels were silenced. They had made a futile assault ; for although they discharged several hundred shells, so inaccurate was their aim that the loss on the Union side was only six killed and nine wounded. During the attack the Rebels frequently changed the position of their batteries, and as the night was extremely dark, it was only by the flashes of the guns that their location could be discovered. The vessels on the James river did not return any shots, as by so doing they would have revealed their own location more distinctly to the enemy. This brief and unimportant episode was the mere pre- lude to the last military operation which was destined to take place between the Federal and Rebel armies in the Peninsula. The hideous carnival of blood and death which had rendered that spot so sadly famous in all coming time, was now about to terminate with the second battle at Malvern Hill. On Monday, the 4:th of August, a portion of the Federal army was ordered to make a reconnoissance in the direction of the Rebel lines. It consisted of the divisions commanded by Generals Hooker and Sedgwick, a brigade of cavalry under General Pleasanton, and four batteries. General Hooker was chief in command. Leaving the camp at four o'clock in the afternoon, they marched along the road to Charles City for some distance. They then diverged through several by-roads as far as Nelson's Farm. At that point THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 455 tbey bivouacked for the night. Early on the following morning they resumed their march, and in an hour they reached the rear of Malvern Hill, upon which the enemy were posted. They thus occupied a position between the latter and the remainder of their army, as well as ■ their depot of supplies at Eichmond. An admirable opportunity was thus afforded to surround and capture a large portion of the Rebel force. Immediately after coming within view of the latter, the Federal troops were formed in line of battle. The artillery were posted in the front, the cavalry and infantry were ranged on the flanks. The Eebels com- menced the battle promptly at six o'clock with their guns. The Federal cannon responded with spirit. The enemy were much inferior in number to the Union troops ; comprising only three regiments of infantry, a small portion of cavalry, with four pieces of artillery. They maintained the contest during two hours with great determination; but the vast superiority of the Union troops in numbers rendered a further resistance on their part useless. They then retired in good order toward the James river. The Federal victors did not pursue. Their loss was only six killed and twenty-four wounded. The enemy took with thern all their guns, their killed and their wounded. This fight enabled General Hooker to take possession of Malvern Hill, which gave him a position six miles nearer to Eichmoud than that at Harrison's Landing. On Tuesday afternoon General McClellan, accompanied by a number of officers, visited the spot, and greatly commended General Hooker for his achievement. It was perfectly evident however, that though the small body of Rebel troops stationed there had been over- powered, large reinforcements would be quickly sent from 456 A HISTORY OF Eichmond to recover the lost position. A general engagement would therefore soon occur, to decide the permanent possession of the place. Accordingly, Gene- ral McClellan immediately sent messengers to his camp, ordering a large number of his troops to march toward Malvern Hill, to support the column already posted there. If these troops had arrived in time, the issue of the subsequent operations might have been different. But the messengers who conveyed the order pursued the wrong road, were unaccountably delayed on their journey, and thus the reinforcements did not approach until the position had been hopelessly lost. Only a portion of those Federal troops which were sent ari'ived, and these made their appearance only in time to join in the general retreat. On Wednesday the Eebels marched to Malvern Hill in large masses, and as the Federal forces, by this manoeuver, would have been greatly inferior in numbers, a retrograde move- ment was precipitately made to Harrison's Landing. Thus ended the capture, the occupation, and the evacu- ation of the position at Malvern Hill. The Federal loss during the operation was four killed and fifteen wounded. It had now become evident to the Federal Govern- ment that the expedition against Eichmond, through the Peninsula, had proved a total and irremediable failure. It was quite as evident that the longer delay of the army of the Union in that unpropitious clime would be pro- ductive of no good, while it would entail a continued and lavish waste of the national treasure and of valuable lives. General McClellan therefore received orders to evacuate Harrison's Landing. This order was obeyed on the 16th and 17th of August, 1862. Through the energy and skill of Colonel Ingalls, all the stores of subsistence THE SOUTHERN REBELLION. 457 and ammunition were safely removed on board the fleet of Federal transports which then lay at Harrison's Land- ing. Nothing of the least value was left behind. The Ecbel commanders, intensely gratified to witness the departure of their formidable visitors, did not offer any resistance to the movement. The army crossed the Chickahominy by a pontoon bridge two thousand feet in length, consisting of a hundred boats. The troops then marched forward toward Williamsburg, while the trans- ports and gunboats sailed down James river to Fortress Monroe. The future destination of the Army of the Peninsula was then as yet unknown. It was, however, intended to be consolidated with the forces which had been placed under the orders of General Pope. This arrangement was afterward completed ; and the fortunes of war were again tried under new auspices, against the desperate, yet by no means contemptible conspirators, who had risen in rebellion against their legitimate government, and had thus far struck, with such marvel- lous enei-gy, ferocity and skill, against its sacred bosom. Nor can the patriot and philanthropist fail to experience the most poignant emotions of regret, when reflecting upon the varied incidents and results of the campaign in the Peninsula: — when he remembers the brilliant hopes which threw so bright and fair a radiance around the advance of the Union army toward the Eebel capital ; when he recalls the many glorious prodigies of heroism and valor which were vainly performed by the soldiers and officers of that army, in the sanguinary battles which they fought; when he computes how many thousands of valiant and devoted men, from different and distant portions of the continent, were left behind by their departing comrades to moulder in their unknown and unhonored graves, the victims of a 458 A HISTORY OF climate and of labors more deadly tliaii tlie bullets and cannon of the foe ; in a word, when he meditates upon the complete and melancholy discomfiture of one of the greatest and noblest enterprises which the check- ered page of history presents. APPENDIX. A STATEMENT OF THE CAUSES WHICH INDUCED THE SECESSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA. The people of the State of South Carolina in Convention assembled, on the 2d day of April, A.D. 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States, fully justified this State in their withdrawal from the Federal Union ; but in deference to the opinions and wishes of the other Slaveholding States, she forbore at that time to exercise this right. Since that time these encroachments have continued to increase, and further forbearance ceases to be a virtue. And now the State of South Carolina having resumed her separate and equal place among nations, deems it due to herself, to the remaining United States of America, and to the nations of the world, that she should declare the immediate causes which have led to this act. In the year 1765, that portion of the British Empire em- bracing Great Britain undertook to make laws for the Govern- ment of that portion composed of the thirteen American Colonies. A struggle for the right of self-government ensued, which resulted, on the 4th of July, 1776, in a Declaration, by the Colonies, " that they are, and of right ought to be, free AND INDEPENDENT States ; and that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish coraraerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do." 459 460 APPENDIX. They further solemnly declared that whenever any " form of government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government." Deeming the Govern- ment of Great Britain to have become destructive of these ends, they declared that the Colonies " are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connec- tion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." In pursuance of this Declaration of Independence, each of the thirteen States proceeded to exercise its separate sover- eignty ; adopted for itself a Constitution, and appointed officers for the administration of government in all its depart- ments — Legislative, Executive and Judicial. For purposes of defence they united their arms and their counsels ; and, in 1778, they entered into a League known as the Articles of Confederation, whereby they agreed to intrust the administra- tion of their external relations to a common agent, known as the Congress of the United States, expressly declaring, in the first article, "that each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right which is not, by this Confederation, expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." Under this Confederation the War of the Revolution was carried on; and on the 3d of September, 1783, the contest ended, and a definite Treaty was signed by Great Britain, in which she acknowledged the Independence of the Colonies iu the following terms : " Article 1. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz. : New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virgi- nia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free, SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; that he treats with them as such ; and, for himself, his heirs and successors, re- APPENDIX. 461 linquishes all claims to the government, property, and territo rial rights of the same and every part thereof." Thus were established the two great principles asserted by the Colonies, namely : the right of a State to govern itself, and the right of a people to abolish a Government when it becomes destructive of the ends for which it was instituted. And concurrent with the establishment of these principles, was the fact, that each Colony became and was recognized by the mother country as a free, sovereign and independent State. In 178*7, Deputies were appointed by the States to revise the articles of Confederation ; and on ITth September, 1V87, these Deputies recommended, for the adoption of the States, the Articles of Union, known as the Constitution of the United States. The parties to whom this Constitution was submitted were the several sovereign States ; they were to agree or disagree, and when nine of them agreed, the compact was to take effect among those concurring ; and the General Government, as the common agent, was then to be invested with their authority. If only nine of the thirteen States had concurred, the other four would have remained as they then were — separate, sover- eign States, independent of any of the provisions of the Constitution. In fact, two of tlie States did not accede to the Constitution until long after it had gone into operation among the other eleven ; and during that interval, they each exercised the functions of an independent jiation. By this Constitution, certain duties were imposed upon the several States, and the exercise of certain of their powers was restrained, which necessarily impelled their continued existence as sovereign States. But to remove all doubt, an amendment was added, which declared that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. On the 23d May, 1788, South Carolina, by a Convention of her people, passed an ordinance assenting to 462 APPENDIX. this Constitution, and afterwards altered her own Constitution to conform herself to the obligations she had undertaken. Thus was established, by compact between the States, a Government with defined objects and powers, limited to the express words of the grant. This limitation left the whole remaining mass of power subject to the clause reserving it to the States or the people, and rendered unnecessary any speci- fication of reserved rights. We hold that the Government thus established is subject to the two great principles asserted in the Declaration of Independence ; and we hold further, that the mode of its formation subjects it to a third fundamental principle, namely, the law of compact. We maintain that in every compact between two or more parties, the obligation is mutual ; that the failure of one of the contracting parties to perform a material part of the agreement, entirely releases the obligation of the other; and that, where no arbiter is pro- vided, each party is remitted to his own judgment to determine the fact of failure, with all its consequences. In the present case, that fact is established with certainty. We assert that fourteen of the States have deliberately refused for years past to fulfil their constitutional obligations, and we refer to their own statutes for the proof. The Constitution of the United States, in its fourth Article, provides as follows : " No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." This stipulation was so material to the compact that with- out it that compact would not have been made. The greater number of the contracting parties held slaves, and they had previously evinced their estimate of value of such a stipula- tion by making it a condition in the Ordinance for the govern- ment of the territory ceded by Virginia, which obligations. r' APPENDIX. 4:(j[ and the laws of the General Government, have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rliode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the acts of Congress, or render useless any attempt to execute them. In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from the service of labor claimed, and in none of them has the State Government complied with the stipulation made in the Constitution. The State of New Jersey, at an early day, passed a law in conformity with her constitutional obligation ; but the current of Anti-Slavery feeling has led her more recently to enact laws which render inoperative the remedies provided by her own laws and by the laws of Congress. In the State of New York even the right of transit for a slave has been denied by her tribunals ; and the States of Ohio and Iowa have refused to surrender to justice fugitives charged with murder, and with inciting servile insurrection in the State of Virginia. Thus the constitutional compact has been deliberately broken and disregarded by the non-slaveholding States ; and the consequence follows that South Carolina is released from her obligation. The ends for which this Constitution was framed are de- clared by itself to be "to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." These ends' it endeavored to accomplish by a Federal Government, in which each State was recognized as an equal, and had separate control over its own institutions. The right of property in slaves was recognized by giving to free persons distinct political rights ; by giving them the right to represent, and burdening them with direct taxes for, three-fifths of their slaves ; by authorizing the importation of slaves for twenty years ; and by stipulating for the rendition of fugitives from labor. 461 APPEXUIX. "We affirm that these ends for which this Government was instituted have been defeated, and the Government itself has been destructive of them by the action of the non-slaveholding States. Those States have assumed the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions ; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution ; they have denounced as sinful the institution of Slavery ; they have permitted the open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace of and eloin the property of the citizens of other States. They have en- couraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes ; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures, to servile insurrection. For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily in- creasing, until it has now secured to its aid the power of the common Government. Observing the/o?-m.s of the Constitu- tion, a sectional party has found within that article establish- ing the Executive Department, the means of subverting the Constitution itself, A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to Slavery. He is to be intrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that " Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free," and that the public mind must rest in the belief that Slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction. This sectional combination for the subversion of the Con- stitution has been aided, in some of the States, by elevating to citizenship persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens ; and their votes have been used to inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destructive of its peace and safety. On the 4th of March next this party will take possession of the Government. It has announced that the South shall APPENDIX. 465 be excluded from the common territory, that the Judicial tribunal shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against Slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States. The guarantees of the Constitution will then no longer exist ; the equal rights of the States will be lost. The Slave- holding States will no longer have the power of self-govern- ment, or self-protection, and the Federal Government will have become their enemy. Sectional interest and animosity will deepen the irritation ; and all hope of remedy is rendered vain, by the fact that the public opinion at the North has invested a great political error with the sanctions of a more erroneous religious belief We, therefore, the people of South Carolina, by our delegates in Convention assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, have solemnly declared that the Uuiou heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed lier position among the nations of the world, as a separate and independent State, with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. II. THE FINAL LETTER OP THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS TO SECRE- TARY SEWARD. Washington, April 9, 1861. Hon. yVm. IT. Seivard, Secretary of Slate of the United States, Washington. The " memorandum" dated Department of State, Washing- ton, March 15, 18G1, has been received through the hands of 30 4:QQ APPENDIX. Mr. J. T. Pickett, Secretary to this Commission, who, by the instructions of the undersigned, called for it on yesterday at the Department. In that memorandum you correctly state the purport of the oEScial note addressed to you by the undersigned on the 12th ult. Without repeating the contents of that note in full, it is enough to say here that its object was to invite the Govern- ment of the United States to a friendly consideration of the relation between the United States and the seven States lately of the Federal Union, but now separated from it by the sovereign will of their people, growing out of the pregnant and undeniable fact that those people have rejected the authority of the United States and established a Government of their own. Those relations had to be friendly or hostile. The people of the old and new Governments, occupying contigu- ous territories, had to stand to each other in the relation of good neighbors, each seeking their happiness and pursuing their national destinies in their own way, without interference with the other, or they had to be rival and hostile nations. The Government of the Confederate States had no hesitation in electing its choice in this alternative. Frankly and un- reserved, seeking the good of the people who had intrusted them with power, in the spirit of humanity, of the Christian ^civilization of the age, and of that Americanism which regards the true welfare and happiness of the people, the Government of the Confederate States, among its first acts, commissioned the undersigned to approach the Government of the United States with the olive branch of peace, and to offer to adjust the great questions pending between them in the only way to l)e justified by the consciences and common sense of good men who had nothing but the welfare of the people of the two iConfederacies at heart. Your Government has not chosen to meet the undersigned in the conciliatory and peaceful spirit in which they are com- missioned. Persistently wedded to those fatal theories of construction of the Federal Constitution always rejected hj APPENDIX. 467 the statesmen of the South, and adhered to by those of the Administration school, until they have produced their natural and often predicted result of the destruction of the Union, under which we might have continued to live happily and gloriously together, had the spirit of the ancestry who framed the common Constitution, animated the hearts of all their sons, you now, with a persistence untaught and uncured by the ruin which has been wrought, refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a complete and successful revolution ; you close your eyes to the existence of the Government founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and humanity which attach to you in dealing with this great fact. Had you met these issues with the frankness and manli- ness with which the undersigned were instructed to present them to you and treat them, the undersigned had not now the melancholy duty to return home and tell their Government and their countrymen, that their earnest and ceaseless efforts in behalf of peace had been futile, and that the Government of the United States meant to subjugate them by force of arms. Whatever may be the result, impartial history will" record the innocence of the Government of the Confederate States, and place the responsibility of the blood and mourning that may ensue upon those who have denied the great funda- mental doctrine of American liberty, that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and who have set naval and land armaments^ in motion to subject the people of one portion of the land to the will of another portion. That that can never be done while a free- man survives in the Confederate States to wield a weapon, the undersigned appeal to past history to prove. These military demonstrations against the people of the seceded States are certainly far from being in keeping and consistency with the theory of the Secretary of State, maintained in his memorandum, that these States are still component parts of the late American Union, as the undersigned are not aware of any constitutional power in the President of the United 468 APPENDIX. States to levy war without the consent of Congress, upon a foreign people, much less upon any portion of the people of the United States. The undersigned, like the Secretary of State, have no purpose to " invite or engage in discussion" of the subject on which their two Governments are so irreconcilably at variance. It is this variance that has broken up the old Union, the disintegration of which has only begun. It is proper, however, to advise you that it were well to dismiss the hopes you seem to entertain that, by any of the modes indi- cated, the people of the Confederate States will ever be Drought to submit to the authority of the G-overnment of the United States, You are dealing with delusions, too, when you seek to separate our people from our Government and to characterize the deliberate, sovereign act of the people as a " perversion of a temporary and partizan excitement." If you cherish these dreams you will be awakened from them and find them as unreal and unsubstantial as others in which you have recently indulged. The undersigned would omit the performance of an obvious duty were they to fail to make known to the Government of the United States that the people of the Confederate States have declared their independence with a full knowledge of all the responsibilities of that act, and with as firm a determination to maintain it by all the means with which nature has endowed them as that which sustained their fathers when they threw oif the authority of the British crown. The undersigned clearly understand that you have" declined to appoint a day to enable them to lay the objects of the mission with which they are charged, before the President of the United States, because so to do would be to recognize the independence and separate nationality of the Confederate States. This is the vein of thought that pervades the memorandum before us. The truth of history requires that it should distinctly appear upon the record that the undersigned did not ask the Government of the United States to recognize APPENDIX. 469 the independence of the Confederate States. They only asked audience to adjust, in a spirit of amity and peace, the new- relations springing from a manifest and accomplished revolu- tion in the Government of the late Federal Union. Your refusal to entertain these overtures for a peaceful solution, the active naval and military preparation of this Government, and a formal notice to the commanding general of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston, that the President intends to provision Fort Sumter by forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by the undersigned, and can only be received by the world, as a declaration of war against the Confederate States ; for the President of the United States knows that Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The undersigned, in behalf of their Government and people, accept the gage of battle tlius thrown down to them ; and appealing to God and the judgment of mankind for the righteousness of their cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the last against this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power. This communication cannot be properly closed without adverting to the date of your memorandum. The official note of the undersigned, of the 12lh March, was delivered to the Assistant Secretary of State on the 13th of that month, the gentleman who delivered it, informing him that the Secretary of this Commission would call at 12 o'clock, noon, on the next day, for an answer. At the appointed hour, Mr. Pickett did call, and was informed by the Assistant Secretary of State that the. engagements of the Secretary of State had prevented him from giving the note his attention. The Assistant Secretary of State then asked for the address of Messrs. Crawford and Forsyth, the members of the Commission then present in this city, took note of the address on a card, and engaged to send whatever reply miglit be made to their lodgings. Why this was not done it is proper should be here explained. The memorandum is dated March 15, and wa3 470 APPENDIX. not delivered until April 8. "Why was it withheld during the intervening twenty-three days ? In the postscript to your memorandum you say it " was delayed, as was understood, with their (Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford's) consent." This IS true ; but it is also true that on the 15th of March Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford were assured by a person occupying a high official position in the Government, and who, as they believed, was speaking by authority, that Fort Sumter would be evacuated within a very few days, and that no measure changing the existing status prejudicially to the Confederate States, as respects Fort Pickens, was then contemplated, and these as- surances were subsequently repeated, with the addition that any contemplated change as respects Pickens, would be notified to us. On the 1st of April we were again informed that there might be an attempt to supply Fort Sumter with provisions, but that Gov. Pickens should have previous notice of this attempt. There was no suggestion of any reinforce- ments. The undersigned did not hesitate to believe that these assurances expressed the intentions of the Administration at the time, or at all events of prominent- members of that Administration. This delay was assented to, for the express purpose of attaining the great end of the mission of the under- signed, to wit : A pacific solution of existing complications. The inference deducible from the date of your memorandum, that the undersigned had, of their own volition and without cause, consented to this long hiatus in the grave duties with which they were charged, is therefore not consistent with a just exposition of the facts of the case. The intervening twenty-three days were employed in active unofficial efforts, the object of which was to smooth the path to a pacific solu- tion, the distinguished personage alluded to cooperating with the undersigned ; and every step of that efi'ort is recorded iu writing, and now in possession of the undersigned and of their Government. It was only when all these anxious efforts for peace had been exhausted, and it became clear that Mr. Lincoln had determined to appeal to the sword to reduce the APPEXDIX, 471 people of the Confederate States to the will of the section ov party whose Presicleut he is, that the undersigned resumed t\\(i official negotiation temporarily suspended, and sent their Secretary for a reply to their official note of March 12. It is proper to add that, during these twenty-three days, two gentlemen of official distinction as high as that of the personage hitherto alluded to, aided the undersigned as inter- mediaries in these unofficial negotiations for peace. The undersigned, Commissioners of the Confederate States of America, having thus made answer to all they deem material in the memorandum filed in the Department on the 15th of March last, have the honor to be, John Forsyth, Martin J. Crawford, A. B. Roman. III. THE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES, BY JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. The de facto question in America has been referred at last to the dread arbitrament of civil war. Time and events must determine whether the " great Republic" is to disappear from the roll of nations, or whether it is destined to survive the storm which has gathered over its head. There is, perhaps, a readiness in England to prejudge the case ; a disposition not to exult in our downfall, but to accept the fact; for nations as well as individuals, may often be addressed in the pathetic language of the poet : " Donee eris felix. multos immerabis amicos ; Tempora cum fuerint nubila, nullus erit." Yet the trial by the ordeal of battle has hardly commenced, and it would be presumptuous to affect to penetrate the veil 472 APPENDIX. of even the immediate future. But the question dejure is a different one. The right and the wrong belong to the past, are hidden by no veil, and may easily be read by all who are not wilfully blind. Yet it is often asked why have the Americans taken up arms ? Why has the United States Government plunged into what is sometimes called " this wicked war ?" Especially it is thought amazing in England that the President should have recently called for a great army of volunteers and regulars, and that the inhabitants of the Free States should have sprung forward as one man at his call, like men suddenly relieved from a spell. It would have been amazing had the call been longer delayed. The national flag, insulted and defied for many months, had at last been lowered, after the most astonishing kind of siege recorded in histor}-, to an armed and organized rebellion ; and a prominent personage in the Government of the Southern Confederacy is reported to have proclaimed amid the exultations of victory that before the 1st of May the same cherished emblem of our nationality should be struck from the capitol at Washington. An advance of the " Confederate troops" upon that city ; the flight or captivity of the President and his Cabinet ; the seizure of the national archives, the national title deeds, and the whole national machinery of foreign intercourse and internal administration, by the Confederates ; and the pro- clamation from the American palladium itself of the Mont- gomery Constitution in place of the one devised by Washing- ton, Madison, Hamilton, and Jay — a constitution in which slavery should be the universal law of the land, the corner- stone of the political edifice — were events which seemed for a few days of intense anxiety almost probable. Had this really been the result, without a blow struck in defence of the national Government and the old Constitution, it is certain that the contumely poured forth upon the Free States by their domestic enemies, and by the world at large, would have been as richly deserved as it would have been amply bestowed. At present such a catastrophe seems to APPENDIX. 473 have been averted. But the levy in mass of such a vast number of armed men in tlie Free States, in swift response to the call of the President, shows how deep and pervading is the attachment to the Constitution and to the flag of Union in the hearts of the 19,000,000 who inhabit those States. It is confidently believed, too, that the sentiment is not wholly ex- tinguished in the 9,000,000 white men who dwell in the Slave States, and that, on the contrary, there exists a large party throughout that country who believe that the Union furnishes a better protection for life, property, law, civilization, and liberty, than even the indefinite extension of African slavery can do. At any rate, the loyalty of the Free States has proved more intense and passionate than it had ever been supposed to be before. It is recognized throughout their whole people that the Constitution of 1787 had made us a nation. The efforts of a certain class of politicians for a long period had been to reduce our Commonwealth to a Confederacy. So long as their efforts had been confined to argnment, it was considered sufficient to answer the argument ; but, now that secession, instead of remaining a topic of vehement and subtle discussion, has expanded into armed and fierce rebellion and revolution, civil war is the inevitable result. It is the result foretold by sagacious statesmen almost a generation ago, in the days of the tariff " nullification." " To begin with nullifi- cation," said Daniel Webster in 1833, "with the avowed intention, nevertheless, not to proceed t« secession, dismember- ment, and general revolution, is as if one were to take the plunge of Niagara, and cry out that he would stop half way down." And now the plunge of secession has been taken, and we are all struggling in the vortex of general revolution. The body politic, known for seventy years as the United States of America, is not a Confederacy, not a compact of sovereign States, not a copartnership ; it is a Commomvealth, of which the Constitution drawn up at Philadelphia by the Convention of 1787, over which Washington presided, is the 474 APPENDIX. organic, funclaraental law. We had already had enough of a confederacy. The thirteen rebel provinces, afterward the thirteen original independent States of America, had been united to each otlier during the revolutionary war by articles of confederacy, 'T/ie said States hereby enter into a firm league of friendship with each other. ''^ Such was the language of 1781, and the league or treaty thus drawn up was ratified, not by the people of the States, but by the State Govern- ments, — the legislative and executive bodies namely, in their corporate capacity. The continental Congress, which was the central adminis- trative board during this epoch, was a diet of envoys from sovereign States. It had no power lo acton individuals. It could not command the States. It could move only by requisitions and recommendations. Its functions were essen- tially diplomatic, like those of the States-General of the old Dutch Republic, like those of the modern Germanic Con- federation. We were a league of petty sovereignties. When the war had ceased, when our independence had been acknowledged in 1783, we sank rapidly into a condition of utter impotence, imbecility, anarchy. We had achieved our independence, but we had not constructed a nation. We were not a body politic. No laws could be enforced, no insurrections sup- pressed, no debts collected. Neither property nor life was secure. Great Britain had made a treaty of i)eace with us, but she scornfully declined a treaty of commerce and amity ; not because we had been rebels, but because we were not a State — because we were a mere dissolving league of jarring provinces, incapable of guaranteeing the stipulations of any commercial treaty. We were unable even to fulfil the condi- tions of the treaty of peace and enforce the stipulated collec- tion of debts due to British subjects ; and Great Britain refused in consequence to give up the military posts which she held within our frontiers. For twelve years after the ac- kuowledgement.of our independence we were mortified by the APPENDIX. 475 spectacle of foreign soldiers occupying a long chain of fort- resses south of the great lakes and upon our own soil. We were a confederacy. We were sovereign States. And tliese were the fruits of such a confederacy and of such sovereignty. It was, until the immediate present, the darkest hour of our history. But there were patriotic and sagacious men in those days, and their efforts at last rescued us from the condition of a confederacy. The " Constitution of the United States" was an organic law, enacted by the sovereign people of that whole territory which is commonly called in geographies and histories, the United States of America. It was empowered to act directly, by its own legislative, judicial and executive machinery, upon every individual in the country. It could seize his property, it could take his life, for causes of which itself was the judge. The States were distinctly prohibited from opposing its decrees or from exercising any of the great functions of sovereignty. The Union alone was supreme, " any thing in the constitution and laws of the States to the contrary notwithstanding." Of what significance, then, was the title of "sovereign" States, arrogated in later days by communites which had voluntarily abdicated the most vital attributes of sovereignty? But, indeed, the words "sovereign" and " sovereignty" are purely inapplicable to the American system. In the Declaration of Independence the provinces declare themselves " free and independent States," but the men of those days knew that the word "sovereign" was a term of feudal origin. When their connection ji'ith a tinie-hojiored feudal monarchy was abruptly severed, the word ''sovereign" had no meaning for us. A sovereign is one who acknowledges no superior, who possesses the highest authority without control, who is supreme in power. IIovv could any one State of tlie United States claim such characteristics at all, least of all after its inhabitants, in their primary assemblies, had voted to submit themselves, without limitation of time, to a consti- tution which was declared supreme ? The only iutelligilile source of power in a country beginning its history de novo 476 APPENDIX. after a revolution, in a land never subjected to military or feudal conquest, is the will of the people of the whole land as expressed by a majority. At the present moment, unless the Southern revolution shall prove successful, the United States Government is a fact, an established authority. In the period between 1783 and 178Y we were in chaos. In May of 1787 the convention met in Philadelphia, and, after some months' deliberation, adopted, with unprecedented unanimity, the ])r<>ject of the great law, which, so soon as it should be accepted by the people, was to be known as the Constitution of the United States. It was not a compact. Who ever heard of a compact to which there were no parties ? or who ever heard of a compact made by a single party with himself? Yet the name of no State is mentioned in the whole document; the States tliem- selves are only mentioned to receive commands or prohibi- tions, and the " people of the United States" is the single party by whom alone the instrument is executed. The Constitution was not drawn up by the States, it was not promulgated in the name of the States, it was not ratified by the States. The States never acceded to it, and possess no power to secede from it. It "^was ordained and es- tablished" over the States by a power superior to the States — by the people of the whole land in their aggregate capacity, acting through conventions of delegates expressly chosen for the purpose within each State, independently of the State Govoi-nments, after the project had been framed. There had always been two parties in the country during the brief but pregnant period between the abjuration of British authority and the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. Tliere was a party advocating State rights and local self- government in its largest sense, and a party favoring a more consolidated and national government. The National or Federal party triumphed in the adoption of the new govern- ment. It was strenuously supported and bitterly opposed on exactly the same grounds. Its friends and foes both agreed APPEXDIX, 477 that it had put an end to the system of confederacy. Whether it were an advantageous or a noxious change, all agreed that the thing had been done. " In all our deliberations (says the letter accompanying and recommending the Constitution to the people) we kept steadily in view that which appeared to us the greatest interest of every true American, the conwlidalion of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, safety, perhaps our national existence.'''' — Journal of the Convention, 1 Story, 368. And an eloquent opponent denounced the project for this very same reason : " That this is a consolidated Government (said Henry), is demonstrably clear. The language is ' we, the people,' instead of ' we, the States.' It must be one great, consolidated national Government of the people of all the States." And the Supreme Court of the United States, after the Government had been established, held this language in an important case, " Gibbons v. Ogden :" " It has been said that tlie States were sovereign, were completely independent, and were connected with each other by a league. This is true. But when these allied sovereign- ties converted their league into a Government, when they converted their Congress of AniI)assadors into a Legislature, empowered to enact laws, the whole character in which the States appear underwent a change." There was never a disposition in any quarter, in the early days of our constitutional history, to deny this great funda- mental principle of the Republic. " In the most elaborate expo.siiions of the Constitution by its friends (says Justice Story), its character as a permanent forvi of government, as a fundamental law, as a supreme rule, which no State was at liberty to disregard, to suspend, or to annul, was constantly admitted and insisted upon." — 1 Story, 325. The fears of its opponents, then, were that'the new system would lead to a too strong, to an over-centralized Government. 478 APPENDIX. The fears of its friends were that the central power of theory wonld prove inefficient to cope with the local or State forces, in practice. The experience of the last thirty years, and tlic catastrophe of the present year, have shown which class of fears were the more reasonable. Had the Union thus established in 1787 been a confederacy, it might have been argued, with more or less plausibility, that the States which peaceably acceded to it might at pleasure peaceably secede from it. It is none the less true that such a proceeding woukl have stamped the members of the conven- tion — Washington, Madison, Jay, • Hamilton, and their col- leagues — with utter incompetence ; for nothing can be histori- cally more certain than that their object was to extricate us from the anarchy to which that principle had brought us. " However gross a heresy it may be (says the Federalist, recommending the new Constitution) to maintain that a party to a compact has a right to revoke that compact, the doctrine has had respectable advocates. The possibility of such a question shows the necessity of laying the foundation of our national Government deeper than in the mere sanction of delegated authority. The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people." Certainly, the most venerated expounders of the Constitu- tion — Jay, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, Story, "Webster — were of opinion that the intention of the convention to establish a permanent, consolidated Government, a single commonwealth, had been completely successful. " The great and fundamental defect of the Confederation of 1781, (says Chancellor Kent,) which led to its eventual over- throw, was that, in imitation of all former confederacies, it carried the decrees of the Federal Council to the States in cheir sovereign capacity. The great and incurable defect of all former Federal Governments, such as the Amphictyonic, Achcean, and Lycian Confederacies, and the Germanic, Hel- vetic, Hanseatic, and Dutch Republics, is that they were ^oue?'- eignties over sovereignties. The first effort to relieve the APPENDIX, 479 people of the country from this state of national degradation and ruin came from Virginia. The general convention after- wards met at Philadelphia in May, 1787. The plan was submitted to a convention of delegates chosen by the people at large in each State for assent and ratification. Such a measure was laying the foundations of the fabric of our national polity where alone they ought to be laid, — on the broad consent of the people." — 1 Kent, 225. It is true that the consent of the people was given by the inhabitants voting in each State ; but in what other conceiva- ble way could the people of the whole country have voted ? "They assembled in the several States," says Story; "but where else could they assemble ?" Secession is, in brief, the return to chaos from which we emerged three-quarters of a century since. 'No logical sequence can be more perfect. If one State has a right to secede to-day, asserting what it calls its sovereignty, another may, and probably will, do the same- to-morrow, a third on the next day, and so on, until there are none left to secede from. Granted the premises that each State may peaceably secede from the Union, it follows that a county may peaceably secede from a State, and a town from a county, until there is nothing left but a horde of individuals all seceding from each other. The theory that the people of a whole country in their aggre- gate capacity are supreme, is intelligible ; and it has been a fact, also, in America for seventy years. But it is impossible to show, if the people of a State be sovereign, that the people of a county, or of a village, and the individuals of the village, are not equally sovereign, and justified in "resuming their sovereignty" when their interests or their caprice seems to impel them. The process of disintegration brings back the community to barbarism, precisely as its converse has built up commonwealths — whether empires, kingdoms, or republics — out of original barbarism. Established authority, whatever the theory of its origin, is a fact. It should never be lightly or capriciously overturned. They who venture on the attempt •ISO APrENPIX. should weigh well the responsihility tluit is upon tlioin. Above all they must expect to be arraigned for their deeds before the tribunal of the civilized world and of future nges — a court of last appeal, the code of which is based on the Divine princi- ples of right and reason, which are dispassionate and eternal. No man, on either side of the Atlantic with Anglo-Saxon l)lood in his veins, will dispute the right of a people, or of any jiortion of a people to rise against oppression, to denuind redress of grievances, and in case of denial of justice to take np arms to vindii'ate" the sacred principle of liberty. Few Knglishmen or Americans will ileny that the source of govern- ment is the consent of the governed, or that every nation has tlie right to govern itself accoriling to its will. When the silent consent is changed to Jirnr renionslrance, the revolution is impending. The right of revolution is indisputable, li is written on the whole record of our race. British and Ameri- can history is made up of rebellion and revolution. Many of the crowned kings were rebels or usurpers; Hampden, Pym, and Oliver Cromwell; Washington, Adams, and Jeflerson, all were rebels. It is no word of reproach ; but these men all knew the work they had set themselves to do. They never called their rebellion "peaceable secession." They were sustained by the consciousness of right when they overthrew estal)lished authority, but they meant to overthrow it. They meant rebellion, civil war, bloodshed, infinite suffering for themselves and their whole generation, for they accounted them welcome substitutes for insulted liberty and violated right. There can be nothing plainer, then, than the American right of revolution. But then it should be called revolution. " Secession, as a revolutionary right," said Daniel Webster in the Senate nearly thirty years ago, in words that now sound l)rophetic : " Is intelligible. As a right to be proclaimed in the midsf of civil commotions, and assc7'tcd at the head of armies, I can understand it. But as a practical right, existing under the Constitution, and in conformity with its provisions, it APl'ENDIX. 481 seems lo l)c iHjlIiiiii^- I)ut nn uljsunlity, for it supposes resist- ance to (Icjvoriiiiioiit iiiidcr authority of (jovermnent itself; it supposes disiiH^iiihci-meiit without violating the iirineiples of Union; it supposes op])()sitietty sovereignties, of (jiovernments which could not govern a single imlividmi,]. Tin; framers of the Constitution, which has now endured three-(piarters of a century, and under which the nation has made a material and intellectual progress never surpassed in history, were not such triflers as to be ignorant of the consequences of their own acts. The Constitution which they oifered and which the people adopted as its own, talked not of .Sovereign States — spoke not the word con- federacy. In the very preamble to the instrument are in- serted the vital words which show its character: 'AVe, ///'? people of the Fnited States, to ensure a more perfect union, and to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordam and ei^lahhsh thin Constiddion." Sic volo, sicjubeo. It is the language of a Sovereign solemidy speaking to the world. It is the promulgation of a great law, the norma aijcndi of a new commonwealth. It is no compact, "A compact (says Blackstoue) is a promise proceeding from us. Law is a command directed to us. The language of a compact is, ' We will or will not do this ; that of a law is, Thou Shalt or shalt not do it.' "—(1 B. 38, 44, 45.) And this is throughout the language of the Constitution. Congress shall do tlds ; the President shall do that ; the States shall not exercise this or that power. Witness, for examj.le, the important clauses by wliich the " Sovereign" States are 31 482 APPENDIX. shorn of all the great attributes of sovereignty : — no State shall coin money, nor emit bills of credit, nor pass ex post facto laws, nor laws impairing the obligations of contracts, nor maintain armies and navies, nor grant letters of marque, nor make compacts with other States, nor hold intercourse with foreign Powers, nor grant titles of nobility ; and that most significant phrase, " this Constitution, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land." Could language be more impartial ? Could the claim to State " sovereignty" be more completely disposed of at a word? How can that be sovereign, acknowledging no superior, supreme, which has voluntarily accepted a supreme law from something which it acknowledges as superior ? The Constitution is perpetual, not provisional or temporary. It is made for all time — "for ourselves and our posterity." It is absolute within its sphere. " This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land, any thing in the Constitution or laws of a State to the contrary notwithstanding." Of what value, then, is a law of a State declaring its connection with the Union dissolved ? The Constitution remains supreme, and is bound to assert its supremacy till overpowered by force. The use of force — of armies and navies of whatever strength — •in order to compel obedience to the civil and constitutional authority, is not "wicked war," is not civil war, is not war at :all. So long as it exists, the Government is obliged to put forth its strength when assailed. The President, who has taken an oath before God and man to maintain the Constitu- tion and laws, is perjured if he yields the Constitution and laws to armed rebellion without a struggle. He knows nothing of .States. Within the sphere of the United States Government he deals with individuals only, citizens of the the great Kepublic in whatever portion of it they may happen to live. He has no choice but to enforce the laws of the Republic wherever they may be resisted. When he is over- powered the Government ceases to exist. The Union is gone, and Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Ohio are as much APPENDIX, 483 separated from each other as they are from Georgia or Loui- siana. Anarchy has returned upon us. The dismemberment of the Commonwealth is complete. We are again in the chaos of 1785. But it is sometimes asked why the Constitution did not make a special provision against the right of secession. How could it do so ? The people created a Constitution over the whole land, with certain defined, accurately enumerated powers, and among these were all the chief attributes of sovereignty. It was forbidden to a State to coin money, to keep armies and navies, to make compacts with other States, to hold inter- course with foreign nations, to oppose the authority of Government. To do any of these things is to secede, for it would be physically impossible to do any one of them without secession. It would have been puerile for the Constitution to say formally to each State, "Thou shalt not secede." The Constitution being the supreme law, being perpetual, and having expressly forbidden to the States those acts without which secession is an impossibility, would have been wanting in dignity had it used such superfluous phraseology. This Constitution is supreme, whatever laws a State may enact, pays the organic law. Was it necessary to add, "and no State shall enact a law of secession ?" To add to a great statute, in which the sovereign authority of the land declares its will, a phrase such as " and be it further enacted that the said law shall not be violated," would scarcely seem to strengthen the statute. It was accordingly enacted that new States might be admitted ; but no permission was given for a State to secede. Provisions were made for the amendment of the Constitu- tion from time to time, and it was intended that those provi- sions should be stringent. A two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress, and a ratiGcation in three-quarters of the whole number of States, are conditions only to be complied with in grave emergencies. But the Constitution made no provision for its own dissolution, and, if it had done so, it would have 484 appe:sidix. been a proceeding quite witliout example in history. A Con- stitution can only be subverted by revolution, or by foreign conquest of the land. The revolution may be the result of a successful rebellion. A peaceful revolution is also conceivable in the case of the United States. The same power which established the Constitution, may justly destroy it. The people of the whole land may meet, by delegates, in a great national convention, as they did in 1787, and declare that the Constitution no longer answers the purpose for which it was ordained ; that it no longer can secure the blessings of liberty for the people in present and future generations, and that it is therefore forever abolished. "When that project has been submitted again to the people voting in their primary assem- blies, not influenced by fraud or force, the revolution is law- fully accomplished, and the Union is no more. Such a proceeding is conceivable, although attended with iimumerable difficulties and dangers. But these are not so great as those of the civil war into which the action of the seceding States has plunged the country. The division of the national domain and other property, the navigation and police of the great rivers, the arrangement and fortifications of frontiers, the transit of the Isthmus, the mouth of the Missis- sippi, the control of the Gulf of Mexico, these are significant phrases which have an appalling sound ; for there is not one of them that does not contain the seeds of war. In any separation, however accomplished, these difficulties must be dealt with, but there would seem less hope of arriving at a peaceful settlement of them now that the action of the seceding States has been so precipitate and lawless. For a single State, one after another, to resume those functions of sover- eignty which it had unconditionally abdicated when its people ratified the Constitution of 1787, to seize forts, arsenals, customhouses, post-offices, mints, and other valuable property of the Union, paid for by the treasure of the Union, was not the exercise of a legal function, but it w^^s rebellion, treason, and plunder. APPENDIX. 485 It is strange that Englishmen should find difficulty in un- derstanding that the United States Government is a nation among the nations of the earth ; a constituted authority, which may be overthrown by violence, as may be the fate of any State whether kingdom or republic, but which is false to the people if it does not its best to preserve them from the horrors of anarchy, even at the cost of blood. The " United States" happens to be a plural title, but the commonwealth thus designated is a unit, — " e pluribiis unum." The Union alone is clothed with imperial attributes; the Union alone is known and recognized in the family of nations ; the Union alone holds the purse and the sword, regulates foreign inter- course, imposes taxes on foreign commerce, makes war and concludes peace. The armies, the navies, the militia, belong to the Union alone, and the President is Commander-in-Chief of all. Xo State can keep troops or fleets. What man in the civilized world has not heard of the United States ? What man in England can tell the names of all the individual States? And yet, with hardly a superficial examination of our history and our Constitution, men talk glibly aI)out a confederacy, a compact, a co-partnership, and tlie right of a State to secede at y^leasure, not knowing that, by admitting such loose phraseology and such imaginary rights, we should violate the first principles of our i)olitical organization, shoidd fly in the face of our history, should trample under foot the teachings of Jay, Hamilton, Washington, ^Marshall, Madison, Dane, Kent, Story, and Webster, and, accepting only the dogmas of Mr. Calhoun as infallible, surrender forever our national laws and our national existence. Englishmen themselves live in a united empire ; but if the kingdom of Scotland should secede, should seize all the national property, forts, arsenals, and public treasure on its soil, organize an army, send forth foreign Ministers to Louis Xapoleon, the Emperor of Austria, and other powers, issue invitations to all the pirates of the world to prey upon English commerce, screening their piracy from punishment by the 486 APPENDIX. banner of Scotland, and should announce its intention of plant- ing that flag upon Buckingham Palace, it is probable that a blow or two would be struck to defend the national honor and the national existence, without fear that the civil war would be denounced as wicked and fratricidal. Yet it would be difficult to show that the State of Florida, for example, a Spanish province, purchased for national purposes some forty years ago by the United States Government for several millions, and fortiGed and furnished with navy yards for national uses, at a national expense of many more millions, and numbering at this moment a population of only 80,000 while men, should be more entitled to resume its original sovereignty than the ancient kingdom of William the Lion and Robert Bruce. The terms of the treaty between England and Scotland were perpetual, and so is the Constitution of the United States. The United Empire may be destroyed by revolution and war, and so may the United States ; but a peaceful and legal dismemberment without the consent of a majority of the whole people, is an impossibility. But it is sometimes said that the American Republic origi- nated in secession from the mother country, and that it is unreasonable of the Union to resist the seceding movement on the part of the new confederacy. But it so happens that the one case suggests the other only by the association of contrast. The thirteen colonies did not intend to secede from the British empire. They were forced into secession by a course of policy on the part of the mother country such as no English adminis- tration at the present day can be imagined capable of adopt- ing. Those Englishmen in America were loyal to the Crown ; but they exercised the right which cis-Atlantic or transatlantic Englishmen have always exercised, of resistance to arbitrary government. Taxed without being represented, and insulted by measures taken to enforce the odious, but not exorbitant imposts, they did not secede, nor declare their independence. On the contrary they made every effort to avert such a conclu- APPENDIX, 487 sion. In the words of the "forest-born Demosthenes" — as Lord Byron called the great Virginian, Patrick Henry— the Americans " petitioned, remonstrated, cast themselves at the foot of the throne, and implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the Ministers and Parliament. But their petitions were slighted, their remonstrances procured only additional violence and insult, and they were spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne." The "Boston Massacre," the Boston port-bill, the Boston "tea-party," the battle of Lexington, the battle of Bunker's Hill, were events which long preceded the famous Declaration of Independence. It was not till the colonists felt that redress for grievances was impossible that they took the irrevocable step, and renounced their allegiance to the crown. The revo- lution had come at last, they had been forced into it, but tliey knew that it was revolution, and that they were acting at the peril of iheir lives. " We must be unanimous in this business," said Hancock : "we must all hang together." "Yes," replied Franklin, " or else we shall all hang separately." The risk incurred by the colonists was enormous, but the injury to the mother country was comparatively slight. They went out into darkness and danger themselves, but the British empire was not thrown into anarchy and chaos by their secession. Thus their course was the reverse of that adopted by the South. The prompt secession of seven States because of the constitutional election of a President over the candidates voted for by their people, was the redress in advance of grievances which they may reasonably or unreasonably, have expected, but which had not yet occurred. There is the high authority of the Vice-President of the Southern " Confederacy," wh) declared a week after the election of Mr. Lincoln that the election was not a cause for secession, and that there wns no certainty that he would have either the power or the in- clination to invade the constitutional rights of the South. In the Free States it w:is held that the resolutions of the conven- 488 APPENDIX. tion by which Mr. Lincoln was nominated were scrnpulously and conscientiously framed to protect all those constitutional rights. The question of slavery in the Territories, of the future extension of slavery, was one which had always been an open question and on which issue was now joined. But it was no question at all that slavery within a State was sacred from all interference by the General Government, or by the free States, or by individuals in those States ; and the Chicago Convention strenuously asserted that doctrine. The question of free trade, which is thrust before the English public by many journals, had no immediate connection with the secession, although doubtless the desire of direct trade with Europe has long been a prominent motive at the South. The Gulf States seceded under the moderate tarifl" of 185T, for which South Carolina voted side by side with Mas- sachusetts. The latter State, although for political not economical reasons, it thought itself obliged since the secession to sustain the Pennsylvania interest by voting for the absurd Morrill Bill, is not in favor of protection. On the contrary, the great manufactories on. the Merrimac river have long been independent of protection, and export many million dollars' worth of cotton and other fabrics to foreign countries, under- selling or competing with all the world in open market. It would be impossible for any European nation to drive the American manufacturer from the markets of the American continent in the principal articles of cheap clothing for the masses, tariff or no tariff. This is a statistical fact which cannot be impugned. The secession of the colonies, after years of oppression and grievances for which redress had been sought in vain, left the British empire, 3,000 miles off, in security, with Constitution and laws unimpaired, even if its colonial territory were seri- ously diminished. The secession of tlie Southern States, in contempt of any other remedy for expected grievances, is followed by the destruction of the whole body politic of which they were vital parts. APPENDIX. 489 Xot only is the IJuited Republic destroyed if the revolution prove successful ; but, even if the people of the Free States have the enthusiasm and sagrcity to reconstruct their Union, and by a new national convention to re-ordain and re-establish the time-honored Constitution, still an immense territory is lost. But the extent of that territory is not the principal element in the disaster. The world is wide enough for all. It is the loss of the southern marine frontier which is fatal to the llepublic. Florida and the vast Louisiana territory purchased by the Union from foreign countries, and garnished with fortresses at the expense of the Union, are fallen with all these improvements into the hands of a foreign and un- friendly Power. Should the dire misfortune of a war with a great maritime nation, with England or France for example, befall the Union, its territory, hitherto almost impregnable, might now be open to fleets and armies acting in alliance witli a hostile "Confederacy," which has become possessed of an important part of the Union's maritime line of defence, ^loreover, the Union has 12,000 ships, numbering more than 5,000,000 tons, the far greater part of which belongs to the Free States, and the vast commerce of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico requires and must receive protection at every hazard. Is it strange that the Union should make a vigorons, just, and lawful effort to save itself from the chaos from which the Constitution of 1787 rescued the country? Who that has read and pondered the history of that dark period does not sliudder at the prospect of its return ? But yesterday we were a State — the Great .Republic — prosperous and powerful, with a flag known and honored all over the world. Seventy years ago we were a helpless league of bankrupt and lawless petty sovereignties. We had a currency so degraded that a leg of mutton was cheap at $1,000. The national del»t, incurred in the War of Independence, had hardly a nominal value, and was considered worthless. Tiie ab.sence of law, order, and security for life and property was as absolute as 490 APPENDIX. could be well conceived iu a civilized land. Debts could not be collected, courts could enforce no decrees, insurrections could not be suppressed. The army of the Confederacy numbered eighty men. From this condition the Constitution rescued us. That great law, reported by the general Convention of lYST, was ratified by the people of all the land voting in each State for a ratifying convention chosen expressly for that purpose. It was promulgated in the name of the people : " We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, and to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution." It was ratified by tlie people — not by the States acting through their governments, legislative and executive, but by the people electing especial delegates within each State ; and it is im- portant to remember that in none of these ratifying conven- tions was any reserve made of a State's right to repeal the Union, or to secede. Many criticisms were offered in the various ratifying ordi- nances, many amendments suggested, but the acceptance of the Constitution, the submission to the perpetual law, was in all cases absolute. The language of Yirginia was most explicit on this point. "The powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them whenever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression." That the people of the United States, expressing their will solemnly in national convention, are competent to undo the work of their ancestors, and are fully justified in so doing when the Constitution shall be perverted to their injury and oppression, there is no man in the land that doubts. This course has been already indicated as the only peaceful revolution possible ; but such a proceed- ing is very different from the secession ordinance of a single State resuming its sovereignty of its own free M^ill, and without consultation with the rest of the inhabitants of the country. " There was no reservation (says Justice Story) of any APPEXDIX. 491 right ou the part of any State to dissolve its conncctiou, or to abrogate its dissent, or to suspend the operation of the Con- stitution as to itself." And thus, when the ratifications had been made, a now commonwealth took its place among the nations of the earth. The effects of the new Constitution were almost magical. Order sprang out of chaos. Law resumed its reign ; del)ts were collected; life and property became secure ; 'the national debt was funded and ultimately paid, principal and interest, to the uttermost farthing ; the articles of the treaty of peace in 1783 were fulfilled, and Great Britain, having an organized and united State to deal with, entered into a treaty of com- merce and amity with us — the first and the best ever negoti- ated between the two nations. Not the least noble of its articles (the 21st) provided that the acceptance by the citizens or subjects of either country of foreign letters of marque should be treated and punished as piracy. Unfortunately, that article and several others were limited to twelve years, and were not subsequently renewed. The debts due to British subjects were collected, and the British Government at last surrendered the forts on our soil. At last we were a nation, with a flag respected abroad and almost idolized at home as the symbol of union and coming greatness ; and we entered upon a career of prosperity ami progress never surpassed in history. The autonomy of each State, according to which its domestic and interior all'airs are subject to the domestic legislature and executive, was secured by the reservation to each State of powers not cxpres.>ly granted to the Union by the Constitution. Supreme wiihiu its own orbit, which is traced from the same centre of poi)uhir power whence the wider circumference of the General Govern- ment is described, the individual State is surrounded on all sides by that all-embracing circle. The reserved and unnamed powers are many and important, but the State is closely cir- cumscribed. Thus, a State is forbidden to alter its form of government. " Thou shalt forever remain a republic," says 492 APPENDIX. the United States Constitution to each individual State. A State is forbidden, above all, to pass any law conflicting with the United States Constitution or laws. Moreover, every member of Congress, every member of a State legislature, every executive or judicial officer in the service of the Union or of a separate State, is bound by solemn oath to maintain the United States Constitution. This alone would seem to settle the question of secession ordinances. So long as the Consti- tution endures, such an ordinance is merely the act of con- spiring and combining individuals, with whom the General Government may deal. AVhen it falls in the struggle, and becomes powerless to cope with them, the Constitution has been destroyed by violence. Peaceful acquiescence in such combinations is perjury and treason on the pai't of the chief magistrate of the country, for which he may be impeached and executed. Yet men speak of Mr. Lincoln as having plunged into wicked war. They censure him for not negotiating with envoys who came, not to settle grievances, but to demand recognition of the dismemberment of the Republic which he has just sworn to maintain. It is true that the ordinary daily and petty affairs of men come more immediately than larger matters under the cogni- zance of the State governments, tending thus to foster local patriotism and local allegiance. At the same time, as all controversies between citizens of diflfereut States come within the sphere of the Federal courts, and as the manifold and conflicting currents of so rapid a national life as the American can rarely be confined within narrow geographical boundaries, it follows that the Federal courts, even for domestic purposes as well as foreign, are parts of the daily, visible functions of the body politic. The Union is omnipresent. The custom- house, the court-house, the arsenal, the village post-office, the muskets of the militia make the authority of the General Government a constant fact. Moreover,. the restless, migra- tory character of the population, which rarely permits all the members of one family to remain denizens of any one State, J APPENDIX, 493 lias iuterlaced the States with each other and all with the Union to such an extent that a painless excision of a portion of the whole nation is an impossibility. To cut away the pound of flesh and draw no drop of blood surpasses human ingenuity. Neither the opponents nor friends of the new Government in the first generation after its establishment held the doctrine of secession. The States' right party and the Federal party disliked or cherished the Government because of the general conviction that it was a constituted and centralized authority, permanent and indivisible, like that of any other organized nation. Each party continued to favor or to oppose a strict construction of the instrument ; but the doctrine of nullification and secession was a plant of later growth. It was an accepted fact that the United States was not a confederacy. That word was never used in the Constitution except once by icay of prohibition. We were a nation, not a copartnership, except indeed in the larger sense in which every nation may be considered a copartnership — a copartnership of the present with the past and with the future. To borrow the lofty language of Burke : "A State ought not to be considered as nothing better than a partnersliip agreement in a trade of pepper and coffee, calico or tobacco, or some other such low concern, to be taken up for a little temporary interest, and to be dissolved by the fancy of the parties. It is to be looked upon with otiior reverence, because it is not a partnership in things subservient only to gross animal existence, of a temporary and perishable nature. It is a partnership in all science, a partner.ship in all art, a partnership in every virtue and in all perfection, a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born." And the simple phrase of the preamble to our Constitu- tion -is almost as pregnant :—" To secure the blessings of liberty to us and onv posterity."' 494 APPENDIX. But as the innumerable woes of disunion out of which we had been rescued by the Constitution began to fade into the past, the allegiance to the Union, in certain regions of the country, seemed rapidly to diminish. It was reserved to the subtle genius of Mr. Calhoun, one of the most logical, brilliant, and persuasive orators that ever lived, to embody once more, in a set of sounding sophisms, the main arguments which had been unsuccessfully used in a former generation to prevent the adoption of the Constitution, and to exhibit them now as legitimate deductions from the Constitution. The memorable tariff controversy was the occasion in which the argument of State sovereignty was put forth in all its strength. In regard to the dispute itself there can be no doubt that the South was in the right and the North in the wrong. The production by an exaggerated tariff of a revenue so much over and above the wants of Government, that it was at last divided among the separate States, and foolishly squandered, was the most triumphant reductio ad absurdiim that the South could have desired. But it is none the less true that the nullification by a State legislature of a Federal law was a greater injury to the whole nation than a foolish tariff, long since repealed, had inflicted. It was a stab to the Union in its vital part The blow was partially parried, but it may be doubted whether the wound has ever healed. Tariffs, the protective system, free trade, — although the merits of these questions must be considered as settled by sound thinkers in all civilized lands, must nevertheless still remain in some countries the subjects of honest argument and legitimate controv.ersy. When all parts of a country are represented — and especially in the case of the United States, where the Southern portion has three-fifths of a certain kind of " property" represented, while the Xorth has no property represented — reason should contend with error for victory, trusting to its innate strength. And until after the secession of the Gulf States the moderate tariff of 1857 was in opera- tion, with no probability of its repeal. Moreover, tlie advo- APPENDIX. 495 cates of the enlightened system of free trade should reflect that should the fourteen Slave States become permanently united in a separate confederacy, the state of their internal aflTairs will soon show a remarkable revolution. The absence of the Fugitive law will necessarily drive all the slaves from what are called the border States ; and he must be a shallow politician who dreams here in England that free trade with all the world, and direct taxation for revenue, will be the policy of the new and expensive military empire which will arise. Manufactures of coiton and woolen will spring up on every river and mountain stream in the Northern Slave States, the vast mineral wealth of their territories will require development, and the cry for protection to native industry in one quarter will be as surely heeded as will be that other cry from the Gulf of Mexico, now partially suppressed for obvious reasons, for the African slave trade. To establish a great Gulf empire, including ^Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and other islands, with unlimited cotton fields and unlimited negroes, this is the golden vision in pursuit of which the great Repul)lic has been sacrificed, the beneficent Constitution subverted. And already the vision has fled, but the work of destruction remains. Tlie mischief caused by a tariff, however selfish or however absurd, may be temporary. In the last nineteen years tliere have Ijeen four separate tariffs passed by the American Congress, and nothing is more probable than that the suicidal Morrill tarifl" will receive essential modifications even in the special session of July ; but the woes caused by secession and civil war are infinite : and whatever be the result of the contest, this generation is not likely to forget the injuries already inflicted. The great Secession, therefore, of ISOO-Cl, is a rebellion, like any other insurrection, against established authority, and has been followed by civil war, as its immediate and inevita])le consequence. If successful it is revolution ; and whether successful or not, it will be judged before the tribunal of man- 496 APPENDIX. kind and posterity according to the eternal laws of reason and justice. Time and history will decide whether it was a good and sagacious deed to destroy a frabric of so long duration, because of the election of Mr. Lincoln ; whether it were wise and noble to substitute over a large portion of the American soil a Confederacy of which slavery, in the words of its Vice- President, is the corner-stone, for the old Republic, of which Washington, with his own hand, laid the corner-stone. It is conceded by the North tliat it has received from the Union innumerable blessings. But it would seem that the Union has also conferred benefit on the South. It has carried its mails at a large expense. It has recaptured its fugitive slaves. It has purchased vast tracts of foreign territory, out of which a whole tier of slave States has been constructed. It has annexed Texas. It has made war with Mexico. It has made an offer — not likely to be repeated, however — to purchase Cuba, with its multitude of slaves, at a price accord- ing to report as large as the sum paid by England for the emancipation of her slaves. Individuals in the free States have expressed themselves fi-eely on slavery, as upon every topic of human thought, and this must ever be the case where there is freedom of the press and of speech. The number of professed abolitionists has hitherto been very small, while the great body of the two principal political parties in the free States have been strongly opposed to them. The Republican party was determined to set bounds to the extension of slavery, while the Democratic party favored that system, but neither had designs secret or avowed against slavery within the States. They knew that the question could only be legally and rationally dealt with by the States themselves. But both the parties, as present events are so signally demonstrating, were imbued with a passionate attachment to the Constitu- tion — to the established authority of Government by which alone our laws and our liberty are secured. All parties in the free States are now united as one man inspired by a noble APPENDIX. 497 and generous emotion to vindicate the sullied honor of their flag, and to save their country from the abyss of perdition into which it seemed descending. Of the ultimate result we have no intention of speaking. Only the presumptuous will venture to lift the vail and affect to read with accuracy coming events, the most momentous perhaps of our times. One result is, however, secured. The Montgomery Constitution, with slavery for its corner-stone, is not likely to be accepted, as but lately seemed possible, not only by all the slave States, but even by the border free States; nor to be proclaimed from Washington as the new national law, in the name of the United States. Compromises will no longer be offered by peace conventions, in which slavery is to be made national, negroes declared property over all the land, and slavery extended over all Territories now possessed or hereafter to be acquired. Nor is the United States Government yet driven from Washington. Events are rapidly unrolling themselves, and it will lie proved, in course of time, whether the North will remain united in its inflexible purpose, whether the South is as firmly united, or whether a counter revolution will be effected in either section, which must necessarily give the victory to its opponents. We know nothing of the schemes or plans of either Government. The original design of the Republican party was to put an end to the perpetual policy of slavery extension, and acquisi- tion of foreign territory for that purpose, and at the same time to maintain the Constitution and the integrity of the Republic. This at the South seemed an outrage which justi- fied civil war ; for events have amply proved what sagacious statesmen prophesied thirty years ago— that secession is civil war. If all is to end in negotiation and separation, notwith- standing the almost interminable disputes concerning frontiers, the strongholds in the Gulf, and the unshackled navigation of the great rivers throughout their whole length, wliicfli, it i& 32 498 APPENDIX. probable, will never be abandoned by the North, except as the result of total defeat in the field, it is at any rate certain that both parties will negotiate more equitably with arms in their hands than if the unarmed of either section were to deal with the armed. If it comes to permanent separation, too, it is certain that in the Commonwealth which will still glory in the name of the United States, and whose people will doubtless re-establish the old Constitution, with some important amend- ments, the word secession will be a sound of woe not to be lightly uttered. It will have been proved to designate, not a peaceful and natural function of political life, but to be only another expression for revolution, bloodshed, and all the horrors of civil war. It is probable that a long course of years will be run, and many inconveniences and grievances endured, before any one of the free States will secede from the reconstructed Union. IV. EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS AGAINST SECESSION. Mr. Stephens entered the Hall at the hour of 1 p. m., and was greeted with long and rapturous applause. He then rose and said : Fellow-Citizens : I appear before you to-night at the request of members of the Legislature and others, to speak of matters of the deepest interest that can possibly concern us all, of an earthly character. There is nothing — no question or subject connected with this life — that concerns a free people so intimately as that of the Government under which they live. We are now, indeed, surrounded by evils. Never since I entered upon the public stage has the country been so environed with difficulties and dangers that threatened the APPENDIX. 499 public peace and the very existence of society as now. I do not now appear before you at my own instance. It is not to gratify desires of my own that I ara here. Had I consulted my own ease and pleasure I should not be before you ; but, believing it is the duty of every good citizen to give his coun- sels and views whenever the country is in danger, as to the best policy to be pursued, I am here. For these reasons, and these only, do I bespeak a calm, patient, and attentive hearing. My object is not to stir up strife, but to allay it ; not to appeal to your passions, but to your reason. Good govern- ments can never be built up or sustained by the impulse of passion. I wish to address myself to your good sense, to your good judgment, and if after hearing you disagree, let us agree to disagree, and part as we met, friends. We all have the same object, the same interest. That people should disagree in republican governments, upon questions of public policy, is natural. That men should disagree upon all matters con- nected with human investigation, whether relating to science or human conduct, is natural. Hence, in free governments parties will arise. But a free people should express their different opinions with liberality and charity, with no acrimony toward those of their fellows, when honestly and sincerely given. These are my feelings to-night. Let us, therefore, reason together. It is not my purpose to say aught to wound the feelings of any individual who may be present ; and if in the ardency with which I shall express my opinions, I shall say any thing which' may be deemed too strong, let it be set down to the zeal with which I advocate my own convictions. There is with me no intention to irritate or offend. The first question that presents itself is, shall the people of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the election of Mr. Lincoln to the presidency of the United States ? My countrymen, I tell you frankly, candidly, and earnestly, that I do not think that they ought. In my judg- ment, the election of no man, constitutionally chosen to that 1 500 APPENDIX. high office, is sufficient cause for any State to separate from the Union. It ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the Constitution of the country. To make a point of resist- ance to the Government, to withdraw from it because a man has been constitutionally elected, puts us in the wrong. We are pledged to maintain the Constitution. Many of us have sworn to support it. Can we, therefore, for the mere election of a man to the Presidency, and that too in accordance with the proscribed forms of the Constitution, make a point of resistance to the Government without becoming the breakers of that sacred instrument ourselves, withdraw ourselves from it ? Would we not be in the wrong ? Whatever fate is to befall this country, let it never be laid to the charge of the people of the South, and especially to the people of Georgia, that we were untrue to our national engagements. , Let the fault and the wrong rest upon others. If all our hopes are to be blasted, if the Republic is to go down, let us be found to the last moment standing on the deck, with the Constitution of the United States waving over our heads. (Applause.) Let the fanatics of the North break the Constitution, if such is their fell purpose. Let the responsibility be upon them I shall speak presently more of their acts ; but let not the South, let us not be the ones to commit the aggression. Wc went into the election of this people. The result was different from what we wished; but the election has been constitution- ally held. Were we to make a point of resistance to the Government and go out of the Union on that account, the record would be made up hereafter against us. But it is said Mr. Lincoln's policy and principles are against the Constitution, and that if he carries them out it will be destructive of our rights. Let us not anticipate a threatened evil. If he violates tlie Constitution then will come our time to act. Do not let us break it because, forsooth, he may. If he does, that is the time for us to strike. (Applause.) I think it would be injudicious and unwise to do this sooner. 1 do not anticipate that Mr. Lincoln will do AITENDIX. 501 any tiling to jeopard our safety or security, wliatcvcr may be his spirit to do it ; for he is bound by tlie constitutional cheeks which are thrown around him, which at tliis time render him powerless to do any great mischief. This shows the wisdom of our system. The President of the United States is no emperor, no dictator — ho is clothed with no absolute power. lie can do notiiing unless he is backed by power in Congress. Tlie House of Representatives is largely in the majority against him. » In the Senate he will also be powerless. There will be a majority of four against him. Tliis, after the loss of Bigler, Fitch, and others, by the unfortunate dissensions of the National Democratic party in their States. Mr. Lincoln cannot appoint an officer without the consent of the Senate — he cannot form a cabinet without the same consent. He will be in the condition of George III., (the embodiment of Toryism,) who had to ask the Whigs to appoint his ministers, and was compelled to receive a cabinet utterly opposed to his views ; and so Mr, Lincoln will be compelled to ask of the Senate to choose for him a cabinet, if the Democracy of that body choose to put him on such terms. He will be compelled to do this or let the Government stop, if the National Demo- cratic men — for that is their name at the North — the con- servative men in the Senate, should so determine. Then, how can Mr. Lincoln obtain a ca])inet whicli would aid him, or allow him to violate the Constitution ? Why then, I say, should we disrupt ftie ties of this Union when his hands arc tied, when he can do nothing against us ? I have heard it mooted that no man in the State of Georgia, who is true to her interests, could hold office under Mr. Lincoln, But, I ask, who appoints to office ? Not the President alone ; the Senate has to concur. No man can be appointed without the consent of the Senate. Should any man then refuse to hold office that was given to him l)y a Democratic Senate ? [Mr. Toombs interrupted and said if the Senate was democratic it was for Mr. lireckinridgc.] 602 APPENDIX. Well, then, continued Mr. S., I apprehend no man could be justly considered untrue to the interests of Georgia, or incur any disgrace, if the interests of Georgia required it, to hold an office which a Breckinridge Senate had given him, even though Mr. Lincoln should be President. (Prolonged applause, mingled with interruptions.) I trust, my countrymen, you will be still and silent. I ara addressing your good sense. I am giving you my views in a calm and dispassionate manner, and if any of you differ with me, you can, on any other occasion, give your views as I am doing now, and let reason and true patriotism decide between us. In my judgment, I say under such circumstances, there w^ould be no possible disgrace for a Southern man to hold office. No m'an will be suffered to be appointed, I have no doubt, who is not true to the Constitution, if Southern Senators are true to their trusts, as I cannot permit myself to doubt that they will be. My honorable friend who addressed you last night, (Mr.. Toombs,) and to whom I listened with the profoundest atten- tion, asks if we would submit to Black Republican rule ? I say to you and to him, as a Georgian, I never would submit to any Black Republican aggression upon our constitutional rights. I will never consent myself, as much as I admire this Union for the glories of the past, or the blessings of the present, as much as it has done for the people of all these States, as much as it has done for civilization, as much as the hopes of the world hang upon it, I would never submit to aggression upon my rights to maintain it longer ; and if they cannot be maintained in the Union, standing on the Georgia platform, whei'e I have stood from the' time of its adoption, I would be in favor of disrupting every tie which binds the States together. I will have equality for Georgia and for the citizens of Georgia in this Union, or I will look for new safeguards else- where. This is my position. The only question now is, cnn they be secured in the Union ? That is what I am counselling APPENDIX. 503 with you to-night about. Can it be secured ? In my judg- ment it may be, but it may not be ; but let us do all we can, so that in the future, if the worst come, it may never be said we were negligent in doing our duty to the last. My countrymen, I am not of those who believe this Union luis been a curse up to this time. True men, men of integrity, entertain different views from me on this subject. I do not question their riglit to do so ; I would nut impugn their motives in so doing. Nor will I undertake to say that this Government of our fathers is perfect. There is nothing perfect in this world of a human origin. Nothing connected with human nature, from man himself to any of his works. You may select the wisest and best men for your judges, and yet how many defects are there iu the administration of justice ? You may select the wisest and best men for your legislators, and yet how many defects are apparent in your laws ? And it is so in our Government. But that this Government of our fathers, with all its defects, comes nearer the objects of all good Governments than any other on the face of the earth is my settled conviction. Contrast it now with any on the face of the earth. [England, said Mr. Toombs.] — England, my friend says. Well, tliat is the next best, I grant ; but I think we have improved upon England. Statesmen tried their apprentice hands on the Government of England, and then ours was made. Ours sprung from that, avoiding many of its defects, taking most of the good and leaving out many of i^ errors, and from the whole constructing and building up of this model Republic — the best which the history of the world gives any account of. Compare, my friends, this Government with that of Spain, Mexico, the South American Republics, Germany, Ireland— are there any sons of that down-trodden nation here to- night?— Prussia, or if you travel further East, to Turkey or China. Where will you go, following the sun in its circuit round our globe, to find a GovernmeM that better protects tlie liberties of its people, and secures to tlicm the blessings we 504 APPENDIX. enjoy ? (Applause.) I think that one of the evils that beset us is a surfeit of liberty, an exuberance of the priceless bless- ings for which we are ungrateful. We listened to my honora- ble friend who addressed you last night, (Mr. Toombs,) as he recounted the evils of this Government. The first was the fishing bounties, paid mostly to the sailors of Xew England. Our friend stated that forty-eight years of our Government was under the administration of Southern Presidents. Well, these fishing bounties began under the rule of a Southern President, I believe. No one of them during the whole forty-eight years ever set his Administration against the principle or policy of them It is not for me to say whether it was a wise policy in the beginning ; it probably was not, and I have nothing to say in its defence. But ths reason given for it was to encourage our young men to go to sea and learn to manage ships. We had at the time but a small navy. It was thought best to encourage a class of our people to become acquainted with seafaring life ; to become sailors ; to man our naval ships. It requires practice to walk the deck of a ship, to pull the ropes, to furl the sails, to go aloft, to climb the mast ; and it was thought, by offering this bounty, a nursery might be formed in which young men would become perfected in these arts, and it applied to one section of the country as well as to any other. The result of this was, that in the war of 1812 our sailors, many of whom came from this nursery, were equal to any that England brought against us. At any rate, no small part of the glories of that war were gained by the veteran tars of America, and the object of these bounties was to foster that branch of our national defence. My opinion is, that whatever may have been the reason at first, this bounty ought to be discontinued — the reason for it at first no longer exists. A bill for this object did pass the Senate the last Congress I was in, to which my honorable friend contributed greatly, but it was not reached in the House of Representatives. I trust that he may yet see that he may with honor continue his APPENDIX. 505 connection with the Government, and that his eloquence, un- rivalled in the Senate, may hereafter, as heretofore, be dis- played in having tliis bounty, so obnoxious to him, repealed and wiped off from the statute-book. The next evil that my friend complained of was the Tariff. Well, let us look at that for a moment. About the time I commenced noticing public matters, this question was agita- ting the country almost as fearfully as the slave question now is. In 1832, when I was in college, South Carolina was ready to nullify or secede from the Union ou this account. And what have we seen ? The Tariff no longer distracts the public councils. Reason has triumphed 1 The present Tariff was voted for by Massachusetts and South Carolina. The lion and the lamb lay down together — every man in the Senate and House from Massachusetts and South Carolina, I think, voted for it, as did my honorable friend himself. And if it be true, to use the figure of speech of my honorable friend, that every man in the North that works in iron and brass and wood has his muscle strengthened by the protection of the Government, that stimulant was given by his vote, and I believe every other Southern man. So we ought not to complain of that. Mr. Toombs — Tlie tariff assessed the duties. Mr. Stephens — Yes, and Massachusetts with unanimity voted with the South to lessen them, and they were made just as low as Southern men asked them to be, and that is the rates they are now at. If reason and argument, with experi- ence, produced such changes in the sentiments of Massachu- setts from 1832 to 185'r, on the subject of the tariff, may not like changes be effected there by the same means — reason and argument, and appeals to patriotism on the present vexed question; and who can say that by 1875 or 1890 Massadiu- setts may not vote with South Carolina and Georgia upon all those questions that now distract the country, and threaten its peace and existence, I believe in the power and cfficioucy 506 ArPEXDix. of truth, ill the omnipotence of truth, and its ultimate triumph when properly wielded. (Applause.) Another matter of grievance alluded to by my honorable friend was the navigation laws. This policy was also com- menced under the Administration of one of these Southern Presidents who ruled so well, and has heeu continued through all of them since. The gentleman's views of the policy of these laws and my own do not disagree. We occupied the same ground in relation to them in Congress. It is not my purpose to defend them now. But it is proper to state some matters connected with their origin. One of the objects was to build up a commercial American marine by giving American bottoms the exclusive carrying trade between our own ports. This is a great arm of national power. This object was accomplished. We have now an amount of shipping, not only coastwise, but to foreign coun- tries, which puts us in the front rank of the nations of the world. England can no longer be styled the Mistress of the Seas. What American is not proud of the result ? Whether those laws should be continued is another question. But one thing is certain : no President, Northern or Southern, has ever yet recommended their appeal. And my friend's efforts to get them repealed were met with but little favor, North or South. These, then, were the two main grievances or grounds of complaint against the general system of our Government and its workings — I mean the administration of the Federal Government. As to the acts of the Federal States, I sliall speak presently, but these three were the main ones used against the common head. Now, suppose it be admitted tliat all of these are evils in the system ; do they overbalance and outweigh the advantages and great good which this same Government affords in a thousand innumerable ways that cannot be estimated ? Have we not at the South, as well as the North, grown great, prosperous, and happy under its operation ? Has any part of the world ever shown such rapid APPENDIX. 507 progress iu the development of wealtli, and all the material resources of national power and greatness, as the Southern Slates have under the General Government, notwithstanding all its defects ? Mr. Toombs — In spite of it. Mr. Stephens — My honorable friend says we have, in spite of the General Government ; that without it I suppose he thinks we might have done as well, or perhaps better, than we have done ; this is in spite of it. That may be, and it may not be ; bat the great fact that we have grown great and powerful under the Government as it exists, there is no conjecture or speculation about that ; it stands out bold, high, and prominent like your Stone Mountain, to which the gentleman alluded in illustrating home facts iu his record — this great fact of our unrivalled prosperity in the Union as it is, is admitted ; whether all this is in spite of the Government — whether we of the South would have been better off without the Government — is, to say the least, problematical. On the one side we can only put the fact against speculation and conjecture on the other. But even as a question of speculation I differ with my distinguished friend. What we would have lost in border wars without the Union, or what we have gained simply by the peace it has secured, no estimate can be made of. Our foreign trade, which is the foundation of all our prosperity, has the protection of the navy, which drove the pirates from the waters near our coast, where they had been buccaneering for centuries before, and might have been still, had it not been for the American Navy under the command of such spirits as Commodore Porter. Now that the coast is clear, that our commerce flows freely outwardly, we cannot well estimate how it would have Imch under other circumstances. The influence of the Government on us is like that of the atmosphere around us. Its benefits are so silent and unseen that they arc seldom thought of or appreciated. We seldom think of the single element, of oxygen in the air 508 APPENMX. we breathe, and yet let this simple, unseen, and unfelt agent be withdrawn, this life-giving element be taken away from this all-pervading fluid around us, and what instant and appalling changes would take place in all organic creation. It may be that we are all that we are in "spite of the General Government," but it may be that without it we should have been far different from what we are now. It is true there is no equal part of the earth with natural resources superior perhaps to ours. That portion of this country known as tlie Southern States, stretching from the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande, is fully equal to the picture drawn by the honora- ble and eloquent Senator last night, in all natural capacities. But how many ages and centuries passed before these capaci- ties were developed to reach this advanced age of civilization ? Tliere these same hills, rich in ore, same rivers, same valleys and plains, are as they have been since they came from the hand of the Creator; uneducated and uncivilized man roamed over them for how long no history informs us. It was only under our institutions that they could be developed. Their development is the result of the enterprise of our people under operations of the Government and institu- tions under which we have lived. Even our people without these never would have done it. The organization of society has much to do with the development of the natural resources of any country or any land. The institutions of a people, ])olitical and moral, are the matrix in which the germ of their organic structure quickens into life — takes root and develops its form, nature, and character. Our institutions constitute the basis, the matrix, from which spring all our characteristics of develoj)ment and greatness. Look at Greece. There is the same fertile soil, the same blue sky, the same inlets and harbors, the same ^gean, the same Olympus ; there is the same land where Homer sung, where Pericles spoke ; it is in nature the same old Greece — but it is living Greece no more. (Applause.) Descendants of the same people inhabit the country; T(t APPENDIX. ■ 509 what is the reason of this mighty difference ? In the midst of present degradation we see the glorious fragments o' ancient works of art— temples with ornaments and inscriptions that excite wonder and admiration— the remains of a once high order of civilization which have outlived the language they spoke— upon them all Ichabod is written— their glory has departed. Why is this so ? I answer, their institutions have been destroyed. These were but the fruits of their forms of government, the matrix from which their grand develop- ment sprung, and when once the institutions of a people have been destroyed, there is no earthly power that can bring back the Promethean spark to kindle them here again, any more than in that ancient land of eloquence, poetry, and song. (Applause.) The same may be said of Italy. AVhere is Rome, once the mistress of the world ? Tliere ah the same seven hills now, the same soil, the same natural resources ; nature is the same, but what a ruin of human greatness meets the eye of the traveler throughout the length and breadth of that most down- trodden land 1 Why have not the people of that heaven- favored clime the spirit that animated their fathers ? Why this sad difference ? It is the destruction of her institutions that has caused it ; and, my countrymen, if we shall in an evil hour rashly pull down and destroy those institutions which the patriotic hand of our fathers labored so long and so hard to build up, and which have done so much for us and the world, who can venture the prediction that similar results will not ensue ? Let us avoid it if we can. I trust the spirit is amongst us that will enable us to do it. Let us not rashly try the experi- ment, lor if it fails as it did in Greece and Italy, and in the South American Republics, and in every other place, wherever liberty is once destroyed, it may never be restored to us again. (Applause.) There are defects in our Government, errors in administra , tion, and shortcomings of many kinds, but in sjjite of these 610 APPENDIX. defects and errors, Georgia has grown to be a great State. Let us pause here a moment. In 1850 there was a great crisis, but not so fearful as this, for of all I have ever passed through, this is the most perilous, and requires to be met with the greatest calmness and deliberation. There were many amongst us in 1850 zealous to go at once out of the Union, to disrupt every tie that binds us together. Now do you believe, had that policy been carried out at that time, we would have been the same great people that we are to-day ? It may be that we would, but have you any as- surance of that fact ? Would you have made the same ad- vancement, improvement, and progress in all that constitutes material wealth and prosperity that you have ? I notice in the Comptroller-General's report, that the taxa- ble property of Georgia is $010,000,000 and upwards, an amount not far from double what it was in 1850. I think I may venture to say that for the last ten years the material wealth of the people of Georgia has been nearly if not quite doubled. The same may be said of our advance in education, and every thing that marks our civilization. Have we any assurance that had we regarded the earnest but misguided patriotic advice, as I think, of some of that day, and disrupted the ties which bind us to the Union, we would have advanced as we have ? I think not. Well, then, let us be careful now before we attemjjt any rash experiment of this sort. I know that there are friends whose patriotism I do not intend to question, who think this Union a curse, and that we would be better off without it. I do not so think ; if we can bring about a correction of these evils which threaten — and I am not with- out hope that this may yet be done — this appeal to go out, with all the provisions for good that accompany it, I look upon as a great and I fear a fatal temptation. When I look around and see our prosperity in every thing, agriculture, commerce, art, science, and every department of education, physical and mental, as well as moral advancement, and our colleges, I think, in the face of such an exhibition, if APPENDIX. 611 we can without the loss of power, or any essential right or interest, remain in the Union, it is our duty to ourselves and to posterity to — let us not too readily yield to this tempta- tion — do so. Our first parents, the great progenitors of the human race, were not without a like temptation when in the garden of Eden. They were led to believe that their condition would be bettered — that their eyes would be opened — and that they would become as gods. They in an evil hour yielded — instead of becoming gods they only saw their own nakedness. I look upon this country with our institutions as thg Eden of the world, the paradise of the universe. It may be that out of it we may become greater and more prosperous, but I am candid and sincere in telling you that I fear if we rashly evince passion and without sufficient cause shall take that step, that instead of becoming greater or more peaceful, prosperous, and happy — instead of becoming gods, we will become demons, and at no distant day commence cutting one another's throats. This is my apprehension. Let us, therefore, what- ever we do, meet these difficulties, great as they are, like wise and sensible men, and consider them in the light of all the consequences which may attend our action. Let us see first clearly where the path of duty leads, and then we may not fear to tread therein. I come now to the main question put to me, and on which ray counsel has been asked. That is, what tha present Legis- lature should do in view of the dangers that threaten us, and the wrongs that have been done us by several of our Con- federate States in the JJnion, by the acts of their legislatures nullifying the fugitive slave law, and in direct disregard of their constitutional obligations. What I shall say will not be in the spirit of dictation. It will be simply my own judgment for what it is worth. It proceeds from a strong conviction that according to it our rights, interests, and honor — our present safety and future security can be maintained without yet looking to the last resort, the "ultima ratio rcgum." t* 512 , APPENDIX. That should not be looked to until all else fails. That may come. On this point I am hopeful, but not sanguine. Lut let us use every patriotic effort to prevent it while there is ground for hope. If any view that I may present, in your judgment, be in- consistent with the best interests of Georgia, I ask you, as patriots, not to regard it. After hearing me and others whom you have advised with, act in the premises according to your own conviction of duty as patriots. I speak now particularly to the members of the Legislature present. There are, as I have said, great dangers ahead. Great dangers may come from the election I have spoken of. If the policy of Mr. Lincoln and his Republican associates shall be carried out, or attempted to be carried out, no man in Georgia will be more willing or ready than myself to defend our rights, interest, and honor at every hazard, and to the last extremity. (Applause.) What is this policy ? It is in the first place to exclude us by an act of Congress from the Territories with our slave property. He is for using the power of the General Govern- ment against the extensions of our institutions. Our position on this point is and ought to be, at all hazards, for perfect equality between all the States, and the citizens of all the States, in the Territories, under the Constitution of the United States. If Congress should exercise its power against this, then 1 am for standing where Georgia planted herself in 1S50. These were plain propositions which were then laid down in her celebrated platform as sufficient for the disruption of the Union if the occasion should ever come ; on these Georgia has declared that she will go out of the Union ; and for these she would be justified by the nations of the earth in so doing. I