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THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CIA^IL "W^^R 
 
 IN 
 
 THE UNITED STATES: 
 
 ITS 
 
 CAUSE, ORIGIN, PROGRESS AND CONCLUSION. 
 
 CONTAINING FULL, IMPARTIAL AND GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VARIOUS 
 
 MILITARY AND NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS, WITH THE HEROIC DEEDS 
 
 ACHIEVED BY ARMIES AND INDIVIDUALS, TOUCHING SCENES 
 
 AND INCIDENTS IN THE CAMP, THE CABIN, 
 
 THE FIELD AND THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 AND 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS HEEOES. 
 
 r, BY 
 
 i 
 SAMUEL M., SCHMUCKER, LL.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "LIVES OP THE FOUR GEORGES, KINGS OF ENGLAND," "HISTORY OF NAPOLEOH 
 
 III.," "ARCTIC EXPLOR.\TIONS AND DISCOVERIES," "LIFE OF ALEXANDER 
 
 HAMILTON," "HISTORY OF NICHOLAS I.," "THE CRIMEAN WAR," ETC. 
 
 i 
 
 REVISED AND COMPLETED BY 
 
 DR. L. P. B R O C K E T T, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "OUR GREAT CAPTAINS," "PHILANTHROPIC RESULTS OF THE WAR," "THE 
 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ETC., ETC. 
 
 Illustrated with over One Hundreil and Fifty Fine Portraits of Generals, Battle Scenes, Maps and Diagrams. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, CINCINNATI AND BOSTON: 
 
 JONES BROTHERS & CO. 
 
 CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS- 
 
 Z EI GLEE, McCURDY & C 0. 
 
 1 1^(1 r 
 
 jW 
 
 i 1s,...b^/ ' 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18(>5, by 
 
 BRADLEY & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, iu and for the 
 Eastern District of Peimsvlvania. 
 
 S, A. GEORGE. 
 
 ffTEUEOTVPSK SLKCHtuTt / stt A.VU FttiyrSJC 
 
 Ut N. St;V£NT(l tlTRKLT. I'DILAIIKLI'UIA. 
 
 '0 
 
 i\. 
 
 ui ci 
 
 <^ 
 
V^«r 
 
 /-V 
 
 This work will be beautifully illustrated with groups of the 
 
 follomng Naval ' and Military Heroes, distinguished civilians, 
 
 prominent Rebels, military and civil; and will contain elegant 
 
 full-page portraits of President Lincoln and Lieutenant>General 
 
 Grant, besides numerous fine steel engravings of battle-scenes, etc. 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 S" O E, T E. -A. I T S . 
 
 1. PRESIDENT LINCOLN, FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 32. GENERAL SIGEL. ^'' 
 
 2. LIEDTENANT-GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 33. " FREMONT. 
 
 3. GENERAL MEADE. 
 
 34. " ORD. 
 
 4. " nANCOCK. 
 
 35. " HUNTER. 
 
 .5. " WARREN 
 
 36. " SHERIDAN. 
 
 6. " WRIGHT. 
 
 37. " KILPATRICK. 
 
 7. " "BALDY" SMITH 
 
 38. " CUSTER. 
 
 8. " SICKLES. 
 
 39. " MERRITT. " 
 
 9. " HEI-NTZELMAN. 
 
 40. " AVERILL. 
 
 10. " SHERMAN. 
 
 41. " BUFORD. 
 
 11. " ROSECRANS. 
 
 42. " TORBERT. 
 
 12. " LOGAN. 
 
 43. " THOMAS. 
 
 13. " HOWARD. 
 
 44. " JEFF. C. DAVIS. 
 
 14. " SLOCUM. 
 
 48. " CURTIS. 
 
 15. " ROBERT McCOOK. 
 
 46. " COX. 
 
 16. " McCLERNAND. 
 
 47. " GORDON GRANGER. 
 
 17. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SCOTX. 
 
 48. " PALMER. 
 
 18. GENERAL McCLELLAN. 
 
 49. " WALLACE. 
 
 19. " HALLECK. 
 
 60. " GARFIELD. 
 
 20. " CASEY. 
 
 51. " CANBY. 
 
 21. " DIX. 
 
 62. " SCHOFIELD. 
 
 22. " BUELL. 
 
 53. " NEGLEY. 
 
 23. " SYKES. 
 
 54. " FOSTER. 
 
 24. " SHIELDS. 
 
 55. " SEDGWICK. 
 
 25. " I'EANKLIN. 
 
 56. " Mcpherson. 
 
 26. " GILLMORE. 
 
 57. " REYNOLDS. 
 
 27. " TERRY. 
 
 68. " WADSWORTH. 
 
 28. " BURNSIDE. 
 
 59. " SUMNER. 
 
 29. " HOOKER. 
 
 60. " KEARNEY. 
 
 30. " BCTLER. 
 
 61. " LYON. 
 
 31. " BANKS. 
 
 62. " BIRNEY. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 93. 
 
 OEMKRAI. MITCHELL. 
 
 64. 
 
 " 
 
 RENO. 
 
 65. 
 
 " 
 
 QRIERSON. 
 
 66. 
 
 " 
 
 ROUSSEAU. 
 
 67. 
 
 " 
 
 WILSON. 
 
 68. 
 
 " 
 
 KAUTZ. 
 
 69. 
 
 " 
 
 STONEMAN. 
 
 70. 
 
 " 
 
 PLEASONTON. 
 
 71. 
 
 " 
 
 CiREGO. 
 
 72. 
 
 TOE ADMIRAL FARKAOCT. 
 
 73. 
 
 REAR 
 
 PORTER. 
 
 74. 
 
 " 
 
 FOOTK. 
 
 75. 
 
 " 
 
 DU PONT. 
 
 76. 
 
 " 
 
 " DAHIXiREN. 
 
 77. 
 
 " 
 
 GOLDPBOROUOH. 
 
 78. 
 
 COMMOnORK WIN.SLOW. 
 
 79. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER CUSUINQ 
 
 80. 
 
 GENERAL R. E. LEE. 
 
 81. 
 
 ■' 
 
 "STONEWALL" JACKSON. 
 
 82. 
 
 " 
 
 EWELL. 
 
 83. 
 
 " 
 
 BEAUREGARD. 
 
 84. 
 
 " 
 
 LONG.STREET. 
 
 85. 
 
 " 
 
 BRECKINRIDGE. 
 
 86. GENERAL A. P. HILL. 
 
 87. " FITZHUGH LEE. 
 
 88. COLONEL MOSEBY. 
 
 89. GENERAL .lOSEPU E. JOHNSTON. 
 
 90. " HOOD. 
 
 91. " BRAGG. 
 
 92. LIEUTENANT-OeSeRAL KIRHY SMITH. 
 
 93. M.WOR-liENKFtAL BJIICE. 
 
 94. " A. S. JOHNSON. 
 
 95. " HARDEE. 
 
 96. " FORREST. 
 
 97. " JOHN MORGAN. 
 
 98. ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 99. WILLIAM II. SEWAKD. 
 
 100. SALMON P. CHASE. 
 
 101. E. M. STANTON. 
 
 102. GIDEON WELLES 
 
 103. JEFF. DAVIS. 
 
 104. A. H. STEPHENS. 
 
 105. J. P. BENJAMIN. 
 
 106. JAMES M. MASON. 
 
 107. JOHN SLIDELL. 
 
 108. BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUJITER 
 ^ 109. DEATH OF GENERAL LYON. 
 " 110. THE "CARONDELET' RUNNING THE GAUNT- 
 LET AT ISLAND NO. 10. 
 111. BOMBARDMENT OF FORT JACKSON. 
 Ill DEMAND FOR THE SURRENDER OF NEW 
 ORLEANS. 
 
 113. THE STORMING OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
 114. SIEGE OF VORKTOWN. 
 lis. LOSS OF THE MONITOR. 
 
 116. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 
 
 117. BURNING OF UNITED STATES MERCHANT- 
 
 MEN BY REBEL PIRATES. 
 
 lis. THE ATTACK ON FRKDERIOKSIIUKG. 
 
 110. ATT.\CK OF THE KKHKLS ON UNITED ST.ATES 
 fiUXllOATS IN GALVESTON IIAIUiOU. 
 
 l;f>. VIEW OF THE UNION VOLUNTEER REFRESH- 
 MENT SALOON AT PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 12'.. ATTACK ON THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS 
 REGIMENT IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 SCEIsTES, ETC. 
 
 122. BOMHARD.MENT OF PORT ROYAL. 
 
 123. VIEW OF HARPER'S FERRY AFTER THE DE- 
 STRUCTION OP GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. 
 
 124. DASHING CHARGE OF GENERAL FREMONT'S 
 BODY-GUARD, UNDER MA.IOR ZAGONYI. 
 
 125. GENERAL BURNSIDE'S EXPEDITION ENCOUN- 
 TERING THE TERRIFIC GALES OFF HAT- 
 TERAS. 
 
 1'26. CONTRABANDS COMING IN TO FORTRESS 
 MONROE. 
 
 vn. BArrLE of malvern hill. 
 
 128. BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 
 
 129. CAPTURE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 
 
 130. BATTLE OF CHAPIN'S FARM. 
 
 131. PRISONERS' CAMP AT ANDERSONVILLE, OA. 
 
 132. ENTRANCE OF THE ARMY OF TIIF, POTOMAC 
 INTO RICHMOND. 
 
 l.'l.'!. SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE. 
 134. INTERVIEW BETWEEN GENERALS ''HERMAN 
 AND JOHNSTON. 
 
 It will also be illustrated with twenty-four maps, and diagrams 
 of battle scenes. 
 
PREFACE] 
 
 No event has occurred on the American continent since the glorious 
 Revohition 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 epithet of the Southern Rebellion. So important was this 
 struggle, that it not only enlisted the most vigorous energies of the National 
 Government, and summoned its armies into the fipld, but it became the 
 paramount topic in every mind. All classes and 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 pursuits 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 immense interests and the vital prin- 
 ciples which were to be disposed of by the conflict. Nor is it singular 
 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 con- 
 nected 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 hero- 
 ism, or by their patriotism, during its progress. He has followed the 
 march of the Federal armies, as they achieved one victory, or suffered 
 one temporary reverse after another ; and the narrative will be continued, 
 Deo volenie, until the record is complete, and he has described how the 
 Eepublic was conducted, by firm and skilful 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 following 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 
 
 5 
 
6 PRKFACE. 
 
 necessarily happen in such a struggle — spreading, as it does, over so vast 
 an area — which may possess an intense, though momentary interest, and 
 greatly excite the public mind at the period of their occurrence, which 
 are, nevertheless, insignificant 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 fulness, 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 suddenly, and glaring porten- 
 tously, like rockets, descended again as quickly, and relapsed into their 
 legitimate oblivion. An eflbrt has thus been made throughout the work 
 to do justice to those events and persons to whom a genuine and per- 
 manent immortality appertains ; at the same time to realize and exemplify 
 the excellent maxim, Parva sed apta, not voluminous, but condensed and 
 comprehensive. 
 
 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 of facts, have been thoroughly 
 examined, compared, and appropriated. The author has not the presump- 
 tion to imagine that he has in all cases attained perfect accuracy ; but he 
 does not hesitate to assert, that he has left no eflbrt or expedient unem- 
 ployed to avoid error and misstatement in every part of the work. An 
 historical narrative of events of recent date labors under some disadvan- 
 tages, 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 until after the lapse of many years. We 
 believe this statement to be erroneous. If the writer be impartial, labori- 
 ous, 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 advantage in the vividness and strength of the 
 impression which the events have made, both upon his own mind, and 
 upon the minds of those whose productions he consults in the preparation 
 of his work. 
 
 S. M. S. 
 
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 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. 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 Wilmot 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 
 Campaign of 1860 — Election of Mr. Lincoln — The doctrine of State Sovereignty 
 as opposed to Federal centralization — Discussion of the subject 33 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Effect of Mr. Lincoln's election in the South — Political movements in South 
 Carolina and Georgia — Excitement in Charleston — Preliminary acts and events 
 ■ — Resignation of Federal officers — Election of members to the State Conven- 
 tion — Opponents of Secession — Alexander H. Stephens — Federal property 
 seized in Charleston — 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 — Secession logic — Re- 
 flections on the result — Popular feelings at this time in Georgia, Alabama, 
 Mississippi and Florida — Levity and recklessness of the Secession leaders ^"3 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Treasonable Proclamation of Governor Pickens — Resignation of the Representa- 
 tives of South Carolina in Congress — The Crittenden propositions of Com- 
 promise — 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 — De- 
 meanor of the Rebel Commissioners at Washington — The Convention of the 
 Slaveholding States — Important events at Savannah — Secession of Mississippi 
 — -Pernicious influence of Jefferson Davis — Resignation of his seat in the United 
 States Senate — The secession of Alabama — Of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and 
 Texas 68 
 
 a) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Various efforts made for compromise and settlement — Conciliatory meetings held 
 in the Northern States — Their ultimate failure — Apostacy of Alexander H. 
 Stephens — Resignation of the Southern Representatives in the Federal Con- 
 gress — 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 Stephens, of the Cabinet Ministers of the Southern Confederacy, 
 Memminger, Toombs, Mallory. Walker, Benjamin — The personal qualities and 
 characteristics of these officers 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Assembling of the Peace Congress at Washington — Their proposals of com- 
 promise — Their rejection and failure — Attitude of President Buchanan — 
 Public sentiment respecting Fort Sumter — Mi.ssion of the " Star of the West" — 
 Final establishiitent of the Confederate Government at Montgomery — Inaugu- 
 ration 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 historical importance — His first position — He refutes 
 •Tefferson, Hamiltop, and Madison — His second position — The foundation stone 
 of the Southern Confederacy— Absurdity and fallacy of that foundation- — The 
 future condition and destiny of the negro race 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The mission of Mr. Yancey and his associates to Europe — Their representations 
 to the French and English people — Events at Charleston — The Rebel Commis- 
 sioners at Washington — Their absurd deportment — General Beauregard de- 
 mands the surrender of Fort Sumter — Major Anderson respectfully declines — 
 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 — 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 — Kx-Scnator Wigfall — A 
 deputation from General 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 89 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Enthusiasm of the Rebel States — Projected conquest of Washington — Proofs 
 that it was contemplated — Why it was not accompli.shcd — Seventy-five thousand 
 Federal troops ordered out — Davis issues letters of marque and reprisal— Pro- 
 clamation of Governor 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 — 
 
CONTENTS. !) 
 
 Its infamy — The Federal Forts are garrisoned — Secession of Missouri — Rapid 
 inarch 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 characteristics — American 
 Zouaves 98 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Secession of Tennessee — Parson Brownlow — Declaration of War by the 
 Confederate Congress— Skirmish near St. Louis — Secession element in Balti- 
 more — .Fort McHenry — Secession of North Carolina — Adjournment of the 
 Rebel Congress to convene at Richmond — Assembly of Federal troops at 
 AVashington — The occupation of Alexandria — Assassination of Colonel Ells- 
 worth — Sketch of his career — His life in Chicago— 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 — His death a loss to the cause of the Union — General 
 Robert Patterson's campaign m Virginia — Crossing the Potomac at Williains- 
 port — Battle of Falling Waters — Pursuit of the enemy to Hainsville — To 
 Martinsburg — The march to Bunker Hill — To Charlestown — Occupation of 
 Harper's Ferry — Results of the Campaign '. 106 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The encounters with the Rebel troops at Fairfax Court House, at Aquia Creek, 
 at Romney, at Phillippi — 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 W^estern Virginia — The new State of 
 West Virginia — Harper's Ferry devastated by the Rebels — The Ohio troops 
 fired on near Vienna — Results of the attack — Operations of General McClellan 
 in Western Virginia — His admirable plans — The Battle of Rich Mountain — 
 General Garnett — Colonel Rosecrans — Results of the engagement — Sketch of 
 General McClellan — His conduct during the Mexican War — His reconnoissance 
 of the Cascade Mouiitnins — His secret mission to the West Indies — His journey 
 to the Crimea — His olficial report as commissioner — His subsequent move- 
 ments — He becom^es Commander of the Department of Ohio 115 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The extraordinary Session of Congress in July, 1861 — Message of President 
 Lincoln — Its characteristics — Its demands — Sketch of Thaddeus Stevens — His 
 political career — His personal qualities — His action as chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means — Important bills passed by Congress — Opposition 
 of Messrs Vallandigham and Burnett to the policy of the Administration — 
 The civil war in Missouri — The Grand Army equipped at Washington — Com- 
 plaints of its prolonged inactivity — Order given to General 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 — General Beauregard — The 
 impending contest — Temper of the Rebel tronjis — The arts employed to inflame 
 them 
 
 123 
 
10 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Federal Army at Centreville — General McDowell's plan of attack — The 
 Divisions of Generals Tyler, Hunter and Heintzelman — Their several duties — 
 The March from Centreville — Interesting spectacle — General Tyler first reaches 
 the Battlc-Beld — He commences the engagement Movements of Generals 
 Hunter and Heintzelman — The gallant Sixty-ninth New York — The engage- 
 ment becomes general — Vigorous cannonading — The Rebels gradually over- 
 powered — 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 of the flight — Individual instances of heroism — 
 Results of the battle — Failure of the Rebel commanders to improve their 
 victory — Ultimate consequences 131 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 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 — Incompetent or inexperienced officers — Remote 
 position of the Reserves — 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 misfortune to the Union — Its 
 immediate effects — Its influence on the Army — Its influence on the Adminis- 
 tration — It became the means of averting greater calamities — It was the cause 
 of subsequent successes to the Federal forces 140 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Increased energy of the Federal Government — Events in Missouri — Important 
 battle at Carthage — Retrograde movement of General Lyon to Springfield — 
 Pursuit of the Rebels under Generals McCullough and Price — Condition of 
 their Army — Reasons why General Lyon engaged the enemy^The great 
 Battle of Wilson's Creek — Disposition of the Federal forces — Temporary suc- 
 cess of the Rebels — Incidents of the contest— Heroism of General Lyon — His 
 last effort against the enemy — Its success — General Lyon's death — Discomfiture 
 of Colonel Sigel — Results of the Battle — Sketch of General Lyon— His rare 
 merits — General Fremont made Commandant of the Department 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 147 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 The Federal expeditions against the Rebel forts at Hatteras — The forces appro- 
 priated to this enterprise — Importance of Hatteras and its possession — Sailing 
 of the expedition — The bombardment — The surrender of the forts— Commo- 
 dore Barron — Commodore Stringhnm — Sketch of his career — Results of the 
 victory at Hatteras — Operations of Rosecrans in Western Virginia — Battle at 
 Carnifex Ferry — Defeat and flight of Floyd — Results of the victory — Events 
 in Missouri — Colonel Mulligan's forces at Lexington— lie is attacked by General 
 
CONTENTS. U 
 
 Price — Incidents of the Battle of Lexington — Surrender of Colonel Mulligan — 
 Sketch of his career — Battle on Bolivar Heights — Sketch of its hero, Colonel 
 Geary — The Battle of Ball's Bluff— General Stone— Apprehensions of Colonel 
 Baker — 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 — Results of the disaster at Ball's Bluff ISo 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Peculiarities of the war against Secession — Federal expedition under Commodore 
 Dupont and General 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 en- 
 gagement — Sketch of its hero, Commodore Dupont — Naval disaster below New 
 Orleans — Captain John Pope — Events in Missouri — Bold achievement of Col- 
 onel Zagonyi near Springfield — The battle of Belmont — General U. S. Grant — 
 Incidents of the engagement at 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 appointment as com- 
 mander of the Mountain Department of Virginia and Tennessee 165 
 
 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 Dranesville — Incidents 
 of the engagement — Its results — General McCall — Sketch of his career — Dis- 
 missal of Mr. Cameron from the Federal Cabinet — The war in Kentucky — The 
 batile of Mill Springs — Incidents of the conflict — Bayonet charge of the ninth 
 Ohio regiment — Defeat of the Rebels — Death of General Feliz Zollicoffer — His 
 character — Results of the battle of Mill Springs — Subsequent flight and dis- 
 persion of the Rebel troops 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Burnside expedition — Its strength and secret destination — Its departure from 
 Annapolis — It reaches Fortress Monroe — Another gale off Cape Hatteras — Its 
 resiilts — Loss of the steamer City of New York — Heroism of General Burn- 
 side — The expedition enters Pamlico Sound — It steers for Roanoke Island — 
 Rebel works erected on that Island — The Federal troops disembark — Plan of 
 the attack — Incidents of the engagement — The final charge — Defeat and flight 
 of the Rebels — Capture of their forts — Their strength — Results of the victory — 
 Death of Colonel De Montreuil — Sketch of General Burnside — Attack on Fort 
 Henry — Strength of the fort — Number of the Federal gunboats — Incidents of 
 the bombardment — Surrender of the Rebel works — Trophies of the victory — 
 Loss on both sides — Skill and heroi.sm of Commodore Foote — Sketch of his. 
 career — Further operations of the Burnside expedition 181 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIT. 
 
 Position and strength of Foit Donelson — General Grant and Flanr-Officcr Foote 
 prepare to attack it — Commenpcment of their operations — Repulse of the gun- 
 boats — The assaiilt from the iand side — Incidents of tlie bomliardmeiit — Propo- 
 sition of General Buckner to surrender — Tlie flight of (ienerals Floyd and Pil- 
 low — The capitulation of the fort — Results and trophies of the conquest — 
 Sketch of Ulysses S. Grant- — Sketch of General Charles Ferguson Smith — 
 General Lander's attack on the Rebels at Bloomery Gap — Its results — 
 Sketch of General Lander — Re-election of Jefferson I>avis as President of the 
 Soutliern Confederacy — His Inaugural Address — Occupation of Columbus, 
 Kentucky, by Federal troops — Desertion of Nashville by the Rebel forces — 
 Unexpected attack and success of the Rebel battering ram Merrimac — Inci- 
 dents of the engagement — Opportune arrival of the Monitor in Hampton 
 Roads — Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac 190 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas — General Curtis — Attack of the Rebels on the 
 rear of the Federal Army — Gallantry of General Sigel — Continuance of the 
 battle on the second day — Incidents of the contest — It is renewed upon the 
 third day — Complete rout of the Rebels — Results of the victory — Sketches of 
 Generals Curtis and Sigcl — President Lincoln's orders to the Federal Armies 
 to move on the twenty-second of February— General McClellan's address to the 
 Army of the Potomac — Sudden evacuation of Manassas by the Rebels — Move- 
 ment of Federal troops — Bombardment of Island Number Ten — Incidents of 
 the contest — Reduction of the Rebel works — Oi)crations of General Pope- — Ar- 
 tificial channel cut through .James Bayou — (General Pope attacks the Rebels 
 at Tiptonville — Consequences of the capture of Island Nunil)er Ten — Sketcli 
 of General Pope — General Burn.side attacks Newborn — Tlie Rebels surrender — 
 Consequences of this victory 201 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Movements of the Army of the Potomac^Its subdivisions — The battle of Win- 
 chester — Incidents of the battle — Its results — The killed and wounded — Sketch 
 of General Shields — Concentration of tlie Rebel troops nearCorinth — Approach 
 of the Federal Army under General (irant — Disposition of the Rebel Army — 
 Commencement of the battle of Pittsburg Lauding or Shiloh — Attack and 
 capture of General Prentiss's troops — Kti'orts of (jeuerals Sherman and Mc- 
 Clcrnand — The engagement becomes general — Desperate fighting on both 
 sides — Gradual repulse and retreat of the Federal Army — Terrific scenes — In- 
 terposition of the Federal gunboats — End of the first day's battle — Arrival of 
 General Buell — Disposition of troops during the ensuing night — The second 
 day's conflict — Incidents of this day — Skill and energy of General Buell — The 
 tide of victory is gradually reversed — Ultimate defeat of the Rebels — Tlieir re- 
 treat to Corinth— Sketch of General Buell— Results of the battle of Shiloh..., 212 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Federal Army under General McClellan approach Yorktown — Collision on 
 Howard Creek — Attack on detached Rebel intrenchments — Establishment of 
 the Federal camp, and erection of Federal batteries — Preparations for a great 
 conflict at Yorktown — Brilliant operations of General Mitchell in Alabama — 
 Results of his rapid movements — Sketch of General Mitchell — Events in Georgia 
 — Capture of Fort Pulaski — Strength of the Rebel works — Incidents of the 
 bombardment of that Fort — Results of the capture — 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 — Impression produced by it in New Orleans — The Federal fleet approach 
 that city — The Rebel troops evacuate it — The summons to surrender — Imper- 
 tinence of Mayor Monroe — New Orleans occupied by Federal troops — Sketch 
 of Commodore Farragut — The bombardment of Fort Macon — -Incidents of the 
 assault — Strength of that Fort — Results of its capture by the Federal troops. . 223 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Operations of General McClellan at Yorktown— Battle of Lee's Mill — Disaster and 
 retreat of the Federal troops — Evacuation of Yorktown by the Rebels — Motives 
 of that movement — Pursuit by the Federals — Engagement between cavalry 
 near Williamsburg — Second conflict near Williamsburg — Incidents of the battle 
 — General Hooker's division — Brilliant charge of General Hancock — Federal 
 victory — Sketch of General Hancock — Battle at West Point — Incidents of the 
 contest — ESiciency of the Federal artillery — Rout of the Rebels — Bombardment 
 of Sewell's Point — Its results — Expedition of General Wool against Norfolk — 
 Its surrender — Operations of General Fremont in the Mountain Department — 
 McDowell's division at Fredericksburg — Rout of Colonel Morgan in Tennessee — 
 Incidents of the chase — Bombardment of Fort Wright commenced — Engage- 
 ment of the Federal gunboats at Fort Darling, on James River — Its Incidents 
 and results — Steady advance of McClellan's Army toward Richmond — It crosses 
 the Chickahominy — Various skirmishes — Decisive engagement anticipated — 
 General Hunter's Abolition Proclamation — President Lincoln's policy respect- 
 ing it 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Corps d'Armee of General Banks — Imprudent reduction of its numbers — The 
 Rebels imder Jackson attack the advance at Front Royal — Design of the Rebels 
 to overpower Bank's division — The latter orders a general retreat toward Win- 
 chester — Various engagements on the route — Battle of Middletown — Action 
 on the march to Winchester— Battle at Newtown— The battle of Winchester- 
 Its results — Continuance of the retreat to WiUiamsport — Adventures of the 
 Zouave d'Afrique — Federal losses during the retreat — Sketch of General Banks 
 — Attitude of the Federal and Rebel Armies at Corinth — A great battle antici- 
 pated — Commencement of the attack by General Halleck — Its results — Evacua- 
 tion of Corinth by the Rebels — Causes of this event — An extraordinary spec- 
 tacle — Pursuit of the retreating foe — A reconnoissance on the Chickahominy 
 — Skirmish at the Pines — The Battle of Hanover Court House — Destruction 
 of the Richmond and Fredericksbui-g Railroad — Gallant exploit of Lieutenant 
 Davis 244 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Approach of the Fedeial Army to Richmond — The corps of General Keyes cross 
 the Chickahominy — Their exposed position — Hostile purpose of the Rebel 
 leaders — The battle of Seven Pines — Position of the Federal troops — Com- 
 mencement of the attack — Disposition of troops made by General Casey — 
 Incidents of the battle — Roxit of Casey's division — General Couch's troops 
 become engaged — Desperate fighting — Victory of the Rebels — The Federals 
 reinforced — The engagement of June 1st, General Heintzelman in chief com- 
 mand — Incidents of this battle — Heroism of the Irish regiments and of Sickles' 
 Excelsior Brigade — The victory of Fair Oaks — Its results — Popular impatience 
 for the occupation of Richmond — Rebel forces in the Valley of the Shenandoah 
 — Their brief occupation of it — General Fremont ordered to expel them — They 
 abandon 'Winchester — Their retreat through Strusburgand Woodstock — Battle 
 of Cross Keys — Gallantry of theBucktails — Results of the engagement — Battle 
 of Port Republic — Incidents of this engagement — Its results — Retreat of Gen- 
 eral Jackson toward Richmond — Appointment of General Pope as Commander 
 of the Department — Withdrawal of General Fremont — His military achieve- 
 ments — His true renown 256 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Prominence 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 the combatants — Incidents of the engage- 
 ment — Defeat of the Rebel Fleet — Colonel Ellet — Results of the victory — Gen- 
 oral Neglcy's expedition against Chattanooga — Colonel Hambright — Incidents 
 of the expedition — Its results — General Morgan expels the Rebels from Cmn- 
 berland 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 Newborn to Swift Creek 
 — Its results — Bombardment of Vicksburg commenced — Perilous passage of 
 Commodore Farragut's fleet — New Channel of the Mississippi 268 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The intrenchments of the Federal Army before Richmond — Their extent — Inac- 
 tivity 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 Mechanicsville — Incidents of the 
 battle — Comraencemcntof the march toward the James River — Battle of Gaines' 
 Mills — Desperate Fighting — Heroism and valor on both sides — Vicissitudes of 
 the struggle — The retreat continued toward James River — Disposal of the sick 
 and woimded — 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 Ihc enemy — Appalling scenes — Important results 
 — ^The race to White Oak Swamp — The Federal troops win the race 280 
 
CONTENTS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The Battle of White Oak Swamp — Position and order of the Federal troops — Tem- 
 porary panic — Desperate fighting — Fortunate assistance of the gunboats on 
 the James River — Heroism and skill of General Heintzelman — A general 
 bayonet charge on the Rebels — Its result — First engagement at Malvern Hills 
 — Incidents of the fight — The Irish Brigade — Complete defeat of the Rebels — 
 The Federal Army removes to Harrison's Landing — Results of the several 
 Battles before Richmond — ^ Artillery duel on the James River — General Hooker 
 sent to reconnoitre and occupy Malvern Hill — The march thither — Engagement 
 with the enemy — Their defeat — Immense reinforcements ordered from Rich- 
 mond — 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 291 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Return of the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula — Spirit and purpose of 
 the Federal Government — Appointment of General Halleck as Commander-in- 
 Chief of land forces — Operations of General Pope — Messages of President Lin- 
 coln in favor of emancipation of the slaves and confiscation of the property of 
 Rebels — Reconnoissance of General King to Beaver Dam — Battle of Bayou 
 Cache, in Arkansas — Engagement on the Mississippi with the ram Arkansas — 
 Boldness and determination of the Rebels — Engagement near Memphis, Missis- 
 sippi — Operations of the Rebel John Morgan in Kentucky — Contest at Cynthiana 
 — Morgan abandons Kentucky — Additional Anti-Slavery Message of Mr. Lin- 
 coln—Expeditions sent from Newbern to Trenton and Pollocksville — Their 
 results — Attack made on the Arkansas by Colonel Ellet — Incidents of the 
 engagement — Defeat of the Queen of the West — Causes of the disaster — Crea- 
 tion of new grades in the Federal Navy — President Lincoln orders a draft of 
 three hundred thousand men 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Designs of the Rebel Generals in Virginia — Measures taken to counteract them — 
 The Armies of Banks and Jackson approach each other — Battle of Cedar or 
 Slaughter Mountain — Position of the combatants — Commencement of the en- 
 gagement — Incidents of its progress — Its termination and results — Loss on both 
 sides— Heroism of General Banks— Subsequent movements of the Rebels — 
 Skirmishes along the line of the Rappahannock — Designs of the Rebel Generals 
 — Arrangements of General Pope — Engagement at Catlett's Station — Federal 
 loss of baggage and stores — The Rebels cross the Rappahannock — Battle with 
 the troops of General Sigel — Approach of Rebels toward Manassas — Conflict at 
 Kettle Run — At Bristow's Station — The great Battle at Manassas on August 
 29th — Incidents of the struggle — Engagement renewed on the 30th — Its inci- 
 dents and results— Retreat of the Federal Army- Battle of Chantilly— Death 
 of Generals Kearney and Stevens— Return of the Federal Army to Washington 
 — Losses during the campaign of General Pope in Virginia— Sketches of Gen- 
 erals Kearny and Stevens— A Court-Martial summoned at Washington to in- 
 vestigate charges against General Porter — Its verdict 312 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Battle of Baton Rouge — Situation of the place — Federal troops posted there — 
 Movements of General Breckinridge — Incidents of the engagement — Death of 
 General Williams — Assistance of the Federal gunboats — Final defeat and 
 repulse of the Rebels — The Rebel ram Arkansas — Its destruction — Indian mur- 
 ders and devastations in Minnesota — Causes which led to them — Incidents 
 coiipccted with them — Their suppression and punishment — General Sibley — 
 Battle fought near Richmond, Kentucky — Federal troops engaged — Federal 
 advantage — Federal repulse — Union troops are re-formed in line of battle three 
 times — General Nelson — Federal losses — Battle at Tazewell — Expedition of 
 Colonel EUet on the Mississippi and up the Yazoo — Capture of the transport 
 Pair Play — Results of the expedition — Battle near Denmark, Tennessee — Inci- 
 dents of the engagement — Heroism of Captain Frisbic — Federal victory — 
 Apprehensions of an invasion of Ohio by the Rebels — Proclamation of (Governor 
 Tod — Preparations made to receive the enemy — General Lewis AVallace — Re- 
 treat of the Rebels — Termination of the popular excitement — Summary of un- 
 important events in August, 1862 325 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 The Battle of Sovith Jlountain — Position of the combatants — Troops of General 
 Reno— Incidents of the engagement — Heroism of General Hooker — Victory of 
 the Federal Army — Retreat of the Rebels — Death of General Reno— Sketch of 
 his career — Attack of the Rebels on Harper's Ferry — Forces commanded by 
 Colonel Miles — Incidents of the bombardment — Surrender of llie works to the 
 enemy — Death of Colonel Miles — Retreat of the Rebels toward the Potomac — 
 The great Battle of Antietam — Positions assigned the Federal forces — Desperate 
 fighting of Hooker's division — Incidents of the battle on the riglit wing — Opera- 
 tions of Burnside on the left — Events in the Federal centre — Conclusion of the 
 engagement — Retreat of the Rebel Army across the Potomac — Sketches of Gen- 
 erals Hooker and Sumner — Battle at Mumfordville, Kentucky — Its results — 
 Federal troops engaged — Battle at "Washington, North Carolina — The Rel)els 
 defeated — Explosion of the gunboat Picket — Civil aspects of the war — President 
 Lincoln's Proclamation of September 22d, 1862 — Its contents — Its influence 
 upon Slavery and upon the Rebel Government — Mr. Lincoln suspends the 
 Habeas Corpus Act, on September 24th, 1862 338 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 The battle at Inka — Dispositions made by General Grant — Incidents of the en- 
 gagement — "Victory of the Federal troops — Rebels repulsed at Boonsborouph — 
 Convention of the Governors of Loyal States at Altoona. Pennsylvania — Their 
 address to President Lincoln — His reply — Proposal of Peace discussed in the 
 Confederate Congress — Argument of Mr. Foote — Fate of the proposition — 
 Battle of Augusta, Kentuck-y — Engagement at Corinth, Mississippi — Position 
 of the Rebels — First day's fighting — Incidents of the second day — Desperate 
 charges made by the Rebels — Their final defeat and flight — Sketch of Major- 
 General Rosecrans — Invasion of Pennsylvania by the Rebel General Stuart — 
 His route — Incidents which occurred at ("hambersburg — Stuart's safe return to 
 Virginia — Skirmishes on the Potomac — Results of his raid 353 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 n 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The Federal victory at Lavergne, Tennessee — General Negley — Battle on the 
 Hatchie River — Expedition of General Brannan up the St. John's River — Its 
 results — The Battle of Perry ville — Heroism of General Rousseau — Incidents of 
 this engagement — Its consequences — Final escape of General Bragg and his 
 Army from Kentucky — Inefficiency of General Buell — His removal from the 
 command of the Army of the Ohio — Appointment of General Rosecrans as his 
 successor — Fruits of General Bragg's invasion of Kentucky — Summary view of 
 minor events which occurred in September and October, 1862 361 
 
 CHAPTER XXXTII. 
 
 Exploits of the Confederate cruiser, the Alabama — Her peculiar structure — 
 Efforts made to capture her — Their failure — The expedition sent by General 
 Mitchel against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad — Incidents of the 
 undertaking — Battles — Their results — Return of the expedition — Various recon- 
 noissances made by the Army of the Potomac — Important results accomplished 
 by them — Occupation of Snicker's, Ashby's and Thoroughfare Gaps by the 
 Federal troops — Brilliant engagement near Maysville, Arkansas — Flight of the 
 Rebels — Successful reconnoissance of Captain Dahlgren to Fredericksburg, 
 Virginia — Skirmishes at Philomel and New Creek, Virginia, and at Williams- 
 ton, North Carolina — -Abortive attempt of the Rebels under Morgan and Forrest 
 to capture Nashville, Tennessee — Federal expedition to Thibodeausville, Louis- 
 iana — Reconnoissance of General M'Pherson toward HoUy Springs, Mississippi 
 — Approach of the Federal Army under Burnside to Fredericksburg — The city 
 Bummoned to surrender — The refusal — Embarrassing delay of Burnside's 
 operations 370 
 
 CHAPTER XXXTV. 
 
 Assembling of the Federal Congress, December 1st, 1862 — Annual Message of 
 President Lincoln — Its Characteristics — Its discussion of the National Finances 
 — Of the Emancipation of the Slaves — Plan proposed by the President — Official 
 Report of the Secretary of the Treasury — Its leading features — Financial details 
 — Skirmish at Franklin, on the Blackwater, Virginia — Capture of Union troops 
 at Hartsville, Kentucky — General Geary's Reconnoissance to Charlestown and 
 Winchester — Surrender of Winchester — Stuart's raid on the towns of Dumfries 
 and Occoquan — Expedition of General Washburne from Helena to Coflfeeville, 
 Mississippi — Its results, and return — The capture of the Steamship Ariel by the 
 pirate Alabama — Incidents connected with it — Her final release — Departure of 
 the Banks expedition from New York — Infamous frauds perpetrated upon the 
 Government — Arrival of the expedition at New Orleans — General Banks suc- 
 ceeds General Butler — Effect of Butler's Administration — Results of the 
 
 Blockade of the Southern Purts 
 
 2 
 
 382 
 
18 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Battle of Fredericksburg — Tlie laying of the Pontoon Bridges — The Pontoniera 
 driven away — Renewal of the attempt — Its second and third failure — Bombard- 
 ment of Fredericksburg — The bridges are constructed — 'Die Federal troops cross 
 the Rappahannock — Preparations for the conflict — Strength of the works of 
 the Rebels — Superior advantages of their position and numbers — Commence- 
 ment of the engagement by General Franklin — -Incidents of the Battle on the 
 left wing— Tlie results — The contest on the right and the centre — Movements 
 of Generals Meade and Gibbon — Heroism of Sumner — Impregnable position of 
 the enemy — A gallant charge — Heavy losses of the Rebels — Operations in the 
 centre imder General Hooker — Plan of Wilcox and Burns — General results of 
 the engagement — Federal and Rebel losses — Sketch of General Franklin — Of 
 Generals Jackson and Bayard — Events subsequent to the Battle — Resignation 
 of Mr. vSeward — Popular Censure — General Burnside assumes the responsibility 
 — The Cabinet remains unchanged — Battle at Cave Hill, Arkansas — Federal 
 victory 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The expedition of General Foster from Newbern to Kingston and Goldsboro — 
 Commencement of the march — Skirmish at Southeast Creek — Its results — The 
 Federals continue their march to Kinston — Battle at that place — Incidents of 
 this engagement — Its results — Operations of the Federal Fleet which accompa- 
 nied the expedition— ^Skirmish at Whitehall— Battle at Goldsboro — The return 
 of the expedition — Skirmishing with the enemy — Exploits of Major Garrard 
 and Fitzsimmons — Arrival of the expedition at Newbern — Its results — Federal 
 losses — Sketch of General Foster — Capture of Holly Springs — Battle of Davis's 
 Mills in Mississippi- — Heroism of Colonel Morgan — Defeat at Van Dorn — Posi- 
 tion of affairs toward the close of the year 1862 — President Lincoln's Emanci- 
 pation Proclamation — Its provisions — Feelings with which it was regarded by 
 different classes of the Community — Its influence upon the future events of the 
 war 404 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVn. 
 
 Conclusion of the year 1862— The armies of Rosecrans and Bragg approach each 
 other at Murfreesboro, Tennessee — Position of their respective forces — Number 
 of troops engaged — Beginning of the Battle — Incidents of the first day — The 
 Federal right wing driven back — Pursuit by the Confederates — The retreat 
 stopped — End of the first day's combat — The engagement resumed — Artillery 
 duel — Furious charge by the Rebels^-Heroism of Generals Negley and Davis — 
 The Rebels finally overpowered — A general charge on their lines — Its result — 
 Complete defeat of the Rebel .Vrray — Revolt of the Anderson Cavalry — It.'j 
 alleged causes — The Loyal Three Hundred — Federal loss in the Battle at Mur- 
 freesboro — Losses of the- Confederates — Field Order of General Rosecrans re- 
 epectiog the Anderson Cavalry 41S 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 19 
 
 The loss of the Federal Iron-clad Monitor at sea — Her peculiar structure — Her de- 
 parture from Hampton Eoads — A rising storm — The Monitor becomes disabled — 
 Cause of the misfortune — Her situation becomes desperate — Removal of her 
 crew to the Rhode Island — Her final disappearance — The Federal Army under 
 General Sherman attack Vicksburg, Mississippi — Landing of the troops at John- 
 son's Ferry, on the Yazoo — The attack commenced on the 27th of December — 
 Partial success of the Federal forces — The assault resumed on the 28th — Des- 
 perate fighting — The first line of works carried — Sherman orders a general 
 charge — The Federals repulsed and defeated — Terrible slaughter-^-The Union 
 Army withdrawn — General Sherman superseded by M'Clernand — Federal 
 losses — Causes of their defeat — Minor engagements at Springfield and Harts- 
 ville, Missouri 424 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 A peculiar feature of the History of this Civil War — The Battle of Hunt's Cross- 
 Eoads in Tennessee — Gallantry of General Sullivan and the Indiana troops — 
 Defeat of Forrest — His flight to the Tennessee River — The expedition of Gen- 
 eral Carter into East Tennessee- — Its objects — Its success — Difiiculties and 
 merit of the undertaking — Skirmish near Moorefield, Virginia — Attack of the 
 Rebels on Galveston — Their success — Capture of the Harriet Lane — Explosion 
 of the Westfield — Federal losses on this occasion — Address of the Workingmen 
 of Manchester, England, to President Lincoln — His reply — The bombardment 
 of Arkansas Post — Land and naval forces detailed to this service — The location 
 and importance of Arkansas Post — Commencement of the assault by Admiral 
 Porter — Co-operation of the land troops under General M'Clernand — Incidents 
 of the conflict — Surrender of the fort and of the Rebel troops — Losses on both 
 tides — Value of the conquest — Sketches of Admiral Porter and General 
 M'Clernand 432 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 General Bumside resigns the command of the Army of the Potomac — He is suc- 
 ceeded by General Hooker — The Army in winter quarters — Importance of the 
 question of negro troops in the Army — Policy of different parties respecting 
 it — Exploits of the Rebel Steamer Oreto — Destruction of the Steamboat Hat- 
 teras — Expedition of General Weitzel up the Bayou Teche — Death of Commo- 
 dore Buchanan — Skirmish at Woodbury, Tennessee — Second siege of Fort Don- 
 elson — Its result — Federal victory over General Pryor on the Blackwater, 
 Virginia^Triumph of Confederate Rams in the Harbor of Charleston, South 
 Carolina— Sketch of Commodore Ingraham— The passage of the National 
 Currency Bill— The Conscription Law— Loss of the Federal Steamer Queen of 
 the West — Capture of the Federal Iron-clad Indianola — Destruction of the 
 Rebel Steamer Nashville — Attack on Fort M'Allister — Resolutions of Congress 
 Denouncing Foreign Intervention — Remaining Military Events of February 
 and March, 1863 — Engagements at Strasburg, Virginia — At Hartwood Church, 
 Virginia — At Bradyville, Tennessee — At Thompson's Station, Tennessee 443 
 
20 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Minor Military Operations during March, 1863 — Expedition from Murfreesboro 
 under Colonel Ilall — He engages and defeats the Rebels at Milton, Tennessee — 
 Expedition of General Prince from Newbern — Its results — Attack by (he Rebels 
 on Union troops at Deep Gully — Their repulse — Desperate cavalry fight near 
 tlie Rappahannock between Generals Averell, 8tuart, and Lee — Its result — 'J'Iil' 
 passage of the Federal Fleet past the Rebel batteries at Port Hudson — Co- 
 operative movements of General Banks — Incidents of the engagement at Port 
 Hudson — Death of Commander Boyd Cummings-^IIis heroism — Loss of the 
 Steamer Mississippi — Success of the Hartford and Albatross — Conflagration of 
 Jacksonville, Florida — Victory of General Gillmore at Somerset, Kentucky — 
 Report of the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War — Its pecu- 
 liarities and contents — Its exposition on the conduct of Generals McClcUan, 
 Patterson, and Stone— Impression produced by it on the Public mind — End of 
 the winter campaign of 18G2-3 — Skirmishes in Carroll County, Arkansas — At 
 Woodbury, Tennessee — Abortive expedition of General Sherman up the Black 
 Bayou in Mississippi 457 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Preliminary Reflections — Rise of the Anti-War Democrats, or the Peace Party — 
 Its avowed opinions and opposition to the National Administration — Suspense 
 of the Writ of Habeas Corpus — The course of President Lincoln sustained by 
 Congress and the Loyal portion of the Nation as Constitutional, Wise, and 
 Patriotic — Precedent of the British Parliament — Factious opposition of the 
 Peace Party to the Conscription Act and to the Prosecution of the AVar — Their 
 proflcred friendship spurned even by the Confederates themselves — Their 
 alleged but groundless fears of designed Centralization by the National Admin- 
 istration — Their hostility to the President's Emancipation Proclamation — The 
 existence of Negro Slavery and determination to perpetuate it the source of our 
 greatest National difficulties, and the ultimate cause of the present Rebellion — 
 'ITie judicious, gradual, and progressive course of the Government on this sub- 
 ject vindicated — Objections of the Peace Party to the Financial Measures of the 
 Government — Their vindictive but futile attempts to detract from the personal 
 character of tlie President 470 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 The preparations for another attack on Charleston — Formidable character of the 
 fortifications — The crossing of the bar — Order of Battle prescribed by Admiral 
 Du Pont— The attack — Obstructions in the harbor — I'he terrible storm of fire — 
 The New Ironsides unmanageable — Gallantry of the Commander of the Keokuk, 
 and of the Commanders of the Monitors — The Keokuk riddled and sinking — 
 Three of the Monitors disabled — Withdrawal of the Fleet — Return to Port 
 Royal — Admiral Du Font's action justifiable — Other naval actions on the Atlan- 
 tic Coast, and in the Gulf and Mississippi River — Battles and skirmishes on land 
 — In the Department of the Cumberland, at various points in Tennessee and 
 Kentucky ; in the Department of Missouri, the attack on the Sam Gaty ; in the 
 Department of the Frontier, at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and its vicinity, and in 
 the Department of the Gulf— ^Expedition to Pascagoula — The Battles on the 
 Teche — Destruction of three Rebel Iron-clads, and capture or destruction of 
 eleven transports, and two thousand prisoners — Complete rout of the liebels... 482 
 
CONTENTS. 31 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Raids in both Armies — Marmaduke's expedition for the capture of Cape Girardeau 
 — Colonel Carter's demand for the surrender of the town — General M'Neil's reply 
 — Marmaduke's demand — The result — Flight of Marmaduke, and pursuit by 
 Vandever and M'Neil — Colonel Streight's raid — Difficulties and disasters — 
 Penetrates nearly to Rome — Is compelled to surrender — Rebel treatment of the 
 Officers of the expedition — Colonel Grierson's raid — Its continued and wonder- 
 ful success — His Brigade reaches Baton Rouge — Results accomplished by the 
 expedition — Colonel Clayton's raid — Meets Marmaduke — Clayton with two 
 hundred and thirty men fights and repels Marmaduke's Division — Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Jenkins's fight with Carter's Texas Brigade— The expedition reaches 
 Helena in safety — Skirmishes in Western Virginia — The afi'air at Greenland 
 Gap— Capture of Alexandria, Mississippi — Skirmish at Monticello, Kentucky. . 498 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 The siege of Washington, North Carolina — Attempts to raise it — The Steamer 
 Escort runs past the Batteries with reinforcements and supplies — General Fos- 
 ter escapes in her and prepares to raise the siege — The Rebels abandon it — 
 Siege of Sufiblk, Virginia — Longstreet abandons it to reinforce Lee — Hooker's 
 management of the Army of the Potomac — His plans for attacking Lee — Move- 
 ments of his troops — Ruse below Fredericksburg — The concentration of six 
 Corps in the vicinity of Chancellorsville — The counterplot of Lee — Jackson's 
 attack on the right wing — Panic in the Eleventh Corps — ^Their flight — The ad- 
 vance of the Rebels checked by Berry's Division — Battle of the Wilderness — 
 Jackson mortally wounded — Hooker re-forms his lines^Battle of Chancellors- 
 ville, on Sunday morning — Hooker again changes his lines — Movements of 
 Sedgwick's Corps — Battle of Marye's Hill — Battle of Salem Heights — The 
 Rebels recapture Fredericksburg— Battle of Banks' Ford— Sedgwick's Corps 
 cross the Ford — General Hooker calls a Council of War — Recrosses the Rap- 
 pahannock at United States Ford — Review of the Campaign 515 
 
 CHAPTER XL VI. 
 
 Stoneman's expedition — The plan of it substantially that of General Burnside — 
 Biographical sketch of General Stoneman — Starting of the expedition — Its 
 adventures — Detachments sent in difl^erent directions from Thompson's Cross 
 Roads — Colonel Wyndham's raid to Columbia — Colonel Kilpatrick's adventures 
 — Lieutenant-Colonel Davis's expedition to cut the two railroads— Results of 
 
 ■ the expedition — The Army of the Potomac after the Battel — Lee's determina- 
 tion to invade Pennsylvania — Pleasonton sent to attack Stuart's Cavalry — 
 Biographical sketch of General Pleasonton — Success of his attack — His subse- 
 quent skirmishes and fights with Stuart's Cavalry — Lee's positions discovered — 
 Movement of Hooker's Army — The Rebel Army cross the Potomac — Hooker's 
 follow — Hooker relieved of the command of the Army — Meade appointed his 
 successor — Position of the two Armies — Only two Union Corps near Gettys- 
 burg — A Battle impending 532 
 
22 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVII. 
 
 Sketch of General Meade — Topography of the Battle-field — The beginning of the 
 Battle — Death of General Reynolds— Sketch of his life — Coming xip of the 
 Eleventh Corps — The position on Cemetery Hill procured — Retreat of the First 
 and Eleventh Corps to Cemetery Hill — Great loss of prisoners— The state of 
 feeling in the two Annies — Depression of the Citizens of Gettysbnrg — Rein- 
 forcements of the Union Army — Position of the two Armies on the morning of 
 July 2 — Opening of the second day's Battle — The attack on Sickles' Corps — 
 'J'he Ninth Massachusetts Battery — The charge of the Pennsylvania Reserves — 
 The enemy beaten back — Ewell's attack on the Eleventh Corps and on Green's 
 Brigade — He penetrates to Spangler's Spring — The Tliird Day's Battle — Attack 
 on the Union right — The repulse — Terrible artillery duel on the Left Centre 
 — Assault by Pickett's Division — Terrible slaughter — Longstreet's attack on 
 Round Top — This too repulsed — The Battle over — Retreat of the Rebels — 
 Crossing of the Potomac — General Meade's error — The losses on both sides — 
 General orders of the two Commanders — Beneficial result of the invasion to the 
 Union cause 550 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 General Grant takes command in person of the Army for the reduction of Vicks- 
 burg — His Canal projects — The Canal across the Peninsula — Route by Round- 
 away Bayou — Lake Providence Canal — Yazoo Pass— Steele's Bayou — Succes- 
 sive failures — He resolves to attack from below — The running of the Batteries 
 — Excitement among t:;e spectators — March of the Army to Hard Times, 
 Louisiana — Attack on Grand Gulf — Repulse of the Gunboats — They nm past 
 the Batteries — Landing at Bruinsburg — Battles of Shaiffer's Plantation and Port 
 Gibson — Evacuation of (Jrand Gulf — Skirmish at Fourteen Mile Creek — Battle 
 at Raymond — Capture of Jackson, Mississippi, and destruction of Rebel property 
 tliere — March of the Army Westward — Battle of Champion Hill — Battle of 
 Black River Bridge — Vicksburg invested — Assaults of the ninetcentli and 
 twenty-second of May — Siege of the City — Its capitulation on the Fourth of 
 July — Terms of the surrender — The results of the Campaign — Rebel and Union 
 losses — Sherman's pursuit of Johnston — Capture of Jackson and defeat of the 
 Rebels — General Ransom's expedition to Natchez — General Herron's capture 
 of Yazoo City — Operations of the Gunboats on the tributaries of the Mississippi 
 — The Battle of Milliken's Bend — Bravery of the Colored Troops — Attack on 
 Lake Providence 566 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 'I'he investment of Port Hudson — Battle fought by General Auger — The arrival 
 of additional forces — The assault of the twenty-seventh of May — The brilliant 
 attack of General Weitzel's Division — Partial success of the assault — Tlie 
 assault of the fourteenth of June — Its failure — The closeness of the siege — 
 Suffering of the garrison — Tlieir surrender — Tlie Rebel attacks on Brashear 
 City and Tcrribonne — Inhuman massacre of infirm Contrabands and women and 
 children— The murder of negroes at St. Martinsville— The attack of the Rebels 
 on Helena, Arkansas— Their signal defeat — Review of the progress of the War 
 during the last eleven months — Tlie begiiming of the end 583 
 
CONTENTS. 33 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 The Army of the Pbtomac at rest— The overthrow of the Rebel power in Arkan- 
 sas—The Guerrillas and Bushwhackers of Arkansas and the Indian Territory 
 — Quantrel and his band— The sacking of Lawrence— Attempt to murder Gen- 
 eral Blunt^Cabell, Marmaduke, Shelby, and Coffey, make a raid into Missouri, 
 and are defeated and routed — Morgan's raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio 
 — His capture and imprisonment — His escape — Sketch of his life — His death — 
 The riots of the summer of 1863 — The great riot in New York— Its causes and 
 objects— The reign of terror— The mob subdued— The loss of life and property 
 by it 
 
 597 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Department of the South — Capture of the Atlantar— General Gillmore succeeds 
 Hunter, and Dahlgren, Du Pont — Gillmore's strategic plan — Reasons for be- 
 lieving it an error — Folly Island — Gillmore's Batteries there — Capture of the 
 southern portion of Morris Island^Peints in other directions — The first as- 
 sault on Wagner — Repulse — Erection of Batteries — Bombardment and second 
 assault — A costly failure — The siege pressed — Other Batteries erected — The 
 " Swamp Angel" located — Bombardment of Port Sumter — Its substantial re- 
 duction — Gillmore demands the surrender of Fort Sumter and the Forts on 
 Morris Island, and threatens to bombard Charleston in case of refusal — Beau- 
 regard replies haughtily and insolently — KSillmore's rejoinder — The approaches 
 to Fort Wagner completed — The garrisons of Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg 
 evacuate those Works — Gillmore's despatch announcing the capture — Other 
 events in the Department — Sketch of General Gillmore — Sketch of Admiral 
 Dahlgren 611 
 
 CHAPTER LIL 
 
 The Department of the Cumberland — Army of the Cumberland in motion — The 
 strength and position of the two Armies — ^Topography of the country of Middle 
 Tennessee — General Rosecrans' tactics — The movement by the left flank — Its 
 complete success — Manchester, Decherd, Cowan, Shelbyville, and Tullahoma 
 taken — Bragg's Army driven eastward to University and Sweden's Cove, and 
 thence to Chattanooga — The movement of the Union Army toward Chatta- 
 nooga — Rosecrans determines to outflank Bragg's position — Route of the 
 several Corps — Peril of McCook's Corps — The concentration of troops at 
 McLamore's Cove — Preparations for Battle — The first day of the Battle of 
 Chickamauga— The second day — The line broken and seven Brigades cut off 
 — General Rosecrans at Chattanooga — General Thomas fights till sunset and 
 repulses the enemy — Sketch of General Thomas — Results of the Battle — 
 McCook and Crittenden relieved, and their Corps consolidated — General Thomas 
 succeeds General Rosecrans — Perilous condition of the Army — General Grant 
 put in command of the Grand Military Division of the Mississippi — Reinforce- 
 ments ordered up - 628 
 
34 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 Sketch of General Grant — He is appointed to the command of the Military Pirision 
 of the Mississippi, and arrives at Chattanooga — The capture of Brown's Ferrj' — 
 Movements of Hooker's command — Battle of Wauhatcliic — The results gained — 
 Attempts of the Rebels to break Grant's communications — Bragg sends Long- 
 street's Corps to besiege Knoxville — General Grant's instructions to General 
 Burnside — Fighting and retreating — Longstreet arrives before Knoxville and 
 invests it — Topography of the Chattanooga Valley and its surroundings — 
 Bragg's Message — Grant's plan for the defeat of his Army — The capture of the 
 Rebel Batteries on Bald Knobs — Sherman's movements — The pontoon hrulges 
 — The Bastion taken — Hooker's attack on the Rebel left wing on Lookout 
 Mountain — The surprise — The " Battle above the Clouds" — The fighting on 
 the east side of Lookout — Evacuation of their positions by the Rebels — 
 Hooker follows them to Mission Ridge — Sherman's persist(int and repeated 
 attacks upon Fort Buckner — Repulse of his attacking columns — Their object 
 gained, in drawing the Rebel troops from Fort Bragg — The assault on the centre 
 by the Fourth Corps — Difficulties of the attack — Capture of the Crest and Fort 
 Bragg — Flight of the enemy — Pursuit to Ringgold — Fight at Ringgold (jap — 
 Sherman marches to Knoxville and raises the siege — Battle of Bean's Station 
 — Results of the Chattanooga Campaign — General Grant's congratulatory order 
 — General Halleck's estimate of the Campaign 644 
 
 CHAP'TER LIV. 
 
 Department of the Northwest — Indian troubles in Minnesota — Death of Little 
 Crow — General Sibley's expedition against the Indians^He defeats, pursues, 
 and routs them— General Sully's Battle at Whitestone Hill — Escape of the 
 Indians — General Conner's Battle with the Indians^ — Department of West Vir- 
 ginia — General Averell's raid into Southwestern Virginia — His capture at Salem 
 and destruction of Cwnmissary and Quartermasters' stores— His escape from 
 the six Generals — Sketch of General Averell — Other operations in West Vir- 
 ginia — Army of the Potomac — Lee's flanking movement — Its extent — General 
 Meade's excessive caution — The Cavalry Battle at Brandy Station — General 
 Warren's Battle with Hill's Corps at Bristow Station — Hill repulsed — Custer's 
 attack on Stuart's Cavalry^ — Lee's return to the Rapidan — Imboden's attack on 
 Charlestown, Virginia — Lee removes to the Rappahannock and fortifies his po- 
 sition — Meade drives him back, taking over two thousand prisoners — Sedgwick's 
 assault at Rappahannock Station — Its success — The left wing at Kelly's Ford 
 and Brandy Station — Meade's coup-de-main — His plans unmasked — His with- 
 drawal across the Rapidan — Results 660 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 The "Anaconda" Policy^ — Reasons why it could not succeed in crushing the Rebel- 
 lion — Department of the Gulf — The occupation of Texas determined upon — 
 The reasons assigned for it — General Franklin ordered to Louisiana — Expedi- 
 tion of (ienerals Banks and Franklin to Texas — The great preparations made 
 for it^The broops and their commanders — The disastrous attack on Sabine Pass 
 and City — Advance of the Army to Vermillionville — The coast expedition to 
 
CONTENTS. 25 
 
 Texas — Reconstruction in Louisiana — The starting of the advance of the Grand 
 Army- — Capture of Simmsport, Bayou Glace, and Fort de Eussy — Alexandria 
 captured and occupied — Battles of Teachoes and Cane River — The Array too 
 much scattered — Arrival at Grand Ecore — The advance toward Mansfield — The 
 Battle of Mansfield — Rout and panic — Battle of Pleasant Hill — The rrtreat 
 down the Red River — Grand Ecore — Jumping the sand-bars — Alexandria — The 
 Rapids — Colonel Bailey's Dams — Escape of the Gunboats — Rear-Admiral Por- 
 ter's Report — The retreat to Simmsport and Morganzia — General Steele's re- 
 treat to Little Rock — General Canby in command of the Trans-Mississippi 
 Division — Department of the South — Political aspirations of Florida Unionists 
 ■ — Their pleas for an expedition into Northern Florida — The expedition ordered 
 —The plan — General Seymour at its head — Delays and disasters — Battle of 
 Olustee — Retreat of the Union forces — Losses — End of the "Anaconda" 
 PoUcy 672 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 Sherman's Meridian expedition — The co-operative movements and their failure — 
 The movable column — Advance into the enemy's country — Return — General 
 Grant promoted to the Lieutenant-Generalship, and Sherman appointed to com- 
 mand the Military Division of the Mississippi — Sketch of Sherman — Other 
 changes in commands — Reorganization of the Eastern and Western Armies — 
 Improvement in discipline and morale — Forrest and Chalmers set out on an ex- 
 pedition for plunder and murder — Attack on Union City — On Paducah — The 
 massacre at Port Pillow — Atrocity of the conduct of the Rebels — The Rebel 
 Government promote Forrest and Chalmers for it — Buford's demand for the 
 surrender of Columbus, Kentucky — Forrest's retreat 689 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 Preparations for the advance — General Grant's strategy — Simultaneous movement 
 • — The numbers in the opposing Armies — Situation of the subordinate Armies 
 of the Union and their numbers — General Butler's advance — The feint on York 
 River— Ascent of the James to City Point and Bermuda Hundred — The advance 
 on Fort Dai-ling — The troops driven back — Attack of the Rebels on Bermuda 
 Hundred — They are repulsed — Departure of the Eighteenth Corps — The attack 
 on Petersburg — Its partial failure — Army of the Potomac- crossing the Rapi- 
 dan — The Battles of May 5th and 6th — Lee's change of position — Death of 
 Wadsworth — Sketch of Wadsworth — Fighting of May 7th and 8th — Partial lull 
 on the 9th — Death of General Sedgwick — Desperate fighting on the 10th — The 
 results still indecisive — Quiet on the next day — General Grant's despatch — 
 " Fighting it out on that line" — The terrible Battle of the 12th — The charge of 
 the Second Corps — Desperate fighting — Wilcox's Division forced back — Success 
 turning to the Union side — Losses of the eight days on the Union side — Losses 
 on the Rebel side — Impossibility of movements during the storm — Sketch of 
 General Sedgwick 70-^ 
 
 CHAPTER LVIIL 
 
 Continuation of Grant's campaign — Battles near Spottsylvania — Reinforcements 
 — The Battle of the 18th of May — The repulse — Another flank movement to the 
 North Anna, and beyond — Ewell's raid upon the Union rear — He is repulsed 
 
26 CONTENTS. 
 
 with loss — Fighting near the North Anna — Strength of the Rebel position — 
 Another flank movement — Recrossing the North Anna — March to Ilanover- 
 towu — Cavalry engagement on Tolopatomoy Creek — Battle of Tolopatomoy 
 Creek, or Shady Grove Church — Topography of the country north of the Chick- 
 ahominy — Position of Lee's Army — Cavalry Battle for the possession of Cold 
 Harbor — The Battle of Cold Harbor — ^Desperate lighting of the Sixth and Eigh- 
 teenth Corps — Fighting on other parts of the line — The Battle of the Chicka- 
 hominy— Indecisive results of the gallant and desperate fighting — TJie opposing 
 lines very near each other — Losses of both sides since the Battles of the Wil- 
 derness — Sketch of General Hancock — Sheridan's first raid — Richmond threat- 
 ened — His force surrounded at the Chickahominy — Rebuilding Meadow Bridge 
 — Gallant charge on the enemy — His escape — His second raid — The Battles of- 
 Treviliau Station — Sheridan withdraws, after punishing the enemy severely, 
 ond rejoins the Army of the Potomac south of the James River 720 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 The troops in West Virginia — Crook and Averell defeat the Rebels on New River 
 — The Battle of New Market — Sigel defeated — He is relieved of command, and 
 sent to Martinsburg as post commandant — General Hunter succeeds him — 
 Battle near Mount Crawford — ITie Rebels defeated, and their general killed — 
 Hunter captures Staunton and Lexington, and burns the Lexington Military 
 Institute, and Governor Letcher's honse, but fails to join Sheridan, and is com- 
 pelled by Early to fall back from Lynchburg into the Kanawha Valley, after a 
 losing fight — Early takes advantage of this to descend the Shenandoah Valley 
 to the Potomac — Hunter's efforts to retrieve his blunder — Army of the Poto- 
 mac — Crossing the James — .Cavalry reconnoissance to Malvern Hill — The at- 
 tack on Petersburg — Partial success — Butler cuts the railroad — The assaults of 
 the Second and Ninth Corps on the defences of Petersburg — Incomplete success 
 — The Rebels retire to their inner line of defences — Failure of the attempt to 
 carry these — The attacks on the Weldon Railroad — The disastrous repulse of 
 June 22d — The position nearly regained, but no advance made — Wilson's and 
 Kautz's raid on the Weldon and Southside Railroads — Great destruction of rail- 
 road tracks and property — Heavy losses of the expedition in its return march — 
 Early's foray into Maryland and Pennsylvania — Terror of the inliabitants — 
 The Battle of Monocacy — Wallace defeated — The Sixth and Nineteenth Corps 
 ordered into Maryland — General Ord succeeds General Wallace — Railroads 
 broken up and trains captured by the Rebels — Washington threatened — Rebels 
 defeated by General Augur — Their retreat across the Potomac — Fighting at 
 Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps — Averell's Battle near Winchester — Defeat of the 
 Rebels — Battle of Winchester, July 24th — Crook defeated, and Mulligan killed 
 — Sketch of Mulligan — The panic in Maryland and Pennsylvania renewed — 
 Absurd reports — Burning of Chambersburg — Mosby's little raid — Governor 
 Curtin calls a special session of the Legislature — Tliirty tliousand militia called 
 out — Early's retreat — Fighting near Cumberland, Maryland — Rebels defeated 
 by Averell at Moorefield, Virginia — The mine at Petersburg — Demonstration 
 on the enemy's left — Fight at Deep Bottom — Explosion of the mine — Fatal 
 blundering — Repulse and heavy loss 735 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Sherman's Atlanta campaign — Sherman's preparations — The force under his com- 
 mand, and the several Armies composing it — The Army of the enemy — Its 
 
CONTENTS. 2^ 
 
 position and commander — Sketch of Johnston — The demonstration on Eocky 
 Faced Ridge, and Battles there — Flanking movement through Snake Creek 
 Gap on Eesaca — Battles at Resaca — Flanking movement toward Kingston — 
 Capture of Rome — Crossing the Etowah — Movement toward Dallas — Battles 
 of New Hope Church and Dallas— Sherman moves to the left — Occupation of 
 Allatoona Pass, and Big Shanty — The Pass made a secondary base of supplies 
 — The enemy driven from Pine and Lost Mountains — The aifair of " the Kulp 
 House" — Assault on the enemy on Kenesaw Mountain — Repulse — Flanking 
 again — The Rebels compelled to fall back to the Chattahoochie — Occupation 
 of Marietta — The Union Army cross the Chattahoochie — Burning of Roswell 
 factories 752 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Rousseau's expedition to Opelika, and the West Point and Mongomery Railroad 
 — The position of the Union Army — First Battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 
 20th— Second Battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 22d— Death of McPherson— 
 Biographical sketch of General McPherson — Garrard's expedition to Covington 
 — Stoneman and McCook undertake cavalry expeditions — Failure of Stoneman — 
 Partial success of McCook — Battle of July 28th before Atlanta — Siege of 
 Atlanta — Its strength — Tenacity of Hood in holding the railroad lines — Sher- 
 man extends his hne to the right, but Hood holds the railroad — Bombardment 
 of Atlanta — Wheeler's raid to cut Sherman's communication — Sherman sends 
 Kilpatrick to cut the railroad below Atlanta — Partial success — Sherman raises 
 the siege, and sends Williams back to the Chattahoochie, while the main Army 
 moves toward Jonesboro — Battles near Jonesboro — Hardee defeated and driven 
 southward — Hood evacuates Atlanta — The Union Army take possession of the 
 city — Removal of the citizens from the city — Results of the campaign 764 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 The Department of North Carolina and Southeast Virginia — Capture of the Under- 
 writer — Attack on Newbern — Attack on Plymouth, North Carolina — Desperate 
 fighting by the garrison of the Fort — Capture of Plymouth — The Albemarle's 
 first appearance — She drives the Union Gunboats from the river — The Battle 
 between the Albemarle and the Sassacus — Daring conduct of Commander Roe 
 — The Albemarle crippled — Explosion of the boiler of the Sassacus — The hero- 
 ism of the crew — The Sassacus disabled — Retreat of the Albemarle — Her subse- 
 quent fate — Daring exploit of Lieutenant Gushing — Morgan's last raid into 
 Kentucky — Capture of Cynthiana, and surrender of General Hobson's troops — 
 Defeat of Morgan by General Burbridge — The gunboat disaster — The Rebel trap 
 • — Retreat of Sturgis — The train in a slough — Complete rout and disorder, and 
 loss of train and guns — Bravery of the Tj\^-ro troops — Forrest's raid on Mem- 
 phis — The Forts at the entrance of Mobile Bay — Farragut's anxiety for their 
 capture — The attack on the Forts — The Battle with the ram Tennessee — Her 
 surrender — Results of the Ba: lie — Surrender of the Forts — Sketch of Comman- 
 der Craven — Sketch of Farragut 781 
 
 CHAPTER LXIIL 
 
 The Middle Military Division organized, and General Sheridan appointed its com- 
 mander — Organization of the new Army of the Slienandoah — Sheridan concen- 
 trates his troops on the line of the Potomac — Advancing and retreating — 
 
28 CONTENTS. 
 
 " Harper's Weekly" — Early's misconception of Sheridan's character — His move- 
 ment to Berryville — The cavalry fight at Darkesville — The Battle of Opequan 
 Creek, or Winchester — Early " sent whirling" up the Valley — Battle of Fisher's 
 Hill — Early again defeated and routed — "Settling a new Cavalry General" — 
 Rosser's defeat — Early defeated again at Little North Mountain, on the 12th of 
 October — Sheridan visits Washington— Early creeps up on the left flank of the 
 Union Army — The Union troops defeated badly, and driven to Middletown — 
 Sheridan comes up, makes the fugitives " face the other way," reorganizes the 
 Army, attacks, defeats, and routs Early, and sends him once more " whirling" 
 up the Valley, with the loss of his artillery, wagons, etc. — Subsequent opera- 
 tions in the Valley, in the Autumn — Desolating the .Valley to repress the 
 guerrillas — Early sends a part of his force to Lee, and Sheridan returns the 
 Sixth Corps to the Army of the Potomac — Biographical sketch of Sheridan. . . 795 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 Political parties, and their influence during the War — " The era of good feeling" 
 —Its speedy termination — Fernando Wood's somersaults — The professions of the 
 Pro-Slavery Democratic leaders— Their desire for a " more vigorous prosecution 
 of the War" — " The great unready" — Opposition to emancipation nominally re- 
 linquished — The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and arbitrary arrests — 
 The conscription — Their objections to it — Their hostility to the Financial Policy 
 of the Government — Secret organizations opposed to the Government — The 
 Peace Party and its leader — Sketch of Vallandigham — His treasonable address 
 and his arrest — Judge Leavitt's refusal to grant a Writ of Habeas Corpus, and 
 his opinion of treasonable utterances — Vallandighara's trial and sentence — The 
 President commutes it to transportation beyond the Union lines — Protest of 
 the Albany Committee — The President's reply — Protest of the Columbus 
 Committee — The President's propositions — The object of these demonstrations 
 — Vallandigham nominated for Governor and defeated — His escape to Canada 
 and return to Ohio — Character and conduct of his associates in Canada — He 
 attends the Chicago Convention — The proceedings of this Convention — Its 
 platform — Its nominees — General McClellan's letter of acceptance — He accepts 
 the nomination, but repudiates the platform, while Mr. Pendleton accepts both 
 — Utter defeat of the Peace Party at the November election — Efforts at Nego- 
 tiations for Peace — The Jacques and Gilmore mission — A. H. Stephens' appli- 
 cation to go to Washington in a Rebel War Steamer — The Greeley and Sanders 
 correspondence— -"To whom it may concern" — The pretended indignation of 
 Clay and Holcombe — Subsequent revelations of their character and purposes — 
 Lee's announcement to Jeff. Davis — P. P.Blair's mission — Rebel Commissioners 
 appointed — Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln meet them — The conference at Hamp- 
 ton Roads — The demands of Davis— Impossibility of conceding them — Failure 
 of the conference 809 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 The Navy of the United States at the commencement of the War — Its inadequacy 
 for the work to be done — The duty required of the Navy — The purchase and 
 construction of vessels for the Navy — The number, character, and armament of 
 the vessels of the Navy during the War and at its close — The Iron-clads — 
 Preference of the Government for the Monitors — Their efficiency in Naval Bat- 
 tles — The River Iron-clads, Turtle-backs and Tin-clads — What was accomplished 
 
CONTENTS. 29 
 
 by the River Squadrons — The work of the Blockaders of the Atlantic Coast — 
 The Rebel Navy — Stolen vessels — Their Privateers — Their Iron-clads — Fate of 
 their vessels — The Anglo-Rebel Privateers — Their names and character — The 
 attempts to build armored ships for the Rebels in England and France — Their 
 failure — The history of the Alabama — Her perfidious attack on the Hatteras — 
 She enters the Port of Cherbourg, and finding escape without a fight impossi- 
 ble, her commander challenges the Kearsarge to a Battle — The comparative 
 size, armament, and crews of the two vessels, and their means of resistance — • 
 Captain Semmes's " preparations" — The Deerhound — The Battle — Despicable 
 conduct of the owner of the Deerhound — Semmes receives ovations — Rage of 
 the English at the sinking of the Alabama— Causes of it — The capture of the 
 Georgia — History of the Florida — Her capture — Commander Collins censurable 
 for seizing her in a Neutral Port — Action of the United States Government — 
 Brazil satisfied — Lieutenant Reed's adventures as a Pirate — Capturing fishing 
 smacks and coasters — Cutting out the Cushing — Capture of the Lieutenant and 
 his crew — The seizure of the Chesapeake — Her recapture — Career of the Talla- 
 hassee, the Olustee, and the Chickamauga — The Shenandoah and her piracies 
 — She comes to Liverpool and delivers herself up to the British Government — 
 Course adopted by that Government — The career of the Stonewall or Olinde— 
 Her surrender to the Spanish Government, and final transfer to the United 
 States — Losses of the Mercantile Marine by the Rebel cruisers 825 
 
 CHAPTER LXVl. 
 
 Disturbances in Missouri — The small number of troops in the Department — Gen- 
 eral Rosecrans in command there — Price thinks the opportunity favorable for 
 another invasion of Missouri — Marmaduke sent to test its feasibility — He is 
 repulsed and driven back toward Arkansas — Price's expedition in September — 
 The number of his troops— The Union force collected to oppose him — The Battle 
 of Pilot Knob — Fight at Harrison's Station — Skilful management of General 
 Ewing — Rolla securely garrisoned — General Pleasonton takes command of the 
 cavalry — Condition of St. Louis and Jefi'erson City — Price makes a fatal delay 
 — He threatens Jefferson City, but finding it too strongly defended turns aside 
 to Booneville — Sanborn follows and harasses him — Pleasonton joins in the pur- 
 suit — The Battles of the BigBlue^Little Osage Crossing, and Marais des Cygnes 
 — Price completely routed — He is defeated once more at Newtonia — Results — 
 Indian troubles on the Frontier — The league among the tribes of the Sioux 
 Nation — General Pope's ideas of the best method of breaking their power — 
 General Sully sent with a large cavalry force to attack them, and Posts estab- 
 lished along the Frontier— His campaign— The Battle near the Little Missouri 
 — The defeat and flight of the Indians— Sully falls back to his trains and pursues 
 them to the "Bad Lands" — Description of the "Bad Lands" — He attacks and 
 defeats the Indians again — They are completely scattered and broken — General 
 Pope's plans for Peace with them in future — The massacre of the Cheyennes 
 by Colonel Chivington— Details of the surprise and slaughter— Investigation 
 by the Committee on the Conduct of the War— Chivington ordered arrested — 
 Rebel Plots against the citizens of the Northern States— The scheme for the 
 release of the Johnson's Island prisoners, and the burning of Buffalo, Cleve- 
 land, etc. — How baffled — Blackburn's plan for disseminating Yellow Fever and 
 Small Pox — John T. Beall's raid upon Lake Steamers — His capture, trial, and 
 execution — The raid on St. Albans — Arrest and discharge of the robbers — The 
 Plot for releasing the prisoners and destroying Chicago — How discovered 
 
ID CONTENTS. 
 
 — Attempt to bum the Hotels in New York — Arrest, trial, and execution of 
 Kennedy 841 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 Hood attempts to cut Sherman's Line of Communication, and, movinj^from Macon, 
 first goes to Dallas, and then falls back upon the railroad at Big Shanty — 
 Sherman follows, and witnesses, and directs the Battle at AUatoona Pass, wliere 
 the Rebel troops are defeated by General Corse — Description of Battle of 
 AUatoona — Hood captures Dalton, but is compelled to abandon it, and retreats 
 before Sherman to Gadsden, Alabama — Sherman pursues to Gaylesyille, and 
 then detaching Thomas to Nashville, and sending him two Corps, returns to 
 Kingston — Destruction of the railroad — Return to Atlanta — Its destruction — 
 Sherman's Telegraphic Despatch — His general orders to his Army — The march 
 — The enemy deceived and confused— The reorganization of his Army — Sketches 
 of the leaders of the two wings, Generals Howard and Slocum — Disposition of 
 the troops — Foraging — The route of the troops veiled by the Cavalry — Union of 
 the columns at Milledgeville — Rest and collection of supplies — Skirmishing and 
 fighting at Buckliead Creek and Waynesboro — The attempt to rescue the Union 
 prisoners at Millcn — It is foiled by their removal — Approach to Savannah — 
 The position of the troops — Assault and capture of Fort McAllister by Hazen's 
 Division^Communication opened with the Fleet — Sherman summons Hardee 
 to surrender, but he declines — Preparations for a siege of the City — Hardee 
 evacuates it and escapes to Charleston — Savannah occupied and governed by 
 General Geary — The quiet and good order of the City — Sherman's Christmas 
 Present to the President — Sherman's encomiums on his generals and troops — 
 The results of the capture of Savannah, and of the campaign — Sherman's Gen- 
 eral Orders — Ilis interview with the leading men of the colored people — The 
 assignment of the Sea Islands to the negroes during the War 854 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII. 
 
 The Nashville Campaign — Sherman's resolve — Davis's boast — Hood tries to fulfil 
 it — The offer to give Hood his rations — Movements of General Thomas's com- 
 mand — The Fourth and Twenty-third Corps assigned to General Thomas — 
 Sherman's order — His instructions — A part of Hood's force crosses the Tennes- 
 see — The number of Hood's troops — Effective force of Thomas — Cheatham's 
 Corps crosses the Tennessee — Forrest's raid on Johnsonville — Schoficld passes 
 through Johnsonville to Pulaski — Hood advances on Pulaski — Schoficld's and 
 Thomas's measures — Falling back to Columbia — Calling in the garrisons — The 
 crossing of Duck River— Hood attempts to flank Schoficld at Spring Hill, but 
 fails to do so — Causes of the failure — The race for Franklin — Schofield wins— 
 The importance of the stake — Schofield keeps the Rebels at bay till his men 
 have thrown up temporary defences — Hood's address to his troops — His plan — 
 Its partial success — Heroism of General Stanley — Resultsof the Battle— Sketch 
 of (teneral Stanley — Schofield falls back to Nashville, and Milroy to Murfrces- 
 boro — Thomas's reinforcements come up — Position of the two Armies — Hood's 
 blunder — The expedition against Murfreesboro — Its failure — Thomas prepares 
 to attack Hood's left, at the same time demonstrating upon his right — The Battle 
 of Nashville — First day — Hosidts — Hood's condition and hopes — Second day — 
 Disposition of tha troops — Cavalry attack on the rear — The general advance — 
 The assault — Repulse — Advancing again — The enemy's lines broken, and he 
 
CONTENTS. 81 
 
 compelled to fly in the utmost disorder — The retreat — The pursuit — Its relent- 
 less character — Results — Gallant conduct of Colonel Palmer — The campaign 
 in Bast Tennessee and Western Virginia — Battles of Eangsport, Abington and 
 Marion — Capture of Wytheville and Saltville — Burbridge's return to Kentucky. 871 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James — Grant strikes the Weldon 
 Railroad — Sharp fighting — After a desperate engagement Reams's Station falls 
 into the hands of the enemy — Fort, or Battery Harrison capt\ired — Battle of 
 ChiifBn's Farm — Capture of Fort McRae — Battle of Peebles' Farm — Kautz's 
 Cavalry defeated — Attempt to turn the right flank of the Union Army — It fails 
 — Repulse of the Union troops — The Battle of Hatcher's Rim — Mahone inter- 
 poses between the Second and Fifth Corps — Failure of the entire movement — 
 The first expedition against Fort Fisher — General Butler's management — The 
 powder-boat — General Butler's debarkation, reconnoissance, and re-embarkation 
 — He is relieved of his command — The second expedition, under command of 
 General Terry — Furious bombardment — The Fort carried — Sketch of General 
 Terry— Sketch of Admiral Porter 893 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 The Goldsboro campaign — Sherman determines to march through the Carolinas 
 • — Movement of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps to Hilton Head — Capture 
 of Pocotaligo Bridge — Movement of the left wing — Delayed by floods — Grover's 
 Division garrisons Savannah — Savannah and its defences transferred to Major- 
 General Foster — The Rebels adopt the Salkahatchie as their defensive line — 
 Movements of the Army of the Tennessee — Slow progress of the left wing — 
 — The advance upon Orangeburg — Evacuation of Charleston — The approach 
 to Oolimibia — Surrender of the City — Destructive fire — The advance to Winns- 
 boro — Balpatrick's movements — The speculations of the Rebels as to Sherman's 
 objective — They compel Davis to give Johnston the command of their Armies 
 in North and South Carolina — Crossing the Wateree — The approach to, and 
 capture of, Cheraw.— Advance on Fayetteville, N. C. — Hardee abandons it^— The 
 Battle of Solomon's Grove — Kilpatrick surprised, but rallies and defeats the 
 enemy — Sherman's letter to the Lieutenant-General — His correspondence with 
 Wheeler and Wade Hampton — Pusillanimity and cowardice of South Carolina 
 — The horrors of War dealt out to her in full measure — North Carolina spared 
 — The last stage of the campaign — Hardee's attack on the left wing at Averys- 
 boro — The Battle of Bentonville — The advance to Goldsboro — Mowers' daring 
 flank movement — Goldsboro reached, and the Army resting and receiving sup- 
 plies—General Sherman's summing up of results 913 
 
 CHAPTER LXXI. 
 
 Surrender of Rebel Fortifications at the entrance to Wilmington Harbor — Gen- 
 eral Schofield put in command of the Department of North Carolina — The 
 advance upon Fort Anderson — The Rebels abandon the Port — The operations 
 of the Fleet — General Cox crosses Town Creek, bombards Eagle Island — 
 Crosses Brunswick River, and drives the enemy out of Wilmington — Results 
 — The movement on Kinston and Goldsboro — Battle at Southwest Creek — 
 Capture of Union troops — Kinston evacuated, and occupied by Schofield— 
 General Terry moves from Wilmington to Goldsboro — General Grant determines 
 to cut Lee's communications on the Northwest — Sheridan's raid on Lynch- 
 burg — General Grant's instructions to Generals Meade, Ord, and Sheridan — 
 Gordon's attack upon Fort Stedman — He captures the Fort, but it is retaken 
 
Si CONTENTS. 
 
 — General Meade's Congratulatory Order — The general advance upon Lee's lines 
 — General Grant's instructions to General Sheridan- — General Warren's repulse 
 — His Corps put under Sheridan's command — Sheridan's Battle at Dinwiddie 
 Court House — The Battle of Five Forks — Attack on the Fortifications of 
 Petersburg — Petersburg and Richmond evacuated — Pursuit of Lee — Battles 
 of Jetersville, Farmville, High Bridge, DeatonsviUe, and Appomatos Station 
 — Correspondence between Grant and Lee — Surrender of Lee — Sketch of Gen- 
 eral Lee 985 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIL 
 
 The Assassination of the President — The circumstances — Attempt to murder 
 other High Officers of the Government — Arrest and punishment of the Assas- 
 sins — Sketch of Lincoln — The stability of the Government demonstrated — 
 The advance of Sherman to Smithfield and Raleigh — Dispositions made to 
 compel Johnston's surrender — Johnston asks an interview — The "memoran- 
 dum drawn up and sent to Washington — Its terms — Its rejection by the 
 Cabinet — General Grant bears the news, and is authorized to take command — 
 Sherman's prompt action — Johnston surrenders on the same terms as Lee — 
 Sherman marches his Army to Richmond and Washington — Disbanding of 
 the forces — Stoneman's expedition — Canby's siege and capture of Mobile — 
 Surrender of the Rebel Fleet — General Dick Taylor's surrender — Wilson's 
 Cavalry expedition— Capture of Montevallo and Randolph — Croxton's separate 
 expedition — The Battle and capture of Selma — Capture of Montgomery, 
 Wetumpka, Ala., and Columbus, Ga. — Battle at West Point, Ga. — Its capture 
 — La Grange, Griffin, and Forsyth captured— Sherman's Armistice — Capture 
 of Macon — Detention at Macon — Croxton's return to the Main Army — His 
 achievements — The surrender of all the Rebel troops East of the Chatta- 
 hoochie — Distribution of troops — Pursuit and capture of Jefferson Davis — 
 " The poor old mother" and her boots — Disposition made of the prisoner— Re- 
 sults of Wilson's campaign — Kirby Smith's surrender — Sheridan on the Rio 
 Grande 958 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIIL 
 
 Finances of the War — Unpromising state of affairs when Mr. Chase became Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury — His measures — The confidence of capitalists and the 
 people secured — The first Seven-thirties — I'he Five-twenty bonds — Bonds of 
 1881 — Compound Interest notes — Ten-forties — The Seven-thirties of 1864, and 
 1865 — Their immense sale — The early Gold Demand Notes — The Legal Tender 
 Notes — Fractional Currency — Certificates of Indebtedness — Statistical table 
 of the debt — Taxation — Customs — Internal Revenue — Income Tax — Amount 
 of Revenue collected — The National Banking System — Suspension of Specie 
 Payment and rise of Gold — Comparison of our National Debt and that of Great 
 Britain in 1815 — Probable time of payment of the Debt — Rebel losses of Slave 
 Property — Losses by Cavalry expeditions and raids — Union losses by raids and 
 by Rebel Privateers — Grants made for Bounties and aid of Soldiers' families — 
 The contributions for the Sick and Wounded — The United States Sanitary 
 Commission — The Western Sanitary Commission — The Christian Commission 
 — The Freedmen's Aid Commission — The'Union Commission — Other donations 
 — The effect of this liberality on the Nation 989 
 
 CHAPTER LXXrV. 
 Review of the War 1002 
 
THE 
 
 CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 INTROD[JCTION, 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE SOnTHEEN REBELLION — CLASSIFICATION OP ITS SEVERAL CAUSES — THE ACT 
 OP 1816 RESPBCTINQ A TARIFF — AGENCY OP 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 OP A HIGH TARIFF — THE LEGIS- 
 LATURE OF SOUTH CAROLINA — OUTBREAK OF THE NULLIFICATION MOVEMENT — VIGOROUS 
 MEASURES OP PRESIDENT JACKSON — MR. CALHOUN IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE — A 
 MEMORABLE DEBATE — FINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE DIFFICULTY — AMERICAN SLAVERY — ITS 
 ORIGIN — THE PROPOSITION OP THOMAS JEFFERSON — SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES^ — THE 
 COMPACT OP 1787 — COMPROMISE OF HENRY CLAY — ANNEXATION OF TEXAS — THE WILMOT 
 PROVISO — COMPROMISE OP 1850 — SLAVERY IN KANSAS — RISE OP 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 CAMPAIGN OP 1860 — ELECTION OP 
 MR. LINCOLN — THE DOCTRINE OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY AS OPPOSED TO FEDERAL CENTRALI- 
 ZATION — 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 trouble- 
 some temper. They were among the most tardy and reluctant of the 
 States in announcing their approval and acceptance of the Federal Con- 
 stitution. They have always entertained a false and exaggerated estimate 
 of their own importance in the Union ; and in all the troubles which have 
 disturbed and alienated the opposite portions of the country, in all the 
 conflicts in the National Legislature which have endangered the per- 
 petuity of the Union, they and their leading statesmen have had an un- 
 enviable prominence. 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 fomenting a feeling extremely hostile to the Federal Government, 
 which at length culminated in the outbreak of the Southern Rebellion. 
 Although the censure due to the originators 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 
 (3) (33) 
 
3i THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sliare of it. We may arrange all the controversies which contributed 
 to the birth of this Rebellion, under the three following general heads : 
 
 I. The Free Trade Policy, which, under the influence of Mr. Calhoun, 
 led to the experiment of Nullification. 
 
 TI. The Advocacy of Slavery, both as already existing in the Southern 
 States, and as proposed in the new territories of the Federal Union. 
 
 III. The Doctrine 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 Rebellion, 
 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 and the statesmen of the country who were in 
 favor of the policy of protection, were opposed to this reduction, and 
 determined as soon as possible to secure the adoption of a higher 
 tariff. Accordingly, in 1824, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining the passage of a law, by which the profits of certain 
 kinds of manufactures were greatly increased. It was soon discovered 
 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 por- 
 tions of the mercantile community in the nation, were not sufficiently 
 protected by this tariff. Accordingly, 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 condemed it in the most violent terms : stigmatized it as a " bill of 
 abominations;" and began to mutter threats of future resistance and ven- 
 geance. 
 
 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 him, 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 Aijolh 
 of Sectionalism ; and as soon as the tariff of 1828 was passed, in spite of 
 his opposition and that of his confederates, 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 promo- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF ITS CAUSES— THE ACT OF 1816. 35 
 
 tion of the interests of the South could it not be possible to resist and 
 overpower that government, v.'ithin 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, discussed, and finally commended. At the request of 
 eoine of his constituents, Mr. Calhoun prepared a document, in July, 1831, 
 which defended this policy under the existing state of affairs. This pro- 
 duction was styled "The South Carolina Exposition and Protest on the 
 subject of the Tariff," and was addressed to the Legislature of the State. 
 That body ordered a large number of copies to be printed and distributed, 
 and afterward passed a resolution which declared the Tariff Acts of Con- 
 gress for the protection of the manufacturers of the North and East un- 
 constitutional ; 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 admin- 
 istration 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 thenceforth existed between these remarkable men, was the fact, 
 that at that period General Jackson discovered that Mr. Calhoun had, 
 while a member of Mr. Monroe's Cabinet, advised that he should be rep- 
 rimanded 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 Ham- 
 ilton, at that time Governor of South Ca-rolina, presenting 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 Gharta, 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 indepen- 
 dent governments. 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 themselves were, and always must remain, the final and supreme 
 
36 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 judges. lie 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 performed by the 
 Federal Government, each within its own particular limits. 
 
 These positions Mr. Calhoun defended with great vigor of thought and 
 force of reasoning. His views were, however, 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 through- 
 out the South, with the exception of South Carolina, withheld their 
 approval of them. 
 
 The results produced by the existence and operation of a high tarift' 
 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 precess be entirely liquidated ; and recommended that, inasmuch 
 as so high a tariff would then be no longer necessary, it should be after- 
 ward reduced. Accordingly the act of 1832 was passed by Congress, 
 which was declared by its supporters to be the ultimatum, the permanent 
 proportion, of imposts which ought to exist and be retained in the country. 
 
 But this wise policy did uot 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 what- 
 ever; and that the reduced tariff just aflopted 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 conclusiveness of this reasoning they stood 
 alone in the advocacy of their position. The rest of the nation contended 
 and believed that the machinery of the National Government involved 
 other expenses, and required other resources besides those connected with 
 the public debt ; and consequently they insisted that there should still 
 remain a reasonable tariff, which might furnish a sufficient revenue to 
 meet other inevitable expenditures. They therefore refused to adopt tlie 
 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 issued an address to the people of that State, informing them 
 that the Federal Government had at last adopted the protective system 
 &s its "permanent and unalterable policy ; asserting that no hope of future 
 relief could be entertained from that source, and urging them to adopt 
 
OUTBREAK OP THE NULLIFICATION MOVEMENT. 3^ 
 
 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 for. 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 R. Poinset, who 
 supported 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 on the 19th of November. On the 
 24th of the month, the Convention passed the famous order 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 Fede- 
 ral 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 estahlishing a separate and independent government^ 
 The Legislature of South Carolina was still in session, and that body 
 immediately passed resolutions which approved 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 collection 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 South 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 determination to enforce the collection of the national revenue at all 
 hazards; and ho 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. Hayue, 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 
 (^position to the Federal troops. 
 
88 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 During tlie 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 Na 
 tional Legislature. At that moment President Jackson was undecided 
 whether it was not his duty to arrest Mr. Calhoun before he reached 
 Washington, on the charge of treason ; and the general impression was, 
 fihat such an event would take- place. Beyond the limits of South Caro- 
 lina Mr. Calhoun was generally regarded with distrust, sometimes with 
 abhorrence, as being in heart a traitor to the government; and on his 
 way to Washington, he was repeatedly assailed by the clamors and in- 
 sults 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 considerations, 
 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 bitterly regretted his lenity on this occasion, and con- 
 tinued 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 tbe United States to lay before 
 that body the documents connected with the Nullification ordinance, cer- 
 tified copies of which had been transmitted to him by Governor Ilayne. 
 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 i-eference to the matter, were referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary for consideration. Daniel Webster was a prominent member 
 of this committee, and exerted himself to procure the adoption of such a 
 report as should effectually crush the scorpion head of Nullification. 
 Under his guidance the committee 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. Tlie acknowledged pur- 
 pose 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 distin- 
 guished and important achievement of his life. lie addressed the Senate, 
 and proposed that, before the discussion of the provisions of this bill 
 should be commenced, the important abstract questions of constitutional 
 law, which were involved in the issue, should be debated; and in order 
 to bring about that result, he introduced 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 Gov 
 
MR. CALHOUN IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. 39 
 
 ernment, and they have been since, and still remain, the creed and 
 catechism of secession politicians. The overwhelming majority which 
 was arrayed against Mr. Calhoun in the Senate, soon laid those resolutions 
 upon the table; and the bill reported by the committee was then taken 
 up for consideration. A memorable debate ensued. Mr. Calhoun deliv- 
 ered on this occasion his ablest effort, 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 consummate orators. The bill became a law on the 28th of February, 
 183S. 
 
 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 
 Pinckney 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 supreme magistrate to 
 contend with ; when they saw that, if they persisted in resisting the pro- 
 cesses and the writs of the Federal Government, Charleston would be 
 bombarded, and they would feel the full weiglit 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 re- 
 flection that if, on the more recent outbreak of rebellion which has oc- 
 curred in that State, so thoroughly infected with treason, a chief execu- 
 tive officer, possessing the same energy, sagacity, and patriotism, had 
 occupied the highest seat of power, measures of the same efi'ective nature 
 would have been adopted, which would have speedily led to the accom- 
 plishment of the same glorious and felicitious results. The seed, how- 
 ever, which Calhoun 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 Nullification." 
 
 II. The second cause which led to the Southern Eebellion was the con- 
 test, 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, ita 
 perpetuity in those States in which it already existed, and its introduction 
 
10 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 into those new Territories which have been, and which might hereafter be, 
 from time to time, organized by the Federal Government. 
 
 In March, I80O, John C. Calhoun declared, in the Senate of the United 
 States, that he had believed from the first that " the agitation of the sub- 
 ject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective 
 measure, end in the dissolution of the Union." His prediction was veri- 
 fied. The " agitation" of so important an institution can n^er be pre- 
 vented or suspended, even on tlie part of prudent, moderate, and con- 
 servative statesmen, and hence the expedient of disunion was at last re- 
 sorted 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, a slave ship, 
 sailing directly from the coast of Africa, pasaed up James river, in Vir- 
 ginia, and landed twenty negroes, who were immediately sold to the 
 chief inhabitants of Jamestown. They were the first slaves of African 
 origin who ever existed on the American continent. The purchasers 
 were English adventurers, aristocratic 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 enjoyment. The 
 example of this Dutch slave dealer, whose name has passed into an igno- 
 minious 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 Revolutionary War, and while the several 
 States were still governed by the Articles of Confederation, Thomas Jeffer- 
 son introduced a resolution into the Continental Congress to the effect that, 
 after the year 1800, no slavery should exist in any of the Western Terri- 
 tories 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 m«e States should be given in favor of any resolution to give it 
 the validity of law. When the Federal Constitution 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 inter- 
 woven with all the customs, interests, and associations of the citizens of 
 
AMERICAN SLAVERY— ITS ORIGIN. 41 
 
 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, there- 
 fore, that could be done by the advocates of the discontinuance of this 
 institution was, to obtain the introduction of a clause in the amendments 
 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 difi^u- 
 sion of slavery, when new Territories were occupied and settled in the 
 South, and were afterward 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 Govern- 
 ment as Territories, it was with the express understanding, that Congress 
 should not attempt by any law or statute to abolish slavery within their 
 boundaries ; and they 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, pro- 
 hibited the introduction of slavery in those immense regions. An 
 attempt was made in January, 1807, in the American Congress, to sus- 
 pend 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 occurred 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 eftbrt 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 report on the subject, were all, with a 
 
42 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 • 
 
 single exception, Representatives from tlie South. They reported in favor 
 of the recognition of slavery in the Territory. Tlieir recommendation, 
 after .another protracted and vigorous conflict, was supported by both 
 Houses ; and slavery was recognized by an express clause of the Constitu- 
 tion of 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 Con- 
 gress to the measure. On this occasion, after a lengthy discussion, Henry 
 Clay, who may justly be termed the Napolton of Compromises, came for- 
 ward with his famons Missouri Compromise, as the best possible settle- 
 ment 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, .bj' 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 anywhere 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 State.s, as citizens possessing certain rights ; and as the Federal Con- 
 stitution recognized the validity of those State constitutions, therefore, the 
 State of Missouri 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. 
 
 Tha 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, Texas remained a part of the Mexican Republic. In 1835 
 her inhabitants revolted from the authority of that Republic, and estab- 
 lished 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 18-ii the new Republic 
 apj-lied for admission to the Federal Union ; and as slavery already ex- 
 isted within her limits, that difficult and eternally obtrusive theme 
 became a prominent element of the discussions which ensued in conse- 
 quence of her application. Texas was finally admitted to the Union in 
 1845, with a clause in her constitution fully recognizing the existence of 
 slavery within her borders. 
 
 The war with Mexico whose government had protested against the ad- 
 mission of Texas, immediately followed. The armies of the United States, 
 under the generalship of the gallant Scott and Taylor, marched into the 
 
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 43 
 
 territory of the enemy, and carried the Stars and Stripes in triumph fi'om 
 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 Montezuma. 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 demanded an appropriation of thirty thousand 
 dollars for immediate use, and two millions more for subsequent exigen- 
 cies, a number of the Representatives from the North determined to em- 
 brace 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 aa the representa- 
 tive of this faction, and he offered in the House his famous proposition, 
 known as the Wilmot Proviso. That Proviso set forth : " That as an ex- 
 press and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from 
 the Republic 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 monies herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
 tude 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 subse- 
 quently revived in various forms, and under different disguises. Mean- 
 while 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 peculiar 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 Congress which immediately afterward convened, to determine 
 whether or not slavery should be admitted into the newly-acquired Ter- 
 ritories of California and New Mexico. This topic elicited, as was usually 
 the case, a^discussion of extreme 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 docu- 
 ment were these : That it was inexpedient for Congress to provide by 
 law, either for the introduction of slavery into, or for its exclusion from 
 any of the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico ; that ter- 
 ritorial governments should be provided by Congress for all those new 
 acquisitions, without adopting any provision whatever respecting slavery ; 
 that it was inexpedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, as 
 long as slavery existed in Maryland ; that, however, it was expedient to 
 
44 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 marvellous and matchless eloquence, — an eloquence whose persua- 
 sive power and pathos the heavy burden of years had been unable to di- 
 minish or enfeeble. The venerable statesman presented in the Senate of the 
 United States, on that occasion, one of the sublimest spectacles ever ex- 
 hibited by pure patriotism., by exalted genius, and by dauntless hero- 
 ism, iq the annals of mankind. He believed that the safety and perpe- 
 tuity 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 occurred in the 
 National Legislature ensued, in the discussion of these propositions. 
 Eminent Senators delivered some of their most elaborate and masterly 
 arguments. Among those who opposed them with great zeal, was 
 Jefferson Davis, then honored as the Senator from Mississippi. During 
 the long period of two months, the subject occupied the exclusive atten- 
 tion 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, 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 iirst proceeded from the gifted 
 mind and the patriotic heart of the Sage of Ashland. Another impor- 
 tant 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 ap- 
 proached, in the history of this controversy, when it assumed more 
 tragical and desperate aspects, and became invested with more formida- 
 ble 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 Compro- 
 mise, 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 
 
SLAVERY IN KANSAS. AS 
 
 region. In January, 1854, Mr. Douglas reported a bill for the purpose 
 of organizing the Territory of Nebraska, in which a clause was intro- 
 duced, which declared that the Missouri restriction on slavery in that 
 Territory was inoperative tmd void. In May, 1854, this bill passed both 
 Houses of Congress, was signed by the President, 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 
 important 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 ex- 
 clude 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, establishing, prohibiting, nor abolishing 
 slavery within the Nebraska Territory, should remain a fundamental 
 principle in its Constitution. 
 
 Subsequent to the passage of this law, aad expressly covered by its 
 provisions, the Territory of Kansas was organized. It unquestionably 
 left the people, that is, those who were the lawful citizens of both Ter- 
 ritories, 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 legitimate manner, and expi-essing their will in a constitu- 
 tional 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, ap- 
 pointed 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 inhabi- 
 tants of Kansas began to assemble in various portions of the Territory, 
 to express their opinions in public meetings, to arrange their 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 paramount 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 community. 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_ acts with a 
 legitimate and binding authority. It was summoned by an express 
 proclamation of the Governor. It was attended by all the executive 
 
4& THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 officers of tbe 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 appointed the 
 times and places where these voters should assemble to determine 
 whether slavery should in future exist witliin their limits. 
 
 The large majority of the inhabitants of Kansas were ardently opposed 
 to slavery. The Territory had long been the scene of 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 
 ordered and prosperous social State shudder with horror. This contest 
 also assumed importance in another respect. Kansas became represen- 
 tative ground, and the struggle a representative one between the whole 
 North and South — between the partisans of slavery and the advocates 
 of freedom throughoul 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 Missotfri, in the vicinity 
 of the Kansas border. Immense 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, d^gited 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 government of .the T«trit%ryA 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 Territories ; a majority 
 of whom reported in favor of the admission of Kansas, under its pro- 
 visions, as a free State. A desperate contest then ensued between the 
 advocates of slavery and its opponents, in which Alexander II. Stephens, 
 of Georgia, afterward the Vice Pi-esident of the Southern Confederacy, 
 especially distinguished himself At length, hov/ever, on the 3d of July, 
 1856, the final vote was taken upon the subject, and the bill passsed ; 
 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 Rebellion, it is 
 
RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. i*j 
 
 proper that a brief notice be taken of the famous " Dred Scott case," by 
 which the advocates of the interests of slaveholders succeeded in obtain- 
 ing from a majority of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States an opinion which threw the weight and the influence of that august 
 tribunal in favor of pro-slavery interests and pretensions. Chief Justice 
 Taney, while concurring in the judgment of the majority of the Court, 
 that the Circuit Court of the United States, for Missouri, had no jurisdic- 
 tion in the suit brought by the plaintiff" in error, Dred Scott, on the ground 
 that the latter was not a citizen of Missouri, went on to take jurisdiction 
 - for the announcement of an opinion, not growing out of the case, nor 
 justly deducible from any thing which had occurred in it, but only de- 
 clared in the interests of slavery, to the effect that for more than a century 
 previous to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, negroes, 
 whether slave or free, had been regarded as " beings of an inferior order 
 and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or 
 political relations ; and so far inferior that they had no rights which the 
 white man was bound to respect," that consequently such persons were 
 not included among the " people " in the general words of that instrument, 
 and could not in any respect be considered as citizens ; that the inhibition 
 of slavery in the territories of the United States, lying north of the line 
 of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes, known as the Missouri compromise, 
 was unconstitutional ; and that Dred Scott, a negro slave, who was re- 
 moved by his master from Missouri to Illinois, lost whatever freedom he 
 may have thus acquired, by being subsequently removed into the Territory 
 of Wisconsin, and by his return .to the State of Missouri. 
 
 To the monstrous assumptions of this ex parte opinion, unsustained as 
 they were by any authorities, and contradicted by an able argument of 
 the Chief Justice himself in his younger and better days, Justices Nelson, 
 Grier, Daniel, Wayne, Campbell and Catron (the last named with some 
 qualifications) gave their sanction ; while Justices McLean and Curtis, 
 confessedly the ablest members of the Court, dissented in able opinions 
 which exhibited the fallacy of the opinions of the Chief Justice. 
 
 The opinion of Chief Justice Taney was hailed with great satisfaction 
 by the South, which claimed at once that it should be regarded as having 
 the authority of law, a demand which the North never granted. The 
 majority of the people of the Northern States regarded this extra-judicial 
 deliverance of the highest officer of the United States Supreme Court with _ 
 utter loathing and contempt ; and it was, perhaps, fortunate for its author 
 that no case came up to test its authority before the Court was, by the 
 death, resignation and secession of six of its members, including the 
 Chief Justice himself, completely reorganized. 
 
 The events which had occurred in Kansas during the administration 
 of Mr. Pierce, and the mysterious disappearance of the Whig party, once 
 so powerful and respectable in the arena of American politics, led to the 
 
48 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sudden rise of a new and formidable political organization, which took 
 the not inappropriate name of the Republican 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 de 
 termined, 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 com- 
 posed of old Whigs, moderate anti-slavery men, some native Americans, 
 and some Democrats, who, having become convinced that the old Demo- 
 cratic party had entirely betrayed and ignored its primitive principles, 
 felt themselves fully justified in abandoning it. The cardinal doctrine of 
 the Republican party was, not to interfere with the institution of slavery 
 as it already existed, either iu the slave States or even in the slave Terri- 
 tories. Its fundamental principles and purposes, as set forth 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 constitutional 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 Republican party nominated Mr. Fremont as their candidate 
 for the Presidency. 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 with- 
 out the mixture of fanatical zeal or ultra partizanship. The contest was one 
 of the most violent which had overtaken place in any free government, in 
 connection with the strict observance of law and order. In its desperate 
 throes with the new organization, the ancient Democratic party was shaken 
 to its centre. James Buchanan, whom it had selected as its candidate for 
 the Presidency, guided his confederates through the storm with consum- 
 mate skill. The result of the contest was favorable to his aspirations. 
 Never before had so young a party made so magnificent a display of or- 
 gani^iation and strength as did the Republican on this occasion ; but Mr. 
 Buchanan was elected President by an inconsiderable majority. 
 
 In March, 1857, he entered upon an administration which deserves to be 
 regarded as the most ignominious which has occurred iu 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 
 anticipated in the year 1857. The success of the Democratic party, how- 
 ever, deprived them both of the excuse and of the motive for immediate 
 secession. A nother Chief Magistrate had been elected, who, they thought, 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 49 
 
 would certainly equal, possibly lie 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 remained 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 inevitable purpose of breaking 
 up the Union into 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 being regarded as the most 
 active, resolute, and indefatigable of the foes of the Union. William L. 
 Yancey was 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 attainment of ultimate success, he announced the fact that 
 the South were entitled, and would thenceforth assert their right, to what 
 he termed Congressional Protection to slavery in the Territories ; and 
 that doctrine was announced as being a fundamental part of the future 
 issue in party politics. Soon this idea was promulgated by those jour- 
 nals in the South which were devoted to secession. Tn September, 1858, 
 the New Orleans Delta proclaimed this doctrine as being a leading 
 element of future agitation. The Richmond Enquirer, then under the 
 control of Henry A. Wise, took the same position. But these dema- 
 gogues never expected to achieve so disgraceful a result, as to render the 
 Federal Government subservient 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 dis- 
 tant emergencies. In September, 1858, Jefferson Davis alluded in a 
 speech delivered at Jackson, Mississippi, to the possibility of the election 
 of a Eepublican President, and made the following declaration : " If an 
 abolitionist be chosen President of the United States, you will have pre- 
 sented to you the question whether you will permit the government to 
 pass into the hands of your avowed and implacable enemies. Without 
 pausing for an answer, I will state my 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 
 expedient, I should deem it your duty to provide for your safety outside of 
 the Union, from those who have already shown the will, and would have 
 acquired the power to deprive you of your birthright, and reduce you to 
 worse than the colonial dependence of your fathers." This sentiment 
 4 
 
50 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 uttered in 1858, increased in intensity and strength until it was realized 
 in 1861. As the administration 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 President's agency in 
 reference to the Lecompton Constitution. 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 south- 
 ern Eepresentatives for the purpose of forcing Kansas into tlie 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 provision 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 demonstrated the perverted feelings which animated 
 the Chief Executive. When infamous frauds were committed at the 
 ballot-box in Kansas, and returns of the 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 misfortune 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 politician's, 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 probabilities in favor of the success of the 
 candidate of the Republican party in 1860 were overwhelming. They 
 accordingly commenced to take the preliminary steps which were neces- 
 sary to accomplish their favorite project. Unfortunately for the Union, 
 the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan was infested with men unworthy of their 
 high trust. In the formation of that Cabinet the South had, as usual, ob- 
 
PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 51 
 
 tained an undue and exaggerated proportion. When the chief conspira- 
 tors sounded Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War, they found him a willing 
 and ready tool. He prostituted all the influence and resources of his 
 office 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 
 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 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 ex- 
 press and anticipated purpose of destroying it ; and this was done by one 
 who himself held a distinguished post in that government, and had sworn 
 to support the Federal Constitution. Mr. Cobb, Secretary of the Treasu- 
 ry, assisted the infamous enterprise, as far as the functions of his office 
 permitted him. Mr. Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, was also a 
 pariiceps 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 reasonable 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 powerful it might become, could give him any glory or profit as great 
 or greater than that which he had already attained. The loftiest aspira- 
 tions of his ambition had been realized. He had likewise gratified some 
 of the less noble instincts of his nature, for he had rewarded his worst 
 enemies, and had punished his best friends, to a monstrous and marvellous 
 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 government which, 
 while it had accomplished many better and more commendable things, 
 had also rendered him so illustrious and distinguished? The supposition 
 is extremely 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 Presi- 
 dency. The old Democratic party nominated John C. Breckinridge of 
 Kentucky for that office ; against whom the friends of Stephen A. Douglas 
 
52 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pitted that talented and ambitious statesman. An organization which 
 took the name of the Union party, selected John Bell of Tennessee as 
 their champion ; while the great Republican party, buoyant with confi- 
 dence 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 Republican 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 merely a fetitio principii ; because it yet remained to 
 be demonstrated at the ballot-box whether they were sectional: 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 uo abolition sentiment could be found in the Philadelphia or 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 in- 
 deed 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 disunion, they replied that they sup- 
 ported 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 administration, it should only be by con 
 stitutional means ; and that they would then administer it only in accord- 
 ance with the settled and lawful machinery of the government. 
 
 The event proved that the greater portion of the nation was with the 
 Republican party. Mr. Lincoln was elected by a decisive majority, lie 
 was a person every way worthy of the high position to which he was 
 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 
 statesman ; with a character not only free from every stain, but adorned 
 
 * The division of the Democratic party by the friends of Mr. Donfrlas. and his 
 nomination to the Presidency, thereby insuring the election of Mr. Lincohi, may be 
 regarded as having exerted a powerful influence, though innocently and indirectly, in 
 precipitating the outbreak of this pre-destined Rebellion. 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY. 53 
 
 Dy many great and rare virtues. His election 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 withdraw 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 absurdity uttered. If indeed the separate States possessed any 
 such right, then each State would in reality be paramount 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 possess, any such prerogative, 
 is evident from the following considerations : 
 
 The Federal Government was established, not by the States as such, 
 individually, but by the people of the whole collection of States. The Con- 
 stitution was framed and adopted by those who expressly called them- 
 selves " The People." Therefore it is the people of the entire Union only 
 who possess the right to dissolve the Federal Government, 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 allu- 
 sion 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 grand aggre- 
 gate, they should become convinced that their interests would be pro- 
 moted by its dissolution. 
 
 The Federal Government was established on this basis, not only for 
 tthose who framed it, but with the express understanding and covenant 
 
54 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 obligation, therefore, 
 bound the party of the first part attached inevitably to the party of the 
 second part. Both live 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 
 prerogatives 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 withdraw from the Union is evident from the signifi- 
 cant 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 Govern- 
 ment 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 important and so fundamental a 
 function. 
 
 Those who established the Federal Government expressly 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 substance that the people who estab- 
 lished the Federal Government organized it for themselves and for their 
 posterity; that they went into the Union for the purpose of forming com- 
 ponent parts of one grand organic political structure, intended for perma- 
 nent and perpetual duration ; and they teach that, should any State 
 undertake to pass laws, or even to adopt a constitution, which shall in any 
 way conflict with the provisions already contained in the Federal Con- 
 stitution, and in oppo.sition to this purpose, they shall be null and void. 
 Thus, therefore, if any State, as a State, or the jJeojyle of a single State, shall 
 pass a law in favor of secession, and against the supremacy of the 
 National Government, that law is «}wo facto null and void. Now, those 
 States which seceded approved of this clause in the Federal Constitution 
 by their own Eeprescntatives in Congress assembled at that time. It 
 therefore binds them and their descendants forever ; and the act of seces- 
 sion by any State is, by their own provisions and solemn stipulations, 
 a fraud and a violation 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 partnersM}} between the several States, may be answered and 
 condemned out of their own mouths. Let us admit, for the sake of 
 argument, that the Federal Government is a mere partnership, what then? 
 It necessarily follows that, in order to dissolve it legall}' and rightfully, 
 
STATE SOVEREIGNTY— DISCUSSION OP THE SUBJECT. 55 
 
 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 part- 
 nership 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 in- 
 tention 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 partner- 
 ship of the Federal Government was extinct. The period of time for 
 which 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 com- 
 pact. But that consent was not given ; it was refused pertinaciously 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 existing between the various members of the alleged part- 
 nership. If then the Federal Government were a mere compact, where 
 was the right of the Eebel States to secede as they did? By their 
 own showing, their 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 commodity 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 in- 
 vested in and exercised by a General Government. That nationality is 
 destroyed, and the benefits once conferred 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 
 
56 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 re- 
 cesses 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. Iiunion fait la force. But 
 now, becau.se the nation was divided, its glory departed ; it became a 
 laughing stock to tyrants; and the friends of humanity and rational free- 
 dom in every land sighed with regret at the lamentable spectacle. This 
 result was produced by the act of secession, which inflicted an incalcula- 
 ble 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 gratitude and 
 by interest, to preserve the Union intact and perpetual. 
 
 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 Congress, 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 Union with slavery 
 expressly protected and allowed in them. People from the free States, 
 they said, could convey their various kinds of property, to those new Ter- 
 ritories, and could have their titles thereto protected ; but emigrants from 
 Southern States could not remove their slaves thither and retain posses- 
 sion 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 re- 
 pudiating 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. 
 
POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, ETC. 57 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EFFECT OP MR LINCOLN'S ELECTION IN THE SOUTH — POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH 
 CAROLINA AND GEORGIA — EXCITEMENT IN CHARLESTON — PRELIMINARY ACTS AND EVENTS — 
 RESIGNATION OF FEDERAL OFFICERS — ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO THE STATE CONVENTION — 
 OPPONENTS OF SECESSION — ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS — FEDERAL PROPERTY SEIZED IN 
 CHARLESTON — CONVENTIONS SUMMONED IN GEORGIA AND ALABAJIA — ASSEMBLING OF THE 
 CONVENTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA — THE FIRST ACT OF SECESSION FROM THE UNION 
 PASSED — APATHETIC STATEMENT OP GRIEVANCES — SECESSION LOGIC — REFLECTIONS ON THE 
 RESULT — POPULAR FEELINGS AT THIS TIME IN GEORGIA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPI AND FLORIDA 
 — LEVITY AND RECKLESSNESS OF THE SECESSION LEADERS. 
 
 Ok 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 
 communities. How quickly and promptly they were prepared 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 were adopted by both branches of 
 the Legislature of South Carolina, then assembled 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 military oper- 
 ations. There seemed to be so settled a determination among the politi- 
 cians 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 Savan- 
 nah 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 resolu- 
 tions which set forth, that the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was an 
 outrage which " ought not and will not be submitted 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 convention of the 
 people to determine on measures of redress ; that the Legislature be re- 
 quested to pass laws to meet the commercial crisis which impended, and 
 
68 THE CrVIL WAE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 organize and arm the forces of the Commonwealth ; and that the Senators 
 and Eepresentatives 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 im- 
 mense 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 Charles- 
 ton seemed determined to achieve and to retain the first place in the in- 
 glorious enterprise of secession. On the 8th of November the time- 
 honored Stars and Stripes, which had so long waved in graceful splendor 
 over the Federal edifices in Charleston, were displaced ; and the Palmetto 
 flag substituted in their stead. The leading ofl&cers of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, the District Attorney, the Collector of the Port, and the Deputy 
 Collector, resigned their several positions, and duly notified Mr. Buchan- 
 an, 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 sixth of the ensuing December as the period for the elec- 
 tion of delegates to the convention, which was to determine the future 
 action of the state in reference to Secession ; and they designated the 17th 
 of December as the date of its assembling. 
 
 These events were the natural and necessary preliminaries 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 conviction, or by delusion, were unani- 
 mous in their support of the policy of rebellion ; whereas no such unani- 
 mity existed 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 from them only 
 by legal and constitutional means. But their words of prudence and 
 monition were like the voice of one calling in the wilderness ; 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 predominant 
 throughout the States of South Carolina and Georgia ; and it was confi- 
 dently asserted, that, before the period arrived for the inauguration of Mr. 
 Lincoln, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas, would have united 
 their fortunes with those ctf the two leading States. The latter had already 
 
EXCITEMENT IN CHARLESTON. 69 
 
 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 per- 
 severe to the end in the ignominious career they had begun. 
 
 At this stage of the rebellion there was much doubt in the minds of 
 several distinguished statesmen of Georgia as to the propriety and 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 con- 
 viction, that the act would be injurious and pernicious to the South in 
 every respect. He contended that the advocates of slavery would be 
 able to protect their rights much more efiBciently 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 proffered office 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 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 aban- 
 doned that honorable position, and had declared 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 or- 
 ganization 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 Legislature who had returned from 
 Columbia. An immense crowd assembled ; resolutions were passed com- 
 mending 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 in- 
 tense when it was announced that Messrs. Toombs, Iverson, Howell Cobb, 
 and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, had made known their determina- 
 tion 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 
 
60 1'HE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITIiD STATES. 
 
 of secession were earnestly defended by popular speakers, who thus im- 
 pressed 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 Carolina, Senators Hammond and 
 Chesnut, Messrs. Rhett, Barnwell, Memminger, Keitt; in Georgia and 
 Alabama, Messrs. Toombs, Cobb, William L. Yancey, and T. H. "Watts. 
 The prevalent feeling among the great majority of those chosen by all 
 these States was in favor of secession ; 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 oflicial 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 capabil- 
 ity 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 injurious 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 South Carolina to 
 determine upon the question of secession, 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 exhibited, which an 
 ancient Greek or Roman would have asserted, superstitiously, to have in- 
 dicated and foreboded the wrath of the gods at the act about to be perpe- 
 trated. A heavy fog of unusual dampness and thickness hung over the 
 city, enveloping every thing in gloom and darkness. 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 tempo- 
 rary chairman ; the names of the delegates were enrolled, and the con- 
 vention was organized. At a subsequent election for permanent officers, 
 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 inco- 
 herent and absurd remarks, he concluded by declaring, with perfect truth : 
 
 I can't say any thing; I can't express my feelings" — and resumed his 
 
PEELIMINARY ACTS AND EVENTS. 61 
 
 seat amid the sympathy of the audience. One of the first and most pru- 
 dent acts of the convention was to remove its sessions from Columbia to 
 Charleston, ia consequence of the prevalence and virulence of the small- 
 pox. Hon. Howell Cobb was present as Commissioner 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 Indepen- 
 dence. Lawrence M. Keitt, one of the most violent and rabid of southern 
 agitators, was selected as the chairman of this committee. At the same 
 time Mr.Ehett offered a resolution, which wa» 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 unanimous 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 Eepresentatives 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. 
 
 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 
 
 " This document was as follows : "An Ordinance to Dissolve the Union hetiveen the 
 State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled 
 the Constitution of the United States of America : 
 
 "We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do 
 declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance 
 adopted by us in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, 
 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 amend, 
 ments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the Union now subsist- 
 ing between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of 
 America is hereby dissolved." 
 
e^ THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 collect the revenues of the Federal Government. It was 
 asserted by another, and the whole convention seemed to sympathize in- 
 tensely 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 Secession abrogated all, or only some, of the laws of the 
 United States within the limits or South Carolina. It was an argument 
 which could not be answered, that the legal tender in the State must re- 
 main gold and silver ; and what gold and silver could there be, except 
 such as bore the stamp and superscription of the Federal Government ? 
 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 govern- 
 ment 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 seced- 
 ing States. It was finally settled that the 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 convention which had 
 been appointed to prepare an address to the Southern States, for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining their co-operation and sympathy, reported. The chair- 
 man read an elaborate declaration of- the causes which existed, and which 
 they regarded as sufficient justification for secession. It set forth, inter 
 alia, that the Federal Government had signally failed to perform its duty 
 toward the slaveholding 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 was declared that all the Northern, and many of 
 the 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 de- 
 manded their property. It added that, in view of these great and un- 
 speakable outrages on the Federal Constitution, and on the rights of the 
 South, it was time that the slave States should withdraw from a compact 
 in which the legitimate eads contemplated by its establishment were de- 
 
A PATHETIC STATEMENT OP GRIEVANCES. 63 
 
 feated. To incense the South still more, it was asserted that the free 
 States had been guilty of the immeasurable impudence and presumption 
 of assuming to decide upon the propriety of their domestic institutions ; 
 denouncing as sinful the sacred institution of salvery ; establishing socie- 
 ties 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 agitations 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 Grovernment, while, however, 
 it had observed all the forms of the Constitution in so doing. It will remain 
 an impenetrable mystery to all rational beings out of the seceding States, 
 how a party can be sectional whose operations are carried on in strict 
 accordance 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 accord- 
 ance with the provisions of that same Constitution. We may answer, 
 that the triumphant party was either sectional or it was not. If it were 
 sectional, then the National Government must also be sectional. If the 
 government was not sectional, then the triumphant party could not have 
 been sectional. But the National Government is not sectional, according 
 to the admission of the secessionists themselves. Therefore, the party 
 which, by legal and constitutional means, could and did obtain control 
 of that unsectional government, could not possibly have itself been sec- 
 tional. 
 
 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 con- 
 nected 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 allegi- 
 ance I bear to South Carolina, so long as I may continue a citizen there- 
 of; and that I am duly qualified according to the constitution of this 
 
64 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 Eubicon was at length passed, and secession became a stern 
 yet absurd reality. When the news of this event was conveyed to differ- 
 ent 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 sur- 
 prise and disgust. They regarded it as an evidence of the amazing 
 stupidity, obstinacy and malignity of the people of South Carolina ; who, 
 without any cause or excuse, except such as must excite the derision of all 
 intelligent people, had dissolved their connection with a glorious and benefi- 
 cent government, and had plunged themselves into all the inevitable hor- 
 rors of political chaos and ruin. It was evidently a case illustrative of 
 the familiar maxim : Quern Dens vull perdere, 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 inva- 
 riably an accompaniment of superior merit ! They had already accom- 
 plished what was probably the chief motive of the movement — they had 
 attracted to themselves the attention of the entire nation ; and they flat- 
 tered 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 therefore might select for their 
 motto that other maxim Post nuhila Pltmhus. 
 
 Nevertheless, he who carefully considers the circumstances which at- 
 tended this important event will be surprised at a singular and anomalous 
 peculiarity connected with it. lie 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 mas- 
 tery of malignant passions, and the presence of callous hearts. The actors 
 
LEVITY AND RECKLESSNESS OF SECESSION LEADERS. 65 
 
 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 with whom they had been so long con- 
 nected, and from whose society they thus tore themselves. They made 
 no allusion to past eventual incidents, to storms which, in other and 
 /jappier times, they had nobly breasted shoulder 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 states- 
 men, do not disport themselves 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. 
 6 
 
66 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TREASONABLE PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR PICKENS — RESIGNATION OF THE REPRESENTA- 
 TIVES 0? SOUTH CAROLINA IN CONGRESS — THE CRITTENDEN PROPOSITIONS OP COMPROMISE 
 — THEIR PROVISIONS — SCRAMBLE FOR FEDERAL PROPERTY — COMMISSIONERS OP 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 SLAVEHOLDINO 
 STATES — IMPORTANT EVENTS AT SAVANNAU — SECESSION OF MISSISSIPPI — PERNICIOUS IN- 
 FLUENCE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS — RESIGNATION OF HIS SEAT IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE 
 — THE SECESSION OF ALABAMA — OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA, AND TEXAS. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth 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, t-^ 
 negotiate treaties, and to do all other acts whatsoever which appertain to 
 a free and independent government. On the same day, the Representatives 
 of that State in Congress — Messrs. McQueen, Bonham, Boyce, and Ash- 
 more — addressed a letter to the Speaker of the House, containing the 
 resignation of their respective posts. That document was as follows: 
 " We avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity, since the official commu- 
 nication 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 
 Government of the United States, and have thereby dissolved our connec- 
 tion with the House of Representatives. In taking leave of those with 
 whom we have been associated in a common agency, we as well as the 
 people 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 Kentucky 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 tliat thenceforth slavery or involun- 
 tary servitude, except 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 in- 
 terfered with by Congress; and that when the Territories north of that 
 
THE CRITTENDEN PROPOSITIONS OF COMPROMISE. 07 
 
 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 
 sho\ild possess no right to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia ; 
 they denied the same right in the national dock yards 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 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 impossible. 
 
 The great State of South Carolina having withdrawn from the Union, 
 the next thing .to be done was, to remove 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 those to remain 
 before her eyes as mementos of her former degradation, as an humble 
 member of the repudiated and rejected General Government. According- 
 ly, the assembled convention proceeded to select commissioners to proceed 
 to Washington as their representatives, and make a formal demand for 
 these various objects of dispute. 
 
 Immediately on their arrival at the seat of government, the commis- 
 sioners 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 Caro- 
 lina to inform the Federal Government 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 promote 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 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 
 ofl&cer of 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 affairs 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 conducted, we are forced to suspend all 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 
 
68 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 commissioners. Meanwhile, 
 the subject and the destination of the forts in Charleston harbor assumed 
 an increasing importance. At that period Fort Moultrie was commanded 
 by Major Anderson, under whose orders there bad been placed a small 
 garrison. 
 
 On the 26th of December that officer transferred his command from 
 Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, a new and greatly stronger work. This 
 act was one indicating intrepidity, sagacity and skill. Major Anderson 
 thereby gained an important advantage over the secessionists ; and ho 
 received the deserved applause of the nation in return. Immediately 
 afterward the troops of South Carolina took possession of Fort Moultrie, 
 and thus held the first armed position against the Federal Government. 
 That position was of little service to them, however, 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 con- 
 dition. 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 Government 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 tlie people of South Carolina in any further 
 pledges as to the action of the military. One remedy is left, and that is 
 to withdraw the garrison from the harbor of Charleston. I hope the 
 President will allow me to make that order at once. This order, in my 
 judgment, can alone prevent bloodshed and civil war." 
 
 The commissioners who were sent from South Carolina 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 entertained. Their last 
 communication, addressed to Mr. Buchanan, was a singular efl'usion of 
 combined impudence and imprudence. They assumed the dictatorial tone 
 of masters, and assured the President that he had, in effect, compromised 
 his honor by not immediately withdrawing the Federal troops from the 
 forts in the harbor of Charleston. They reminded him, also, in language 
 
 \ 
 
THE CONVENTION OF THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES. 69 
 
 wbicli was absurd and ludicrous in itself, that " gentlemen of the MgJiest 
 possihh public I'eputation, and the most unsullied integrity," had advised 
 him to withdraw 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 ; because Mr. Floyd had already become strongly and justly sus- 
 pected for those acts of treason against the Federal Government which 
 were afterward clearly and unanswerably 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 com- 
 menced 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 unquestion- 
 able right to transfer its own troops to and from its own fortresses pre- 
 cisely as it pleased, without involving a menace to any one. They 
 concluded by declaring that the Administration, by refusing to comply 
 with the demands of those whom the commissioners represented, assumed 
 the entire responsibility 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 of Hosts," for the propriety of their 
 conduct. They declared that South Carolina would perform the solemn 
 and momentous duty which devolved upon her, " hopefully, bravely and 
 thoroughly." They concluded by informing the President of the impor- 
 tant and calamitous fact, that they purposed to return forthwith to Charles- 
 ton. However much posterity may condemn the cotiduct and policy of 
 Mr. Buchanan in reference to the Eebellion, he will deserve their com- 
 mendation 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. 
 
 Oil the 26th of December Mr. Ehett introduced an ordinance into tlie 
 Convention of South Carolina, recommending the assembling of another 
 convention, consisting of represeiitatives from all the slaveholding States. 
 This ordinance consisted of six separate clauses. The first provided for 
 the summoning of the convention aforesaid 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 slave- 
 holding States the appointment by each State respectively of as many 
 delegates therefrom as they had members in Congress; and suggested 
 
10 THE CIVIL AVAE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that the proposed Constitution should be voted on by States. The third 
 ordained that, as soon as that Constitution shoud have been adopted by 
 the convention appointed for the purpo.se, it slioulJ be referred to the 
 Legislatures -of all the States concerned, for their ultimate discussion and 
 approval. 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 the Southern States. The fifth clause declared that 
 the Convention of South Carolina should select eight delegates to repre- 
 sent that commonwealth in the Convention of the Southern 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 pro- 
 visions of this ordinance, as adopted and recommended by the Conven- 
 tion 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 co-operation 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 Government, 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 delivered to the Treasurer of 
 South Carolina, and not, as heretofore, be paid to the Federal Govern- 
 ment." This important act concluded by authorizing and commanding 
 the officials of the State to "take possession of, and retain in their custody, 
 all the property and funds of the United States which may come within 
 their reach." This ordinance passed the convention with general 
 unanimity. Immediately afterward the Palmetto flag was unfurled from 
 the Charleston Post Office, from the Custom House, from Fort Moultrie, 
 from Castle Pinckney, and from tlie 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 atti- 
 tude which she had assumed as an independent sovereignty. They 
 authorized the Governor of South Carolina to receive foreign ambassa- 
 dors, to appoint representatives to foreign courts, to make treaties "by 
 
SECESSION OF MISSISSIPPI. 71 
 
 and with the advice and consent of the Senate," to fill vacancies in the 
 Senate during its recess, to convene that body under extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances ; in a word, to enact a rule 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 qualifications of citizens of the State. 
 
 While these important events were transpiring in South Carolina, the 
 political virus was being rapidly and efl'ectually difl'used throughout 
 other portions of the Union. The commissioners who had been pre- 
 viously appointed by the convention of that State to proceed to each of 
 the Slaveholding States, and lay before the conventions which might 
 there assemble the ordinance of secession, and solicit their approval and 
 co-operation, bad been both diligent and successful in the execution of 
 their 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 Georgia. This example was immediately 
 followed by the Executive of Alabama, by whose orders the United States 
 Arsenal at Mobile, and Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile bay, 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 ofRce, delivered an 
 address, in which he advocated that policy in bold and unequivocal 
 language. A committee of fifteen was immediately appointed to prepare 
 and report an ordinance of secession, providing for the immediate with- 
 drawal 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 lost. 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 ordinance made 
 several efforts to postpone action in accordance 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 demonstra- 
 tions 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. 
 
 That State was represented at this period in the Federal Senate by an 
 individual who has since achieved an unenviable immortality. Jefferson 
 
73 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Davis bad long been known as one of tbe most violent and extreme 
 advocates of Soutbern and sectional interests ; and though 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 Iiow the 
 Senator would acquit himself of the difficult and delicate task before 
 him. Accordingly he arose at the first convenient 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. He held that the slaveholding States, and Mississippi among 
 the rest, had serious causes of ofibnce against the Federal Government. 
 He also asserted that a material difference existed between secession and 
 nullification. The former was a total withdrawal from the Union ; 
 the latter was an attempt to resist the authority of the general govern- 
 ment, while tbe 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 relations with which many 
 pleasing and grateful Tecollections would forever be associated in his 
 mind. 
 
 After the delivery of this address ^fr. 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 produc- 
 
THE SECESSION OP FLORIDA AND GEORGIA. -78 
 
 tion. It commenced by asserting that tte " election of Messrs. Lincoln 
 and Hamlin to the two highest executive offices in the Union by a sec- 
 tional 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 other defects it light exhibit, 
 it must, in the nature of the case, be more national and . liversal than 
 any other. The inhabitants of Alabama generally receive., 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 ot the entire commonwealth secession poles were planted, seces- 
 sion flags were unfurled to the breeze, bands of music brayed forth seces- 
 sion melodies, secession cannon thundered, and secession eloquence re- 
 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 consunimated 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 each delegate appended his name to the instrument, he 
 was hailed with c^teers, and a salute fired in his honor. Immediately 
 afterward the Federal property at Pensacola was seized by the Eebels, 
 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 secession 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.Stephens, afterward elected Vice-President of the 
 rebellious confederacy. This was a rare and extreme instance of that 
 inconsistency of conduct and principle which is so frequent and prevalent 
 a vice among American politicians. This ordinance was remarkable 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 State of Georgia, in convention assembled, do declare and 
 ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances 
 adopted by the people of the State of Georgia in convention in 1788, 
 whereby the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratifled 
 
14 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly 
 ratifying and adopting amendments to the said constitution, are hereby re- 
 pealed, 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 possession 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 po essiou of by the troops of Georgia, acting under the order 
 of the Gover ;r of the State. 
 
 But the c.talogue of Eebel 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 tlie property 
 of the United States ensued immediately after the passage of this ordi- 
 nance; and revenue cutters, arsenals, moneys, and other efl'ects 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. 
 
EFFOETS MADE FOR COMPROMISE AND SETTLEMENT. 75 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 VARIOUS EFFORTS MADE FOR COMPROMISE AND SETTLEMENT — CONCILIATORY MEETINGS ECELD 
 
 IN THE NORTHERN STATES — THEIR ULTIMATE FAILURE APOSTACY OP ALEXANDER H. 
 
 STEPHENS — RESIGNATION OF THE SOUTHERN REPRESENTATIVES IN THE FEDERAL CONGRESf 
 — THE REBEL CONGRESS CONVENED AT MONTGOMERY — ITS ORGANIZATION — ADOPTION 01 
 A PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY- 
 JEFFERSON D&VIS ELECTED PRESIDENT— A. H. STEPHENS CHOSEN VICE PRESIDENT — 
 
 PROPHECIES OP SENATOR WIGFALL BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, OP 
 
 STEPHENS, OP THE CABINET MINISTERS OP THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, MEMMINGER^ 
 
 TOMBS, MALLORY, WALKER, BENJAMIN THE PERSONAL QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 OF THESE OFFICERS. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rapidity witla which the act of secession had been 
 consummated in so many of the disaflected 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 Constitution 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 concord and unanimity prevailed throughout the whole country. 
 Hence it was that, during the brief remainder of Mr. Buchanan's term of 
 of&ce, the several efforts which were made in Congress to heal the difficulty 
 proved abortive. 
 
 Other expedients which were adopted elsewhere were equally inefiicient. 
 One of these deserves to be noticed. It became the fashion in many 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 depre- 
 cated 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 aind 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 accom- 
 plishing the end intended by them, merely excited the contempt of 
 Southern faoatics, and gave the entire population of the Cotton States an 
 undue conception of their own importance. If they had not been deficient 
 
16 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in arrogance before, tbeir vanity became greatly exaggerated afterward, in 
 consequence of these pusillanimous and mercenary movements at tbe North. 
 
 As soon as the several States had seceded, many of those persons who 
 bad, within their respective limits, opposed the act on various grounds, 
 gradually yielded to tbe pressure of tbe prevalent sentiments hostile to 
 the North, changed tbeir position, and gave in their adhesion to the oppo- 
 nents 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, bad at first opposed secession, and had refused to 
 sign the ordinance when it was passed by the convention.- But imme- 
 diately 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 be prepared 
 the way for bis complete apostacy are worthy of notice. Nothing could 
 have been more adroit or more specious. He wrote a preamble and reso- 
 lution, which were adopted by the convention, to the following effect: 
 " Whereas, the lack of unanimity in tbe action of this convention on the 
 passage of tbe ordinance of secession indicates a difference of opinion 
 amongst tbe members of the convention, not so much as to the rights 
 which Georgia claims, or tbe wrongs of which she complains, as to tbe 
 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 tbe occa- 
 sion ; therefore, resolved, that all tbe members of this convention, including 
 those who voted against the ordinance as well as those who voted for it, 
 .vill 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 individ- 
 ual 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 con- 
 demned secession, and regarded it as pernicious, illegal and wrong, would 
 nevertheless support those to their utmost who have pledged themselves 
 to adhere to that pernicious, illegal and injurious policy to whatever 
 results it may lead ! American political history presents many instances 
 of profound and logical reasoning, of consistent and cohesive policy ; 
 but we imagine that this case transcends tbe rest ! 
 
 At this period all tbe representatives of tbe 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 ordinance of Secession 
 continued to sit, and to adopt those additional measures which were ren- 
 dered necessary in consequence of their withdrawal from the Union. The 
 
THE REBEL CONGRESS CONVENED AT MONTGOMERY. ff 
 
 Georgia Convention demanded from the Federal Government possession 
 of all the Federal property within the limits of that State ; and appointed 
 commissioners to proceed to the other apostate States, and give them 
 counsel and encouragement. The convention of Alabama 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 Commodore 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 elTort 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 benefi- 
 cent Uniop, persisted in the suicidal 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 suc- 
 cessively 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 unenviable immortality, was about 
 to convene and to complete all the features and details of the architectural 
 monstor which had been begun. 
 
 The Congress of the seceded States met at Montgomery, Alabama, on 
 Monday, February 4th, 1861. They assembled 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. lie moved that E. W. Barnwell, of South 
 Carolina, be chosen temporary Chairman. The motion prevailed. Mr. 
 Barnwell took the chair and made a thankful speech. He then invited 
 the Eev. Dr. Manly to ofier a prayer. That individual at once came for- 
 ward and prayed. The chairman then reminded the convention that the 
 first duty which devolved upon them was to provide for their more per- 
 fect organization by electing permanent officers. But it appears that the 
 chairman was precipitate in his suggestion ; for Mr. Rhett rose and asserted 
 that the first thing in order was not that measure, but to examine and 
 approve the credentials of the delegates. The chairman admitted the 
 truth of the observation, and the verification was commenced. That 
 preliminary process being completed, the delegates signed the roll. The 
 whole convention consisted of forty-one members, one delegate only being 
 absent. 
 
 The Congress being thus organized, Mr. Rhett proposed that the body 
 proceed at once to the election of permanent officers; and without giving 
 
78 THE CITIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 acclamatory 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 
 remaing officers of the Congress were elected. These also received their 
 honors by tlie 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 4ay terminated. 
 It is not pertinent to our purpose to follow the details of the less im- 
 portant 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, expe- 
 dient of holding secret sessions, so that a portion of their transactions 
 remains unknown to the general public. Eesolutions were passed from 
 day to day perfecting the organization of the new Confederacy. The 
 most important of these had reference to the adoption of a Constitution, 
 the election of Executive officers, providing .suitable buildings and accomo- 
 dations 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 Con- 
 stitution was termed a "provisonal" 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 Consti- 
 tution, the-chief executive oificers of the new republic were chosen by the 
 Congress : Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected President, and Alex- 
 ander H. Stephens of Georgia Vice President. It must be admitted that 
 great sagacity and prudence were exhibited in the selections thus made. 
 Among the very considerable number of eminent men who resided within 
 the limits of the Rebel States, it is probable that none could have been 
 chosen bo well adapted to the peculiar positions which were then to be 
 filled. It was evident that the future President must needs be a man 
 possessing 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 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF SENATOR WIGPALL. 79 
 
 Republic against whose lawful control tliey had rebelled. He must be 
 shreAvd, resolute, firm and 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 ex- 
 cept one. He need possess no military knowledge, no martial experience. 
 It would be his 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, sacking Washington, driving Mr. 
 Lincoln and his cabinet in hot haste from the Capital, striking terror into 
 the inhabitants 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 
 invincible Davis would soon be achieving, he, the Vice President, must 
 be conducting the home government with prudence, harmony and skill. 
 These boasts respecting the future achievements of the Eebel 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 Wigfall of Texas. But Wigfall's prog- 
 nostications 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 intoxicated, 
 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 rok which Jefferson Davis and his chief 
 associates have enacted, will be regarded by posterity, when the passions 
 and prejudices of this stormy time shall have been lulled to repose by the 
 Lethiian 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 Bphesian dome," that be might thereby 
 secure an immortality of fame; yet we have never learned that any — ex- 
 cept the cruel and infamous Gloster, and such as he — commended him 
 for the rash act. Those who have striven, from the promptings of a sim- 
 ilar motive, to mar and desolate the nobler fabric of the American Union, 
 will incur a condemnation during after ages, more intense, more univer- 
 sal, more enduring than his. Let us glance briefly at the personal histo- 
 ries and characteristics 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 
 
80 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN TlIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 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, which 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, Mis- 
 sissippi. His son gave early proofs of superior intelligence and talent, 
 and at the usual age was sent to Transylvania College in his native Slate. 
 Having completed the course of study there, he was admitted to the Mili- 
 tary Academy at West Point in 1824. He graduated in that institution 
 in 1828, and was appointed brevet second lieutenant, and commenced 
 service in the regular army. 
 
 Mr. Davis distinguished himself in the events which occurred in the 
 Black Hawk war. In 1833 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 consequence 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 Mis- 
 sissippi 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 acquired 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 fiom his auditors. 
 
 He was thus winning his way to a high political reputation, when, in 
 July, 1846, he was appointed colonel of the first regiment of Mississippi 
 volunteers when they were about to serve in the Mexican war. He im- 
 mediately 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 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 Buena Vista, in 
 February, 1847, he won new laurels, exhibited superior heroism and 
 bravery, was severely wounded, and received from General Scott, com- 
 mander-in-chief, an honorable notice in his dispatch of March, 1847. In 
 the following summer he returned to Mississippi, and was immediately 
 appointed by the Governor of the State to fill a vacancy which had oc- 
 curred 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 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKEICHES OF DAVIS AND STEPHKXS 81 
 
 of his term, in March, 1851, was again chosen for another period of ser- 
 vice 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 campaign, 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. He possessed abilities which qualified him 
 for the duties of his high position, and he conducted its affairs with 
 energy and success. He was exceedingly popular with the officers of the 
 army, and made some important improvements in the service. He in- 
 troduced the use of the minie rifle, increased the inland and coast frontier 
 defences, and explored the several routes for the Pacific railroad. What 
 the zeal and ability of Arnold had been previous to his treason to his 
 countr}'', the efforts and services of Davis were before the origin of the 
 Southern Rebellion. After the termination of the administration 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 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 eminence, and that he would 
 at length strike the stars with his sublime head — sublimi ferial sidera 
 vert ice. 
 
 Of the remaining members of the Eebel government it will be un- 
 necessary to speak at much length. Alexander Hill Stephens, the 
 Vice President, was born in 1818, and was a man of superior natural 
 talents, a brilliant 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 all his life under ex- 
 tremely 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 second dignity in the new confederacy. As to hLs 
 
 qualifications for the duties of his position, there could be no question ; 
 6 
 
82 TJIE CIVIL WAU IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 for he was well adapted to tliem, both by superior natural talents and by 
 long experience in political life. 
 
 The most remarkable of the men who were subsequently appointed to 
 the Kebel Cabinet, was Charles G. Mciaminger, who became Secretary of 
 the Treasury. This person was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1804, 
 and was brought to Cliarlestou when two years of age by Lis parents. 
 Soon afterward their premature deatli 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 iutellectusl 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 cliairman of the Committee 
 of Finance of the Legislature of the State. He always opposed the ex- 
 istence 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 Revolutionary 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 bis name with an unenviable and execrable noto- 
 riety, and forever tarnished the honorable eminence which he had pre- 
 viously 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 year.s, as a zealous advocate of southern 
 interests. He was noted for his impetuous and declamatory style of 
 speaking. He was an admirable representative of the peculiarities of 
 southern eloquence — ardent, rapid, noisy. Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of 
 the Navy, formerly occupied a seat in the United States Senate. He was 
 a man of very moderate talents and utilitarian tendencies. General 
 L. Pope Walker, the Secretary of War, was comparatively unknown to 
 the nation at large, but he had ac(|uired some military reputation in the 
 South. J. P. Benjamin, the Attorney -General, had previously represented 
 the Slate of Louisiana during some years in the Federal Senate. He 
 possessed no inconsiderable attainments as a jurist, and marked ability 
 as a forensic orator ; but his most remarkable and prominent characteris- 
 tic was his acquisitiveness, as was demonstrated both by his earlier and by 
 his maturer history. 
 
ASSEMBLING OF THE PEACE CONGRESS. 83 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ASSEMBLIKO OF THK PEACE COXGRESS AT WASHIXGTON — THEIB PROPOSALS OF COMPROMISE — 
 THEIB REJECTION AND FAILURE — ATTITUDE OP PRESIDENT BUCHANAN — PUBLIC SENTIMPJ^T 
 RESPECTING FORT SUMTER — MISSION OF THE " STAR OF THE WEST" — FINAL ESTABLISHMENT 
 OP THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT AT MONTGOMERY — INAUGURATION OP 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 HIS- 
 TORICAL 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 FOUNDATION — THE FUTURE CONDITION AND DESTINY 
 OF THE NEGRO RACE. 
 
 While the founders of the Southern Confederacy were thus complet- 
 ing 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 Washington, whose special aim and purpose 
 it was to accomplish 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, the Congress provided for their 
 being communicated to the hostile and rival Governments, for their con- 
 sideration and approval. They then adjourned. But the ultimate fate of 
 these propositions was unfortunate. They satisfied neither party, over 
 whose minds the spirit of extreme irritation prevailed ; and thus they failed 
 in accomplishing the benevolent and patriotic purpose for which they 
 were evidently intended. 
 
 The leaders of the Southern Rebellion at Charleston were not disposed 
 to permit themselves or their achievements to disappear from public view ; 
 and although the attention of the nation was chiefly directed to the events 
 tlien progressing at Montgomery, they managed to make sufficient com- 
 motion 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 garrison. The administration of James Buchanan 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 
 
84 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 commandment 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 
 provisions 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 
 strengthened, as to be able to resist with success any attack which the 
 Eebels might make upon him. Such, however, 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 con- 
 tinued 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 abor- 
 tive attempt to accomplish any purpose could not possibly be conceived. 
 This result excited general surprise and disgust throughout the nation. 
 People of every class and every party inquired why the Federal Govern- 
 ment, once so powerful and so prompt in the public service, both civil and 
 military, had suddenly become so utterly imbecile and Worthless, that an 
 armed rebellion against the Government 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, snd then return again, 
 without having accomplished aiiything. What the real secret of this 
 mysterious 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 Rebel Government was progress- 
 ing at its infant seat of empire. On the loth of February the Congress 
 at Montgomery appointed a committee to make suitable arrangements 
 for the reception of the new President, and for the ceremonies of his in- 
 auguration. This committee performed their duties with energy and 
 success; and Jefl'erson Davis was inducted into his office on the ensuing 
 eighteenth of the month, in the capitol of the State, with as much pomp 
 and ceremony as could be mustered for the occasion. The speech de- 
 livered by the uew President was elaborated with much care, and was 
 well adapted to the circumstances under which it was uttered. 
 
 Mr. Davis concluded his address with pious allusions to the blessings 
 
THE INAUGURATION OF PEBSIDBNT LINCOLN. 85 
 
 of Providence, and with devout petitions for future guidance and direc- 
 tion 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 dis- 
 played 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 imme- 
 diately entered upon the duties of their several ofiices. One of the first 
 acts of the President was to appoint General Peter G. T. Beauregard, late 
 a majar in the United States engineer corps, to proceed to Charleston, and 
 take command of the forces assembled there for the attack aud capture 
 of Fort Sumter. 
 
 While the attention of the seceding States was occupied by those 
 events, the chief interest of the nation was engrossed by the events tran- 
 spiring at Washington. On the 4th of March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln 
 was inaugurated as President of the United States, and assumed the 
 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. Caleb B. Smith took charge of 
 the Interior ; Montgomery Blair presided in the Post Office Department , 
 Edward Bates became Attorney-General. 
 
 On the 21st of March, Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of 
 the Southern Confederacy, delivered a memorable speech in the city 
 of Savannah, which was commended by his partisans 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 Con- 
 stitution of the Rebel 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 gov- 
 ernment. It was cited as a representative speech uttered by a represen- 
 
86 TUE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tative man, and it was applauded as the greatest intellectual monument 
 erected by their statesmen during the progress of the war. As it will 
 always retain an historical importance and significance, we may be per 
 mitted briefly to examine some of its leading positions. 
 
 Mr. Stephens commenced his oration by observing in substance, that 
 the preeminent and most valuable ingredient 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 posi- 
 tion that slavery was a violation of the laws of nature; that they be- 
 lieved it to be inherently wrong, socially, morally and politically ; and 
 that they indulged the hope that at some future time it would b^wholly 
 abolished and removed. This opinion, Mr. Stephens asserted, was false. 
 The sages of the Revolutionary era were in error. Their views were 
 limited, superficial, absurd. He had discovered that slavery is not a 
 violation of the laws of nature ; that it is not wrong, socially, morally or 
 politically. Nor was it destined to be evanescent, and eventually to pass 
 away. 
 
 Such was Mr. Stephens' bold and positive assertion. But where is the 
 proo/ that the founders of the Federal Government on this point were in 
 error? None whatever is adduced in this speech. Not a single argu- 
 ment 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 correct and his erroneous. 
 !\[r. Stephens having placed the argument and the issue on this basis, 
 thereby imposed upon his opponents the necessity of inquiring who pos- 
 sesses the greater weight of authority, he, or the Federal founders ? 
 The real question to be decided is: Will A. H.Stephens outweigh in the 
 scales of authority the vast and powerful gravitation of those renowned 
 sages, philosophers and statesmen ? We imagine that he will not. In 
 any instance in which he and they would be balanced against each other, 
 bis authority would be as the weight of a feather against the ponderosity 
 of an Alp. Hence it was an act of weakness on his part to put the argu- 
 ment on that ground ; and tliat 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 overwlielmingly against him that an adverse deci- 
 sion of their judgments is instantly and inevitably extorted from them. 
 
 Mr. Stephens' second position was the most important, and also the most 
 fallacious, contained in his speech. He asserted that the Southern Ee- 
 
FOUNDATION STONE OP THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 87 \ 
 
 i 
 public was based upon tbe great principle that the "negro is not equal ' 
 
 to the white man ; that slavery, subordination to tbe superior race, is his 
 natural and normal condition; and he adds with exultation, tliat the new I 
 
 government "was the first in the history of the world based on ihnt great I 
 
 physical, philosophical and moral truth." We will not deny that the 
 latter part of this declaration may be true. The boundless and immeas- 
 urable absurdity of a professedly free government being based, and abso- 
 lutely founded, on a despotic and tyrannical dogma such as the worst 
 tyrants who ever trampled human rights in the dust, and defied 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 Eussian, 
 or Austrian autocrats, but to the enlightened statesmen of the Southern 
 Confederacy alone ! 
 
 But in itself considered this declaration of Mr. Stephens 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 number 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 colo- 
 nies had been free negroes, if a few whites of the lowest grade from Ireland, 
 Germany or England, had been transported hither as slaves, and if they 
 and their descendants had existed for several centuries precisely as negroes 
 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 statics 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 
 
88 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATKS. 
 
 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 necessarily 
 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 sus- 
 pected that this sentiment would be re?5eived, he proceeded to argue that 
 this great truth which the Southern Eepublic 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 truth- 
 fulness, because other great and true principles had been equally slow in 
 their diffusion, and yet had at last attained universal supremacy over the 
 convictions of men. Thus it was, said he, with the discoveries of Galileo 
 in Astronomy, and with the principles of Adam Smith in Political Econ- 
 omy. It was no argument against the truthfulness of their doctrines, 
 that it required a long lapse of time before the world appreciated and be- 
 lieved them. It v/'ould be so, he added, with this new discovery of the 
 statesmen of the Southern Confederacy. But, unfortunately, 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 op- 
 posed novelties founded in error with equal obstinacy. Hence the opposition 
 of men to new doctrines is no argument either way. If it were an argu- 
 ment to establish the excellence of a principle, then the opposition which 
 has, during many years, resisted the claims of the Mormons 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 sequitnr. 
 
 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, •Uhatit was best for 
 him." What a marvelous sjjecimen 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 ad- 
 vantageous for all races ; hence, if it is best for the negro thus to be infe- 
 rior, degraded and debased, it is also most desirable 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 destruction. 
 
THE MISSION OP ME. YANCEY TO EUROPE. 89 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MISSION OF ME. YANCEY AND HIS ASSOCIATES TO EUROPE — THEIR REPRESENTATIONS TO 
 THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH PEOPLE — EVENTS AT CHARLESTON — THE REBEL COMMISSION- 
 ERS AT WASHINGTON — THEIR ABSURD DEPORTMENT GEN. BEAUREGARD DEMANDS THE 
 
 SURRENDER OP FORT SUMTER — MAJOR ANDERSON RESPECTFULLY DECLINES — PREPARA- 
 TIONS FOR THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE FORT — SIZE AND STRENGTH OF THE WORKS — 
 SKETCH OF MAJOR ANDERSON — SKETCH. OF GEN. BEAUREGARD — 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 
 NEST DAY — SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON — EX-SENATOR WIGFALL — A DEPUTATION FROM 
 GEN. BEAUREGARD — PROPOSITIONS OF SURRENDER — THEY ARE ACCEPTED BY MAJOR 
 ANDERSON — EXULTATION OP THE REBELS— WHY THE GARRISON WAS NOT REINFORCED — 
 PROCLAMATION OP GOVERNOR LETCHER — PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 Soon after the organization of the Southern Confederacy, as has been 
 already narrated, an importatit step was taken to obtain its recognition 
 as an independent and established government by the leading sovereign- 
 ties 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 emis- 
 saries. 
 
 It was urged in the South — and when the commissioners arrived in 
 Europe they repeated the same representations there — that the Union was 
 irretrievably destroyed; that the seven seceding States would never will- 
 ingly 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 consider what the interests of England and France would be 
 in reference to this new government, whose separate and permanent ex- 
 istence should now be accepted as an unquestionable and inevitable fact. 
 The commissioners asserted that "-England must have cotton ;" 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 pro- 
 duced 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 this 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 
 
90 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED 8TATKS. 
 
 potent motive would thus be off'ered to England to induce licr to resume 
 her commercial intercourse with the Southern States. And if this result 
 occurred, it was highly proper and necessary that the formal recognition 
 of the new Eepublic should have previously taken place. 
 
 The commissioners furthermore urged, in their informal interviews 
 with the English and French ministers, that the seceding States, rather 
 than return to the Federal Government, after all that had occurred to 
 irritate and alienate them, would greatly prefer to become a colony of 
 England or France. If they were unable to maintain their separate atti- 
 tude, rather than again become members of the Federal Union, they 
 would be willing to descend to the humbler relation of dependants upon 
 a royal or imperial sovereign. In that view it would be prudent, in the 
 very beginning of tbe 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 
 and binding. Strange and utterly false ideas were also set forth by the 
 commissioners in regard to slavery, as it existed in the Rebel 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 responsible 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 con- 
 stitute any ground of future trouble or conflict between the two govern- 
 ments. 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 eflbrts made to entice tliem 
 from their masters. To overcome that repugnance which all intelligent 
 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 experiment, 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 not 
 only profitable for the master, but also most advantageous 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, 
 important events were transpiring at Charleston. Until the 7th of April, 
 1861, friendly relations had existed to some extent between Major Ander- 
 son, 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 
 
BEAUREGARD DEMANDS THE SURRENDER OF SUMTER. 91 
 
 effect that no further intercourse would be allowed between the fort and 
 the shore. He then sent a messenger to Major Anderson apprising him 
 of that determination. 
 
 The immediate cause of this decision seemed to be, that the commission- 
 ers who had been recently dispatched from the Rebel 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 any- 
 body ; 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 Fed- 
 eral Government. The commissioners, Messrs. Forsyth, of Alabama, and 
 Crawford, of Georgia, received this intimation as an insult; flew into a 
 passiou 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 States received the intelligence of these events, they caught the 
 general and infectious rage ; a universal outburst of execration resounded 
 over the South, and curses both loud and deep were unmercifully heaped 
 upon the head of Mr. Lincoln, 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 Ander- 
 son, 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 deputation was 
 sent by the Rebel general to the commandant of the fort, who were com- 
 missioned to say, that, if the latter would designate the time, at some 
 future, and perhaps even distant period, when it would suit his conveni- 
 ence, from want of provisions, or from any other sufficient reason, to 
 abandon the works, they would give him the assurance that, in the mean- 
 time, he should not be fired upon. The reply of Major Anderson to this 
 proposition was equally unsatisfactory to the deputation; who conse- 
 quently left the fort, giving him the agreeable assurance that the batter- 
 ies 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 Rebellion was about to occur. For 
 
92 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the first time since the foundation of the Federal Government, the 
 alienated children of the once glorious Union commenced actual 
 hostilities against each other; and brothers strove to stain their 
 hands with fratricidal blood. Yet, melancholy as was the spectacle 
 which was now presented to the view of mankind, it exhibited at 
 the same time some ludicrous features. At this very period, accord- 
 ing to the statement of the Charleston Mercury — a journal which will not 
 be suspected of injustice to their own side — there were seven thousand 
 men under arms, and a hundred and forty pieces of heavy ordnance, which 
 were more guns than Napoleon had at Waterloo, actually in position, and 
 ready for use, in and around the harbor of Charleston ; and this formidable 
 armament was marshaled by the chivalrous and invincible State of South 
 Carolina, in order to capture a fort garrisoned by seventy half-starved men. 
 
 The fortification which was about to become the scene of conflict, and 
 around which the events and the interest of the whole Bebellion were now 
 to cluster, was named after Thomas Sumter of Kevolutionary fame, and 
 was one of the strongest and largest which had been erected by the Fed- 
 eral Government. In form Fort Sumter was a truncated pentagon, one 
 of the five sides being parallel with the shore. On that side was the 
 landing and entrance to the fort from a wharf which extended along 
 the entire length of the fortress and projected toward the land. The 
 height of the walls above the water line was sixtj' feet, and they were 
 from eight to twelve feet in thickness. The whole number of guns mount- 
 ed at the period of the attack was seventy-five, although the full arma- 
 ment was a hundred and forty. These were placed in three tiers. The 
 heaviest, consisting of thirty-two and sixty-four pounders, were arranged 
 on the lowest tier. The guns next in size, being twentj^-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. 
 On the eastern and western sides were the barracks and mess halls of 
 the privates. On the southern side were the quarters of the officers. 
 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 Eobert 
 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 instruc- 
 tor 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 b revetted captain in April, 
 1838. He afterward was made assistant adjutant-general. In March, 
 
COMMENCEMENT OP THE BOMBARDMENT. 93 
 
 1848, lie proceeded to Mexico with the Third Eegiment 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 his incorruptible integrity as a patriot. 
 
 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 G. T. 
 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 oi Beggio. He gratuated 
 at West Point with honor in 1838, and was immediately appointed to the 
 corps of Engineers. In January, 1840, he obtained a first lieutenancy ; 
 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 Chapultepec he 
 received a similar compliment, with the higher grade of major. His 
 conduct during the entire war was distinguished for superior skill and for- 
 titude ; and he had already attained the reputation of possessing engineering 
 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 provision 
 would be exhausted on the following Monday, the 15th of April. This 
 information was given in an unoificial manner ; and the communication 
 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. la 
 truth, the commandant would have been 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 complete farce, 
 a mere dumb show of unnecessary, superfluous, ostentatious bravado. 
 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 dark- 
 ness of the early dawn was suddenly illumined, far and near, by the flash- 
 
94 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UXITKI> STATES. 
 
 ing 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 thousand 
 yards; and from the enfilading batteries on Sullivan's Island and" on Mount 
 Pleasant. In consequence of the smallness of the garrison, Major Ander- 
 son did not return a single shot until his men had breakfasted, that they 
 might husband their strength as much as possible. At seven o'clock 
 the}' were divided into three equal relief parties, with orders to work the 
 batteries by turns for four hours each. Then old Sumter opened her iron 
 mouths, and poured forth an indignant and contemptuous hail-storm of 
 shot and shell upon her multitudinous assailants, which told that the an- 
 cient vigor of her garrison had not degenerated. The}- displayed the utmost 
 enthusiasm 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 embrasures 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 warfiare had they not 
 been able to overpower the feeble gcrrrison 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 un- 
 covered casement. About one o'clock, on Friday, the cartridges in the 
 fort were exhausted; and a party was detailed to use the blankets and 
 shirts in the magazines to supply the deficiency. At length a greater 
 evil tiian 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 exertions the fire was extinguished. 
 In the meanwhile the guns were served with the same alacrity. The men 
 — tlieir faces begrimed with powder, the flames roaring within the works 
 
|8g 
 
 © 
 
 C.--3 
 
 e 
 
 
SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON. 95 
 
 and apparently approachiug nearer and nearer to the magazine, the bat- 
 teries 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 tlie 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 Battery, were 
 filled with a delighted and astonished multitude, who gazed with mingled 
 wonder and exultation at the countless shells as they described their sym- 
 metrical parabolas through the midnight heavens, and then descended 
 upon the silent fortress. That, however, for the most part was a display 
 merely intended to demonstrate the prowess and skill of the besiegers. 
 Little damage was done during the night ; Major Anderson 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 troops 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 on 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 suppress- 
 ing the conflagration in one quarter, than the red-hot balls of the enemy 
 would kindle them with fresh fury in another. Then it became neces- 
 sary 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 accom- 
 plish 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 meu 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 suffocated. 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 
 
96 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fast as cartridges could be made in the darkness produced by tbe smoke, 
 and merely to announce tbe fact to the assailants and to the admirin» 
 citizens that tbe fort had not yet been silenced. 
 
 Amid such scenes tbe hours of Saturday wore away. The final catas- 
 trophe was rapidly approaching. Seven thou.sand 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 precedinf>-. 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 ihe breeze. The sun was beginning to descend the western heavens, 
 when ex-senator Wigfall suddenly and unaccountably presented 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. Lieu- 
 tenant Snyder immediately approached him, and demanded his business. 
 He received for answer, that the stranger was no loss a personage tliiin 
 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 7ioi come with 
 any message from Beauregard, and that the flag was not down. Never- 
 theless 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 bad 
 been sent by General Beauregard. They brought propositions of sur- 
 render, which Major Anderson approved aiid at once accepted. It was 
 stipulated between them, that the garrison should remove all their indi- 
 vidual and company property; that they should march 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 hun- 
 dred 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 bad done. The fact that none were killed during 
 
WHY THE GAERISON WAS NOT REINFORCED. 9^ 
 
 the assault must be attributed to the precautions used by the com- 
 mandant, who stationed a man at every port-hole who gave notice of the 
 approach of shot or shell. President Lincoln subsequently expressed to 
 Major Anderson, ofRcially, 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 reverberated throughout 
 the whole length and breadth of the Rebel States. General Beauregard 
 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 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 reinforce 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 sufficient, 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 proclama- 
 tion, in which he recognized the independence of the Eebel 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 Constitu- 
 tion of the United States by the State of Virginia, and resuming all the 
 rights and powers granted under said Constitution. 
 
 Immediately after these events President Lincoln issued a proclama- 
 tion, calling for seventy-five thousand troops to suppress the Eebellion, 
 and sumrnpning the Federal Congress to meet at Washington on the en- 
 suing 4th of July, 1861, in extraordinary session. , 
 7 
 
98 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ENTHUSIASM OF THE REBEL STATES — PROJECTED CONQDEST OF WASHINGTON — PROOFS THAT 
 IT WAS CONTEMPLATED — WHY IT WAS NOT ACCOMPLISHED — SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FEDE- 
 RAL TROOPS ORDERED OUT — DAVIS ISSUES LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAI, — PROCLAMA- 
 TION OF GOVERNOR 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 OP THE ATTACK — ITS INFAMY — THE FEDE- 
 RAL FORTS ARE GARRISONED — SECESSION OF MISSOURI — RAPID MARCH OP FEDERAI, TROOPS 
 
 TO WASHINOTON^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 CHARACTERISTICS — AMERICAN ZOUAVES. 
 
 The fall of Sumter, together with 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 vision.s of 
 extensive conquests rose to their excited views. Prominent 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, which 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 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 move- 
 ment, after the reduction of that fortress, would be the capture of the 
 Federal capital. Mr. Walker, the Secretary of War to the Rebel Gov- 
 ernment, 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 Fanuoil 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 Wa.shington. 
 The Richmond Examimr asserted that Washington was perfectly within 
 the power of Maryland and Virginia, and added that the whole popula- 
 
PROJECTED CONQUEST OF WASHINGTON. 99 
 
 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 Eebel 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 Milledgevilh 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 headquarters of the " Lincoln Gov- 
 ernment." Southern pride demanded that that city should not continue 
 under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. The Charleston Courier 
 asserted, on the 14th of April, that the desire to capture Washington in- 
 creased 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 Eebel 
 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 resistance, 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 Congress, then in session at Mont- 
 gomery, 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 war- 
 like spirit of the Rebels to a still intenser pitch by issuing, on the 17th 
 of April, a proclamation, in which he invites 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 aggres- 
 sion, to make application for letters of marque and reprisal, which 
 would be issued under the seal of the Confederate States, and would be 
 freely granted to those who furnished 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 for- 
 ward 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 session. That ancient 
 commonwealth had long 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 honorable asao- 
 
100 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ciations were connected. But her present interests, and especially the 
 identity of her sympathies with the South in reference to slavery, led 
 her to cling to the faction of the Rebels. 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 eSbrts 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 declare war ; that therefore this 
 act was illegal and unconstitutional ; 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 military duty against the threatened encroach- 
 ments of the Federal Government. At the same period the convention 
 which had been summoned for the purpose of determining whether the 
 State would join the Southern Confederacy or not, voted in 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 steam- 
 ship Niagara, the pride of the American navy, was stationed off Charles- 
 ton harbor, where her heavy guns and her gallant crew would effectually 
 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 Savannah, to 
 Mobile, and to New Orleans, whose trade was effectually sealed and sus- 
 pended 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 
 connected with warlike operations. The proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, 
 summoning seventy-five thousand men to the field, infused ijito the 
 nation a new spirit. That number of men, which, in comparison with 
 the more colossal requisitions of later times, seems insignificant, then 
 
ATTACK ON FEDERAL TROOPS IN BALTIMORE. 101 
 
 appeared to be an enormous armament ; and the business of recruiting, 
 of arming, of drilling, so unfamiliar to our pacific eyes and ears, became 
 visible and audible on every hand. In a very short time the necessary 
 number were enlisted, and were ready to march to 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 commenced 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 developed in so violent and so tragical a manner as in 
 the end occurred. 
 
 When the cars containing these troops arrived in Baltimore, an im- 
 mense assemblage had collected at the intersection of Gay and Pratt 
 streets, for the purpo.se of making a hostile demonstration against them. 
 The feelings 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 move- 
 ment intercepted the further progress of the Pennsylvania troops, 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, discharged 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 short interval 
 of hand-to-hand combats, were collected together in a train of cars, an 
 engine was attached, and their return toward Philadelphia was com- 
 menced. A number had been wounded, several killed, and a still greater 
 proportion were scattered during the mtlee. The latter afterward effected 
 
102 THK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 their escape with considerable delay and difficulty. The fact that the 
 soldiers wore 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 inhabi- 
 tants of a prominent city of the Union, was one of the most despicable 
 acts recorded in the annals of a war so profusely disgraced as this 
 became, by innumerable deeds of infamy, treachery and cruelty. 
 
 The nation was surprised and alarmed by this unexpected display of 
 treasonable sentiments at Baltimore; and the immediate effect was to 
 spread the flame of patriotic ardor more widely, and induce the Adminis- 
 tration at Washington to adopt more active measures. Forts MoHenry, 
 Monroe, and Pickens were quickly furnished with stronger garrisons ; 
 and camps of instruction 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 convened, and a 
 message was received by them from the Cliief Magistrate of the State. 
 In that document Governor Claiborne Jackson declared that Mr. Lincoln, 
 by calling out troops for the purpose of subduing the secession move- 
 ment, had committed an unconstitutional and illegal act. He proceeded 
 to defend the right of secession ; and maintained that the proceedings of 
 the States which had withdrawn from the Union had been performed in 
 the exercise of an undoubted right; that the interests of Missouri were 
 identical with the other slaveholding 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 example. He 
 concluded by recommending that the Legislature should make such 
 appropriations as would enable the State authorities to resi.st any attempt 
 which might be made by the 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 Mis- 
 souri in connection with the Southern Eebellion, and which increased in 
 importance as time progressed. 
 
 Among the large number of troops which the proclamation 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 grati- 
 
ORIGIN OP THE TERM ZOUAVE. 103 
 
 fied 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 start- 
 ling and impressive 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 pecu- 
 liar 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 Wash- 
 ington under the orders of Ellsworth. As this peculiar arm of the ser- 
 vice 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 mod- 
 elled, are a topic of no ordinary interest — 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 Caesar, what the Janizaries 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 Zcnvawah, 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 completely 
 subjugated by the Turkish power. After the invasion of Algeria by the 
 French, it became necessary for the security and permanency 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 discipline, their desperate courage, their wil- 
 lingness to endure privation and suffering in the execution of the most 
 difficult and dangerous commissions. 
 
 In July, 1830, Louis Phillippe 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 admitted into their 
 ranks, without any distinction of origin, religion, or race ; inhabitants of 
 
104 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the mountains, and dwellers on the plains, Kables, 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 
 qualities which they possessed as natives, they soon combined that military 
 efficiency 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 the first commanders was Lamoriciere, who afterward became 
 illustrious. Subsequently they were led to battle by Cavaignac ; then by 
 St. Aruaud, and later still, by Baraquay d'Hilliers and Bosquet. 
 
 The Zouaves of Algeria distinguished themselves in many of those 
 bloody conflicts which attended the subjugation of the Arab tribes, who, 
 under the heroic Abdel Kader, 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 dauntless 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 
 occasions they behaved with a degree of valor which won for them the 
 confidence and admiration of their foreign masters. Their drill was re- 
 markable for its precision and energy ; and their costume, which was a 
 singular mixture of Oriental dress with French colors, contributed to 
 render them still more unique and extraordinary. A portion of that 
 activity in which they excelled 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 expedition against Oran in 1835, and 
 against Mouznia in 1836. They especially distinguished themselves at 
 the siege of Constantine, where they led the first column of assault and 
 greatly contributed to the victory. In all the conflicts in 1843 and 1814, 
 which took [)lace 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 
 
THE FRENCH ZOUAVES IN THE CRIMEA. 105 
 
 received, as it richly deserved, the enthusiastic plaudits of their more 
 civilized masters. 
 
 After the submission of Abdel Kader in 1847, there remained little op- 
 portunity 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 another regiment was added to their numbers, thus making 
 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 commenced, 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 pro- 
 digious displays of their ancient valor. 
 
106 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE SECESSION OF TENNESSEE — PARSON BROWNLOW — DECLARATION OP WAR BY THE CONFED. 
 ERATE CONGRESS — SKIRMISH NEAR ST. LOUIS — SECESSION ELEMENT IN BALTIMORE — FORT 
 MC'hENRY — SECESSION OP NORTH CAROLINA — ADJOURNMENT OF THE REBEL CONGRESS TO 
 CONVENE AT RICHMOND — ASSEMBLY OF FEDERAL TROOPS AT WASHINGTON — THE OCCUPA- 
 TION OF ALEXANDRLA — ASSASSINATION OF COLONEL ELLSWORTH — SKETCH OP HIS CAREER — 
 HIS LIFE IN CHICAGO — FAMOUS TOUR OF THE CHICAGO ZOUAVES — ELLSWORTH'S MILITARY 
 TASTES AND TALENT.S — HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS — HIS PECULIAR- 
 ITIES 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 POTOMAC AT WILLIAMSPORT — BATTLE OF FALLING WATERS — PURSUIT OF THE 
 ENEMY TO HAINSVILLE — TO MARTINSEURG — THE MARCH TO BUNKER HILL — TO CUARLESTOWN 
 OCCUPATION OF HARPER's FERRY — RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 On the 6th of May, 1861, another defection took place among the States 
 of the Union, and another member was added to the chister of apostate 
 communities. On that day the Legislature of Tennessee passed the ordi- 
 nance of secession, and adopted the terms of an alliance with the Confed- 
 erate States. The instrument by which this 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 peoj)le, 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 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 communitv." 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 Knox- 
 vilk 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 Con- 
 stitution of the United States; and lie affirmed that the ordinance itself 
 was unconstitutional, unjustifiable, " a vile act of usurpation." He char- 
 acterized the agents of tlie movement as "unprincipled politicians;" and 
 for this resolute and patriotic conduct he afterward became the victim of 
 the vengeance of the Rebel authorities. 
 
 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 existance of war with the United States; and affirmed that 
 
SKIRMISH NEAR ST. LOUIS. lOT 
 
 hostilities 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 Gov- 
 ernment. The latter were then under the 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 officers, their camp equipage, their artillery, and their am- 
 munition, 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 
 services could not be accepted. The largest proportion of troops was re- 
 quired from New York and Pennsylvania; from the former eleven regi- 
 ments, from the latter ten, were demanded. By the 15th of May Balti- 
 more 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 well provided with artillery, 
 men and stores, and was in the possession of Federal officers. Its formid- 
 able guns, which in an hour might render the city a smouldering ruin, pro- 
 duced a beneficial effect in suppressing the treasonable spirit of rebellion. 
 
 On the 21st of May the State of North Carolina consummated her mis- 
 fortune and disgrace by seceding from the Federal Government and uniting 
 with the Southern Confederacy. She was the last in the order of time to 
 perpetrate this ignominious deed. Ten States had preceded her — South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, 
 Texas, Virginia and Tennessee. Immediately after receiving official 
 notice of the defection of No't'i Carolina, the Congress at Montgomery 
 
lOS THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 adjourned — greatly elated by the success of their operations — to convene at 
 Kichmond 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 against the rebels, and invade their terri- 
 tory. The several loyal States had responded with alacrity to the requisi- 
 tion of the Chief Magistrate ; and the soldiers who assembled at Washing- 
 ton, 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 battalion, crossed the Long Bridge 
 under the command of General Mansfield. Four 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 tlie 
 dock. 
 
 The main body of the Federal troops entered Alexandria 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 destroy- 
 ing the railroad track to Richmond. Their next aim was to take pos.ses- 
 sion of the telegraph office, and intercept its connection with the rebel 
 camp. Ellsworth now led the way, but his gallant career was destined to lie 
 of short duration. As the Zouaves were advancing in double quick time 
 up the street, Ellsworth observed that a secession flag was waving from 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 gazod 
 upon the floating emblem, he impulsively exclaimed, "That flag must 
 come down 1" Accompanied by a few privates he rushed into tlie 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 enraged 
 proprietor of the hou.se, who, armed with a double-barreled gun, leveled 
 it at Ellsworth, and discharged it. The instrument of death was but too 
 well aimed. Its contents entered the body of Ellsworth, between the 
 third and fifth ribs, and inflicted a mortal wound. 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 powerless, he sank 
 
ASSASSINATION OP COLONEL ELLSWORTH. 109 
 
 upon the floor, gasped for breath, and quickly expired. Before this 
 event occurred his assassin had himself been slain ; for a private named 
 Brownell, who had accompanied Ellsworth to the roof, the moment his 
 commaader 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 regi- 
 ment, with others, took possession of Arlington Heights. They met no 
 resistance or interruption in the execution of their task, and they com- 
 menced 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 mag- 
 nify and exaggerate his merits to such an absurd and extravagant degree 
 that could he return to life again, it would be impossible for him to recog- 
 nize 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 quali- 
 ties, 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 with his boyhood. The hope of finding a more congenial and 
 facile field for pushing his fortunes induced him, as it has induced thou- 
 sands 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 destitute 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 ines- 
 timable 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 
 
110 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 means of living. His pursuits from time to time were somewhat diversi- 
 fied. At one period he commenced the study of law in the office of Mr. 
 Lincoln, at Springfield. He had always felt a great fondness for military 
 life, but no scope had yet been afibrded 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 purpo.se; 
 many of the most estimable and admirable 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 exactitude 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 accom- 
 plished 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 ex- 
 traordinary military events of this age. But it should not be imagined 
 that this famous expedition was undertaken simply for the purpose of 
 display. In all that Ellsworth did — such was the inherent nobility 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 com- 
 mander or soldier in a thousand had the slightest conception, namely, 
 that a perfect 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 bodil}' health and vigor, 
 but is absolutely indispensable to it. 
 
 It was during the progre.-^s of this expedition that another remarkable 
 ouality of Ellsworth was revealed to the admiring public. This was his 
 extraordinary power over the minds of his associates. He possessed that 
 
ELLSWORTH'S APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS. HI 
 
 faculty ia a high degree, which is always an element of intellectual great- 
 ness — the faculty of controlling 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 fulness ; and then followed such a display of skill and precision 
 in the most elaborate and difficult species of drill known to the profession 
 of arms, as was rarely witnessed. Though 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 anoma- 
 lous when we remember the masterly thoughts which lay at the founda- 
 tion of his military system. When he commenced his training of the 
 Chicago Zouaves, he trained himself with a degree of vigor which was 
 astonishing. He practiced the manual of arms with so miich industry, 
 that he became one of the best marksmen and ablest swordsmen in 
 America. He investigated the theory of every motion with particular 
 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 scien- 
 tific 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 vanquished them in utter defiance of the es- 
 tablished and immemorial usages of the military art. So far had Ellsworth 
 trained himself, in order that he might successfully train others, that a 
 photograph of his naked arm, taken at the period of his visit to Philadel- 
 phia, was a model of anatomical and physical beauty ; it was an arm 
 whose formidable accumulation of muscles and sinews, and whose fault- 
 less proportion of outline presented such a picture as Michael Angelo or 
 Eubens would have painted, when representing on canvas the ancient 
 Greek conception of the forms of Hector or Hercules . 
 
 After the return of the Chicago Zouaves to that city, Ellsworth engaged 
 with ;?;eal 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 sphere. He distinguished himself as one of 
 the most effective and popular of the orators, who, in the State of Illinois, ad- 
 vocated 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 
 
112 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 ser- 
 vices 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 capital. Had this gallant young commander survived to take 
 part in the battle of Bull Run, 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 Robert Patterson. On 
 the 30th of June, 1861, the different brigades comprising the division 
 were consolidated into one body, preparatory to their crossing the Potomac. 
 Two enterprises of importance 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 Rebels under Johnston from 
 Harper's Ferry ; the second was intercepting the march of that general 
 to Manassas, and preventing the junction of his troops with those com- 
 manded by General Beauregard. Neither of these purposes was ulti- 
 mately accomplished. When the Union forces, nearly twenty 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 undis- 
 turbed pos.session 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 pre- 
 viously destroyed a vast amount of Federal property, and the public 
 works erected there. After its evacuation. 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 division 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 
 
BATTLE OF FALLING WATBES. 113 
 
 until near nightfall. Before the fording commenced, a skirmish took 
 place between the Federal pickets, which 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 distant 
 from Williamsport. They retired, and about a mile beyond, the encoun- 
 ter took place which has been designated as the battle of Falling Waters. 
 This imposing 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 sus- 
 tained on the Federal side by a portion of Abercrombie's brigade, consist- 
 ing of the eleventh Pennsylvania and first Wisconsin regiments, 
 McMuUen's Independent Rangers, the Philadelphia City Troop, and 
 Perkin's battery of six guns. After a short but spirited engagement 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. The Federal loss at Falling Waters was insignificant, being 
 ?/o killed and five wounded. 
 
 After a delay of nearly two weeks at Martinsburg, by which means the 
 period of the enlistment of the Federal troops was very sensibly dimin 
 ished, 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 Rebels had been encamped, 
 who retreated as the Federal troops approached. At this place, which is 
 twelve miles distant from Winchester, the Federals remained for two 
 days. Here the pickets of the armies of Johnston and Patterson were 
 often within hailing distance of each other. On the 17th of July the 
 march was resumed by General Patterson before daylight, and the ad- 
 vance 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 countermarch was ordered, the route to that 
 town was abandoned, and the whole division proceeded twelve miles east- 
 8 
 
114 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ward. By this delour 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 ha would be attacked in his 
 intrenchments at Winchester, he left a small detachment to occupy them, 
 and hastened to Manassas. After remaining four days at Charlestown, 
 General Patterson enlarged the space between himself and the enemy, by 
 proceeding to Harper's Ferry, which had been evacuated and burned by 
 the Rebels some time previous. Soon after this date the term of the en- 
 listment of the Federal troops, as well as the period of the appointment 
 of General Patterson as their commander, expired ; and thus the first 
 army of the Potomac dissolved and vanished from view. If the men and 
 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 per- 
 mitted 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. 
 
a 
 
 > 
 
THE BATTLE OP GREAT BETHEL. 1]5 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE REBEL TROOPS AT FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE, AT AQUIA CREEK, 
 AT ROMNEY, AT PHILIPPI — GALLANTRY OF COLONEL KELLEY — BATTLE OF ORKAT BETHF.L 
 
 — CAUSES OF THE DISASTER GENERAL PIERCE — DEATH OF LIEUTENANT GREBLE — SKETCH 
 
 OP HIS CAREER — UNION SENTIMENT IN WESTERN VIRGINIA — THE NEW STATE OF WEST VIR- 
 GINIA — harper's ferry DEVASTATED BY THE REBELS — THE OHIO TROOPS FIRED ON NEAR 
 VIENNA — RESULTS OF THE ATTACK — OPERATIONS OF GENERAL MCCLELLAN IN WESTERN 
 VIRGINIA — HIS ADMIRABLE PLANS — THE BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN — GENERAL OARNETT 
 — COLONEL ROSECRANS — RESULTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — SKETCH OF GENERAL MCCLELLAN 
 — HIS CONDUCT DURING THE MEXICAN WAR — HIS RECONNOISSANCE OF THE CASCADE 
 MOUNTAINS — HIS SECRET MISSION TO THE WEST INDIES — HIS JOURNEY TO THE CRIMEA — 
 HIS OFFICIAL REPORT AS COMMISSIONER — HIS SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS — UK BBC0ME3 
 COMMANDER OP 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 they are considered 
 in connection with the grand current of events, necessarily become of trivial 
 and inferior consequence. Among such incidents it is proper here to 
 enumerate the different skirmishes which took place between the detach- 
 ments of Federal and Rebel troops at Fairfax Court House, at Aquia 
 Creek, at the village of Romney, and at Philippi in Western Virginia. 
 At Romney a Rebel camp had been formed. Colonel Wallace, who com- 
 manded one of the Indiana regiments, marched from Cumberland to 
 Hampshire county and attacked the troops collected there. The Rebels 
 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 Rebels were 
 defeated and expelled from their position. The most important incident 
 connected with this engagement was the wounding of the commanding 
 officer, who was shot in the breast. The wound was at first regarded a.s 
 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, 
 
116 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 determined to attack and dislodge them. He therefore ordered Colonel 
 Duryea, 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 Bendix, with a number of men from Vermont and Massachu- 
 setts, 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 seems to have been badly planned. So great 
 was the neglect of the commanding ofiicer, that proper signals had not 
 been arranged between the troops proceeding from Newport News and 
 those from Fortress Monroe, by means of which they could recognize 
 each other in the darkness. Accordingly, the first disaster which took 
 place resulted from the want of such recognition. Duryea's Zouaves 
 passed Little Bethel between three and four o'clock in the morning. The 
 regiment of Bendix soon followed, and took up its position at the inter- 
 section 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 boly advanced 
 toward Great Bethel. 
 
 As soon as the Federal troops came within range of the guns of 
 the Rebels, the latter opened upon them with a formidable array of 
 artillery. The Federals attempted to ndvance, and by a rapid charge and 
 bold assault, to obtain po.ssession 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 effectively, 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 incompetency 
 of General Pierce, who commanded the expedition, and partly in conse- 
 quence of the immense advantage in artillery and position possessed by 
 the Rebels. At length it became evident that further effort would bo 
 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 death of Lieu- 
 tenant John T. Greble, who accompanied the expedition in command of 
 the few caimon which were taken with it. During the engagement 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 artillerists 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 wa.s about to retire, when a cannon 
 ball struck him on the right temple. He fell and expired instantly. 
 
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT GREBLK. 117 
 
 This young officer, whose early and heroic death at this period reudei-ed 
 him the first martyr to the cause of tlie 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 education 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 1851. He received the 
 rank of brevet second lieutenant, and was subsequently ordered to Florida, 
 where he served two years in the war against the Seminole Indians. In 
 March, 1857, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and was afterward 
 appointed to a position on the Academical Staff at West Point. In Octo- 
 ber, 1860, he was ordered to Fortress Monroe; and there he remained 
 until May, 1861, when be 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 honor- 
 able positions in the army of the American Revolution. He had always 
 distinguished himself 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 contemptuously, "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 
 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. 
 
 While the destructive tide of Secession was surging to and fro like a 
 
118 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 mighty deluge, devastating the once fair domains of the South, it is grat- 
 ifying to notice an opposite current arising in the western portion of 
 Virginia, in favor of the time-honored Union. A convention had been 
 called together at Wheeling con.sistiug of delegates from many of the 
 western counties of the State, for the purpose of deliberating on the pro- 
 priety 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. A 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 West 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 embodied the action of the Convention was signed by each of tho.se 
 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 John- 
 ston, had taken possession of Harper's Ferry, evacuated that place, aa 
 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 judicious on the part of the Rebels; it being simply for the purpo.se 
 of rendering their forces more available in connection with the anticipated 
 struggle at Manassas. On the 18th of June they inflicted a slight reverse 
 upon that portion of the Federal troops, consisting of the First Ohio regi- 
 ment, 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 oppositioQ. 
 
 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 23rd of June that officer commenced to 
 execute his purposes. The plan to which we have referred was in sub- 
 stance as follows: — The main army of the Rebels 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 
 
THE BATTLE OP RICH MOUNTAIN. 119 
 
 attention by marching a force toward them from Grafton through Philippi ; 
 while another division should proceed in a parallel line through Clarks- 
 burg and Buckhaunon, and penetrating further to the south, 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 diffi- 
 culties, in an equally admirable manner. The Rebels anticipating no 
 attack except in their front, took a new position twelve miles north of 
 Beverly, and strongly fortified it. Genei-al Morris then led a brigade of 
 Ohio and Indiana troops toward the enemy from the north. At Bealing- 
 ton, when within range of their guns, he halted, fortified his position, com- 
 pletely obstructed their further advance, and then waited the operations 
 of McClellan. That officer also executed his part of the plan with signal 
 energy and ability. With the main body of the Eederal troops which 
 had been posted at Grafton he advanced through Clarksburg to Buckhan- 
 non. At Rich Mountain he unexpectedly found a rebel force of two 
 thousand men, under General Pegram, posted in a strong position. He 
 divided his troops into two divisions; placed one under command of 
 Colonel Rosecrans, 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 compelled to surrender. A small detachment 
 afterward eSected 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 Moun- 
 tain 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 toward Beverly interrupted the move- 
 ment. 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 the mountains into the 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 pur- 
 sued the retiring foe. Then followed a grand and desperate chase, which 
 was in itself an extraordinary 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, sometimes by facing storms of wind and rain, they advanced ; 
 and at length reached the rear of the exhausted and retreating Rebels. 
 
120 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Jatter were at once attacked with the utmost energy and resolution. A 
 decisive victory was gained. The Eebels abandoned their camp, their few 
 remaining guns, some prisoners, and fled in the utmost precipitation. 
 Their commanding oflBcer, 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 mountains. 
 
 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 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 enterprise pro- 
 posed 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 
 McGlellau. To him also was assigned the execution of much the more 
 difficult portion of the combination. In the practical part of the achieve- 
 ment the honors must to some extent be divided among several brave men. 
 Colonel Eosecrans fulfilled his commission with equal valor and skill. 
 Captain Benham, the principal staff ofiicer of General Morris, also distin- 
 guished himself. Nevertheless, 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 lieu- 
 tenant for his gallantry at the battles of Contreras and Chufubu.spo. Id 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL G. B. McGLBLLAN. 121 
 
 the next month he was breveted captain for his heroism in the conflicts 
 of Molina del Eey and Chapultepec. He was subsequently, in May, 18-i8, 
 promoted 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 building of Fort Delaware. 
 In the following spring he joined the expedition under Major Alarcy for 
 the purpose of exploring the Eed 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 attention 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 reconnoissance of the Cascade mountains on the 
 Pacific, with special reference to the future construction of the Pacific 
 railroad. 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 most important commission with which he had yet 
 been honored. He was selected by Mr. Davis, in connection with Kichard 
 Delafield and Alfred Mordecai, to proceed to the Crimea for the purpose 
 of making observations 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 con- 
 taining the results of their observations. It may safely be aflBrmed that 
 though the reports of Delafield and Mordecai 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 of the great struggle in 
 the Crimea, but also dissertations on many topics of importance connected 
 with military science. It described ,with accuracy the characteristics 
 of the French, Austrian, Prussian and Sardinian infantry, the various de- 
 partments of the Russian army, and the regulations for military service 
 in the chief countries of Europe. The author discussed the peculiar tactics 
 
122 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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, Ru.ssian 
 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 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 Railroad. This office he retained until he was elected 
 President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. It was from this position 
 that he was transferred, immediately after the commencement of the Re- 
 bellion, 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 
 incompetence of some of those in high command, felt the necessity of 
 summoning to the capital the best military talent within their reach. 
 Then it was that they conferred upon General McClellan the most respon- 
 sible, 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 t-he 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. 
 
MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 123 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THB EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF COKORESS IN JDLT, 1861 — MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN 
 ^ITS CnARACTERISTIOS — ITS DEMANDS — SKETCH OF THADDEUS STEVENS — HIS POLITICAL 
 CAREER — HIS PERSONAL QUALITIES — HIS ACTION AS CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF 
 
 WAYS AND MEANS — IMPORTANT BILLS PASSED BY CONGRESS OPPOSITION OF MESSRS. 
 
 VALLANDIOHAM AND BURNETT TO THE POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRATION — THE CIVIL WAR 
 IN MISSOURI — THE GRAND ARMY EQUIPPED AT WASHINGTON — COMPLAINTS OF ITS PRO- 
 LONGED INACTIVITY — ORDER GIVEN TO GENERAL MCDOWELL TO ADVANCE TOWARD MANAS- 
 SAS — ARRANGEMENT OF THB ARMY— THE ADVANCE REACH BULL RUN — THE PRELIMINARY 
 CONFLICT AT THAT PLACE — REPULSE OF GENERAL TYLER's DIVISION — POSITION OP THE 
 REBEL ARMY AT MANASSAS^GENERAL BEAUREGARD — THE IMPENDING CONTF.ST — TEMPER 
 OF THE REBEL TROOPS — THE ARTS EMPLOYED TO INFLAME THEM. 
 
 The extraordinary session of Congress which convened at Washington 
 on the 4th of July, 1861, will always remain an event of supreme import- 
 ance in American history. It assembled under circumstances such as 
 never before existed since the foundation of the Federal Government; 
 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. 
 
 This message was also novel in its character. Unlike Presidential 
 messages in general, it was characterized by brevity, clearness, and prac- 
 tical good sense. It 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 official addresses 
 of the Chief Magistrate. But every man in the nation could understand 
 it. It possessed the qualities of sagacity and intelligence, which recom- 
 mended it to the most cultivated and fastidious. It displayed a vigor of 
 purpose and an earnestness in defence 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 
 
124 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 thi3 
 instance made a selection which was marked by eminent appropriateness 
 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 deliberate bodies, than Thaddeus Stevens ; 
 and upon him this responsible post was wisely conferred, to the exclu- 
 sion 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 Ameri- 
 can statesmen, who have now nearly all passed away. His name and 
 his influence were distinguished in the political history of Pennsylvania 
 for thirty-five ^^ears ; and for twenty years he was prominent among our 
 politicians of national reputation. He was a native of Vermont, and was 
 born iu 1796. In his early manhood he removed to York, and afterward 
 to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the practice of the law. 
 He quickly become the head of a bar adorned by such men as Judge 
 Reed of Carlisle, Charles B. Penrose, Senator James Cooper, and others 
 of high repute. Being elected to represent his district in the State Legis- 
 lature, he tliere took the first rank among many talented men ; and 
 domineered over both Houses, over the Whig governors, over their Cab- 
 inets, and over the affairs of the State generally, dufing several adminis- 
 trations, 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 accomplished of American 
 orators. 
 
 In tlie Federal House of Representatives 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 legisla- 
 tive branch of tho government. Though he made no long speeches in 
 
IMPORTANT BILLS PASSED BY CONGRESS. 125 
 
 the performance of his duties, he accomplished greater things than long 
 speeches could then achieve, by the use of tact, and even by the mainten- 
 ance, in some cases, of prudent and significant silence. More than once, 
 when Vallandighara and Burnett — the chief representatives of a treason- 
 able policy in the House — had delivered themselves of impetuous and 
 frothy harangues against the measures proposed by the committee, and 
 briefly advocated 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 annihilate all that the adverse orators had uttered, 
 by maintaining 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 Congressional Committees of Ways and 
 Means, in many difficult crises of our national history.; but no one ever 
 acquitted 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 exceed- 
 ing two hundred and fifty millions of dollars ; for which he was author- 
 ized to issue certificates of coupon or registered stools:, and treasury notes. 
 The stock was to bear interest not exceeding seven per centum -per annum, 
 payable semi-annually, and to be irredeemable for twenty years. The 
 treasury notes were to be payable tliree 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 Presi- 
 dent 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 efficient military operations. 
 
 Two members of the House and one of the Senate particularly disgraced 
 themselves during the entire progress of this session, by their systematic 
 opposition to the patriotic policy of the Government. These were Messrs. 
 Vallandigham of Ohio, and Burnett and Breckinridge 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 unenvi- 
 able 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 sub- 
 stitutes, by proposing amendments, by calling for the previous question, by 
 moving 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 
 
1S8 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 measures which were ever adopted by any American Congress. They 
 will probably receive their reward ; and by the decision of a just posterity, 
 when the storms and perils of this disastrous 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 pa.ssed 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 Con- 
 gress. 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 accom- 
 plishing 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 
 adroitness of this kind, the 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 whieli char- 
 acterize 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 Clai- 
 borne Jackson, the Federal troops were led by General Nathaniel Lyon ; 
 and it was evident, from the hostile and vigorous spirit which characterized 
 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 was very clearly exhibited in reference to the operations of 
 
 * Vide Mosheiiu's Ecclesiastical History, vol. 1, pp. 65, 112 
 
 J 
 
REPULSE OF GENERAL TYLER'S DIVISION. 127 
 
 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 should 
 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 pre- 
 sumptuous 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 com- 
 mand 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 attainment, 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 following 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 Colonel Miles, proceeded 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 with- 
 out making any resistance. The Federal forces first entered the town at 
 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 Richardson, led the advance. General 
 Tyler pushed forward with his stafi", 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, 
 
 ^ 
 
128 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 cannonading 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 pro- 
 ceeded 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 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 disadvantage 
 of not knowing the ground, and of being unable to see the foe. Not ex- 
 pecting 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 
 Rebels. The effect of this rebuff to our arms was extremely injurious. 
 It gave hope to the Rebels, and depressed the Federals. It was doubt- 
 less 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 over- 
 powered 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 poss'ible hurl back the advancing forces of 
 tlic Federal Government. The position which they had selected as the 
 scene of this achievement was a spot till then unknown to fame — a spot 
 
THE TEMPER OP THE REBEL TROOPS. 129 
 
 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 insidious use of every device known to the military 
 art, of which it was capable. The place consists 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 Ridge 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 
 intrenchments extended toward the head of the Occoquan, where the 
 thick forest rendered an approach difficult and dangerous. The left oc- 
 cupied a rolling table land, interspersed with successive elevations which 
 fully commanded its entire expanse. The centre of the Eebel army was 
 posted precisely upon the key of the whole admirably-chosen position. 
 
 That position had been as effectively fortified as it had been admi- 
 rably 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 Vauban 
 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 subsistence to the 
 troops. The number of men whom Beauregard had assembled at this 
 point it is impossible for us precisely to state; but the lowest conjecture, 
 based upon the most reliable evidence within our reach, would make it 
 about forty thousand men. These were composed of an enraged and 
 frantic conglomeration of human beings, chiefly from South Carolina, 
 Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, 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 Rebels now purposed to employ against the government which they 
 had defrauded. 
 
 The energy and ability which General Beauregard had exhibited in 
 collecting, training, and fortifying this army, 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, contempt- 
 uous of their opponents, efficient in combat, and comparatively safe within 
 the shelter of powerful and well constructed batteries. Traitors at "Wash 
 ington 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 
 
 9 
 
130 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 deadly 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. 
 
GENERAL M'^DOWELL'S PLAN OP ATTACK. 131 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FEDERAL ARMY AT CENTREVILLE — GENERAL MCDOWELL'S PLAN OF ATTACK — THE DIVIS- 
 IONS OF GENERALS TYLER, HUNTER AND HEINTZELMAN — 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 NEV? YORK — THE ENGAGEMENT BECOMES GEN- 
 ERAL — VIGOROUS CANNONADING — 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 — IKCI- 
 DENTS OF THE FLIGHT — INDIVIDUAL INSTANCES OF HEROISM — RESULTS OF THE BATTLE 
 — FAILURE OF THE REBEL COMMANDERS TO IMPROVE THEIR VICTORY — ULTIMATE C0N33- 
 QUENCES. 
 
 It was on Sunday, July 21st, 1861, that tlie memorable battle of Ma- 
 nassas, the most decisive and desperate which had yet occurred on the 
 American continent, took place. The Federal Army during the preced- 
 ing 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 
 promoted from rank to rank, had invariably conducted himself with gal- 
 lantry and heroism, and who was worthy of the important trust which 
 was on this occasion conferred upon him. 
 
 The plan of attack which this officer devised, and purposed to execute, 
 was, in the opinion of those most competent to judge, an admirable one. 
 The army wis separated into three divisions, which were ordered to ad- 
 vance to the position of the enemy by three routes. Two of these move- 
 ments 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 Eun 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 efficient batteries — those 
 of Carlisle, Ayres, and Rickett — accompanied them. The second road 
 was taken by General Hunter, on the extreme right, who commanded 
 the eighth and fourteenth 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 Rhode Island battery. The third route was to be taken 
 by the division of General Heintzelman, comprising the fourth and fifth 
 
132 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Massachusetts and the first Minnesota regiments, the second, fourth and 
 fifth Maine, and the second Vermont regiments, supported by cavalry 
 and artiller}'. General Hunter's orders were to pass a small stream called 
 Cub Kun ; 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 Colonel ililes, was posted 
 at Centreville, numbering six thousand men. The actual number of troops 
 who marched to the attack of the Rebels at Manassas was about twenty- 
 three thousand. The duty assigned to Hunter and to Heintzelman was 
 to drive the enemy from tlie 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 certainly and efficiently accomplished. 
 
 General McDowell had at first intended to commence the march from 
 Centreville on Saturday afternoon, July 20th, and orders had actually 
 been given to that effect. But it was discovered at the moment of start- 
 ing, 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 magnifi- 
 cence, 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, swarm- 
 ing 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 mysterious 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, inter- 
 mingled 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. 
 
 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 lovelier scene been presented to the charmed eye of 
 the enthusiastic admirer of nature, than that which the wide sweep of 
 country before them exhibited, soon to be torn and riven by the impetu- 
 ous rush of infantry and cavalry, by the terrific discharges of the artillery 
 
GENERAL TYLER COMMENCES THE ENGAGEMENT. I33 
 
 — 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 coup 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 incon- 
 gruities which exist between them ; and he will be at a loss to know how 
 to act as arbiter, what to credit and what to reject. In such a dilemma 
 his highest aim must be to approximate as near the truth as he possibly 
 can. 
 
 It was half-past five o'clock in the morning when the head of General 
 Tyler's division reached a position favorable 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 Kebel pickets and exchanged shots with them. A 
 ponderous thirty pound Parrott 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 for- 
 ward, so as to be in nearer contact with the enemy, who seemed to have 
 concealed the principal portion of their numbers behind the 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 inter- 
 vening 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 Eebels 
 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 batteries. 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 from fiery mouths opening upon 
 the very surface of the earth, that General Schenck at length gave the 
 
134 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 order to retire from the unequal contest. But at the same moment Car- 
 lisle'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 Sudley 
 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 advanced 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 tliat 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 co-operate 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, 
 and nearly all the Federal forces, except the reserves, had come into 
 action. The battle-field, the range of the artillery, and the various opera- 
 lions of the assailants and defendants, extended over an area of about five 
 miles. The discharges of artillery were very numerous ; the reverbera- 
 tion was deafening ; the energy, the intensity, and the effect of the combat 
 were terrible. The sullen sound of the guns was heard at Ceutreville, at 
 Fairfax, at Alexandria; it was even perceptible at Washington. Tlie 
 widely-spread and still-extending 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 arms. Hunter had succeeded in turning 
 the flank of the enemy, and masses of fugitive Mississippians, retreating 
 befcre 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 with the 
 
THE FEDERALS VICTORIOUS AT MID-DAY. 135 
 
 utmost desperation. Occasionally 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, skilfully 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 of destruction and defeat was being inexorably drawn around the 
 Rebel 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 regiment 
 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 
 commander had fortified his position, that fresh triumphs and fresh pur- 
 suits ou the part of the Federal troops only conducted them into the jaws 
 of additional batteries, which had been posted and concealed in endless 
 succession, 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. Notwithstanding all this, the deadly toils were gradually 
 drawing closer around the foe. His desperate efforts were becoming 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 regiments, which were the last to abandon the contest and join in 
 the retreat. 
 
 At one o'clock on this memorable day the Rebel 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 Cojirier declared, in a communication 
 to that paper, after stating that General Tyler's attack on the centre of 
 the Rebel 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 
 
136 1HE CIVIL WAR' IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 confess«;d that they had " been driven back some two miles." He added : 
 "Now came the tug of war. The fortunes of the day were evidentlv 
 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 Eichmond. Then all would have been lost. But most oppor- 
 tunely, I may say providentially, at this juncture General Johnston witli 
 the remnant of his division reappeared and rnade 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. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, and com- 
 pelled to yield to 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 ofiBcer killed or disabled — he rode up to General Jackson 
 and said : ' General, they are beating us back !' " 
 
 To this testimony we may add the admi.ssions of the Eichmond Dis- 
 jMtch. 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 Southerners had not been conquered by the over- 
 whelming hordes of the North. It is, however, due to truth to say, that 
 the result of this hour hung trembling in the balance. We had lost 
 numbers of our most distinguished officers. Generals BTirtow and Bee 
 had been stricken down ; Colonel Johnston, of the Hampton Legion, iiad 
 been killed, and Colonel Hampton had been wounded. Your correspon- 
 dent heard General Johnston say to General Cocke, just at this critical 
 moment, ' Oh, for four regiments !' 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 highegt authority, 
 as well as from the position of aftairs on the scene of conflict, that previ- 
 ous to the arrival of Johnston's army on the field the strength of the 
 Eebels was broken, and that victory had been legitimately earned by the 
 Federal arms. At this crisis the fire of the enemy had become languid. 
 All over the ensanguined hills and plains their rehiaiuing guns responded 
 
THE EEBEL GENERAL JOHNSTON'S TROOPS. 137 
 
 slowly and feebly. At two o'clock the foe seemed extremely disheartened 
 and confused. Three times had they t^een 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 commamied 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 accompli.shed 
 by the regiments under Heintzelman, added still more to the desperate 
 nature of the situation of the Kebels. And yet, after all this heroism and 
 this success, when victory seemed inevitable to the Federal arms, when the 
 ex4iausted host of the Eebel chiefs appeared 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 dis- 
 tance opposite the centre of the battle-field. Soon they were seen hasten- 
 ing to join in the conflict ; and their secession banners waving in the 
 breeze, and the freshness and vigor of their movements, 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 Eebels from de- 
 struction. This terrible apparition at such a time and in such a juncture, 
 might well have 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. Mean- 
 while fresh accessions to the Eebel forces were arriving in successive 
 trains. They deployed upon the field, and were gradually and stealthily 
 winding themselves 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 desperate fighting ensued, during which prodigies of 
 valor were performed by our exhausted troops. Still, however, 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 
 
138 THE CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 com- 
 menced to appear. A vast body of Rebel cavalry now came pouring 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 effect, had moved their wagons forward with the gen- 
 eral advance. The fatal panic which had arisen now spread rapidly from 
 regiment to regiment. Masses 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 defeat, 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 manhood, should have 
 characterized the conduct of men who had exhibited such admirable hero- 
 ism and endurance so shortly before. 
 
 Regiment 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 when 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 tiie 
 midst of the 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, 
 endeavored to stem the tide and stop the panic, but their eflbrts were 
 utterly fruitless. Thus the tumultuous sweep of fugitive wretches contin- 
 ued to roll onward without the least pause or abatement, until they reached 
 Centreville. There the presence of the reserve under Colonel Mile.s, and 
 especially Blenker's brigade, tended to diminish the disorder to some extent. 
 But this cftect was only partial. The great mass continued to hurry for- 
 ward to Fairfax, to Alexandria, and even to Washington, where they 
 arrived during the ensuing night and day. Our dead and wounded were 
 
THE EESULTS OP THE BATTLR. I39 
 
 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 Kebel 
 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 ter- 
 minated 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. Atfirst 
 the loss on the Federal side was supposed to be much greater than actu- 
 ally proved to be the case ; as was subsequently demonstrated by the 
 official return made by General McDowell to the government. Accord- 
 ing to that return, the Federal army lost four hundred and eighty-one 
 killed, one thousand and eleven wounded, twelve hundred and sixteen 
 missing. The missing included the prisoners taken by the enemy, and 
 those who, having escaped from the slaughter, never returned to. the ser- 
 vice. 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 which conquerors more signally failed to improve their 
 advantages. One of the highest arts of a military commander, is that 
 of following 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 successful 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 of 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. * 
 
110 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 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 — INCOMPETENT OR INEXPERIENCED OFFICERS — REMOTE POSITION 
 OF THE RESERVES — PERNICIOUS PRESENCE OF SPECTATORS — THE COUP-DE-GRACE — ARRI- 
 VAL OF GENERAL JOHNSTON'S TROOPS ON THE FIELD — IMMENSE LOSSES OF THE REBEL 
 ARMY— WAS THE DEFEAT IN REALITY A MISFORTUNE 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 SUBSE- 
 QUENT SUCCESSES TO THE FEDERAL FORCES. 
 
 The defeat of the Federal arms at Manassas overwhelmed the nation 
 with astonishment, indignation and shame. They were astonished, because 
 such a catastrophe 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. Tliey 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 disastW. 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 some of these were more important and more 
 potent than others. In the 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 sunrise almost until sunset, it is not singular that, toward the termina- 
 tion of the struggle, the strength of the troops should have become ex- 
 hausted. Nor did the Federal commanders gain any 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 
 Centreville. 
 
 It is evident aho that the number of Federal troops was too small, and 
 was inadequate to the difficult service of assailing and taking Manassas. 
 Not much more than 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 
 
INCOMPETENT OR INEXPERIENCED OFFICERS. 141 
 
 fresh to the encounter, and in being intrenched behind powerful batteries. 
 The peculiar manner in which these batteries had been arranged contrib- 
 uted 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 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 ofiicers were utterly incompetant to perform their duties. 
 There were many majors, colonels, lieutenants, and other officers 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 officers 
 were mere civilians, 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 military skill. It is not possible for such 
 men, however intelligent they may be, to acquire a competent knowledge 
 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 tumultuous field of strife 
 and blood. A scientific military training is just as indispensable to the 
 ofiicer on land, as it is to the oiEcer at sea. Naval tactics are not more 
 intricate and difficult 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 this fleet was for the most part commanded and officered by men 
 who had never before sailed upon the deep, much less had charge of a 
 vessel, and had only six weeks' experience in studying the details of 
 naval architecture, service and warfare. It is clear that the sailors might 
 be brave, the ship 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 armament, 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, 
 
142 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 merchants and other civilians, who, in a moment of danger, take com . 
 mands 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 precautions of the chief officer. 
 
 It is probable that the position of the reserve under Colonel 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 difi'erent. 
 The field was also encumbered by 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 tne first to set the example of cowardice, and 
 their flight would inevitably become contagious with troops who had 
 already been disheartened by the duration and difficulty 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 committed 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 Rebels. 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 Rebel troops, the skill and bravery of 
 the Rebel commanders, and the immense advantages of their position. 
 
 Nevertheless, all these causes combined together would have not in- 
 flicted the repulse at Manassas, had it not been for another and 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 re- 
 sistless effijct. 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 illustrated by the issue of many of the 
 most memorable conflicts of modern times. Thus the great battle of 
 Wagram was lost by the Austrians, after they had in eflect wrested the 
 
IMMENSE LOSSES OF THE REBEL ARMY. 143 
 
 victory from Napoleon by prodigies of valor, because the Archduke Jobn 
 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 ths French. It is well 
 known that at Waterloo, the issue of the day depended entirely upon the 
 fact whether Blucher would arrive with his Prussians to reinforce the 
 English, or Grouchy would arrive with his division to reinforce Napoleon. 
 Blucher 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 protracted 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 tlie 
 exhausted 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 command was sufli- 
 ciently large to enable him to achieve that result, it is not for us to deter- 
 mine. General McDowell, however, asserted in his official report of the 
 battle, that it was expressly understood when he assumed the command 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 contradicted. If, therefore, the force under Patterson was not 
 sufficiently numerous to intercept Johnston, it was a measure of indispen- 
 sable importance that it should have been rendered such, before the 
 advance of McDowell toward Manassas was commenced. 
 
 It was natural that the Rebels 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 
 exceeded 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 Richhiond. 
 
 Soon, however, this general exultation began to give place to sadder 
 
144 THE CIVIL AVAK IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 and more sober thoughts, when the details of the losses of the Rebels at 
 Manassas began to be kno*vu 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 Rebels had 
 lost many of their best officers. They made great exertions to conceal the 
 precise number of their dead and wounded ; so much so that even southern 
 journals complained that the relatives of the soliders who fought at Ma- 
 nassas, 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 knowledge of the real facts would have appalled and 
 disheartened the people by the horrid details involved in them. Bat 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 Disjmtch, when 
 applauding the heroism of the eighth Georgia regiment, declared that "at 
 length they 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 officer, Colonel Barton, 
 being killed. One Louisiana regiment lost three hundred men out of eight 
 hundred. The Hampton Legion and an Alabama regiiftent 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 improable 
 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 could scarcely be affirmed that 
 the result of this engagement was very advantageous to the cause of the 
 Rebel Government; 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 Manassas was propitious to the interests of the 
 Federal Union. This declaration, which seems very like a paradox 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 
 
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 145 
 
 Silesia, at an early stage of the Seven Years War ; yet Frederic subse- 
 quently became the greatest general of his age. William of Orange, 
 afterward king of England, acquired more niillitary skill from his defeats 
 by the Prince de Cond^ 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., gener- 
 ally commenced his campaigns against that monarch with disasters, but 
 invariably closed them with supremacy and triamph. 
 
 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 Rebels. 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 eiidurance ; that they were enervated by drunken- 
 ness and debauchery ; that their conquest would be an easy and rapid 
 achievement. All these were gross and fatal delusions ; 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 Richmond was to be a grand and exciting hunt 
 for Rebels ; and the most rare and excellent sport would be the entertain- 
 ment of those who took part in the chase, and of those who accompanied 
 it as spectators. With this hilarious spirit the army marched gaily forth 
 toward Manassas. Inexcusable neglect characterized every thing con- 
 nected 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 ofiBcers, 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 Richmond. Elated with the easily-earned victory, en- 
 tertaining 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 Washington would be rendered impossible, even by a 
 Bull Run race; when the army of the Rebels had been increased to three 
 times the number it contained at Manassas ; when our oiEcers 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 scarcely a single 
 man would 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 Ma- 
 10 
 
146 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 nassas was instantaneous and redeeming. Their eyes were at once opened to 
 the terrific depth 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! IIow quickly did the most rigid dicipline, 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 Uaioa. 
 
EVENTS IN MISSOURI. U7 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 INCRBASBD BNEROT OP THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT — ^EVENTS IN MISSOnRI — IMPORTANT 
 BATTLE AT CARTHAGE— RETROGRADE MOVEMENT OF GENERAL LTON TO SPRINGFIELD 
 — PURSUIT OF THE REBELS UNDER GENERALS MCCULLOCH AND PRICE — CONDITION OF 
 THEIR ARMT — REASONS WHY GENERAL LYON ENGAGED THE ENEMY — THE GREAT BATTLK 
 
 OF Wilson's creek — disposition of the federal forces — 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 — DISCOMFITURE OF 
 COLONEL SIGEL — RESULTS OF THE BATTLE — SKETCH OF GENERAL LYON — HIS RARE MERITS 
 GENERAL FREMONT MADE COMMANDANT OF THE DEPARTMENT 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 Wash- 
 ington 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 government. At the same 
 time, various other measures, required by the peculiar exigencies of the 
 occasion, were adopted. General McClellan was summoned from Western 
 Virginia to Washington; other officers of merit, including 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 been brought to the very verge of ruin, presented to the 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 ; hostilities were 
 carried on with great vigor in the southwestern department of the 
 Eepublic. 
 
 We have already described the procefe 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 Rebels, 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 
 
148 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 artillery. General Lyon, who commanded another Federal force in the 
 State, was ninety miles distant from Carthage at the period of the battle, 
 and was therefore unable to ell'ect 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 pi'oducts of the earth, rotted unharvested. In other 
 portions of the State the 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 liad 
 been informed that a powerful Eebel force under McCulloch and Price 
 were advancing upon him by several different routes. He expected an 
 immediate attack, inasmuch as he was assured that their commissariat 
 was in a miserable condition, 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 ener- 
 getic and destructive. His own troops did not then exceed five thousand 
 men ; but they were well fod 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 nn able and skillful commander could possibly employ, 
 to confront and overpower the danger which impended over him. The 
 battle of Wilson's Creek, which soon ensued, was one of the most bloody 
 and desperate which had occurred during the progress of the war ; and 
 the conduct of General Lyon, on this occasion, covered his name and his 
 memory with enduring renown. 
 
 It was on the seventh of August that the Eebel force under McCulloch 
 and Price reached a position twelve miles distant from Springfield. The 
 inhabitants of that town at ouctf became panic-stricken at the proximity 
 of the foe : and earnest appeals were made to General Lyon to induce him 
 to withdraw his troops from the place, and not to subject it, by his pres- 
 ence, to the horrors of an attack. Many of his officers, discouraged by 
 the immense superiority in numbers which the enemy possessed, regarded 
 the risking of 'a battle as the height of imprudence ; and asserted that it 
 would lead to inevitable defeat. A council of war was called, and a ma- 
 jority 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 : 
 
■ THE GREAT BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK. 149 
 
 It was very true, indeed, tbat his numbers were greatly inferior to 
 those of the enemy. He had repeatedly besought the Federal Govern- 
 ment 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 Rebels as irresistible, and identify themselvea 
 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 an- 
 ticipated a victory even against overwhelming 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 com- 
 pleted until several hours after the appointed time. He then determined 
 to postpone the engagement until the next day. This was Saturday, 
 August 9th, 1861. 
 
 At eight o'clock on the preceding evening Colonel 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 unob- 
 served ; to take a position in their rear, and when he heard the guns of Lyon's 
 division in the front, to commence an attack on the Rebels. Sigel accom- 
 plished his 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 Rebels were p.osted in an advan- 
 tageous 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 
 tlie mere lures of an ambuscade; and, by retiring, they endeavored to 
 draw the Federal detachments into a position of danger. The artifice 
 partly succeeded ; for three thousand Rebels rushed upon the Federals, 
 and by superioity of numbers, compelled them to 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 Oster- 
 baus, and the battery of Totten, were advantageously posted on an 
 eminence; and they commenced a vigorous attack upon the Rebel host 
 arrayed against them. Soon the latter broke and fled in confusion, until 
 they reached the summit of another hill in the rear. The Federals pur- 
 
150 THK CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. " 
 
 sueJ, 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 Rebels were again routed ; and aa 
 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. Tiie 
 fire of the Rebels was very destructive, and the result was for a time 
 doubtful. Fresh Iowa and Kansas troops were ordered forward to sup- 
 port those already engaged, and were assailed by treble their own num- 
 bers. 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. IIo 
 had received two wound.s, which, though painful, were not dangerous. 
 Still he rode from rank to rank, inspired with a heroism which, by voice 
 and gesture, he endeavored to communicate to his men. He well knew 
 the mighty and overwhelming odds against which he and they contended ; 
 and when he saw unusual acts of steadiness and bravery, he cheered tiie 
 actors with almost boyish ardor. He had feared, before the battle began, 
 that the first Iowa regiment, 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 Rebels brought forward to recoil ; 
 relieve the first Missouri regiment which, after two hours of fighting, 
 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 vigor- 
 ous and combined efibrt to overpower the Rebel host and secure the victory. 
 He gave the order to prepare to make a general bayonet charge. When 
 till was ready and the troops vrere about to advance, it was discovered 
 
HEROISM OF GENERAL LYON. 
 
 151 
 
 that the commanding officer of the Iowa troops was missing. No time was 
 to be lost, and General Lyon exclaimed ; " Come on, brave men ! I will lead 
 you 1" At the head of the gallant Iowa boys 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, fel 1 
 from his horse, and immediately expired. About the same moment 
 General Sweeney was 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 man- 
 gled 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 contest 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 ofiicers 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 eflfectually carried out their portion of the programme. As soon 
 as that officer heard the guns of Lyon in the front of the enemy, he ap- 
 proached the scene of conflict and commenced an attack. But he was 
 met and overwhelmed by so vast a body of Eebel 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 Federal army retired 
 in good order to Springfield, and still later to Rolla, under the skilful 
 guidance of Colonel Sigel ; the 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. They 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 
 
152 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITtU STATES. 
 
 and the reason why their defeat was not still more disastrous. The 
 praise of superior bravery, steadiness and skill, belonged to the little 
 band of heroes who, on this bloody day, fought for the honor and su- 
 premacy 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 eommanded them, and led them to victory. 
 
 The war for the Union has not failed to develop instances of the mc-st 
 exalted patriotism and valor, which will forever elicit the grateful pride 
 and enthusiasm of every love of his country. One of the most remarka- 
 ble of those who have challenged the close and admiring scrutiny of 
 mankind was the conqueror of the Eebel hordes at Wilson's Creek. General 
 Nathaniel Lyon was one of the genuine heroes of this stormy and dis- 
 astrous time. There was no hypocritical sham, no false or arrogant 
 pretence, no mean or selfish impulse about him. Ilis ciiaracter realized, 
 with rare completeness and clearness, Carlyle's definition of what con- 
 stitutes a genuine hero. Said that profound thinker, in his fourth lecture 
 on Heroes and Hero worship ; " We have repeatedly endeavored to ex- 
 plain that all sorts of heroes are intrinsically of the same material; that, 
 given a great soul open to the divine signifiance of life, 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 out- 
 ward 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 an heroic soul 
 within him. 
 
 Nathaniel Lyon was born at Ashford, Connecticut, in the year 1819. 
 He was well descended ; and his ancestors on his mother's side distin- 
 guished themselves in the Revolutionary War. One of those ancestors 
 was the famous Colonel Knowlton, who commanded the Connecticut 
 troops at the " Old Rail 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 Wilson's Creek gave indications ot 
 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 gradua- 
 ted with honor in IS-il, entered the regular service, rapidly rose to the 
 rank of captain, and distinguished himself in the Mexican war. He dis- 
 played superior skill and bravery at Vera Cruz, Contreras, Churubusco, 
 and was wounded while fighting near the Belem 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 
 tho.se States. When the war of Secession began, he was chosen by the 
 
 * fleroes. Hero Worsliip, and the Heroic in History, by Thomas Carlyle, page 133. 
 
FREMONT CO.\niANI)ANT DEPARTMENT OP MISSOURI 153 
 
 Missouri volunteers as their brigadier-general. During the course of his 
 adventurous life he had been familiar with the most difBcult and danger- 
 ous 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 command the Federal ^oops in 
 Missouri ; and his courageous spirit found a congenial theatre for the ex- 
 ercise and display of its peculiar attributes amid the tumultuous 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 con- 
 secrated to his country his life, his fortune and his sacred honor. 'Wie 
 deeds and fame of such a man present a rare and grateful theme of con- 
 templation. When he marched against the enemy at Wilson's Creek he 
 well knew, that the immense superiority of numbers on the side of the 
 Eebels would inevitably entail a heavy loss upon his troops, and that his 
 life would probably be the forfeit of his boldness. 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 Rebellion, of forming a military department of Missouri, of which 
 St. Louis should be the headquarters, and of placing it under the com- 
 mand of an officer of ability, experience and patriotism. The person 
 selected to fill this post was Major-General John C. Fremont, who had 
 already distinguished himself in the annals of American conquest and ex- 
 ploration. When the Rebellion 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 perform- 
 ance of the duties of his oCSce; in fortifying that city; in organizing the 
 department; 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 issuing of a proclama- 
 tion, by which he endeavored to strike a powerful and deadly blow at 
 the institution of slavery. In that proclamation he proclaimed, by virtue 
 
154 THE CITII. "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of tbe 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 ; anS their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared freeTnen." 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 be convinced that this was 
 pre-eminently a war again.st slavery ; and that in proportion as the cause 
 of the Union triumphed, it woujd, 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 proclama- 
 tion of Fremont with very different feelings. To them it appeared like a 
 dangerous and illegal, though well-meant, exercise of power; as subser- 
 vient to a fanatical faction, which, as they thought, had always been the 
 bslhe and curse of the nation ; 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 im- 
 mediately addressed a letter to General Fremont, directing him so to 
 modify his proclamation 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 effectualy contradicted 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 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 everj intelligent and 
 impartial observer, as simply an attempt to restore and to perpetuate the 
 dissevered Union. Whatever lawful agencies would assist in accom- 
 plishing 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 discountenanced 
 by a large proportion of those very men, whose blood and treasure were 
 most lavishly expended in its prosecution. 
 
EXPEDITIONS AGAINST REBKL FORTS AT HATTERAS. 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FEDERAL EXPEDITIONS AOAINST THE REBEL FOKTS AT HATTERAS — THE FORCES APPRO- 
 PRIATED TO THIS ENTERPRISE — IMPORTANCE OF HATTERAS AND ITS POSSESSION — SAILING 
 OF THE EXPEDITION — THE BOMBARDMENT — THE SURRENDER OP THE FORTS — COMMODORE 
 
 BARRON COMMODORE STRINGHAM SKETCH OF HIS CAREER— RESULTS OF THE VICTORY AT 
 
 HATTERAS — OPERATIONS OF R03ECRAN8 IN WESTERN VIRGINIA — BATTLE AT CARNIFEX 
 
 FERRY DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF FLOYD RESULTS OF THE VICTORY EVENTS IN MISSOURI 
 
 — COLONEL mulligan's FORCES AT LEXINGTON — HE IS ATTACKED BY GENERAL PRICE — 
 INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON — SURRENDER OF COLONEL MULLIGAN — SKETCH 
 OP HIS CAREER — BATTLE ON BOLIVAR HEIGHTS — SKETCH OF ITS HERO, COLONEL GEARY — 
 THE BATTLE OF HALL's BLUFF — GENERAL STONE — APPREHENSIONS OF COLONEL BAKER — 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT DEFEAT AND ROUT OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS DEATH OP 
 
 COLONEL BAKER — NATIONAL SORROW AT HIS FATE — SKETCH OF HIS REMARKABLE CAREER 
 — RESULTS OF THE DISASTER AT BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 Ix the great and perilous game of war, success frequently 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 Eebellion 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 
 Butler. The former commanded the Atlantic blockading squadron, the 
 latter a portion of the troops at Fortress Monroe. The fleet which trans- 
 ported 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 com- 
 modore. 
 
 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 im- 
 portance to the enemy. It was the chief defence of the coast of North 
 Carolina. The principal fort was of considerable strength, containing 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 yards 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 
 
156 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 provided with amtnunition and provisions, and were occupied by a large 
 body of troops. The place was the key of the Albemarle, 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 advantageous position, from which ex- 
 peditions 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 afternoon. Preparations were 
 immediately made to disembark the troops, and early the next morning 
 the process began. But a stiff gale blew from the southwest, and a 
 heavy surf was breaking and rolling upon the beach. This rendered the 
 task a diCScult 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 effoit 
 was subsequently made by Lieutenant 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. Im- 
 mediately afterward a white flag was run up din the forts, which the 
 Federal commanders interpreted as a signal of surrender. General Butler 
 then ordered the Ilarriet Lane to attempt to cross the bar and enter the 
 smooth water, accompanied by the Monticello ; and the Susquehanna 
 towed the Cumberland to an ofiing, 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 immediately 
 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 troops on shore occupied the 
 forts; the remainder bivouacked on the beach near the place of landing. 
 
 At eight o'clock on the ensuing morning the fleet resumed the attack. 
 The Ilarriet 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 encrsy. But they were prevented from accomplishing their purpose 
 by the vigilance of Captain Johnson, who opened a 6re upon the Rebel 
 steamer with several guns from a sand-battery on the shore. The vessel 
 then returned up the channel, leaving the forts to their fate. The can- 
 
SUERENDER OF THE REBEL FORTS. 157 
 
 Douading from tbe ships now became heavy, and did great execution. 
 An attempt was made to land an additional number of troops. Before 
 this pui'poae 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 of&cer on shore to a.wertain the meaning of the 
 flag. That o£6.cer proceeded to the fort, and was received by Commodore 
 Barron, the commander of the Rebel forces. He authorized Lieutenant 
 Crosby to communicate to the Federal officers 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 officers were permitted to retire with their side-arms, 
 and the men without arms. To this proposition General Butler replied, 
 that it was wholly inadmissible ; and that the only terms which could be 
 accepted were an unconditional 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 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 Eebels might with ordinary 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 seriously disabled and damaged. But they 
 failed to take advantage of the opportunity. General Butler now in- 
 formed 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. Stringham and Butler for the United States, and 
 by Messrs. Barron, Martin and Andrews for the Confederate States. Im- 
 mediately 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 Min- 
 nesota, which sailed for New York. A large number of Rebels had been 
 killed and wounded during the bombardment, though the exact amount 
 of their loss was carefully concealed. They reported fifteen killed and 
 thirty-five wounded. During the attack all the war-vessels of the fleet 
 
158 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 took part, and tlie cannonading was at certain periods very heavy. Tbe 
 capture of these forts was an event of decisive importance. They had 
 become a pernicious and piratical nest, which seriously injured the com- 
 merce of the United States, and their possession was an achievement 
 greatly to be desired. It astonished and terrified the Rebel States exces- 
 sively, and was with justice regarded by them as a heavy calamity. 
 
 The chief praise of this success is justly due to Commodore String- 
 ham, 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 commanded 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 commandant of the Brooklyn, tlie 
 Norfolk, and the Charlestown navy yards. Whea 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 block- 
 ading squadron whose operations lay between Cape Charles, at the rnoutli 
 of the Chesapeake Bay on the north, as far as Key West on the south. 
 A large fleet, containing tweuty-five vessels, manned by three thousand 
 five hundred sailors and marines, was placed under his command. His 
 first expedition proved eminently successful. The part performed in it 
 by General Butler, the commander of the land forces, though commenda- 
 ble, was of secondary importance to that achieved by the gallant com- 
 modore. The official reports of the expedition, however, were chiefly 
 drawn up by General Butler. 
 
 After the removal of General McClellan to Washington, the command 
 of the Federal troops in Western Virginia was conferred on Brigadier- 
 General William S. Rosecrans, who had already distinguished himself in 
 tho 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 1838.. He graduated in 1842, and received an a[ipoint- 
 ment as second lieutenant of engineers. For a year afterward he 
 officiated as assistant professor of engineering at West Point, subse- 
 quently of natural and experimental pliilosojihy, and again of engineer- 
 in<T, 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, 
 aud commenced manufacturing operations in Ohio. Immediately after 
 the opening of the war he tendered his services to the Federal Govern- 
 ment. 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 
 
THE BATTLE OF CARNII^l S'EtljRT. I59 
 
 forces in Virginia, Eosecrans commenced to augment and strengthen them. 
 A large Eebel 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 intrenched. They had six regiments of troops and 
 a large number of artillery. The Federal forces reached the fortified po- 
 sition of the enemy after a march 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 intrenohments 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 Rosecrans to com- 
 mence the attack, they being in the advance. The thirteenth Ohio fol- 
 lowed, together with the twelfth. The Rebels received the assault with 
 spirit, and a hot fire was poured upon the Federal troops from cannon 
 and all sorts of small arms. McMullen's howitzer battery and Snyder's 
 two field pieces responded with much effect. Their sharpshooters suc- 
 ceeded in picking off some of the Federal officers. Colonel Lowe was 
 killed. Colonel Lytle was wounded. But the fire of the Rebels grew 
 feebler as night approached. Rosecrans 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 effected his escape by the ford o,nd 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 pos- 
 session of the vacated intrenohments; 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 arms, that part 
 of Western Virginia was released from the presence and supremacy of 
 the Rebel troops. The extremely rugged 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 remunerative 
 to the victors. The latter were all Ohio troops, and they exhibited un- 
 usual coolness and fortitude during the engagement, even when under the 
 severe artillery fire of the enemy. 
 
 The great battle of Wilson's Creek 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 earlv 
 portion of September a powerful Rebel force was collected by General 
 Sterling Price, and with these he commenced a march toward Lexington. 
 
ICO THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 That city had been occupied and fortified by Colonel Mulligan with five 
 regiments 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 force 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, General 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 compelled to retire within the intrenchments. 
 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 o'clock in the afternoon, and 
 continued till nightfall. Mulligan responded with his five guns with 
 effect. lie silenced one of the cannon of the Rebels, knocking it to 
 pieces, and killed about seventy -five men. But when his firing ceased 
 all his ammunition had been expended. 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. Thoy 
 did not renew the attack on the ensuing day. 
 
 It was not until the morning of the 17th that the Rebels were pre- 
 pared to recommence the conflict. During this interval they had 
 received reinforcements, and were now able to surround the city com- 
 pletely and cut off all access to the river. At eight o'clock a signal-gun 
 from General Price's headquarters announced the opening of the battle. 
 His numerous artillery poured upon the Federal trooj)s and intrench- 
 ments a tremendous shov.'er of shot and shell, to which Mulligan replied 
 with his guns as well as his limited means permitted. The battle lasted 
 from the 17th to the 20th. During the first two days the Rebels accom- 
 plished nothing, and advanced no nearer the intrenchments 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 opposite side of the works, to leave 
 their position and retake the intrenchments of which the enemy had 
 gained possession. This order was obeyed with the utmost alacrity, and, 
 as seems to be the invariable fact during this war in every case in which 
 the Irish have been brought into action, they charged with such impetu- 
 osity and heroism as to completely overpower the enemy. They regained 
 
SUERENDER OF COLONEL MULLIGAN. 161 
 
 possession of the intrenchments, killed and wounded about three hundred, 
 and captured their colors. Colonel Mulligan, who led the charge in per- 
 son, 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 lasses 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 hun('';;eds. At length, at 
 four o'clock, it became impossible to continue the contest any longer. 
 Colonel Mulligan and his men had been destitute of water for several 
 days ; most of their ammunition was expended ; and one half of their 
 cannon had been silent for some time for want of balls During the pro- 
 gress 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 victory 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 thousand. They had sixteen cannon, and were provided 
 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 in- 
 delibly 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 admit- 
 ted to the bar. In 1857 he accepted a clerkship in the Department of 
 the Interior at Washington. 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 Administra- 
 tion. He had been elected colonel of the Irish regiment, whose services 
 the Government at once accepted. The rest of his public history is 
 H 
 
162 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 summed up in the heroic struggle of which Lexington "Was the memorable 
 scene. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, which must have attracted the atten- 
 tion of every intelligent observer of the war against Secession, that the 
 arena of the conflict was one of unusually vast and extensive circuit. It 
 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 arc 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 intrenchments of Lexinsjton, to the rugnred heights 
 near Harper's Ferry ; from the achievements of Mulligan, to those of 
 Geary. On the 16th of October a battle occurred on Bolivar Heights, 
 between several Eebel regiments from Mississippi and Alabama, and 
 several regiments of Federal troops commanded by Colonel Gearv. 
 Three thousand Eebels took a position on Bolivar Heights, and dial- 
 lenged their opponents to an engagement. The challenge was accepted. 
 They were soon driven from their position ; and one of their heavy guna 
 was captured. Their loss in killed and wounded was considerable. 
 Daring this action Colonel Geary and his men exhibited much coolness 
 and gallantry. This officer had already attained a name of some distinc- 
 tion in the annals of his country ; and his daring spirit and superior 
 abilities seemed destined to conduct him to still greater eminence. Ho 
 figured with credit in the Mexican war, and was promoted for his merito- 
 rious 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 Terri- 
 tory until March, 1857. He then retired to private life until the com- 
 mencement 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. 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 in 
 activity, was put into motion ; but with so little skill as to lead to the 
 most disastrous results. The division under General Stone had been 
 posted between Washington and Harper's Ferry. That officer com- 
 manded Colonel Baker, of the California regiment, to cross the rivej 
 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 
 
APPREHENSIONS OF COLONEL BAKER. 163 
 
 legiment, of the Massachusetts fifteenth, and of the New York Tammany 
 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 circum- 
 stances. General Stone had provided no proper means for transporting 
 the troops ; and what was more portentious 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 overwhelming superiority of num- 
 bers. Notwithstanding this disadvantage the Federal troops fought with 
 the utmost desperation, and stood their ground with heroic firmness 
 during a large portion of the day. But in the afternoon the Eebels 
 received heavy reinforcements, which gave them a superiority that 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 Rebels, led on by General Evans of South Carolina, surrounded 
 them on all sides. Eenewed 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 Eebels were victorious, in spite of the utmost forti- 
 tude on the part of the forces under Colonel Baker. The Eebels drove 
 the latter to the brink of the steep bluff which 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 triumphant foe. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Wistar, an able and valuable officer, was severely 
 wounded during the engagement, in which he had distinguished himself 
 by his coolness and his valor. The 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 
 
164 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 encampment. The loss of Colonel Baker, who died the most 
 heroic death which could be sufi'ered 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 Alleghanies 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 skilful soldier. At San Francisco, whither his ad- 
 venturous 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 characterized by such overwhelming pathos, by such 
 brilliant and gorgeous imagery, by such appropriate and impressive re- 
 flections, that it produced a profound and indelible impression upon a 
 whole genero-tion of readers. It created for him a national reputation. 
 It was a masterpiece 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 
 Rebellion had yet elicited. As an officer he was equally admirable — 
 prudent, dauntless, patriotic. He passed away prematurely 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 Ball's Bluff the loss of the Federal troops was very 
 heavy. The killed, wounded, and prisoners, amounted to almost two 
 thousand men. The circumstances under which this disaster occurred, 
 added greatly to the intensity of that emotion of mingled indignation and 
 regret, with whioh the nation beheld the slaughter or the captivity of so 
 large a number of their bravest and best troops. 
 
EXPEDITION UNDER DUPONT AND SHERMAN. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PECULIARITIES OF THE WAR AGAINST SECESSION — FEDERAL EXPEDITION UNDER COMMODORE 
 DUPONT AND GENERAL SHERMAN — ITS DEPARTURE FROM ANNAPOLIS — ITS DESTINATION — 
 TERRIBLE STORM NEAR CAPE HATTERAS — THE EXPEDITION REACHES PORT ROTAL — REBEI, 
 FORTS ON BAT POINT AND HILTON HEAD — THEIR BOMBARDMENT — THEIR STRENGTH — 
 INCIDENTS OF THE ATTACK — SURRENDER OF THE FORTS — RESULTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — 
 SKETCH OF ITS HERO, COMMODORE DUPONT — NAVAL DISASTER BELOW NEW ORLEANS — 
 CAPTAIN JOHN POPE — EVENTS IN MISSOURI — BOLD ACHIEVEMENT OF COLONEL ZAGONYI 
 NEAR SPRINGFIELD — THE BATTLE OP BELMONT — GENERAL U. S. GRANT — INCIDENTS OF 
 THE ENGAGEMENT AT BELMONT — ITS RESULTS — DISMISSAL OF GENERAL FREMONT FROM BIS 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE WEST — CAUSES OF HIS REMOVAL — HIS ADMIRABLE DEMEANOR ON 
 THIS OCCASION — HIS SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER OF THE MOUNTAIN DE- 
 PARTMENT 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 numerous armies which were to 
 be subdued, rendered it absolutely necessary that various' movements 
 should be effected from different points at nearly the same time ; that 
 those points should, while steadily pursuing their separate paths of 
 victory, gradually converge toward 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 movements of the Federal troops which occurred, 
 and which were made as soon as the necessary preliminary preparations 
 could be effected. 
 
 The Rebel States were still convulsed with that frantic and exaggerated 
 exultation which usually elated them at the attainment of the least success, 
 in consequence of their victory at Ball's Bluff, when sudden terror and 
 apprehension overtook them. The cause of this revulsion of feeling was 
 the departure of a powerful Federal fleet from Annapolis, for some un- 
 known 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 Washington. 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 completed, the vast squadron 
 
166 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 sea- 
 ward through the capes. The stately and numerous array, as it sailed 
 toward the broad bosom of the ocean, presented one of the most magnifi- 
 cent spectacles 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 con- 
 ceived, or at a later day matured, was destined to become desolated by the 
 ]3resence 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. 
 
 When the advancing fleet reached a position in the vicinity of Cape 
 Ilatteras, 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 November, the fleet, with the flag-ship in the advance, 
 reached the mouth of Port Eoyal Entrance. At that spot two Rebel for- 
 tifications frowned over the waves, and menaced the commerce of the 
 loyal States. They were named Forts Walker and Beauregard, after two 
 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 
 acliievement was the greater, in consequence of the fact, that all the usual 
 aids to navigation had been removed from that vicinity by the vigilance 
 and industry of the Rebels. 
 
 At half-past nine, on the morning of the 7th of November, the Federal 
 ships cleared for action, were brought within range, and the bombard- 
 ment of the two forts commenced. These were located on Bay Point and 
 Hilton Head. They were stongly garrisoned, containing eighteen hun- 
 dred men ; and were protected by a fleet of seven gunboats under the com- 
 mand of Captain Tatnal. As the Union ships approached the forts, the 
 vessels of that officer, which might be fitly termed a diminutive fleet, began 
 to fire. Bat they were soon chased, by a few well-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 com- 
 manders, that the naval troops should alone be employed during the bom- 
 bardment. The land forces therefore remained, though unwillingly, idle 
 spectators of the scene. The ships of war took positions six hundred yards 
 
^^^^MsusMmsmaMf ^^ 
 
SURRENDER OP THE REBEL FORTS. 161 ' 
 
 distant from the forts, and frequently engaged the batteries on both sides 
 at the same time. 
 
 The Rebel 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 overwhelming hailstorm of shot and shell which 
 was poured upon the forts without intermission, and with superior accu- 
 racy of aim, was rapidly rendering them untenable. The large and in- 
 creasing 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 Eebels aban- 
 doned 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 befoi'e evacua- 
 ting it ran up a white one. The Federal fleet, at a signal from Commo- 
 dore Dupont, then ceased firing, and Captain Rodgers was sent ashore to 
 ascertain the state of affairs. He found the fort deserted, and precisely at 
 three o'clock, he unfurled 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 suc- 
 cessively. They thus formed a formidable procession, resembling a con- 
 course 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 shriek of the deadly 
 missiles as they coursed through the heavens, and the far resounding re- 
 verberation of the guDs, 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 lauding 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 night- 
 
108 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fall. Fort Walker, at Hiltoa Head, was found to be a work of great 
 strength and of colossal proportions. It covered an area 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, iiiscoveries 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, th-at 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 aban- 
 doned them with the utmost trepidation. Innumerable articles of value 
 were strewn around in confusion, and the soldiers were enriched by no 
 insignificant 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 degenerated into a panic among the inhabitants 
 of the immediate vicinity, and especially among those of Charleston and 
 Savannah. Of dwellers in the nearer Beaufort, there were no longer any 
 left, except the jubilant negro population. All others had fled in the 
 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 fort3'-five years which he spent in that service, he occujiied 
 with honor a number of important positions. In 1836 he commanded the 
 Warren, and cruised in the West Indies. In 1843 he commanded the 
 brig Perry, on the same station, and subsequently the Congress and tlie 
 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 
 
NAVAL DISASTER BELOW NEW ORLEANS. 169 
 
 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 Beuna Vista, in February, 1847. After the commencement of 
 the Rebellion, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the fifth artillery ; 
 and at the battle of Manassas had command of the battery which was 
 designated by his name. The defeat which overtook him on that occa- 
 sion, in common with many other brave and skillful officers, did not dim 
 the lustre of his reputation. He was subsequently elevated to the rank 
 of brigadier-general, and placed in command of the land forces destined 
 for the conquest of Port Royal. 
 
 While these important events were transpiring along the eastern sea- 
 board, other incidents of inferior moment were occurring in the south- 
 west. On the 12th of October, 1861, the Rebel forces below New 
 Orleans gave evidence of their activity by the use of a naval instrument 
 of warfare, 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 dark- 
 ness still prevailed, they 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 Rich- 
 mond with tremendous violence, and stove a hole through her side. 
 Three planks were torn away two feet below the water line, 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 Richmond 
 were discharged at her. At this moment three large fire rafts of the 
 enemy were seen approaching the Federal ships, accompanied by several 
 Rebel steamers. The Federal commander. Captain John Pope, imme- 
 diately signalled to the Vincennes, the Preble, and the Water Witch, to 
 slip their cables, proceed down the southwest channel of the Mississippi, 
 and pass over the bar. During the passage, and while the enemy were 
 in chase of them, the Richmond and the Vincennes grounded, and thereby 
 .urnished the Rebels a favorable opportunity for the use of their guns. 
 The Federal ships, however, responded vigorously to their fire. After 
 considerable eSbrt, the grounded vessels were lightened, and conducted 
 over the bar, after which the chase and the action ceased. The com- 
 manders of the several Federal vessels did not gain many laurels by their 
 display of skill and heroism on this occasion. 
 
 A more brilliant incident soon after occurred near Springfield, Missouri. 
 
170 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On the 25th of October, three hundred men, who formed the body-guard 
 of General Fremont, under the command of a Hungarian refugee named 
 Zagonyi, attacked a Rebel camp near that place, containing two thousand 
 men. The movement was an extremely bold and sudden one, and its re- 
 sults were most advantageous. The Rebel troops were completely sur- 
 ]irised, overpowered, defeated, and compelled to flee, not only in the 
 utmost confusion, but also with considerable losses. It was a daring and 
 praiseworthy achievement ; but it was unfortunately the only succes.sful 
 movement of importance which was performed, during the administration 
 of that department by General Fremont, by any of the forces or officers 
 under his command. 
 
 Soon after this event, on the 7th of November, three thousand five 
 hundred Federal troops, under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, 
 proceeded against a Rebel force stationed at the village of Belmont, in 
 Missouri, nearly opposite to Columbus. General McClernand accom- 
 panied the expedition. The troops embarked at Cairo on a number of 
 steamers, and proceeded as far as Lucas's Bend, three miles above Colum- 
 bus, on the Missouri side of the river. At that point they landed. The 
 Rebel encampment was placed on elevated ground 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 pre- 
 pare for their defence. As soon as the Union troops had disembarked, a 
 large number of the Rebels, 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 with 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 desperate 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, baggage, 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 ap- 
 proaching 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 st rongly 
 
B 
 
 
INCIDENTS OF THi: KXGAGKMENT AT BELMONT. 
 
 171 
 
 garrisoned by the enemy. Quickly and clearly discerning the position 
 of affairs, General Grant gave the order to fall back to the boats. While 
 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 prison- 
 ers, 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 shot under 
 him. A similar accident befell General McClern«nd. 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 resolu- 
 tion. 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 pre- 
 vious 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 incompetent to fulfil 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 indorsed them, by which the 
 Federal Government had been defrauded of immense sums of money ; 
 that all his operations were carried on at an enormous and superfluous 
 expense ; and that, notwithstanding 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 emboided in a report, which was published and addressed 
 to Mr. Cameron. In that report General Thomas alleged, that the evi- 
 dence 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, bj whom the Government had been defrauded of large amounts ; 
 that he had issued military commissions to incompetent men and to per- 
 
172 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sonal favorites, who possessed no military knowledge or experience what- 
 ever ; 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 succeeeded in his command by General Hunter, a 
 veteran officer who had fought with great gallantry on several occasions. 
 No reasonable and intelligent person doubted the integrity and the excel- 
 lent 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 pri- 
 vate character, or on his loyalty and patriotism. He at once acquiesced 
 with dignity and grace in the orders of the Executive ; and urged his 
 offended 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 subsequent period evinced his appreciation of the merits of 
 General Fremont, by appointing him to the command of the Mountain 
 Department of Western Virginia. 
 
MISSION OF MESSRS MASON AND SLIDELL. 173 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 EUROPEAN RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY — EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN IT — 
 MISSION OF MESSRS. MASON AND SLIDELI^ — 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 OP MR. SUMNER IN THE SENATE — THE BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE — INCIDENTS OP 
 THE ENGAGEMENT — ITS RESULTS — GENERAL MCCALI. — SKETCH OF HIS CAREER — DISMIS- 
 SAL 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 ZOLLICOKFER — HIS CHAR- 
 ACTER — RESULTS OF THE BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS — SUBSEQUENT FLIGHT AND DISPERSION 
 OF THE REBEL TROOPS. 
 
 The crafty and resolute leaders of the Southern Rebellion labored 
 from the beginning of their treasonable movements, with great zeal and 
 earnestness, to obtain the approval and recognition of several of tlie most 
 important 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 Grovernment, to 
 unite their efforts 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 Willies, who was 
 already well known for his ability and usefulness in connection with the 
 United States service, commanded the San Jacinto, then cruising in the 
 West Indies ; and having been informed, while stopping at Cienfuegos, 
 that these diplomatic Rebels had escaped from the South, 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 narrowes^t part 
 of the Bahama channel, that he was so fortunate as to encounter the 
 packet. He immediately bore down upon her, fired a shot across her 
 bows to bring her to, and sent two boats under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant Fairfax, for the purpose of making the arrest. The Rebels 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 
 lieutenant, all availed nothing; and Messrs. Mason and Slidell, with their 
 two secretaries, descended with many grimaces from the deck of the 
 
174 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Trent into the boats, and were forthwith transferred, with their baggage 
 to the San Jacinto. 
 
 This novel and startling incident immediately convulsed the inhabitants 
 of the loyal and the disloyal States with intense though very dissimilar 
 emotions. The former rejoiced that the Rebels had been foiled in their 
 purpose and mission. The latter were at first overwhelmed with indig- 
 nation 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 expensive 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 transferred to Fort Warren, in the harbor of that city. 
 Then followed the universal discussion throughout the land, of the ques- 
 tions 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. 
 Difl'erent opinions were expressed by eminent and learned men on the 
 subject. But the prevalent sentiment was, that the arrest and capture 
 v/ere 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 
 oflfence at. the arrest of the Rebels when on board an English neutral 
 vessel. 
 
 Though the legality of the capture of the Rebel commissioners 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 difl'erent question. The people of the 
 United States, therefore, waited with 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 
 immediately 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 conduct demonstrated that the British Government 
 eagerly seized the opportunity which was thus afforded, to embarrass 
 and annoy the people of the United States, in the darkest and most 
 critical moment which had occurred in their career since the period of 
 the storms and struggles of the Revolution, and extort from them while 
 thus embarrassed a humiliating and superfluous concession, which, under 
 other circumstances, would have been resolutely refused. 
 
 The Rebel 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 Wash- 
 ington, set forth, with great ability, the reasons which induced the 
 
ARGUMENT OF MR. SUMNER IN THE SENxVTE. 175 
 
 Federal Government to pursue that policy. He admitted that the four 
 prisoners were contraband of war ; that Captain "Wilkes had the right to 
 search the Trent for their 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 Eebels ; 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 proceeding became legally vitiated ah initio. At a later period 
 Mr. Sumner discussed the subject in the Senate, and vindicated the sur- 
 render of the Rebels on no other grounds. lie affirmed that the arrest 
 could not be justified by American 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 except those actually engaged in the military or the 
 naval service of an enemy ; and that it had always opposed and con- 
 demned the alleged power on the part of any single ofiicer, to adjudicate 
 and decide personal rights by the tribunal of the quarter deck. These 
 positions Mr. Sumner defended with immense erudition and with some 
 logical force. Nevertheless, the question still remained undetermined 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 interest, 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 rebel commissioners were surren- 
 dered 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, assiduously 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 
 
176 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 foraging party, aud to make a reconnaissance in force with a portion of the 
 troops under his command. He had ascertained that a considerable num- 
 ber of Ecbels had taken a position at Dranesville, and he resolved to 
 attack them. He gave orders to General Ord to march thither with his 
 brigade. General Reynolds 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 Reserves, the first regiment 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 Dranesville, and the ac- 
 tion 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 com- 
 manded 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 tlie engagement was progressing with spirit in the centre 
 and on the right wing of the Union troops. The ninth infantry, under 
 Colonel Jackson, had encountered the Rebels and overpowered thefn. 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 foe with much gallantry. As the enemy retreated, the 
 Federal troops advanced, until the rout became precipitate and complete. 
 As the victors proceeded through the woods, they met numerous evi- 
 dences of the heavy losses which the enemy had suffered ; for the ground 
 was strewn with the dying and the dead, witfe mangled horses, shattered 
 gun carriages, caissons, arms, ammunition and clothing. The defeat ol 
 the Rebels was complete, and their flight ignominious. General McCall 
 ordered the pursuit to be continued for a mile be3'ond the scene of con- 
 flict by two regiments; but so rapid was the pace of the fugitives that it 
 was impossible to overtake them. A hundred dead Rebels were after- 
 ward counted on the field ; their wounded, who where doubtless more 
 numerous, they carried away with them. They had probably four thou- 
 sand 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 
 
THE BATTLE OP MILL SPRINGS. m 
 
 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 Dranesville was one of the most spirited and suc- 
 cessful which had occurred during the progress of the war. General 
 McCall, the chief hero of the day, was a veteran officer, a native of Phila- 
 delphia. He entered the United States army in 1818. After several 
 promotions, he served with distinction under General "Worth in Florida. 
 He acquired fresh laurels at the battle of Eesaca de la Palma, and in July, 
 1846, was appointed adjutant' to General Zachary Taylor, with the rank 
 of major. In 1850 he became inspector-general, with the rank of colonel. 
 He afterward retired from the service, and resided near West Chester, 
 Pennsylvania, until the commencement of the Eebellion. He was then 
 appointed major-general of the fifteen regiments which were authorized 
 to be raised by the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Immediately after the 
 battle of Manassas, the services of these troops, with those of their com- 
 manding officer, were tendered to the Federal Government, and accepted. 
 The victory of Dranesville was a worthy continuation of General McCall's 
 previous achievements. He subsequently accompanied the array of 
 General McClellan in the Peninsula, and took a prominent and distin- 
 guished part in several of the great battles which were fought in the 
 vicinity of Eichmond. At length, in the fearful conflict on the 30th of 
 June, he was taken prisoner, and removed to the Eebel capital ; but after 
 a short captivity he was released. 
 
 On the 13th of January, 1862, an important change took place in the 
 Federal Cabinet, the announcement of which surprised, and perhaps grati- 
 fied, 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 Eussia, in the 
 room of Cassius M. Clay. Edwin M. Stanton, a distinguished lawyer, 
 originally from Ohio, but at that time a resident of Washington, was 
 selected as the successor of the retiring secretary. 
 
 On the 19th of January the Federal forces under General G. H. 
 Thomas, and the Eebel troops under General Felix Zollicofifer, who had 
 been gradually approaching 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 cheered by the announcement of a 
 splendid and decisive victory to the Federal arms. Previous to this date 
 General Zollicoffer had intrenched himself in a fortified position about 
 fifteen miles southwest from Somerset, and twelve miles from the Cum- 
 berland river. This position commanded the whole of the surrounding 
 country, and held the citizens of Pulaski, Wayne, and Eussel counties in 
 subjection to the Eebel power. General Thomas had formed the resolu- 
 tion to attack these entrenchments in conjunction with the troops under 
 General Schoepff, who was then posted at Somerset. Accordingly, he 
 12 
 
178 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE U.VITEU STA'J'ES. 
 
 commenced bis march from Jamestowa toward the position of the enemy. 
 On the 17th, General Zollicoffer having been informed, by some treason- 
 able 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 Schocjjff, 
 thus vanquishing 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 Eebel 
 army was approaching in full force. The distant firing aroused the Fede- 
 ral camp, and a portion of the tenth Indiana regiment was ordered for- 
 ward to the support of tlie pickets. The whole of that regiment soon 
 afterward advanced against the enemy, who were gradually forming into 
 line, regiment by regiment, and taking their positions on the scene of con- 
 flict. After the firing had continued for half an hour, an attempt was 
 made, by a body of Eebel 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 Indiana, under Colonel Kise, was 
 compelled to fall back to avoid being surrounded. The order to retire 
 was judiciously given ; for at that period of the battle the Rebel forces 
 continually rolled forv/ard like an inexhaustible flood ; they advanced 
 with loud and frantic yells, intended to intisaidate their foes ; and the 
 superiority 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 order, the fugitives were met and supported 
 by the fourth Kentucky, the ninth Ohio, and the second Minnesota regi- 
 ments. 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 that 
 point, to assist the troops there engaged. 
 
 The nature of the ground rendered the operations of the troops exceed- 
 ingly difficult, being covered, for the most part, by tangled brushwood, 
 fallen logs, or growing corn. It was also difficult to place the artillery in 
 favorable positions, for the same reasons. Nevertheless, as the battle 
 progressed, the batteries of "Whitmore, Standard, and Kinney, performed 
 efficient service. The guns of the Rebels, however, did less damage than 
 these, as they were aimed too high. The vicissitudes of the conflict 
 reached over a mile in extent, and were various and vacillating, as hour 
 after hour wbre away. AVithin the limits of the battle-field, several posi- 
 tions were of superior importance; and around these positions tlie most 
 desperate combats occurred. A log-house and stable were of this class, 
 and both parties contended, in a long and bloody struggle, for the pos- 
 session of them. At last the ninth Ohio remained masters of the position. 
 This position, though valuable, still left the issue of the contest uncertain; 
 
DEATH OF GENERAL FELIX ZOLLICOFFER. 1T9 
 
 for the determination of the Eebels remained as unyielding and intense 
 as before. 
 
 It was now eleven o'clock, and no serious advantage had yet been 
 gained by either army. The centre and left of the Federal forces had 
 repeatedly advanced, fired, and fallen back ; and the same evolutions had 
 as often been performed by the Rebels. General Thomas determined at 
 length to attempt a decisive movement. At that time the fourteenth 
 Ohio and tenth Kentucky regiments were approaching the battle-field, 
 along the Columbus road ; and a fresh accession of strength was thus 
 afforded. General Thomas ordered Colonel Caster to flank the enemy's 
 right wing with Bis regiment, which till then had not joined in the 
 action. In concert with this movement Colonel McCook ordered the 
 ninth Ohio to charge tlie position of the enemy with fixed bayonets, and 
 turn their left flank. This regiment was composed chiefly of Germans; 
 and no sooner was this order given, than, having first discharged their 
 guns, they rushed forward to the attack on the Rebel lines with vociferous 
 cheering. The latter at first prepared to receive them. They maintained 
 their position until the formidable wall of bristling bayonets approached 
 within thirty yards of their front. A Tennessee regiment on the extreme 
 left fired a feeble and rambling volley into the advancing Federals; they 
 then broke and fled. A Mississippi regiment delivered a similar volley, 
 and immediately made a similar retreat. The panic and the rout spread 
 rapidly, until it extended over the entire line of the enemy. The gallant 
 charge of the ninth Ohio had decided the ' fortunes of the day. The 
 whole Rebel army at length retreated toward their intrenchments in the 
 utmost disorder, and with heavy losses of guns and ammunition. The 
 pathway of their flight was covered with innumerable trophies of their 
 disaster, and with multitudes of the wounded, the dying, and the dead. 
 
 But the most serious calamity of this memorable day to the Rebel 
 cause, was the death of General Felix Zollicoffer. It was near the con- 
 clusion of the conflict when this event occurred. Zollicoffer, attended by 
 his staff, was riding over the field, directing the movements of his troops, 
 when, being somewhat in advance of his line, the group was observed by 
 Colonel S. S. Fry, of the fourth Kentucky regiment. That officer rode 
 toward them and fired. His shot was immediately returned by one of 
 Zollicoffer's aids, who unhorsed him. He then aimed again, and with 
 fatal accuracy sent his bullet through the heart of the Rebel commander. 
 Zollicoffer fell to the earth, his attendants fled in dismay, and his inanimate 
 remains were left to add to the trophies and glories of the victory. They 
 were afterward found in a wagon, together with the body of Lieutenant 
 Bailie Peyton, on the route of the retreat. The death of General Zolli- 
 coffer was no ordinary blow to the Rebel cause. He was a man of great 
 energy and ability. He had risen to eminence through a long gradation 
 of honorable offices, such as the editorship of several leading journals in 
 
180 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Tennessee ; as State printer, as State Comptroller, as member of the State 
 Senate, and as Eeprcsentative in the Federal Congress. When the 
 Eebellion commenced, he did not regard its purposes and principles with 
 favor. But when he found the majority of the population of the 
 Southern States enthusiastically in favor of the movement, and saw that 
 the tide was becoming resistless, he joined with those around him, and 
 was promoted to a high«command in the Eebel army. He was a disap- 
 pointed statesman ; an habitual sadness pervaded his spirit; and on the 
 bloody field of Mill Springs, the last of his hopes was crushed by the 
 hand of death. 
 
 The fugitive Eebels were pursued on the day of the battle till within a 
 mile of the fortifications which General Zollicoffer had lately occupied. 
 The Federal cannon were then brought to bear upon the works, and the 
 process of shelling commenced. This was continued during an hour. 
 Only a single gun responded. Then night fell, and the wearied victors 
 reposed on their arms, expecting to renew the assault in the morning. 
 At break of day on the morning of the 20th, several regiments were 
 thrown forward toward the intrenchments. Soon the scouts reported 
 that the works were untenanted. The enemy had in fact evacuated them 
 during the night, had fled across the river ; and had thus rendered the 
 triumph of the Federal troops complete. Not only their military strength, 
 but their moral force, had been utterly dissipated by one of the most com- 
 plete disasters which had yet overtaken the cause of the Eebellion. 
 
 The number of troops engaged in this conflict was about ten thousand 
 on the side of the Eebels, and seven thousand on that of the Federals. 
 The victors captured eight six-pounders, and two Parrott guns, one hun- 
 dred wagons, twelve hundred horses and mules, a thousand muskets, and 
 a large amount of provisions. The loss of the enemy was a hundred and 
 fourteen killed, and probably six hundred wounded. The Federal loss 
 was forty killed, a hundred and twenty-seven wounded. The conse- 
 quences of this triumph were important. Beside inspiriting the whole 
 nation with patriotic exultation, it opened the passes to the Cumberland 
 mountains, which led to the valley of the Tennessee river, thereby giving 
 access to the territory of North Carolina from the west. It thus assisted 
 in completing that chain of military bands with which the Federal Gov- 
 ernment was gradually girding the limits of the Eebel Confederacy, with 
 the intent that, at the proper and critical moment, it might, by one 
 powerful and resistless constriction, crush out of it the last remains of 
 vitality. 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION — ITS STRENGTH AND SECRET DESTINATION — ITS DEPARTURE 
 FROM ANNAPOLIS — IT REACHES FORTRESS MONROE — ANOTHER GALE OFF CAPE HAT- 
 TERAS — ITS RESULTS — LOSS OP THE STEAMER CITY OP NEW YORK — HEROISM OP 
 GENERAL BURNSIDE — THE EXPEDITION ENTERS PAMLICO SOUND — IT STEERS FOR ROANOKE 
 ISLAND — REBEL WORKS ERECTED ON THAT ISLAND — THE FEDERAL TROOPS DISEMBARK — 
 PLAN OF THE ATTACK — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — THE FINAL CHARGE — DEFEAT 
 AND FLIGHT OF THE REBELS— CAPTURE OF THEIR FORTS — THEIR STRENGTH — RESULTS OP 
 THE VICTORY — DEATH OP COLONEL DE MONTREUIL — SKETCH OF GENERAL BURNSIDE — ATTACK 
 ON FOET HENRY — STRENGTH OP THE FORT — NUMBER OP THE FEDERAL GUNBOATS — INCI- 
 DENTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT— SURRENDER OP THE REBEL WORKS — TROPHIES OF THE 
 VICTORY — LOSS ON BOTH SIDES — SKILL AND HEROISM OF COMMODORE FOOTE — SKETCH OF 
 HIS CAREER — FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 
 
 The signal success that had attended the several expeditions which 
 sailed to Hatteras and Port Royal, encouraged the Federal Government 
 to continue that efi'ective method of operation. Accordingly, General 
 Burnside was appointed to the command of another armament, consisting 
 of both land and naval forces, whose destination was as yet unknown, 
 but which he was ordered to organize and complete with the utmost dis- 
 patch. That able and energetic officer at once addressed himself to the 
 task assigned him. Under his direction a large number of vessels and 
 transports were purchased ; provisions, arms and ammunition, were pro- 
 cured ; troops were collected ; and by the 9th of January, 1862, the 
 largest and most formidable expedition which ever proceeded from an 
 American port was ready to sail from Annapolis. The total number of 
 vessels of all kinds, excepting those belonging to the regular navy, was 
 forty-five. The troops oij board amounted to sixteen thousand men, and 
 were commanded, under General Burnside, by three brigadier-generals, 
 Foster, Reno and Parke. Each of these officers belonged to the regular 
 army, and were soldiers by profession. The number of guns of heavy 
 calibre carried by the fleet was forty-five, possessing a range of two miles 
 and a half, together with five floating batteries. A large number of the 
 transports had been provided through the necessary agency of contrac- 
 tors, and the government was grossly defrauded ; and serious perils were 
 subsequently entailed upon the expedition through the knavery of those 
 who obtained the contract for furnishing the expedition. 
 
 The embarkation of the troops commenced at Annapolis on the 5th 
 of January. The first brigade, commanded by General Foster, first went 
 on board ; then followed the second, commanded by General Reno ; then 
 the third, under the orders of General Parke. The entire process was 
 completed by the 8th, and on the morning of the 9th the signal-gun from 
 
182 'I'ilE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the Picket boomed over tbe tranquil waste of waters, announcing the 
 moment of departure. Soon every anchor was hauled up, the sails were 
 spread on every craft, the hoarse voices of the many steamers were heard, 
 shouts of joy and martial melodies resounded from .ship to shore, and the 
 vast armament began to move with steady and graceful majesty over the 
 blue bosom of the Chesapeake. 
 
 The first destination of the fleet was Fortress Monroe. They arrived at 
 that point on the 10th, and proceeded at once to anchor abreast of the 
 fortress. On the 11th, during the night, the voyage was resumed, and 
 the fleet sailed from Ilampton Roads while the ocean and the land still 
 reposed beneath the beams of a bright moonlight. A propitious breeze 
 gently wafted the adventurers forward on their way, and cape after cape 
 along the main was quickly passed. When Sunday morning dawned the 
 swiftest steamers were already in view of Ilatteras light, and before the 
 evening of that day a number of them had passed over the bar of Ilat- 
 teras inlet. Thus far all had progressed in the most favorable and fortu- 
 nate manner. But during Sunday night the scene suddenly changed. 
 A gale of terrific violence began to blow from the northwest, exceeding 
 any thing ordinarily witnessed on that stormy coast, and soon the bosom 
 of the deep was lashed into fury. The watery waste presented the aspect 
 of an endless series of convulsed and revolving mountains. During 
 two whole days and nights it was impossible for any communication to 
 be had from one vessel to another. They were often lost from each other's 
 sight, either buried in the troughs of the angry sea, or separated by the 
 colossal waves. Gradually the spectacle became one of appalling interest, 
 for the tempest still increased in violence, and soon many of the vessels 
 and transports, fl-om the peculiar character of their freight, became almost 
 unmanageable. The violence of the winds drove some of the ships and 
 transports out to sea, and some it grounded in the swash channel. Over 
 all of them the enormous waves dashed from prow to stern, deluging 
 their upper decks. They reeled and staggered like drunken men. Many 
 lost their guards, and some of the steamers lost their wheel-houses. The 
 menacing wall of breakers which girded Pamlico Sound, seemed im- 
 passable to those vessels which had not cleared the bar before the storm 
 began ; and their only safety appeared to be in keeping as far out from 
 land as possible. During the continuance of this terrible tempest, ac- 
 companied with deluges of rain, the officers and men exhibited the utmost 
 heroism, and General Burnside sailed to and fro amid the tossing and 
 rolling seas in his staff-boat, the Picket, endeavoring to assist and counsel 
 each of his officers in command. 
 
 But, in spite of admirable seamanship and dauntless resolution, the 
 usual effects of the destructive violence of the waves commenced to 
 appear ; for rarely had old ocean been the arena of a spectacle similar to 
 that then exhibited in the vicinity of Ilatteras. The large steamer City 
 
I 
 
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 mil " 
 
 I I 
 
 fill 
 
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 k 
 
 ml 
 
 
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 ■' W \ 
 
 wmlslpi ^ 
 
 fv'lr-i 
 
HEROISM OF GENERAL BURNSIDB. 183 
 
 of New York was driven on the bar lying at the entrance of the harbor. 
 She was three hundred and fifty feet long, twenty-five hundred tons 
 burden, and was heavily laden with stores and ammunition. It was 
 found impossible to render her any assistance, and she eventually becam-e 
 a total wreck. A portion of her crew was saved. When the surf-boat 
 reached the sinking steamer, her ofiBcers and men were clinging with 
 desperation to her sides, the sea making clear breaches over her entire 
 deck. 
 
 The gunboat Zouave, which had on board three companies of the 
 twenty-fifth Massachusetts regiment, sank at her anchorage, though 
 all those on board were fortunately rescued before she went down. The 
 Louisiana, an enormous steamer, three hundred feet in length, having an 
 entire regiment on board, was driven on a sand-bar, and was seriously 
 disabled. Her passengers and crew were also rescued. A collision took 
 place between the steamer Cossack and the brig Hope, by which both 
 were badly damaged. Colonel Allen, of the New Jersey regiment, his 
 surgeon Weller, and second officer, Taylor, were lost by the swamping 
 of a lifeboat in which they were endeavoring, with generous daring, to 
 render assistance to those imperilled by the ruthless tempest. 
 
 Such were some of the scenes connected with this memorable oc- 
 casion. After the fury of the storm abated, the vessels which had 
 drifted out to sea gradually returned, and passed successively over 
 the bar, by means of steam-tugs and other appropriate helps, into 
 the tranquil waters within. Nothing but the superior skill and dauntless 
 resolution of the officers who commanded this expedition could have 
 saved it from entire destruction. Most commendable among these was 
 General Burnside himself. While the winds blew, and the rains de- 
 scended, and the billows rolled with the greatest violence, he was con- 
 stantly sailing in his staff-boat to and fro aftiid the watery world of 
 tumult and danger, regardless of his own peril, solicitous only for the 
 safety of his men and his ships. It was a thrilling spectacle to witness 
 his movements. At one momeat his small steamer would be seen riding 
 on the summit of a monstrous wave— then he would become env^^oped 
 in the deluge of spray which swept over the entire vessel — and I'u 
 again he would become wholly invisible, swallowed in the yaw, '"■•\ 
 gullies of the deep. Undaunted, he would soon appear, to go througu 
 the same process, with the same result. 
 
 At length the storm wholly ceased. After five days of incessant labor, 
 on the 22d the entire fleet entered Pamlico Sound. The naval portion of 
 the expedition had been placed under the command of Commodore Golds- 
 borough. He and his officers had contributed greatly by their skill and 
 valor, to the preservation of the fleet during the recent storm. Their 
 assistance and co-operation in the events which ensued were of eaual im- 
 portance and value to the Federal cause. 
 
1S4 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Some days elapsed, after tlie termination of the storm, before General 
 Burnside and his troops were read)' to resume operations. On the -ith 
 of February the steamer Patuxent was dispatched to every vessel in the 
 .fleet, with orders to be in readiness to sail on the ensuing morning. At 
 four o'clock on the 5th a busy scene was presented by the vast assemblage 
 of vessels, and all wore soon in proper trim to advance. Each steamer 
 towed two or three sailing vessels, filled with troops and stores, and the 
 signal to weigh anchor having been given, seventy-five vessels of every 
 imaginable size and construction began to move. Till that moment the 
 destination of the fleet had remained a secret to all save the commanding 
 officers. The order to steer across Pamlico Sound toward the shore of 
 North Carolina, at last assured the men that Roanoke Island was the in- 
 tended point of attack. Forts Hattcras and Clark gradually disappeared 
 in the distance of the southern horizon ; and at nine o'clock on the morn- 
 ing of tlie 16th, the vast armament approached the point on the island 
 which the Rebels had fortified. Their works consisted of four batteries, 
 which commanded the main channel through the Croatan Sound. As 
 soon as the Federal fleet came within range of their guns, they opened a 
 fire upon them. To this fire the gunboats, whose lighter draught enabled 
 them to approach nearer the batteries, responded. After several hours 
 the barracks of the rebels were set on fire, which greatly crippled their 
 operations, and their fire gradually ceased. 
 
 This contest was merely a preliminary one. At five o'clock orders 
 were given to disembark the troops. This process occupied the entire 
 night, and when the next morning dawned the Federal flag once more 
 floated over the soil of a Rebel State, surrounded by a powerful and 
 valiant force. la addition to the four forts already mentioned, a Rebel 
 army was encamped several miles to the left of the works. A swamp 
 intervened between the two, which was crossed by a narrow road con- 
 structed of the trunks of trees which had been sunk in the quagmire. 
 Up this road General Foster advanced with the twenty-third, twenty- 
 fifth, and twenty-seventh Massachusetts, the tenth Connecticut, and the 
 fiftli Rhode Island regiments. At the same time General Reno proceeded 
 with his brigade to attack one of the fort.^. It was a difficult and dan- 
 gerous service, in consequence of the peculiar nature of the surrounding 
 country. It was an almost impassable swamp, .sometimes covered witli 
 brushwood, sometimes lying under water. The first day terminated 
 before any thing could be accomplished. The night which followed was 
 stormy, and the troops remained under arms, deluged with rain, without 
 shelter or proper food. When morning dawned the contest was resumed. 
 The sharpshooters of the enemy, stationed and concealed in the woods to 
 the rear and the right of the fort, did much execution. Their batteries 
 were also worked with efleet, and a continuous discharge of small arms 
 from their troops stationed in the vicinity of the fort, was very destruc- 
 
DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF THE EEBELS. 185 
 
 tive. The Federal soldiers were often compelled to load their guns while 
 lying in the mud and water. 
 
 At length the order was given to charge the enemy at the point of the 
 bayonet. During the execution of this order the Rebels increased their 
 fire with deadly effect. As a portion of the Federal troops were com- 
 pelled to march to the attack through a swamp nearly waist-deep, their 
 efforts were made under immense disadvantages. Nevertheless, they 
 poured a heavy fire upon the enemy while advancing; and as they ap- 
 proached the Rebel works the enemy fled, leaving their guns unspiked, 
 and throwing away in their haste their arms, knapsacks, and whatever 
 else could impede their retreat. The Federal troops at last struggled 
 through the swamp, waded through the moat, climbed over the parapets, 
 and entered the deserted fortification with loud and enthusiastic cheers. 
 The flags of the twenty-first Massachusetts and the fifty -first New York 
 were unfurled at the same moment over the late stronghold of the van- 
 quished Rebels. 
 
 The pursuit of the fugitives was immediately commenced by the troops 
 of the second brigade, commanded by General Reno. They had fled 
 toward their encampment in the interior of the island. Their pathway 
 was covered with evidences of their terror, and of the precipitation of 
 their flight. Many of their wounded were left to the mercy of the victors, 
 and some who fell exhausted and unable to continue their flight became 
 prisoners. Thirty or forty persons put off from the shore in a small sloop, 
 to escape across Roanoke Sound toward the mainland. Among them 
 was 0. Jennings Wise, who had been mortally wounded. General Reno 
 ordered five companies to scour the beach, and to fire upon the Rebel 
 boat if she refused to return. The latter obeyed the summons, came 
 ashore, and surrendered to Major Clark. Meanwhile the Federal forces 
 were advancing toward the Rebel camp named "Georgia," under the 
 command of Generals Foster and Reno. As the advanced guard, consist- 
 ing of a company of the twenty-first Massachusetts, were marching 
 through the forest, a number of Rebels who were in ambush fired upon 
 them. These were soon routed, three being killed and five wounded. 
 A short time afterward a detachment of Rebels was observed approaching, 
 bearing a flag of truce. Having come within hailing distance of the 
 Federal lines Lieutenant Poor, who commanded the flag, desired to see 
 the chief Federal officer. He was conducted to General Foster. He 
 inquired what terms of capitulation would be granted. The answer was, 
 that no other terms than an immediate and unconditional surrender were 
 admissible. Lieutenant Poor at once acceded to them and led the way to 
 the Rebel encampment. Having arrived the capitulation was completed, 
 and all the guns, works, ammunition and stores of the Rebels on Roanoke 
 Island became the trophies of the victors. Two thousand Rebel troops 
 were also taken prisoners of war. They were composed chiefly of resi- 
 
186 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 dents of North Carolina. Among them was Colonel Shaw, the comman- 
 dant of the Island. The Federal loss during the entire contest was twenty 
 kiNed and ninety-six wounded. The loss of the Bebels was probably 
 greater, though it was not' accurately ascertained. 
 
 The several forts which had been erected on Roanoke Island by the 
 Kebels for the purpose of commanding Roanoke and Croatan Sounds, ' 
 were of considerable strength. Fort Bartow mounted one rifled thirty- 
 two pounder, six smooth bore thirty-two pounders, and one rifled brass six 
 pounder. Fort Blanchard, situated two miles from Fort Bartow, contained 
 four long thirty-two pounders. Farther up the island, and near its ex- 
 tremity, was Fort Iluger, which contained nine long thirty-two pounders 
 and one rifled gun. In an opposite portion of the island was Fort Forrest, 
 which contained two thirty-two pounders. Though insignificant in size 
 it commanded the route from Croatan Sound to Nags Head. A battery 
 at Robb's Fishery, on the mainland opposite, which was composed of old 
 barges, and held three guns, was destroyed as worthless by the Federal 
 troops, after the capitulation. When deserting their several forts the 
 Rebels attempted to spike their cannon with tenpenny nails. All of these 
 were afterward extracted, and the purpose of the Rebels defeated. 
 
 The complete and glorious victory which graced the Federal arms in 
 the capture of Roanoke Island, fell like a thunderbolt on the Rebel 
 leaders. Its value to the cause of the Union was immense ; and its rela- 
 tion to operations which were afterward to be undertaken was important. 
 During its progress several personal incidents occurred which invested it 
 with a deep and permanent interest. Among these was the heroic death 
 ol Lieutenant Colonel De Montreuil, of the D'Epineul Zouaves. When 
 the New York ninth made the gallant charge, which was the chief cause 
 of the desertion of Fort Bartow by the Rebels, he rushed forward in the 
 advance. In one of tlie last volleys of musketry which they discharged 
 from their works, in the dawning hour of exultant victory, he fell, pierced 
 through the head by a bullet, llis death was a serious loss ; for he was 
 an officer of unusual merit. But within the gloomy walls of Fort Bartow, 
 amid all the wreck and confusion produced by the conflict, there was 
 another death-scene of still more melanclioly interest. 0. Jennings Wise, 
 the son of llenry A. Wise, after having been brought back wounded to 
 the fort, was placed under the care of a surgeon ; but it soon became evi- 
 dent that he was beyond the aid of the physician's art. Until he became 
 speechless he retained the hope that he would recover; and inquired with 
 great solicitude from the surgeon whether, 'after his recovery, he would be 
 permitted to return to Richmond on his parole of honor? His early 
 death was a sad but well-deserved penalty for the prostitution of his 
 talents and his influence to the cause of treason. Previous to the com- 
 mencement of the attack, a Rebel fleet, commanded by Commodore Lynch, 
 had been stationed at Roanoke Island. It consisted of nine small vessels, 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL BURNSIDE. ]8t 
 
 which mounted seventeen guns. All these vessels, with the exception of 
 two, were subsequently taken or destroyed by the Federal forces. By 
 this event the enemy were thenceforth deprived of all means of commu- 
 nication along Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. 
 
 Thus far the purpose of this expedition had been successfully attained, 
 and reflected honor on all concerned, but especially upon its master-spirit, 
 General Burnside. This gallant officer was born in Indiana in 1824. 
 He entered West Point Academy at the early age of eighteen, and grad- 
 uated in 1847. He was breveted second lieutenant, and joining the army 
 then in Mexico, marched under Patterson to the gates of the capital. 
 After the conclusion of the war he was stationed at Fort Adams, in New- 
 port Harbor. In 1849 he was attached to Captain Bragg's battery, and 
 performed frontier service during several years in New Mexico. He af- 
 terward received the post of quartermaster to the commission which 
 surveyed the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. He 
 was then already distinguished for his energy and daring. In 1851 he 
 crossed the plains from the Gila river, through the Indian territory, trav- 
 eling twelve hundred miles in seventeen days, with an escort of only three, 
 men, and brought dispatches from Colonel Graham to the President. He 
 was again stationed at Fort Adams; but subsequently, wearied with a 
 life of inaction, he obtained the post of cashier of the Land Department 
 of the Illinois Central Eailroad, of which General McClellan was then 
 superintendent. Two years later he became the treasurer of the company, 
 and removed to the city of New York. Immediately after the outbreak 
 of the Rebellion, he was invited by Governor Sprague of Rhode Island to 
 take command of the first regiment of that State. He immediately ac- 
 cepted the offer, and in half an hour commenced his journey to Providence, 
 He distinguished himself by his coolness and bravery in the engagement 
 at Stone Bridge, and afterward at the more memorable and disastrous 
 conflict of Bull Run. His superior merits as an officer and a man 
 strongly commended him as a suitable person to command the Federal 
 expedition against Rganoke Island. The event demonstrated the wisdom 
 of the appointment. 
 
 From this scene of triumph on the sea-coast, we turn to another of 
 equal interest, though of less imposing proportions, in the Misissippi 
 valley. 
 
 On the 5th of February General Grant ordered Flag-officer Foote to 
 take command of seven gunboats and proceed to the attack of Fort Henry, 
 an important Rebel fortification, situated on the eastern bank of the 
 Tennessee river near the Kentucky line, about fifty-five miles from 
 Paducah. A reconnoissance of the works had previously been made by 
 General C. F. Smith, on the 21st of January, by which he ascertained that 
 the Federal gunboats could assume a position in the river from which 
 they could assault the fort with advantage. The fortification contained 
 
188 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 two sixty-four pounders, one thirty-two pounder, two twenty-four pound- 
 ers, three six pounders, and two twelve pound howitzers. The garrison 
 numbered about sixty men. The capture of the fort was important, 
 inasmuch as it would enable the Federal boats to ascend the Tennessee 
 river to the point where the Memphis and Ohio railroad crossed, and 
 would give the Union troops possession of that valuable means of com- 
 munication. 
 
 The gunboats appropriated to the service of reducing the fort were the 
 Cincinnati, the St. Louis, tlie Carondelet, the Essex, the Conestoga, the 
 Tyler, and the Lexington. These boats had been built expressly for such 
 enterprises, and were constructed on so broad a model that they pos- 
 sessed, while in the water, almost the firmness of a land battery. The 
 Cincinnati carried thirteen guns, and was commanded by Lieutenant R. 
 N. Stembcl. The St. Louis carried thirteen guns, and was commanded by 
 Lieutenant Paulding. The force of the Carondelet was the same, com- 
 manded by Ileury "Walke. The Essex had nine guns, and was under 
 the orders of Commander W. D. Porter. The Conestoga, the Tyler, and 
 the Lexington were of similar strength, and were commanded by Lieu- 
 tenants Phelps, Gwin, and Shirk, respectively. These vessels having 
 approached on the 6th of February within seventeen hundred yards of 
 Fort Henry, commenced the assault at half-past twelve o'clock. The 
 action was spirited on both sides, and continued during nearly two hours. 
 The firing of the Rebels was made with precision. A shot passed 
 through the boiler of the Es.scx, which disabled her, and killed several 
 men by the escaping steam, after which she was compelled to drop down 
 the river. The Cincinnati received thirty -one shots, and had one man 
 killed and eight wounded. During the engagement this boat proudly 
 kept her position in the advance, until at last she reached a point within 
 three hundred yards of the fort. A number of the Rebel guns had now 
 been dismounted, and one of them burst. The enemy lost five killed and 
 ten wounded. At forty minutes past one o'clock the Rebel flag was 
 struck, and the fort surrendered. The commanding officer, General 
 Lloyd Tilghmau, together with fifty-four men, became prisoners of war. 
 The trophies of the victory consisted of the ammunition and artillery of 
 the enemy, together with a large amount of stores and tents, sufficient to 
 accommodate fifteen thousand men. Previous to the engagement, a body 
 of several thousand Rebel troops had been encamped in the vicinity of 
 the fort. These retreated toward Paris as soon as they discovered that 
 the surrender of the works was inevitable; and by this precipitate flight 
 they succeeded in getting beyond the grasp of the victors. General 
 Grant reached the scene of conflict nearly an hour after the surrender, and 
 immediately took possession of the fort. The land forces under his com- 
 mand had therefore no opportunity of participating in the contest. It had 
 been a part of the plan of the assault, that the forces under General Grant 
 
SKETCH OF COMMODORE FOOTE. 189 
 
 should attack those of the Eebels near the fort, in the rear ; but the con- 
 dition of the roads and of the river prevented that officer, as we have 
 stated, from reaching the scene of conflict until after the termination 
 of the engagement. The loss on the Federal side was tliirtj-nine killed 
 and wounded. Immediately after the capitulation, the bridge of the 
 Memphis and Ohio railroad, fifteen miles above the fort, was taken pos- 
 session of by a detachment of Federal troops. The gunboats which per- 
 formed such efficient service on this occasion were partly iron clad, 
 and generally resisted with success the shot of the enemy. The ball 
 which penetrated the boiler of the Essex, by which the greatest injury 
 was effected, entered the forward part, passing through the heavy bulk- 
 head. Immediately after the conclusion of the battle General Grant 
 ordered a large portion of his command to take their position on the 
 road leading from Fort Henry toward Fort Donelson, which important 
 fortification was designated as the next object of attack. 
 
 Captain Andrew H. Foote, the chief hero of the capture of Fort Henry, 
 was born in Connecticut, and was a sou of Senator Foote from that State, 
 against whom Daniel Webster delivered one of his most famous and 
 elaborate orations. He entered the United States service in 1822, and 
 gradually rose in his profession until 1852, when he attained the rank 
 of commander. He spent twenty years in service at sea, and the re- 
 mainder of his professional life in duty on shore. When the rebellion 
 broke forth, he was in command of the navy yard at Brooklyn. He 
 was then promoted to a captaincy, and transferred to the Department 
 of the West, where he was placed in command of the flotilla on the 
 Mississippi. In the course of his diversified services he had visited Japan, 
 and the coast of Africa ; respecting the latter, he wrote and published a 
 volume, which indicated superior literary ability. He deservedly ranked 
 among the most eminent, brave, and worthy naval officers whom the 
 annals of our country, either in war or peace, have yet produced. 
 
 The Burnside expedition, after having reduced the Eebel batteries on 
 Eoanoke Island, and taken possession of it, entered the waters of Albe- 
 marle Sound, and steering in a northern direction, sailed up the Pas- 
 quotank river. The next apparent object of attack at this period seemed 
 to be Elizabeth City, the capital of Pasquotank county, and one of the 
 most important towns in the northeastern portion of North Carolina. 
 But with admirable prudence the commander confined the secret of his 
 purposes to his own bosom, thereby leaving the enemy in a perplexing 
 uncertainty in regard to his future movements. 
 
190 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIT. 
 
 POSITION AND STRENGTH OF FORT DONELSON — OENERAI, GRANT AND FLAO-OFFIOER FOOTB 
 PREPARE TO ATTACK IT — COMMENCEMENT OF THEIR OPERATIONS — REPCLSE OF THE GUN- 
 BOATS — THE ASSAULT FROM THE LAND SIDE — INCIDENTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT — PROPO- 
 SITION OP GENERAL BUCKNER TO SURRENDER — THE FLIGHT OF GENERALS FLOYD AND PIL- 
 LOW — THE CAPITULATION OF THE FORT — RESULTS AND TROPHIES OF THE CONQUEST — 
 SKETCH OF ULYSSES S. GRANT — SKETCH OF GENERAL CHARLES FERGUSON SMITH — GENERAL 
 lander's ATTACK ON THE REBELS AT BLOOMERY GAP — ITS RESULTS — SKETCH OF GENERAL 
 LANDER — RE-ELECTION OP JEFFERSON DAVIS AS PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDE- 
 RACY — HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS — OCCUPATION OP COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, BY FEDERAL 
 TROOPS — DESERTION OF NASHVILLE BY THE REBEL FORCES — UNEXPECTED ATTACK AND 
 SUCCESS OF THE REBEL BATTERING RAM MERRIMAC — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — 
 OPPORTUNE ARRIVAL OF THE MONITOR IN HAMPTON ROADS — BATTLE BETWEEN THE MONITOR 
 AND THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 The capture of Fort Henry was merely a preliminary movement to the 
 attack on Fort Donelson. The latter was a Rebel fortification of great 
 importance, situated on the Cumberland river, and was one of the keys to 
 the possession and control of Tennessee. The works were twelve miles 
 distant from Fort Henry, and were much larger and stronger than the 
 other, presenting a front of nearly four miles. The outer batteries were 
 located on ridges several hundred feet high, which were covered with a 
 dense undergrowth of timber. The Rebels had placed heavy logs on the 
 top of their breastworks, leaving a narrow space between, through which 
 they could discharge their pieces with greater security. Upon several of 
 the eminences near the main fort smaller batteries had been erected, one 
 of which mounted five guns. An army of thirty thousand men occupied 
 and defended the works. A portion of these troops were recent reinforce- 
 ments from Bowling Green, which the enemy were evacuating. The con- 
 templated attack on Fort Donelson was to be made by both land and 
 naval forces. General Grant commanded the former, Flag-officer Foote 
 Ihc latter. Their united force numbered fifty thousand men. 
 
 The operations of the siege were commenced at three o'clock on the 
 afternoon of the 13th of February, 1862, by Captain Foote. With four 
 iron-clad and two wooden gunboats, he approached within four hundred 
 yards of the works, on the Cumberland river, and commenced a vigorous 
 assault. The Rebels responded with energy and skill. After fighting an 
 hour and a quarter, two of the vessels were disabled, and became so un- 
 manageable, the one by the loss of her wheel, the other by the loss of 
 her tiller, that they drifted down the stream, and beyond the range of 
 their guns. The remaining boats were also severely injured, one of them 
 having received fifty-nine shots. One of the rifled cannon on board the 
 
THE ASSAULT FROM THE LAND SIDE. 191 
 
 Carondelet burst, killing six men. At length, perceiving the uselessness 
 of continuing the iinequal struggle, Captain Foote withdrew his flotilla, 
 and the action for that day terminated. His loss was nine killed and 
 forty-five wounded. He had, however, succeeded in silencing nine guns 
 in the lower tier of the enemy's works. On the 14th, the attack from the 
 land side began. The forces of General Grant were drawn up in line of 
 battle, on a range of hills outside of those occupied by the exterior 
 batteries of the rebels; by which means the latter were completely 
 encircled, from the Cumberland, south of the fort, to the waters of a 
 stream which flowed on the north side of it. The attack was commenced 
 by a discharge of artillery by Captain Tyler, who threw his shells with 
 admirable precision into the works of the enemy, at a point where they 
 seemed to be thickly crowded together. During the 14th, the left wing 
 of the Federal forces was chiefly engaged, and before night the upper fort 
 on the enemy's right, which was the object of their attack, was taken and 
 occupied by the assailants. During this day the Eebels succeeded in 
 capturing Schwartz's battery, but before the action was suspended by the 
 approach of darkness it was retaken. The enemy had accomplished that 
 achievement by making a desperate sortie, in whicb they drove the 
 Federals half a mile, and then returned to their works with their trophy. 
 Afterward, when the Federals rallied, they not only redeemed the lost 
 advantage, but also gained possession of a portion of the enemy's works. 
 
 On the following day the engagement was renewed with the utmost 
 fury. General Charles F. Smith led the attack on the lower end of the 
 intrenchments, and was the first to gain a footing within them. General 
 McClernand's division, composed of the brigades of Wallace, McArthur, 
 and Ogleby, fought with great heroism, and suffered heavily. They were 
 chiefly composed of troops from Illinois. The enemy succeeded at one 
 time in turning the right wing of the Federal army ; but after half an 
 hour, the lost ground was regained. During the whole of Saturday, the 
 15th, the battle raged with varied fortunes. It cannot be denied that 
 little generalship was displayed by some of the chief ofiicers of the 
 Federal army ; for during a large part of the engagement, the men fought 
 in a great measure under the repulse of personal bravery, without any 
 uniform plan of operations, and often fired at will. The enemy fought 
 with very great advantages, being protected by their extensive works, 
 to which, after each renewed repulse, they could retire in comparative 
 safety. From their breastworks they hurled a deluge of grape shot and 
 canister against their assailants, and many fell from musketry and rifle 
 balls. Nevertheless, the Federal troops fought with the utmost resolution, 
 and repeatedly gained important successes by their heroic exertions. 
 
 "When darkness fell on Saturday evening, the issue of the conflict 
 seemed undecided. The Eebels still held possession of the greater por- 
 tion of their works, and it was expected that on the ensuing day, the 
 
192 THE CIVIL WAK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 battle would be renewed with increased fury. Accordingly, during 
 Saturday night a concentration of all the Federal troops was made, and 
 orders were given that every man should be at his post in the early dawn, 
 prepared to charge the enemy at the point of the bayonet. This move- 
 ment was to be made simultaneously along the whole line. During the 
 hours of night an unusual and mysterious silence prevailed throughout 
 the works of the Rebels. "When at length the morning of Sunday, the 
 16th, dawned, the first sight which greeted the Federal commanders was 
 a number of white flags displayed at various intervals upon the fortifica- 
 tions. Soon afterward a flag of truce was seen approaching. It accom- 
 panied a letter from General Buckner, the commander of the Eebel forces, 
 to General Grant, proposing that commissioners should be appointed to 
 arrange the terms of the capitulation of the Confederate forces under his 
 command, and asking for an armistice until twelve o'clock. To this 
 communication General Grant immediately rejDlied, that no terms what- 
 ever could be accepted except an unconditional and immediate surrender. 
 At the same time he gave the llebel officer the unwelcome information, 
 that it was his intention to renew the attack without delay. This 
 missive soon elicited a response from General Buckner, in which, after 
 complimenting himself and his troops upon the brilliant valor which they 
 had exhibited, he added that he sliould accept the " ungenerous and un- 
 chivalrous terms" which had been designated. In a short time afterward, 
 the Federal troops advanced, entered, and took possession of the vast 
 fortifications of the vanquished enemy. The stars and stripes were then 
 unfurled over Fort Donelson, the largest and strongest of the Eebel fort- 
 resses in the southwest. 
 
 Then it was that the most singular and startling announcements were 
 made to the victors. During the previous night Generals Floyd and 
 Pillow had secretly made their escape from the intrenchments, having 
 embarked with the utmost sccresy, with about two thousand troops, on the 
 Rebel steamers which were lying in the river. Of the remainder, fifteen 
 thousand became prisoners of war ; many had deserted in small bodies ; 
 and the dead and wounded were numerous. Among the officers captured 
 were General Buckner, Colonels Gantt, Voorhees, Brown, and Abernethy. 
 Twelve thousand stand of arms were taken, a vast amount of ammunition 
 and stores, fourteen thirty-two pounders, with other guns of smaller 
 calibre. Among those who had distinguished themselves during the 
 engagement were Generals Wallace, McClernand, and Charles F. Smith. 
 The loss of the Rebels during this battle was about five hundred killed, 
 and one thousand wounded. The loss on the Federal side was three 
 hundred and fifty-five killed, fourteen hundred wounded and missing. 
 The immense number of prisoners taken were transferred as quickly as 
 possible to Camp Douglas, near Chicago, and to other suitable points in 
 the northwest. 
 
GEN. LANDER'S ATTACK ON BLOOMERY GAP. 193 
 
 Major-Geaeral Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Federal forces 
 during this memorable combat, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, in 
 1822. He entered "West Point Academy in 1839, and graduated in 184:3, 
 and was appohited brevet second-lieutenant. He served under General 
 Taylor during the Mexican war ; also under General Scott, during his 
 march from Vera Cruz to the capital ; and was twice promoted for his 
 meritorious conduct. He afterward became regimental quartermaster, 
 and in 1854 had attained the rank of captain in the fourth infantry of 
 regulars. Withdrawing then from the service into civil life, he removed 
 to St. Louis county, Missouri, and thence to Galena. When the rebellion 
 broke forth he tendered his services to Governor Yates, was accepted, 
 and appointed colonel of the twenty-first regiment of Illinois volunteers. 
 He was soon after promoted to the rank of brigadier, and took a promi- 
 nent part in many of the earlier scenes of the conflict in Missouri. He 
 commanded in the southeastern district in that State ; and by his occupa- 
 tion of Paducah, and by his gallant conduct in the battle of Belmont, he 
 earned the high rank of major-general, to which he was promoted by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, and in which he was confirmed by the Senate. The important 
 conflicts at Forts Henry and Donelson added to the lustre of his renown. 
 
 General Charles Ferguson Smith, who distinguished himself greatly at 
 Fort Donelson, was born in Pennsylvania in 1807. He entered the 
 Academy at West Point in 1821, and graduated in 1825, being appointed 
 at once second lieutenant. In 1829 he was made an assistant instructor 
 of infantry tactics at West Point. He remained at that institution till 
 1842, during which interval he attained the rank of captain. In April, 
 1847, he was breveted major for his gallantry in the battles of Palo Alto 
 and Resaca de la Palma. He covered himself with laurels in many of 
 the severest conflicts of the Mexican war, especially at Coutreras and 
 Churubusco, and received the rank of colonel. In August, 1861, he was 
 made a brigadier- general of volunteers, and immediately afterward took 
 command of the troops stationed at Paducah. This valuable officer died 
 at Savannah, Tennessee, on the 25th of April, 1862. The glorious triumph 
 of the Union arms at Fort Donelson was due, in a very great measure, 
 to his superior skill and gallantry. 
 
 The long and monotonous inactivity which had characterized the Army 
 of the Potomac near Washington, during some months, was agreeably 
 broken on the 14th of February by a bold and sudden movement of a 
 part of the troops commanded by General Lander. That officer having 
 ascertained that the brigade of the Rebel General Carson, four thousand 
 in number, had taken a strong position at Bloomery Gap, resolved to 
 attack them. He ordered the five hundred cavalry attached to his brigade 
 to take the advance, and having reached the Cacapon river, to construct * 
 a bridge for the passage of the infantry who were to follow. This order 
 was promptly executed. Twenty wagons were placed at intervals in the 
 13 
 
194 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 river, over wtich planks were laid, and thus in several hours at night a 
 bridge was constructed a hundred and eighty feet in length, which admi- 
 rably answered the purpose of transportation. It was located at a point 
 seven miles distant from the Cacapon railroad, and about the same dis- 
 tance from Bloomery Gap, the contemplated scene of conflict. 
 
 General Lander had intended to make the attack during the night, and 
 having driven the enemy through the Gap, to pursue them with his 
 cavalry, and capture the officers and many of the men. But the enemy 
 had already left their position, either suspicious of an attack or fore- 
 warned of its approach ; so that when the Federal troops charged through 
 the Gap they encountered no one. General Lander ordered an immediate 
 pursuit on the Winchester road by his cavalry, followed and supported 
 by the eighth Ohio regiment and the seventh Virginia. They overtook 
 the retreating foe about two miles from the Gap. The Rebels received 
 them with a sharp fire of musketry, under which the cavalry wavered 
 and showed unexpected signs of cowardice. In vain General Lander 
 ordered them to advance and charge. Not a man stirred. The General 
 then exclaimed "follow me!" One private only, named John Gannon, 
 answered the appeal. Accompanied by this solitary hero, and by Major 
 Armstrong his adjutant. Major Bannister and Fitz James O'Brien, mem- 
 bers of his staff, General Lander rode forward toward a group of Rebel 
 officers, several hundred yards distant, and ordered them to surrender. 
 The boldness and daring of this movement seemed to have paralyzed 
 those officers, and they immediately complied. But the Rebel infantry 
 posted in the adjacent woods having commenced a brisk fire. General 
 Lander ordered Colonel Anestanzel to attack them with his cavalry, and 
 attempt to secure their baggage ; while the movement was to be sup- 
 ported by the infantry. 
 
 At first the cavalry seemed disposed to refuse obedience, and General 
 Lander, jCistly enraged at their cowardice, shot at one of his men without 
 hitting him. After repeated orders the cavalry advanced, and charged 
 upon the enemy, who were then retreating. The pursuit was continued 
 for eight miles, under Colonel Carroll's direction, until he reached the 
 limits of General Lander's department. The result of this engagement 
 was the capture of eighteen commissioned officers and forty-five non- 
 commissioned officers and privates, together with fifteen baggage wagons. 
 The loss of the Rebels was thirty killed ; that of ihe Federals was seven 
 killed and wounded. The rout of tlie enemy was complete, notwith- 
 standing the inefficiency of the cavalry. That inefficiency was attributed 
 to the fact, that several of their officers were absent, that they had never 
 before been under fire, and that they were unaccustomed to practice with 
 the sabre. 
 
 General Lander, the hero of this spirited movement, was a remarkably 
 brave and chivalrous officer. His subsequent premature death was a 
 
RE-ELECTION OP JEFFERSON D^VIS. 195 
 
 serious loss to tte Federal cause. He was a native of Salem, Massachu- 
 setts. Though not regularly educated to the profession of arms, he pos- 
 sessed ample military knowledge, and all the qualities necessary to render 
 him a successful commander. During the years 1859 and 1860 he served 
 as superintendent of the overland wagon-road to California. Immediately 
 after the commencement of the war he joined the staff of General McClel- 
 lan as a volunteer, in Western Virginia. He afterward became provost 
 marshal under that officer. At the battle of Eich Mountain he distin- 
 guished himself by his coolness and intrepidity. His horse was there 
 killed under him. He then fought on foot and attacked a Eebel gun. 
 He shot all the men who served it with his own hand, except three. The 
 remainder then fled, leaving a lieutenant alone to work it. That officer 
 continued to discharge the gun, when General Lander ordered him to 
 surrender on pain of immediate death. He refused and continued to fire. 
 Lander then turned away and exclaimed to his men : "I cannot shoot so 
 brave a man, you must do it !" He soon fell, pierced with four bullets. 
 After the battle and the victory General Lander, with chivalrous gener- 
 osity, ordered the body of the deceased officer to be conveyed under an 
 escort across the mountain to a point near which the enemy had encamped, 
 and delivered to his late companions inarms. General Lander died on 
 the 2d of March, 1862, in his camp in Northern Virginia, from conges- 
 tion of the brain. By that event an ampler page of heroic history will 
 henceforth remain forever unwritten, which without doubt would have 
 otherwise graced the annals of the war. 
 
 The recent reverses which had overtaken the Rebel arms in almost 
 every department of the arena of conflict, did not prevent the Confede- 
 rates from observing the ceremony of electing the chief officers of their 
 government, who were to serve during the term of the ensuing six years. 
 Accordingly, the period for which their provisional administration had 
 b.een erected being about to expire, Jefferson Davis was chosen President, 
 and A. H. Stephens Vice President of the Confederate States, by the 
 unanimous votes of the conventions of all the States which were connected 
 with the Rebellion. The ceremony of the inauguration of these officers 
 took place at Richmond, on the 22d of February, with as great a display 
 of pomp and dignity as could be mustered for the occasion. The oath of 
 office was administered to the President by the Hon. J. D. Halyburton, 
 the chief Confederate judge, and to A. H. Stevens by the president of 
 tlie Rebel Senate. The inaugural address of the Executive was the most 
 remarkable feature of the occasion. It had been elaborated with great 
 care, and was adroitly adapted to produce a favorable impression upon his 
 constituents. But in spite of all his artificial periods and his simulated 
 confidence, an air of extreme despondency pervaded his utterances. He 
 reiterated the effete accusation that the Federal Government had given 
 birth to the Rebellion by its unjust legislation against the interests of the 
 
196 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 South. He charged the northern armies with cruelty and ferocity in the 
 manner in which they had conducted the contest. He dwelt upon the 
 love of justice and the preference for peace which had characterized the 
 Confederate States, and upon their efforts to avert the horrors of war by 
 an amicable settlement of difficulties at Washington. He congratulated 
 his constituents on the intrepidity and heroism with which they had thus 
 far defended their sacred rights and had resisted the arms of their op- 
 pressors. He admitted that the Confederate forces had recently suffered 
 the most serious disasters ; but he affirmed that the effect of these mis- 
 fortunes would simply be to unite them in a more determined and 
 unconquerable resolution to achieve their liberties. As a chief encourage- 
 ment, he reminded his hearers that the vast pecuniary burdens which the 
 Federal Government was assuming would soon crush it to the earth, and 
 render it incapable of further efficient assaults upon their rights and their 
 territories.* 
 
 While the Rebel authorities were thus consoling themselves by cheer- 
 ing prognostications of the future, the rapid progress of events continually 
 and repeatedly falsified their hopes. On the 1st of March, the right wing 
 of the Army of the Potomac under General Banks crossed the river, 
 advanced into Virginia, and occupied Bolivar, Charlestown, and Martins- 
 burg. This important movement was a portion of the great network of 
 operations by which the Federal armies, in several vast bodies, were in- 
 tended to approach Richmond by opposite routes, and thus attack it and 
 its defenders simultaneously. At Charlestown, eight hundred barrels of 
 flour prepared for the Rebel army were captured. The corps under 
 Banks were steadily approaching Winchester, where the enemy were 
 posted under Jackson in considerable strength. 
 
 In other portions of the Union fortune seemed to have deserted the 
 Confederate cause still more unequivocally. In Missouri, the expedition 
 which had been organized under Jefferson Thompson, was attacked at 
 Sykestown by the Union cavalry attached to the brigades of Generals 
 Hamilton, Morgan and Pope, and was driven into the swamps, with the 
 loss of six pieces of artillery and forty prisoners. On the 2d of March, 
 a flotilla consisting of six gunboats, under the command of Flag-officer 
 Foote, sailed down the Mississippi river to Columbus, Kentucky, and 
 made a demonstration against the Rebel works which had been erected 
 there. Anticipating a formidable attack from the Federal forces, the 
 
 * The oflScers of the cabinet appointed by Jefferson Davis were as follows : 
 J. P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, Secretary of State. 
 General George W. Randolph, of Virginia, Secretary of War. 
 S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Na^'^'. 
 
 C. G. Memminger, of South Carolina, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Mr. Henry, M. C. from Kentucky, Postmaster-General. 
 Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, Attorney-General. 
 
DESERTION OP NASflVILtE BY REBEL FORCES. 
 
 197 
 
 enemy deemed it more judicious to retire. They therefore abandoned 
 their fortifications and evacuated the town. It had been the strongest 
 Rebel position iu the valley of the Mississippi. But before their flight 
 they endeavored to destroy their barracks, the town, and their magazines, 
 by fire. They sank a number of their heaviest guns in the river. The 
 "Federal forces took possession peaceably of what remained of the recent 
 stronghold of the fugitives. The occupation of Columbus delivered the 
 State of Kentucky from the presence and supremacy of the Rebel arms. 
 Generals Cullum and Sherman commanded the land forces which were 
 intended to co-operate with the gunboats in the expected attack on the 
 abandoned works. 
 
 Nearly contemporaneous with this event, was the desertion of Nash- 
 ville by the Eebel forces which had been assembled there, and its occupa- 
 tion by the Federal troops under General Buell. The stars and stripes 
 were again unfurled from the stately dome of the capitol of Tennessee. 
 The presence of the Union troops in this city produced a magical effect 
 upon the opinions of thousands of the inhabitants of that State, who 
 immediately declared themselves in favor of the Federal Government and 
 solicitous for its eventual triumph. It was already proposed that Andrew 
 Johnson should be appointed by President Lincoln the military pro 
 visional governor of Tennessee, until the legitimate civil authorities could 
 be re-established. Thus, over the entire area of the West and South, 
 wherever the rival republics came into collision, success at this period 
 uniformly attended the champions of the Federal Union. 
 
 Suddenly, the nation was astounded by the report of a reverse, from an 
 unexpected source, of the most novel and unusual character. On the 
 8th of March, a steam-vessel of singular structure and appearance was 
 observed by the lookout at Fortress Monroe to issue from the harbor at 
 Norfolk and sail down the channel toward Sewell's Point. Sio-nal eans 
 were immediately fired to notify, the Union vessels, the Cumberland, the 
 Congress, the Minnesota, the St. Lawrence and the Roanoke, which were 
 then riding at anchor in Hampton roads, of the approach of danoer. 
 The mysterious craft seemed like a floating house, with its roof and 
 chimney only above the water. Slowly but steadily she pursued her way 
 through the channel toward Newport News, and then turned toward the 
 mouth of James river where the Cumberland and the Congress lay. 
 Soon her fatal character and mission became evident. She was recognized 
 as the famous iron-clad steamer and battering-ram Merrimac, which the 
 Rebel Government had for some time been constructing at Norfolk. 
 
 As this dangerous monster silently approached the Cumberland, that 
 vessel discharged a volley from her heavy guns at the stranger. The 
 balls indeed reached their aim, but they did not produce the slightest per- 
 ceptible effect. They glanced from her iron sides and deck, leavino- no 
 trace of their contact. The Congress also added the complement of her 
 
198 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 artillery to tbose of the Cumberland, but with an equally harmless result 
 The Rebel craft seemed to defy and scorn their attacks ; for she continued 
 steadily to approach, her ports all silent and shut, but under the impetus 
 of a powerful head of steam. At length she steered with direct aim and 
 increased velocity toward the Cumberland. She struck her araidship with 
 her iron beak, making a frightful gash in her side. She then fired a 
 volley into the wounded vessel, drew off a short distance, and repeated 
 the ferocious assault. It was enough to seal her fate. The Cumberland 
 had been fatally disabled, and was instantly in a sinking condition. 
 During the progress of this attack, two Rebel steamer.s, the Yorktown and 
 Jamestown, had descended the James river and engaged the Union vessels 
 on the other side. 
 
 The Merrimac having thus destroyed the Cumberland turned her prow 
 and addressed herself to the Congress. This vessel was unable to make 
 any effective resistance, her crew having been discharged the day before, 
 and several companies of the naval brigade being only temporarily on 
 board. When her commander saw the hopelessness of resistance, the 
 wooden vessels being entirely at the mercy of the iron batterer, he struck 
 his colors to avoid the destruction which had overtaken the Cumberland. 
 The Jamestown then approached, received on board the officers of the 
 Congress as prisoners, and gave the crew an ojjportunity to escape in the 
 boats. The vessel was then fired by the Rebels. Immediately after this 
 achievement, the Merrimac, the Yorktown, and the Jamestown commenced 
 an attack in concert on the batteries of Newport News, to which that fort 
 responded with vigor. Meanwhile the Congress burned to the water's 
 edge, dnd before sinking blew up. The Cumberland also sank. The 
 loss of life in both ships was considerable, inasmuch as a large number 
 of the crews of both were unable to escape in the boats. The Merrimac 
 having completed her intended achievements, returned in triumph to 
 Norfolk, capturing in her passage several small vessels. This sudden 
 demonstration of naval power was one of the most noteworthy incidents 
 which had yet occurred during the war. Never before had the efficiency 
 of iron-clad steam batteries been so clearly demonstrated. It was now 
 evident that the colossal wooden vessels which had for ages been the pride 
 and the terror of European fleets, could be henceforth rendered harmless 
 by the use of ships of much smaller proportions, if inca.sed in iron, if pro- 
 pelled by steam, and if armed with the sharp iron beaks which had been 
 familiar to the naval architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans. 
 Fortunately for the honor and safety of the Union cause, the private 
 enterprise of an eminent and opulent citizen had constructed a vessel on 
 the same principle ; and that vessel, by an equally propitious accident, 
 arrived in the vicinity of this disaster a few hours after its occurrence. 
 The Ericsson iron-clad steamer Monitor reached Fortress Monroe at nine 
 o'clock on the night of the 8th of March. The next morning she pro- 
 
1^^ 
 
 .-?= 
 
 s 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 k3 
 
 
 yj 
 
ENGAGEMENT OF THE -MERRIMAC" AND "MONITOR." 199 
 
 ceeded out into the channel and invited the exulting enemy to an engage- 
 ment. The offer was accepted, and soon the Merrimac, the Yorktown, 
 and the Jamestown, attempted to renew the triumph of the preceding day. 
 A desperate combat of five hours' duration ensued. The wooden vessela 
 of the Eebels quickly found it expedient to retire, leaving the two iron 
 bound monsters confronting each other. Then a most singular and novel 
 spectacle was exhibited. During several hours the vessels fought fiercely, 
 butting and grappling each other. They repeatedly discharged their 
 heavy guns against each other's sides ; but while the shot of the Merrimac 
 rebounded harmlessly from the impenetrable covering of her antagonist, 
 the greater calibre of the guns of the Monitor forced their thunderbolts 
 through the sides of the EebeL craft, and severely damaged her. The 
 Monitor was commanded with great skill and fortitude by Lieutenant J. 
 S. Worden, who was wounded during the engagement. At its termina- 
 tion the Merrimac was towed back to the port of Norfolk, apparently 
 disabled, and evidently with much less exultation than had characterized 
 her return to her berth on the preceding day. The presence of the Moni- 
 tor in Hampton Eoads secured the Union vessels, which were enforcing 
 the blockade of James river, from the future attacks of the Merrimac ; and 
 fortunately withered the laurels, which had so suddenly sprung up to 
 decorate the brows of the Confederate naval heroes. 
 
 The Merrimac, whose sudden onslaught on the Federal ships excited 
 so much surprise and indignation, originally belonged to the Federal 
 Government, had been built in 1855 at the Charlestown navy yard, and 
 was known in the Federal navy by the same name. She happened to 
 be lying in the port of Norfolk, as a store and receiving ship, at the 
 period of the Rebel attack on that city. When the navy yard at Norfolk 
 was abandoned and sacrificed in so mysterious a manner by Commodore 
 McCauley, the Merrimac was set on fire, scuttled, and sunk by his orders. 
 She was thirty-two hundred tons burden, and pierced for forty guns. 
 The Rebel authorities, appreciating her value, subsequently raised the 
 hull, and proceeded to convert her into an iron-clad battery. She was 
 covered with a bomb-proof coating of wrought iron several inches in 
 thickness. Her bow was armed with a steel beak, projecting six feet 
 under the water, with which to strike and perforate her opponents. Her 
 decks were protected by a covering of railroad iron in the form of an 
 arch, from which the shot and shell of her assailants necessarily glanced 
 without effect. Her special mission was intended to be to sink the 
 various vessels engaged in the blockade of the Southern ports ; and it is 
 probable that, had not the formidable and unexpected apparition of the 
 Monitor suddenly intercepted her purpose, it would have been in a great 
 measure accomplished, before any other effectual means to prevent it 
 could have been obtained by the Federal Government. 
 ^ The structure of the Monitor was essentially different from that of lier 
 
200 THE CIVIL WAE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rival. She was a hundred and seventy-two feet in length, and placed so 
 low in the water as to afford little surface for the assaults of an assailant. 
 Her deck was flat, and her sides encased in heavy armor. Both ends of 
 the vessel were pointed, and she required very little water in which to 
 float. The chief objects which appeared on her deck were a smoke-stack 
 and a turret. The latter was incased in wrought iron, several inches in 
 thickness, and contained two guns, each ball of which weighed a hundred 
 and eighty-four pounds. Within the bowels of the vessel a powerful 
 engine was placed, which drove her with resistless impetus against her 
 enemy. Her flat deck was bomb-proof, and covered with iron plate an 
 inch in thickness. The turret revolved, so as to be able to bring its 
 tremendous guns to bear at any angle- which might be desired. The 
 vessel was a marvel of architectural skill and of mechanical power, such 
 as the present age had never before witnessed. 
 
THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, ARKANSAS. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE IN ARKANSAS — GENERAL CURTIS — ATTACK OT THE REBELS ON THE 
 REAR OP' THE FEDERAL ARMV — GALLANTRY OP GENERAL SIOEL — CONTINtlANCE OF THE 
 BATTLE ON THE SECOND DAY — INCIDENTS OP THE CONTEST — IT IS RENEWED UPON THE 
 
 THIRD DAY COMPLETE ROUT OF THE REBELS RESULTS OP THE VICTORY SKETCHES OF 
 
 GENERALS CURTIS AND SIGEL — PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ORDERS TO THE FEDERAL ARMIES TO 
 MOVE ON THE TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY — GENERAL MCCLELLAN's ADDRESS TO THE 
 ARMY OP THE POTOMAC — SUDDEN EVACUATION OF MANASSAS BY THE REBELS — MOVEMENT 
 OF FEDERAL TROOPS — BOMBARDMENT OF ISLAND NUMBER TEN — INCIDENTS OP THE CONTEST — 
 REDUCTION OP THE REBEL WORKS — OPERATIONS OF GENERAL POPE — ARTIFICIAL CHANNEL 
 CUT THROUGH JAMES BAYOU' — GENERAL POPE ATTACKS THE REBELS AT TIPTONVILLE — CON- 
 SEQUENCES OF THE CAPTURE OF ISLAND NUMBER TEN — SKETCH OF GENERAL POPE — GENE- 
 RAL BURNSIDE ATTACKS NEWBERN — THE REBELS SURRENDER — CONSEQUENCES OF THIS 
 VICTORY. 
 
 The unromantic name of Pea Ridge will hereafter designate, on the 
 historic page, one of the most protracted and desperate struggles which 
 occurred during the progress of the war against Secession. This rugged 
 spot is situated amid the mountain wilds of Arkansas. It was there that 
 the Rebel- Generals Van Dorn, McCulloch, and Price, had concentrated the 
 forces under their several orders ; and on the 6th, the 7th, and the 8th of 
 March, 1862, contested the palm of victory with the Federal troops under 
 the command of Generals Curtis and Sigel. The forces of the enemy 
 numbered about thirty-five thousand men ; their opponents numbered 
 twenty-five thousand. The latter consisted of volunteers from Ohio, In- 
 . diana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. This engagement commenced on the 
 6th of March by an attack of the Rebel cavalry on the rear of the Union 
 army. The purpose of this movement seemed to be to get possession of the 
 wagon-trains of the Federals. General Sigel being in command of that 
 portion of the troops, resisted the enemy with great gallantry. He pro- 
 tected the train during several hours with eight hundred men against an 
 attack of fifteen hundred. The first day of the conflict wore away in 
 various unsuccessful efforts on the part of the Rebels to get possession of 
 the trains, by breaking and dispersing the right wing of the Federals. 
 At eleven o'clock on the morning of the 7th, the enemy renewed the 
 attack. During the preceding night General Curtis had made important 
 changes in the disposition of his troops, and had strengthened those por- 
 tions of his line against which he anticipated the most vigorous assaults. 
 The centre of the Rebels was led in person by the notorious Benjamin 
 McCulloch, who made prodigious exertions to overpower the firm and 
 steady ranks of the Federals, commanded by Colonel Davis, of Missouri. 
 Repeatedly did that renowned warrior bring up his men to the attack, 
 
202 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and as often were they with heavy slaughter repulsed. Ouce only did 
 his troops obtain an advantage by driving back the Federals from " Cross 
 Timber Hollow," which had been occupied by Colonel Carr. But he paid 
 dearly for this temporary success. His columns were assailed with re- 
 newed determination, by a combined attack of the troops under Colonel 
 Osterhaus, Colonel Davis, and General Sigel, and were discomfited with 
 immense loss. It was during this struggle that General McCulloch was 
 mortally wounded. He fell while fighting in the thickest of the combat. 
 
 At the end of the second day's engagement, the advantage greatly pre- 
 ponderated in the favor of the Federals. During the following night 
 General Curtis made additional changes in the position of his forces, and 
 when the morning of the 8th dawned he was prepared to receive the 
 renewed attack of the enemy. The combatants on both sides seemed 
 eager for the struggle, and the firing began at sunrise. It soon became 
 general along the whole line, which extended several miles in circuit. 
 The Federal left wing under Sigel made a forward movement against the 
 enemy posted on the hills. General Curtis then ordered his centre and 
 right also to advance, and turning the left wing of the enemy, to assail 
 his centre. This order was admirably executed, and the Eebels were 
 placed by this skillful strategy in the arc of a circle of destructive fire. 
 Having thus enveloped both flanks of the enemy, General Curtis com- 
 manded a general charge to be made with the bayonet. The result was 
 decisive. The Rebels were instantly thrown into confusion, and fled pre- 
 cipitately on all sides. The division under Price retreated in one direc- 
 tion, that under Van Dorn escaped in another. The pursuit was continued 
 by General Sigel toward Kcithsville, and by the cavalry toward the 
 mountains. The rout of the enemy was complete. Their loss was heavy. 
 The death of McCulloch was a fatal blow to their cause in the remoter 
 southwest, where his reckless bravery and his military skill had long 
 inspired them with energy and hope. Their killed and wounded were 
 about two thousand. The victors captured more than a thousand pris- 
 oners. The Federal loss was about five hundred killed, nine hundred 
 wounded. A peculiar feature of this engagement was the presence of 
 several thousand Indians in llie Rebel lines, commanded by Albeit Pike. 
 Their savage instincts during the conflict were demonstrated by the fact 
 that after its termination, many of the wounded and slain of the Federal 
 troops were found to have been scalped; thus renewing in those wild 
 western solitudes at the present day, the primeval scenes of sanguinary 
 slaughter, which had characterized and disgraced the earlier struggles 
 which occurred on the American continent. 
 
 The chief heroes of this great battle were Generals Samuel R. Curtis 
 and Franz Sigel. The former was born in Ohio in 1807. He entered 
 West Point in 1831, and was breveted second lieutenant of the seventh 
 infantry. He resigned in 1832, and studied and practiced law in Ohio, but 
 
SKETCHES OP GENBKALS CURTIS AND SIGBL. 203 
 
 soon turned his attention to civil engineering ; and in 1837 became chief 
 engineer of the Muskingum river improvements. At a later period he 
 became engineer of the Board of Public Works of the State of Ohio. In 
 1846 he was appointed adjutant-general of that State. During the 
 Mexican war he served as colonel of the third Ohio regiment ; became 
 assistant-adjutant-general to General Wool, and subsequently civil and 
 military governor of Saltillo, Matamoras, Camargo, and Monterey. Re- 
 turning to the United States, he commenced or resumed the jDractice of 
 the law ; but abandoned it upon being chosen chief engineer of the Des 
 Moines railroad in Iowa. He was afterward elected a Eepresentative of 
 Iowa in the Thirty-Fifth Congress ; and was twice rechosen. When the 
 Rebellion broke forth Colonel Curtis raised a regiment in Iowa, of which 
 he took the chief command. He resigned his seat in Congress, and hav- 
 ing been made a brigadier-general, assisted General Fremont in Missouri. 
 In January, 1862, he left Eolla with twenty thousand men, drove Sterling 
 Price from Springfield, routed him at Cross Hollow, and crowned his 
 victorious career by his splendid victory at Pea Ridge. In reward for 
 his valuable and gallant services, he was afterward promoted to the 
 rank of major-general. 
 
 A far different kind of interest appertains to the history of Franz 
 Sigel. He was nursed in the revolutionary storms of the old woi-ld ; and 
 when triumphant despots there succeeded in arresting the spirit of liberty, 
 he emigrated to the home of the free in the far West. He was born in 
 Baden in the year 1824, and received his education at the military school 
 at Carlsruhe. His rise in his profession was rapid. In 1847 he had 
 attained the rank of chief adjutant; and was regarded as one of the most 
 accomplished officers of artillery in Germany. In 1848 the revolutionary 
 movements commenced in that country, and his enthusiastic spirit soon 
 enlisted him in the service of those who sought to disenthrall the German 
 Fatherland from the dominion of its hereditary tyrants. He was ap- 
 pointed to the chief command of one of the armies of the Liberals, and 
 in several engagements distinguished himself by gallantry and skill. On 
 one occasion he confronted eighty thousand men with thirty thousand ; 
 and though a victory against such immense odds was impossible, he 
 made good his retreat without the loss of men or guns. The conclusion 
 of the war and the subjugation of the patriots compelled him to flee. 
 After various changes and vicissitudes he was chosen professor in a col- 
 lege at St. Louis, in which, among other departments of science, he gave 
 instructions in the military art. When the Southern Rebellion began, 
 it was the signal for Sigel to abandon the peaceful pursuits of academic 
 life, and re-enter the stormy arena of conflict. Such a man as Sigel, in 
 such a time, and in such a cause, could not possibly remain inactive. 
 He took the lead among the gallant Germans of Missouri who tenderea 
 their services to the Federal Gp^y^nment. He assumed the command of 
 
204 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the third regiment of volunteers which was raised at St. Louis. We 
 have already narrated the chief events of his career subsequent to this 
 period. After the death of General Lyon at Springfield, he conducted 
 the retreat to Eolla with great ability. The distinguished part which he 
 enacted at the battle of Pea Ridge, elevated him to a high place among 
 the most eminent and efficient of the generals of the Union during the 
 civil war. His services were properly rewarded, at a subsequent period, 
 by his promotion to the rank of major-general. 
 
 On the ] 2th of March, 1862, the nation was suddenly surprised and 
 gratified by the announcement that at length President Lincoln had 
 issued positive orders that the Federal armies, including that of the 
 Potomac, which had for so many months remained inactive, should com- 
 mence a general advance against the forces of the Rebels. This order, 
 although not published until the 12th of March, had been issued privately 
 to the various commanders on the 27th of January previous ; and the 
 22d of February, the anniversary of the birth-day of the Father of his 
 Country, was designated as the day on which that welcome movement 
 should begin. Time, however, was allowed to the commander of the 
 army of the Potomac to complete the necessary organization of his troops 
 before moving, if such further organization should be requisite. 
 
 Several days after the public announcement of this order. General 
 McClellan issued an address to his army, in which he stated that the time 
 of inaction having passed by, the hour of aggressive operations had 
 arrived, and that the accurate drilling and training which were essential 
 to the efficiency of any army had now been attained. He urged them to 
 display bravery, fidelity, and endurance in the operations which were 
 before them ; and encouraged them by the prospects of victory, subse- 
 quent peace, and the restoration of the Union. In accordance with the 
 promise contained in this address, a portion of the army of the Potomac 
 began to advance. They took the route toward Centreville and Manassas, 
 which had already been rendered famous by the engagement at Bull's Run. 
 During some days previous to the march, vague reports had been current 
 throughout the country, that the Rebel army, which had wintered on the 
 Potomac, had retreated toward Gordonsville ; and that the battle-ground 
 which they had fortified with so much labor and skill, was no longer 
 defended by them against the advance of the Federal forces. To the 
 astonishment of the whole nation, these reports, which at first seemed 
 incredible, were found upon examination to be perfectly true. The 
 great Rebel army had actually vacated their position at Manassas, and 
 were retreating southward as the Federal troops advanced. Their object 
 was now supposed to bo to concentrate their strength nearer to Richmond ; 
 and it must be admitted that, by this movement they gained some im- 
 portant strategical advantages. The fortifications which they had thus 
 abandoned were formidable. They extended from a point half a mile 
 
MOVEMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS. 205 
 
 north of Centreville, toward the south as far as the eye could reach. The 
 embrazures had been mounted by heavy guns, which were withdrawn in 
 the retreat. There were ample indications that the ammunition and the 
 stores of the Eebel army had been abundant. Vast warehouses had been 
 erected at Manassas for the storage of provisions, and miles of well-con- 
 structed huts demonstrated that during the winter the comfort and health 
 of their forces had been carefully attended to. After their retrograde 
 movement, it did not comport with the plans of the Federal commanders 
 to pursue the line of advance further in that direction ; and the troops 
 returned toward "Washington, to continue their operations against the 
 enemy by another and a more circuitous route. That portion of the 
 Federal arqiy which was led by General Banks proceeded toward Harper's 
 Ferry, and took possession of Leesburg. This corps was destined to pur- 
 sue the retreating enemy toward "Winchester, where it was understood 
 they had taken a strong position which they defended with a formidable 
 force. 
 
 The admirable pla^n for the subjugation of the southwestern portion of 
 the Eebel States which General Halleck had elaborated, required that the 
 Mississippi river should be opened to the advance of the Federal armies, 
 and that the road to Memphis should be unobstructed. To resist this 
 suspected purpose, the Eebels had taken possession of an island in that 
 river known as Number Ten, had collected together there an army of 
 fifteen thousand men, had fortified it with great skill and industry, and 
 had thus far effectually intercepted the navigation of the river. This 
 island is situated in a bend of the stream, which touches the territory of 
 Tennessee, and is located two hundred and forty miles from St. Louis, 
 nine hundred and fifty from New Orleans. The Eebel fortifications 
 mounted forty guns of heavy calibre. They possessed also a river force 
 of five gunboats and a floating battery. It had now become essentially 
 necessary to the interests of the Federal cause that this stronghold should 
 be attacked and taken. 
 
 The Federal fleet of gunboats and mortar fiats destined for this service 
 was placed under the command of Commodore Foote. On the 15th of 
 March the gunboats Benton, Louisville, Cincinnati, Carondelet, and 
 Conestoga, proceeded from Cairo. At Columbus they were joined by the 
 Pittsburg, St. Louis, and Mound City, together with eight mortar flats, 
 with transports and ordnance boats. All these vessels sailed down the 
 river, reached the scene of conflict on the same day, and took their 
 positions about two miles above the island. Commodore Foote imme- 
 diately commenced the bombardment with three of his batteries. General 
 Pope, who was besieging New Madrid, ten miles below the island, and 
 who had erected works extending fifteen miles along the shore, as far as 
 Point Pleasant, commanded the river below, so as to prevent the escape 
 of the Eebels in that direction. Vain attempts had been made to send 
 
206 THE CITIL W^R IN THE UNITED STlTES. 
 
 transports through the bayous to the assistance of General Pope ; but a 
 gunboat was indispensably necessary to protect those vessels during their 
 transit. At length the Carondelet was selected to pass the Rebel 
 batteries and to pefurm that service. On her port side a flat boat was 
 lashed, loaded with bales of compressed hay, which protected her from 
 the works erected on the Kentucky shore. On her opposite side a barge 
 laden with coal was attached, which would furnish the necessary fuel. 
 At ten o'clock at night she was cast loose, and commenced to sail slowly 
 down the stream. At that moment a storm of terrific fury came raging 
 up the river ; the rain descended in a deluge ; the thunder peals were 
 appalling; the lightning was fearfully vivid and blinding. In the midst 
 of this chaos of the warring elements, the Carondelet began to run the 
 gauntlet of the Rebel batteries. As she passed the second of these, a 
 broad and fierce blaze of flame, accompanied by a deafening roar, indi- 
 cated to thousands of anxious spectators in the vicinity that the Rebels 
 had at length observed the vessel in the darkness, and had opened on her. 
 Still she proceeded in silence on her way. Battery after battery saluted 
 her as she passed. Slowly and steadily she steamed ahead, and made no 
 response to her assailants. In twenty minutes she passed all the batteries 
 unharmed and untouched. Forty-seven shots had been vainly fired at 
 her. Then her powerful guns answered in an exultant peal, which told 
 that she had attained a point beyond the reach of danger. The patriotic 
 spectators on the Federal gunboats, and on the shore, set up a tumultuous 
 shout of joy, which drowned even the loud bowlings of the tempest. The 
 Carondelet then proceeded to New Madrid, to the assistance of General 
 Pope, who soon after made his approaches with such skill and vigor that 
 the Rebels, rather than endure the horrors of an assault, evacuated the 
 place on the 14th of March. General Pope then took possession of it, 
 and obtained a vast amount of stores, ammunition, and guns. 
 
 It was soon ascertained that the Rebels had erected a large number of 
 batteries, both on the Kentucky and the Tennessee banks of the Missis- 
 sippi, for the purpose of assisting the operations of their confederates on 
 Island Number Ten. Their river boats were also found to be ef&cient, 
 and assailed the batteries of Commodore Foote with great spirit. But the 
 power and efi'ect of the Federal mortars far transcended those of tlie 
 enemy. The shells which were discharged by the former were of im- 
 mense size, and being sent with remarkable precision into the works of 
 the Rebels, produced the most disastrous results. A single mortar was 
 capable of discharging in a single day about a hundred shells. The 
 Rebels did not respond to the attack on the island until the evening of 
 the 16th, when they opened their defence by firing a hundred and twenty 
 pound rifled shell in the direction of the transports. This enormous 
 missile fell and burst a few yards astern of the Graham and the Silver 
 Wave, which were crowded with troops; and had the aim of the Rebels 
 
 .1 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF ISLAND NUMBER TEN. 207 
 
 been more accurate it might have produced dreadful havoc. A portion 
 of the Federal artillery was placed on the Missouri shore in such a po- 
 sition as to be within range of those batteries on the island which were 
 beyond the reach of the guns of the fleet. On the 17th, Commodore 
 Foote tried an experiment which proved successful. He ordered three 
 gunboats, the Benton, the Cincinnati, and the St. Louis, to be lashed to- 
 gether, and while the mortars continued to play upon the works of the 
 enemy, they slowly sailed down the river for the purpose of reconnoiter- 
 ing the batteries of the Eebels and drawing their fire from those works 
 which might not yet have been observed. The result was that three 
 batteries located lower down on the island commenced to fire, and with 
 such accuracy that each of the three boats was struck during the excur- 
 sion. One shot passed through the upper deck of the Cincinnati, another 
 through the chimney of the Benton, and one of the guns on the St. Louis 
 burst, killing four men and wounding ten. But the purpose of the ad- 
 yenture had been successfully accomplished. 
 
 The bombardment of the island continued from day to day, and the 
 Federal vessels retained their original position. The firing was kept up 
 with variable spirit on the part of the Rebels, and with such assiduity on 
 the part of their assailants as to prevent the enemy from strengthening 
 or repairing their fortifications. These became considerably damaged by 
 the Federal guns ; but the effect of their fire on the Federal boats was 
 unimportant. Thus, during the operations of an entire day, only four 
 shots of all those discharged by the forts on the island struck any of the 
 vessels. On the 18th, six additional mortar-batteries came from Cairo 
 and joined the besieging force. Sometimes the scene presented by the 
 bombardment was one of great beauty and sublimity, especially when the 
 firing was continued during the night. At such times, the loud reverbe- 
 ration of the guns waking up the unfamiliar echoes of the surrounding 
 shores, the graceful passage of the shells in their parabolic course through 
 the heavens, the sudden flashes of their explosion illumining the dark- 
 ness for miles around, the returning shells of the Eebels issuing from the 
 fortifications erected at different points on the island, their explosion 
 above or near the tranquil bosom of the broad stream, the shouts of the 
 combatants, and the calm intervals of silence, soon to be broken by the 
 thunder-tones of new and fresh discharges ; these, and many other inci- 
 dents of the spectacle, rendered it one of novel and impressive interest. 
 
 During a portion of the time occupied by the bombardment, the Fede- 
 ral fleet did not put forth its entire strength, and the firing was occa- 
 sionally suspended. This enigma then seemed unaccountable to the 
 enemy, but at a later period it was sufficiently explained. The design of 
 this mysterious but masterly inactivity, was to occupy the attention of 
 the Rebels and retain all those troops which they had collected on the 
 ^island in that position, that they might not interfere with the other -ope- 
 
208 THE CIVIL WAR IN TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rations of the besiegers and with the plans of General Pope. During this 
 interval the enemy were permitted to strengthen their works, and thus 
 they served the purposes of the Federals by protracting the bombard- 
 ment. Meanwhile, General Pope was strengthening his position and 
 rendering the ultimate escape of the enemy down the Mississippi still 
 more impracticable by erecting an additional battery on the Missouri 
 shore two miles below Tiptonville. One of the first achievements of that 
 battery was to sink a transport filled with stores for the enemy, which 
 was proceeding from the Kentucky shore to the head of the island. On 
 the 29th Commodore Foote renewed the bombardment with vigor. The 
 Eebels replied with equal spirit, and from new points which they had 
 recently fortified. At this period the cutting of a channel for the passage 
 of large boats through the James bayou, a swampy peninsula formed by 
 a bend in the river, was commenced. The purpose of this novel and 
 extremely difiicult enterprise was to enable General Pope to convey troops 
 over to the Tennessee side ; and by that means, in conjunction with the 
 Union forces which were approaching the scene of conflict from that 
 direction, to surround the enemy more completely. This extraordinary 
 work was accomplished by sawing off the heavy timber which encum- 
 bered the bayou, beneath the surface of the water, for a distance of ten 
 miles. Few more remarkable instances of perseverance and determina- 
 tion can be found than this enterprise in the annals of modern warfare. 
 At length, on the 7th of April, General Pope transferred a portion of his 
 army through this new channel to the shore of Tennessee. Four steamers 
 were used for the conveyance of these troops. The remainder of his army 
 was transported by the same route afterward. 
 
 This channel was created by Colonel Bissel and his regiment of en- 
 gineers. Their work deserves to be placed among those great master- 
 pieces of mechanical skill, of which the Simplon across the Alps — one 
 of the proudest products of Napoleon's genius — is considered as the most 
 colossal. On the 6th of April, General Pope ordered Captain Walker to 
 make a reconnoi.ssance in the Carondelet to Tiptonville for the purpose of 
 drawing the fire of the concealed batteries which the Rebels had there 
 erected. The exploration was successful — the position of the guns was 
 ascertained — and they were immediately attacked and silenced. The 
 troops on board, consisting of the twenty-seventh Illinois regiment, tlien 
 landed, spiked the guns, broke the carriages, and threw the ammunition 
 into the river. 
 
 On the 7th General Pope, with a portion of his troops, marched to Tip- 
 tonville, and attacked the Rebel troops which were posted at that point. 
 The latter were completely routed, and fled into the surrounding swamps. 
 The Federals captured a large number of prisoners, together with cannon 
 and ammunition. This disaster, combined with the knowledge of the 
 oons],ruction of the channel through the James bayou, and the renewec? 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL POPE. 209 
 
 vigor of the attack of the Union fleet on their works on the island, dis- 
 heartened the Rebels who were posted there, and induced them to surren- 
 der their stronghold. This protracted drama came to a sudden close on 
 the 7th of March. At nine o'clock in the evening, a messenger was sent 
 by the Eebel commander to Commodore Foote, proposing to capitulate, 
 and inquiring what terms might be expected. The commodore replied, 
 that no terms whatever would be allowed, except an unconditional sur- 
 render. At one o'clock on the morning of the 8th, the surrender was 
 formally made. Commodore Foote immediately sent Colonel Buford 
 with two gunboats to take possession of the island. Had the enemy not 
 yielded at that precise period, a simultaneous attack on the island would 
 have been made at once, by the mortar boats, the gunboats, and the land 
 forces under General Pope. The result of this combined movement 
 could not have been doubtful, but the voluntary surrender of the Rebel 
 commander opportunely averted the heavy sacrifice of human life which 
 it would necessarily have involved. 
 
 The consequences of the capture of this island were very important. 
 The number of batteries which passed into the possession of the Federal- 
 ists was eleven, mounting seventy heavy guns. A floating battery of sixteen 
 lighter cannon, which the Rebels had cut adrift, was afterward recovered- 
 A vast quantity of munitions of war, four steamers, and several gunboats, 
 were also taken. The number of prisoners captured was seventeen 
 officers, three hundred and sixty-eight privates, beside several hundred 
 sick and wounded. The defence of the island bad been conducted by the 
 Rebel General William D. Makall, who became a prisoner of war. As 
 soon as the surrender of the works became known, the Confederate troops 
 stationed on the Tennessee shore retreated with precipitation. This great 
 victory, as might reasonably be expected, filled the nation with re- 
 joicing ; and they approved with sincerity the message which was imme- 
 diately afterward sent to the victors by the Secretary of the Navy, ex- 
 pressive of the public gratitude for their services, a%d exultation at their 
 success. 
 
 Major-General John Pope, who divided with Commodore Foote the 
 chief glory attendant upon this conquest, was born in Kentucky in 1823. 
 He entered West Point Academy in 1838, and graduated in 1842, re- 
 ceiving the brevet rank of second lieutenant of topographical engineers. 
 He distinguished himself by his gallantry during the Mexican war, espe- 
 cially at the battles of Monterey and Beuna Vista ; receiving the brevet 
 rank of first lieutenant and captain for meritorious services in those bat- 
 tles. Jle subsequently served in New Mexico and in Minnesota Territory 
 as an engineer officer. In 1854, by appointment of Jefferson Davis, then 
 Secretary of War, he explored the route for a Pacific railroad from the 
 Red river to the Rio Grande, examining in connection with it the Liang 
 Estacado or Staked Plain in Texas. In 1856 he was promoted to a 
 14 
 
210 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 captaincj. For the next three years he was engaged in engineering 
 duties in the "Western Military Department. In May, 1861, he was made 
 a brigadier-general of volunteers. Though younger than many of his 
 associate officers of similar rank in the army, General Pope was inferior 
 to few of them in energy, ability, and professional skill. His achieve- 
 ments at New Madrid and Island Number Ten, especially his bold and 
 original conception of cutting a channel through the swarapy bayou near 
 that island, and the success which attended his persevering efforts, deserve 
 to hold a prominent place, and to be invested with no secondary interest, 
 among the many thrilling and noteworthy events which, in all coming 
 time, will enliven and decorate the annals of the civil war in the United 
 States. 
 
 After the conquest of Eoanoke Island by General Burnside, that officer 
 prepared to extend his operations ; and on the 10th of March sailed south- 
 ward through Pamlico Sound, for the purpose of assailing the Eebel for- 
 tifications which had been erected at Newborn. This place is situated at 
 the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers, about a hundred and fifty 
 miles from Roanoke Island. It was a port of entry for North Carolina, 
 and the capital of Craven county. Its capture was a necessary prelimi- 
 nary to the attack on Beaufort, in North Carolina, as well as to that on 
 Fort Macon. The batteries of the Rebels had been erected two miles 
 below Newbern. Their earthworks extended over a front of nearly two 
 miles, mounted forty-six heavy guns, and were defended by a numerous 
 force. The attack was made on the 14th of March, the troops having 
 been landed on the previous evening at the mouth of Slocum Creek, on 
 the west side of the Neuse river, about fifteen miles below Newbern. 
 Th<3y were divided by General Burnside into three brigades, commanded 
 by Generals Reno, Parks, and Foster. The Rebels had also erected a 
 series of batteries along the banks of the Neuse. These were successively 
 attacked and taken bv the Federal troops, in their advance toward New- 
 bern. In front of their intrenchments the enemy had felled a number of 
 trees, and these were so arranged as to form an almost impenetrable 
 abattis. The works were defended by about four thousand Rebels, while 
 a reserve of four thousand was stationed at Newbern. The Federals, 
 eight thousand in number, advanced with spirit to the attack on the works 
 at which the Rebels had determined to make their final and most desperate 
 stand. A conflict of three hours' duration ensued. The Federals fought 
 at musket range until their ammunition was exhausted. General Burn- 
 side then ordered a general charge to be made with the bayonet. I'liis 
 movement, executed with the utmost gallantry, decided the issue of the 
 day. The Rebels fled with precipitation, and left the most valuable 
 trophies in possession of the victor.s. During the progress of the battle, 
 an important advantage was gained by the Federalists, by a flank move- 
 ment efl'ected by the second brigade, commanded by General Reno, 
 
GENERAL BURNSIDE ATTACKS NEWBERN. 211 
 
 assisted by a portion of the third. The Eebels fought with desperation ; 
 and in one instance, when a portion of the twenty-first Massachusetts 
 regiment had advanced with too much eagerness within the intrenchments 
 of the enemy, they were overpowered by superior numbers and compelled 
 to retreat. The advantage, however, was but temporary ; for soon after- 
 ward the whole mass of Eebel troops were driven in the greatest confu- 
 sion from their works. They left all their guns unspiked. These fell 
 into the hands of the victors, together with three thousand small arms, 
 three light batteries of field artillery, a vast amount of ammunition, and 
 three hundred prisoners. The loss of the Federals was seventy killed, 
 two hundred and fifty wounded. 
 
 After taking possession of the deserted intrenchments. General Burn- 
 side pressed forward to occupy Newbern. The army passed rapidly along 
 the railroad and the stage road. In their retreat the Eebels set fire to the 
 bridge across the Trent, and afterward attempted, with less success, to 
 burn the city. This ruthless purpose was defeated by the exertions of a 
 number of the inhabitants who remained. It became necessary for the 
 Federal troops to delay on the banks of the river, until the transports had 
 sailed up from below. The first brigade at length embarked and passed 
 over. The second and third bivouacked during the night of the l-lth on 
 the other side, and did not cross until the next day. Newbern was 
 nearly deserted by its white population, and the negroes were revelling in 
 a drunken carnival of barbarous license. A provost guard was immedi- 
 ately established to restore order, and secure the safety of life and prop- 
 erty. The possession of this important place was thus obtained by the 
 Federal forces by a most brave and brilliant assault. The immediate re- 
 sult of this conquest was the cutting off of all railroad communication 
 with Beaufort, and the embarrassment of that between Eichmond, Charles- 
 ton, and the Atlantic slave States ; the control of a large part of eastern 
 North Carolina ; and an easy advance either toward Ealeigh in the inte- 
 terior, or toward Fort Macon on the south. * 
 
212 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — ITS SnBDrVISIONS — THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER 
 — INCIDKNTS OF THE BATTLE — ITS RESULTS — THE KILLED AND WOUNDED — SKETCH OP 
 GENERAL SHIELDS — CONCENTRATION OF THE REBEL TROOPS NEAR CORINTH^APPROACH 
 OF THE FEDERAL ARMY UNDER GENERAL GRANT — DISPOSITION OF THE REBEL ARMY — 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING OR SHILOH — ATTACK AND CAPTURE 
 OF GENERAL PRENTISS's TROOPS — EFFORTS OF GENERALS SHERMAN AND MCCLERNAND — 
 THE ENGAGEMENT BECOMES GENERAL — DESPERATE FIGHTING ON BOTH SIDES — GRADUAL 
 REPULSE AND RETREAT OP THE FEDERAL ARMY — TERRIFIC SCENES^INTERPOSITION OF 
 THE FEDERAL GUNBOATS — END OF THE FIRST DAY's BATTLE — ARRIVAL OP GENERAL BUELL 
 — DISPOSITION OP TROOPS DURING THE ENSUING NIGHT— THE SECOND DAY's CONFLICT — 
 INCIDENTS OF THIS DAY — SKILL AND ENERGY OP GENERAL BUELL — THE TIDE OF VICTORY 
 IS GRADUALLY REVERSED — ULTIMATE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS — THEIR RETfiEAT TO 
 CORINTH — SKETCH OP GENERAL BUELL — RESULTS OP THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 
 
 "When at length, in compliance with the positive order of President 
 Lincoln, the great army of the Potomac, numbering nearly two hundred 
 thousand men, moved to the conquest of Richmond, it was divided into 
 several separate corps cVarmk. The command of all but two of these was 
 entrusted to General McClellan. After leaving Manassas it was conveyed 
 by transports down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe, and having afterward 
 disembarked below Yorktown, prepared to effect the reduction of that place, 
 and then advance toward the Rebel capital. The second corps under 
 General McDowell pursued a middle line of march, due south,, toward the 
 city of Fredericksburg. The third, under General Banks, passing through 
 Harper's Ferry, proceeded to Winchester, and thence through the valley 
 of the Shonandaoh, by Strasburg, Woodstock, New Market, and Har- 
 risonburg, toward Staunton. It was a portion of this force which 
 encountered a large body of Rebels near Winchester, and which, led on 
 by General Shields, gained a decisive victory at that place. 
 
 The Rebel army which thus came into action near Winchester, was 
 commanded by General T. J. Jackson. On Saturday, March 22d, 1862, 
 some skirmishing took place between Ashby's famous cavalry and the 
 Federal pickets, until four o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy 
 appeared in larger numbers. They advanced as far as the Stone House 
 Mill on the Strasburg turnpike. General Shields then ordered three 
 batteries of artillery to be sent to the scene of action, and a brisk combat 
 ensued between them and the Rebels. It was of short duration, however, 
 for soon the latter broke and retreated. General Shields was on the field 
 during the conflict, and was wounded in the arm. The enemy was fol- 
 lowed a short di-stance, when night put an end to the pursuit. 
 
 On Sunday morning, March 23d, the Rebels, having been reinforced 
 
THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 213 
 
 Dy five regiments of infantry and two batteries of artillery under General 
 Garnett, renewed the conflict. Their united forces amounted to eight or 
 ten thousand men. Their line of battle extended about a mile on the 
 right of the village of Kerntown. The action commenced with the eighth 
 Ohio regiment, which formed part of General Tyler's brigade. A furious 
 assault was made on these troops, with the design of turning the right 
 flank of the Federals. They were repulsed with great heroism by the 
 Ohio troops; and although they emerged five times from the woods and 
 from behind their stone wall parapets, they were invariably repulsed. 
 The left wing of the Federals consisted of the thirteenth Indiana, the 
 seventh Ohio, and a battery of the fourth regular artillery, commanded 
 by Captain Jenks. The centre consisted of the fourteenth Indiana, the 
 sixty-seventh Ohio, and the eighty-fourth Pennsylvania. The cavalry, 
 comprising the first Michigan and the first Ohio, were drawn up in the 
 rear. The Federal right included the eighth and fifth Ohio, and a battery 
 of the first Virginia regime.nt. Three regiments constituted tho reserve. 
 
 Daring the engagement all these troops except the cavalry were brought 
 into action. The battle raged along the whole line from eleven in the 
 morning until half-past two. At that time General Shields ordered his 
 right wing to charge upon the enemy with the bayonet. Previous to 
 issuing this order, lie had strengthened his right by the addition of the 
 eighty-fourth Pennsylvania and a battery of artillery. The left wing of 
 the enemy, opposing the Federal right, had also been reinforced ; and the 
 execution of the order to charge had become one, not only of importance, 
 but also of dilEculty. On the success of the movement the issue of the 
 conflict depended. It was three o'clock when all was ready, and the 
 word of command was given. General Tyler led the charge at the head 
 of his troops. As the Federals advanced toward the Eebels, they encoun- 
 tered a hailstorm from their artillery and small arms ; and their loss was 
 heavy. The former reserved their fire until they were within fifteen or 
 twenty yards of the enemy ; they then poured into them a destructive 
 deluge of lead and iron, and charged upon them with the bayonet. Bat 
 the resistance at first made was stubborn and resolute. The enemy fought 
 bravely and contested the ground foot by foot. General Jackson had 
 changed the position of some of his troops daring the action, so that now 
 they presented the form of a concave front to their assailants ; and his 
 troops continued the struggle for victory with great determination. 
 
 Nevertheless, the valor of the Federal forces was destined to triumph. 
 The Rebels at length began to retire, and fled about half a mile. They 
 then placed their guns in position and renewed the contest. Overborne 
 again by the heroism of their assailants, they resumed their retrograde 
 movement, still bringing their guns to bear upon the pursuers at every 
 opportunity. Thus the fight and the pursuit were continued until night- 
 fall, when the victorious Federalists bivouacked during the night upon 
 
2U TDK CIVIL WAR IN TUB UNITED STATES. 
 
 the battle-field. On the next day the chase of the Eebels continued 33 
 far as the vicinity of Strasburg. The fighting during the battle of Win- 
 cliester was at some periods as desperate as can well be imagined ; and 
 tlie intensity of the struggle may be inferred from the single fact that, 
 within a few minutes, four standard bearers of one of the Federal regi- 
 ments were successively slain. Captain Whitcome, of the fifth Ohio, then 
 took up the fallen colors; but he also fell in a few seconds, while cheer- 
 ing on his men. The battle-field, after such a conflict, necessarily pre- 
 sented a revolting spectacle. The loss on both sides was very heavy, 
 when the number of combatants engaged is taken into consideration. 
 Eighty-five Rebels were buried on the field in a single grave, thirty feet 
 wide. Ten wagons filled with dead and wounded, acoompanied the fugi- 
 tives toward Strasburg. Along the stone parapet or wall which formed 
 part of the enemy's line, their dead bodies were found piled in heaps upon 
 each other. The loss on the Federal side was about one hundred and 
 thirty killed, two hundred and fifty wounded. After the pursuit of the 
 Eebels as far as Strasburg, they continued their retreat through the valley 
 of the Shenandoah toward Woodstock. 
 
 General James Shields, whose skill and valor contributed so much to 
 the victory of the troops under his command, was born in the county 
 of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810. He emigrated to this country when sixteen 
 years of age, and after pursuing mathematical, classical, and legal studies 
 at the East, settled in Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1832, and was admitted a 
 member of the Illinois bar. In 1836 he was elected a member of the 
 Legislature of that State. In 1839 he was chosen State auditor, and in 
 1843 appointed judge of its Supreme Court. In 18-15 he received from 
 President Polk the appointment of commissioner of the General Land 
 Office at Washington. When the Mexican war commenced, he was 
 made a brigadier-general of volunteers, and fought with great gallantry 
 iit Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. It was in the latter battle that he re- 
 ceived a dangerous wound, and was saved from death by a singular and 
 propitious accident. A copper ball had passed through his body and lungs, 
 the extravasated blood was gradually filling up his lungs, and he was 
 rapidly approaching the hour of death. His case had been given over 
 as hopeless by the regular surgeons of the army, when a Mexican doctor 
 offered to save his life if he would permit him to operate. The permis- 
 sion was readily granted. A fine silk handkerchief was then worked 
 into the wound, and finally drawn through it and taken out at the back, 
 so that daylight could be seen through the aperture. By means of the 
 handkerchief the blood was removed, the wound afterward healed, and 
 the patient recovered. He subsequently distinguished himself at Chapul- 
 tepec, and was again wounded, though less severely than before. His 
 services were rewarded by being made major-general of volunteers. In 
 •1848 he was appointed Governor of Oregon Territory, but soon resigned, 
 
ATTACK AND CAPTURE OF GEN. PRENTISS'S TROOPS. 215 
 
 and in 1849 was elected to represent that state in the Federal Senate, in 
 place of Mr. Breese. Technical objections having been raised against his 
 admission to that body, he resigned his seat, was immediately re-elected, 
 and afterward served his full term of six years in that important assem- 
 blage. \n 1855 he removed to Minnesota. He was soon elected from 
 that State to a seat in the Federal Senate ; but having drawn the short 
 term, his period of service expired in 1859. He then emigrated to Cali- 
 fornia, and there resumed the profession of the law. When the Eebel- 
 lion commenced, he was invited from that distant point to accept a com- 
 mission in the Federal army. The offer was at first declined; but upon 
 its renewal he accepted it, and at once journeyed to Washington. The 
 death of General Lander provided a suitable position for him. He received 
 the command of his brigade, being placed under the superior orders of 
 General Banks. The battle and the victory of Winchester soon enabled 
 him to demonstrate that he had lost nothing of that martial skill and 
 heroic valor which had already rendered him distinguished in the annals 
 of American warfare. 
 
 The severe losses which the Rebels had incurred in the southwest, 
 seemed only to have rendered them more determined ; and their ablest 
 generals gradually concentrated their most efficient troops near Corinth, 
 Tennessee. General Albert Sydney Johnston, then commander-in-chief 
 of the Rebel armies, was collecting his forces there, assisted by Beaure- 
 gard, Polk, and other able generals. Their purpose was to intercept the 
 victorious march of the Federal troops who had triumphed at Forts Henry 
 and Donelson ; and to prevent their intended advance toward Memphis. 
 For some days General Grant had been transferring his forces to Savan- 
 nah Tennessee, and thence across the river to Pittsburg Landing. It 
 was on the fourth of April, that about thirty-five thousand of these had 
 passed over, and had taken their position at the distance of several miles 
 from the shore. They were awaiting the arrival of the remainder of the 
 army under General Buell, containing about an equal number of men, 
 who should have already been on the spot, in accordance with the plans 
 of General Grant. While this unfortunate delay existed, and the separa- 
 tion of the Federal army into two bodies, which necessarily resulted from 
 it, continued, the Rebel generals conceived the idea of making a sudden 
 attack. Their time was admirably chosen. They executed their purpose 
 with superior skill and fortitude ; and the great but indecisive battle of 
 Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing was the result. 
 
 The Federal forces which had crossed the river were posted westward 
 from Pittsburg Landing, in a curved line along the banks, and extended 
 a distance of three and a half miles ; the centre facing^the road to Corinth. 
 They were commanded by Generals Prentiss, Sherman, Hurlbut, and 
 McClernand. As Corinth was a position admirably adapted for defence, 
 it was not suspected that the enemy would abandon the advantages which 
 
216 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it afforded and venture on an advance. Hence it must be admitted that 
 their attack was in a great measure unexpected. They marched out of 
 Corinth on Saturday, April 5th, seventy thousand in number, in three 
 grand divisions. General Johnston commanded, and was with the centre ; 
 Braxton Bragg and Beauregard commanded the two wings; * Hardee, 
 Polk, Breckinridge, and Cheatham, held inferior positions. Their plan 
 of attack was, to assault the centre of the Federal lines, consisting of the 
 divisions of Prentiss and McClernand, penetrate them, and then assail 
 each of the wings on the front and flank. Having thus divided and over- 
 powered the Federal army, their purpose was to compel them to surren- 
 der, or drive them into the Tennessee river, and thus complete either the 
 capture or the ruin of the whole. 
 
 During the night of Saturday their numerous forces lay at no very 
 great distance from the Federal camp. Their proximity evidently began 
 to be suspected ; for at two o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 6th, 
 Colonel Peabody, of General Prentiss's division, sent forward two hundred 
 and fifty men beyond his lines to ascertain whether any Rebel troops lay 
 in that vicinity. These had scarcely proceeded half a mile when they 
 encountered a large body of Rebels approaching them. The latter opened 
 tlieir fire immediately, and drove the Federals with great slaughter, back 
 toward their camp. They followed promptly, and actually reached the 
 position of Colonel Peabody as his regiment, aroused by the disant firing, 
 were falling into line. The gray mists of morning were then about as- 
 cending, and throwing a partial, hazy light over the scene, so soon to 
 become the arena of one of the bloodiest struggles of modern times. 
 Many of the officers had not yet risen, many of the men were not j'ct 
 armed, when the whole Federal camp became aware that a vigorous attack 
 had commenced upon some portion of their line. The twenty-fifth 
 Missouri regiment, belonging to General Prentiss's division, was the first 
 to feel the assault of the approaching enemy, who were firing volleys of 
 musketry as they advanced. Their cannon, already in position and un- 
 limbered, were tossing shells into the heart of the Federal encampment- 
 During this process the Federal army was gradually dressing, arming, 
 and falling into line; but this was not accomplished until a decisive ad- 
 vantage had been gained by the enemy. 
 
 The whole of General Sherman's division was the first to confront the 
 Rebels in line of battle. It was now six o'clock. Sherman's troops 
 withstood the shock for some time with heroism ; but being overpowered 
 by superior numbers, were compelled to give way. As they retreated the 
 balls of the enemy ploughed through their living masses with fearful 
 slaughter. The dLvisions of Generals Sherman and Buckland abandoned 
 their camp equipage, and some of them retreated in disgraceful disorder. 
 Several of the Ohio regiments, especially the fifty-third, commanded by 
 Colonel Appier, fled without firing a single gun, and covered themselves 
 
THE BATTLE OF CORINTH. 217 
 
 with ignominy. In vain did General McClernand order forward a portion 
 of his left to support the scattering and fugitive troops of Buckland. In 
 vain did General Sherman exert himself to stop the flight of his own men, 
 dashing bravely along the lines amid a hailstorm of bullets. The advan- 
 cing billows of the Eebel host overwhelmed every thing before them ; 
 and while portions of the Federal regiments occasionally paused a few 
 moments to stop the tide of fugitives and pursuers, the great mass rolled 
 onward in a tumultuous chaos toward the river. Then it was that 
 General Prentiss, having succeeded in making a stand for a time, and 
 having been left unsupported on the field, was encompassed by the enemy. 
 A wall of bayonets closed around his men, and after a short but desperate 
 combat they were made prisoners. Three regiments, having laid down 
 their arms, were marched toward the rear of the enemy. 
 
 It was now ten o'clock. One whole division of the Federal army had 
 retreated, leaving a frightful gap in the centre of their lines. Just then 
 the division of General W. H. L. Wallace was deployed into the vacant 
 territory ; and they held their position with great resolution till toward 
 the end of the day. By this time General Grant arrived on the field 
 from Savannah, and immediately placed guards in the rear to stop the 
 retreating soldiers. The temporary flight was thus terminated, the ofiScers 
 became reassured, and succeeded in bringing their troops, many of whom 
 had begun to waver, into order of battle. Then ensued a more regular? 
 universal and desperate combat. The battle raged along the whole line ; 
 for the enemy had now all reached the scene of conflict, and every portion 
 of both armies was brought into action. The roar of the cannon and 
 musketry was deafening; the earth trembled under their shock. The 
 fiercest struggle was in the centre, between the enemy and the troops who 
 had taken General Sherman's position. A furious charge was made upon 
 the fourteenth Ohio battery, and after a long contest it was captured by 
 the Rebels. A similar onslaught was made upon the fifth Ohio battery, 
 which resulted in the capture of three of its guns. The left wing of the 
 Federal forces also encountered and resisted a ferocious assault. The 
 Rebels, by a sudden dash, captured a part of the battery of Waterhouse, 
 together with that of Beer. For nearly two hours a lurid sheet of fire 
 blazed between the two columns, hurling destruction into each other's 
 ranks. Three different times the Federals, weakened by the deadly fire 
 of the Mississippi riflemen, were compelled slowly to retire toward the 
 river; and three times they regained the lost advantage. Dresser's 
 battery of rifled guns on two occasions made the enemy recoil with fear- 
 ful losses. 
 
 Thus till after three o'clock the combat raged with appalling fury. The 
 air seemed filled with sulphurous hail ; the wide-spread scene of conflict 
 was covered with a far ascending curtain of smoke, witkin which the 
 rushing, advancing, receding masses of men might be dimly seen, plunged 
 
218 THE CIVIL "WAR IN' THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 into the mortal struggles of the conflict. At one time the fire of the enemy 
 appeared to be concentrated toward the centre. At another it would ex- 
 pand and extend itself up and down the line to right and to left. By thia 
 time tlie ground was covered with the wounded and the slain of both armies. 
 
 For the most part the superiority of numbers which the Eebels possessed 
 gave them the advantage. As the sun was descending the western 
 heavens, the Federal army was gradually retiring toward the river, un- 
 able to resist with success the ponderous and infuriated masses opposed to 
 them. By this time the enemy had full possession of the camps of Sherman, 
 Prentiss, and McClernand. The whole front line, except Stuart's brigade, 
 had given way. To the last the divisions of W. H. L. Wallace and 
 Hurlbut made a heroic stand, and maintained their positions. Hurlbut 
 had been encamped at the end of the line nearest the river. His troops 
 consisted chiefly of Kentucky, Indiana and Iowa regiments. Having 
 open fields before them, they raked the approaching enemy with terrible 
 effect. They held ,their position from ten in the forenoon until half past 
 three. No officer on the field deserved greater praise for his heroism and 
 gallantry than General Hurlbut. His example and his exertions served 
 greatly to avert the horrors of a universal defeat, which impended over 
 the army of the Union on that memorable day. Next in line to his bri- 
 gade was that of General W. H. L. Wallace, who commanded the troops 
 which had formerly been under the orders of General Charles Ferguson 
 Smith, whom sickness prevented frt)m being present in this engagement. 
 General Wallace entered into the conflict about ten o'clock. He and his 
 men fought with the utmost resolution till half past three. Four .separate 
 times the Rebel generals attempted to turn them by the most furious 
 charges. Just as often their advancing masses were compelled to recoil 
 and retreat with fearful losses. The powerful batteries from Missouri, 
 commanded by Stone, Weber, and Richardson, were admirably served, 
 and greatly contributed to the partial success of the day, in this portion 
 of the field. But when the general retreat began, and the whole line com- 
 menced to retire, they were compelled to yield, for it would have been 
 madne-ss to remain. As the division began to fall back, General Wallace 
 was severely wounded. His soldiers were the last to give way, at that 
 desperate moment when the Federal line was driven back within half a 
 mile of Pittsburg Landing, with the victorious masses of the Rebels 
 crowding within a thousand yards of their confused and retreating ranks. 
 
 And now the last horrible tragedy of this day seemed about to be 
 consummated. The Rebels at length occupied all the camps of the 
 Federal army. The latter were crowded in wild confusion around Pitts- 
 burg Landing, within the circumference of half a mile. In vain had the 
 soldiers of the Union expended prodigies of valor, in the most desperate 
 attempts to resist their fate. They had now fallen back as far as the 
 nature of the ground would permit. There seemed to be no alternative 
 
SKILL AND ENERGY OF GENERAL BUELL. -219 
 
 but to surrender, or to perish beneath the tranquil and brightly glancing 
 waves of the Tennessee river ; for sufficient transports had not been pro 
 vided to convey over even a small proportion of the multitude of the 
 fugitives. Never had the fate of any army seemed more desperate, its 
 ruin more inevitable. During the day General Buell had been repeatedly 
 telegraphed to hasten his tardy legions ; but he had been unable as yet to 
 reach the scene of conflict. Certain destruction thus appeared to impend 
 over the Union army, when a sudden deliverance unexpectedly arose. 
 The gunboats Lexington and A. 0. Tyler having opportunely arrived 
 from Savannah, were at that moment able to bring their guns to bear 
 upon the masses of the victorious Rebels ; and having steamed up the 
 mouth of Licking Creek, they opened a deadly fire upon their right wing. 
 Broadside after broadside of sixty-four pounders was discharged as rapidly 
 as the most skilful gunnery could send their shells into the serried ranks 
 of the foe. At the same time the long wished-for advance guard of 
 Buell's army appeared on the high bluffs which lined the opposite banks 
 of the rivei>. Their presence at once inspirited the Federal troops, and 
 shout after shout ascended to greet them. But no time was to be lost 
 and quickly several transports which had been tied along the opposite 
 bank were loosed, and filled with artillery and troops. But before they 
 could arrive, Colonel Webster, the chief of General Grant's staff, had col- 
 lected all the guns which remained untaken, had formed them into a semi- 
 circle bearing upon the Rebel army, and had opened a formidable assault 
 upon their line. These combined salutes, while they raised the courage 
 of the Federal forces, which had been fighting for so many hours, dis- 
 heartened the enemy. The death of General Sydney Johnston now 
 became known, which misfortune added to their panic. Their com- 
 manders at length discovered that their successes for that day were 
 ended ; and that no further advantage could possibly be gained. They 
 therefore withdrew as far as the Federal camps which they had taken, and 
 prepared to renew the contest with more decisive results, as they hoped, 
 on the ensuing day. 
 
 The night of Sunday was industriously employed in transporting the 
 troops of General Buell across the river. As soon as the successive regi- 
 ments arrived, they proceeded to take their positions in the Federal lines. 
 The gunboats continued their bombardment during the whole night. 
 They soon made the position occupied by the centre and the right of the 
 Rebels, at the close of Sunday, untenable, and compelled them to fall 
 back from point to point, so that they evacuated more than half the 
 ground they had gained by the retre3,t of the Federal army toward the 
 river. This circumstance will account for the mysterious fact that the 
 Rebels made no assault during the night, as had been confidently expected ; 
 and it also prevented them from commencing the battle at daybreak on 
 Monday. 
 
THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 During the hours of that memorable night, ^vhile a furious tempest 
 raged, and a deluge of rain descended, the Federal commanders were 
 busy m makmg preparations for resuming the contest. New dispositions 
 had been formed. Ammen's brigade was placed on the extreme left, 
 that of Bruce in the centre, that of Hazen on the right of Nelson's divi^ 
 s.on. At seven o clock on Monday the action began, by a simultaneous 
 advance on both sides ; for both sides seemed equally eager for the com- 
 bat. General Lewis Wallace opened the engagement by shelling the 
 enemy opposed to h.m. He was answered by a powerful Eebel baltery 
 and a duel between artillery ensued. The result here was, that a body 
 of Federal infantry having been sent across a ravine to attack the flank 
 of tins portion of the enemy's line, the guns of the latter were soon lim- 
 bered up and hastily withdrawn. General Nelson at the same time at- 
 tacked the enemy opposed to him. His large mass of troops renewed the 
 contest in all its fury; the action soon became general along the whole 
 hne; and the rattle of small arms, and the louder, heavier tones of tt 
 artdlery reverberated without intermission over the far-extendin-. scene 
 o conflict. The Rebels attacked the Federal centre and right w°ith he 
 utmost desperation. At half-past ten the Federals had regained nearly 
 al the ground from which they had been driven on the preceding dav 
 At that moment the enemy concentrated their efforts to make a grand 
 assault. Suddenly, and with much concert, their generals huried their 
 furious squadrons on the lines of the advancing Federals. Stunned by 
 the shock, the latter reeled, and for a time gave way on the entire righ[ 
 The ground there was fiercely contested, and the issue would have been 
 doubtful, perhaps disastrous; but just at the critical moment General 
 Buell arrived on that part of the field and assumed the command. He soon 
 comprehended the relative positions of the combatants, and ordered a 
 forward double-quick movement by brigades. The Eebel lines were 
 then driven back for a quarter of a mile. Soon the deserted camps of the 
 Federals were reached, and repossessed by their former owners By half- 
 past two the entire right of the enemy was routed; they had lost all in 
 tliat portion of the field which they had gained ; the captured guns of the 
 Federals were retaken; and some additional tropliies were wrested from 
 the retreating enemy. In that part of the Federal lines where the bri^^ades 
 of Crittenden, McCook, Smith, and Boyle were posted, a contest of Lual 
 intensity took place. At one time the Federal troops were overpowered 
 and retreated. The day was recovered by a spirited cannonade poured 
 into the Eebel masses by the batteries of Mendenhall and Bartlett After 
 a long contest the enemy here also began to retire, and to leave the field 
 in the possession of their antagonists. On the extreme right, where the 
 gallant Hurlbut and McClernand commanded, the vicissitules of the day 
 were equally varied, to be terminated at last by a result equally honor- 
 able to the Federal arms. Four times McClernand lost and regained the 
 
ULTIMATE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS. 221 
 
 position which he occupied at the commencement of the engagemant. 
 The troops in the centre of the Federal army, commanded by General 
 Sherman, overpowered by a terrific assault of artillery, in which "Watson's 
 Louisiana battery was remarkable for its prodigious effects, were com- 
 pelled at one time to give way. But after a long struggle they recovered 
 their advantage, aided by the efficient batteries of Thurber and Thompson. 
 By four o'clock, an hour and half later than the victory on the left, the 
 enemy commenced to retire here also, before Sherman's advancing lines. 
 Then the retreat became general, and the whole Eebel army, disheartened 
 and essentially weakened by the immense though futile struggles of the 
 day, withdrew in comparative order toward Corinth. The Federal forces 
 then reoccupied their original camp, and took jDossession of almost every 
 trophy which, on the preceding day, had fallen into the possession of the 
 temporary victors. 
 
 During the progress of this memorable engagement, Generals Grant, 
 Buell, Sherman, Nelson, the Wallaces, Hurlbut, McClernand, and 
 McCook, greatly distinguished themselves. They were present in every 
 portion of the field, and exhibited the utmost skill and coolness in every 
 emergency. Very many of the inferior commanders were equally valiant 
 and equally worthy of commendation. But it must also be admitted, 
 that some of the subaltern officers disgraced themselves during the combat 
 by their cowardice. General Grant was compelled to order a number of 
 these under arrest on the battle-field. The results of this great conflict 
 were important. Their defeat greatly dispirited the Rebel leaders, while 
 it covered the Federal arms with immortal renown. The loss of the 
 enemy was seventeen hundred and twenty-eight killed, eight thousand 
 and twelve wounded, nine hundred missing. Their chief misfortune was 
 the death of Albert Sydney Johnston. The loss of the Federals was 
 about two thousand killed, seven thousand four hundred wounded, and 
 nearly three thousand missing.* 
 
 The chief glory of this victory will be ascribed by posterity to the two 
 generals who were highest in command. Generals Grant and Buell. The 
 former we have already sketched. The latter was born in Ohio, in 1820. 
 He entered the academy at West Point in 1837, and was breveted second 
 lieutenant of infantry in 1841. He was appointed first lieutenant in June, 
 1846, and in September of the same year was breveted captain, for his 
 gallantry at the battle of Monterey. At the battle of Cherubusco he was 
 severely wounded in the chest. In 1848 he was appointed assistant 
 adjutant-general, with the full rank of captain. When the Eebellion 
 
 * It is impossible to state the number of killed and wounded in this battle with pre- 
 cise and perfect accuracy. All the accounts, even those which seem to be most reli- 
 able and authoritative, essentially differ. All that can be done with the probability 
 of truth is, to state those numbers which seem to possess the greatest preponderance 
 of authority in their favor ; and those numbers I have given in the text. 
 
322 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 commenced he was stationed in California; but was at once appointed 
 a brigadier-general by Congress, and in the autumn of 1861 succeeded 
 General William T. Sherman, as commander of the Department of the 
 Ohio. He addressed himself to the task of organizing an efficient army in 
 his department, and in arranging some of the details of the campaign, which 
 were afterward realized. The engagement in which Humphrey Marshall 
 was defeated by General Garfield was planned by him. When General 
 Halleck was placed in command of the Department of the Southwest, 
 Buell was made his subordinate. At the same time he was promoted to 
 the rank of major-general. The long list of valuable services which he 
 had rendered to the cause of the Union was fitly crowned by his successful 
 and skilful efforts at Pittsburg Landing, where he was instrumental in 
 assisting to turn the tide of victory, and in wresting from the Eebel 
 generals the laurels which were commencing, unworthily, to bloom 
 around their brows. 
 
COLLISION AT HOWARD (JEEEK. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE FEDERAL ARMY UNDER GENERAL MCCLELLAN APPROACH TORKTOWN — COLLISION ON 
 
 HOWARD CREEK ATTACK ON DETACHED REBEL INTRE.VCHMENTS ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
 
 FEDERAL CAMP, *ND ERECTION OF FEDERAL BATTERIES — PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT 
 CONFLICT AT YORKTOWN — BRILLIANT OPERATIONS OP GENERAL MITCHELL IN ALABAMA — 
 
 RESULTS OF HIS EAPID MOVEMENTS — SKETCH OP GENERAL MITCHELL EVENTS IN GEORGIA 
 
 — CAPTURE OF FORT PULASKI — STRENGTH OF THE REBEL WORKS — INCIDENTS OP THE BOM- 
 BARDMENT OF THAT FORT — RESULTS OF THE CAPTURE — THE CONQUEST OF NEW ORLEANS — 
 FEDERAL ARMAMENT UNDER COMMODORE FARRAGUT — BOMBARDMENT OF FORTS JACKSON 
 AND ST. PHILIP — AN ENGAGEMENT OF SIX DAYS — REDUCTION OP THESE FORTS — IMPRES- 
 SION PRODUCED BY IT IN NEW ORLEANS — THE FEDERAL FLEET APPROACH THAT CITY — THE 
 KEBEL TROOPS EVACUATE IT — THE SUMMONS TO SURRENDER — IMPERTINENCE OP MAYOR 
 MONROE — NEW ORLEANS OCCUPIED BY FEDERAL TROOPS — SKETCH OF COMMODORE FARRA- 
 GUT THE BOMBARDMENT OP FORT MACON — INCIDENTS OP THE ASSAULT — STRENGTH OF 
 
 THAT FORT — RESULTS OP ITS CAPTURE BY THE FEDERAL TROOPS. 
 
 On Friday, April 4tli, 1862, the army of the Potomac, which had halted 
 temporarily at Fortress Monroe on its way toward Yorktown, resumed 
 its march. Berdan's sharpshooters led the advance, with the fourth 
 Michigan, the fourteenth New York, and the third Pennsylvania cavalry. 
 The route lay through Great Bethel, on the direct road toward York- 
 town. At that spot, already celebrated in the annals of the nation by 
 the decisive victory gained by Washington over Lord Cornwallis, on the 
 19th of October, 1781, the Rebels had concentrated an efBcient army, 
 twenty thousand strong, commanded by General Magruder ; bad erected 
 numerous breastworks, which extended across the isthmus or peninsula 
 which separates the York and the James rivers ; and there they seemed 
 resolved to contest, to the utmost of their ability, the further progress of 
 the Federal forces toward their capital. 
 
 The enemy had constructed a fort as an outwork on the banks of 
 Howard Creek, near the village of Rosedown, which necessarily became 
 the first object of attack. Allan's fifth Massachusetts battery was detailed 
 to this service. Fifteen round of shell were thrown, after which the 
 Rebels evacuated the fort with great precipitation. It was immediately 
 occupied by the victors, and the stars and stripes were unfurled from the 
 flag-staff. This conquest occupied but a brief period of time, and did not 
 prevent the van of the Federal army from reaching the vicinity of 
 Cocklestcwn, six miles distant from Yorktown, during the same day. 
 On the morrow the march was resumed. The falling rain had rendered 
 the road? extremely difficult, and the progress of the troops and guns 
 was comparatively slow. At length the advance reached a point not 
 more than three miles distant from Yorktown. From this position some 
 
224 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 Rebel intrenchments were discovered to the right of the road, at the 
 distance of a mile. General McClellan deemed it advisable not to leave 
 these behind him to annoy his rear ; he therefore ordered a number of his 
 batteries to attack them. The guns were immediately wheeled into posi 
 tion in advance of the infantry by whom they were supported. A heavy 
 bombardment was commenced, to which the guns of the enemy in the 
 forts responded. Their shells were thrown indiscriminately over the 
 entire area covered by the Federal army, and sometimes.bursting in the 
 vicinity of the troops, were not harmless. The firing continued without 
 intermission during the entire day. About noon it increased in fury and 
 vigor. Then Morell's brigade on the left advanced within three-quarters 
 of a mile of the intrenchments ; the sharpshooters approached still nearer, 
 and picked off with an infallible aim the most of those who manned the 
 Eebel guns. In vain their artillery directed their special attention to 
 these dangerous assailants, and attempted to drive them beyond the range 
 of their rifles. The heavy firing terminated with the close of the day, 
 though skirmishing was continued between the pickets of both armies 
 during the night. A number had been killed and wounded on both 
 sides. Griffin's battery had silenced three of the guns of the Eebels. 
 During the next day the enemy evacuated their intrenchments on the 
 right, and concentrated their whole force in their main works before 
 Yorktown. 
 
 Immediately after the termination of this engagement, which was re- 
 garded merely as preliminary to the much greater and more decisive 
 operations which were expected soon to follow, the Federal army pro- 
 ceeded to establish their encampment before Yorktown. General 
 McClellan carefully reconuoitered the works of the enemy. They were 
 found to be both extensive and formidable. The next duty, therefore, 
 ■\fras to commence the construction of counter works, preliminary to a 
 grand and final assault upon the fortifications of the foe. The latter pro- 
 ceeded with equal industry to strengthen those breastworks which they 
 had already erected, and to add to their number. At the same time 
 immense reinforcements were ordered to join the Rebel troops already 
 assembled at Yorktown ; so that in a short time they increased to the 
 number of sixty thousand men. Leaving the combatants here to execute 
 their purpose, in anticipation of the occurrence of a world-renowned 
 combat between them at that spot, which was destined never to take 
 place, we will proceed to narrate the events which were transpiring in 
 other portions of the scene of conflict. 
 
 It was at this period that General Mitchel achieved one of the most 
 brilliant and efiective episodes of the war. Starting from Louisville with 
 a few thousand men, he commenced a rapid advance southward through 
 Alabama, expecting to encounter the enemy upon his line of march. lie 
 proceeded, however, without interruption as far as the city of Huntsville, 
 
OPERATIONS OP GENERAL MITCH EL IN ALABAMA. 225 
 
 of which he took possession. Rebel forces oa the route thither, instead 
 of confronting and resisting him, uniformly fled from him. Their only 
 strategy consisted in burning the bridges. Having reached Huntsville, 
 General Mitchel sent out two expeditions in the railroad cars which he 
 had captured at that place. The one under Colonel Sill, with the thirty- 
 third Ohio, proceeded eastward to Stevenson, where the junction of the 
 Chattanooga, the Memphis and the Charleston railroads takes place. The 
 other, under Colonel Tarchin, with the nineteenth Illinois, went westward, 
 and having arrived at Decatur took charge of the railroad bridge at that 
 place, fifteen hundred feet long, and saved it from the destruction which 
 at that moment impended over it. The former of these expeditions was 
 equally useful ; for it captured a large number of fugitive Rebel troops, 
 five locomotives, and an immense amount of rolling stock. The results 
 of this enterprise were important. General Mitchel thereby obtained pos- 
 session of a hundred miles of the Memphis and Charleston railroad. He 
 intercepted the communication between the Rebel army at Corinth and 
 the Rebel authorities in Richmond. It enabled him to threaten Corinth 
 itself in flank and rear; and to march upon it at any moment in concert 
 with Generals Grant and Bueil. He obtained the supremacy of a hundred 
 miles of territory in the very heart of Alabama, in the blooming centre 
 of a magnificent cotton region ; and he was able to encourage and protect 
 the friends of the Union in that portion of the Rebel Confederacy. By 
 this achievement the stars and stripes again waved over ten towns 
 within the limits of Alabama, on the railroad line between Decatur and 
 Stevenson. 
 
 Brigadier-General 0. M. Mitchel, the hero of this remarkable achieve- 
 ment, is known to fame both as a soldier and as a savant. He was born 
 in Union county, Kentucky, in 1810. He graduated at West Point in 
 June, 1829, and having entered the artillery corps with the brevet rank 
 of second lieutenant, became assistant professor of mathematics in that 
 in.stitution. That position he held until September, 1832, when he re- 
 signed his command with the army and engaged in civil engineering 
 He then studied law, and was admitted to the 'bar in Cincinnati in 1833. 
 In 1834 he was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy in the 
 Ohio University. That position he retained during ten years. In 1815 
 he founded the Cincinnati Observatory, of which he became the director 
 and also published the " Siderial Messenger." In 1848 he held the oifice 
 of adjutant-general of the State of Ohio, and subsequently became chief 
 engineer of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. Previous to the commence- 
 ment of the rebellion he had distinguished himself as an author and lec- 
 turer on scientific subjects. Having tendered his services to the defenders 
 of the Union in the hour of its peril, they were promptly accepted ; and 
 the successful result of his bold and skilful expedition into Alabama, tes- 
 * 15 
 
226 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tified to the high value of the abilities which he brought to the assistance 
 of the government* 
 
 On the 10th of April, 1862, victory crowned the Federul arms within 
 the limits of the ancient State of Georgia. On that day the formal siege 
 of Fort Pulaski began, which terminated, after a vigorous cannonading, 
 in the surrender of the works to the Federal troops. 
 
 This fort was the outpost of the defences of the city of Savannah, and 
 was situated on the Savannah river at the narrowest part of its channel. 
 Tt was a strong casemated work, mounting fifty-seven guns of heavy 
 calibre. There was a supply of a hundred tons of powder in the maga- 
 zines; and its full armament of men was five hundred. It was in shape 
 an irregular pentagon, with the base line or curtain-face to the inland- 
 Its other faces were casemated, and bore upon the outward approaches. 
 It stood on Cockspur island, which is separated from Tybee island by a 
 narrow arm of sea. The walls were constructed of hard gray brick ; 
 were more than six feet in thickness, and were supposed to be able to 
 resist all kinds of projectiles. It contained at the period of the attack, 
 provisions and water for six months. It was provided with three furnaces 
 for the purpose of heating shot. The curtain was covered by a redan, 
 and the redan was surrounded by a ditch. General Viele and Captain 
 Gilmore had been directed by General Ilunter, the Federal commander 
 of that department, to erect a number of batteries in order to cut oft' the 
 communication between the fort and the city of Savannah, and to con- 
 struct others on the islands adjacent to the works, for the purpose of as- 
 sailing and reducing it. The materials for executing this order were pro- 
 cured at Port Royal, and consisted of a detachment of the third Rhode 
 Island artillery, another detachment of volunteer engineers, a 'battalion of 
 the eighth Maine regiment, the sixth Connecticut regiment, the forty-eighth 
 Nev/ York, together with a full supply of heavy artillery and intrenching 
 tools. By a reconnoissance which was made by Lieutenant J. A. Wilson, 
 of the Topographical Engineers, it was ascertained that the Rebels had 
 sunk the hulk of a brig in an artificial channel named Wall's Cut, con- 
 necting Wright river, one of the outlets of the Savannah, with Bull river, 
 which served as a thoroughfare between Port Royal and Savannah. It 
 was of essential importance that this obstacle should be removed. The 
 task was committed to Major Beard of the forty-eighth New York. After 
 three weeks of unremitting labor during the night, by the use of ingenious 
 mechanical contrivances, the work was accomplished. The expedition 
 
 * It is a singular circumstance that not a few of the most eminent Federal generak 
 in this war had previously distinguished themselves as authors, such as Hallcck, Fre- 
 mont, McClcllan, Mitchel. The chief productions of the last were his "Planetary and 
 Stellar Worlds," his " Popular Astronomy," and his "Astronomy of the Bible," all of 
 which indicate profound scientific attainments and brilliant genius. 
 
THE CAPTURE OP PORT PULASKI. 22T 
 
 against Fort Pulaski then commenced to move; and proceeding to the 
 north end of Daufuskie Island, they established a camp and depot, and 
 commenced operations. Eeconnoissances were immediately made for the 
 selection of the most suitable positions for the erection of batteries. These 
 naving been duly ascertained, twelve batteries were successively con- 
 structed. Great difficulties attended and impeded the work. Eebel gun- 
 boats continually sailed up and down the Savannah river; and to have 
 attempted to float the Federal cannon across in flatboats, would have ex- 
 posed them to certain capture. It became necessary to drag them by- 
 night over Jones's Island on shifting tramways. The first of the batteries 
 was thus placed in position during the night of the 11th of February. 
 Three days afterward another battery was transported. Thus on Venus 
 Point on Long Island, on Turtle Island, on Jones's, Bird's, and Tybee 
 Islands, the batteries were eventually put into position, and breastworks 
 were constructed which commanded the guns of Fort Pulaski. 
 
 On the 10th of April all was ready, and the bombardment began at 
 seven o'clock, after a flag of truce had been sent, demanding in vain the 
 surrender of the fort. The batteries of Tybee Island commenced the 
 assault. In a short time the Rebel flag-staff was cut in two, and the 
 Rebel colors fell. But soon another staff was extemporised, and another 
 standard unfurled from the parapet. The bombardment was continued 
 without intermission through the whole day. The enemy responded 
 promptly and vigorously ; but their shots produced much less execution 
 than the shots of the Federal batteries. The Rebels seem to have Taeen 
 ignorant of the positions of the Federal works, because their fire in- 
 variably followed the successive openings of the different batteries. 
 Their shells generally fell wide of the mark ; but the aim of the Federal 
 gunners was accurate. Accordingly, during the entire day, the brick and 
 mortar of the fort could be seen flying in all directions, and the Rebels 
 were compelled to retire from one portion of their works to another. The 
 number of Federal guns was thirty-six. 
 
 At the end of the first day, the fire on both sides ceased. During the 
 night a number of guns were tansferred to Goat's Island, being the point 
 nearest the fort. On the morning of the 11th, two small breaches could 
 be discovered in the southeast face of the fort, which gradually assumed 
 more enlarged proportions. The shells of the Federal batteries were 
 gradually working their way toward the magazines. It was evident also 
 that a number of the Rebel guns had become disabled. One of the 
 breaches soon became fifteen feet wide, the other ten. The fallino- debris 
 from the walls filled the moat, and a storming party could easily have 
 passed over. From twelve different points of the compass the deluge of 
 shot and shell poured into the doomed fort, scattering destruction and 
 ruin around. At length, at eighteen minutes past two, on the 11th, a 
 white flag appeared on the parapet of Pulaski. General Gilmore imme- 
 
228 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 diately sent a boat to the fort to demand its unconditional surrender. 
 The commandant replied that, as the magazines were now exposed to the 
 shot of the Federals, and might at any moment explode, it was madness 
 to continue the defence. He hud therefore, concluded to surrender. The 
 same day the seventh Connecticut regiment was sent to take possession 
 of the captured works, which, together with all the guns, ammunition, 
 and provisions of the enemy, fell into the hands of the victors. Their 
 sum total was forty-seven guns, seven thousand shot and shells, forty 
 thousand pounds of powder, together with three hundred and sixty 
 prisoners. The latter belonged to the first Georgia regiment of volun- 
 teers, commanded by Colonel Charles H. Olmstead. The captive officers 
 and prisoners were afterward sent iu the steamer Benjaviin Deford to the 
 city of New York. This important success restored to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment another of the fortresses which had been treacherously stolen 
 from it by the Eebel authorities. It prepared the way for the future re- 
 duction of the city of Savannah. Fort Jackson indeed intervened between 
 it and the Federal troops ; but being inferior in size and in armament to 
 Pulaski, it could ofi'er no serious obstacle to the triumphant advance, at 
 the proper moment, of the forces of the Union. 
 
 In February, 1862, a powerful Federal fleet, consisting of forty-six 
 sail, carrying two hundred and eighty six guns and twenty-one mortars, 
 was placed under the command of Flag-OfTicer D. S. Farragut, for the 
 attack and conquest of New Orleans. Preliminary to the bombardment 
 of the formidable forts which guarded the Crescent City, a reconnoissance 
 was made on the 28th of March, by Captain Bell, under the orders of the 
 commodore. He took the gunboats Kennebec and Wissahickon and pro- 
 ceeded up the Mississippi. Having arrived in the vicinity of Forts 
 Jackson and St. Pliilip, below New Orleans, sketches were taken of 
 their construction, and other important information was obtained. During 
 the process, both forts continued to throw their shells in the vicinity 
 of the unwelcome and inquisitive visitors, but fortunately without any 
 serious result. It was ascertained that a strong chain had been thrown 
 across the river, which was supported by eight dismantled vessels and a 
 large raft ; that both of the forts were well armed and fully garrisoned ; 
 that fire-rafts had been prepared to drift toward the bombarding vessels 
 to destroy them ; and that every other expedient bad been adopted to 
 accomplish a desperate and protracted defence. 
 
 On the 4th of April a portion of the Federal fleet pursued a number 
 of Eebel vessels which approached their position in the river. The 
 Kimeo closed with a steamer carrying a blue flag, which seemed to indi- 
 cate that the Eebel commander was on board. A chase ensued up the 
 stream, until the appearance in the di.stance of a much larger number of 
 Eebel vessels, including the formidable ram Manassas, rendered it expe- 
 dient for the Federal vessels to return to their anchorage. Preparations 
 
THE CONQUEST OP NEW ORLEANS. 229 
 
 were tben made to attack the forts with the full power of the fleet, and, 
 having silenced them, to advance to the subjugation of the crescent city 
 which they defended. Accordingly, on the 18th of April, twenty-one 
 mortar-boats and three gunboats, having approache'd within range of 
 Forts Jackson and St. Philip, commenced a vigorous bombardment. The 
 enemy in the fortifications replied with spirit ; and after six days' bom- 
 bardment, finding them still unreduced, Flag-Olficer Farragut resolved to 
 run past them, on the morning of the 24th of April. Their fire was 
 heavy and constant, and the obstacles to the navigation of the river also 
 caused some delay. The chain which had been thrown across the river 
 was wrenched in twain by the vigorous blows of two gunboats. One of 
 the fire-ships which the enemy had seat adrift unfortunately came in con- 
 tact with the flag-ship Hartford, which was ignited ; but the conflagration 
 was extinguished before any serious damage was done. Other casualties 
 were more important. In an engagement which took place between the 
 Union steam sloop Varuna,, of ten guns, and the Rebel steam iron-clad 
 Morgan, the latter ran into the Varuna and injured her so severely that 
 shei was soon in a sinking condition. But while in this state she dis- 
 charged a full broadside into her antagonist, with such effect that she too 
 began to sink, and both vessels went down together. On the other side, 
 the Federal forces destroyed eleven Rebel gunboats and the floating bat- 
 tering-ram Manassas. 
 
 The engagement between the fleet and the forts was not only a pro- 
 tracted, but also a desperate one. Some of the Federal soldiers fell dead 
 from mere exhaustion at their guns. The names of these obscure heroes 
 have indeed passed into oblivion ; but they deserve a renown equal to that 
 which clusters around the exploits of their more famous and fortunate 
 commanders. On the 27th of April, a flag of truce was sent to Commo- 
 dore Porter, who commanded the mortar-flee.t, inquiring what terms of 
 surrender would be accepted. The answer was, as usual with the Fede- 
 ral victors during this war, that no terms except an unconditional and an 
 immediate surrender would be entertained. On the 28th, after some 
 delay, the transfer of the two forts, with all their guns, ammunition and 
 stores, was made to the conquerors. Immediately afterward General 
 Butler, who commanded the land forces of the expedition, placed a com- 
 petent garrison of Federal troops in the several fortifications. The loss 
 on the Union side was thirty-six killed, one hundred and twenty-three 
 wounded. The number of prisoners taken was four hundred. The 
 Rebels who were killed and wounded numbered about five hundred. 
 
 Having passed Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union fleet resumed 
 its triumphant progress up the Mississippi. Passing the Chalmette bat- 
 teries, three miles below the city of New Orleans, on the morning of the 
 25th, they opened fire, but were silenced in twenty minutes. On the 
 morning of the 26th, Flag-Officer Farragut sent Fleet-Captain Bailey on 
 
230 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 • 
 
 shore to demand a surrender. At first the Mayor proposed to submit the 
 questioa to the Rebel General Mansfield Lovell, who was in command of 
 the Rebel forces there, but General Lovell who was straining every nerve 
 to get his troops away, replied that he would evacuate the city, and the 
 Mayor could do as he pleased. This being reported to Flag-OfiBcer Far- 
 ragut, he renewed his demand on Mayor Monroe. That personage re- 
 sponded to the Federal commander in a letter characterized by a singular 
 mixture of folly and impudence, in which he set forth that the Federal 
 forces possessed the power to take the city by brute force, and they might 
 do it; but that he never would voluntarily make the transfer. Without 
 waiting for further negotiation. Commodore Farragut dispatched a num- 
 ber of troops from the fleet, which took possession of the city on the 29th, 
 occupied the Federal buildings, and displayed the stars and stripes from 
 the positions which had so long been disgraced by the Rebel colors. 
 General Butler's land forces having disembarked on the shore of Lake 
 Ponchartrain, were posted a few miles from the city, and a small portion 
 of them in the city itself; while the Federal fleet rode at anchor in the 
 port, to overawe the inhabitants, and retain them in quiet, and to SQme 
 extent unwilling obedience to the legitimate authority which had thus 
 resumed its beneficent sway over them. 
 
 The chief hero of the capture of New Orleans, and of the reduction of 
 its protecting forts, Commodore David G. Farragut, was born in Tennes- 
 see in 1801. He entered the navy as a midsiiipman in December, 1810. 
 He then served under Commodore David Porter, and was the first to 
 board the Essex. He afterward accompanied that gallant officer in his 
 expedition around Cape Horn in 1813. He passed the ten succeeding 
 years in various cruises, and on the 1st of January, 1821, was commis- 
 sioned a lieutenant. In 1851 he was ordered to serve as assistant inspec- 
 tor of ordnance, being second in command under Commodore Skinner. 
 When a new navy yard was constructed on Mare's Island, near San 
 Francisco, he was placed in command of that post, though then standing 
 the nineteenth on the list. In 1858 he was promoted to the command of 
 the steam sloop of war Brooklyn, which formed a part of the home 
 squadron under Flag-Officer McCluney. He retained that position until 
 the expedition destined for the capture of New Orleans was determined 
 on, when he was chosen from among a host of brave and skilful men as 
 its flag-officer, to lead it to victory. The eminent success with which he 
 fulfilled his important n>ission proved the wisdom and prudence of the 
 selection. 
 
 Almost cotemporaneous with this important conquest, the value of 
 which could scarcely be overrated, another brilliant triumph graced the 
 Federal arms in a dift'erent direction. After a vigorous bombardment of 
 ten hours. Fort Macon, situated on the coast of North Carolina, near 
 Beaufort and Newbern, surrendered to the assailants. On the 25th of 
 
THE BOMBARDMENT OF FORT MACON. 231 
 
 March, General Burnside, having completed his arrangements for the 
 attack and conquest of this fort, ordered General Parke to occupy More- 
 head city, and the railroad between that plaoe and Newborn, v.'ith the 
 division under his command. The order was obeyed, and a few days 
 afterward Bogue Island, opposite Carolina city, was also taken possession 
 of. The latter position was most favorable for the commencement of 
 operations against Fort Macon, and a camp was there established. On 
 the 11th of April active operations began; the fifth Rhode Island regi- 
 ment drove in the Rebel pickets, and Captain Williamson proceeded to 
 select positions for the besieging batteries. These having been chosen 
 with great skill, the troops were set to work to construct the intrench- 
 ments. The enemy, having discovered the unwelcome activity of the 
 Federal forces, continually annoyed them with their artillery. But as 
 the precise position of the latter was somewhat screened from view, the 
 execution produced by their salutes was unimportant. The troops em- 
 ployed in this service were the fourth and fifth Rhode Island and the 
 eighth Connecticut regiments. By the 24th of April, all the batteries 
 were completed, and on the same day General Burnside arrived at the 
 scene of conflict from Newbern. He brought with him two barges, the 
 Grenade and Shrapnel, which had been fitted up as a floating battery, 
 and had been armed with several thirty pound Parrott guns. The.se were 
 placed at anchor about three miles from the fort. Before commencing 
 the bombardment General Burnside sent a flag of truce to the enemy, 
 with a final demand of surrender. On the next morning, the 25th, that 
 demand was refused. 
 
 On the 26th, after having given the Rebels a few hours to reconsider 
 their answer, without a favorable result, the Federal batteries opened 
 their fire. These consisted of three breastworks, situated within a mile 
 of the fort, on Bogue beach. One of them mounted three thirty pound 
 Parrott guns, and was cemmanded by Captain Morris, of the first United 
 States artillery. The second was posted two hundred yards distant, con- 
 taining four ten inch mortar batteries, commanded by Lieutenant Flagler, 
 chief of ordnance on General Burnside's staff. The third mounted four 
 eight inch mortar guns, was situated to the right of the first named bat- 
 tery, and was commanded by Lieutenant Prouty. The bombardment 
 began at six o'clock on the morning of the 26th and continued without 
 intermission during the day. At first the larger guns failed to obtain 
 the proper range of the fort, and their shells fell beyond the mark. Soon, 
 however, this error was corrected, the signal corps of Lieutenants Andrews 
 and Wait, who were posted at Beaufort, having discovered the defect and 
 signaled to the batteries to lower their aim. Then the effect of the guns 
 was decisive. Three or four shells would be seen exploding at the same 
 moment within the fort or upon the parapets. At the same time the 
 gunboats which accompanied the expedition assisted in the work. Four 
 
232 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of these bore up bravely toward the fort, and added their destructive 
 salutes to those of the land batteries. During this interval the Rebel 
 garrison were not inactive. They replied with energy, and with no in- 
 considerable skill. A sixty-four pound ball struck the gunboat Daylight 
 on her starboard quarter, passed through the engine room, the officer's 
 mess room, the captain's state room, and at length lodged in the side of 
 the vessel. A portion of the rigging of the Gemsbok was shot away ; and 
 other minor casualties occurred. So terrible was the bombardment on 
 both sides, that the buildings in Beaufort and Morehead city were shaken 
 in a perceptible degree, and the reverberation of the guns was heard for 
 many miles around. 
 
 But in spite of their valiant resistance, it soon began to be evident that 
 the strength and energy of the rebel garrison were diminishing. Some 
 of their guns had been dismounted. Before twelve o'clock they were 
 driven entirely from the external battery, on the .terrace on the outside 
 of the walls, and were compelled to retire to their barbette guns. From 
 this period their firing diminished in rapidity. They were evidently 
 becoming exhausted, while the efforts of the besiegers constantly increased 
 in vigor and determination. The shot and shell of the latter could be 
 seen dashing through the broken walls of the fort, and exploding within 
 and around it. At twenty minutes past four o'clock a flag of truce waved 
 from the battlements, and the firing ceased on both sides. General Parke 
 was sent for, for the purpose of holding an interview with Colonel White, 
 commandant of Fort Macon ; between whom an armi.stice was agreed 
 upon until the next day. Then the surrender of the fort and garrison 
 was formally made to General Burnside. Twelve hundred shot and shell 
 had been discharged by the three Federal batteries during the siege. 
 Fifteen of the Rebel guns had been disabled. Their loss was seven killed 
 and eighteen wounded ; the Federal loss was one killed and two wounded. 
 The fort had mounted forty-eight guns of various sizes. By the terms of 
 the capitulation, it was agreed that the fort, the armament, and the garri- 
 son should be surrendered to the United States ; that the ofiicers and men 
 should be released on their paroje of honor not again to take up arras 
 against the United States until regularly exchanged ; and that they 
 should carry with them their private effects, their arms excepted. The 
 fort was then garrisoned by a detachment of Federal troops, the stars and 
 stripes were unfurled to the breeze, and another conquest over the forces 
 of the Rebel States was added to the triumphs of the defenders of the 
 Union. 
 
BATTLE OF LEE'S MILLS. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OPERATIONS OP GENERAL MCCLELLAN AT TORKTOWN — BATTLE OP LEe's MILL — DISASTER AND 
 
 RETREAT OP THE FEDERAL TROOPS EVACUATION OF YORKTOWN BY THE REBELS MOTIVES 
 
 OF THAT MOVEMENT PURSUIT BY THE FEDERALS — ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN CAVALRY NEAR 
 
 WILLIAMSBURG SECOND CONFLICT NEAR WILLIAMSBURG INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE 
 
 GENERAL hooker's DIVISION BRILLIANT CHARGE OF GENERAL HANCOCK FEDERAL 
 
 VICTORY — SKETCH OF GENERAL HANCOCK — BATTLE AT WEST POINT — INCIDENTS OF THE 
 CONTEST — EFFICIENCY OF THE FEDERAL ARTILLERY — ROOT OP THE REBELS — BOMBARD- 
 MENT OF SEWELL's POINT — ITS RESULTS — EXPEDITION OP GENERAL WOOL AGAINST NORFOLK 
 
 its surrender operations of general fremont in the mountain department 
 
 Mcdowell's division at Fredericksburg — rout of colonel morgan in Tennessee — 
 
 incidents op the chase — bombardment op port wright commenced engagement op 
 
 the federal gunboats at fort darling, on james river its incidents and results 
 
 — STEADY ADVANCE OF MCCLELLAN's ARMY TOWARD RICHMOND — IT CROSSES THE CHICKA- 
 HOMINY — VARIOUS SKIRMISHES — -DECISIVE ENGAGEMENT ANTICIPATED — GENERAL HDNTER's 
 ABOLITION PROCLAMATION — PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S POLICY RESPECTING IT 
 
 While General Banks was driving the Rebel forces under Jacksoa 
 through the valley of the Shenandoah toward Woodstock and Harrison- 
 burg, General McDowell, with another corps of the divided army of the 
 Potomac, was approaching Fredericksburg, which lay on a different route 
 to Richmond. Cotemporaneous with these movements, and in concert 
 with them, important operations were progressing under McClellan at 
 Yorktown. The fortifications which the Rebels had constructed to defend 
 that place were extensive and strong ; and it became the employment of 
 the Federal army during some days to erect opposing works, which, by 
 their superior formation and their greater strength, would command 
 them. This laborious task had been progressing with vigor "under the 
 direction of General McClellan ; the most skillful engineering had already 
 produced the most formidable results; when, on the 16th of April, 1862, 
 a collision took place between portions of the hostile armies. The Rebels 
 had erected a fort at Lee's Mill, about eight miles south of Yorktown, on 
 the Warwick river, which they had manned with a number of guns. 
 The special purpose of this fort was to protect the road leading to this 
 mill, which passed a few hundred yards in front of it. In advance of this 
 fort there was a bog several hundred feet wide, and above the bog a large 
 dam.' It was necessary to reduce this fort, and to expel the rebels from 
 its possession. Accordingly, at nine o'clock on the morning of the 16th, 
 Captain Mott placed his battery within range, and commenced the bom- 
 bardment. The Rebels responded with spirit. The engagement con- 
 tinued for an hour. During its progress three of the guns of the enemy 
 were silenced. They then ceased to fire, and evacuated the fort. The 
 Federal sharpshooters were immediately sent forward to reconnoitre, and 
 
234 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to ascertain what had become of the garrison. They had wholly withdrawn 
 from the field; and all remained quiet until about four o'clock. At that 
 time a body of Eebel troops appeared in possession of another breastwork 
 at some distance, on which they had mounted several guns. Again 
 Mott's battery was brought to bear upon them, and the firing during 
 half an hour was continuous. Soon the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 
 Vermont regiments were ordered to advance against the Rebels, who were 
 seen to be occupying the woods adjacent to the fort in large numbers. 
 The Green Mountain boys rushed forward bravely to the charge, wading 
 through a bog several hundred feet wide, sometimes to their knees, 
 sometimes to their waists in mud and water. Having passed this obstruc- 
 tion without flinching, they advanced, and suddenly encountered a line 
 of concealed rifle-pits. They fired into these, and their occupants quickly 
 fled. They then advanced again, and met another line of these concealed 
 and deadly man-traps. The Vermonters sent a second volley among their 
 occupants ; while Mott's battery, which had also reached the scene of 
 action, delivered a number of shell and canister among them with 
 immense effect. 
 
 But at this stage of the action the retreating Rebels were reinforced by 
 numerous accessions ; and the Federal troops, receiving no assistance, 
 were compelled to fall back. During their advance the enemy had 
 opened the dam, and had flooded the bog, by which means it had become 
 covered with several additional feet of water. A number of the wounded, 
 in passing through it, sank exhausted in the mud, and were strangled to 
 death. Others, while slowly retreating, were shot by the pursuing 
 Rebels, fell and expired in the swampy waste. In vain seven companies 
 of the sixth Vermont turned heroically on the foe, and made every effort 
 to cover the retreat of their comrades. Overwhelming numbers gave 
 the enemy a resistless advantage. At length all except the wounded and 
 the dying reached a position of safety, and the battle ended. The Federal 
 loss in this disaster was forty-four killed, one hundred wounded and 
 missing. The loss of the Rebels is unknown ; although appearances 
 indicated that they paid dearly for their temporary and inconsiderable 
 victory. 
 
 Meanwhile preparations for the general assault of Yorktown proceeded 
 with energy. To the astonishment, however, of the Federal troops, and 
 eventually of the whole nation, the vast army which the Rebels had 
 assembled at that place, suddenly evacuated all their works before day-- 
 light on the 4th of May, 1862, and commenced their line of retreat toward 
 Richmond. During the preceding night they had kept up a heavy firing 
 till after midnight ; at that time it suddenly ceased ; they then comnienced 
 to dismount their guns and prepare to retire. The first intimation which 
 the Federal commanders received of the retreat of the enemy was when 
 the Federal pickets reconnoitered their position on the morning of the 4th ; 
 
EVACUATION OP YORKTOWN BY THE REBELS. 235 
 
 and, cautiously advancing, found the intrenchments entirely deserted. 
 The news spread with rapidity along the whole Federal line. The regi- 
 mental bands commenced to play, filling the air with sweet, exultant 
 melodies. General McClellan issued an order to prepare to follow the 
 enemy instantly, each man provided with two days' rations. About eight 
 o'clock on the morning of the 4th all was ready, and the pursuit began 
 toward Williamsburg, on the heels of the flying Rebels. The first and 
 sixth cavalry, with four batteries of artillery, led the advance under the 
 orders of General Stoneman. 
 
 The evacuation of Yorktown by the Rebel army was one of the most im- 
 portant and singular events of the war. It had evidently been the original 
 intention of the Rebel chiefs to defend that position to the last extremity ; 
 and they had assembled there for that purpose sixty or seventy thousand 
 men, commanded by Generals Johnston, Lee, and Magruder. It is a 
 probable conjecture that the most potent consideration which induced 
 them to withdraw from a position which they had so carefully fortified, 
 ■was that they might encounter the Federal army at a safe distance from 
 the Federal gunboats on the York river. The painful lesson taught 
 them at Pittsburg Landing had not been forgotten. It is also probable 
 that they hoped, by a single decisive victory nearer to the Rebel capital, 
 to break the strength of the Federal army in the Peninsula. The trophies 
 which they left behind them at Yorktown were not inconsiderable, con- 
 sisting of seventy-one cannon of various calibre, with their carriages and 
 implements complete, and several magazines. Without stopping in the 
 deserted works, the Federal army pressed forward, through a desolated 
 country, in the wake of the retreating Rebels. About two miles from 
 Williamsburg, the Federal advance under General Stoneman encountered 
 their rear guard, on the afternoon of the 4th of May, and a vigorous 
 engagement ensued. Just as the Federal advance, emerging from the 
 woods, obtained the first glimpse of Williamsburg, they also saw the Rebel 
 rear guard. A regiment of cavalry was seen approaching in line of battle 
 about a mile distant. Captain Gibson's battery was immediately ordered 
 to the front, to open upon them as they advanced. At the same time a 
 portion of the sixth United States cavalry were deployed as skirmishers 
 to the right and left. Notwithstanding the havoc produced by the 
 battery on the Confederate squadrons, they continued steadily to advance. 
 As they did so, a fire was opened on the Federals from an earthwork to 
 the right, which had seemed to be deserted. At that crisis portions of 
 the first and sixth cavalry were ordered to charge upon the Rebel horse. 
 The order was executed in an admirable manner. A desperate hand-to- 
 hand fight ensued, during which the enemy broke and fled. The pursuit 
 was not continued for any distance on account of the absence of the 
 infantry. After the close of the action, the Rebel troops continued their 
 line of retreat toward Williamsburg. General Hancock'^ brigade arrived 
 
236 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 at the scene of conflict soon afterward ; but further operations were post- 
 poned for the present. The Federal loss in this engagement was two 
 killed and twenty wounded. 
 
 But a conflict of much greater importance and extent impended at 
 "Williamsburg. The Rebels had determined not to permit the Federal 
 troops to occupy that place without a struggle. Accordingly, on the 
 morning of Monday, May 5th, as General Ilooker's division approached 
 the breastworks which the enemy had erected in the vicinity of the town, 
 their guns opened upon the Federal troops with great fury. The approach 
 to these works lay through a series of ravines and swamps, which rendered 
 the operations of the Union forces extremely difficult. The Rebel 
 batteries were supported by a very numerous body of troops commanded 
 by General Joseph E. Johnston. Nevertheless, their assailants marched 
 forward to the combat with an admirable spirit, which gave the assurance 
 of ultimate success. 
 
 The battle began at seven o'clock in the morning, when three brigades 
 of the enemy assailed a portion of the division of General Hooker. 
 General Grover's brigade was the first which encountered them. It con- 
 sisted of the first and eleventh Massachusetts, the second New Hampshire, 
 the twenty-sixth Pennsylvania, with a regular battery. The remainder 
 of General Hooker's division acted as a reserve. The contest continued 
 during the entire day, and was marked by various and often painful 
 vicissitudes. At one time the ammunition of the Federal troops became 
 exhausted, and the enemy had nearly gained possession of their batteries 
 before a fresh supply could be brought forward. At that crisis the Rebels 
 succeeded in spiking several of the Federal guns, though these were after- 
 ward retaken. The most important and decisive operation of the day was 
 a brilliant and skilful movement of General Hancock, by which he suc- 
 ceeded in turning the left of the line of the enemy. From that moment 
 the resistance of the Rebels became less vigorous, and their ultimate 
 defeat inevitable. Toward the close of the day the division of General 
 Kearne}' reached the scene of conflict, and joined in the engagement. 
 During its progress Generals Heintzelman, Hooker, and Frank Patterson 
 had their horses shot under them. The Rebels fought on this occasion 
 with a great preponderance of numbers and advantage of position over 
 the Federals ; but the nature of the ground was such as to render it im- 
 possible for a larger body of the latter to be brought into the action. 
 The operations of Hancock's brigade, which decided the fortunes of the 
 day, were specially worthy of admiration. The furious charges which 
 they made on the enemy proved resistless. The havoc in their lines 
 became terrible ; they at length broke and retired in a general and 
 tumultuous retreat. They left nearly seven hundred of their dead upon 
 the field. The Federal troops then pressed on and occupied their deserted 
 position. The Toss of the Union forces was three hundred killed and 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL HANCOCK. 237 
 
 over eight hundred wounded. When darkness spread over the sangui- 
 nary scene, the routed foe was hastening forward toward the banks of the 
 Chickahominy, and the exultant victors in that hard contest were resting 
 from the toils and achievements of the day. 
 
 The chief hero of this engagement was General Winfield Scott Han- 
 cock. This gallant officer was born in Pennsylvania, in 1824. He 
 entered West Point in 1840, and graduated in that institution in June, 
 1844. Among his classmates was Simou Bolivar Buckner, the Eebel 
 general who held a command and was captured at Port Donelson. Han- 
 Gock, on graduating, was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the fourth 
 United States infantry ; and in June, 1846, he obtained his commission as 
 full second lieutenant in the same regiment. He served with honor during 
 the Mexican war, and distinguished himself at the battles of Contreras 
 and Cherubusco. For his meritorious conduct on those occasions he was 
 breveted first lieutenant, his brevet bearing date August 20th, 1847. 
 Subsequently he became regimental-quartermaster and adjutant of the 
 sixth United States infantry. The ranks of full first lieutenant and of 
 captain were bestowed upon him in 1853 and 1855. The Eebellion, at 
 its birth, found him assistant quartermaster-general, still with the rank 
 of captain. He was then appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers, 
 and served in the army of the Potomac under McClellan from the period 
 of the elevation of that officer to its chief command. The brilliant vic- 
 tory of Williamsburg afterward placed him among the prominent heroes 
 of the war. 
 
 Almost contemporaneous with the engagement at Williamsburg, was 
 the attack and defeat of the Rebels at West Point on the York river. 
 On the afternoon of the 6th of May, that division 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 Rebels pickets attacked the Fed- 
 eral videttes ; which event gave evidence, or at least created a suspicion, 
 that the enemy were posted somewhere in the vicinity. General Franklin, 
 expecting an assault the next morning, ordered the troops to be under 
 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 regiments of Rebels appeared in the distance 
 toward the west side of the river. Orders were then given to the six- 
 teenth, the thirty-first, and the thirty-second New York, the ninety-fiflh 
 and the ninety-sixth Pennsylvania regiments, to form and to advance 
 against the foe. It soon appeared that the latter were posted and con-. 
 
238 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 oealed 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 mus- 
 ketry 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 con- 
 tinued 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 ojiportunely brought to bear upon them. These soon 
 efiectually retrieved the fortunes of the day. The second United 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 discharged 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 batteries upon them witli 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 engagement. In the 
 battle of West Point the Federal loss was about eighty killed, three hun- 
 dred wounded, and about five hundred prisoners. That of the enemy was 
 about one thousand in all. 
 
 After the conclusion of the engagement, General Franklin immediately 
 sent a dispatch to General McClellan, 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 tlie 
 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 pos- 
 sibility 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 Monitor, together with the 
 Stevens, should advance nearer and operate against them in front. 
 Accordingly, the vessels already named sailed toward Sewell's point, and 
 having arrived within range opened their bj^tteries 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, not one of which reached its aim. 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF SEWELL'S POINT. 239 
 
 At half-past two the Merrimac steamed out from Norfolk, with the appa- 
 rent intention of attacking the Monitor. But no such result followed. 
 During the day all the Federal vessels took part in the bombardment 
 either of Sewell's point or of Craney Island. As often as the Monitor 
 advanced to engage the Merrimac, she steamed away toward Norfolk. It 
 was thus impossible 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 
 Rebels could be distinctly seen from the Federal vessels carrying oft' 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 guns in the principal fort at Sewell's point had been re- 
 duced 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 fire, and were considerably damaged. All the Rebel 
 guns on Craney Island were silenced. So accurate was the firing from 
 the Seminole and other vessels, that the breastworks 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 Rebels 
 evacuated the forts at Sewell's point, and retired to Norfolk, as the ulti- 
 mate 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 Wil- 
 loughby Point, and by five o'clock in the afternoon the Federal forces 
 had reached the vicinity of Norfolk. A desperate defence was anticipated 
 from General Huger, who commanded the Rebel troops in that city. 
 This expectation was agreeably disappointed. Early on the 10th he 
 evacuated the place, and soon after the Rebel Commodore Tatnall set on 
 fire and blew 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 for- 
 mally surrendered the city and the navy yard to the Federal authorities. 
 General Viele was placed in command as military governor, and orders 
 were given for the protection of persons and property. General Wool, 
 who had been accompanied by Secretary Chase, returned to Fortress 
 Monroe during the following night. The possession of Norfolk neces- 
 sitated that also of Portsmouth, which was likewise returned to its legiti- 
 mate masters. 
 
 The recovery of these places, which had been seized and so long occu- 
 pied by the forces of the Rebel government, was an important event in 
 the progress of the war. Thus from day to day the rebellion was cur- 
 tailed of its monstrous and hideous proportions, and thus the triumphs of 
 the arms of the Union were enlarged and extended. 
 
240 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES . 
 
 While these events were taking place in the vicinity of Hampton 
 Roads, events of minor interest were occurring in other portions of the 
 country. General Fremont, who was in command of the Mountain De- 
 partment, occupied no sinecure, although his proceedings, from the 
 nature of the case, glared less obtrusively upon the attention of the gene- 
 ral 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 fighting. Roving 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 
 ^8th of Ma}' General Milroy was assailed near Petersburg by a portion of 
 the Rebel troops under " Stonewall" Jackson. During the action Gene- 
 ral Schenck fortunately reached the scene of conflict with his command, 
 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 Kelley encountered the Rebels 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 
 Mitchel, continued with undiminished eclal. On the 13th of May he dis- 
 patched Genei-al 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 Mitchel. 
 
 The triumphant progress of the Federals arms at this period was illus- 
 trated with striking effect by a proclamation which was issued by Presi- 
 dent 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 intercour.se 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 New Orleans were thus thrown open, as evidence of the rein- 
 stated supremacy of the Federal Government in those recent centres of 
 Rebel power and treason. 
 
 The important division of troops which was commanded by General 
 McDowell, continued to advance, by steady marches, due south from 
 Manassas, toward Richmond ; and having at length reached Fredericks- 
 burg, 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 
 
ROUT OF COLONEL MORGAN LV TENNESSEE. 241 
 
 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 reinforcement was opportune; the Eebels then fled 
 without offering any further resistance, losing eleven of their infantry and 
 three of their cavalry as prisoners. 
 
 Among minor engagements 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 Kebel Colonel Morgan had 
 become notorious in that region of the country, 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 Duffield, at Murfreesboro, were ordered to com- 
 bine their troops and attack him. The crafty .Rebel attempted in various 
 ways, and by numerous artifices, to elude the search of the Federal com- 
 manders; and a protracted hunt took place before they found him. At 
 length he intrenched himself in the town of Lebanon, with eight hundred 
 cavalry ; and there he was attacked by them. A desperate street fight en- 
 sued. Morgan and his men were driven from the town. A running battle 
 then commenced, 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 flatboat. Not 
 till then did the chase terminate. A more complete and thorough rout 
 had not taken place since the commencement of the Rebellion. 
 
 During the occurrance of these events a great naval assault had been pro- 
 gressing 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 vicis- 
 situdes from th-e 8th of May. The Rebel works were protected by a 
 formidable force of gunboats and battering rams, commanded by Com- 
 modore HoUins, which attacked the Federal vessels with marvelous 
 ferocity and frequency. It was not till a later period, and after a very 
 protracted bombardment, that the contest was ended by the complete 
 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, 
 
 16 
 
242 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 having reached the position already named, on their way toward the Rebel 
 
 .capital, for the purpose of co-operating with the army of tlie Potomac, 
 suddenly encountered a fierce and formidable assault from the Rebel 
 batteries which had been erected upon Ward's Bluff. At this point the 
 stream makes an abrupt turn, and contracts its proportions. It thus ren- 
 dered the batteries placed upon its banks more effective. At tiie 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 disadvantages 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 batter- 
 ies, 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 Naugatuck suf- 
 fered a much more serious disaster. After delivering several effective shots, 
 her immense one hundred pound rifled Parrotfgun burst, killing the gunner 
 and wounding two men. The rest of her armament consisted of two board- 
 ing howitzers, which in such a contest, were of little consequence. The casu- 
 alities on the Galena were still more serious. The shots of the Rebel 
 batteries riddled her deck with ea-se, 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 mark for the 
 enemy. The other gunboats were not seriously injured. The action con- 
 tinued 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 then fifteen killed and sixteen wounded. 
 
 This check did not delay for a moment the steady progress of the 
 Federal forces under General McClellan toward Richmond. 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 cros.sed 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 
 
GENERAL HUNTER'S ABOLITION PROCLAMATION. 243 
 
 New bridge ; and ia another, the famous Louisiana 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 ad.vantage. These comparatively insignificant 
 operations were viewed as merely preliminary 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 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 responsibility 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 incompatible, 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 enter, 
 tained opinions ; some commending it while others censured it. What- 
 ever 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 proclama- 
 tion repudating the act of General Ilunter as unauthorized, and setting 
 forth that he, the President, by virtue of the authority vested in him, 
 reserved to hiftiself the right to determine whether he possessed the 
 power to declare the slaves in any of the States free; and whether, provi- 
 ded he possessed that power, it would ever become necessary to the main- 
 tenance and preservation of the Federal Goverment, for him to exercise it 
 At the same time the Chief Executive set forth that he had on a previous 
 occasion recommended 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 slavery within its limits; 
 giving it such 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 determine 
 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 enfranchisement of the victims of 
 southern bondage. 
 
244 
 
 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE CORPS D'aRMKE OF GENERAL BANKS — IMPRUDENT REDUCTION OP ITS NUMBERS— TOR 
 REBELS UNDER JACKSON ATTACK THE ADVANCE AT FRONT ROYAL — DESIGN OP THE REBELS 
 TO OVERPOWER BANKS's DIVISION — THE LATTER ORDERS A GENERAL RETREAT TOWARD 
 WINCHESTER — VARIOUS ENGAGEMENTS ON THE ROUTE — BATTLE OF MIDDLETOWN — ACTION 
 ON THE MARCH TO WINCHESTER — BATTLE AT NEWTOWN — THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER — 
 ITS RESULTS — CONTINUANCE OP THE RETREAT TO WILLIAMSPORT — ADVENTURES OF THE 
 ZOUAVES d'aFRIQUE — FEDERAL LOSSES DURING THE RETREAT — SKETCH OP GENERAL 
 BANKS — ATTITUDE OF THE FEDERAL AND REBEL ARMIES AT CORINTH — A GREAT BATTI.B 
 
 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 CHICKA- 
 HOMINY — SKIRMISH AT THE PINES — THE BATTLE OF HANOVER COURT HOUSE — DESTRUCTION 
 OF THE RICHMOND AND FREDERICKSBURG RAILROAD — GALLANT EXPLOIT Or LIEUTENANT 
 DAVIS. 
 
 That portion of the Federal forces which had been placed under the 
 command of General Bank.s, had pursued the Rebels under General Jack- 
 son 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 division of General Banks was 
 originally an efficient body of troops, comprising three large brigades. 
 These had been reduced from time to time to less than half of their first 
 proportions, through the occult iufluence 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 po- 
 sition, in the heart of a hostile country, and liable to be attacked at any 
 moment by an enraged enemy with an overwhelming preponderance of 
 numbers. The commander of the Rebels 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 be soon gave the 
 friends of the Union ample cause to regret the energy and skill with 
 which he improved the opportunity of revenge and conquest which this 
 indiscretion tendered him. 
 
 On the 2bd of May, the advance guard of General Banks, which was 
 stationed under Colonel Kenley at Front Royal, 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 information 
 of this event reached the' headquarters at Strasburg, General Banks or- 
 dered a detachment of cavalry and a portion of his artillery forward to 
 the support of Colonel Kenley; but when it was ascertained, soon after- 
 ward, that the troops of that officer bad been wholly scattered by the 
 
REBEL DESIGN TO OVERPOWER BANKS' DIVISION. 245 
 
 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 crushing 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 peril- 
 ous 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, there preserve his 
 communications with his original base of operations, wait for reinforce- 
 ments, engage the advancing enemy if necessary, or retreat to Williams- 
 port, as the event might demand. The objection to the first plan was 
 fatal ; his troops were too few to attack the augmented and greatly supe- 
 rior 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 ammunition and stores. The third expedient 
 alone was prudent and feasible; for by a skillful retreat toward Winches- 
 ter, and thence to the Potomac, the army might be saved from capture, 
 his stores from total loss, and the cause of the Union from a greater dis- 
 aster than any which had occurred since the commencement of the war. 
 
 Accordingly, at three o'clock on the morning of the 24:111 of May, the 
 hurried dispositions for the retreat were made. Colonel Donnelly's brig- 
 ade wa.s 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 arrangements 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 route, reached the front of the column and made 
 an attack upon the heavy trains and the troops which guarded them. 
 The enemy had obtained possession of the road at Middletown, for the 
 purpose of intercepting the retreat ; and now the fugitives from tlie front 
 came running toward the rear in wild confusion, bringing the first tidings 
 of the assault. The position and immediate 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 
 
246 THE CIVIL WAR. IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 riglit. lie 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 reftised 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 reached that 
 city. General Hatch, who still commanded the rear, was then ordered 
 to advance with the greater part of his troops, leaving Colonel Dc Forrest 
 to protect the rear. Hatch in vain attempted to join the Federal troops 
 in front, being intercepted by the greater masses of 'the enemy ; he then 
 movid'to the left, and advanced by a parallel road toward Winchester. 
 He found Colonel Gorden at Newtown, where he effected a junction with 
 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 Strasburg. 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, consisting of the 
 second Massachusetts, the twenty-seventh Indiana, and the twenty-eighth 
 New York. These troops attacked the Rebels with fury, drove them 
 from the town, and the guns of the enemy were silenced by the federal 
 battery; but they found it impossible tq^^ect 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 horde.", 
 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 con- 
 nected 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 
 
THE BATTLE OP WINCHESTER. 241 
 
 their arms during their halt, and were ready at a moment's notice to 
 receive the enemy. The right wing, commanded by Colonel Gordon, com 
 prised the third brigade, and tlie men were protected to some extent from 
 the fire of the foe by stone walls in the vicinity. Colonel Donnelly com- 
 manded the remainder of the infantry, which was posted on the left. 
 General Hatch and the cavalry occupied the centre. The enemy com- 
 menced the engagement 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 numerously posted, and were more 
 successful in their operations. 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 Winchester 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 con- 
 fronted and encountered with honor twenty-five thousand. The Rebels 
 gained few laurels by the combat. The retreat was then continued 
 toward Martinsburg, the Federal troops marching in three parallel columns. 
 Each 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 during the night; the remainder followed on the ensuing day. 
 
 The Federal loss in this "retreat was, under the circumstances 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 burn%d upon the road, because they ht^d 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, commanding 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 remarkable, 
 which deserves special mention, was the escape of the Zouaves cCAfrique, who 
 had been the body guard of the commander-in-chief.. These men were 
 selected to perform the dangerous duty of burning the bridges in the rear 
 of the retreating column. They were commanded by Captain Collis. 
 
248 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 When the overwhelming numbers of the enemy became evident, and it 
 remained uncertain whether the Federal troops might not themselves need 
 the bridges by wliich to return, they abandoned 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 route. In the vicinity of that town they again encountered 
 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 ailvancc, 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 liave 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 tlie death of the 
 younger Cyrus at the battle of Cunaxa, through Asia Minor to the wel- 
 come shores of the Eu.xine 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 Kebel hordes at Strasburg, and led it 
 in safety to Williamsport. This Federal hero was born in Massachusetts, in 
 January, 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 Waltham. He afterward 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 de- 
 livered popular addresses before tempera#ce meetings, literary lyceums, 
 and political assemblies. He afterward assumed the editorship of a rural 
 newspaper, and engaged zealously in the political contests of the day. In 
 1848 he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representa- 
 tives. In 1851 he was chosen the speaker of that body. In 1853 he was 
 promoted to a seat in the Federal Congress. In 1855 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 ofSce 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 Eebeiiion broke forth; 
 and when a selection was to be made of some of the wisest and best men in 
 
ATTITUDE OF THE TWO ARMIES AT CORINTH. 249 
 
 the nation, to fill the offices of greatest responsibility in the military service 
 of the country, the once obscure machinist 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 guarding a part of that 
 river and the territory lying adjacent from the inroads of the Rebels. 
 When at last the nation was gratified by the announcement that the march 
 toward Richmond was about to commence, General Banks led his forces 
 into the bowels of the hostile land. We have elsewhere recorded the sub- 
 sequent 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, rfear Pittsburg Landing, the im- 
 mense army which had conquered under General Albert Sydney Johnston, 
 and had been defeated 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 officer 
 whom though not yet the victor in any great battle, the public unani- 
 mously 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 formida- 
 ble number of over a hundred thousand m_en. 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 Richmond. It was thought 
 that, at Corinth, General Beauregard would attempt to revive and freshen 
 the laurals which were withered at Shiloh ; 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 Halleck 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 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, 
 
250 THE CIVIL WAR IK THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 but .at tlirec o'clock in the afternoon the whole line of the enemy broke 
 and fled before the vigorous assaults of the Federal infantry and aitillery. 
 The latter advanced, and at the close of the day occupied the position de- 
 serted by the enemy. This position was about thirteen liudred yards 
 distant from the main entrenchments of the Eebel 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 night- 
 fall ; 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 tliat 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 south- 
 ward; the right wing resting o'n the Mobile 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 com- 
 mand, 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 arou.sed, during several previous days and nights, by the fre- 
 quent noise of railroad cars arriving and departing in a direction opposite to 
 their own position. At six o'clock in the morning of the 30lh, a succession 
 of loud explosions which took place within the enemy's works, increased 
 the mystery nor was that mystery solved until, after the order to advance 
 bad been given by General Sherman, it was discovered that the entrench- 
 ments of the Rebels where wholly deserted. The bigade of General M. L. 
 Smith was the first to reach and to enter the redoubts of the fugitive foe_ 
 ne then advanced into the town of Corinth, which he also found entirely 
 evacuated by the Rebels. 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 aban- 
 doned camps. 
 
 Numerous warehouses, in which the explosions referred to had taken 
 place, were in flames or were smouldering in ruins. Immense quantities 
 ofc 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 disorderly retreat. Then it was ascer- 
 tained from the remaining citizens of the town that, during several days 
 and nights, the immense army of General Beauregard had been trans- 
 ported over two railroads from Corinth ; although a portion of tliem had 
 been compelled at last to leave in hot haste on foot, in order to escape the 
 impending assault of the Federal troops under General Halleck. 
 
 The stars and stripes were soon unfurled over the recent fortifications 
 of the enemy ; and in a few hours the victors occupied the various en- 
 
A RECONNOISSANCB ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 251 
 
 trenchments which they had evacuated. That evacuation, so unexpected 
 and so significant, excited the 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 waf, 
 that the Eebel commander was afraid to encounter the formidable host 
 mustered under the banners of General Halleck ; and thatthey 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 engagement ensued 
 in which a number were slain on both sides, and some Eebel prisoners 
 were taken. 
 
 . During the progress of these events, the Federal army in the Peninsula 
 were steadily approaching Richmond. Its advance was marked from day 
 to day by futile opposition on the part of the enemy, aiid by several im- 
 portant 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 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 hill, a few hundred yards distant 
 from the bridge, the Rebels, who were concealed in a dense wood, opened 
 a fire upon them from several batteries. Robinson immediately responded 
 with four guns, Titbull with six guns, which they had quickly placed in 
 a favorable position ; a"nd a vigorous cannonade ensued. The Rebel artil- 
 lery was supported 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 t\irn driven 
 back. The action lasted nearly an hour, after which the Rebels aban- 
 doned the attack, and the Federal troops encamped fgr the night on the 
 
 * The real motive for the evacuation of Corinth was, that the larger portion of the 
 Eebel forces might be transferred thence to Richmond, and be united with those which 
 afterward repulsed General McClellan from that capital. 
 
252 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 battle-field. On the following morning the action was renewed. The 
 Rebels assailed the Federals with a battery of four guns. But they eS'ected 
 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-stprm of balls into the ranks of the foe as they ap- 
 proached 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 former position. 
 The Federal loss in this action was two killed and ten wounded. That 
 of the enemy is unknown ; a partial yet plausible conjecture would estimate 
 it at a much largej number. 
 
 A similar operation, attended by a similar result, was effectel <a the 
 le/l wing of the Federal army on the 2-lth of May. A reconnoissaiice was 
 ordered on that day, to ascertain the strength of the Rebels 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 Rebel 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 inliintry also came 
 into collision. But the chief execution was effected on both sides by the 
 artillery. The batteries of the Rebels 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 Richmond railroad, 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 Rebels was probably much greater, as not a few of their cavalry 
 were seen to fall from their horses, and were 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 Chickahominy, were followed 
 on the 27th of May by the more decisive battle of Hanover Court House. 
 
/r-eus^Eft ^^^"-^^'^^^^^^^ 
 
THE BATTLE OF HANOVER COURT HOUSE. 253 
 
 General McClellan readily discerned the necessity of cutting ofif the con- 
 nection between the Eebel authorities at Richmond with those at Fred- 
 ericksburg, which was preserved and maintained by the railroo.d running 
 between those two cities. The tasli of destroying this road, and of rout- 
 ing the Rebel forces which might attempt to prevent the execution of the 
 enterprise, was entrusted to the troops commanded by General Fitz John 
 Porter. Accordingly, 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, com- 
 manded 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 encountered. 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 day three separate contests took place with the Eebel 
 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 ad- 
 vance, approached it, a heavy fire was opened upon them. Their volleys 
 were quickly returned while the J"ederals advanced. They then com- 
 menced to fire with a number 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 Rebel 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 Rebel 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 and Martindale, and Colonel 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 
 Rebels 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 
 
254 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 Richmond and Fredericksburg completely ruined. 
 
 After this success an interval of several hours' duration ensued, during 
 which the Federal troops rested upon their arms, and the Rebels were 
 quietly receiving reinforcements from Richmond. 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 regiment 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. Griffin 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 Kin- 
 ney's House, and recommenced the contest with great spirit. It is proba- 
 ble that they mustered fifteen thousand men, in this last effort to dislodge 
 the Federal forces from -the possession 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 Butterfield. 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 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 
 Rebel 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 
 fifty-three killed, three hundred and twenty-six 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 Richmond, would necessarily include many minor episodes and 
 
GALLANT EXPLOIT OP LIEUTENANT DAVIS. 255 
 
 individual achievements which will never be recorded on the historic 
 page, ia which the actors exhibited as much heroism as could be dis- 
 played on the most extensive and renowned battle-field. Our space per- 
 mits us here to aUude to but one of these. General McClellan having 
 formed the determination to open communication with the Federal gun- 
 boats on the James river, then fifteen miles distant from his camp, ordered 
 Lieutenant Frank C. Davis, of the third Pennsylvania cavalry, to per- 
 form the task with an escort of ten picked men. It was a service of con- 
 siderable difficulty 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 camp. Scarcely 
 had he traveled four miles when he 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 escape from 
 the impending peril was marvelous. 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. Eeaching 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 com- 
 mitted to writing, in order to avoid the possibility of its becoming known 
 to the enemy by the capture of the messenger. The lieutenant havino- 
 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 Mc- 
 Clellan directed his chief of staff to express to Lieutenant Davis his ap- 
 probation of the prompt, discreet and satisfactory manner in which ho 
 and his men had performed the duty assigned them, in communicating 
 with Captain Eodgers, the commander of the fleet of Federal gunboats in 
 James river. 
 
256 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 APPROACH OF THE FEDERAL ARMY TO RICHMOND — THE CORPS OF GENERAL KETES CROSS 
 THE CHICKAHOMINY — THEIR ESPOSF.D POSITION — HOSTILE PURPOSE OF THE REBEL LEADERS 
 — THE BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES — POSITION OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS — COMMENCEMENT OF 
 THE ATTACK — DISPOSITION OF TROOPS MADE BY GENERAL CASEY — INCIDENTS OF TUB 
 BATTLE — ROUT OP CASEY's DIVISION — GENERAL COUCH's TROOPS BECOME ENGAGED — DES- 
 PERATE FIGHTING VICTORY OP THE REBELS — THE FEDERALS REINFORCED THE ENGAGE- 
 MENT OF JCNE FIRST, GENERAL HEINTZELMAN IN CHIEF COMMAND— INCIDENTS OF THIS 
 BATTLE — HEROISM OF THE IRISH REOIMENTS AND OF SICKLEs' EXCELSIOR BRIGADE — THE 
 VICTORY OF FAIR OAKS — ITS RESULTS — POPULAR IMPATIENCE FOR THE OCCUPATION OP 
 RICHMOND — REBEL FORCES IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH — THEIR BRIEF OCCUPA- 
 TION OP IT — GENERAL FREMONT ORDERED TO EXPEL THEM — THEY ABANDON WINCHESTER 
 
 THEIR RETREAT THROUGH STRASBURO 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 — WITH- 
 DRAWAL 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 these 
 points will be more colossal in their proportions, more obstinate and 
 desperate in their spirit, than those which preceded them, and that they 
 will produce a decisive effect on the issue of the contest one way or the 
 other. This maxim holds true with regard to the war against the South- 
 ern 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 Pharsalia, the Waterloo, 
 of the Rebel Confederacy. 
 
 The corps of General Keyes, which formed a part of the army of General 
 McClellan, 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 a single bridge ; and they were thus placed in the advance 
 in an isolated position. The camp of General Casey, whose troops led 
 
GENERAL KEYS CROSSES THE CHICKAnOMINY. 25T 
 
 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 which 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 bad 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 soldier's life, were sick ; and although the 
 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 Oaks station. His troops were more ' familiar with the service, 
 and were more numerous than those of General Casey. 
 
 The Rebel 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 themornino' 
 of the following, an unusual commotion in the camp of the Rebels, which 
 was within their view ; but no apprehension was entertained of the mo- 
 mentous events which, were about to follow. It was on Saturday, May 
 31st, that the first battle in the vicinity of Richmond took place. On 
 that day 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, ef- 
 fectually preventing their retreat m case they were overpowered. The plans 
 of the Rebels were well laid ; their time of action was opportunely chosen ; 
 their assault was commenced and continued with energy and determina- 
 tion. At one o'clock in the day they advanced down the Williamsburg 
 road, toward the Federal camp.* They fired three shells as a signal to 
 
 * The position of the diiferent brigades of General Casey's division before the en- 
 gagement was as follows : General Naglee's brigade, consisting of the one hundred and 
 fourth Pennsylvania, Colonel W. W. H. Davis ; eleventh Maine, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Palmstead ; fifty-sixth New York, Colonel C. H. Van Wyck ; fifty-second Pennsyl- 
 vania, Colonel J. C. Dodge ; one hundredth New York, Colonel J. M. Brown, were on 
 17 
 
858 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the rest of their forces that all was ready; and they then came upon the 
 Federal pickets suddenly and unexpecteuly. The pickets discharged 
 their p eces, fell back, and coramunicated the intelligence that the enemy 
 were advancing in considerable force. The one hundred and third Penn- 
 .'sylvania 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 they 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 de- 
 moralizing the rest; who, overcome and bewildered by the suddenness 
 of the surprise, broke and fled toward the rear in complete confusion. 
 T'hey 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. Eegau'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 regiments. The first salute the enemy received was from tliese 
 batteries; but they continued to advance with the steadiness of veterans. 
 As they came within range of the musketry of the Federals, they re- 
 turned the fire with such effect, 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 un- 
 heroic, bat 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 until the ammunition of these 
 
 tl»e rif^ht of the Williamsburg and Richmond stage road, and e.xtcnded across the 
 ruil track for some distance. The second brigade, under command of General Wessels. 
 consisting of Die cighty-fiftn Pennsylvania,. Colonel T. B. IT. Howell ; one hundred and 
 first Pennsylvania, Colonel S. II. Wilson; one hundred and third Pennsylvania, 
 Colonel M. H. Lenman ; ninety-sixth New York, Colonel J. Fairman, occupied the 
 centre and guarded the turnpike. The third brigade, General J. N. Palmer command- 
 ing, consisting of the ei;,'hty-first New York, Lieutenant-Colonel De Forest ; fifty-fifth 
 New York, Colonel T. S. Belknap ; ninety-second New York, Lientenant-Colonel 
 Anderson ; ninety-eiglith New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Durkee, were on the left of 
 the road, and connected with the pickets of General Couch's division. 
 
KOUT OF CASEY'S DIVISION. 259 
 
 guns was exhausted, and the wagons being still beyond the Chiclcahominy, 
 it was impossible to bring forward a fresh supply, that the enemy were 
 able to surmount and overcome the obstruction. 
 
 A closer combat then ensued. In vain did General Casey, with the 
 coolness and valor of a veteran, ride along his shattered lines and en- 
 deavor 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 eSect as the strength and spirit of the men permitted. But 
 fresh and heavy masses of Eebels still rolled forward from their rear, to 
 the front, so that the Federal troops were at length overpowered. They 
 then retreated within their first line of defence. Here Bates' battery of 
 six pieces was posted in a redoubt on the left, and Fitch's battery on the 
 right. These guns now opened on the advancing foe. Four Rebel bat- 
 teries 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 
 vainly attempted to resist the immense masses which now swelled forward, 
 and swarmed like a countless host around them. Almost every regiment 
 of Casey's division had by this time been effectually broken and routed. 
 It was now half-past four. For three hours and a half those raw and in- 
 experienced troops had stemmed the tide ; eight thousand mep had resisted 
 thrice their number; and during all that period not more than half a mile 
 had been yielded to the enemy in retreat. During this period General 
 Casey had exhibited extraordinary courage, coolness and skill; but this 
 brave commander was unable to perform impossibilities. He had lost 
 one fourth of his division, and many of his best officers. He had, how- 
 ever, 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 ujion 
 them ; a sheet of lurid flame and iron hail then flew into their ranks, and 
 completely staggered them. A bayonet charge by the gallant Pennsyl- 
 vanians ensued, which added to their repulse, and to the extent of the 
 slaughter which thinned their den.se 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 
 
260 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 now engaged, and a disaster which occurred at this crisis on the left, pro- 
 duced a pernicious effect. There the tenth Massachu-setts regiment occu- 
 pied a post near the rifle-pits, but being ordered further to the left, was 
 accidentally placed in an isolated position. When the enemy advanced 
 the tenth engaged them heroically in front ; but during this action a por- 
 tion of the Rebels succeeded in passing unobserved through the adjacent 
 woods to the rear of that regiment. They then attacked the tenth from 
 that point with great fury. The result was that the men, surrounded by 
 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 strug- 
 gle, 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 oHTicer remained on horseback. Slowly and reluctantly those 
 heroic troops, which had hurled back the deluge of the Rebel hosts, 
 three times their own number, were compelled to recede toward the 
 Chickahominy, not "unaccountably and discreditably," as was a.sserted, 
 but simply because human strength and valor, when placed in a desperate 
 and helpless position, could not achieve miracles, or reverse the laws ot 
 physical nature. 
 
 General Couch now fell back with his shattered column in the direction 
 of the Williamsburg road. Here he again arrayed his men in line of 
 battle. At half past four o'clock. General S«mner arrived on the field 
 with Sedgwick's division. These troops were disposed of as rapidly and 
 judiciously as the occasion permitted ; but not too soon to meet the ad- 
 vancing enemy. The thirty-first Pennsylvania, the first Minnesota, and 
 the first chasseurs, were ordered to lie upon their faces, and were thus 
 concealed 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 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, pnssed the ensuing night upon the 
 gory field, or near it, surrounded by the multitudes of the dying and the 
 
THE ENGAGEMENT OF JUNE FIRST. 261 
 
 dead, and anxiously awaited, during its solemn silence, the dawn of tho 
 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 been 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 commeQcement. 
 
 On Sunday, June 1st, the Federal troops promptly stood to their arms 
 in the dim aud misty light of the early dawn. Important reinforcement3 
 had arrived during the night. On the right wing, the divisions of Rich- 
 ardson 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 be- 
 fore. At six o'clock General Heintzelman, who had received the chief 
 command of the forces engaged, ordered a reconnoissance to be made on 
 the left and on the right, by which it was soon ascertained that 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 
 renew the engagement. Heintzelman immediately ordered Hooker to 
 attack the Rebels in front, and drive them back through the woods, from 
 which they were then emerging. Hooker's division comprised the Ex- 
 celsior brigade of Sickles, with the fifth and sixth New Jersey regiments. 
 These troops advanced gallantly to the attack. They were warmly re- 
 ceived by the enemy; but as they approached, they loaded and fired re- 
 peatedly with the rapidity and regularity of trained soldiers. After an 
 exchange of shots for some time. General Sickles 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 dis- 
 tant, and as the Federal troops approached, 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 ex- 
 ceedingly dificult ; but the Irish regiments were fortunately in this part of 
 the fight ; and their powers of endurance and their pugnacious spirit were 
 well adapted to the emergency. As the brigades of French, Meagher and 
 Howard combatted the foe, the men were sometimes up to their knees in 
 the swampy and boggy soil. This unusual disadvantage would have dis- 
 gusted or disheartened any other soldiers ; but it could not retard the im- 
 
262 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 petuoug 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 des- 
 perate struggle ensued. The superior numbers of the Eebels rendered the 
 issue at one time extremely doubtful. At that moment the fourth and 
 fifth Excelsior regiments of Sickles, who had already gained their share of 
 the victory in another part of the field, were despatched to the support of 
 Richardson's men. The battle now spread around to the New Jersey 
 brigade, who stood manfully to the enemy. At length the Rebels began 
 to recede ; yet slowly and steadily. The Federal troops then pu.shed for- 
 ward, 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 compensated for by brilliant success. The Rebels 
 were commanded on this occasion by Generals Joseph E. Johnston, Long- 
 street, Pryor, pobb and Huger. The guns and ammunition which they 
 had captured on Saturday were not recovered, they having been trans- 
 ported with prudent and thrifty haste to Richmond, immediately after the 
 close of the engagement on that day. On Monday the Federal forces were 
 ordered forward to occupy their first position, from which they had been 
 driven on Saturday. The loss of the Rebel troops was very heavy, as the 
 ground was covered thickly in many places with the slain and the woun- 
 ded, whom they were unable to remove. The Federal loss during tho. 
 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 hors du combat of five 
 thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine.* 
 
 After the battle of Fair Oaks, the loyal community of the United States 
 generaly expected that an immediate advance would be made by the 
 Federal army again.st Richmond; and it is quite probable, that if such a 
 movement 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 with little 
 
 * The loss of the Rebels, according to the official report subsequently made by 
 General J. E. Johnston, was six thousand six hundred and ninety-seven, 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 
 equipage. 
 
POPULAR IMPATIENCE FOR THE CAPTURE OF RICHMOND. 263 
 
 difficulty. But such an advance of the Federal army at that moment was 
 probably a physical impossibility. A small proportion of McClellan's troops 
 had as yet crossed the Chickahominy ; and these had been greatly weak- 
 ened by two days' hard fighting. Only two or three bridges had been 
 constructed over the stream, and these were swept away by the violent 
 storm and freshet which ensued the day after the battle of Fair Oaks. The 
 Rebels had fought with heroism — with a desperation and firmness unsur- 
 passed 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 determinatiou and readiness. To attack such troops 
 with sudden and imprudent haste, with inferior numbers, or at a serious 
 disadvantage of position, would have insured the inevitable defeat and de- 
 struction of the Federal army. Richmond was defended even then "by 
 eight immense fortifications, supported by about fifty thousand effective 
 troops ; and the operations intended to vanquish such formidable arma- 
 ments and such resolute champions, must be executed with great deliber- 
 ation and skill. Hence it was alleged that the impatience for the imme- 
 diate capture of the Rebel capital, which at this period prevaded 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 unrea- 
 sonable and unjust. 
 
 In accordance with the maxims which controlled the conduct of General 
 McOlellan, 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 Richmond. His intrenchments, 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 operations of importance took place near 
 the Rebel capital ; during which interval the Federal troops were employed 
 in the completion of their breastworks, and the Rebels in concentrating 
 all their available forces in the vicinity. In the meantime events of im- 
 portance 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 supre- 
 macy 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 24th of May, and on the ensuing 30th they evacuated it. This move- 
 ment 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 
 
S64 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 was ordered to descend from his mountaia 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 maia 
 body of his troops, and by rapid marches cro.ssed the intervening moun- 
 tains, toiling over a hundred miles of difficult roads, with very limited 
 means of transportation and subsistence. About the same period, General 
 Jackson withdrew from Winchester. Fremont pressed on toward Stras- 
 burg, which the Rebels were approaching in their full strength. Colonel 
 Cluseret, who commanded the advance of Fremont's forces, first encoun- 
 tered the enemy, five miles from Strasburg, on the Winchester road. 
 The Federals were assailed by a spirited cannonading; but when General 
 Fremont proceeded to draw out his trooj)s in line of battle, in anticipation 
 of a general engagement, Jackson declined the challenge, and retreated, 
 in the meantime holding the Federal advance in check. The Rebel 
 general continued his retreat through Strasburg toward Woodstock, 
 losing twenty-five prisoners in the chase which ensued. Strasburg was 
 then occupied by General Fremont without opposition. For the purpose 
 of ascertaining the route and posifion of the enemy, he ordered Colonel 
 Figzelmesi', with a number of men, to make a reconnoissance at midnight 
 near that town. By this movement it was ascertained that Jackson's 
 rear guard was 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 Rebel army lying three 
 miles beyond it. During this portion of the chase, though no engage- 
 ment of impoitance occurred, several hundred Rebel prisoners were 
 captured. 
 
 The retreat and the pursuit through the valley of the Shenandoah con- 
 tinued without further incident of importance until the 8th of June. On 
 that day the Rebels reached a position in the vicinity of Ilarrisonburg 
 called Cross Keys, where an engagement took place. Colonel Wyudham 
 
GALLANTRY OF THE BUCKTAILS. 265 
 
 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 Eebels being 
 ^posted in strong force, attacked him. A severe contest ensued. The 
 Eebel General Ashby was conspicuous in this fight for his superior skill 
 and daring. The Federal troops were driven back, and Colonel Wynd- 
 ham 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 six- 
 teenth 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 cdinpany, 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 Eebels, consisting of four regiments of cavalry, together with 
 artillery. But the Bucktails did not flinch in this emergency, and opened 
 their fire with deadly effect upon the serried masses around them. Their 
 valor was vain and fruitless against such overwhelming numbers. Their 
 ranks were quickly thinned by the destructive attack of the foe. Their 
 gallant commander was wounded 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 Eebels. The loss of the Bucktails was about 
 six killed, thirty-sis wounded, ten missing ; that of the remaining Federal 
 troops was one hundred and eighteen killed, four hundred and fifty 
 wounded, thirty missing. The loss of the Eebels 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 Eebel cavalry, was slain. 
 
 On the next day, the 9th of June, the pursuit of the enemy was con- 
 tinued. The Eebels were then in full retreat toward Port Eepublic, 
 General Blenker commanded 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 
 BO 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 after- 
 ward engaged the enemy. The action which, ensued took place at Port 
 
266 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Republic, seven miles beyond Harrisonburg, on tbe route toward Staunton. 
 The number of Federal troops engaged 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 first brought forward, and 
 were made to bear upon them with effect. Several companies of skir-^ 
 misliers were then 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 Colonel 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 despatched 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 
 ^ engagement 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 were 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 tlie 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 impossible to 
 remove the heavy guns, the horses being nearly all either killed or 
 disabled, and they fell into the hands of the enemy. The Federals, how- 
 ever, captured one gun and sixty-seven prisoners. They retreated, and 
 the Rebels pursued, until the former approached the main body of 
 General Shields' division, when the R.-bels fled in their turn. The 
 Federal loss on this occasion was sixty-two killed, one hundred and sixty- 
 one wounded, one 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, 
 
WITHDRAWAL OP GENERAL FREMONT. 
 
 2«Y 
 
 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 Eichmond. No engagement of any impor- 
 tance took place between him and the troops of General Fremont subse- 
 quent to the battle of Port Republic. On the 25th of June the armies of 
 Fremont, McDowell, and Banks, were consolidated by the President into 
 one body, to be designated by the title of the Army of Virginia ; and the 
 chief command 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 army corps; those of Banks, the 
 second; those of McDowell, the third. General McCall's division, ten 
 thousand strong, which had formed part of McDowell's corps, was trans- 
 ferred 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 Shenan- 
 doah, was readily acquiesced in by Generals McDowell and Banks ; but it 
 did not meet the approbation 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. General 
 Pope had been under his command in Missouri, and the relations of the 
 two generals toward each other were not pleasant. He therefore resolved 
 to withdraw from the command of the corps, 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 mar- 
 velous vicissitudes of a contest in which he had enacted, if not the first, 
 yet an honorable part. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the chief 
 glory of the career of this eminent man will always be associated with hi^ 
 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 
 the most profitable and ajjpropriate arenas for the exercise and develop- 
 ment of their gigantic energies. As the heroic and resolute " Pathfinder" 
 to the golden climes of the modern Eldorado, across the 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. 
 
868 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 PROMINENCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN THE EVENTS OF TEE WAR — FLEET OF GUNBOATS 
 COMMANDED BY COMHODORE DAVIS — EVACUATION OF FORT PILLOW — THE NAVAL BATTLE 
 BEFORE MEMPHIS — RELATIVE STRENGTH OF THE COMBATANTS — INCIDENTS OF THE ENOAGEJ- 
 MENT — DEFEAT OF THE REBEL FLEET — COLONEL ELLET — RESULTS OF THE VICTORY — GEN- 
 , ERAL NEGLEV'S EXPEDITION AGAINST CHATTANOOGA — COLONEL BAMBRIGUT — INCIDENTS 
 OF THE EXPEDITION — ITS RESULTS — GENERAL MORGAN EXPELS THE REBELS FROM CUM- 
 BERLAND 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 FEDERALTROOPS — THEIR RETREAT — FEDERAL LOSS — GALLANTRY 
 OF THE REBEL COMMANDER LAMAR — EXPEDrtlON 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 
 OP THE EXPEDITION — EXCURSION OF COLONEL HOWARD PROM NEWBERN TO SWIFT CREEK — 
 ITS RESULTS — BOMBARDMENT OF VICKSBURO COMMENCED — PERILOUS PASSAGE OP COM- 
 MODORE FARRAOUT's FLEET — NEW CHANNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPL 
 
 One of tbe most brilliant pages in the history of the war against Seces- 
 sion, is that which records the achievements of the champion of the Union 
 on the Mississippi river. On the great "Father of Waters" defeats and 
 disasters, though not wholly unknown, were unfamiliar things; triumphs 
 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. H. Davis, comprising eight vessels, approached Fort 
 Pillow, located on the banks of the Mississippi, in the vicinity of 
 Memphis. It was the intention of the commodore to bombard the Rebel 
 works, which 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 gun- 
 boats, which respectively 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 had previously been river 
 steamers, and had been converted into gunboats; They carried from two 
 to twelve guas each, wliich were worked e« barhcltc 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, St. Louis, 
 and Carondelet. In addition to these there were four steam rams, com- 
 
THE NAVAL BATTLE BEFORE MEMPHIS. 269 
 
 manded by Colonel Cbarles 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 Com- 
 modore Davis lay at anchor two miles above the city. When the morn 
 ing 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 oppo- 
 site 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 engagement began at half-past five in the 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 
 Rebel 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 de- 
 sired position, ronnded 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 afterward the Queen was herself run into by the Beau- 
 regard, and being struck on the wheel-house with tremendous violence, 
 was severely disabled. The Monarch then approached the Beauregard, 
 and saluted her with a ferocious butt in the bow, which completely dis- 
 abled 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 Parrott guns of the former pro- 
 duced an immense effect 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. Her 
 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 difficulty 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. 
 
 The remainder of the Rebel flotilla had thus far been engaged at long 
 range. The Beauregard had been completely riddled with shot; was 
 rapidly becoming unmanageable ; was filling with water ; and was drifting 
 helplessly toward the shore. She eventually sank upon a shoal to her 
 decks. The Little Rebel was struck by two shots upon her upper works • 
 she was then run ashore by her commander, abreast of President's island. 
 
fet« THE CIVIL WAR IN TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and was eventually abandoned by her crew. Disasters now came thickly 
 upon .the rest of the vessels of the enemy. By this time the Jeff. Thomp- 
 son was on fire, and the flames soon gained such headway that it was 
 impossible to extinguish thom. The fieny 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 disa- 
 bled by the steady and destructive shots 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 crew was 
 then placed on board, the stars and stripes were unfurled, and .she was 
 towed to an anchorage at Memphis. About the same time, a shot pene- 
 trated the boiler of the active and dauntless Little Rebel. It exploded, 
 and she was at once completely di.sabled. 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 pup 
 sued 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 officers 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 
 Federal vessels the Queen of the West had been the most severely disa- 
 bled. Her machinery was so terribly jarred by the vigorous butting of 
 
RESULTS OF THE VICTORY. 3Yi 
 
 <i 
 the Eebel rams, as to be unable to move, and she was towed to hfer 
 anchorage after the termination of the battle. 
 
 Immediately after the engagement the victorious fleet steamed up to 
 the landing at Memphis. Commodore Davis then despatched a messenger 
 to John Parke, the Mayor of the city, informing him that he had taken 
 possession of the place, that he would put it under military authority, and 
 that he desired his co-operation 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 Commodore 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 supremacy 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 gun- 
 boats. With the single exception of Yicksburg, 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 Eebel Confederacy 
 would be effectually severed. It was confidently expected that that desi- 
 rable result would be accomplished at an early period. 
 
 Other triumphs to the Federal asms 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 
 Tennessee. General Mitchel, appreciating the importance of the position, 
 determined to attack it with one of those brilliant and sudden assaults by 
 which he had already distinguished himself. He entrusted the execution 
 of his enterprise on this occasion to General Negley. Chattanooga being 
 situated on the Tenneesee river, at the head of the light draught naviga- 
 tion, commanding the mountain region in East Tennessee, being also a 
 great railway centre, and being directly connected by them with Western 
 Virginia, and even with Richmond, 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 Mitchel at Huntsville, in Ala- 
 bama, Colonel Hambright, under the orders of General Negley, rapidly 
 approached Chattanooga, routing and dispersing on his way a body of 
 Rebel 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 
 
2T2 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 evicuatt'd. On the next clay the town was shelled. In six hours the 
 Rebels 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 Rebel 
 service, were also captured. The Rebel works were completely destroyed, 
 and the place unfitted for future hostile operations. This conquest re- 
 lieved the loyal citizens of that vicinity from the heavy yoke of the Rebel 
 authorities which had so long galled them, and confirmed their attach- 
 ment to their legitimate government. It wrested from the enemy all the 
 advantages which the possession of the town had given them, from its 
 peculiar position as the great railroad centre, to which we have already 
 referred. After this achievement General Negley 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 Tennessee on the 17th of 
 June, when General Morgan advanced toward Cumberland Gap for the 
 purpose of attacking and expelling the Rebel 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 south- 
 west through the State; and it is so deep and narrow that there is room 
 through the gap for only a single roadway. The Rebels 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 Rebel 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 commu- 
 nication was opened between the loyal citizens of Eastern and Western 
 Tennessee, and another stronghold of the Rebels 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 fortune turned against the Federal arms, and a disastrous defeat 
 overtook them in the 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, attacked the works 
 which the Rebels had erected on James island, in the neighborhood of 
 Charleston, and was ignominiously repulsed with heavy losses. The enemy 
 had constructed a line of defences running across this island, together with 
 a fort and an observatory, in such a position as to enable them to over 
 
DISASTER TO THE FEDERAL ARMS AT JAMES ISLAND. 273 
 
 look the operation 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 a high bank of a creek 
 which passes through the marshes of James and Morris islands, and 
 empties into the Stono river near its mouth. Five hundred yards south 
 of Secessionville, Colonel Lamar bad erected a battery, flanked on its sides 
 by the marsh and the creek. The Rebel 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 Connecticut sixth and seventh, 
 and the Massachusetts twenty-eighth regiments, supported by 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 
 Eebel 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 intrenchments. The Kebels were driven from these pieces, which 
 were captured. It was evident that the occupants of the intrenchments 
 had beea taken completely by surprise, but they were quickly aroused 
 from their slumbers, and received the assailants with the utmost resolu- 
 tion. 
 
 In the engagement which ensued. General Wright's brigade supported 
 General Stevens ou the left, while General Williams was ordered to make 
 a flank movement to the right, and from that quarter to join in the 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 was 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. Eepeated 
 18 
 
874 THE CIVAL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 onsets were then made, and determined struggles 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 co-operative movement had been made on the flank, 
 the assault might have been successful ; but such was not the case. The 
 Rebels were effectually aided in their defence 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 underbush, poured 
 into the fort a continuous and deadly fire, at a distance of a hundred and 
 fifty yards. Some of the gun-carriages in the intrenchments were per- 
 forated by their balls. This assault might have proved more successful, 
 had not the Louisiana battalion, commanded by McEIenry, come to the 
 rescue, formed on the right facing the marsh, and opened their fire upon 
 the assailants with such eflect 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 South Carolina. Two Federal gunboats which then 
 lay in the Stono river were unable to render much assistance, in conse- 
 quence of their remote position; but during the retreat, in attempting to 
 shell the pursuing Rebels, they did nearly as much damage to their aliie-s 
 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 Benham was after- 
 ward summoned to Washington to explain and justify his conduct. The 
 total loss of the Federal forces in killed, wounded, and missing, was six 
 hundred and sixty-eight. This large number demonstrated that the Fed- 
 eral soldiers had fought with the courage and determination 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 tiie least 
 degree responsible. In this action the Rebel 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 defence of which he had 
 expended it. The effect of this misfortune on the minds of the loyal com- 
 munity was extremely discouraging, inasmuch as they regarded Charles- 
 ton and the Rebel works in its vicinity with peculiar repugnance, as 
 
EXPEDITION OF COLONEL FITCH UP WHITE RIVER. 2T5 
 
 being tlie real centre and effective source of a rebellion which had inflicted 
 so many and such great calamities on the nation. 
 
 On the 12th of June an expedition vras sent from Memphis under the 
 orders of Colonel Fitch, for the purpose of sailing up the White river as 
 far as Jacksonport, and conveying supplies and ammunition to the army 
 of General Curtis. It was understood that the Rebels had placed ob- 
 structions in the stream, and that they had erected fortifications at St. 
 Charles, an insignificant village about eighty-two miles above its junction 
 with the Mississippi. The expedition consisted of four iron-clad gun- 
 boats, 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 Rebel 
 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 proceeded slowly 
 about eighty miles up the White river, suddenly encountered the bat- 
 teries which the enemy had erected. These were so concealed in the 
 thick forest and brushwood on the Arkansas shore, that their position 
 nnnld only be conjectured from the direction of their shot. As the 
 Union fleet approached, the Rebels commenced 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 Rebels consisted 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 hun- 
 dred 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 to suspend their fire, as it might 
 injure his own men, and he felt able to take the forts by 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 
 
276 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 was crowded with the crew, a hundred and seventy-f.ve 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 port-holes. 
 Maddened and frantic with their insupportable torments, they threw them- 
 selves 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 con- 
 tinued to fire upon the drowning wretches, as with desperation thcj 
 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 Rebels, 
 ordered his sharpshooters to distribute themselves 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 Rebel 
 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 
 Rebels. He had formerly been an oflScer 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 expedi- 
 tion 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 resumed its progress up the White river; 
 the obstructions in the stream were removed; and it eventually reached 
 its destination without any further opposition or casualty. 
 
 Among the minor movements which took place in different portiooa 
 

EXCURSION OP COLONEL HOWARD TO SWIFT CREEK. 277 
 
 of tbe field of conflict, to which a brief allusion may be made, was one 
 which, about this period, set forth from Newbem 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 Rebels taken by surprise, that 
 several of them were captured. The seventeenth Massachusetts, com- 
 manded by Colonel Fellows, then led the advance, and occupied Swift 
 Creek village. Colonel Howard took possesion of the bridge, and shelled 
 the Rebels, whose breastworks of shingle lay on the opposite side of the 
 stream. A few shots 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 intrench- 
 ments in dismay, and fled through the 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 examination the 
 works were found to be insignificant, and they could have presented little 
 resistance to the Federal guns. After this easy conquest the troops re- 
 turned to Newbern. The effect produced by the expedition upon the 
 Rebels 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 navigation of that great commercial artery 
 with the most commendaljle 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 i.s built on the eastern bank 
 of the river, on a considerable elevation. Steep bluffs exist both above 
 and below it, whose height above the IqvcI 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 effect upon them, while they, from their 
 superior elevation, possessed every advantage. In other respects, also, the 
 situation of the place was peculiar. At this point the Mississippi makes 
 an abrupt bend, in shape not unlike a horse-shoe, inclosing within its 
 
2^8 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 embrace a strip of land little more than half a mile in width. At the ex- 
 tremity of this bend the city is built. These topographical oddities sug- 
 gested to the minds of the Federal commanders, at a later period, the ex- 
 pedient of cutting a canal across this peninsula, thus opening a new chan- 
 nel lor the river, and setting back the city several miles from the margin 
 of the stream which was the source of its opulence, the avenue of its com- 
 merce, and chief implement of its resistance to the Federal Government. 
 On the 2lst of June Captain Porter, belonging to the fleet of Commodore 
 Davis, who was then above Vicksburg, made a reconuoissance in the 
 Octorara, for the purpose of ascertaining the best position at which his 
 flotilla might be anchored. General Van Dorn commanded the Rebel 
 forces at this place. These numbered eighteen thousand men. llaving 
 accomplished his purpose Captain Porter returned to his station. Com- 
 modore Davis then prepared to approach the city and commence the bom- 
 bardment. On Thursday, the 26th of June, a formidable fleet, consisting 
 of about forty vessels of all descriptions, including transports, appeared 
 before Vicksburg.* An attack was immediately commenced, which was 
 chiefly directed against the Ibrtificatiuus on the blufl' below the town. The 
 Eebel batterie-s 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 of divisions 
 were summoned to meet the commander on his flag-ship. They there re- 
 ceived 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 tiie deadly music of tlieir assault. The scene which 
 ensued was extremely grand and imposing. The sound of the guns re- 
 sembled 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 far and near 
 with incessant flashes of lurid light. The earth and river shook with the 
 terrible concussions. 'J'he enormous shells, as they descended upon the 
 doomed city, appeared like messengers of destruction from some distant 
 
 * The fleet of Commodore Porter consisted of the following vessels of war: Octorara, 
 flag-ship, Geo. Brown, E.xecutive Officer; Westfield, Commander W. B. Bcnham ; 
 Harriet Lane, J. M. Wainwri>;ht; Clifton, C. H. Baldwin; Miami, A. D. Uarr<'l; 
 Owasco, John Guest; J. P. Jackson, S. E. Woodworth. Commanding divisions of the 
 mortar flotilla were Lieutenant Watson Smith, commanding first division ; Lieutenant 
 W. W. Green, commanding second division; Lieutenant R. R. Breese, commanding 
 tliird division. The vessels composing the squadron of Commodore Davis were tlie 
 Benton, Carondelet, Cincinnati, and Louisville. Those of Commodore Farragut were 
 the Hartford, Brooklyn, Sciota, Oneida, Piuola, and the gunboats. 
 
NEW CHANNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 219 
 
 and hostile sphere. Soon the city was ia 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 Vicks- 
 burg 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 daylight, he would attempt to pass the batteries on the bluff, and 
 unite their fleets. The suggestion was complied with, and his entire flotilla, 
 consisting of three men-of-war, two sloops-of-war, and three gunboats, suc- 
 ceeded 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 how- 
 ever much their shot might injure the town, it would be impossible to cap. 
 ture or destroy the batteries which lined the bluffs, without the assistance 
 of a land force. The entire fleet then proceeded a short distance above 
 Vicksburg 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 dis- 
 pute, 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 eight feet below the water level. The chief disad- 
 vantage which attended the enterprise was the fact that at that period 
 the water of the river was falling instead of rising. During the engage- 
 ment 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 occu- 
 pied Vicksburg. Leaving the Federal commanders and their dif&cult 
 enterprise at that city, which was still in an inchoate condition, we will 
 turn our attention to the more important but not very felicitous events 
 which at this period transpired in the vicinity of the Eebel capital. 
 
280 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IHB INTBENCHMBNTS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY BF.FORR RirHMOND — THEIR KXTENT — INACTIVITY 
 OF THE FEDERAL FORCES — CONCENTRATION OF REBEL TROOPS IN RICHMOND — GLOWING EX- 
 PECTATIONS OP THE LOi'AL 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 MECHANICSVILLE — INCIDENTS OP THE BATTLE — COM- 
 MENCEMENT OF THE MARCH TOWARD THE JAMES RIVER — BATTLE OP OAINES' MILLS — DES- 
 PERATE FIGHTING — HEROISM 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 — SINGULAR CARAVAN OF WAGONS, CATTLE, AND 
 
 FUGITIVES BATTLE OF PEACH ORCHARD ITS RESULTS BATTLE AT SAVAOe's STATION 
 
 RESOLUTE ASSAULTS OF THEENEMY — APPALLING SCENES — IMPORTANT RESULTS — THE RACE 
 TO WHITE OAK SWAMP — THE FEDERAL TROOPS WIN THE RACE. 
 
 After the battle of Fair Oak.s, which occurred on the first of June, 
 1862, the Federal army under General MoClellan proceeded to as.suine its 
 position before Richmond, to dig trenches and erect breastworks, and to 
 prepare for a final assault upon the city. This magnificent army con- 
 sisted, when it first arrived before Yorktown, of a liundred and twenty 
 thousand men. Subsequently the divisions of General Franklin, contain- 
 ing twelve thousand, of General McCall, numbering ten thousand, and a 
 detachment from Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, including eleven thou- 
 sand, were added to it. Thus the entire number of Federal troops who 
 had marched to the conquest of Richmond, formed a magnificent array 
 of about a hundred and fifty thousand men. The line of redoubts and 
 intrenchments which 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 rest- 
 ing upon Long bridge at Henrico. Portions of this immense line were 
 within view of Richmond, 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 delay, had at length reached the goal of their aspira- 
 tions. 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 the 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 June, a 
 large portion of the army which General Beauregard had unaccountably 
 withdrawn from Corinth, was transferred to Richmond. General Jack- 
 
TRANSFER OP MOCLELLAN'S BASE OF SUPPLIES. 281 
 
 son's force in the valley of the Shenandoah hid also been summoned 
 thither. It is probable, therefore, that at length about a hundred thou- 
 sand 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 contest- 
 ants on that far extending 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. 
 
 Unfortunately for the interests of the Federal cause, it became neces- 
 sary, 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 Pamunkey, a tributary stream of the York river, some fifteen miles 
 in the rear of the Federal position. Its remote and isolated situation ren- 
 dered it possible for the enemy at any time to intercept General McClel- 
 lan's communications with it, which were maintained by means of the 
 Richmond and YorK river railroad. It was constantly necessary to em- 
 ploy nearly a whole division of troops in guarding this road from the 
 assaults of the Rebels, which had recently become more frequent and de- 
 termined. 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 intrenchments 
 lay, and the increased superiority in numbers of the Rebel forces, ren 
 dered the continual defence of this line of communication both difficult 
 and perilous. These consideratiotis eventually convinced General McClel- 
 lan of the necessity of receding from his position before Richmond, to a 
 more secure and convenient one at Harrison's Landing, on James river. 
 Preliminary to commencing this retrograde movement, he made the 
 proper arrangements for re-shipping the vast stores of subsistence and am- 
 munition which had been accumulated at White House, and transferring 
 them by means of the fleet of Federal transports to his newly selected 
 depot. 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 thu? commenced, of which the 
 Rebels obtained early intelligence, which 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 
 Rebel capital. 
 
 It was about ten o'clock on the 26th of June that the Rebel forces 
 issued in vast multitudes from their camps before Richmond, and com- 
 menced their bold and desperate assaults upon the Federal army. Their 
 first demonstration was an attack on the cavalry commanded by General 
 Stoneman, which were posted in the vicinity of Hanover Court House, on 
 
282 THE CIVIL WAR IN THK UMTEU oTATES. 
 
 the extreme right. While tliis operation was pi-ogressing, they extended 
 their assault to the troops stationed nearest to these, which were posted in 
 the vicinity of Wechaaicsville. Tliey crossed the Chickahominy at 
 Meadow bridge, above that town, with the evident intention of turning 
 the riglit 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 I'enusylvania iieserves. These were protected by rifle- 
 pits and breastworks. As soon as the assault of the enemy began, their 
 vast uuinbeis, 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 iieynolds immediately des- 
 patched a messenger to General McGalJ lor reinlbreements. During the 
 interval which occurred before these could arrive, the Federals made a 
 firm resistance, and the Bucktails maintained their position with such 
 obstinacy that a large number of them were captured. About two 
 o'clock ihe engagement became more general and more desperate. While 
 advancing down by the rear of Mechanicsville, through low, swampy 
 ground, the enemy were attacked by the Federals fr^.ji 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 lor 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 theu took place, which occupied the remainder of 
 the aiteruoou of the 26th. lu vain the Rebels, advancing repeatedly with 
 great resolution, endeavored to drive the Federals from their position. 
 The latter remained immovable. At six o'clock, apparently becoming 
 desperate at the want of success, the Rebels brought fresh toops to bear 
 upon the assault, and the battle perceptibly increased in fury. At that 
 period General Morrell's divisiou arrived ojiportunely on the field as a 
 reinforcement. The second brigade of this divisiou was called into imme- 
 diate action. It was ordered to relieve the centre of General McCall'a 
 column. The fourth Michigan, the fourteenth New York volunteers, the 
 sixty-second Pennsylvania, and the ninth Massachusetts, together with a 
 battalion of Berdan's sharpshooters, were drawn up in line of battle. The 
 struggle which followed was well-sustaiued and desperate on both sides. 
 It continued without any advantage to either party till half-past nine 
 o'clock. The loss of the eaem/ 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. They were met by a squadron of Federal horse, 
 and driven back, many of their horses sticking fast in the marsh, and 
 being abandoned by their riders. General Fitz John Porter, who com- 
 
BATTLE OF GAINES' MILL. 
 
 283 
 
 manded tbe entire corps to which the division engaged on this day 
 belonged, was present in every part of the field, and was ably assisted by 
 Generals McCall, Morrell, and Griffin. During the whole battle the 
 artillery on both sides did the chief execution. Easton's Pennsylvania 
 battery was particularly 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 Reserves 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 disheartened. 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 thousand in number, began their slow line of march, extending 
 four miles in the direction indicated. The sick and wounded were also 
 conveyed, some toward the White Hourfe, 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 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' 
 Mills. In obeying this order, General Sykes' division led the retreating 
 column. Next came the division of General Morrell. During the march 
 perfect order was maintained; but the enemy, mistaking the movement 
 for a hasty flight, pressed forward in enormous masses, overtook the Fed- 
 erals 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 conveyed 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 con- 
 flict 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 
 
284 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tliick woo'ls, bof^gy marshes, and rude ravines. Several farm houses ex- 
 isted 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 
 them ; 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 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 expectation, 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 engagements in which brave men contend 
 for the ma.stcry with equal degrees of resolution and obstinacy. As even- 
 ing 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 reinforced. 
 Their troops now rushed forward in overwhelming masses with savage 
 and frantic yells. "With answering shouts the two armies approached each 
 other, and dealt their death-blows upon their opposing ranks with in- 
 creased 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 reinforce- 
 ments from the other side of the Chickahominy. 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 
 
DESTERATE FIGHTING. 285 
 
 their coats off, and their sleeves rolled up, and fouglit the exultant 
 traitors with the fury and ferocity of tigers. Hundreds of Rebels then bit 
 the du.st, laid low forever by the stalwart blows of the gallant and pugna- 
 cious sons of Erin. 
 
 The carnage was still progressing all over the widespread 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 Rebels had 
 nearly succeeded in this undertaking. It was when the danger here was 
 most imminent, that the wild rush and determined assault of the Iri.sh 
 regiments saved that portion of the army from destruction. During the 
 progress of the day several partial panics had occurred, and some rapid 
 and frantic running to the rear had been achieved, by frightened frag- 
 ments of the Federal forces. But the vast majority of them fought 
 nobly and well. About twenty-seven 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 Rebels who figured in the contest 
 was at least sixty thousand, as has already been stated ; and a large por- 
 tion of these were fresh troops, who were substituted from time to time 
 for those who had become wearied during the proarress of the stiuffsle. 
 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. Tlie 
 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 Fed- 
 eral army, an engagement took place on the left, where General Smith 
 held a position consisting of breastworks and two redoubts. He was at- 
 tacked on Friday evening at seven o'clock, by the Georgia brigade, com- 
 manded by General Toombs. The latter were encountered by Hancock's 
 brigade, consisting of the sixth Maine, fifth Wisconsin, forty-third New 
 York, and forty-ninth Pennsylvania regiments, and by Brooks's fifth Ver- 
 mont regiment. The guns in the redoubts assisted in the engagement, 
 
286 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 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 con- 
 tinuous 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 redoubts, and resumed the attack. 
 The Federal troops were either protected by the breastworks, or were 
 concealed by lying on the grass. They gave the Georgians a deadly re- 
 ception. Colonel Lamar was mortally wounded in the commencement of 
 the engagement, and his lieutenant-colonel was taken prisoner. The 
 result of the contest was the same as before, the Rebels being compelled 
 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 con- 
 tinued. 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 movement of the Federal army was a 
 mere flight before their invincible forces, they were determined to con- 
 tinue the contest. In the afternoon of the 27th the headquarters of Gen- 
 eral McClellan were removed across the Chickahominy, to the vicinity of 
 Savage's Station. Thither va.st masses of stores and ammunition had 
 been transported, on their way to their new depot on James river. 
 Throughout 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 of the Federal forces crossed the Chickahominy, 
 and thus obtained some advantage over the pursuing enemy. It should 
 oe observed here, that the battles of Mechanicsville 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 cliosen positions, they persisted in 
 claiming continual victories. Under this pleasing delusion 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 fan- 
 ciful chimera. 
 
 No attack was made on the main body of the Federal army on Satur- 
 day, 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 Chicka- 
 hominy by four bridges. These were then blown up or burnt, to inter- 
 cept the pursuit of the enemy. Later in the day it was ascertained that 
 
CARAVAN OF WAGONS, CATTLE, AND FUGITIVES. 
 
 287 
 
 they were crossing the stream at New bridge, with the apparent intention 
 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 Eebels. 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 sanguinary engagements into Eichmond. 
 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 Despatch 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 conveyances were not to be oVjtained ; 
 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 com- 
 mand, were destroyed by orders of General McClellan. Four car-loads of 
 ammunition, which had arrived from the White House during the pre- 
 vious 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 Rebels. This train rushed forward on its path- 
 way to destruction with fearful velocity, and at length plunged into the 
 tranquil stream with a prodigious crash. Strange spectacles were ex- 
 hibited by the multitudes of the wounded, and by the long lines of ambu- 
 lances 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 ambulances were 
 all filled, and often the wounded would be 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 
 frightened fugitives of every kind, together with the noise and tumult, the 
 swearing and screaming, which inevitably attended such a throng, at such 
 a time, presented a most extraordinary combination of contrasts. Some- 
 times a sudden terror pervaded the mass, for then a report had arrived 
 that the enemy were interposing a powerful column between them and the 
 James river, thereby cutting off their only means of escape. Then again 
 when the falsity of this rumor was ascertained by the return of messen- 
 
r 
 
 288 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 gers wlio hail been sent to the front, hope would revive, and a gayer tone 
 would animate the volatile and motley assemblage. 
 
 Meanwhile, orders had been sent to White House to hasten {he depar 
 ture of the Federal troops from that station. These orders were obeyed 
 with all possible despatch, and the place was finally abandoned by the 
 assembled transports and steamers at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, 
 June 28th. All the stores, ammunition, 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 solitude. 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 deed re- 
 mained unknown. 
 
 At three o'clock on Sunday morning, June 29tl), General ^fcClellan, 
 attended by his staff and body-guard, left the scene of his night's repose, 
 and rode forward toward Charles City. He had directed his generals to 
 abandon their intrenchments, to follow with their several divisions until 
 intercepted by the enemy, and then to give them battle. At daylight on 
 Sunday morning General Smith liegan to retire. Generals Sumner, 
 Heintzelman, Key.s, and Franklin soon followed with their respective 
 forces. Then came McCall's division, and la.st of all, those of Hooker 
 and Kearney, who brought up the rear. As soon as the Rebel com- 
 manders observed that the Federal army was again in motion, they com- 
 menced 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 Wil- 
 liamsburg road, and had reached a position three hundred yards from the 
 Federals, when the latter opened upon tliem with their powerful guns. 
 The effect of the discharge upon the serried lines of the enemy was ter- 
 rific. 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 th^ left, and 
 intercept them on the Williamsburg road, but without effect. They 
 charged several times on the brigades of Burns, Gorman, and Dana, with 
 the evident intention of crusliing them in detail, but with no better suc- 
 cess. The troops of Richardson, HeirTtzelman, Sedgwick, Sumner, and 
 Meagher, fought with distinguished gallantry. 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, 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 
 
BATTLE OP SAVAGE'S STATION. 
 
 was executed leisurely ; and having reached Savage's Station, they again 
 drew up in' line of battle, to receive the advancing foe. 
 
 The contest which ensued at Savage's Station on the same day, was 
 still more fierce and sanguinary. It commeueed about five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and did not terminate until eleven o'clock at night. Before 
 the attack began, the Rebels had been largely reinforced ; their next 
 assault therefore was much more vigorous and destructive. They ap- 
 proached through a dense wood, which concealed them from view until 
 they were within a short distance of the Federal lines. They then sud- 
 denly 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 hun- 
 dred 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 Rebels fought with more desperate courage. 
 During the progress of the battle the Federal forces were, on several oc- 
 casions, in a very critical position. At one time an entire brigade of the 
 enemy were observed to be moving stealthily down to the right, 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 them to recoil, and to relinquish their purpose. 
 During the progress of the fight the Irish brigades greatly distinguished 
 themselves, charging in some cases up to the very cannon of the enemy. 
 One of the Rebel batteries 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 deafen- 
 ing and incessant. The night was made as light as noonday at rapid in- 
 tervals, by the lurid flashes of the artillery, and each discharge enabled 
 the combatants to ascertain the position of their foes with more distinct- 
 ness. To add to the terrors of the scene, the adjacent woods were 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 appearance 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 perpet/ated this bar- 
 barity 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 
 19 f J b 
 
290 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 across White Oak swamp, inasmuch as the Eebels 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 had begun in a leisurely 
 and voluntary march thither, unavoidably 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 engaged 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 superiority of num- 
 bers 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 continually in line of bat- 
 tle 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 cannons 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 BATTLE OP WHITE OAK SWAMP. 
 
 291 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF WHITE OAK SWAMP — POSITION AND ORDER OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS — TEM- 
 PORARY PANIC DESPERATE FIGHTING FORTUNATE ASSISTANCE OK THE GUNBOATS ON 
 
 JAMES RIVER — HEROISM AND SKILL OF GENERAL HEINTZKI.MAN — A GENERAL BAYONET 
 CHARGE ON THE REBELS — ITS RESULT — FIRST ENGAGEMENT AT MALVERN HILLS — INCIDENTS 
 OF THE FIGHT— THE IRISH BRIGADE — COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS — THE FEDERAL 
 
 ARMY REMOVES TO HARRISON'S LANDING RESULTS OF THE SEVERAL BATTLES BEFORE 
 
 RICHMOND ARTILLERY DUEL ON THE JAMES RIVER GENERAL HOOKER SENT TO RECON- 
 NOITRE AND OCCUPY MALVERN HILL THE MARCH THITHER — ENGAGEMENT WITH THE 
 
 ' ENEMY — THEIR DEFEAT — IMMENSE REINFORCEMENTS ORDERED FROM RICHMOND — RETURN 
 . OP 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 1^ Rebels was in eager pursuit of them, and in a short time were upon 
 their rear. Then followed another desperate engagement, 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 Heintzelman, Sumner, 
 Kearney, Porter, and Hancock. The new position of the Federal forces 
 extended about four miles in length. Ontheextremeright 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 Captain Ayres. Then came the divisions of Sumner, 
 Heintzelman, and Porter." The battle commenced with an attack by the 
 enemy on the column of General Hancock. They opened 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 per- 
 vaded 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 proceeding 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 re- 
 covered their self-possession, and their guns responded to those of the 
 enemy. The latter had not yet crossed the White Oak creek, and the 
 engagement was still confined to the operations of the artillery. At length 
 a portion of the Rebels made an attempt to cross the stream, but were 
 
292 TITE CIVIL WAR IN' THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 met and repulsed with success by General Smith, whose brisk fire of in- 
 fantry extended continuously along whole columns. Finding it impossible 
 to cross in front, the enemy detached a powerful force to proceed four 
 miles due south to Charles City Cross Roads, 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 
 aad a-half of Turkey Bend, on that river; and had they succeeded in 
 their intention, they would have inevitabl}' accomplished the ruin of the 
 army, and prevented its successful establishment at Harrison's Landing. 
 Fortunately, information of this movement of the Rebels was obtained in 
 time ; and Generals Porter and Keyes 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 
 Rebels 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 discipline 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 fight. But the resistance 
 of the Federal troops gradually became weaker. Human nature could 
 endure no more. The fresh masses of the exultant Rebel army continued 
 to press forward with still greater resolution. An overwhelming and de- 
 cisive victory seemed about to crown the persevering efforts of the Rebel 
 hosts when, at the critical moment, a delivery suddenly appeared. As at 
 Pittsburg Landing, so in the present instance, the gallant navy of the 
 Union rescued the land forces from destruction. At that crisis the gun- 
 boats on the James river opened their fire upon the enemy. At five 
 o'clock the enormous riiled 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 Rebels, and burst among them, whole ranks were battered 
 to the earth by the flying fragments. Horrible havoc ensued. Confusion 
 and terror were quickly dift'used through their columns, and they who, a 
 few moments before, 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 Fed- 
 eral 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 there- 
 fore signalled to suspend their fire. Preparations were quickly made to 
 effect the intended movement. The great-hearted veteran whom we have 
 
FIRST ENGAGEMENT AT MALVJERN HILL. 293 
 
 just named, galloped from column to column. He announced the purpose 
 to charge in brief and thrilling 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 G rover, the fierce and 
 fiery brigades of Meagher and Sickles, the well drilled soldiers of Hooker, 
 Kearny 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 eventually 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 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 hurl- 
 ing 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 pos- 
 sibility of their destruction or of a still more disa.strous capture was 
 forever averted. 
 
 At the close of the battle of White Oak swamp the Federal army took 
 possession of Malvern Hill in the vicinity of the river. General McClel- 
 lau had selected Harrison's Landing, six miles below, as his future per- 
 manent 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 herculean labors. But their task was not yet completed. 
 On Tuesday, July the 1st, the last of this memorable series of engage- 
 ments, 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 magnifi- 
 cent semicircle, which presented a formidable front. General Keyes, with 
 his command, was posted on the extreme right. General Franklin'a 
 
294 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 corps came next ; then the troops of Sumner, comprising the divisions of 
 Sedgwick and Richardson. The extreme left was occupied by Fitz John 
 Porter. Heintzelman's corps, embracing the divisions of Hooker, Kearny, 
 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 com- 
 manded by Generals Lee, Magruder, and Jackson, and opened the en- 
 ■"■a'^ement 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 th-ey were not easily 
 disheartened. After a short interval they made a still more desperate 
 effort to accomplish their purpose. The Rebel commanders threw for- 
 ward 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 despatched a messen- 
 ger to General Sumner, requesting immediate reinforcements. The Irish 
 brigade of Meagher, whose valorous troops seemed, in almost every emer- 
 c^ency, to be the protecting iEgis of the Federal army in the peninsula, 
 were immediately 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 recovered. Tims the figlit was continued until after nightfall. At 
 ten o'clock the last gun was fired. During the progress of the engage- 
 ment the most signal service had been rendered by the gunboats on James 
 river. The immense shells from their rifled cannon tore shrieking and 
 howlin"' 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 unqualified defeat. To prove that this statement should not 
 be regarded as exaggerated or inaccurate, we might adduce many admis- 
 sions made by the Rebels them.selves. One of the most impartial of these 
 will suffice. A leading Richmond journal said : " Officers 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 accom- 
 plished. Here the carnage from the withering fire of the enemy's com 
 bined 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 .'=ame result.^. Xiglit at 
 
COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS. 
 
 295 
 
 length rendered a farther attempt injudicious, and the fight, until ten 
 o'clock, was kept up by the artillery on both sides."* 
 
 Thus ended the battle of Malvern Hill. Thus terminated the last 
 assault made by the troops of the Rebel Confederacy at this pei'iod, 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. Tiie losses endured 
 on both sides were appalling; and impartial history will hereafter affirm 
 from her high seat, that 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 teen with- 
 drawn to James river without these assaults having been made upon them. 
 While, therefore, the Confederates inflicted superfluous wounds and death 
 upon them, they were themselves in turn punished and mulcted to a much 
 more destructive and ruinous extent. The Federal losses in these various 
 engagements were as follows : in the battle of Mechanicsville, the number 
 in killed and wounded was about two hundred ; in that of Gaines' Mill, 
 seven thousand five hundred ; in that of Peach Orchard, two hundred ; 
 at Savage's Station, one thousand two hundred ; in White Oak swamp, 
 three thousand five hundred; at Golding's Farm, four hundred; at 
 Malvern Hill, two thousand ; making a grand total of fifteen thousand. 
 This estimate does not include the missing, whose exact numbers are 
 unknown. It is pr6bable that the losses of the Rebels were not far from 
 twenty thousand. 
 
 During Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, the 2d of July, the con- 
 centration 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 task 
 had been finished, with greater infliction of suffering and calamity on 
 themselves than on their opponents. The new position which General 
 ilcCIellan 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 towai-d the enemy was admirably 
 adapted to the purpose of defence. It was soon made impregnable against 
 all attacks, by the skilful use of the spade ; for such formidable breast- 
 
 * Richmond Examiner of Friday, July 4th, 1862. The same journal 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 vio- 
 lent mutilation, while in the woods on the west of the field la^, in about equal num- 
 bers, the blue uniformed bodies of the enemy." 
 
296 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED S'J'ATES. 
 
 works were quickly thrown up, as to convince the Kebels 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 endurance 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 mis- 
 fortune it was to have belonged to the Federal army in the Peninsula. 
 
 The repose of that army at Harrison's Landing remained undisturbed 
 by the euem}' 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. Tlie Rebels 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 si.x: and twelve pounds weight, both round and conical. They eftected 
 but little damage, inasmuch as they generally fell short of their mark. 
 A few of them exploded within the Federal camp, and some of them 
 reached the shipping. In consequence of the foct 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 sufiR- 
 cient 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 short 
 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 prelude to the last 
 military operation which was destined to take place between the Federal 
 and the 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, tlie 4th 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 batterie.«. 
 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 they bivouacked for the night. Early on 
 
EVACUATION OP THEIR CAMP BY THE FEDERAL ARMY. 297 
 
 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 Rebels commenced 
 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 cavah-y, with four pieces of artiller}^. They maintained the 
 contest during two hours with great determination ; but the vast superi- 
 ority 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 them 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 Richmond 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 overpowered, large 
 reinforcements would be quickly sent from Richmond to recover the lost 
 position. A general engagement would therefore soon occur to decide 
 the permanent possession of the place. Accordingly, General 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 sub- 
 sequent operations might have been difierent. 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 arrived, and these made their appearance only in time to 
 join in the general retreat. On Wednesday the Rebels marched to 
 Malvern Hill in large masses, and as the Federal forces, by this manoeuvre, 
 would have been greatly inferior in numbers, a retrograde movement was 
 precipitately made to Harrison's Landing. Thus ended the capture, the 
 occupation, and the evacuation 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 Government that the expe- 
 dition against Richmond, through the Peninsula, had proved a total and 
 
298 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 irremediable failure. It was quite as evident tliat the longer delay of the 
 army of the Union in that unpropitious clime would be productive 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. Tliis order was obeyed on the 
 16th and 17th of August, 18l32. Tiirough the energy and skill of Colonel 
 Ingalls, all the stores of subsistence and ammunition were safely removed 
 on board the fleet of Federal transports which then lay at Harrison's 
 Landing. Nothing of the least value was left behind. The Kebel com- 
 manders, 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, con- 
 sisting of a hundred boats. The troops then marched forward toward 
 Williamsburg, while the transports and gunboats sailed down James 
 river to Fortress Monroe. The future destination of the army of the 
 Peninsula was then as yet unknown. Tt 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 auspice_s, 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 
 marvelous energy, ferocity, and skill, against its sacred bosom. Nor can 
 the patriot and philanthropist fail to experience the most poignant emo- 
 tions 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 Rebel 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 climate and of labors more deadly than the 
 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 checkered page of history presents. 
 
SPIRIT AND PURPOSE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 RETURN OF THE ARMY OF THF, POTOMAC FROM THE PENINSULA — SPIRIT AND PURPOSE OF THE 
 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT — APPOINTMENT OP GENERAL HALLECK AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF 
 LAND FORCES — OPERATIONS OP GENERAL POPE — MESSAGES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN 
 FAVOR OP EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES AND CONFISCATION OF THE PROPERTY OF 
 REBELS — RECONNOISSANCE OF GENERAL KINO TO BEAVER DAM — BATTLE OF BAYOU CACHE, 
 IN ARKANSAS — ENGAGEMENT ON THE MISSISSIPPI WITH THE RAM ARKANSAS — BOLDNESS 
 AND DETERMINATION OF THE REBELS — ENGAGEMENT NEAR MEMPHIS, MISSISSIPPI — OPERA- 
 TIONS OF THE REBEL JOHN MORGAN IN KENTUCKY — CONTEST AT CYNTHIANA — MORGAN 
 ABANDONS KENTUCKY — ADDITIONAL ANTI-SLAVERY MESSAGE OP MR. LINCOLN — EXPEDITIONS 
 SENT FROM NEWBBRN TO TRENTON AND POLLOCKSVILLE— THEIR RESULTS — ATTACK MADE 
 ON THE ARKANSAS BY COLONEL EI.LET — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — DEFEAT OF THE 
 QUEEN OF THE WEST — CAUSES OF THE DISASTER — CREATION OF NEW GRADES IN THE FED- 
 ERAL NAVY — PRESIDENT LINCOLN ORDERS A DRAFT OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN. 
 
 The disastrous termination of the campaign of the Federal army in the 
 Peninsula, under General McClellan, and its withdrawal from the vicinity 
 of Richmond without having accomplished the magnificent purpose of its 
 mission, filled the loyal community in the United States with disappoint- 
 ment and regret. The remains of that once formidable force subsequently 
 returned by way of the Potomac to positions which were then assigned 
 them nearer to the Federal capital. But the reverses which had occurred 
 produced no other efiiect upon the administration of Mr. Lincoln than to 
 induce it to put forth more strenuous exertions to increase the military 
 strength of the nation, and to resume offensive operations against the Con- 
 federates at the earliest possible period with greater energy and efficiency 
 than before. At the sugg^estion of the Governors of nearly all the loyal 
 States, the President called out an additional levy of three hundred thou- 
 sand men, and preparations were immediately made to comply with the 
 requisition. General John Pope, who had distinguished himself by his 
 operations at New Madrid and Island Number Ten, was transferred to the 
 command of the consolidated army of Virginia, composed of the three 
 corps of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell, to which were added, during tlie 
 last days of August, Burnside's, Sumner's, and Fitz John Porter's corps. 
 A short time afterward General Halleck was summoned to Washington, 
 and invited to occupy the position and discharge the functions of General- 
 in-Chief of the land forces of the United States. The evident purpose of 
 this appointment was to increase the efficiency of the administration of 
 affairs at the Federal capital, and, in effect, to place a portion of the oper- 
 ations of the War Department under the control of a professional soldier, 
 familiar with the principles of military science. 
 
 General Pope took command of the army of Virginia on the 14th of 
 
300 THE CTYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Jul}', 1862. On that day he i.ssucd a proclamation to his troops, in which 
 lie announced his appointment over them, referred to the successes of his 
 operations in the southwest, expressed his confidence in his new asso- 
 ciates-in-arms, and informed them of his determination not to pursue the 
 timid and tardy policy of his predecessor, but to advance without delay to 
 the attack and conquest of the enemy. He proceeded to visit every por- 
 tion of his army, that he might make himself acquainted with its condi- 
 tion, might provide for strengthening its shattered columns, and might 
 ari-ange his plans for the future. 
 
 On the same day, President Lincoln communicated a message to Con- 
 gress, which was still in session, in which he recommended the adoption 
 of a bill by them in reference to the abolition of slavery. The bill in 
 question provided that whenever the President should become satisfied 
 that any State had abolished slavery throughout its limits, either imme- 
 diately or gradually, it should become the duty of the President, assisted 
 by the Secretary of the Treasury, to prepare and deliver to such State an 
 amount of interest-bearing bonds of the United States equal in amount to 
 the aggregate value of all the slaves which were reported to have existed 
 in that State according to the census of 1860. The bill provided, further, 
 that if the abolition of slavery in any State should have been made immedi- 
 ate, the payment of the designated sum should also be immediate ; if it were 
 gradual, the payment should be gradual; and if any State should restore 
 slavery within its limits after its abolition therein, the bonds held by it 
 against the United States should thereby become null and void. 
 
 The Senate, after some discussion, referred liis message to the Com- 
 mittee on Finances. The Ilouse sent it to the Committee on the Aboli- 
 tion of Slavery in the Border States. The impression produced by this 
 act of the President was important in its effects on the citizens, both of 
 tlie loyal and the disloyal States. It revealed to the former what the 
 future policy of the administration would be in reference to the vexed 
 question of slavery, while it convinced the latter that it was the determi- 
 nation of the Federal Government to uss every means in its power to 
 diminish the supremacy of that institution, which had been one of the 
 most potent causes in producing the Kebellion. 
 
 In pursuance of the policy thus inaugurated, the President addressed 
 ail appeal to the representatives of the border States in Congress, in which 
 he requested them to use the influence which they possessed over their 
 constituents, to induce them to adopt the policy of emancipation, as indi- 
 cated in his message. Two replies were made to this appeal. The one 
 came from the majority of the representatives referred to, including those 
 from Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, and Maryland, and was evasive in 
 its character. Its authors denied that any necessity existed for the aboli- 
 tion of slavery in the several States which they re|jresented ; and they 
 doubted whether the abolition of slavery in the Kebel States, by Federal 
 
EECONNOISSANUB OP GENERAL KING TO BEAVER DAM. 301 
 
 power, would assist in securing the triumph of the Federal arms. The 
 answer of the minority was more approbative and compliant. They ad- 
 mitted that slavery was the "Lever-power of the Eebellion;'' that they 
 were willing to make any sacrifice to restore the Union ; and they con- 
 cluded by affirming that if the Eebels could take the initiative, and give 
 up slavery to destroy the Union, " they could surely ask their people to 
 consider the question of emancipation to save the Union." 
 
 On the 22d of July, the policy of Mr. Lincoln on this subject was fur- 
 ther indicated by the publication of an order from the Secretary of War, 
 acting under the direction of the President, to the effect that the military 
 commanders in the States of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, should employ as 
 laborers within the said States so many persons of African descent as can 
 be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them reason- 
 able wages for their labor, while, at the same time, accounts should be 
 kept showing from whom such slaves shall have been taken, and the value 
 of their labor, " as a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper 
 cases." These measures, which were generally termed radical, in oppo- 
 sition to the more conservative views of the advocates of slavery, were 
 subsequently followed up by others still more effective and decisive. 
 
 General Pope commenced the performance of his duties as commander 
 of the army of Virginia, with energy and resolution. He introduced 
 material and propitious changes in the method of his operations. He dis- 
 carded the use of those immense and cumbrous wagon-trains for the trans- 
 portation of supplies, which had heretofore retarded the movements of the 
 troops ; and he ordered his men to derive their subsistence from the enemy 
 through whose country he purposed to march. The headquarters of 
 General Pope still remained at Washington, from which position he con- 
 tinued to issue his orders. He henceforth prohibited guards of Union 
 soldiers to be placed around the property of citizens, especially around 
 those of acknowledged Secessionists, in the line of his march, and an- 
 nounced his determination to hold commanding officers responsible for the 
 good behavior of their men. He indicated, by various preliminary 
 measures, that he was determined to carry on the war with vigor, and to 
 use his utmost efforts to secure the speedy triumph of the Federal arms. 
 
 The first movement that occurred took place on the 19th of July. 
 General Pope had ordered General King to send out a small cavalry force 
 from Warren ton, to reconnoitre the position of the enemy toward Gor- 
 donsville. The expedition left Fredericksburg on the evening of the 
 19th, and after marching all night, reached the Virginia Central railroad 
 at Beaver Dam. This point is only thirty-five miles distant from Eich- 
 mond. They there destroyed the railroad track for several miles, to- 
 gether with the telegraph line, and burned the depot, which contained 
 a hundred barrels of flour and forty thousand rounds of musket ammu- 
 
302 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 nition. Having ascertained that a large portion of the Confederate 
 army, under General Jackson, was posted near Gordonsville, the expedi- 
 tion returned to Warrenton, having marched eighty miles in thirty 
 hours. Several additional reconnoissances were subsequently made by 
 order of General Pope, by which important information was obtailned re- 
 specting the strength and operations of tlie enemy. 
 
 Daring the interval which occurred between this period, and that at 
 whicii the Federal and Rebel armies were sufficiently concentrated to 
 bring on those colossal engagements which afterward took place between 
 tlicin, events of considerable interest were transpiring in other portions 
 of the arena of conflict, to which we will now direct our attention. 
 
 In pursuance of the plans of the campaign in the West which had 
 been adopted, General Curtis, the hero of Pea Ridge, commenced his 
 march from Batesville to Helena, in Arkansas, on the 24th of May, 
 18(32. Various detachments of Rebel troops tinnoyed his men upon the 
 route; but it was not until the 7th of July that they appeared in suffi- 
 cient numbers to warrant an engagement. On that day a battle took 
 place near Bayou Cache, in Arkansas, the importance of which entitles 
 it to a place in the annals of the Rebellion. At that point the march 
 of the army had been obstructed by the enemy by a blockade of fallen 
 timber. Colonel Hovey was ordered to advance with a portion of tlie 
 thirty-third Hlinois and the eleventh Wisconsin regiments, to open the 
 way on the opposite side of the Cache, and effijct a reconnoissance along 
 the Clarendon road. Three hundred and fifty men were appropriated 
 to this service. A detachment of these first encountered two Texan 
 regiments, which were drawn up in line of battle to receive them. The 
 latter poured into the Federal troops a volley of musketry, which killed 
 five, and wounded a much larger number. The fire was quickly re- 
 turned, but the immense preponderance of numbers on the Rebel side 
 soon compelled the Federals to fall back. The enemy followed up their 
 advantage, and made a charge, which gradually converted the retreat into 
 a rout. At this crisis Colonel Hovey hastened to the assistance of his 
 men with the remaining companies of the thirty -third Illinois. Placing his 
 men in ambush behind a fence, he saluted the advancing Rebels with a 
 volley, which killed twenty-five of them, wounded many mr -e, and made 
 their column reel and stagger, and eventually break away in disorder. 
 Colonel Hovey then rallied all his men. At the same time Major Wood 
 arrived upon the scene with reinforcements, co'isistiiig of a battalion of 
 the first Indiana cavalry, and two rifled steel guns. The latter were then 
 ordered to advance against the foe. The cannon were brought to the 
 front, and the attack resumed. After the first charge the enemy retired 
 within the shelter of a wood. The Fcilerals then pushed forward a quarter 
 of a mile to continue the assault. A similar result again ensued, for after 
 an exchange of volleys the Rchcls retreated, and were pursued for nearly 
 
ENGAGEMENT WITH THE RAM ARKANSAS. 303 
 
 the distance of a mile. Major Wood then gave the order to the cavalry 
 to charge. The enemy received them with another destructive volley, 
 and then fled. The Federal guns were again brought to bear upon their 
 retiring foe, who continued to fall back until they were entirely lost to 
 view. The number of Rebels killed during the engagement was a hun- 
 dred and ten ; of wounded, about two hundred and fifty. The Federal 
 loss was ten killed, fifty-seven wounded. This unusual disparity of num- 
 bers in killed and wounded resulted from the fact that the enemy uni- 
 formly aimed too high. The action was a brilliant success on the part of 
 the Federal troops engaged, and conferred distinction uj^on the command- 
 ing ofiBcer, Colonel Hovey. 
 
 On the 14th of July, a spirited engagement took place on the Missis- 
 sippi river, near Vicksburg, between a famous and formidable battering- 
 ram, which the Eebels had constructed, named the Arkansas, and a por- 
 tion of the Federal fleet, then riding at anchor near that city. The 
 Arkansas was a powerful and dangerous vessel. She was a hundred and 
 eighty feet in length, sixty in breadth of beam. Her bow and stern were 
 sharp, and she was propelled by engines of nine hundred horse-power, 
 placed below the water-line. Her sides were covered with railroad-iron 
 plates, dove-tailed together, and strongly bolted. Her bow was armed 
 with an enormous beak, constructed of cast-iron, with which she per- 
 forated her opponents. She was provided, with six heavy guns. She 
 was commanded by Captain I. N. Brown, who was renowned on the 
 western waters for his skill and daring in naval warfare. At the period 
 of the engagement in question, she was lying quietly in the Yazoo river, 
 at some distance above its junction with the Mississippi. The Rebels, 
 who then held possession of Vicksburg, expected her speedy arrival at 
 that city, to co-operate with them in its defence. To prevent this result 
 Colonel EUet was sent by Commodore Farragut up the Yazoo, with two 
 Union gunboats, and a battering ram, namely — the Carondelet, Queen of 
 the West, and Lancaster, to attack, and, if possible, to disable her, and 
 thereby inte»c»pt her outward passage. 
 
 Colonel Ellet, after sailing eight miles up the Yazoo, encountered the 
 Arkansas suddenly, as she lay under a bank, with the apparent intention 
 to escape detection. But as soon as her commander discovered that he 
 was observed, he commenced an assault with his heavy guns upon the 
 Federal vessels. The Yazoo being a very deep and narrow stream, the 
 Union boats dropped down the river to obtain more sea-room. The 
 Arkansas immediately followed, continuing to fire. When both parties 
 had reached a position near the entrance of the river, the Carondelet ap- 
 proached the Arkansas for the purpose of grappling and boarding her. 
 This achievement was nearly accomplished, when suddenly the Rebel 
 craft opened her steam-pipe, and threw a deluge of steam and hot water 
 over the plank by which the men were about to cross. The Carondelet 
 
304 THE CIVIL WAR IN TDE UNITED STATES. 
 
 then did the same, and while the vessels were inundating each other in 
 this manner, both of them grounded. The Arkansas was able to relieve 
 herself — the Carondelet was not so fortunate — and while the former 
 sailed out triumphantly upon the broad bosom of the Mississippi, her 
 antagonist remained firmly aground. By this fortunate accident the 
 Arlcansas was able to escape, and continue her way toward Vicksburg. 
 
 But in order to reach her destination it was necessary for her to run the 
 gauntlet of the Federal fleet, which intervened. As she rounded the 
 point above the anchorage of the latter, her presence and character ex- 
 cited much astonishment, but soon both of these became sufficiently 
 known. A small flag floating from her jackstaff was quickly discovered 
 to be the notorious Kebel ensign. The first Union vessel in the line of 
 her approach was the Louisville. The Arkansas immediately turned her 
 heavy prow in the direction of her position, and opened on her with her guns. 
 One of her shot struck the casemating of the Louisville, near tlie centre 
 of the bow, and glanced off harmlessly. The latter responded with three 
 heavy Dahlgren guns, one of the shot of which took effect on the Arkan- 
 sas. Meanwhile, the lattter was steadily approaching, and at last struck 
 the Louisville with prodigious violence on the side. But her blow was 
 deprived of a portion of its effect, from the fact that she did not succeed 
 in striking squarely, but diagonally, so that she glided off by her own 
 impetus. As she passed by she received three shots from the guns of her 
 antagonist, at half-cable's length, which pei'forated her side, and produced 
 a considerable rent in her. 
 
 Undaunted by this disaster, the Arkansas boldly pursued her way 
 through the Federal fleet, dispensing her favors on all sides. While 
 doing so, one of her shot struck the Benton on the larboard side, and 
 perforated it, killing one man. She was herself somewhat damaged during 
 her progress. The Cairo, Hartford, Eichmond, together .with three gun- 
 boats, all assailed her in passing, and she saluted each of them in return. 
 But she arrived at length in comparative safety before Vicksburg, where 
 her gallant and daring exploit caused her to be received with the greatest 
 enthusiasm by the Eebel forces commanded there by Generals Breckin- 
 ridge and Van Dorn. 
 
 The Federal loss during these engagements was fourteen killed, fifteen 
 wounded. The result was by no means favorable to the commanders of 
 the Federal vessels, inasmuch as the success with which the Rebel ram 
 defied so numerous a flotilla, proved that an unusual want of vigilance 
 and skill at that time characterized them. At a subsequent period, as 
 if conscious of this fact, the officers who were engaged on this occasion, 
 endeavored to recover the lost lustre of their arms, by a more efficient and 
 more successful assault upon their foe. 
 
 At this period the Southwest was the scene of a number of spirited 
 movements, both on the part of the Federal and the Rebel troops distrib- 
 
OPERATIONS OP JOHN MORGAN IN KENTUCKY. 305 
 
 uted in that quarter, several of which merit attention. On the 15th of 
 July a desperate guerrilla combat took place near Memphis, Missouri, be- 
 tween a portion of Colonel Merrill's cavalry, about three hundred strong, 
 and a detachment of the battalion of Major Eodgers, one hundred in num- 
 ber, who jointly attacked six hundred men, comprising the lawless Rebel 
 bands of Dunn and Porter. The latter were concealed behind heav}^ 
 brush and timber when the battle began, but they were assaulted with 
 such vigor and determination by the troops already named, commanded 
 by Major Clopper, that they were driven from their position, leaving a 
 large number of dead and wounded on the field. But the enemy fought 
 bravely before yielding, for they repulsed five successive charges across 
 the open field ; and it was not until after the sixth assault, and a desper- 
 ate hand-to-hand struggle, that they yielded. The Federal loss in killed 
 and wounded was eighty-three ; that of the Rebels amounted to a hundred 
 and twenty. This action was an important blow to the formidable and 
 destructive hordes of guerrillas who had invaded and desolated that region 
 of country. 
 
 On the 16th of July, the Rebel marauder, John Morgan, who com- 
 manded an assemblage of outlaws and adventurers in Kentucky, crossed the 
 Kentucky river from Lawrenceburg, in command of a thousand men, 
 and approached Paris, in that State. Intelligence of this event soon 
 reached Lexington, and immediately General Green Clay Smith started 
 with a troop of cavalry, inferior in number to those of Morgan, to attack 
 him. He reached the position of the enemy and gallantly assailed him. 
 The guerrilla chief and his men made but a feeble resistance, and then fled. 
 Having stolen the fleetest horses in the country, during the progress of 
 their incur^ons, they were pursued to little purpose, and escaped beyond 
 the reach of their assailants. They proceeded toward Winchester, in 
 Clarke county, where they purposed to rendezvous in greater strength 
 and numbers. 
 
 Nearly contemporary with this action a similar one occurred at 
 Cynthiana, Kentucky, between the same Rebel leader and the armed in- 
 habitants of that place. As soon as the approach of Morgan was known, 
 the Home Guards of the town, three hundred in number, together with a 
 hundred and fifty of the seventh Kentucky cavalry, under Captain Glass, 
 were mustered to resist the threatened assault. Fifty of the Home Guards 
 were posted a quarter of a mile on the road leading to Paris. About 
 sixty of the Rebels approached their position, when they were received 
 with a destructive fire of musketry. This band of guerrillas fled precipi- 
 tately. But a much larger force — five hundred strong — having dismoun- 
 ted, were in the meantime approaching the town from another direction. 
 Captain Glass posted a twelve-pounder in such a position, that his shells 
 exploded in the midst of that body, and did some execution on them. A 
 company of the Union troops, together with several cannon, which had 
 20 
 
306 THE CIVIL "WAR IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 been posted in front of the Licking bridge, prevented a third detachment 
 of Morgan's troops from entering the town by another route. But their 
 resistance was only temporary, for soon the want of ammunition on the 
 part of the Federals, and the overwhelming masses of the guerrillas, gave 
 the latter the preponderance. At this crisis Colonel Landrum, who com- 
 manded the Union men, called upon the remaining citizens of the town 
 to come forward and assist in defending it against the common enemy. 
 Many complied with the requisition, and an extemporaneous force charged 
 upon Morgan's troops, through one of the streets. But it was soon ap- 
 parent that even this effort would be unavailing. The horde of the Eebel 
 chief was pressing gradually into the town by difi'erent openings and 
 avenues, and resistance at last became wholly futile. Colonel Landrum 
 then gave the order to retreat. The Rebels took possession of the place. 
 Their object was merely rapine and plunder. They supplied themselves 
 with horses, carriages, provisions, and other property, wherever they 
 found them. They were sadly disappointed, however, in not finding 
 money. After the marauders had accomplished their purpo.se, as far as 
 they were able, they evacuated the town, leaving behind them their dead 
 and wounded. The Federal loss was two killed, twenty-eight wounded. 
 After these achievements Morgan was compelled to retreat from the limits 
 of Kentucky. By the end of July that State was free from his presence. 
 The difBcult task of capturing him had been undertaken by several Union 
 officers of rank ; but in vain. The fault lay not so much in them, as in 
 the peculiar nature of the service in question. Morgan and his men were 
 mounted on the swiftest steeds in the country. His march was not en- 
 cumbered by baggage or wagons. He might be easily pursued, but not 
 so easily overtaken ; and the utmost that could be accomplished was to 
 drive him away before the approach of a more regular and sub.stantial 
 force. 
 
 On the rrtli of July, an important event took place in connection with 
 the civil and political history of the Southern Rebellion. On that day 
 President Lincoln approved, and by his approval converted into law, the 
 Confiscation and Emancipation Act, which had already been passed by 
 both Houses of Congress. This act was a continuance of the vigorous 
 measures which had been adopted by the administration, to crush by every 
 lawful means the power of the insurgent States. It provided in substance 
 that whoever should thereafter be guilty of treason against the United 
 States, should cither suffer death, or be fined and imprisoned, and his slaves, 
 if he have any, should be declared free; and also, that if any person 
 should in any way encourage and assist the existing rebellion, he should 
 be fined and imprisoned, and his slaves, if he have any, should be set free. 
 It enacted that no person thus aiding the rebellion, in any way, should 
 thenceforth be competent to collect debts which might be due him in the 
 loyal States, or in the District of Columbia ; and that the slaves of persons 
 
EXPEDITION SENT TO TRENTON AND POLLOCKSTILLE. 307 
 
 who had been engaged in hostility against the Government of the United 
 States, who had escaped within the lines of the Federal armies, should 
 not be restored to their masters, but be. declared free. It provided that 
 no fugitive slave who had thus escaped should be restored to his master, 
 unless the master should prove that he was loyal to the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and had taken no part in the Rebellion against it, or in any manner 
 assisted it ; that it should be proper for the President, if he desire so to 
 do, to employ persons of African descent to assist in the suppression of 
 the Rebellion, in such manner as he may deem expedient ; and that it may 
 also be lawful for him to make provision for the colonization and settle- 
 ment of such negroes, who, having been set free through the operation of 
 this act, might desire to locate themselves beyond the limits of the United 
 States. These various provisions, which were evidently founded on in- 
 disputable principles of abstract justice and political wisdom, indicated 
 more clearly than ever, the determination of the Federal Government not 
 to trifle with its enemies; and it must be admitted that they thereby in- 
 flicted a heavy l;low upon the insurgents, in the most tender and jealously 
 guarded portion of their interests. 
 
 General Burnside having been ordered to transfer a large portion of his 
 troops from Newbern, in North Carolina, to the army of the Potomac, 
 under General McClellan, the remainder of the force which he left behind 
 him was placed under the orders of General Foster. That ofiicer deemed 
 it expedient, on the 29th of July, to send two expeditions inland from 
 Newbern, for the purpose of ascertaining the strength of the enemy in that 
 vicinity, and to demonstrate to the Rebels that, though the Federal forces 
 had been diminished, they still remained formidable and efficient. Ac- 
 cordingly, one detachment under Colonel Lee was sent to Trenton, on the 
 Trent river, another, under Colonel Fellows, was despatched to Pollocks- 
 ville, thirteen miles distant from Newbern. The former body, in their 
 march toward Trenton, encountered a portion of the pickets of the enemy, 
 who instantly fled. A number of the third New York cavalry started in 
 pursuit, but were unable to overtake them. At the bridge which spanned 
 the Trent, a few shots were exchanged between the parties, after which 
 the Rebels again retreated, having set fire to the bridge. After some 
 effort the conflagration was extinguished, and the Federals proceeded into 
 the town. They found it entirely evacuated by the troops who had been 
 posted there, and deserted by the majority of the inhabitants. The Fed- 
 erals proceeded to refresh themselves after their journey of twenty miles, 
 and at five o'clock in the afternoon, i-esumed their march for the purpose 
 of forcing a junction with the force under Colonel Fellows at Pollocksville. 
 This result was efifected without difficulty. The latter town was also 
 found to have been abandoned by the Rebel force which had previously 
 occupied it, and an easy triumph awaited the visitors. On the third day 
 after the expedition started out, it returned to Newbern, without having 
 
308 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 incurred any loss, but having accomplished au important purpose in de- 
 monstrating to the disloyal inhabitants of the adjacent country that the 
 Federal forces in their vicinity were on the alert, and prepared to crusli 
 any attempt which might be made to resist their supremacy. 
 
 The successful eftbrt recently made by the Rebel battering ram Arkan- 
 sas, to defy the Federal fleet which opposed her approach to Vicksburg, 
 was a just ground of mortification to the officens who should have defeated 
 the attempt ; and tlie demoralizing effect of her triumph upon the Federal 
 troops, and the cause of the Union in that vicinity, was so potent that it 
 was evident that something should be done to diminish its influence. 
 Accordingly, Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Ellct proposed to Commodore 
 Davis to renew the attack upon her, and offered himself to command the 
 steam ram Queen of the West, which should make the assault upon her, 
 on condition that Commodores Davis and Farragut would occupy the 
 batteries above and below Vicksburg during the operation. The purpose 
 of this stipulation was to prevent the Kebel batteries from damaging or 
 disabling the Queen of the West while making her approach to the Ar- 
 kansas. 
 
 After a short deliberation, the proposition of Colonel EUet was accepted. 
 It was arranged that the expedition should start at dayliglit, and every 
 preparation was previously made that prudence and tact could devise to 
 secure success. Colonel Ellet manned his battering-ram with a selected 
 crew of the best material in the fleet. The plan of attack adopted was as 
 follows: tliree of the vessels of Commodore Davis — the Benton, the Cin- 
 cinnati, and the Louisville — were to commence an assault upon the upper 
 Eebcl batteries ; and the Bragg was to lie behind the bend of the river, 
 ready to attack the Arkansas in case she escaped above. The Essex was 
 to precede the Queen of the West down the river, grapple the Arkansas, 
 draw her out into the stream, and thus give the Queen of the West sea- 
 room to run at her, and destroy her by her herculean and resistless blows 
 During tlie progress of these events, the vessels under the command of 
 Commodore Farragut were to attack and engage the Rebel batteries below 
 the city. A better plan could not possibly have been devised. The 
 issue, however, furnished a marvelous illustration of the familiar adage — 
 man proposes but God disposes. 
 
 At the time appointed, the Essex, which was to occupy the van, led ofl' 
 in gallant style down the river. The Queen of the West then followed ; 
 but as she passed the flagship of Commodore Davis, the latter, waving his 
 hand, exclaimed — "Good luck! good luck." These propitious words 
 were unfortunately misunderstood by Colonel Ellet for an order to "go 
 back." He obeyed, though surprised at such a command ; and it was not 
 till after the lapse of some time that the mistake was corrected. The Queen 
 then resumed her progress toward the Arkansas, but the delay had sepa- 
 
ATTACK ON THE ARKANSAS BY COLONEL ELLET. 309 
 
 rated her so far from the Essex, that the latter, having delivered a broad- 
 side at the Eebel ram, and being defeated in her attempt to grapple her, 
 passed on down the stream. As the Queen approached the Arkansas, the 
 batteries on the shore opened on her with tremendous fury. In vain 
 Colonel Ellet listened for the promised assistance of the gunboats of the 
 two commodores. Instead of their drawing the hostile fire of the foe, it 
 was all concentrated on the devoted Queen of the West. It was now evi- 
 dent to Colonel Ellet that his position was a desperate one. He seemed 
 to have been mysteriously abandoned to destruction by every vessel of 
 the Federal iieet which should have co-operated with him. Nevertheless 
 he did not despair, though a deluge of flaming thunderbolts hemmed him 
 in on all sides. He determined to strike or to perish. 
 
 To increase the peril of his position he found the Arkansas moored in 
 an unfavorable position for his assault. He was compelled to approach 
 her by a circular route, and to strike her against the current, which would 
 necessarily diminish both the accuracy of his aim, and the momentum of 
 his blow. Consequently, when he charged upon her, the eddies of the 
 stream altered his course so far that he struck her aft of her aft side gun, 
 and the blow, though violent, was glancing. Notwithstanding these dis- 
 advantages, the Arkansas reeled and quivered beneath the assault, and it 
 was at first thought that she was sinking. But it .soon became evident 
 that the rebound was almost harmless, and that no very serious damage 
 had been inflicted. Colonel Ellet was now convinced that his only possi- 
 bility of escape was by a rapid retreat, but even that was a forlorn and 
 hopeless undertaking. Four Rebel batteries were now playing upon his 
 boat, and as she, partially crippled as she already was, slowly struggled 
 up the river, she was assailed by all their guns, together with the guns of 
 the Arkansas. Her situation was terrible. Already she had been struck 
 twenty-five times. Her chimney-stacks were perforated with balls. One 
 of her steam-pipes had been shot away. Large holes had been bored 
 through her sides and her bow. Several immense round shot passed over 
 the head of Colonel Ellet, who, during the passage, lay flat upon the deck. 
 A fifty-pound round rifled shot passed through the pilot-house, within a few 
 inches of the helmsman. Two engineers were thrown down by the wind 
 of the passing shot. Shells exploded in the cabin, shivering every thing 
 within it to pieces. The machinery of the vessel was damaged and 
 wrenched in various places. She was blackened, splintered, and shattered 
 in every part of her exterior and her interior. Her appearance when she 
 reached a point beyond the range of the guns of the enemy, resembled 
 that of a complete wreck. And yet she did not sink ; and what is still 
 more marvelous, not a raian on board of her had been killed — several had 
 been slightly wounded. The engineers and firemen below expected at 
 every moment to see a shot explode her boilers, which accident would 
 
310 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 have inflicted instant death upon them ; but that catastrophe did not 
 occur.* 
 
 At length the Queen of the West regained her anchorage. The excuses 
 given b}'^ Commodores Davis anil Farragut lor not rendering her tlie 
 promised assistance, were remaikablo. The former urged that after the 
 Queen of the West passed him on her downward way, he found the bat- 
 teries of the enemy on tiie shore become so dangerous to several of his 
 gunboats, that he ordered them to sail up the river beyond their reach. 
 After having done so, he remembered his promise to assist the operations 
 of the Queen of the West, and returned. But it was then too late to ren- 
 der her any assistance. Commodore Farragut plead that he found it 
 impossible to weigh his anchors, and thus come within range of the bat- 
 teries at the appointed time, and was thereby prevented from taking part 
 in the engagement. 
 
 Notwithstanding the failure of tliis enterprise, the success with which 
 the Queen of the West ran the gauntlet of the batteries of the enemy, 
 rivalled, and even excelled, the boasted heroism displayed by the Arkansas 
 on a previous occasion, in defying the guns of the Federal fleet; and in so 
 far, the achievement was a success, by causing the laurels of the foe to 
 wither, in presence of the greater daring and glory of the resolute com- 
 mander of the Federal ram. 
 
 The important part which the navy of the United States had performed 
 during the progress of the Rebellion, on many important occasions, very 
 justly attracted to it the s])ecial attention of the people and the Govern- 
 ment of the United States. Serious objections were made to the manner 
 in which the several ranks and grades of the officers were then constituted, 
 and a change was demanded by the popular voice on the subject. The 
 result was, tliat a new arrangement was made, and new grades were estab- 
 lished, which gave a more favorable njiportnnity for the promotion of 
 those who distinguished them.solvcs in the service, while it conferred 
 higher dignities upon those veteran commanders who had already attained 
 eminence by a long term of patriotic devotion to the service.f 
 
 * It is worthy of remark, that the heroism of these men on this memorable occasion, 
 was astonishiiifr. Not a pinj;le indication of fear or terror was exhibited; and it is 
 equally deserving of notice, that the firenien, who were negroes recently taken from 
 the ad acent plantations, displayed a fortitude and firmness under these appalling cir- 
 cumstances, quite equal to that of their white associate.-!. 
 
 t It was on the 16th of July, 1862, tliat the Senate and House of Representatives 
 made this alteration, and or<lered as follows: That the active lists of line officers of 
 the United Stales Navy shall be divided into nine ffrades, taking rank according to 
 the date of their commission in each trradc, as follows : 
 
 I.. 
 
 . .Rear Admirals. 
 
 VI. 
 
 . . . Lieutenants. 
 
 II.. 
 
 . . Commodores. 
 
 VII. 
 
 ...Masters 
 
 III.. 
 
 . . Captains. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 . . .Ensigns. 
 
 IV.. 
 
 . . Commanders. 
 
 IX. 
 
 . . Midshipmen. 
 
 v.. 
 
 . . Lieutenant-Commanders. 
 
 
 
DRAFT OF. THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN. 311 
 
 During the progress of these minor events, an unusual degree of enter- ■ 
 
 prise and spirit pervaded the operations of the Federal Government in 
 preparing for the energetic contiuance of the war. On the 4th of August, 
 an order was issued by the President, through the War Department, to 
 the effect, that a draft of three hundred thousand militia should be made, 
 and immediately placed in the service of the United States, for the period 
 of nine months, unless sooner discharged ; at the same time setting forth, 
 that proper arrangements would be speedily made for assigning the re- 
 spective quotas of this number to each of the States. The order also 
 announced, that if by the 15th of August, any State had not furnished its 
 quota of the three hundred thousand volunteers already demanded by a 
 previous order, a special draft should be made in the State to make up 
 that number, and thus supply the deficiency. This requisition was sub- 
 sequently complied with, and the loyal States presented to the world the 
 marvelous spectacle which has never before been exhibited in the history 
 of mankind, of the enormous mass of six hundred thousand men, raised, 
 armed, equipped, and marched into the field, during the brief period of 
 three months. 
 
 And further, That the relative rank between officers of the navy and the army 
 shall be as follows, lineal rank only to be considered : | 
 
 Rear Admirals with Major-Generals. 
 
 Commodores with Brigadier-Generals. 
 
 Captains with Colonels. 
 
 Commanders with Lieutenant-Colonels. 
 
 Lieutenant-Commanders with Majors. 
 
 Lieutenants with Captains. 
 
 Masters with First Lieutenants. 
 
 Ensig-ns with Second Lieutenants. 
 
312 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DESIGNS OF THE REBEL GENERALS IN VIRGINIA — MEASURES TAKEN TO COUNTERACT THEM — 
 TUB ARMIES OP BANKS AND JACKSON ArPROACH EACH OTHER — BATTLE OF CEDAR OB 
 SLAUGHTER MOUNTAIN — POSITION OF THE COMBATANTS — COMMENCEMENT OP THE ENGAGE- 
 MENT — INCIDENTS OF ITS PROGRESS— ITS TF.RMINATION AND RESULTS — LOSS ON BOTH SIDES 
 — HEROISM OF GENERAL BANKS — SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS OF THE REBELS — SKIRMISHES 
 ALONG THE LINE OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK — DESIGNS OF THE REBEL GENERALS — ARRANGE- 
 MENTS OF GENERAL POPE- — ENGAGEMENT AT CATLETT's STATION — FEDERAL LOSS OF BAO- 
 OAOE AND STORES — THE REBELS CROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK — BATTLE WITH THB TROOPS 
 
 OF GENERAL SIGEL APPROACH OF REBELS TOWARD MANASSAS — CONFLICT AT KETTLE RUN 
 
 — AT BRISTOW'S STATION — THE GREAT BATTLE AT MANASSAS ON AUGUST TWENTY-NINTH 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE STRUGGLE — ENGAGEMENT RENEWED ON THE THIRTIETH — ITS INCIDENTS 
 AND RESULTS — RETREAT OP THB FEDERAL ARMY — BATTLE OF CHANTILLY — DEATH OF GEN- 
 ERALS KEARNY AND STEVENS — RETURN OF THE FEDERAL ARMY TO WASHINGTON— LOSSES 
 DURING THE CAMPAIGN OP GENERAL POPE IN VIRGINIA — SKETCHES OF GENERALS KEARNY 
 AND STEVENS — A COURT-MARTIAL SUMMONED AT WASHINGTON TO INVESTIGATE CHARGES 
 AGAINST GENERAL PORTER — ITS VERDICT. 
 
 During the first week of August, 1862, the military authorities at Wash- 
 ington obtained authentic information, which convinced them that the 
 Confederate generals were assembling a formidable force, for the purpose 
 of crushing the army commanded by General Pope, and advancing to 
 the capture either of Washington or of Baltimore. General Halleuk im- 
 mediately authorized General Pope to summon the forces under General 
 Cox, in Western Virginia, to join him with all po.ssible despatch ; while 
 the former was directed to cross the Rappahannock, occupy Culpepper, 
 and threaten Gordousville. This movement at once excited the appre- 
 hensions of the Rebel leaders. Jackson and Ewell immediately crossed 
 the Rapidan at Barnett's Ford, approached the position occupied by the 
 corps of General Banks, near Cedar or Slaughter Mountain, and on Sat- 
 urday, the 9ih of August, a battle was fought between the two armies, 
 scarcely second in fury and stubbornness to any which had occurred 
 during the war. 
 
 The jjoint at which this contest took place was about five miles south 
 of Culpepper Court House, on the road to Gordonsville. The enemy took 
 their position on the side of Cedar Mountain, where they were protected 
 in a large degree by thick forests. They numbered at least twenty-five 
 thousand men. The advantages of their position were very great, for it 
 commanded a full view of the operations of the Federal troops below 
 them, and enabled them to post their batteries in several successive tiers, 
 semicircular in their outline, by which they could simultaneously can- 
 nonade tlie whole body of their assailants. The position of the latter was 
 
THE BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 313 
 
 completely exposed to the enemy, having no advantage of natural or arti- 
 ficial defence whatever. On the day previous to the battle, the brigade of 
 General Crawford had been thrown forward to observe the movements of 
 the enemy, and oppose his advance. General Banks occupied this posi- 
 tion with his entire corps on the day of the engagement. Eickett's di- 
 vision of McDowell's corps was three miles in his rear. The corps of 
 Sigel, which had been marching during all the night preceding the battle, 
 was allowed to halt in Culpepper to recruit for a few hours. Thus the 
 engagement commenced between the enemy and the corps of Banks, which 
 comprised about seven thousand men. 
 
 The combat opened with an artillery duel, at a quarter-past two o'clock 
 in the afternoon. It was at once evident that the Rebels possessed an im- 
 mense superiority in the number of their guns. The firing of the Fed- 
 erals was also up hill, resulting from the disadvantage of their position; 
 but the greater accuracy of their aim was equally apparent. In an hour 
 one of their six batteries was silenced. The Federals then closed up their 
 lines on the right and left, and advanced toward the enemy. The left 
 wing having approached two hundred yards nearer than their first posi- 
 tion, lay on the ground, while the contest between the artillery continued, 
 so that the deluge of shot discharged by the foe passed over them harm- 
 lessly, though they could not escape the effect of their bursting shells. 
 At four o'clock another of their batteries was silenced. At that moment 
 they advanced from their position, and made a bold attempt to flank the 
 left of the Federals. This movement was repelled and defeated by the 
 gallant advance of Geary's brigade. At half-past four the troops under 
 Generals Prince, Green, and Geary, were ordered to charge the batteries 
 of the enemy on the left. As the Federals approached they were assailed 
 with a terrific storm of shot and shell, wbich might have appalled even 
 veteran warriors. As they approached the base of the mountain, the 
 Rebels, whom the woods till then had concealed, rushed forward in im- 
 mense numbers, and attacked the Federals with musketry. The latter 
 were mowed down like grain before the reaper ; but still they advanced 
 without flinching. In a desperate collision they forced the enemy back 
 upon the mountain, and held them there firmly. But soon heavy rein- 
 forcements of infantry, consisting of about eight regiments, enabled the 
 Rebels to overpower the heroes before them, and compelled them eventually 
 to retire. This movement was performed quietly and in good order. 
 
 It was now half-past six, and the engagement became general. It was 
 marked by special fury on the Federal right wing. During an hour the 
 most sanguinary slaughter was inflicted here by both sides. At one time 
 the enemy were successful in surrounding the right flank, by the use of 
 an artifice scarcely excusable by the laws of honorable warfare. Hoisting 
 the stars and stripes, a large body suddenly emerged from the woods in 
 such a position as to assume the appearance of a reinforcement to the 
 
314 TllK CIVIL WAU IX THIC UNITED STATES. 
 
 Federals. Tlie latter, deceived bj the imposition, permitted the enemy 
 to approach until they were near enough to inflict upon them a destructive 
 volley of musketry. Convinced by this argument of their mistake, the 
 Federal troops instantly returned the salute, and charged upon the foe 
 with such ferocity as to break their ranks, and compel them to retreat in 
 the utmost disorder behind their first position. As night approached, the 
 contest became more and more furious. General Banks still held the 
 position which he occupied in the morning. At seven o'clock General 
 Pope arrived upon the field, and sent an order to General McDowell to 
 advance General Rickett's division to support the troops engaged ; and he 
 also directed General Sigel to join in the engagement as soon as possible. 
 Rickett's division being close at hand, was quickly upon the field, and 
 took up their position on the right. The battle was then renewed with 
 greater desperation and destructiveness than before. But it did not long 
 continue, in consequence of the spread of the partial darkness of night 
 over the scene. The discharge of artillery alone was kept up, and cast 
 its lurid horrors around the combat until near midnight. At one time, 
 before the charges of infantry and cavalry terminated, the Rebels drove 
 back the Federal troops for a considerable distance, and occupied their 
 position. But during the night the enemy receded up the mountain to 
 their fastnesses, and on the following day occupied a line of defence still 
 nearer to its summit. 
 
 On the following day neither side seemed disposed to renew the en- 
 gagement. The desperate struggles which had already taken place, the 
 overpowering heat of the weatlier, the immense number of dead and 
 wounded of both armies, whose bodies covered the plain below, and the 
 mountain above, who must be cared for, removed, or buried, rendered it 
 indispensable that the fighting should be suspended. It was not until 
 Monday evening that the process of burying was completed, or at least 
 terminated. During Sunday all the available Union forces were hurried 
 forward to join the corps of General Banks. It was then confidently ex- 
 pected that the battle would be renewed, and an attempt made to dislodge 
 the enemy from their position on the mountain. But during Monday 
 night they voluntarily withdrew from their stronghold and crossed the 
 Eapidan. General Buford was sent forward with four regiments of cav- 
 alry in pursuit, to watch their movements, and ascertain their route. 
 Many of the Rebel dead were left unburied ; many of their wounded were 
 abandoned to their fate by their departing comrades. The Federal loss 
 in this battle in killed, wounded, and missing, was about two thousand. 
 Generals Augur and Geary were severely wounded. General Prince and 
 his staff were taken pri.soners by the enemy. The loss of the Rebels was 
 at least three thousand in killed and wounded. Among the former was 
 General Winder. In this conflict the skill and gallantry of General 
 Banks were conspicuous, and contrihuteil greatly to the partial success 
 
PERILOUS POSITION OP GENERAL POPE. 315 
 
 of the day. The struggle was one of unusual fierceness and determination 
 on both sides. The ground was covered for several miles with the killed 
 and maimed, whose great numbers and horrible mutilations attested the 
 sanguinary nature of the contest. The ground in innumerable places was 
 ploughed in deep and rugged gullies, by the cannon-balls or exploding 
 shells of the enemy. It was therefore an honor to the Federal troops 
 engaged, under such great disadvantages of numbers and position, that 
 by their heroism and fortitude they had fought at Cedar Mountain a 
 drawn battle. 
 
 General Pope had become satisfied by this battle that he had in his im- 
 mediate vicinity not a single corps, but the entire army of General 
 Lee, and that his only hope of success lay in fighting a series of retreating 
 battles, until he could receive reinforcements from the army of the Poto- 
 mac, now on its way to Aquia creek and Alexandria. General Pope 
 proceeded on the 17th of August to take a position in the rear of the Rap- 
 pahannock, where he could more easily obtain reinforcements, and oppose 
 the passage of the enemy. He was soon joined by the division of General 
 King, and by that part of Burnside's corps commanded by Reno. Several 
 attempts which were made by the Rebels to cross the river were defeated, 
 and every effort was made to gain time, so that McClellan's forces might 
 be able to reach the scene of the impending conflict. One of the most 
 signal repulses which the Rebels received, was effected by the troops of 
 General Rickett's division, on Thursday, August 21st, when they attempted 
 to cross the Rappahannock near the railroad. They were equally unsuc- 
 cessful at Beverly ford, five miles distant from the railroad. But on the 
 22d the Rebels made a bold charge near Catlett's station, in the rear of 
 Pope's army, upon a portion of his bagj>;age and supply trains. They 
 were resisted bravely for a short time by the Purnell Legion and the 
 Bucktail regiment; but overwhelming numbers at length compelled these 
 to give way. The enemy then took possession of a passenger t«ftin, to- 
 gether with a number of wagons filled with the private stores of Generals 
 Pope and McDowell, and other officers. They also obtained a pdrtion of 
 the papers of General Pope, though none of much importance. They 
 obtained two hundred horses from Pope's train, and twenty from 
 McDowell's ; a quantity of medicines from the hospitals erected at the 
 station, and some money. This bold and successful raid was led by Gen- 
 eral Stuart, and its sudden and unexpected character, together with its 
 disastrous results, were a source of mortification to the Federal generals 
 who were the chief sufferers. None of the Federal officers who were en- 
 gaged in the brief but spirited contest which occurred on this occasion 
 displayed more energy and presence of mind than Colonel Kane of the 
 Bucktails, and Colonel Myers of the staffs of General Pope. The former 
 was captured, but afterward succeeded in making his escape. 
 
 During the progress of these events the Rebels were gradually transfer- 
 
316 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 riug tlic main body of their troops across the Rappahannock. They threw 
 a pontoon bridge over the river, between the Waterloo and Rappahannock 
 stations, during the night of Thursday, the 21st of August, and passed 
 over in imraense numbers. They were confronted by the corps of Gen- 
 eral Sigel, who assailed them with a deluge of canistcl--shot during the 
 passage, slaying hundreds of them, and compelling them to retreat across 
 the river. On the next day a brigade, among whom was the seventy- 
 fourth Pennsylvania regiment, were ordered by General Sigel, to cross 
 the stream, drive in the pickets of the enemy, and attack them. But the 
 latter being suddenly reinforced, overwhelmed the Federals with numbers, 
 compelled them to retreat to the river, and while they were in the water 
 slew many, after having taking a number of prisoners. During this dis- 
 astrous movement, General Bohlen, a Union officer of distinction, was 
 killed. On the following day the batteries of both armies, which were 
 jiosted along the river, continued their exchange of shots. These various 
 skirmishes, of greater and of less importance, were preliminary to the more 
 decisive engagements which were destined soon to take place. While 
 they progressed many were slain on both sides, much property was de- 
 stroyed, bridges were burned, and desolation was spread over the face of 
 the country, without any important results having been attained by either 
 party. 
 
 Notwithstanding the resistance made by portions of the Federal army 
 to the advance of the enemy upon Washington, the latter gradually threw 
 their forces across the Rappahannock, at Waterloo bridge and elsewhere, 
 and advanced toward Manassas. The purpose of the resistance of the 
 Union troops at that stream was to enable General McClellan to reach 
 the scene of action with the army of the Potomac prior to the impending 
 general engagement. In vain had General Ilalleck, as commander-in- 
 chief, ordered McClellau not to wait for transportation, but to march for- 
 ward at once. A mysterious delay characterized the movements of that 
 officer, and General Pope was ultimately compelled to encounter the whole 
 military -strength of the Rebel Confederacy in Virginia without the assis- 
 tance of the army of the Potomac. 
 
 The operations of the generals of the enemy at this period were ex- 
 tremely complicated and skilful. Lee and Longstreet had been thus far 
 niaiiceuvriiig on the Rappahannock in order to detain and occupy Pope, 
 while Jackson and Ewell were reaching a position in his rear. As soon 
 as the Federal commander discovered the adroit intention of the Rebel.s, 
 he withdrew liis forces from Warrenton. He directed General McDowell, 
 with his troops, and with those of Sigel, to proceed to Gainesville; he 
 ordered Heintzelman and Reno to march to Greenwich ; while he, together 
 with Porter's and Hooker's columns, hastened to Manassas Junction. 
 The troops of Hooker encountered the enemy at Kettle Run, and after 
 a brisk engagement routed them. Meanwhile, the encmj', under Jack- 
 
If 
 
 H 
 
SUBSEQi'ENT MOVEMENTS OP THE EEBELS. 317 
 
 son, had passed around the north bank of the Eappahannock, and to- 
 gether with Lee, Ewell, and Longstreet, had poured a formidable body 
 of troops through Thoroughfare gap, north of Warrenton, and occupied 
 a position in the rear of Pope's army. This general, at length com- 
 prehending his position, ordered McDowell and Sigel to attack the Eebels 
 opposed to them. He directed Hooker to assail those posted at Bristow's 
 station, and drive them back. A severe action took place at this point 
 with the forces under Ewell, in which the Federals obtained tlie advan- 
 tage. By these operations General Pope retrieved his position, and again 
 placed himself in the rear of the Rebel army. His front now faced to- 
 ward Washington. On Thursday night, August 28th, Pope obtained 
 possession of Manassas, and effected such a consolidation of his troops, 
 about fifty-five thousand in number, as to be able to attack the enemy, 
 though more numerous than his own troops, with a prospect of success. 
 It was thought that the decisive battle of the war was about to take 
 place, and that an overwhelming victory, on one side or on the other, 
 would terminate the long and desperate agony of the conflict. This 
 great battle was commenced at daylight on Friday, August 29th, 1862. 
 
 The dispositions which General Pope had made at this stage of the 
 contest for confronting the enemy were judicious. The troops com- 
 manded by McDowell, Sigel, and Eeynolds, were ordered to take post at 
 Gainesville ; those of Kearny and Reno at Greenwich, and Hooker along 
 the railroad toward Thoroughfare gap. It seemed impossible that the 
 Rebel General Jackson could escape the toils which were so adroitly 
 thrown around him. During Thursday night, the 28th of August, Gen- 
 eral Sigel, having been ordered to attack the enemy the following morn- 
 ing, made the necessary p^parations for so doing. When the next day 
 dawned, his division was already formed in line of battle near Bull Run. 
 The left wing of the enemy also appeared, resting on Catherine creek, 
 his front facing toward Centreville, his centre posted in a long range of 
 woods, his right stationed on the hills on both sides of the Centreville road. 
 General Sigel made several important changes in the position of his 
 troops, to adapt it to that of the enemy ; and at half-past six o'clock the 
 engagement began. 
 
 During a struggle of four hours' duration, the whole of the Federal in- 
 fantry and artillery, commanded by Sigel, were engaged. The result was 
 that, at the end of that time, the troops of Schurz and Milroy had driven 
 the enemy back one mile, and those under Schenck, two miles from their 
 original positions. This reverse spurred the enemy to renewed exertions, 
 and at half-past ten they made a desperate effort to turn the extreme left 
 of the Federals. They attempted to outflank the latter on both wings, and 
 to consolidate a heavy mass of troops in the centre, for the purpose of 
 breaking the Federal lines. It was a critical moment. Jackson's salvation 
 seemed to depend upon the success with which this grand coup on his part 
 
318 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 would be attended. Fortunately for the Federal cause, General Kearny 
 arrived on the field with his forces, and deployed to Sigel's right by the 
 Sudley road. General Reno also came up at the same time by the Gaines- 
 ville turnpike. This reinforcement was opportune; for scarcely were these 
 troops placed in the positions which most needed strengthening, when the 
 grand assault of the evening was commenced, along the whole line, from 
 right to left. A desperate combat ensued. The German regiments fought 
 with the firmness and enthusiasm which generally characterize the stern 
 soldiers of the Teutonic race. In vain did the bold and spirited Jackson 
 hurl upon their steady ranks the furious masses of his Rebel hordes. They 
 remained steadfast, like an immovable rock, surrounded, and assailed by 
 the raging eddies of a stormy sea. At two o'clock in the afternoon Gen- 
 eral Hooker reached the scene of conflict. Ue instantly ordered his 
 troops forward to participate in the battle. Their assistance was valuable, 
 but still the preponderance of numbers on the part of the Rebels rendered 
 the issue doubtful. General Sigel had been informed by General Pope 
 that Fitz John Porter had been ordered by him, on the evening of the 
 27th, to hasten forward with his division to his assistance, and would join 
 him on the left, on the morning of the 29th. This expectation was not 
 realized. During two hours more, from four o'clock until six, a vigorous 
 contest progressed between the contending hosts. General Kearny made 
 a desperate charge upon the extreme left of the lines of the enemy, and 
 compelled them to retire. Here was gained the most signal success of 
 the day. At six o'clock a portion of General McDowell's corps reached the 
 scene of conflict. It was now evening, and after a continued struggle of ten 
 hours the battle ceased. The general result of this day's engagement was 
 favorable to the Federal troops. The latter had driven the whole Rebel 
 line some distance from the position which they occupied when the battle 
 began. Nevertheless, the result was indecisive, and the conflict must 
 necessarily be renewed on the following day, before any definite conse- 
 quences could be produced by the exertions and sacrifices of either side. 
 The fate of the entire campaign, the issue of the war, the destiny of two 
 rival republics, seemed to depend upon the events of the succeeding 
 day; and the commanders of both armies, during the silent hours of 
 the intervening night, prepared themselves diligently for the final 
 struggle. 
 
 In this engagement, Banks commanded the right wing of the Federals, 
 Sigel the centre, and McDowell the left. The object of the Rebel Gen- 
 eral Jackson was to force his way through the Federal lines, so as to be 
 able to form a junction with the remainder of the Confederate forces under 
 Generals Leo and Longstreet. The evident aim of Pope was to prevent 
 this achievement, and by a powerful and vigorous assault at all points to 
 surround Jackson, crush his forces, and take him and them prisoners. It 
 is probable that if all the orders which were issued by General Pope for 
 
ENGAGEMENT OF THE THIRTIETH OP AUGUST. 319 
 
 this purpose, especially those sent to Fitz John Porter, had' been promptly- 
 obeyed, the Rebel general would have been completely overwhelmed 
 before he could be assisted by General Longstreet. But General Porter 
 did not execute the orders sent to him by General Pope, and it may with 
 truth be affirmed, that to the failure of that officer, whether it were volun- 
 tary or involuntary on his part, a large portion of the disasters which oc- 
 curred on this day may be attributed. 
 
 The battle on the 30th of August did not commence with much energy 
 until noon. The troops on both sides had been too greatly exhausted by 
 the protracted struggles on the previous day to be very eager for the com- 
 bat. During the day Lee succeeded in bringing a large number of his 
 troops through Thoroughfare gap to the assistance of Jackson, and Long- 
 street joined him. The magnitude and diversity of this engagement may 
 be inferred from the fact, that when the Federal line of battle was formed, 
 it extended along the slope of the ridges stretching down to Bull Run 
 over a space ten miles in length, and two and a half miles in breadth. 
 The artillery of the Rebels was posted, as usual, with great skill, upon the 
 most advantageous positions, ranging opposite to those of the Federals. 
 This battle was rendered memorable by the circumstance that it was fought 
 upon the scene of the conflict of the 21st of July, 1861, and thus the same 
 ground was detsined to witness, on two occasions, the futile valor, the 
 patriotic devotion, and the sangiiinary losses of thousands of the defenders 
 of the Union. 
 
 It was not till four o'clock in the afternoon that the battle became gen- 
 eral along the whole line. The Rebels had been so strongly reinforced 
 that by that time the flower of their whole army had been brought into 
 action. All the troops commanded by Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, Hill, 
 Ewell, and Johnston, were hurled in ferocious masses on the Federal 
 lines. It is probable that their colossal columns numbered not far from 
 a hundred thousand men. These were met, and were frequently repulsed 
 with the utmost heroism by the Federal troops, and the issue of the day 
 remained undecided until about half-past five o'clock. At that time an 
 overwhelming host of the foe was precipitated on the weakest point in the 
 Federal lines, that on the left wing, commanded by General McDowell. 
 He was compelled to fall back, both from the fury of the assault and the 
 threatened danger of being outflanked by the enemy. This retrograde 
 movement changed the position of the Federal lines. The latter still re- 
 mained on the right and centre, where they were posted at the commence- 
 ment of the engagement. On one occasion the Rebels boldly advanced, 
 took a portion of a hill, and planted a battery on the flank and almost on 
 the rear of the Federal centre. General Sigel ordered three regiments of 
 infantry to attack them and dislodge them. Colonel Koltes commanded 
 the movement, but its execution failed, the brigade was nearly decimated, 
 and Colonel Koltes was killed while gallantly leading forward his men. 
 
320 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 It was now evident to General Pope that the advancing hosts of tlie 
 Rebels, as they became more indomitable, enthusiastic, and desperate, 
 from hour to hour, rendered victory hopeless. Accordingl}', alter dark- 
 ness had put an end to the combat, he ordered a general retreat toward 
 Centreville. During the following night the order was executed by the 
 whole army. At Centreville the reinforcements under Generals Franklin 
 and Sumner joined the forces of Pope. Had these divisions been sent by 
 General McClellan a day earlier, the issue of the conflict might have been 
 different. At Centreville the whole army bivouacked, awaiting the 
 further movements of the enemy. 
 
 It was scarcely to be expected that the triumphant Rebels would not 
 follow up the advantages which they had gained. During Sunday, 
 August 31st, no movement of importance took place on either side. The 
 immense exertions which both had put forth, and the heavy losses which 
 both had sufi'ered, rendered a short interval of delay and of repose indis- 
 pensable. During Monday, however. General Pope received information 
 that the Confederates were advancing and concentrating a powerful body 
 of troops on the road to Fairfax Court House, with the evident purpose 
 of attacking his wagon trains, a portion of which they had alre'sidy cap- 
 tured. He instantly ordered General Heintzelman to proceed witji^his 
 division to the spot indicated, to attack and to repulse the enemy. Generals 
 Reno and Stevens had already confronted the foe, and an engagement had 
 already commenced between them, when a portion of Heintzelman's 
 corps, commanded by the gallant and heroic Kearny, reached the scene 
 of conflict. Even then the troops of General Stevens, who had just been 
 killed, were retreating from the field, their ammunition being exhausted. 
 The Federal reinforcements passed on toward the foe, and immediately 
 engaged them. The combat quickly became desperate, and the enemy 
 were driven back several miles, a runniug-figlit being kept up during the 
 chase. A number of brilliant charges were made by the Federal troops 
 during the progress of the conflict. 
 
 Shortly before its conclusion, an incident occurred which led to the 
 death of that admirable officer who commanded the Federal heroes. 
 General Kearny had been informed that the gap in the Federal lines 
 which had been produced by the retreat of the troops of General Stevens, 
 had been filled up. At this moment he discovered that this had not been 
 done, and that this neglect endangered the safety of the Pederal lines, 
 lie instantly rode forward into the gap, unattended by any of his stall', 
 who had been distributed on various and distant missions, in order to 
 examine the ground. He was never seen again alive. He had not pro- 
 ceeded very far before he was killed by a well-directed shot from the 
 enemy. The cause of his death was a Minie rifle-ball, fired by one of tlie 
 sharpshooters of the foe, who, from the direction taken by the missile, 
 must have been concealed in some deep gully or rifle-pit. The ball 
 
KETREAT OP THE FEDERAL FORCES. 321 
 
 entered below the hip, and passed upward through the chest and lungs. 
 On the next morning a flag of truce was sent into the Federal lines, 
 bearing with it the remains of the deceased hero, which had been found 
 upon the blood-stained field. After his absence from his troops became 
 known, General Birney succeeded to the command of the men. They held 
 possession of the field from which they had driven the enemy until three 
 o'clock the next morning. They then returned to their camp near Fairfax 
 Court House. 
 
 This spirited engagement took place near Chantilly, three miles distant 
 from. Centreville. The enemy, in attempting a flank movement, had 
 boldly placed themselves between General Pope and Washington. In 
 the earlier portion of the battle, General Eeno commanded on the right, 
 and General Stevens on the left, before the arrival of General Kearny. 
 The death both of General Stevens and General Kearny may be attributed 
 to their reckless and daring vi^lor. The former led forward his troops in 
 person, and was slain at the head of his column. The manner of Kearny's 
 death also indicated that he was brave to a fault. Their loss was a serious 
 calamity to the Federal cause ; and their ardent devotion to the welfare 
 of the Union, with the sacrifice which they freely made to it of their 
 lives, will justly entitle thera to the gratitude and veneration of the lovers 
 of their country during all coming time. The greater part of this 
 singular battle was fought in the midst of darkness and tempest. The 
 rain descended in a deluge. The thunder was deafening. The lightning 
 was blinding. Yet these comparatively harmless horrors were transcended 
 by the more destructive fury and vengeance of the human combatants. 
 After the death of General Kearny the battle was conducted to the con- 
 clusion with great bravery and skill by General Birney, his second in 
 command. 
 
 The retreat of the whole Federal army from Centreville to Fairfax was 
 resumed on Monday night, September 1st. The Eebels followed, and on 
 Tuesday morning again took possession of their old line of intrenchments, 
 from which they had so haughtily threatened Washington during the 
 preceding winter, and defied the advance of the Federal armies. During 
 September 2d the retreat was continued ; and on the 3d the ignominious 
 boast might again have been made with truth, that the grand armies of 
 Virginia and the Potomac had arrived safely back again in their former 
 quarters, protected by the thirty forts which frowned so fiercely around 
 the Federal capital. The wounded in the preceding battles had all been 
 brought away with them, in immense caravans of ambulances and wagons, 
 which drew their sluggish length for miles along the road from Fairfax 
 to Alexandria. The retreat was made without much order. The immense 
 exertions through which the commanding officers had passed during the 
 preceding fifteen days, in which as many different engagements of more 
 or less importance had taken place, had so completely overcome them 
 21 
 
322 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that they were scarcely able to enforce discipline, or exercise any control 
 over their brave but broken and disheartened troops. 
 
 Thus ended the campaign of General Pope in Virginia. It was the 
 most disastrous to the Federal cause which had yet occurred. The losses 
 suffered were very great ; though the precise extent can only be conjec- 
 tured. It is probable that during all the contests which took place while 
 General Pope held the command, they amounted to eight thousand killed, 
 twenty thousand wounded and missing. The chief cause of the disasters 
 which occurred was the fact, that the army of the Potomac under 
 McClellan was not combined with the army of Virginia, in time to meet 
 and overpower the enemy.* 
 
 One of the chief disasters connected with these events was the death of 
 General Philip Kearny. This officer had won for himself a high reputa- 
 tion. His loss at that crisis was a national calamity. He had earned by 
 his unrivalled heroism and romantic boldness the distinction of being 
 regarded as the Ney or the Lannes of the armies of the Union. He was 
 a stranger to fear, and in every engagement he was to be seen, moving 
 with grand and majestic energy, in tlie thickest and fiercest of the combat. 
 So well had tlie Rebel generals and soldiers learned to recognize his per- 
 son and his spirit, that they usually designated him by the expressive 
 sobriquet o? the " one-armed devil." He served with distinction during 
 the Mexican war, with the rank of major, and lost an arm in one of its 
 bloodiest battles. He had subsequently spent some j'ears in Europe, and 
 had borne a distinguished part as a volunteer in the French army in Alge- 
 ria, the Crimea, and at Solferino. In 1861, he was the thirteenth on the 
 roll of two hundred brigadier-generals who were rapidly appointed. Tt 
 was but a few weeks before his death that his services and merits were 
 tardily remembered, and he received the rank of major-general. He was 
 the favorite warrior of New Jersey, and led the gallant troops of that 
 patriotic State " to glory or the grave," in the memorable battles of the 
 Peninsula, at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, White Oak swamp, 
 
 * General Halleck, in his oflloial report to the War Department, of December 2d, 
 Ifi6'2, said : "I repeatedly urgi,'<l upon (loneral McClcHan the necessity of promptly 
 moving his army, so as to form a junclion with that of General Pope. The evacua- 
 tion of Harrison's Ijandin;^ was not commenced till the lUh, eleven days after it was 
 ordered." " Had the army of tlie Potomac arrived a few days earlier, tlic Rebel army 
 could have been easily defeated, and perhaps detroyed." In connection with this 
 statement it may be proper to add the following extract from the letter sent by 
 General Halleck to Pope, •Hhich indicates the very just estimate which he had formed 
 of the services of the latter. It was dated, "Wasliington, Aufrust 31st, 18C2, 11 
 A. M. — Major General Pope : — My dear General : — You liavc done nobly. Don't 
 yield another inch if you can avoid if. All reserves are being sent forward ; 1 am 
 doing all in my power for you and your noble army. God bless you and it. Send 
 me news more often if possible. H. W. Halleck." — See " Pope's Campaign in 
 Virginia, its Policy and Results, t^c. By a General Officer," p. 30. 
 
SKETCH OP GENERAL STEVENS. 323 
 
 Cross Roads, and Malvern Hill. He was, as all such men are apt to be, 
 frank, bold, and generous in his temper ; intense in his attachments and 
 in his hatreds; but usually just and equitable in his estimate of others. 
 
 Equally remarkable, though very dissimilar, was the character of Gen- 
 eral Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who also fell at Chantilly. He was a native of 
 Massachusetts. When he graduated at West Point, in 18.39, he was not 
 only at the head of the best class which had ever graduated there, but so 
 great was his superiority to all his classmates, that there were fifteen de- 
 grees in the scale of merit between himself and the first cadet below him. 
 He served with distinction in the Mexican war. He was breveted cap- 
 tain for gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras, Churubusco, and 
 Chapultepec. His bravery at the city of Mexico, in the storming of the 
 San Cosme gate, procured him the brevet of major. His eminent scientific 
 abilities were afterward employed by the Government in conducting the 
 survey of the route for the Northern Pacific railroad. President Pierce 
 appointed him Governor of A¥ashington Territory ; and he subsequently 
 represented that Territory in Congress. He was absent in his distant 
 Pacific home when the Eebellion commenced. He immediately started 
 for the Federal capital, travelled thousands of miles by land and sea, ar- 
 rived at the period of the first battle of Manassas, and tendered his ser- 
 vices ti) the Government. He was placed in command of the seventy- 
 ninth New York regiment, whose colonel, Cameron, had fallen on that 
 disastrous field. He subsequently accompanied General Sherman to South 
 Carolina, and participated in the conflicts which took place around Port 
 Eoyal. He was, at a later period, transferred to North Carolina, wlience 
 he returned with General Reno to the army of Virginia. His character 
 was peculiar. He also was ignorant of the emotion of fear; but he was 
 in many respects the opposite of the impetuous, bold, and reckless Kearny. 
 He was quiet and gentle in demeanor, reticent and reserved in speech, 
 thoughtful and prudent in action, scientific and masterly in his profes- 
 sional knowledge, firm, heroic, and sagacious on the battle-field. 
 
 After the return of the army of Virginia within the works at Wash- 
 ington, General Pope resigned his command, and requested to be trans- 
 ferred to some other post of duty. He was immediately appointed to the 
 command of the Department of the Northwest, within whose jurisdiction 
 that territory lay which had recently been afflicted by the sanguinary 
 cruelties of the revolted Indian tribes. Before leaving Washington, how- 
 ever, he felt it his duty to prefer charges against several of the officers 
 who had received and disobeyed his orders during the engagement near 
 Manassas. The chief of these was Fitz John Porter, to whose neglect or 
 perfidy he charged the misfortunes and defeats which had been suffered 
 by the Federal army. The chief charge which he preferred against that 
 officer, and which was investigated at a later period by a court-martial 
 convened at Washington for that purpose, was, that he had refused to 
 
324 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 march against the enemy, and to unite his troops with that portion of the 
 Federal forces, under Hooker at Kettle Run, on the 28th of August, though 
 General Pope had despatched him repeated and distinct orders so to do. 
 It was also clearly proved at the trial, that General Porter entertained a 
 personal hostility to Pope; that he had severely censured his dispositions 
 for the campaign ; and that he had sent telegrams to his friends in Wash- 
 ington, ridiculing the orders and the management of that general. The 
 evidence produced upon this trial modified very essentially the opinion 
 which the nation had entertained in regard to the merits and services of 
 General Pope ; and convinced them that the failure of the operations 
 which he conducted, was to be attributed, not so much to any incapacity 
 or neglect of his own, as to the inefficiency and perfidy of some of those 
 who held command under him. 
 
 After a thorough investigation of the facts in the case, the court, of 
 which General Hunter was the president, and Mr. Holt the judge-advo- 
 cate, rendered a verdict, finding General Porter guilty of all the charges 
 preferred against him ; and intimating that, to his neglect and disobedi- 
 ence of orders, the disasters of the campaign of General Pope were chiefly 
 attributable. His finding was approved by the President on the 2 1st of 
 January, 1863, and General Porter was cashiered and dismissed from the 
 service, and forever disqualified from holding any ofiice of trust or profit 
 under the Government of the United States. 
 
BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE. 325 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE — SITUATION OF TEE PLACE — FEDERAL TROOPS POSTED THERE 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT DEATH OF GEN- 
 ERAL WILLIAMS — ASSISTANCE OF THE FEDERAL GUNBOATS — FINAL DEFEAT AND REPULSE 
 
 OF THE REBELS THE REBEL RAM ARKANSAS ITS DESTRUCTION INDIAN MURDERS AND 
 
 DEVASTATIONS IN MINNESOTA — CAUSES WHICH LED TO THEM — INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH 
 THEM — THEIR SUPPRESSION AND PUNISHMENT — GENERAL SIBLET — BATTLE FOUGHT NEAR 
 RICHMOND, KENTUCKY — FEDERAL TROOPS ENGAGED — FEDERAL ADVANTAGE — FEDERAL RE- 
 PULSE — UNION TROOPS ARE RE-FORMED IN LINE OF BATTLE THREE TIMES — GENERAL NELSON 
 — FEDERAL LOSSES — BATTLE AT TAZEWELL — EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ELLET ON THE MIS- 
 SISSIPPI AND UP THE YAZOO CAPTURE OP THE TRANSPORT FAIR PLAY — RESULTS OF THE 
 
 EXPEDITION — BATTLE NEAR DENMARK, TENNESSEE — INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT — 
 HEROISM OF CAPTAIN FRISBIE — FEDERAL VICTORY — APPREHENSIONS OF AN INVASION OP 
 OHIO BY THE REBELS — PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR TOD — PREPARATIONS MADE TO RECEIVE 
 THE ENEMY — GENERAL LEWIS WALLACE — RETREAT OF THE REBELS — TERMINATION OP THE 
 POPULAR EXCITEMENT — SUMMARY OP UNIMPORTANT EVENTS IN AUGUST, 1862. 
 
 While these important events were transpiring in the vicinity of 
 Washington, the champions and the enemies of the Federal Union were 
 active in other portions of the country ; and hostilities were carried on at 
 various points with unremitting energy. 
 
 On the 5th of August, 1862, a spirited engagement took place at Baton 
 Rouge, Louisiana, in which* the Rebel forces were commanded by John 
 C. Breckinridge. This town is situated on the first high bluff which 
 exists on the banks of the Mississippi above its mouth. It stretches along 
 the margin of the river; and in its rear, a number of Federal troops had 
 been stationed, commanded by General Williams. These troops consisted 
 of the twenty-first Indiana, fourteenth Maine, the seventh Vermont, the 
 sixth battery, the thirteenth Massachusetts, the fourth Wisconsin, the 
 ninth Connecticut, and the sixth Michigan. But among all these regiments 
 there were not more than twenty-five hundred effective men. The posses- 
 sion of Baton Rouge was of importance to the contending parties, inas- 
 much as it controlled the navigation of that portion of the Mississippi. 
 The Rebel forces sent to assault it were detached from those which occu- 
 pied and defended Yicksburg. These were about five thousand in number, 
 and when they approached Baton Rouge, before dawn on the 5th, a 
 mistake occurred ou their part which inflicted upon them a serious calamity. . 
 As their column was advancing three miles from the town, they were 
 suddenly assailed by a volley of musketry from an adjoining field of 
 sugar cane, by which a number were slain and wounded. Among the 
 former of these, was Alexander H. Todd, whose relationship to Mr. Lin- 
 coln gave him a notoriety which delivered him from an otherwise inevi- 
 
I 
 
 326 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 table oblivion. Cobb's Kentucky battery was also disabled, and their gun- 
 carriages broken. This deadly salute came from the allies of the Rebel 
 forces. As soon as order was restored, the latter continued to advance, 
 and having arrived in the vicinity of the Federal forces, their line of battle 
 was formed. Their object soon became apparent. It was to concentrate 
 their fire upon the centre of the Federal lines where the Indiana regiment 
 was posted. This regiment made a brave resistance; but though the 
 fourteenth Maine soon came to their assistance, both were eventually 
 compelled to give way and retire from their position. The Rebels pur- 
 sued their advantage, and advanced into a portion of the Federal camp 
 which had thus been evacuated. This they instantly plundered and burned. 
 They also obtained possession of a single gun of Everett's battery. But 
 the victors were destined to experience a warm reception. The sixth 
 Michigan now opened upon them with musketry and artillery, and as- 
 sisted by the Indiana troops who had rallied, charged upon the foe, ex- 
 pelled them from the camp which they had gained, and recovered the lost 
 cannon. It was during this brilliant charge that General Williams was 
 slain. He received a musket ball in the breast while at the head of his 
 troops, and as he was carried to the rear, he cheered on his men to victory 
 with his expiring breath. In the centre, the success against the enemy 
 was at this moment complete. Being repulsed at this point, the attack 
 of the Rebels was then directed against the sixth ^[iuhigan, who had re- 
 sumed their first position. The enemy attempted to scale a high picket- 
 fence which intercepted them. This intention was opposed for some time 
 with desperate determination by one of the companies of this regiment, 
 who deployed along the fence, and running their muskets through the 
 openings of the pickets, fired in the faces of the enemy. The latter quickly 
 returned the assault in the same manner ; and thus the combatants were 
 fighting on opposite sides of the fence and within arm'sdength of each 
 other. At length the Rebels succeeded in tearing down the pickets, and 
 the combat continued until they were driven back. 
 
 After the battle had progressed an hour, a portion of the enemy were 
 discovered approaching the right wing of the Federals, for the purpose of 
 flanking it. The latter reserved their fire until the Rebels came within 
 fifty paces. Both sides then commenced an exchange of musketry which 
 was very destructive. The Federals were driven back into a ditch, but 
 they quickly rallied ; a portion of thq sixth Michigan came to their aid, 
 and they charged upon the enemy in return. Panic-stricken at this sud- 
 den reverse, the Rebels retreated, abandoning their flag, a piece of artillery, 
 and some prisoners. Meanwhile, along other portions of the line the 
 battle raged with fury. Nim's battery, supported by the thirtieth Massa- 
 chusetts, was charged upon three times successively, and as often they 
 repulsed the enemy with immense slaughter. Everett's battery was also 
 worked with great effect. After the death of General Williams, Colonel 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE RAM ARKANSAS. 
 
 327 
 
 Cahill took conimaDd, and displayed superior skill and energy in the 
 conduct of the engagement. 
 
 The Eebels had confidently anticipated the co-operation of the ram 
 Arkansas during the battle. In this expectation they were disappointed. 
 But they suffered from an assault which they had not apprehended. After 
 the battle had continued from four in the morning until noon, the Federal 
 gunboats Essex, Sumter, and Kineo, shelled the enemy in the woods in 
 which they were ensconced, and effectually prevented them from advancing 
 farther in their attack upon the Federal troops. The latter had retreated 
 within the reach of the protection of these valuable allies, and doubtless 
 owed their subsequent safety and escape from the overwhelming masses 
 of the enemy to their proximity and their interposition. When Breck- 
 inridge discovered the efficiency of the Federal gunboats, he gave the 
 order for a general retreat from the scene of conflict. His attack proved 
 a total failure. He was unable to drive the Federal troops from the town, 
 or to obtain possession of it. Among the Kebel slain, was Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Clarke. The losses on both sides were heavy. That of the Federal 
 troops was about two hundred and fifty killed, six hundred wounded. 
 Tliat of the Rebels was much greater, in consequence of the much greater 
 efficiency of the Federal batteries. 
 
 The fate of the ram Arkansas was singular. She left Vicksburg at two 
 o'clock on the morning of Sunday, August 3d, and had ample time to 
 reach Baton Rouge in time to assist the Rebel forces. But when she 
 arrived within fifteen miles of Baton Rouge her starboard engine broke 
 down, and she suffered other derangements in her machinery, which for- 
 bade her farther progress, and wholly unfitted her to confront the Federal 
 gunboats, which were already at Baton Rouge. The Arkansas, however, 
 drifted helplessly down the stream, and finally grounded. On the 6th of 
 August, after the battle, the Federal gunboats steamed up the river, and 
 at nine o'clock came within view of the Rebel ram. They instantly 
 opened upon their foe, who responded from her rear guns. But as she 
 was in a comparatively harmless and useless condition, her chief officer 
 Lieutenant Stevens, ordered her crew to abandon her, and to escape to the 
 shore. After this had been done, he prepared to blow her up. Soon the 
 match was applied, a tremendous explosion took place, and the vessel was 
 shattered to fragments. Thus ended the career of the famous ram Arkan- 
 sas. Commodore W. D. Porter was the commodore of the Federal flotilla 
 which rendered such efficient service to the land forces in the defence of 
 Baton Rouge, without whose aid the enemy would unquestionably have 
 achieved a victory, and obtained possession of the place. 
 
 After a long period of propitious peace and harmony had existed be- 
 tween the citizens of the United States and the Indian tribes who inhabit 
 the remote western frontier, the horrors of civil war were introduced by 
 the savages in August, 1862, and deeds of blood were perpetrated, com- 
 
828 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pared with which the worst excesses of civilized warfare appear insignifi- 
 cant. This insurrection of the Indians extended along the western border 
 of Minnesota, from Fort Ripley to the southern boundary of the State. 
 Two causes, doubtless, contributed to its occurrence. The most potent 
 of these was the neglect of the Federal Government, or of its agents, to 
 pay the sums of money due them, according to the stipulations existing 
 between the two races, in exchange for their bartered territories ; together 
 with tlie outrageous frauds which the agents of the Government had con- 
 tinually practised upon them. During a number of years, these agents 
 had cheated the Sioux and Chippewas in the most scandalous manner. A 
 single incident will illustrate the truth of this accusation. Out of the 
 seventy-five thousand dollars which Congress had appropriated for the 
 education of the Sioux, not five thousand dollars reached its intended and 
 legitimate destination.* The other cause which led to this outbreak of 
 savage ferocity was the influence exerted by a number of emissaries of 
 the Rebel government, who represented tliat the Federal Union had fallen 
 into chaos, and that the propitious hour of their deliverance and revenge 
 had at lengtli arrived. 
 
 The most terrible scenes of cruelty, on the part of the savages, occurred 
 at the Upper and Lower Sioux agencies, at New Ulm, and at Fort 
 Ridgley. But the slaughter was not confined to these localities. Through- 
 out the whole country already designateil, farm-houses were attacked, 
 plundered, and burned, and their inmates murdered. No mercy was 
 shown to sex or age. Furious bands of savages raged through the land, 
 carrying desolation and ruin with them, and hundreds of estimable and 
 innocent citizens were made to sufi'er calamities which had been prompted 
 by the knaveries of government agents, and the instigations of Rebel 
 emissaries. At New Ulm, an attack was made by two hundred mounted 
 Indians upon the inhabitants of the village, a portion of which they 
 burned. During a series of assaults which they made, several hundred 
 were slain and wounded. Tlie citizens barricaded the streets, and made 
 such defence as they were able against their inhuman foes ; but, had not 
 reinforcements opportunely arrived, consisting of men and arms from the 
 State government at St. Paul, the whole town would have been ultimately 
 destroyed, and its inhabitants murdered. Tlie roads which led from New 
 Ulm to the several Sioux agencies were lined with the bodies of men, 
 women, and children, who had been overtaken in tlieir efforts to escape 
 the tomahawks and rifles of the ruthless foe, and murdered. The several 
 forts which had been erected in that vicinity were attacked. On the 20th 
 of August, a horde of Indians appeared near B'ort Ripley, which was de- 
 fended by one hundred Federal troops. It was evidently their intention 
 
 * A certain Indian agent is well known to have aT:rmcd publicly Ihat his office 
 was worth a hundred thousand dollars. 
 
INDIAN MURDERS AND DEVASTATIONS IN MINNESOTA. 329 
 
 to make an assault upon tlie barracks, though they approached the works 
 warily, under cover of the woods and ravines. After driving in the 
 pickets, they discharged a volley upon a detachment which was stationed 
 at one of the northern entrances. Lieutenant Sheehan, who comraanded 
 the fort, responded with musketry Sergeant Jones, who had charge of 
 several six-pound mountain howitzers, sent a shell, which exploded 
 among the crowd of the enemy, and killed a number of them. The In- 
 dians, who seemed to be nearly one thousand in number, then surrounded 
 the fort, and continued to pour a flood of rifle and musket-balls into every 
 point which was assailable. The garrison and the guns of the fort re- 
 sponded briskly, and the contest was continued with unremitting fury, 
 until the darkness of night spread over the scene. The skill and fortitude 
 exhibited by Lieutenant Sheehan, in the defence of the fort, deserve the 
 highest praise, and preserved the lives of hundreds who had taken refuge 
 within its walls. 
 
 A second attack was made by a numerous body of Indians, on New 
 Ulm, on the 23d of August. The place was then defended by Captain 
 Flandreau, with a small number of troops. The savages made a desperate 
 attack upon the town. They were met with fortitude by the soldiers, and 
 such of the inhabitants as were furnished with arms, who fired from the 
 houses upon the enemy when they charged through the streets. Some 
 of them were on foot, and some on ponies. The conflict continued till 
 dark, and many of the buildings in the town were burned. On the fol- 
 lowing morning, the attack was renewed, and was continued until noon. 
 At that time a detachment of a hundred and fifty volunteers arrived, 
 under command of Captain Julian Cox, who had been sent by Colonel 
 Sibley to the I'elief of the town. This reinforcement induced the Indians 
 to suspend their attack, and retire. But the Union officers thought it 
 wiser that the inhabitants should evacuate the place, rather than endure 
 the horrors of further assault and persecution by the savages. Accord- 
 ingly, preparations were made to transport two thousand people, including 
 the sick and wounded, to a safer asylum. At daylight, the barricades 
 were broken open, and a train of one hundred and fifty wagons, filled 
 ■with the sick and wounded, women and children, commenced their peril- 
 ous march through a country in which the treacherous and bloodthirsty 
 savages constantly hovered around them. Their journey was thirty miles 
 in length. They were escorted through the whole distance by the troops 
 under Captain Flandreau's command, and reached their destination in 
 safety. But though they escaped with their lives, they were stripped of 
 almost every thing they possessed. In a single day, hundreds who had 
 been in opulent or comfortable circumstances were rendered destitute and 
 miserable. 
 
 Similar scenes occurred at other places, the horrid details of which may 
 well be spared. During a number of weeks, terror and desolation reigned 
 
330 THE CIVIL WAR IN TIJE UNITED STATES. 
 
 throughout the country, and an immense number of murders and other 
 outrages were committed, attended with every circumstance to aggravate 
 their atrocity which the human mind can conceive. During their pro- 
 gress the State government had not been idle. Governor Ramsey issued 
 a proclamation, calling upon the militia of the valley of the Minnesota, 
 and the counties adjoining the frontier, to arm .and equip themselves, 
 and unite with the expedition which, under Colonel Sibley, was about 
 to move up the Minnesota river, to the scene of hostilities. He placed 
 a regiment of infantry, comprising a thousand men, with three hundred 
 cavalry, under the orders of that officer, which force was to be addi- 
 tional to the volunteers who might tender their services. 
 
 This call received a ready response, and a large number of armed citi- 
 zens joined the expedition, which at length began its march from Fort 
 Ridgley, on the 19th of September. On the 22d, Colonel Sibley reached 
 Wood Lake, near Yellow Medicine. Daring his progress, he saw 
 various groups of savages, who hovered around his column, acting in 
 the capacity of spies to the main body. On the morning of the 23d the 
 camp of the Union troops was attacked by three hun<lred Indians, who 
 rushed forward suddenly, sounding their savage war-whoops. This body 
 was met by a detachment under Lieutenant (Jorman and Major Welch, 
 who, after a furious conflict with musketry, repulsed them. While tliis 
 was going on another portion of tlie Indian force passed through a ravine 
 on the right, with the intention of making an attack on the flank. The 
 third regiment, with a portion of the seventh, was ordered by Colonel 
 Sibley to confront these savages. Lieutenant-Colonel Marshal commanded 
 these troops, and after a few volleys of musketry, assisted by one six- 
 pounder, cleared the ravine, and compelled the savages to retire. An 
 attack was also made by the Indians upon the extreme left of the camp. 
 This was also repulsed after a vigorous contest by the troops under Major 
 McLaren. The Indians, after the battle had raged two hours, retired at 
 all points, having suffered a complete defeat. Their killed were thirty in 
 number, their wounded two hundred. After the battle, they sent a flag 
 of truce to the commanding officer, stating that a portion of the attacking 
 force desired peace, as they were not sufficiently strong to fight the Union 
 troops. Colonel Sibley replied that it would be time enough to talk of 
 peace, after they had released the numerous captives they had taken, and 
 had treated with the utmost barbarity. The savages were commanded 
 in this battle by a notorious and desperate brave, named Little Crow. 
 The defeat which they suffered at Yellow Medicine produced a decisive 
 effect upon their fortitude. Though other collisions of minor consequence 
 subsequently occurred between them and the Federal forces, they were 
 eventually overpowered ; the insurrection was crushed ; a large number 
 of pri-soners were taken, including some of their most ferocious warriors, 
 whose atrocities richly deserved the penalty of death ; and tranquillity 
 
BATTLE NEAR RICHMOND, KENTUCKY. 
 
 331 
 
 was again restored to a region which had been desolated by all the horrors 
 of the most inhuman and savage warfare. 
 
 On the 30th of August, 1862, a desperate conflict took place at Eodgers- 
 ville, six miles from Eichmond, Kentucky, between the Federal and 
 Eebel forces, which resulted in a complete and disgraceful overthrow to 
 the champions of the Union. The Federal troops consisted of the ninety- 
 fifth Ohio, the twelfth, sixteenth, sixty-sixth, sixty-ninth, and seventy-first 
 Indiana, the eighteenth Kentucky, together with two regiments of cavalry, 
 under Colonel Metcalf, and nine field-pieces. These troops amounted to 
 about eight thousand men, and were commanded by General M. D. Manson. 
 The Eebel forces numbered fifteen thousand, and were under the orders 
 of General Kirby Smith. On the day preceding the battle, the Union 
 pickets were driven in from Big Hill, ten miles south of Eichmond. 
 General Manson then attacked the Eebels, with a portion of his men, and 
 gained a decided advantage. After this skirmish, he moved his troops to 
 Eodgersville and halted for the night, waiting for the approach of the 
 enemy. When the next day dawned, the pickets of the Eebels were 
 encountered. The line of battle was soon formed, and after some partial 
 and preliminary operations, the engagement became general between all 
 the forces. At first the fortune of the day seemed in favor of the Federals. 
 The sixty-ninth Indiana, commanded by Colonel Korf, being ordered to 
 support the troops on the left, who were heavily pressed, executed the 
 movement with great gallantry. They assailed the enemy with spirit, 
 and drove them back. But all their heroism was vain. The immense 
 superiority in numbers which the enemy possessed, compelled the sixty- 
 ninth to give way. The panic now spread from regiment to regiment. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Topping was killed. Major Conkling also fell. The 
 fire and fury of the Eebels became resistless, and a general rout ensued. 
 The chase was continued two miles 'and a-half General Manson then 
 succeeded in reforming his men in line of buttle, and renewed the engage- 
 ment. His artillery was posted on his right and left wings, and his troops 
 fought with some steadiness, though with much irregularity and confusion. 
 This circumstance resulted from the fact that they were nearly all raw 
 recruits, who had scarcely borne arms a month. They soon became panic- 
 stricken, again broke, and fled in the utmost disorder toward Eichmond. 
 Before reaching that town, they were met by Major-General Nelson, who 
 was approaching from Lexington. He endeavored to stem the ignomini- 
 ous tide ; succeeded, with the assistance of the officers, in again rallying 
 the fugitives ; and for the third time they were placed in line of battle. 
 But it was now ascertained that the ammunition of the artillery was ex- 
 hausted. During the flight, the immense number of stragglers, deserters, 
 and captives, had reduced the Federal force to about three thousand men. 
 These were now very nearly surrounded by the enemy. They again fled 
 in greater disorder than before. It was necessary for them to cut their 
 
332 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 way through a portion of the Rebel host, to escape capture. In effecting 
 this operation, General Nelson was wounded by a musket-ball in the 
 thigh ; though he afterward succeeded in reaching Lexington. The enemy 
 pursued the Federals into Richmond, expelled them thence, and took pos- 
 session of the place before night. The broken remains of the Union force 
 continued their flight beyond the reach of the enemy. Their loss was 
 heavy. Their killed, wounded, and missing amounted to one third of 
 their entire body. This defeat was one of the most overwhelming and 
 unfortunate which had afHicted the Federal cause during the progress of 
 the war. It was a fitting continuation of the disgraceful retreat of the 
 troops commanded by General DeCourcy, from Tazewell to Cumberland 
 gap, on the preceding 9th of August, where the bravery of the men was 
 rendered wholly unavailable through the apparent incompetence of tiie 
 commanding officer. 
 
 The remarkable success which the arms of the Confederates had recently 
 obtained, and the vigor with which they were able to repel the most de- 
 termined efforts of the Federal Government to crush and conquer them, 
 inspired them with confidence and increased their audacity. The result 
 was that they now conceived the resolution no longer to act on the defen- 
 sive, but to become themselves the invaders of the loyal territory. The 
 Rebel leaders confidently expected to find sympathy and co-operation in 
 Maryland. They imagined that a powerful disunion sentiment lay slum- 
 bering within the breasts of a large proportion of the population of that 
 State, which only required the presence of Confederate armies in their 
 midst, to evoke into active and resistless operation. Accordingly, that 
 portion of their troops which had engaged Pope at Manassas, commenced 
 to move from their position in the vicinity of Fairfax Court House, and 
 approached the Potomac on the 5th of September. Proceeding through 
 Leesburg they crossed at the ferries of Edwards, Conrad, Nolen, and Smith, 
 which are situated about forty miles above Washington. In their progress 
 they destroyed the bridge over the Monocacy. On the morning of the 
 6th, their advance under General Hill, reached Frederick, and took pos- 
 session of the town. They also held Point of Rocks and Poolesville. The 
 advance of the invading force was commanded by General Jackson. Such 
 property of the Federal Government as fell into their hands, they retained 
 or destroyed. The property of individuals, they protected in accordance 
 with the promise contained in the proclamation which General Lee ad- 
 dressed to the inhabitants of Maryland, when he entered the State. In 
 that proclamation, being dated at Frederick, September 8th, 1862, he 
 endeavored to convince the people of Maryland that they had sufiered 
 innumerable wrongs at the hands of the Federal Government ; and he 
 tendered his services and those of his troops to assist them in recovering 
 their inalienable rights as freemen, of which they had been ignominiously 
 deprived. But the inhabitants of Maryland were not aware of the fact 
 
THE EEBEL ARMY IN MAEYLAND. 833 
 
 that they had endured so much ; and the pathetic story of their sufferings 
 was an interesting and somewhat amusing novelty to them. Consequently, 
 the Eebel commander and his army received little of that sympathy and 
 co-operation from the citizens of the State, in the execution of their be- 
 nevolent design, which they expected. The vast majority of them regarded 
 their proffered commiseration with contempt. Already, however, had 
 shrewd observers apprehended that this invasion would not terminate in 
 Maryland. The popular excitement became intense throughout the border 
 counties of Pennsylvania. On the 10th of September, Governor Curtin 
 issued a proclamation in which he called upon all the able-bodied men in 
 the Commonwealth to organize military companies, and hold themselves 
 in readiness to march against the approaching foe. This order was 
 promptly and willingly obeyed. The several counties of the State, espe- 
 cially those near the border, were instantly alive with military activity ; 
 the busy hum of martial preparations was heard on every hand, and a 
 single mind seemed to animate the entire population. 
 
 From Frederick, the Rebel army advanced through Middletown, Boons- 
 borough, Williamsport, and reached Hagerstown on the 9th of September. 
 While these forces were proceeding northward, a detachment of Federal 
 cavalry, under General Pleasonton, were passing to their rear. These took 
 possession of Frederick after it had been abandoned by the Rebels, for 
 the purpose of intercepting their return. Skirmishing occurred frequently 
 between the rear of the Eebel forces and the Federal troops. Colonel 
 Farnsworth, on the 13th of September, charged, with the eighth Illinois 
 cavalry, upon two regiments of the enemy, at some distance from Hagers- 
 town, by which movement he took forty prisoners. In the afternoon of 
 that day, four squadrons of the third Indiana cavalry attacked a regiment 
 of Rebel cavalry on the Middletown road. The Federal loss was thirty 
 killed and wounded ; that of the Rebels about fifty. But the wagon trains 
 of the latter were so fiercely assailed, that they were compelled to burn a 
 large number of them, to prevent their falling into the hands of the 
 Federals. On the I'lth, General Burnside passed through Frederick with 
 a considerable force, in pursuit of the enemy. At this period, General 
 McClellan had put his whole army in motion, except so much of it as was 
 necessary for the defence of Washington, and was approaching the enemy 
 near Hagerstown. This circumstance, together with the disgust and dis- 
 appointment of the Rebel generals at the unexpected measure of loyalty 
 which they encountered among the citizens of Maryland, induced them, 
 at this moment, to abandon any design to extend their invasion into 
 Pennsylvania, which they might have entertained. General Lee, therefore, 
 suddenly returned, with the intention of recrossing the Potomac at Wil- 
 liamsport and Harper's Ferry. But General McClellan had now succeeded 
 in placing his forces in such a position as to intercept the purposed retreat. 
 It was impossible for the enemy to escape without a battle. The left wing 
 
334 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the Federal army pursued a part of the Rebel forces to South Mountain, 
 where a desperate engagement was fought on the lith of September, to 
 be followed by the still more important conflict of Antietam. But before 
 we proceed to narrate the details of these engagements, we will briefly 
 direct our attention to several events which occurred elsewhere, and 
 which require to be noticed here, in their chronological order. 
 
 On the 16th of August, Colonel EUet, who commanded the Federal 
 ram fleet on the Mississippi, stationed at Helena, Arkansas, conducted a 
 spirited expedition down the river, consisting of seven rams and three 
 gunboats. The object of this expedition, was to encounter the flotilla of 
 the enemy, which might be cruising in those waters, especially to meet 
 the Star of the West, which the Rebels had captured and fitted up as a 
 gunboat ; and, if possible, by some spirited achievement, to break the 
 monotony and inactivity which had for some time prevailed in the opera- 
 tions of the Federal officers in that region. 
 
 Nothing of importance occurred in the passage down the stream, until 
 at Milliken's Bend they met the Rebel transport Fair Play. She had on 
 board a cargo of five thousand stand of arms, with a large amount of 
 ammunition, provisions, and other property, which were to be disembarked 
 at Little Rock. The presence of the Federal boats was entirely unex- 
 pected ; and when surrounded by so numerous and powerful an armament, 
 resistance was impossible. She became an easy yet valuable prey. From 
 this point, the land forces on board the flotilla were sent eight miles inland, 
 along the Vicksburg and Shreveport railroad, to Richmond station, where 
 they destroyed the depot, a number of cars, and a quantity of sugar. 
 Returning to the vessels, the latter then fell down the river as f;ir as the 
 mouth of the Yazoo. They then steered up that narrow and lonely stream, 
 to Haines' Landing, w.here some Rebel earthworks had been erected. The 
 Benton approached these works and commenced to shell them. The 
 reverberation of the guns awakened the unfamiliar echoes of that desolate 
 and deserted land for miles around, and compelled the few Rebel troops 
 and citizens who remained, to flee in hot haste over the hills. The works 
 were taken without difficulty ; and among their contents, were two forty- 
 two pounders, two thirty-two pounders, one brass twenty pounder, one 
 brass twelve pounder, and a quantity of ammunition. The quarters of 
 the officers were plundered, a few buildings were burned, and the expedi- 
 tion then proceeded up the Yazoo as far as Liverpool. Not finding any 
 vessels of the enemy in that stream, as far as the Federal boats were able 
 to proceed, they returned. The gunboat Bragg, and the ram Monarch, 
 were left at the mouth of the Yazoo, to watch the operations of the enemy. 
 The expedition landed its troops at Greenville, and chased a small body of 
 Rebels who had assembled there several miles inland. It then returned 
 to Helena. Such were the chief incidents of the brief and rapid excursion 
 made by Colonel Ellet, wiiich, after the recent failure of the Federal fleet 
 
FEDERAL VICTORY NEAR DENMARK, TENNESSEE. 335 
 
 against the ram Arkansas, as already narrated, served to diminish the 
 exultation of the Rebels, and recover the lost renown of the Union force3 
 in that vicinity. 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1862, a battle took place at Brittan's Lane, 
 near Denmark, Tennessee, in which a decided victory was achieved by 
 the Federals. The troops engaged consisted of six Rebel regiments of 
 infantry and one of cavalry, commanded by General Armstrong, num- 
 bering nearly four thousand men, and a single regiment of Federal in- 
 fantry from Illinois, commanded by Colonel Dennis. The skirmishers of 
 both parties first came in contact, and the approach of the Rebel host 
 was quickly afterward discovered. Colonel Dennis immediately formed 
 his men in line of battle, in a favorable position on a ridge. A heavy 
 cloud of dust only indicated as yet the position of the foe, and Captain 
 Foster was sent out with his cavalry to ascertain their movements more 
 accurately. He soon encountered them, approaching rapidly and with 
 great confidence, with the apparent determination of riding over and 
 exterminating the small band of heroes opposed to them. They com- 
 menced to discharge their muskets while out of range, and their shots 
 fell harmlessly. The Federals reserved their fire until the disorderly 
 mass came close upon them. They then sent a well directed volley into 
 the cavalry in advance, which instantly emptied many saddles. The 
 Rebels fell back in the utmost disorder, but being soou rallied, they again 
 advanced to the attack. They charged upon the whole Federal line, at 
 the same time making a movement upon both flanks. Their intention 
 was to surround and crush an enemy so much inferior in numbers to them- 
 selves. A very desperate hand- to-hand combat ensued. The Federal 
 troops fought with great determination and heroism; but numbers 
 prevailed, and the Rebels succeeded in capturing the Federal cannon and 
 transportation train. At this moment a portion of the thirtieth Illinois, 
 .which had not yet been engaged, came into action, fell upon the disor- 
 dered foe, and after another furious clash of arms the Rebels were re- 
 pulsed. A pause then ensued. The enemy reformed their lines at a 
 distance, and at length again came forward. The Federals reserved their 
 fire as before until the enemy were close upon them, when they discharged 
 a volley which effectually checked their advance. After a time, however, 
 they gained possession of a hill on the Federal right. It became impor- 
 tant that they should be dislodged from this position, and Captain Frisbie 
 called out for volunteers to follow him to the charge against them. A 
 large number responded, and rushed forward with him. The foe did not 
 await the onslaught, but fled from their position. In the meanwhile, the 
 enemy had continued their attack upon the centre and left wing of the 
 Federals. Thrice they assaulted the Federal lines, and thrice were they 
 repulsed. After a desperate battle of four hours' duration, the Rebels 
 retreated at all points, and left the Union troops in full possession of the 
 
336 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 field. Their loss was heavy. They left a hundred aud eleven dead be- 
 hind them. Their wounded were about four huudred. The Federal 
 loss was thirty killed, a hundred and twenty wounded. The heroism 
 and resolution exhibited by the Union soldiers in this battle were remark- 
 able; and the issue of the conflict against such an immense preponder- 
 ance of numbers, covered them with well merited distinction. 
 
 At the same time that an intense excitement, not unmiiigled with terror, 
 pervaded Pennsylvania at an apprehended invasion by the Rebel armies, 
 a similar state of public mind existed, produced by the same cause, in 
 Ohio. It became known to the citizens of that State during the month 
 of August, 1862, that some of the Confederate generals in Kentucky 
 contemplated such a movement ; and soon the terrors which arose from 
 this fact were increased by authentic information which was received, to 
 the effect that a powerful army, led by Generals Kirby Smith and Ileth, 
 were steadily advancing to the attack and capture of Cincinnati. 
 
 The same scenes were immediately exhibited in Ohio which had been 
 presented iu Pennsylvania. Governor Tod issued a proclamation, dated 
 September 2d, setting forth that the southern border of the State was 
 then threatened with invasion; and recommending that the loyal citizens 
 of the river counties should organize military companies to assist in re- 
 pelling the common foe. General Lewis Wallace was placed in command 
 of all the Federal troops assembled at Cincinnati. The male inhabitants 
 of that city were ordered to form companies for the purpose of drilling. 
 All business, except that of druggists, bakers, and grocers, was entirely 
 suspended. The city was placed under martial law. Fortifications and 
 breastwoks were thrown up in the vicinity of the town ; and iu a few 
 days an enthusiastic army of thirty thousand men, with formidable de- 
 fences, had been extemporized to resist the approaching enemy, with a 
 degree of celerity and efficiency which could be seen in no other country 
 on the globe. An attitude of defiance was assumed, which, together with 
 the admirable preparations which were thus made, soon cooled the ardor 
 of the enemy. They had doubtless anticipated an ea.sy conquest. But 
 on the 11th of September, at night. General Kirby Smith, who had ad- 
 vanced as far as Florence, gave the order to his troops to retreat. The 
 enemy retired from the vicinity of their intended conquest without an 
 assault; the volunteer defenders of the Queen City returned to their peace- 
 ful homes ; business was resumed ; and one of the most sudden and 
 violent popular paroxysms which this war, so prolific in surprise and 
 excitements, had yet produced, vanished from existence as rapidly as it 
 bad arisen. 
 
 In addition to the leading events of the war, which occurred during 
 the montli of August, 1862, which we have narrated at length, other in- 
 cidents of inferior consequence, which took place during that month, and 
 may be briefly alluded to, were the following: On the 2d, there was a 
 
SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN AUGUST, 18G2. 337 
 
 skirmisa on the Rapidan, Virginia. On the 3d, the Eebel guerrillas took 
 possession of Alexandria, Missouri. On the 4th, skirmishes took place 
 at Fors3'the, Missouri, and at Sparta and Memphis, in Tennessee. On the 
 7th, conflicts took place near Helena, Arkansas, and Kirksville, Missouri. 
 On the 11th, a fight occurred at Clarendon, Arkansas, and the Union 
 troops at Independence, Missouri, surrendered to the Confederates. On 
 the 14th, a combat between guerrillas occurred in Charleston county, 
 Alabama, and the Union troops occupied Gallatin, Tennessee. On the 
 16th, the rebels took possession of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. On the ISth, 
 they occupied Barbourville, in the same State. On the 20th, a fight took 
 place at Edgefield Junction, Tennessee. On the 24th, Bayou Sara, in 
 Louisiana, was shelled. On the 25th, the Rebels retreated from Lexing- 
 ton, Missouri ; and were severely repulsed at Fort Donelson. On the 
 27th, a skirmish took place at Greenville, Mississippi. On the 28th, the 
 Federal mortar fleet made a futile attack on Vicksburg. On the 30th, a 
 fight occurred at Bolivar, Tennessee, and at Buckhannon, Virginia. On 
 the 31st, conflicts took place at Meadow station and Middletown, Ten- 
 nessee, and near Centreville, Virginia. 
 
 22 
 
838 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN — POSITION OF THE COMBATANTS — TROOPS OF ORNERAL 
 RENO — INCIDENTS OF THE ENQAOEMENT — HEROISM OF GENERAL HOOKER — VICTORY OF 
 THE FEDERAL ARMY — RETREAT OF THE REBELS — DEATH OF GENERAL RENO — SKETCH OF 
 HI8 CAREER — ATTACK OF THE REBELS ON HARPEr's FERRY — FORCES COMMANDED BT 
 COLONEL MILES — INCIDENTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT — SDRRENDER OF THE WORKS TO THB 
 ENEMY — DEATH OF COLONEL MILES — RETREAT OF THE REBELS TOWARD THE POTOMAC — 
 
 THE GREAT BATTLE OF ANTIETAM POSITIONS ASSIGNED THE FEDERAL FORCES^ — DESPERATE 
 
 FIGHTING OF HOOKEr's DIVISION — INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE ON THE RIGHT WINO^OPERA- 
 TIONS OF BURNSIDE ON THE LEFT — EVENTS IN THE FEDERAL CENTRE — CONCLUSION OF THE 
 BNOAGEMENT — RETREAT OF THE REBEL ARMY ACROSS THE POTOMAC — SKETCHES OF GEN- 
 ERALS HOOKER AND SUMNBB — BATTLE AT MUMFORDVILLE, KENTDCKT — ITS RESULTS 
 
 FEDERAL TROOPS ENGAGED — BATTLE AT WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA — THE REBELS DE- 
 FEATED EXPLOSION OF THE GUNBOAT PICKET — CIVIL ASPECTS OF THE WAR — PRESIDENT 
 
 Lincoln's proclamation of September, 22d, 18G2 — its contents — its influence 
 
 UPON SLAVERY AND UPON THE REBEL GOVERNMENT — MB. LINCOLN SUSPENDS THE HABEAS 
 corpus act, ON SEPTEMBER 24tB, 1862. 
 
 The Confederate forces, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, bad 
 readied tlie range of mountains known as the Blue Ridge, in the vicinity 
 of Middletown, Maryland, in their flight toward the Potomac, when they 
 were overtaken by the army under General McClellan. Then ensued the 
 battle of South Mountain, on the 14th of September, 1862. The enemy 
 selected their position with their usual skill, on tlie sides and summit of 
 this portion of the Blue Ridge, and on both sides of a gap through which 
 the turnpike from Middletown to Hagerstown passed. The Federal army 
 being posted in the ground below, fought with some disadvantage, and 
 even as they advanced and drove back the foe, during the progress of tlie 
 day, they continued to labor under the same misfortune. The Rebels 
 seemed eager for the encounter. They opened their fire at seven o'clock 
 in the morning. Robinson's battery of four light field-pieces responded 
 to the salute. It was not, however, until the division of General Cox 
 advanced toward them, that they seriously commenced the work of the 
 day. Gradually, battery after battery opened their fires from difll-rent points 
 along the spurs and sides of the mountain, where they had been stutioned 
 This operation called out the re.sponse of the guns of the several bat- 
 teries commanded by Haynes and Cook. The latter posted his guns in 
 advance, in a somewhat exposed position. Scarcely had he opened his fire 
 when his cannoniers were assailed by a tremendous volley of musketry 
 from infantry concealed in the brushwood, which was several times re- 
 peated with marvelous rapidity. This assault overpowered the men 
 with a sudden panic, the result of which was that they retreated from 
 their guns, leaving them exposed to the enemy. Two companies of 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 339 
 
 cavalry, who had been placed as a support to this battery, followed their 
 example, and plunged into a disgraceful retreat, rushing through the lines 
 of infantry stationed in the rear. At the same time the Rebels advanced 
 to take possession of the abandoned artillery. The twenty-third Ohio 
 and one hundredth Pennsylvania regiments were ordered forward to resist 
 this attempt. A desperate combat then ensued around the guns. While 
 the issue yet remained undecided, and after a number had fallen on both 
 sides, the forty-fifth New York came to the assistance of the Fedei-als. 
 After a furious resistance, the Rebels were driven away from the guns, 
 and retreated in confusion to their main lines. The victors intensified 
 the bitterness of their defeat by filling the air with their exultant cheers. 
 
 After this incident, the battle was continued for two hours by the artil- 
 lery of both armies alone. Several times the enemy changed the position 
 of their chief batteries, but at the expiration of the time named, they were 
 all silenced. At two o'clock, the front of General Hooker's division 
 reached the scene of conflict, to reinforce the troops of General Reno, 
 which had thus far been those engaged. At three o'clock the whole line 
 of battle was formed from right to left. The first brigade of Rickett's 
 division occupied the extreme right. The Pennsylvania Reserves came 
 next. The second regiment of United States sharpshooters were posted 
 near the Middletown turnpike. Then came the remainder of Rickett's 
 division ; then General King's division. General Reno's troops occupied 
 the extreme left, about two miles distant from the opposite end of the 
 line. The batteries were distributed at proper intervals, according to the 
 varying nature of the ground. 
 
 As soon as this arrangement was completed, the Federal right, centre, 
 and left, commenced to advance against the enemy. The latter received 
 them as they approached with discharges of artillery. But their shells 
 for the most part passed over the heads of the Federal troops harmlessly. 
 The vast line of advancing troops steadily approached nearer and nearer 
 to the position of the foe. The right wing, under Rickett, first became 
 closely engaged. A vigorous fire of musketry from both sides ensued. 
 In this part of the action the gallant Pennsylvania Reserves specially distin- 
 guished themselves by their coolness and their fortitude. Thirty minutes 
 were occupied by the action here, the result of which was that the Con- 
 federates were forced back from their position, and driven up the mountain 
 to its summit. In accomplishing this result General Hooker displayed 
 his superior qualities as a commander, and assisted materially in gaining 
 the victory. The troops in this part of the field moved on steadily, 
 advancing forward and upward, pouring volley after volley into the masses 
 of the enemy, until at last they broke and ran with precipitation to the 
 top of the mountain. 
 
 The engagement on the left was more protracted and more desperate. 
 This continued an hour and a-half before the Rebels were driven from 
 
340 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tlieir position. General Reno fought his troops here with great skill and 
 heroism. lie was slain while directing their movements, and cheering 
 them on to victory and glory. Every foot of ground was fiercely con- 
 tested ; but the foe at last gave way, and abandoned the contest. The 
 centre of the Federal line was the last to get into action. It advanced 
 while the two wing.s were driving the Rebels over the top of the moun- 
 tain, and rendered the victory complete. At six o'clock, after a battle of 
 three hours' duration, tlie enemy were driven over the summit of the Blue 
 Ridge. The Federal victors bivouacked during the night upon the airy 
 spot which their valor had won, while the discomfited foe pursued his 
 fliglit under the friendly covering of the darkness of night. 
 
 The Federal loss in this battle was four hundred and thirty-three killed, 
 eighteen hundred and six wounded, seventy-six missing. But one of the 
 most lamentable incidents connected with it was the death of General Reno. 
 This officer, whose services contributed so materially to the success of the 
 Federal arms on tins occasion, was a native of Virginia, but was appointed 
 from Penn.sylvania to West Point in 1842. He graduated in 184G, and 
 was breveted second lieutenant of ordnance. lie accompanied the Ameri- 
 can army to Mexico, and was present in every battle wiiich was fought 
 between Vera Cruz and the capital. He was breveted first lieutenant for 
 his gallantry at Cerro Gordo. He was breveted captain for his valor at 
 Chapultepec, where he commanded a battery, and was wounded. After 
 the close of the Mexican war he served for six months as assistant pro- 
 fessor of mathematics at West Point. He was afterward employed in 
 various capacities by the Government — as secretary to the artillery board, 
 on the coast survey, and in topographical and military duty in the West. 
 He was on duty at Leavenworth, Kansas, when the Rebellion commenced. 
 When General Burnside organized his expedition to Roanoke, he selected 
 General Reno as one of the officers to accompany him. Ue distinguished 
 himself in all the engagements which took place during the operations of 
 that expedition. When General Burnside was ordered to join the army 
 in Virginia, General Reno accompanied him, and commanded a division 
 in the battles which subsequently occurred near Washington. He had 
 already won a high place among the rising generals of his country, when 
 the missile of death terminated his brilliant career. 
 
 Nearly cotemporary with this sncce.ss of the Federal arms was a reverse 
 at Harper's Ferry, which tended very considerably to diminish the gratifi- 
 cation caused by the victory. This famous locality, which had so often 
 been the scene of conflict and of disaster during the progress of the Rebel- 
 lion, had been entru.sted to the command of Colonel Dixon H. Miles. In 
 additional to its natural advantages, important artificial defences had re- 
 cently been erected upon it. A heavy line of earth intrenchments, protected 
 by a deep trench in front, had been constructed on the summit of Harper's 
 Ferry, extending from the Potomac to the Shenandoah. Earthworks had 
 
ATTACK ON HABPER'S FERRY BY THE REBELS. 341 
 
 also been thrown up on Eolivar ^heights, intended to protect the infantry 
 from the musketry of the enemy. On the left of these heights, hedge in- 
 trenchments had been interposed, which would prevent a sudden approach 
 or a surprise from that direction. Immediately after the Eebels entered 
 Maryland, Colonel Miles made preparations to resist any attack which 
 might be made upon him. The troops placed under his command num- 
 bered about eleven thousand men.* The conquest of Harper's Ferry 
 formed an important item in the programme which the enemy had 
 adopted in reference to the" recovery of Maryland. Accordingly, they 
 made their appearance in the vicinity of the place on Monday, the 8th 
 of September, on Maryland heights, three miles distant. They employed 
 the ensuing week in constructing a barricade of trees four hundred yards 
 in front of the look-out. Colonel Ford was appointed by Colonel Miles 
 to guard the heights from the attack which was apprehended. 
 
 The enemy having completed all their preparations, commenced the 
 assault upon the position on Friday, September the 12th. They began 
 with skirmishing, at half past three in the afternoon, which they continued 
 until sundown. The decisive action was expected to occur on the ensuing 
 day. During the night, the Federal line of battle was formed three hun- 
 dred yards in front of the barricade. At seven o'clock, on the following 
 day, the Eebels commenced a vigorous onslaught upon the defenders of 
 the place. They soon attempted to drive them from their position by 
 several charges. But all of these were handsomely repulsed. The 
 fighting then became general between the combatants. After a contest 
 of one hour's duration, the Eebels were reinforced, and advanced toward 
 the Federal lines with yells of rage and fury. They intimidated the one 
 hundred and twenty-sixth New York regiment so completely, that they 
 broke and fled behind the barricades. There they were rallied, principally 
 through the exertions of Colonel Sherrill, and afterward took part in the 
 engagement. Soon afterward the enemy succeeded in turning the left 
 flank of the Federals, which compelled them to fall back. The Eebels 
 themselves retired soon after, and at about four P.M. again advanced to the 
 contest, but made no vigorous attack, and night soon put an end to 
 
 * His force consisted of the twelfth New York State militia, Colonel Ward; eighty- 
 seventh Ohio, three months' regiment, Colonel tannine ; one hundred and twenty-sixth 
 New York, Colonel Serrill ; one hundred and eleventh New York, Colonel Segoine ; 
 first Maryland Home Brigade, Colonel Halsby ; eightn New York cavalry, Colonel 
 Davis ; first Maryland cavalry, Colonel Russell ; a detaclunent of first Maryland cav- 
 airy, (Home Brigade) ; two companies of fifth New York artillery, commanded by 
 Captains McGrath and Graham; fifteenth Indiana, and one or two western batteries. 
 All the infantry, with the exception of the three months' men, were raw troops. 
 General White retreated about this time to Martinsburg, via Harper's Ferry, Icavin" 
 a portion of his command at that place. On Thursday evening, being obhVed to 
 evacuate Martmsburg, in consequence of the approach of " Stonewall" Jackson, the 
 remainder of General White's brigade fcU back to the ferry. 
 
342 TIIK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the contest. It was evident tbat, unless reinforcements arrived to the 
 Federals,, the following day would witness their defeat, and the entire 
 evacuation of the place. Such dispositions as could be made to oppose 
 the enemy, were promptly effected during the night. At four o'clock on 
 the morning of Saturday all the Federal troops posted there were ordered 
 to retreat down the mountain, and thus Maryland Heights were abandoned 
 to the enemy ; but they did not occupy them till the afternoon of Satur- 
 day. The line of battle was again formed on the breastworks behind 
 Bolivar Heights, very nearly as it had been on the previous day. Colonel 
 D'Utassy occupied the extreme right, Colonel Trimble commanded on the 
 left, General White held a position ou the heights, and Major Mcllvaine 
 directed the operations of the artillery. The Federals were disappointed 
 in being attacked early in the day. It was not till two o'clock that the 
 enemy renewed the assault. At that hour, however, they opened a furious 
 and simultaneous cannonade from Maryland Heights, Loudon Heights, 
 and Sandy Hook, and from batteries posted on the Sheppardstown and 
 Charlestown roads. The Federal guns responded with spirit during the 
 day. As night approached, however, the Federal lines were contracted 
 somewhat, in consequence of the fact that the Rebels bad succeeded in 
 turning their left flank. At eight o'clock the enemy attempted to take 
 Rigby's battery by storm, but were repulsed with signal slaughter. The 
 second day's struggle had produced no very decisive results either way — 
 its final issue still seemed uncertain. During the following night, the 
 Rebels improved their position, and planted new batteries, which were so 
 skilfully placed as to enfilade the Federal forces completely. On Monday 
 morning the enemy renewed the contest with increased energy at five 
 o'clock. It soon became evident that they had been reinforced, and now 
 possessed the advantage of superior numbers. In vain had Colonel Miles 
 implored General McClellan, on Sunday, to send him assistance. The 
 enemy had been threatening to attack Harper's Ferry during a whole 
 week ; and yet it had not been defended by a competent force. To add 
 to the desperate nature of the situation, the ammunition of the Federal 
 troops became exhausted at eight o'clock. Colonel Miles immediately 
 summoned a council of war. The result of their deliberations was, that 
 he determined to capitulate, as further resistance could only lead to greater 
 and more superfluous loss of life. White flags were then hoisted over the 
 intrenchmcnts, and a flag of truce was sent to General Hill, the commander 
 of the Rebel troops, to propose terms of capitulation. The only conditions 
 allowed by the Rebel general were, that the Federal officers would be per- 
 mitted to go out with -their side-arms and private effects, the rank and 
 file with every thing except their arms and equipments. The entire 
 number of men who thus became prisoners of war, and were afterward 
 paroled, were eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-three. The cannon 
 captured were forty -seven, of various calibre. Previous to the capitulation 
 
DEATH OP COLONEL MILES. 343 
 
 all the cavalry, two thousand in number, succeeded in fighting their way 
 out through the Rebel works, making their escape by the Sharpsburg 
 road. They were commanded by Colonel Davis. After the capitulation 
 was proposed, but before its terms had been agreed upon, Colonel Miles 
 was mortally wounded by the bursting of one of the shells which the can- 
 noneers of the enemy continued to throw. His injured leg was amputated, 
 but he expired after the operation. The Rebel force which attacked and 
 captured Harper's Ferry on this occasion, numbered twenty thousand men, 
 and were commanded by Generals Hill and Jackson. Colonel Miles, 
 whose misfortune it was to occupy this position with an inferior number 
 of troops, and to have been compelled to surrender it, was a native of 
 Maryland, and sixty years of age at the time of his death. He graduated 
 at West Point in 1824. He spent his life in the regular army, and 
 figured with honor in the Mexican war, during which he held the post 
 of military and civil governor of Jalapa. He subsequently served against 
 the Navajoe Indians, in New Mexico. He commanded a portion of the 
 reserves at the first battle of Manassas, and was afterward transferred as 
 commandant to the post at Harper's Ferry. Though not a man of emi- 
 nent abilities, he was brave, gallant, and patriotic. 
 
 After the repulse of the enemy at South Mountain, they continued 
 their retreat toward the Potomac. Early on Monday morning, the 15th 
 of September, General McClellan commenced the pursuit. Skirmishing 
 took place occasionally during that day between the pickets of the op- 
 posing armies, but no serious conflict occurred. The enemy halted when 
 they reached the heights near Pleasant Valley, about four miles distant 
 from Sharpsburg. Along the base of these hills the Antietam runs. 
 This stream was fordable only at distant points; but it was crossed by 
 three bridges. One of these spanned it on the Hagerstown road, another 
 on the Sharpsburg pike, the third still farther to the left. Between these 
 two extremes lay the battle-field of Autietam, which extended about four 
 miles from right to left. 
 
 The plan of the impending engagement seemed to be as follows : Gen- 
 eral Hooker was to cross the bridge on the right, and take his position in 
 front of the left wing of the enemy. Sumner, Franklin, and Mansfield 
 were to support Hooker on the right. The centre was to be occupied 
 chiefly by the artillery ; while the troops of Porter and Sykes were posted 
 as reserves in their rear. Burnside was to cross the bridge on the ex- 
 treme left, and oppose the right of the foe, at the same time to turn his 
 flank, and if possible to intercept his retreat. In accordance with this 
 arrangement. General Hooker advanced on Tuesday afternoon, September 
 16th, and crossed the stream without opposition. He immediately formed 
 his line of battle. He posted Rickett's division on his left. Meade, with 
 the heroic Pennsylvania Reserves, was stationed in the centre. Double- 
 day occupied the extreme right. Soon the enemy began to salute him 
 
344 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 with their distant artillery. But their attack was premature and the 
 darkness of night suspended it. Both sides prepared during the solemn 
 hours of that night, to begin with the dawn of day the desperate and 
 decisive contest upon the issue of which the the fate of the Rebellion and 
 the future destiny of millions appeared to depend. Scarcely had the sun 
 risen when the two armies simultaneously sprang to their arms, from their 
 cold beds of earth upon which they had reposed in view of each other 
 during the night, and immediately the loud thunder of the cannon and 
 sharp ring of the musketry reverberated through the heavens. The whole 
 of Hooker-s division was soon engaged. They fought gallantly. Their 
 heroic and daring general rode back and forth over the field, in view of 
 every brigade, encouraging his men, and keeping them up vigorously and 
 bravely to their deadly work. In half an hour the line of the enemy 
 began to yield. The Federal troops promjitly pressed forward upon 
 them, cheering as they went. The Rebels took shelter in a dense wood ; 
 but they quickly reappeared, and attacked their late pursuers with ter- 
 rific discharges of artillery. These shattered the line of the Reserves 
 under Meade, so completely, that they in turn were compelled to retire 
 from the ground they had so gallantly earned. 
 
 It was now the turn of the Confederates to advance. They rushed out 
 of those woods in vast numbers, and swept forward like a deluge. But 
 Hooker succeeded in stemming this torrent by calling forward the troops 
 of Doubleday. One of his brigades was ordered to charge. Down the 
 hill they rushed upon the foe. They quickly cleared the intervening 
 corn-fields. Another brigade followed in their rear, under Ilartsufl', to 
 support them. A desperate combat then ensued. Rickett's division en- 
 deavored to bear down one end of the Rebel line which had advanced, 
 but without success. Mansfield's corps proved unable to sustain the 
 furious battle-shock of the enemy at another point, and gave way. Their 
 general, at this moment, was mortally wounded. But Hooker was not 
 dismayed. He sent orders to Generals Crawford and Gordon to move for- 
 ward instantly. The heavy batteries in the centre were directed to ap- 
 proach nearer to the serried masses of the foe. The whole line on the 
 extreme right was commanded to advance, supporting each other. The 
 effect of this combination was decisive. It was even sublime. In vain 
 the foe dehigcd tlie Federal troops with a hailstorm of shot and shell. 
 Hooker was in the thickest of the charge, and during its progress he was 
 severely wounded. Three men were shot down at his side. The excru- 
 ciating pain of his wound soon compelled the hero to leave the scene of 
 bis glory. General Sumner then took the command, and he retired from 
 the field. That veteran rode forward bravely at the bead of his troops, 
 his long gray beard waving venerably in the breeze. He instantly sent 
 orders to Richardson and French to support Sedgwick, Crawford, and 
 Gordon, who had passed into a deadly assault with the enemy. Still 
 
THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. , 345 
 
 more terrible and destructive did tbe combat now become. The Rebels 
 fought with an apparent determination either to conquer or to be annihi- 
 lated. They bore down Crawford's brigade by a ferocious assault, and 
 compelled them to give way. His retreating troops rushed in confusion 
 among those of Sedgwick, and extended the disorder among them. The 
 triumphant enemy followed up their advantage promptly. To no purpose did 
 General Sedgwick endeavor to steady his men, and to remedy the disaster 
 which had occurred. He was three times wounded, and completely dis- 
 abled. One of his regiments, the thirty-fourth New York, was nearly 
 destroyed. One half of its officers were killed or wounded ; their colors 
 were torn to pieces by bullets; their color-sergeant was killed, and every 
 one of the color-guard was either slain or wounded. One half of the entire 
 regiment was placed hors du combat. The fifteenth Massachusetts went 
 into the fight with six hundred men. Only one hundred and thirty-four 
 answered to their names at roll-call after the termination of the engage- 
 ment. These items will illustrate the desperate nature of the conflict in 
 this portion of the field. Generals Dana and Howard were wounded in 
 their futile efforts to retrieve the day. 
 
 " In vain from rank to rank their vollied thunder flew." 
 
 General Sumner was compelled at last to give the order to that portion 
 of the right wing to retire from the position it had held, that it might be 
 reformed in the rear. In this part of the field it was evident that the Con- 
 federates had achieved a triumph. 
 
 It was now one o'clock. The protracted struggle had nearly exhausted 
 both sides. But Sumner was indomitable. Had the enemy charged upon 
 his position at that moment, the results might have been still more disas- 
 trous. But they did not. Satisfied with holding what they had gained, 
 they made no farther advance. It was now Sumner's turn to venture 
 upon what they hesitated to attempt. He ordered Franklin to bring for- 
 ward some fresh troops. Generals Slocum and Smith were sent with 
 their brigades along the slopes under the first range of hills occupied by 
 the enemy. Thus they were attacked both in front and in flank. The 
 chief ground in dispute was four times lost and four times taken. But 
 fortune favored the brave at last, the foe gave way, retired, and left the 
 position in possession of the Federal heroes. Such were the chief inci- 
 dents connected with this great battle on the right wing. It had extended 
 over the space of a mile and a-half, and had presented one of the most 
 desperate scenes of combat which the pages of history, so prolific in 
 martial and sanguinary horrors, exhibit. 
 
 The operations of General Burnside on the left wing were neither so 
 prompt nor so vigorous as those of General Hooker. He entered into the 
 engagement cautiously. Until three o'clock in the day little had been 
 done. His movements were not made in concert with those of the rest of 
 
346 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UXITED STATES. 
 
 the army, but were prudent, detached, and fragmentary. At four o'clock, 
 General McClellan, who superintended from an eminence in the centre of 
 his lines the operations of every part of his army, sent an order to Gen- 
 eral Burnside, who had at last carried the bridge in front of his position, 
 through the desperate gallantry of the fifty-first Pennsylvania, and fifty- 
 first New York, to advance and get possession of the Rebel batteries 
 before him at all hazards. The order was obeyed with the utmost spirit 
 and gallantry. Burnside advanced toward the batteries of the enemy 
 with rapidity, and rushed up the hill-sides. As he proceeded bis guns 
 opened upon the foe. The infantry, toiling up long and narrow lanes, 
 over broad and deep recesses, swarmed toward the elevated and formida- 
 ble position of the foe, with the spirit of men who were resolved to tri- 
 umph. After an assault and a recoil the intrenched hill was taken, and 
 the Rebels retired from it. But Burnside could not retain what he had 
 gained. The Rebel hosts were now sent against him in immense masses. 
 Their fresh battle-line soon appeared on the summits of the higher hills 
 above him, moving swiftly down toward his column. As they descended 
 he saluted them with fearful discharges of his artillery. Wide spaces ap- 
 peared here and there in their ranks, where the balls had ploughed their 
 bloody way through them ; but they were filled up instantly with mar- 
 velous and masterly promptitude, and the avalanche steadily approached. 
 Then came the shock of battle. The left of the Rebel host recoiled from 
 the troops of Burnside, who were drawn up in solid column. That part 
 of their line gave way, and scattered over the field. But soon the Fed- 
 erals were outnumbered and outflanked by an exhaustless deluge of troops, 
 which the Rebel generals hurled upon them. In this critical moment of 
 despair and agony, Burnside despatched a messenger to McClellan be- 
 seeching for help. There were fifteen thousand men belonging to Fitz 
 John Porter's division, who had as yet taken no part in the battle. These 
 were the reserves. They were eager to enter the fight; but they must 
 not be used, except in the last extremity. McClellan therefore sent a reply 
 to Burnside to the effect that he must retain his ground at all hazards 
 half an hour longer, until dark ; that if he could not possibly do that, he 
 must at lea.st hold the bridge to the loss of his last man ; that he had no 
 infantry to spare him, but that he would send him Miller's battery. Burn- 
 side exerted every nerve to execute this injunction. His men did succeed 
 by desperate efforts in holding their position in front of the bridge. The 
 artillery in the centre continued to play with effect upon the columns of 
 the enemy. At length darkness descended upon the horrible scene. The 
 firing gradually ceased over the whole field. Thus the day closed inde- 
 cisively. It was a drawn battle. On the one hand, the enemy had not 
 been driven from the position which they held when the engagement 
 began. On the other, the Federals had not been compelled to retire be- 
 yond the Antietam. So uncertain was the result, that the Federal gen- 
 
>'f^-;' 
 
 ,«<■{«; 
 
 
 
 
 

SKETCHES OF GENERALS HOOKER AND SUMNER. 347 
 
 erals confidently anticipated a renewal of tbe engagement on the following 
 day. But during the night the Eebel army abandoned their position ; 
 continued their retreat toward the Potomac ; afterward crossed it without 
 any difficulty or interruption ; and thus ended their far-famed excursion 
 into the State of Maryland. They doubtless thought that the sacrifices 
 involved in another conflict would be so heavy as not to be compensated 
 for by any advantage to their cause which might result from it. 
 
 The most distinguishedheroes of this great battle were Generals Burnside, 
 Hooker, and Sumner. The first we have sketched in the preceding part of 
 this volume. General Joseph Hooker was a native of Massachusetts, and 
 born in 1816. He entered West Point in 1833, and graduated with credit 
 in 1837, after which he was appointed second lieutenant of artillery. His 
 promotion was steady and rapid. In February, 1838, he became assistant 
 commissary of subsistence, attained the rank of first lieutenant, and after- 
 ward that of regimental adjutant. During the Mexican war he displayed 
 those superior qualities as a soldier which he has since exhibited in a 
 higher sphere. At Monterey, and at Chapultepec, he greatly distinguished 
 himself, and was breveted lieutenant-colonel. After the termination of 
 the war with Mexico be withdrew from the service, went to California, 
 and engaged in commercial and agricultural pursuits. When the Rebel- 
 lion commenced he immediately tendered his services to his country. 
 These were promptly accepted, and in May, 1861, he was appointed 
 brigadier-general of volunteers. He then joined the army of the Potomac, 
 and shared its checkered fortunes. At a later period he was placed in 
 command of a division, and was stationed in South Maryland. When 
 the army of the Potomac proceeded to the Peninsula on its march toward 
 Richmond, he accompanied it in command of a division. He fought with 
 great skill and gallantry in all the memorable scenes connected with that 
 disastrous yet glorious expedition. He displayed equal energy and hero- 
 ism in the battles which were afterwards fought by the army of Virginia 
 under General Pope. His brilliant career was continued at South Moun- 
 tain and Antietam. He was rewarded for his eminent services by pro- 
 motion to a major-generalship of volunteers, in July, 1862, and was made 
 a brigadier-general of the regular army in September of the same year. 
 
 General Edwin V. Sumner was also a native of Massachusetts, and was 
 born in Boston, in 1796. He entered the regular service of the United 
 States as second lieutenant of the second United States infantry, in March, 
 1819. His promotion in the military hierarchy was steady, being made 
 first lieutenant in July, 1823, assistant commissary of subsistence in June, 
 1827, captain of dragoons in March, 1833, and major of dragoons in June, 
 1816. He served during the Mexican war in Colonel Harney's regiment, 
 and behaved with distinguished gallantry at Medelin, Cerro Gordo, 
 Molino del Rey, and Churubusco, for which he was breveted lieutenant- 
 colonel, and afterward colonel. After the termination of the Mexican 
 
348 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 war he served in the department of New Mexico, and subsequently in the 
 West, against the Cheyenne Indians. He enacted a prominent and hon- 
 orable part in the events which transpired in Kansas, and was commandant 
 of Fort Leavenworth during the troubled period of 1856. He distin- 
 guished himself by his efforts to heal the rancorous enmities which then 
 distracted and divided the citizens of that community. He was selected 
 by General Scott to accompany President Lincoln from Springfield to 
 Washington, previous to his inauguration. In March, 1861, he was pro- 
 moted to the rank of brigadier-general in the regular army, and received 
 the command of a division. When the army of the Potomac was divided 
 into corps, he was appointed commander of the second, containing the 
 divisions of Generals Blenker, Sedgwick, and Richard.son. He bore a 
 prominent part in all the bloody engagements which took place in the Penin- 
 sula. In July, 1862, he was made major-general of volunteers, as the 
 well merited reward of a long life spent in the service of his country. 
 During his whole career his character had always been adorned bv the 
 best and noblest qualities of the soldier and the patriot. This valuable 
 officer died at Syracuse, New York, of congestion of the lungs, on the 
 21st of March, 1863, while on his way to supersede General Curtis in the 
 command of the T^epartmcnt of the Southwest. 
 
 The Federal loss in the battle of Antietam was two thousand and ten 
 killed, nine thousand four hundred and sixteen wounded, and one thou- 
 sand and fort^'-Uiree missing. The Rebel loss, as derived from the official 
 reports of General Lee, was fourteen thousand in killed, wounded and 
 missing. In these great battles, the bravery and endurance of the men, 
 the skill and heroism of the generals, were remarkable, on both sides- 
 At Antietam the .struggle was as fierce and sanguinary as any which had 
 occurred during the progress of the war. But its results were of little 
 consequence or benefit to cither party. The enemy were not intercepted 
 in their escape over the Potomac, which should have been the chief pur- 
 jiose for which the calamities and perils of the engagement had been en- 
 dured ; while on the other hand, they had failed to obtain a foothold or to 
 secure any influence in that State, whicli the tender and partial genius of 
 Rebel minstrelsy had rendered renowned as " Maryland, my Maryland 1" 
 
 On the I4th of September a spirited engagement took place at Mun- 
 fordsville, Kentucky, between tlie Rebel trooj)s under Generals Buckner 
 and Cheatham, of Bragg's army, and the Federal forces posted there. On 
 the preceding Friday they had marched from Glasgow northward, with 
 the apparent intention of attacking General Rousseau, who was posted 
 with a portion of Buell's army at Woodland. Leaving Cheatham in that 
 vicinity, Buckner proceeded toward Munfordsville to attack Colonel 
 Wilder's position. Skirmishing began at three o'clock on the morning 
 of the day designated. The Federal pickets were driven in, and at five 
 o'clock the enemy opened the engagement by a rapid and well sustained 
 
BATTLE AT MUNPORDSVILLB, KENTUCKY. 349 
 
 fire of musketr}'- upon the Federal troops, from the cover of the adjacent 
 woods and batteries. 
 
 The attack of the Eebels was received and repelled with firmness and 
 vigor by the Federal troops, especially by those on the left wing. A bat- 
 tery which they planted in that part of the field was soon disabled, and 
 they withdrew in confusion. But the right wing of the enemy was partly 
 protected by a breastwork of fallen timber, and frona that point their 
 operations were more successful. They maintained a destructive fire 
 from this position during some hours. Meanwhile, their line on the left 
 was again brought forward, and the attack renewed from a better situation 
 near the Woodsonville turnpike. An hour was occupied by the enemy 
 in effecting these new dispositions. When all was ready the Eebels 
 again advanced, and made an attack of unusual determination, chiefly 
 on the Federal right wing. Conspicuous in this movement were a Mis- 
 sissippi and Georgia regiment, both of which greatly distinguished them- 
 selves by. their reckless and ferocious daring. The Colonel of the one, 
 and the Major of the other, were slain during the assault. They broke 
 and fled, after being completely riddled by the artillery fire, whose balls 
 passed th rough- and-th rough their crowded ranks. As soon as the retreat 
 of this part of the Rebel force was discovered, the gallant Indiana troops, 
 who were the victors, sprang over the trenches and started in the pursuit. 
 They were encouraged in this bold deed by the voice and the example of 
 Major Abbot, of the sixty-seventh Indiana, who led the way. During 
 this charge he was slain by a rifle-shot sent from the woods as a parting 
 salute by the retreating foe. 
 
 The Rebel troops on their right wing advanced after their first repulse 
 in admirable order. As they approached, they fell into a double-quick 
 and rushed at the iotrenchments with loud cheers, in spite of the hail- 
 storm of musketry which thinned their ranks. On the breastworks the 
 most desperate struggle took place. It seemed the turning point of the 
 battle. After a contest of some duration the valor of the Federal heroes 
 prevailed ; the assailants recoiled, and they eventually fled in disorder 
 from that portion of the field. But the battle was not yet ended. After 
 the repulse of the 14th the enemy sent in a flag of truce, again demanding 
 that Colonel Wilder should surrender, and stating the force they had, and 
 the near approach of General Bragg's army. Colonel Wilder again de- 
 clined peremptorily. He had on that morning received a reinforcement 
 of about four hundred men of the fiftieth Indiana. The Rebels next asked 
 the privilege of removing their dead and wounded, which was permitted. 
 They withdrew that night from the immediate front of the Federal gar- 
 rison, who availed themselves of the opportunity to fortify their position 
 to the best of their ability. There was no fighting on Monday, the 15th, 
 on which day Colonel Dunham, of the fiftieth Indiana, being the ranking 
 officer, took command, and further reinforcements to the number of about 
 
350 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 one thousand men came up. On Tuesday morning, about nine and a-balf 
 A.M., the Eebels renewed the attack, having been reinforced bj one entire 
 wing of Bragg'.s army, and a severe battle ensued, lasting till four and a-half 
 P.M. Soon after General Bragg himself sent a flag of truce demanding their 
 surrender, and though Colonel Dunham at first declined, yet finding him- 
 self surrounded by a force of twenty-five thousand Rebels, with sixty pieces 
 of artillery, he asked a suspension of hostilities, which finally eventuated 
 in his surrender, with all the honors of war. The Union loss in this en- 
 gagement was about thirty-seven killed and wounded, and nearly three 
 thousand one hundred prisoners. The Rebel loss was nearly one thousand 
 killed and wounded. 
 
 At the same time General Morgan evacuated Cumberland gap. On the 
 18th a fight took place near Cave City, in Kentucky, between a portion 
 of Buell's army and a portion of General Bragg's. The former attacked 
 the rear-guard of the latter, and defeated it. 
 
 On the 6th of September a desperate assault was made by a body of 
 Rebel troops upon the Union forces posted at Washington, North Carolina. 
 The former were commanded by General Martin, the latter by Colonel 
 Potter. The enemy made the attack upon the Federal intrench ments at 
 an early hour in the morning, with the hope of taking the occupants by 
 surprise. Their object was to destroy the works, to burn the town of 
 Washington, to murder the North Carolinians whom they might find 
 under arms in the Federal service, and to carry away as captives the 
 most prominent loyal citizens. An accident prevented their success. It 
 happened that a portion of the Federal troops had been ordered under 
 arms before daylight, on that very day, and was preparing to depart on 
 an expedition. Had this not been the case, it is probable that the whole 
 Federal force would have been taken by surprise, and disastrous results 
 would have ensued. 
 
 The advance of the Rebel troops consisted of four hundred cavalry. 
 These rushed through the main street of the town of Washington, and 
 succeeded in passing some of the batteries unharmed. At the other end 
 of the town they were met and attacked by a portion of the third New York 
 cavalry, under Captain Gerrard. A confused struggle ensued, which, in 
 consequence of the fog and the darkness which still prevailed, amounted 
 to nothing. But the noise of the concussion aroused the whole Federal 
 force. Additional troops now advanced, and charged upon the enemy in 
 the streets of the town. Some North Carolina volunteers, a portion of the 
 twenty-fourth Massachusetts, and a part of the third New York artillery, 
 charged manfully upon the foe. In this encounter Colonel Potter had his 
 horse shot under him. At length a portion of the streets was cleared of 
 the Rebels, and the colonel then requested the commander of the gun- 
 boat Louisiana, which opportunely lay in the river, to shell that portion 
 of the town which was still held by the enemy. Soon a storm of grape 
 
THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF SEPTEMBER, 1862. 351 
 
 and canister overwhelmed that locality, and the Rebels who were congre- 
 gated there, the result of which was to compel them to take refuge be- 
 hind houses, and to disperse ia various directions. Several buildings were 
 destroyed by the deadly missiles; but the assistance of the gunboat was 
 very important to the land forces. 
 
 After the engagement had continued four hours, the enemy failed at all 
 points, and were driven from the town and the intrenchments. Their as- 
 sault had been signally repulsed. They were pursued the distance of 
 eight miles by Captain Murphy, with a squadron of cavalry. The attack- 
 ing troops numbered about a thousand men. The Federals did not ex- 
 ceed five hundred. They had been placed there to man Fort Washington. 
 The chief misfortune of the day to the Federal side was the accidental 
 explosion of the gunboat Picket, which lay in the stream above the town. 
 She mounted a thirty-two pound rifled Parrott gun and a twenty-four pound 
 howitzer. The cause of the explosion, though doubtless accidental, was 
 never accurately ascertained. Its effects were melancholy. Nineteen 
 persons were instantly killed, including Captain Nichols, the commander, 
 and eight men were severely wounded. Ten only of the crew escaped 
 uninjured. The vessel became a total wreck, and the surface of the stream 
 was soon covered with the floating bodies and torn fragments of the un- 
 happy victims of the disaster. 
 
 On the same day, the 6th of September, the Rebel General Bragg ad- 
 vanced upon Nashville ; the Federal gunboats shelled Hamlet, Mississippi'; 
 and the Rebel army of Virginia, under General R. E. Lee, crossed into 
 Maryland, and occupied Darnestowu, Frederick, and Poolesville. 
 
 From the everlasting monotony which characterizes the details of the 
 battles, slaughters, and sieges which necessarily form so prominent a fea- 
 ture in the annals of this extraordinary war, we turn with pleasure to 
 notice a civil and pacific aspect of it which now demands our attention. 
 
 On the 22d of September, 1862, President Lincoln issued a proclama- 
 tion which will ever form a landmark in the history of the great Republic. 
 It announced his determination to recommend to Congress, at its next 
 meeting, the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid and 
 compensation to all the slave States whose citizens would not then be in 
 Rebellion against the Federal Government, and who might then have 
 adopted, or who should afterward adopt, the immediate or the gradual 
 abolition of slavery within their respective limits; and advising that the 
 colonization of free negroes at some distant place on the American conti- 
 nent should be continued. This proclamation further announced that the 
 President would, on the first of January, 1863, designate those States, 
 and parts of States, which were then in Rebellion against the Federal 
 Government, and would decree that the slaves of the citizens of such 
 Rebel regions should then become free, and that all the slaves of those 
 engaged in hostilities against the United States should thenceforth be en- 
 
352 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 franchised. He also reiterated the details of the several acts of Congress 
 of March 13 and July 17, 1862, forbidding the fugitive slaves of Rebels 
 •who came within the Federal lines to be restored to their former owners, 
 or employing the Federal forces in any way to restore them to their former 
 owners* 
 
 These were the chief features of this remarkable proclamation. It in- 
 flicted a deadly blow upon slavery, which had been one of the chief causes 
 and supports of the Southern Eebellion. It was wise and prudent, when 
 viewed either as a simple war measure, as a tribute to the spirit of pure 
 humanity, or as a response to the loud, fervent, and enlightened require- 
 ments of the present age. And although it cannot with truth be affirmed 
 that the original and legitimate purpo.se, in the commencement of hostilities, 
 on the part of the Federal Government, was the abolition of slavery as 
 such, yet it must be admitted that the measures thus recommended by the 
 President had become desirable, perhaps they had even become indis- 
 pensable, to the subjugation of the revolting States, and to the restoration 
 of^the dissevered Union. 
 
 To assist in the accomplishment of this result, the President issued 
 another proclamation on the 24th of September, 1862, by which he en- 
 acted, that during the existence of the "insurrection," all Rebels and in- 
 surgents, their aiders and abettors, within the limits of the United States, 
 and all persons who should discourage volunteer enlistments, or resist the 
 militia drafts, or be guilty of any other disloyal practices against the 
 authority of the Federal Government, should be thenceforth subject to 
 martial law, and be tried and punished by courts-martial or military com- 
 missions. In the same proclamation he ordained that the writ of habeas 
 corpus should be suspended in respect to all per.soas who should be ar- 
 rested for these causes during the continuance of the Rebellion, and were 
 imprisoned by any military authority, by the sentence of any court-mar- 
 tial, or by the decree of any military commission. 
 
 *See Appendix. 
 
VICTORY OF THE FEDERAL FORCES AT lUKA. 353 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE BATTLE AT lUKA — DISPOSITIONS MADE BY GENERAL GRANT — INCIDENTS OF THE SNOASE- 
 MENT — VICTORY OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS — REBELS REPULSED AT BOONSBOROUGH — CON"- 
 VENTION OF THE GOVERNORS OF LOYAL STATES AT ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA — THEIR 
 ADDRESS TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN — HIS REPLY — PROPOSAL OP PEACE DISCUSSED IN THE 
 CONFEDERATE CON(!RESS — ARGUMENT OF MR. FOOTF. — FATE OF THE PROPOSITION — BATTLE 
 
 OF AUGUSTA, KENTUCKY ENGAGEMENT AT CORINTH, MISSISSIPPI POSITION OF THE REBELS 
 
 FIRST day's FIGHTING INCIDENTS OF THE SECOND DAY DESPERATE CHARGES MADE BT 
 
 THE REBELS — THEIR FINAL DEFEAT AND FLIGHT — SKETCH OF MAJOR-GENERAL BOSECRANS 
 
 — INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA BY THE REBEL GENERAL STUART HIS ROUTE — INCIDENTS 
 
 WHICH OCCURRED AT CHAMBF.RSBURG— STUART's SAFE RETURN TO VIRGINIA — SKIRMISHES 
 ON THE POTOMAC — RESULTS OF HIS RAID. 
 
 On the 19th of September, 1862, General Rosecrans gained a brilliant 
 victory over the Rebel forces under Sterling Price, at the village of luka, 
 in Mississippi. The latter had left Tupelo, with about twenty thousand 
 men, for the purpose of crossing the Tennessee river at Muscle Shoals, 
 and forming a junction with General Bragg. General Grant, the com- 
 mander of the Federal forces in that vicinity, having obtained information 
 of the movements of the enemy, determined if possible to defeat them. 
 For this purpose, he despatched Rosecrans with a body of troops, twenty 
 thousand strong, to Rienzi. General Ord was sent with another toward 
 luka, while his own army retained its position at Corinth. By this ar- 
 rangement, the enemy would be enclosed within the lines of a triangle, 
 and his escape would be rendered difficult if the plan adopted by the 
 Federal commander were vigorously executed. 
 
 General Rosecrans reached Rienzi promptly. But Price, having de- 
 tected the snare which had been laid for him, adroitly evaded it by 
 diverging from his right line of march, and advanced diagonally across 
 the country toward luka. Of this unexpected movement, Rosecrans also 
 obtained speedy information, which enabled him to pursue the foe. He 
 reached Tuka, after marching twenty miles, at the moment the vanguard 
 of the Rebels were evacuating it. Though his men were exhausted by a 
 long and rapid mtirch, he continued the pursuit, and overtook the enemy 
 two miles beyond the town. Skirmishing immediately began between the 
 hostile forces ; but as the darkness of night soon spread over the scene 
 the decisive engagement was, by a mutual impulse, reserved until tVie 
 next morning. The two armies reposed in sight of each other during the 
 night, and with the early dawn they resumed the contest. The Rebels 
 had taken an admirable position. But Rosecrans arranged his troops so 
 as partially to surround them. General Hamilton commanded his ri^ht 
 wing ; General Stanley his left; he himself led the centre. The fighM:g 
 23 
 
tbi THE Civil. WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 continued with desperate energy and with changing vicissitudes until 
 about twelve o'clock. At one time, the enemy made a resolute charge, 
 and cut their way through the eleventh Missouri, and the twenty -seventh 
 Illinois. It was here that the Federal loss was the heaviest. But the 
 admirable effect of the Federal artillery broke their victorious tide ; and 
 having thus failed in their most determined effort, the Ecbel lines gradu- 
 ally gave way, broke, and a general retreat ensued. The enemy were 
 j)ursued for some distance, but they succeeded, with the loss of three hun- 
 dred prisoners, and five hundred killed and wounded, in making good 
 their escape. The Federal loss was also heavy, being three hundred and 
 fifty killed and wounded. 
 
 On the same day, the 20th of September, the fortunes of war wereagain 
 adverse to the Confederate cause at Boonsborough, Kentucky ; though 
 the number of men engaged, and the results of the combat, were not of 
 sufBcient importance to require a more particular notice. 
 
 On the 24th of this month, an unusual convention of the Governors of 
 all the loyal States took place at Altoona, Pennsylvania. Their deliber- 
 ations were secret, but they finally adopted an address to the President of 
 the United States, which they afterward presented to him in person at 
 the Federal capital. That address contained an expression of sincere per 
 sonal and oflScial respect for the Chief Executive. It tendered a pledge 
 that, under all circumstances, they would support his constitutional au- 
 thority throughout their respective States. It offered him their assistance 
 in all measures calculated to bring the war to such a speedy termination, 
 as should lead to victory, and the return of the Rebel's to their obedience 
 to the Federal Government. It also congratulated the President upon his 
 " Emancipation proclamation," and expressed the conviction that it would 
 be productive of the most beneficial results. It concluded with bestowing 
 well deserved praise upon the services rendered by the Federal soldiers 
 in the field, and of sympathy with their sufferings. The President re- 
 ceived the Governors with great courtesy. His reply, however, was brief, 
 lie thanked them for what they had done, and for what they promised to 
 do, in support of the Federal Government. He was greatly encouraged 
 by the approval which they had expressed of his proclamation respecting 
 the abolition of slavery. He promised to give the suggestions which 
 their address contained his serious attention, and would follow them as 
 far as the interests of the Union and his sense of duty permitted. After 
 the oflioial interview terminated, an informal conversation ensued between 
 the Governors and the President, of the most cordial and harmonious 
 character. The effect produced upon the public mind, by this spontane- 
 ous movement of the chief executives of so many States, was extremely 
 beneficial in its influence upon the further prosecution of the war against 
 the armed enemies of the Federal Union. 
 
 It was at tliis period that an incident occurred in the Confederate Con- 
 
PEACE PROPOSITION IX THE REBEL C0X<;K1->S. 355 
 
 gress, then in session at Riclimond, which deserves notice. It was the 
 introduction of a resolution by Mr. Foots, of Tennessee, to the following 
 effect: " Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 
 That the signal success with which Divine Providence has so continually 
 blessed our arms, for several months past, would fully justify the Confed- 
 erate Government in despatching a commissioner or commissioners to the 
 Government at "Washington city, empowered to propose the terms of a 
 just and honorable peace." This proposition for peace was advocated by 
 Mr. Foote with ability ; and its author exhibited unusual boldness in 
 bringing it forward at that crisis of the Rebellion. But the arguments 
 with which he advocated its adoption formed a singular medley of shrewd- 
 ness, prejudice, and folly. He began by asserting that he entertained 
 little hope that the insolent and cruel enemy of the Confederate States, the 
 Federal Government, would listen to the proposition with favor. Nor 
 had he any confidence in the wisdom, sagacity, or true manliness of Mr. 
 Lincoln and his deluded Cabinet. He was aware that those functionaries 
 had been spurred on ever since their commencement of hostilities at Fort 
 Sumter, by a numerous host of infuriated fanatics and unscrupulous dem- 
 agogues, until they had almost reached the lowest depths of hopelessness 
 and ruin; nor had he any confidence that the weak and vacillating Fed- 
 eral Executive at AVashington possessed sufficient moral courage to re- 
 ceive the commissioners of the Confederate Congress if they should be sent 
 thither. Nevertheless, there were reasotis which strongly commended the 
 adoption of the measure. If the Federal authorities should madly reject 
 the tenders of a just and honorable peace which should thus be made to 
 them, all the responsibility of a continuance of bloodshed, and of the un- 
 speakable horrors which would attend the prosecution of the war, would 
 be accumulated on their heads. The civilized world would hold them 
 alone accountable for their infliction. On the other hand, the Confederate 
 Government would be exculpated. The Confederate soldiers would be 
 justified in using still more determined and unrelenting efforts to crush 
 the power of the common enemy. Moreover, the armies of the Confederate 
 States had uniformly been the victors in the contest thus far. They had 
 driven the vandals of the North with irresistible energy and with match- 
 less valor from their confines. The Federal Government and its armies 
 had been humbled on every battle-field. " Such a succession of brilliant 
 and decisive triumphs," said Mr. Foote, "had never heretofore adorned 
 the pages of history." Therefore it was the part of a sublime magnanimity 
 in them, as conquerors, to tender the olive branch to their humbled and 
 enervated foes. Notwithstanding these potent arguments, and these 
 glowing appeals, the Confederate Congress was either so stupid or so wise 
 as to vote down the proposition, by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 The town of Augusta, Kentucky, was the scene of a spirited contest, 
 on the 27th of September, between six hundred mounted Rebels under 
 
3ri6 T71V: CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATKS. 
 
 Colonel Morgan, anil a small Union force of a hundred and twenty infan- 
 trj under Colonel Bradford, who were posted at that place. The latter 
 mnintained the fight with heroism until they were overpowered by the 
 superior numbers of the enemy. They were eventually compelled to sur- 
 render, but before -doing so they had set their fatal mark on the ranks 
 of the enemy. A large number of Rebels were slain, among whom was 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Prentice, a son of the patriotic George D. Prentice, 
 of Louisville. The Federal loss was nine killed and fifteen wounded. 
 That of the enemy was seventy-five in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 A portion of the town was burnt during the progress of the engagement. 
 
 The next scene in this grand martial drama ■which demands our atten- 
 tion, occurred at Corinth, in Mississippi. A desperate battle was fought 
 in its vicinity on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862. The Rebel force, 
 numbering about thirty-five thousand- men, was commanded by Generals 
 Van Dorn Price, and Villipigue. The Federal troops were led on by Gen- 
 eral Rosecran.s, the hero of luka. The right wing of the enemy rested on 
 the Chevalla road, their left on the Mobile and Ohio railroad, their centre 
 on the space between them. Early in the morning t)f the 3d the pickets 
 of the two armies commenced to skirmi-sh. They were gradually rein- 
 forced, until the engagement became general. This part of the contest 
 took place a mile and a half from the redoubts occupied by the Union 
 troops ; but the nature of the ground, which was covered with heavy 
 timber, preventeil the use of the heavy guns. The day was spent in 
 irregular and fragmentary charges and repulses on both sides, in which 
 the advantage was generally obtained by the Rebels. The undergrowth 
 of wood being very dense inter/ered materially with the operations of the 
 troops. During the day the enemy succeeded in outflanking the Federal 
 right wing, by which operation the Federal troops in that part of the line 
 were compelled to give way. Subsequently, however, the line was re- 
 formed, a charge was made by the seventeenth Wisconsin and Baldwin's 
 brigade, by w|iich the Rebels were driven back half a mile. Some pieces 
 of artillery which had been lost were recaptured. 
 
 Thus ended the operations of the first day. The armies then took their 
 several positions for the night. They proceeded leisurely to light their 
 camp-fires, to cook their rations, to take their rest, in close and quiet 
 proximity to each other, as if they had not but an hour before been en- 
 gaged in mortal combat, and as if they did not intend to resume the 
 strngfrle on the following day. At half-past three o'clock on the morning 
 of the 4th the battle was promptly commenced by Lieutenant H. C. 
 Robinet, of the first United States infantry, with his battery of siege 
 guns. The -enemy, who had planted some cannon during the night in an 
 appropriate position, as promptly responded. This e.vchange of shots 
 continued until .six o'clock, when an enfilading fire was commenced upon 
 the enemy by several additional batteriee, which compelled them to aban- 
 
WATCPS SOK N 1 
 
DEFEAT OF THE REBELS AT CORINTH. 357 
 
 doa their position. A portion of the eightj-third Ohio captured a num- 
 ber of the Rebel caissons. Some of Robinet's men obtained possession of 
 a splendid battery of James's rifled cannon. The tiiirty-ninth Ohio re- 
 covered t,wo Parrott guns which the Federals had lost on the day befoi-e. 
 At ten o'clock the enemy prepared to make a determined charge upon the 
 Federal redoubts. They were led forward in t^his desperate undertaking 
 by General Eodgers. During their advance the Federal artillery madu 
 fearful havoc in their columns. One huge shell exploded in the midst of 
 their solid ranks, and instantly placed thirty men hors du comhat. A 
 deluge of grape and canister from the Federal guns in their front and on 
 their left could not dampen their intense ardor. They still pressed foiv 
 ward. They at length entered the streets of the town. Then ensued a 
 ferocious struggle. The Rebels seemed determined to get possession of 
 the Robinet battery, which had already inflicted such heavy damage upon 
 them. The acquisition of that prize would doubtless have decided tbe 
 issue of the day. It would have secured them at least the permanent oc- 
 cupation of the place. This, then, was the critical moment of the engage- 
 ment. General Rodgers, to whom was entrusted the conduct of the charge 
 upon this battery, led his men forward with the greatest gallantry. Tiie 
 Federals were equally determined and energetic. Every gun was brought 
 to bear upon the advancing columns. Whole ranks crumbled to the 
 earth like frost-work before that withering fire. The, vacant spaces were 
 instantly filled up, and still the Rebel column steadily advanced. They 
 then charged up to the battery. They mounted the parapet. They were 
 met by a heroic resistance from a firm wall of dauntless warriors. They 
 were compelled to recoil. But they renewed the attempt, and were 
 again driven back. After a third still more desperate struggle, they suc- 
 ceeded in gaining the outer works. The Rebel banner was quickly 
 hoisted from the parapet. It was instantly shot away. Again it was 
 raised, and again it was obliterated. For a time, however, the enemy held 
 possession of those works. Then came the master-deed of the day. Two 
 batteries, those of Williams and Robinet, commenced from opposite points 
 to play upon the adventurous Rebels in the position they had won. It 
 was such a fire as no body of men could possibly endure. After being- 
 slaughtered like sheep for a short time, they abandoned the Federal 
 works. So fearful had been that cannonade that they left two hundreil 
 and sixty dead bodies behind them in their retreat. As the disordered 
 and broken column retired, they were pursued and routed by Colonel 
 Mower's regiment. They had lost the greater part of their officers, and 
 among them was Colonel Rodgers. At half-past twelve the defeat of 
 the Rebels was complete. They retired from Corinth in disorder to their 
 former encampment, but General Rosecrans gave them no time for repose. 
 He commenced the pursuit, and chased the enemy, whose entire force Hed 
 in the direction of Chevalla. Skirmishing and fighting took place during 
 
858 THK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Sunday between the retreating and pursuing forces. The enemy even- 
 tuully effected their escape. They lost an immense quantity of ammuni- 
 tion, of guns, and of baggage,- which, with more prisoners than they 
 wanted, fell into the hands of the Federal victors. 
 
 General William Starke Eosecrans, the hero of this important victory, 
 was born in Delaware county, Ohio, in December, 1819. At the age of 
 nineteen he was admitted to West Point, in which institution he graduated 
 with honor in 1842. He was third in merit in a class containing fifty-six 
 eadets. His first promotion was as assistant to Colonel De Russey at 
 Fortress Monroe. In 1843 he officiated as assistant professor of engineer- 
 ing at We.st Point. In 1847 he was ordered to Newport, where he took 
 charge of the fortilieations, and superintended the construction of a large 
 military wharf. In 1858 he completed the survey of the harbors of New 
 Bedford, Providence, and the Taunton river. In 1854 he was employed 
 by the Government in the Washington navy -yard. In that year he ten- 
 dered his resignation to Jefferson Davis, at that time Secretary of War, 
 which was, after considerable delay, accepted. He then spent some years 
 in Cincinnati, in the capacity of civil engineer and architect. Subse- 
 quently, the Legislature of Ohio appointed him chief engineer of that 
 Stale. When the Rebellion commenced Governor Dennison conferred on 
 him the rank of colonel of the twenty-third regiment of Ohio volunteers. 
 Tn June, 1861, Mr. Lincoln nominated him a brigadier-general in the 
 regular army. When the army of Western Virginia, under McClellan, 
 marched against the foe, Rosecrans commanded a brigade of Ohio and 
 Indiana troop.s, and on the 12th of July he fought the battle of Rich 
 Mountain. He approached the enemy by cutting a passage, nine miles 
 in length, through the dense forest, thereby falling unexpectedly upon 
 their rear. After a contest of two hours' duration he defeated the enemy, 
 compelled them to flee in disorder, and took their commanding officer, 
 General Pegram, prisoner. When General McClellan was summoned 
 to Washington, Rosecrans was entrusted with the command of the army 
 of Western Virginia. On the 10th of September he routed General 
 Floyd at Carnifex ferry, thus clearing the territory of the Kanawha of the 
 presence and power of the foe. In March, 1862, he was made a major- 
 general of volunteers, and being sent to the southwest, was placed in com- 
 mand of the third division of the army of the Mississippi, under the 
 superior orders of General Grant. His headquarters were located at 
 Corinth. In this last capacity he performed tho.se brilliant achievements 
 at luka and Corinth, the 'details of which are contained in the present 
 chapter. His career has been one of the most uniformly successful and 
 pro.sperous which the history of any Federal commander presents in con- 
 nection with the Southern Rebellion. 
 
 It was in August,' 1862, that Robert E. Lee, the commanding general 
 of the forces in Virginia, conceived the idea of making a sudden raid into 
 
INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35'J 
 
 Pennsylvania, for the purpose of securing plunder. Such excursions are 
 doubtless justifiable according to the recognized laws of warfare, but they 
 would seem to be beneath the dignity of a great and honorable belligerent. 
 General Lee issued his orders to General J. E. B. Stuart, on the 8th of 
 October, directing him to proceed with a detachment of about fifteen hun- 
 dred cavalry across the Potomac above Williamsport, to leave Hagers- 
 town and Greencastle on the right, to proceed to the rear of Chambers- 
 burg, and destroy the railroad bridge over the Concocheague, and to inflict 
 any other damage upon the Federal community which he might deem de- 
 sirable. At the same time. General Lee directed Colonel Imboden to 
 make a demonstration with a small force toward Cumberland, for the pur- . 
 pose of diverting and distracting the attention of the Union forces. 
 
 In accordance with this order General Stuart started from Darksville 
 on his raid, on the '9th of October, accompanied by four pieces of horse 
 artillery. He crossed the Potomac at daylight on the morning of the 10th, 
 at McCoy's ford, between Williamsport and Hancock. Thence he pro- 
 ceeded northward until he reached the great national road running from 
 Hagerstown to Hancock. Near this point the Federals had erected a 
 signal station, but so sudden and so unexpected was the appearance of 
 the enemy that the signal party, their flags and apparatus, were captured, 
 together with ten prisoners of war. From this point Stuart proceeded in 
 the direction of Mercersburg, which town he reached about noon. At this 
 time the news of this singular apparition had spread throughout the sur- 
 rounding country, and terror overwhelmed the minds of the inhabitants. 
 The enemy did not tarry in Mercersburg, but pressed forward toward 
 Chambersburg. It had 'been the intention of Stuart to proceed to Hagers- 
 town where immense supplies for the Federal army had been stored. He 
 was deterred from carrying out this purpose by the fact that he appre- 
 hended the approach and interference of a part of the Union forces, which 
 were still detained by McClellan at Antietam. He therefore turned to- 
 ward Chambersburg, where bis presence would be wholly unexpected. 
 He reached that place on the evening of the 10th. 
 
 As soon as Stuart and his motley, dust-covered force approached Cham- 
 bersburg, he despatched an order into the town, demanding its surrender. 
 His emissaries were taken to the office of the provost marshal, to whom the 
 requirements of the invaders were made known. No other civil or mili- 
 tary officer could be found in the town — none who would admit that they 
 possessed the honors and responsibilities of office. The terms offered by 
 General Stuart were an immediate surrender of the place, and a threat 
 that if any resistance was offered " it would be shelled in three minutes." 
 Several prominent citizens then came forward, assumed the responsibility 
 of acting in behalf of the terrified inhabitants, proceeded toward the place 
 where General Stuart was, at a short distance from the town, and held an 
 interview with the Rebel commander. They admitted that they had no 
 
SCO THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 means of resistance, and would therefore surrender the place on condition 
 that security of persons and property would be guaranteed from the pri- 
 vate plunder of the invaders. These conditions being agreed to, the 
 Rebels entered the town. Each soldier led one or two horses, whif.h he 
 had already stolen. They distributed themselves up and down the streets 
 and lanes, breaking open the stables, and taking from them all the good 
 horses they could find. They then proceeded through the adjacent coun 
 try, entered the barns of the farmers, took from them their horses, together 
 with as much forage as they could carry. In the town they entered sev- 
 eral stores, and plundered them of clothing. In one of the warehouses 
 they secured a large q.uantity of government clothing. In such enter- 
 prising activity they spent the night. On the following morning at nine 
 o'clock they fired the machine shops and warehouses of the Valley rail- 
 road. These were exploded or destroyed, after which the unwelcome 
 visitors departed in the direction of the South Mountain. They had en- 
 tered the bank during their visit, but the funds had been previously re- 
 moved, so that they were disappointed in regard to the acquisition of 
 money. They cut all the telegraph wires. They paroled about two hun- 
 dred and seventy-five sick and wounded soldiers, who were in the hos- 
 pital. The route they took on their return was toward Leesburg. But 
 this purpose Stuart disguised from the loyal community by commencing 
 his return on a false route. . They proceeded at first toward Gettysburg, 
 in Adams county, and having crossed the Blue Ridge, turned back toward 
 Hagerstown for six or eight miles, then diverged toward Emmettsburg, 
 and took the direct road toward Frederick. Before reaching Frederick 
 they crossed the Monocacy, and marching all night, passed tli rough Lib- 
 erty, New Market, and Monrovia, on the Baltimore railroad. At Hayatts- 
 town they captured a i'ew of McClellan's wagons. Thence they proceeded 
 toward Poolesville. Before reaching that place they encountered a de- 
 tachment of Federal cavalry under General Pleasonton, who had been 
 sent out to confront them. He crossed the Monocacy with portions of the 
 eighth Illinois, the third Indiana, and two guns of Remington's battery. 
 Several miles from the ford where they cros.sed the stream they encoun- 
 tered the foe. A brisk engagement ensued. A duel followed between 
 the artillery of the two forces. Several of the guns of the enemy were 
 ]iostC(l at Wliite's ford. While the contest progressed between tlie artillery 
 the main body of the Rebels retired toward the Potomac. They eventu- 
 ally crossed the river at that place without difliculty or opposition. Gen 
 eral Pleasonton's force, which was only five hundred strong, was too small 
 to be able to make any effectual resistance to their movements. During 
 the whole expedition the Rebels did not lose a single man, though a few 
 of them were wounded. The adventure proved a complete success on 
 their part, and gave ample evidence of the energy, sagacity, and vigor 
 which characterized both the officers and the men concerned in it. 
 
FEDERAL VICTORY AT LATERGNE, TENNESSEE. 361 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 ItfB FEDERAL TICTORT AT LAVERONE, TENNESSEE — GENERAL NEGLET — BATTLE ON THE 
 HATCHIE RITER— EXPEDITION OF GENERAL BHANNAN UP THE ST. JOHN's RIVER — ITS 
 RF.SULTS — THE BATTLE OP PBRRYVILLE — HEROISM OP GENERAL ROUSSEAU — INCIDENTS 
 OF THIS ENGAGEMENT — ITS CONSEQUENCES— FINAL ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRAGG AND HIS 
 ARMY FROM KENTUCKY — INEFFICIENCY OF GENERAL BUELL — HIS REMOVAL FROM THE 
 COMMAND OF THE ARMY OP THE OHIO — APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL ROSECRANS AS HIS 
 SUCCESSOR — FRUITS OP GENERAL BRAGG's INVASION OF KENTUCKY — SUMMARY VIEW OF 
 MINOR EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1862. 
 
 A BRILLIANT and successful movement was made on the 7th" of 
 October, 1862, by orddr of General James Negley, upon-a detachment of 
 the enemy posted at Lavergne, near Nashville, commanded by General 
 Samuel Anderson, by which their camp was completely broken up. 
 The expedition was placed under the direction of Colonels Palmer and 
 Miller. The Federal force amounted to about five thousand men. Those 
 led by Palmer approached Lavergne by the Murfreesboro road ; those 
 under Miller took a route on the left of the railroad. As soon as they 
 arrived in the vicinity of the Rebel camp, they were promptly attacked 
 by the foe, who attempted to outflank them, by concentrating th§ thirty- 
 second Alabama on their right. A shot from the Federal guns fortu- 
 [ I nately entered the powder magazine of the Confederates, and exploded 
 it. This unexpected catastrophe very materially confused and damaged 
 them. Meanwhile the struggle continued with increasing fury. The 
 operations of the Alabama regiment were valiantly confronted by the 
 force under Colonel Miller. The seventy-eighth Pennsylvania assisted in 
 a vigorous charge upon them, and compelled them to give way. They 
 formed again, and made in turn a cavalry charge upon this regiment. 
 But they' met so destructive a volley of musketry, that they quickly 
 broke and fled. They were pursued, and the thirty-second Alabama 
 threw down their arms. The Federal artillery continued to keep up the 
 assault upon the position of the enemy with great energy, and the Rebel 
 cavalry were unable to stand before it. They fled in confusion until they 
 reached the cover of the woods. The fourteenth Michigan and the 
 twenty-first Ohio took a large number of prisoners. During the day 
 General Negley, apprehending that his troops might need reinforcements 
 marched out from Nashville with three regiments and a battery. But 
 before his arrival a decisive victory had already been gained. The 
 enemy had fled in confusion from their position, leaving their camp in 
 ♦Be possession of the victors. The latter captured one gun, four hundred 
 email arms, a regimental color, fifty-six loads of flour, and a large 
 
863 THE CIVIL WAK IX TEE UNITED STATES. 
 
 an^ount of other provisions. The Federal loss was five killed, nine 
 wounded, four missing. The Rebel loss was about thirty killed and 
 eighty wounded. The number of prisoners taken was three hundred, 
 including two colonels, Langford and Maury, with a squad of inferior 
 officers. 
 
 The brilliant victorv of Rosecrans at Corinth was followed, on the 5th 
 of October, by the rout of the rebels on the Hatchie, in Mississippi, which 
 was achieved by a portion of the same forces who had distinguished 
 themselves at Corinth. The troops of the enemy engaged on this occa- 
 sion consisted of two army corps, commanded by Van Dorn and Price, 
 and comprised fifty-six regiments of infantry and three thousand cavalry, 
 which amounted to at least thirty thousand men. The Federal force 
 engaged was about equal in number, and consisted of the divisions com- 
 manded by Generals Ord and Ilurlbut. These officers had been directed 
 to pursue the Rebels as they returned from Corinth. In executing this 
 order they overtook a portion of their columns near the Hatchie river. 
 Skirmishing took place on the 4th, but the Federal forces had on that 
 day marched twenty-four miles in the excessive heat and dust, and the 
 chief attack was postponed until the n*xt day. The enemy intrenched 
 themselves during the interval witli considerable skill. Early on the 
 morning of the 6th, the Federals commenced to move. The. fourteenth 
 Illinois and the twenty-eighth Indiana were thrown forward as skir- 
 mishers. At nine o'clock the first serious encounter took place. It was 
 to obtain possession of a hill, whose gentle slopes stretched nearly a mile 
 to the bridge which spanned the stream. The Rebels had planted a 
 battery in front of this bridge to protect their infantry as they advanced. 
 These guns were responded to by Bolton's battery. The enemy then 
 attempted with their infantry to outflank the Federal right wing; but 
 this purpose was defeated by the effi^ctive fire of Burnap's battery, and 
 by the expert marksmen of the infantry, which broke the advancing 
 line of the enemy, routed them, and threw them into such confusion that 
 they retired wholly from the field. 
 
 And now all the troops on both sides, excepting those ju.st referred to, 
 joined in battle. General Veatch commanded the first line of the 
 Federal forces with great gallantry. His men were quickly engaged 
 with those whom the enemy had thrown across the bridge. A des- 
 perate contest here ensued, w-hich lasted twenty minutes, after which 
 four hundred Rebels threw down their arms and surrendered. At the 
 same time hundreds of them fled to the river, plunged in, and swam to 
 the opposite shore. In this contest Colonel Davis, of the forty-sixth 
 Illinois, was severely wounded. While this operation was progressing, 
 General Hurlbut was bringing forward the remainder of the Federal 
 forces to the charge. These all pressed forward toward the bridge, driv^ 
 ing the enemy before them. The latter were soon compelled to cross 
 
EXPEDITION UP THE ST. JOHN'S BIVER. 363 
 
 The Federals promptly followed. The twenty-fifth and fifty-third In- 
 diana, the fourteenth and fifteenth Illinois, began the passage, amid a 
 deluge of canister and grape-shot, which swept the bridge. Nothing, 
 however, could dampen their ardor, though many fell in that desperate 
 charge. The twenty-fifth Indiana, led by Colonel Morgan, was the first 
 to gain the opposite side of the bridge. As soon as these troops, together 
 with General Lanman's brigade had passed over, they charged upon the 
 enemy with renewed determination. They soon drove them from every 
 position which they had taken. The twelfth Michigan, sixty-eighth 
 Ohio, and forty-sixth Illinois, fought with unusual determination. The 
 Rebels, unable to maintain their position, removed their guns to new 
 points in the rear. The Federal batteries were in turn brought forward, 
 and the exchange of shot and shell resumed. But soon the guns of the 
 enemy were silenced; and at four o'clock they moved off from the scene 
 of combat. The Federal cavalry pursued. The Eebels hastened up the 
 river six miles to Cram's Mills, whence they continued their flight south- 
 ward. The fruits of the victory were four rifled howitzers, a thousand 
 stand of arms, and four hundred prisoners. The Federal loss was 
 thirty killed and ninety wounded. After this success they continued to 
 explore the surrounding country for several days to capture fugitive and 
 vagabond Eebels, after which they returned to their camp at Bolivar. 
 The routed Eebels pursued their way to Holly Springs, where they formed 
 a junction with the troops stationed there under General Pillow. 
 
 During the first week of October, 1862, an expedition was sent out 
 from Hilton Head, South Carolina, under the command of General Bran- 
 nan, fot the purpose of attacking the Eebel batteries erected at St. John's 
 bluff, and any other works which the enemy might have constructed on 
 the St. John's river, in Florida. The land forces appropriated to this ser- 
 vice numbered sixteen hundred men, and were composed chiefly of Con- 
 necticut and Pennsylvania troops. They were conveyed by the trans- 
 ports Boston, Cosmopolitan, Neptune, and Ben Deford. The expedition 
 was accompanied by the gunboats Paul Jones, Water Witch, Cimerone, 
 Hale, Uncas, and Patroon, the last commanded by Captain Charles Steed- 
 man. After entering the mouth of St. John's river, several of these boats 
 were sent up to the works on the bluff, for the purpose of reconnoitering 
 them. But they were soon engaged in a spirited contest with them, 
 which developed their real strength. A landing of the troops was subse- 
 quently effected at Mayport Mills, near the mouth of the river, and nearly 
 forty miles distant from the scene of action. The march over the inter- 
 vening country threatened to be one of great difficulty, being intersected 
 by numerous swamps and creeks, in consequence of which the troops 
 were reembarked, and the infantry were subsequently landed at Buck 
 Horn creek. It was found impossible to land the cavalry and artillery at 
 that point. Colonel T. H. Good was ordered to proceed with the infantry 
 
364 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and marine howitzers to the head of Mount Pleasant creek, and there es- 
 tablish a position to protect the landing of the cavalry and artillery. This 
 movement was effected with skill and success, and on the 3d of OctoV)er 
 the whole Federal force was disembarked, and placed in position at the 
 head of Mount Pleasant creek, about two miles distant from the Eebel 
 works on St. John's blufl". 
 
 The force which the enemy had assembled here consisted of about 
 twelve hundred troops, both cavalry and artillery. Their batteries con- 
 tained nine heavy pieces of artillery. It was naturally expected that they 
 would have made a vigorous resistance. The surprise of the Federal 
 officers and men was therefore intense when, having advanced toward the 
 works and commenced a regular bombardment of them, no reply was 
 made. Their astonishment increased when it was subsequently discovered 
 that the fortifications, and the guns in them, had been abandoned by their 
 chivalrous defenders. They were instantly taken possession of, the stars 
 and stripes unfurled from the flag-staS", and the camps and batteries occu- 
 pied by the entire Federal force. The position was found to be one of 
 superior strength. The works had Jjeen skilfully constructed. The natural 
 advantages of the position wciie great, and they had been improved by 
 every appliance of military art. The aftillery was soon placed on board 
 the Federal gunboats. The magazi uls in the forts were blown up, and the 
 works on the bluff were completely destroyed. 
 
 After this easy and agreeable achievement, the expedition proceeded up 
 the St. John's river as far as Jacksonville, for the purpose of overtaking 
 the fugitive Rebels. Ilaving arrived at that point, G(^eral Brannan dis- 
 covered that not only were there no troops of the enemy in the vicinity, 
 but that the town had been deserted by nearly all of its inhabitants. Few 
 were left behind but old men and children. A more perfect spectacle of 
 desolation than the place presented could not possibly.be conceived. Here 
 it was ascertained that the enemy commenced to evacuate their works on 
 St. John's bluff immediately after the arrival of the Federal troops at 
 Mount Pleasant creek, on the 'Jd of October. On the 6th, General Bran- 
 nan was informed that several Eebel steamers had been secreted in a creek 
 some distance up the St. John's river. He immediately despatched the 
 Darlington, with a hundred men of the forty-seventh Pennsylvania, a 
 crew of twenty-five men, and two twenty-four pounders, under the com- 
 mand of Lieutenant Williams, together with a convoy of gunboats, to se- 
 cure them. This party returned to Jacksonville on the 9th, having in tow 
 the steamer Governor Milton, which they had captured about thirty 
 miles from the town of Enterprise. Subsequently, General Brannan con- 
 ducted the whole expedition back again to Hilton Head, and arrived on 
 the 13th of October. The enterprise was completely successful, though 
 in consequence of the cowardice of the enemy in abandoning their works 
 on St. John's bluff, no engagement occurred during its progress. The only 
 
THE BATTLE OP PERRYVILLE. 365 
 
 disaster which had occurred was to the transport Cosmopolitan, which 
 grounded in crossing the bar off Hilton Head, and was temporarily ren- 
 dered unfit for service. 
 
 A much more important and decisive event which occurred at this 
 period was the desperate battle of Perryville, or Chaplin Hills, in Ken- 
 tucky, in which General Buell encountered the Eebel hero Braxton 
 Bragg, on the 8th of October. The immense army of Buell had been fol- 
 lowing in leisurely pursuit of the enemy for some time, and the uniform 
 distance between them on their route seemed to indicate that they would 
 nev6r approximate each other. Nevertheless, the Rebels having proceeded 
 from Frankfort toward Harrodsburg, were overtaken by General McCook's 
 corps, of Buell's army, near Perryville, and an action, though probably 
 not desirable by either commander-in-chief, became at length unavoidable. 
 
 The two armies were drawn up on opposite sides of the town of Perry- 
 ville. Of Buell's army only McCook's corps, with a part of Thomas's, 
 were engaged. The division commanders were Rousseau, Sheridan, Jack- 
 son, and Gilbert. The action began before daylight. The mellow light 
 of the moon still threw its pale splendors over the sleeping world, when 
 the skirmishers of the enemy commenced a sharp fire upon the eighty- 
 fifth Illinois. Soon the contest oecame more general. New batteries of 
 the enemy commenced to shell the Federal forces, who, upon the first 
 alarm, had instantly formed in line of battle throughout the whole of the 
 army. The enemy came on, pouring destructive volleys into the Federal 
 ranks. They compelled the second Michigan cavalry to retire by the fary 
 of their onset. They pressed forward, and came near taking the hill on 
 which the thirty-sixth brigade had been stationed. This hill was in the 
 centre of the Federal line, and its possession was a matter of the utmost 
 importance. At that crisis, which was of importance to the issue of the 
 day, the second Missouri regiment, commanded by Captain Hoppe, which 
 had distinguished itself in the great battle of Pea Ridge, rushed forward 
 with cheers and charged upon the enemy. They were opportunely sup- 
 ported by the second Michigan and the fifteenth Missouri. After a des- 
 perate battle-shock the Rebel ranks recoiled and broke up in confusion. 
 They were pursued for more than a mile, and the defeat of this portion of 
 their troops was for the time being complete. 
 
 But this operation was only preliminary to the chief combat of the day 
 It was now after ten o'clock. Thus far the cavalry had distinguished them- 
 selves, prominent among whom was a portion of the ninth Pennsylvania. 
 The artillery now came prominently into action on both sides. In front 
 the legions of the enemy lay massed on wooded hills, which partially con- 
 cealed their strength and precise position. At length, about eleven 
 o'clock, the enemy, with their usual promptness and spirit, opened the 
 struggle with a cannonade on the batteries of Simonson and Loomis, in 
 whose vicinity the division of General Rousseau was posted. The Fed 
 
366 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 eral guns responded with vigor, and soon new batteries of the foe were 
 revealed successively from new positions, as their forces came more com- 
 pletely into action. At two o'clock the cannonade had become general 
 audVerrific along the whole line of both armies. Man}' were slain on both 
 sides by this distant assault. At three o'clock General Bragg brought hi.-j 
 infantry into action. He led the charge in person. He made a ferocious 
 assault upon the centre and left centre of the Federal lines. At this 
 point he made a combined attack of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. 
 General Rousseau maintained his position, and hurled back the tumultu- 
 ous and ferocious masses of the advancing foe with complete success. Hi3 
 guns ploughed bloody avenues of death through their serried columns. 
 Volleys of musketry mowed down whole ranks of them as their tides 
 rolled forward frantically toward the Federal lines. They retired from 
 this portion of the field in confusion, leaving the ground covered with 
 multitudes of their dead and wounded. 
 
 But the Confederates gained more success in another portion of this 
 field. Compelled to retire before Rousseau, they made a charge upon the 
 division of General Jackson with better effect. This division was on the 
 extreme left wing. Buckner led the assault in this portion of the field, 
 which exceeded in ferocity any thing \^ich the war had yet exhibited. 
 In spite of a brave reception at the beginning of this charge, the Rebels 
 soon proved themselves irresistible, and the twenty-first Wisconsin, 
 eightieth Illinois, and one hundred and fifth Ohio, gave way and fled 
 before the mad onset of the foe. The artillery connected with Captain 
 Parsons' battery abandoned their guns, all of which fell into the hands of 
 the enemy. Soon the panic spread. The entire division of Jackson be- 
 came disorganized, and fled a quarter of a mile. At that point they 
 were stopped, and gradually reformed. In this deadly charge Generals 
 Jackson and Terrell were slain, while heroically attempting to steady 
 their men, and correct the disgraceful rout and panic which had overtaken 
 them. 
 
 Emboldened by this success General Bragg determined to resume his 
 attack upon the division of Rousseau, and particularly on the seventeenth 
 brigade, commanded by Colonel Lytle. His cho.sen legions now ap- 
 proached the Federal lines in heavy and formidable masses. As they 
 emerged from the woods to which they had retreated, and advanced down 
 the slopes of the hills, their appearance was extremely imposing. Their 
 long lines of burnished bayonets gleamed brightly in the sun. The pre- 
 cision and regularity of these movements, their many proud secession 
 banners waving gracefully in the passing breeze, the spirit-stirring sounds 
 of martial music ; above all, the siugular apparition of their commander 
 in-chief, who could be seen marching at their front, mounted on a magnifi- 
 cent white charger, surrounded by a numerous and brilliant staff, all riding 
 horses of the same color — these features of the scene presented one of those 
 
INCIDENTS OP THE BATTLE AT PEERTVILLB. 367 
 
 sublime spectacles of the glorious pomp and circumstance of war which 
 form the bright, delusive side of a picture in which horror, misery, and 
 death so sadly and so universally predominate. 
 
 Having arrived within artillery range the enemy quickly planted a 
 dozen cannon, so as to rake the third Ohio and forty-second Indiana with 
 terrible effect. Their infantry continued to advance under the cover of 
 their fire. These two Federal regiments responded to the Rebel fire with 
 great gallantry, until a full third of tlieir numbers strewed the ensanguined 
 field with their fallen bodies. Colonel Bently, of the third Ohio, was re- 
 markable for his dauntloss heroism in the midst of that terrific storm of 
 musketry. His men stood as firmly as rocks in the midst of an ocean 
 tempest, and hurled continuous volleys of flame and shot into the ranks 
 of the enemy ; but they were compelled at last to give way by a cause 
 which they could not control. A barn filled with hay, near which the 
 right wing of the third Ohio rested, took fire. It soon became enveloped 
 in flames. The heat was so intense that the faces of many of the men 
 were blistered. At length they were compelled to break their ranks, and 
 retire from their position. The fifteenth Kentucky, after resisting the 
 enemy for a while with great heroism, was also compelled to retire. But 
 the success of the enemy in this part of the field was not yet ended. The 
 retreat of the third Ohio and fifteenth Kentucky left the gallant tenth 
 Ohio regiment in an exposed position. Colonel Lytic expected to receive 
 a charge on his front. But the Rebels, whom the rising ground here par- 
 tially concealed, stole around unobserved to their flank, and suddenly 
 rushed upon them from an unexpected quarter. The tenth had been 
 ordered to lie upon their faces. The Rebels surprised them in that unfa 
 vorable position. They sprang to their feet instantly, and made a des- 
 perate effort, to change their front and charge upon the foe. It was 
 impossible, however, to accomplish this under the withering fire which 
 assailed them, and they soon broke and fled. It was in this awful mo- 
 ment of chaos and terror that the gifted and dauntless Lytle fell pierced 
 with balls while in vain attempting to stem the overwhelming tide of 
 disaster and defeat. 
 
 During the progress of these events an immense body of Rebels, filing 
 to the left, attacked the divisions of Generals Sheridan and Mitchel, who 
 occupied the Federal right and' right centre. They charged up the hills 
 on which these troops were posted ; but their audacious valor was vain. 
 They met a reception which shattered their masses into bloody fragments. 
 They were eventually compelled to retire, and were pursued by the 
 valiant legions of Mitchel beyond Perryville. By this time the seven- 
 teenth brigade had been reformed, and charged on the foe, supported by 
 the ninth and twenty-eighth brigades. Then ensued a desperate combat 
 half an hour in duration. It was now nearly sundown. Once more the 
 Rebels made a furious charge upon the Federal lines, as if determined to 
 
368 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 grasp the victory from unwilling fate. The discharges of artillery on 
 both sides became terrific. At length its thunder ceased, as darkness 
 spread its sable mantle over the scene. The Union army reposed upon 
 their arms during the night, while the enemy leisurely resumed their 
 retreat, and ultimately escaped into Tennessee through Powell's gap. The 
 Federal forces did not- pursue them. It was, in fact, little better than a 
 drawn battle. The Federal loss in the division of General Eousseau was 
 nineteen hundred and fifty killed and wounded. The loss in the remain- 
 ing portions of the army was about four thousand, including killed, 
 wounded, and missing. The enemy captured three hundred of theseduring 
 the engagement. 
 
 The invasion of the soil of Kentucky, which General Bragg had con- 
 ducted, proved eminently successful to the Rebel interest, and the oppo- 
 sition which General Buell had effected to his purposes amounted to very 
 little. Bragg succeeded in capturing fifteen hundred wagon loads of pro- 
 visions, clothing, and other necessaries for his army. He obtained 
 several thousand valuable horses and mules, five thousand beeves and 
 other cattle, together with an immense amount of groceries and domestic 
 goods, gathered from the stores of Lexington, Frankfort, Danville, Uar- 
 rodsburg, and other places. In consqeuence of Buell's slow pursuit he 
 was permitted to retire to a safe retreat, in posseswion of all this plunder, 
 without having been attacked more than once during the period of five 
 months, in which that general held command of the numerous and power- 
 ful army of the Ohio. Bragg had been allowed to traverse the richest 
 portions of the State of Kentucky undisturbed ; to perpetrate the farce 
 of inaugurating a governor at Frankfort ; to rob, defraud, and terrify the 
 citizens of one of the most wealthy and populous States in the Union, and 
 then to make good his escape without the least interference. It is not 
 singular, therefore, that this commander was removed by the Federal 
 Government. This was done on the 30th of October, and General Rose- 
 crans was appointed in his stead. The campaigns of General Buell had 
 borne so little fruit in the way of Union successes that a more energetic 
 and efficient commander was needed. 
 
 During the concluding portion of the month of September, and in Octo- 
 ber, 1862, a number of events occurred of minor importance, a brief allu- 
 sion to which will here be sufficient. Ori the 20th of September, a con- 
 flict took place at Shepardstown ferry, Virginia, in which the Corn 
 Exchange regiment of Philadelphia fought bravely and suffered severely. 
 On the 22d of that month General Bragg advanced upon Louisville, and 
 on the next day he demanded its surrender to the Rebel forces. On the 
 28th a skirmish took place on the Blackwater river, Virginia. On the 
 1st of October skirmishing occurred near Louisville, Kentucky ; and the 
 Sabine Pass, in Texas, was captured by Federal troops. On the 4th of 
 October Federal gunboats shelled Galveston, Texas, -and compelled the 
 
SUMMARY OP EVENTS IN OCTOBER, 1862. 369 
 
 Rebels to evacuate the place. On the same day a battle was fought at 
 Bardstown, Kentucky, after which the town was occupied by the Union 
 troops. On the 6th of October Richard Hewes was inaugurated by Brax- 
 ton Bragg at Frankfort, as Governor of Kentucky. Treasonable speeches 
 were made on the occasion by that general, and by Humphrey Marshall. 
 On the same day they burned the railroad bridge at Frankfort, and the 
 new governor evacuated the place immediately afterward. On the 9th an 
 engagement took place between a small number of Union and Rebel 
 troops in the same vicinity. On the 11th spirited skirmishes occurred at 
 Helena, Arkansas, and at Danville, Kentucky. On the 15th a successful 
 Federal expedition proceeded up the Apalachicola river, Florida. On the 
 same day Union troops occupied the town of Paris, Kentucky. On the 
 16th skirmishes took place near Shepardstown and Charlestown, Virginia. 
 On the 20th a battle occurred at Neuga creek, Missouri. On the 22d 
 skirmishes were fought at Hedgesville, Virginia; at Maysville, Arkansas; 
 at Pocotaligo and Frampton, South Carolina. On the 25th another fight 
 occurred on the Blackwater, Virginia, and the Union troops entered 
 Donaldsonville, Louisiana. On the 30th skirmishes took place at Upper- 
 ville and Petersburg, Virginia, and the Union troops occupied Thibo- 
 deaux, Louisiana. On the 31st of October another contest occurred on the 
 Blackwater, and the town of Franklin, Virginia, was destroyed. On the 
 same day Union gunboats bombarded the Rebel batteries at Lavaca, in 
 Texas, and took possession of Tampa Bay, in Florida. 
 
 24 
 
370 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 SXPLOITS OF THE CONFEDERATE CRUISER, TUE ALABAMA — HER PECDLIAR STRUCTURE — 
 EFFORTS MADE TO CAPTUHE IIER — THEIR FAILURE — THE EXPEDITION SENT BY GENERAL 
 MITCHEL AGAINST THE CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH RAILROAD — INCIDENTS OF THB 
 UNDERTAKING — BATTLES — THEIR RESULTS — RETURN OP THE EXPEDITION — VARIOUS RECON- 
 NOISSANCES MADE BY THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — IMPORTANT RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED 
 BY THEM — OCCUPATION OF SNICKER's, ASHBy's, AND THOROUGHFARE GAPS BY THE FEDERAL 
 TROOPS — BRILLIANT KNQAGEMENT NEAR MAYSVILLE, ARKANSAS — FLIGHT OF THE REBELS — 
 SUCCESSFUL RECONNOISSANCE OF CAPTAIN DAHLGREN TO FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA — 
 SKIRMISHES AT PHILOMEL AND NEW CREEK, VIRGINIA, AND AT WILLIAMSTON, NORTH 
 CAROLINA — ABORTIVE ATTEMPT OP THE REBELS UNDER MORGAN AND FORREST TO CAPTURE 
 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — FEDERAL EXPEDITION TO THIBODEAUXVILLE, LOUISIANA — RECON- 
 NOISSANCE OF GENERAL m'pHERSON TOWARD HOLLY SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI — APPROACH OP 
 THE FEDERAL ARMY UNDER BURNSIDE TO FREDERICKSBURG — THE CITY Sl'MMONED TO SUR- 
 RENDER — TUE REFUSAL EMBARRASSING DELAY OF BURNSIDE's OPERATIONS. 
 
 Among the many sources of annoyance to the loyal citizens of the 
 United States which occurred during the progress of this civil war, the 
 achivements of the Rebel steamer Alabama were not the least trouble- 
 some. This vessel became the most renowned of those piratical cruisers 
 which were called into existence by the proclamation of Jcfi'cr.son Davis, 
 referred to in the preceding part of this volume, and which granted 
 letters of marque and reprisal to such citizens of the Confederate States 
 as might apply for them. The boldness an^ skill of her ofTicers and 
 crew soon rendered her formidable on the high seas; and the number 
 and rapidity of her conquests earned for her a prominent though un- 
 enviable place in the annals of the war. 
 
 This vessel was commanded by Captain Semmcs, a person who, until 
 his promotion to tliat post, had been unknown to fame. Among her 
 other ollicers was Lieutenant Uowell, a brother-in-law of Jefferson Davis. 
 She registered twelve hundred tons burthen ; was two hundred and 
 twenty feet in length, thirty-two in width, had two decks, and was painted 
 black. She carried three long thirty-two pounders on each-side, and was 
 pierced for two more amidships. She had a hundred pound rifled pivot 
 gun forward on the bridge, and a sixty-eight pounder on the main deck. 
 She had also tracks laid forward for a pivot bowgun, as well as tracks 
 aft for a pivot stern-chaser. Her cannon were all of English manufac- 
 ture. She was barque-rigged, and could sail thirteen knots an hour under 
 canvas, fifteen knots under steam. She was provided with the flags of 
 all nations, which she used as occasion required; but she generally un- 
 furled the Red Cross of St. George to the breeze when she approached a 
 vessel, .llor crew numbered a hundred and thirty' men, whom .-^he took 
 
^^\BUS(y^ 
 
EFFORTS TO CAPTURE THE ALABAMA. 371 
 
 oa board, near the Western Islands, from an English ship. She was 
 generally provided with eight months provisions, and rarely used steam 
 except in particular emergencies. During the year 1862, her conquests 
 Were numerous, and she may be said to have checked and damaged the 
 commerce of the loyal States very materially. Among the vessels which 
 she captured were the ship Brilliant, of New York; the whalers Benja- 
 min Tucker, Virginia, and Elisha Dunbar, of New Bedford ; the barque 
 Ocean Rover, of Mattapoisett, and the ship Tonawanda, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Captain Semmes destroyed the majority of his prizes, after plunderinc 
 them, and taking their crews on board the Alabama. These were after- 
 ward set on shore and paroled. In a few instances he demanded bonds 
 for the payment of the value of the captured ship and cargo, as in the 
 case of the Philadelphia vessel, to be redeemed after the termination of 
 the war, and then released them. 
 
 The vigor and success of this daring cruiser at length attracted the 
 attention of the public to such a degree, that the Federal Government 
 felt the necessity of making special efforts to capture and destroy her. 
 For this purpose Commander Ronckendorff was despatched with the San 
 Jacinto, which vessel was supposed to be a match for the Alabama. But 
 although he encountered the object of his search on one occasion, in the 
 port of Fort Roj'al, in Martinique, she succeeded in eluding his grasp by 
 a clever trick, and escaped to sea. Thus the year 1862 wore away with- 
 out the capture of this redoubtable pirate having been effected. His 
 protracted career of triumph and impunity continued to be a reproach 
 to the Federal navy; and the nations of Europe still observed his achieve- 
 ments with mingled astonishment and applause. At the same time his 
 singular success greatly encouraged the disloyal inhabitants of the Con- 
 federate States in their hope of final victory over the Federal Government 
 and gained for him their enthusia.stic admiration as one of the most 
 efficient and valiant agents of the Rebellion. 
 
 On the 21st of October, 1862, an expedition which had been planned 
 by General Mitchel, the enterprising commander of the Department of 
 the South, started from Hilton Head. Its purpose was to destroy the 
 tressel-work bridges of the Charleston and Savannah railroad. These 
 bridges crossed three streams, bearing respectively the euphonic and 
 mellifluous names of the Pocotaligo, the Taliafinney, and the Coosawhat- 
 chie, which flow into the Broad river. As a necessary preliminary to 
 the achievement of this enterprise, it was important to make a landing 
 of the troops which composed the expedition, at Mackay's Point, eleven 
 miles from the village of Pocotaligo, where they could be disembarked 
 under the protection of gunboats, and thence advance, by a rapid march 
 to the scene of conflict. 
 
 This expedition consisted of portions of the first and second brigades 
 of the Tenth army corps, numbering about four thousand five hundred 
 
372 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 troops. Tbey were commanded by Generals J. M. Brannan and A. H. 
 Terry, the former being tlie senior officer. The troops were conveyed 
 to their destination by three transports, nine gunboats, and several 
 schooners. They left Hilton Head at midnight on the 21st of October* 
 and reached Mackay's Point at six o'clock the next morning. Some small 
 boats had been sent in advance, with a company of .soldiers of the seventh 
 Connecticut, under Captain Gray, to surprise and capture the pickets of the 
 enemy, which had been stationed near that point ; but the effort was only 
 partially successful. Lieutenant Banks, who commanded the post, was 
 taken with three men; but a number escaped and conveyed to the liebel 
 forces in the vicinity information of the invasion. The process of landing 
 the troops was promptly effected ; and at ten o'clock, all of them had been 
 transferred to the shore, except a detachment of the third Ehode I.'sland 
 volunteers, who were detained at some distance by an accident to the 
 gunboat Marblehead, by which they had been conveyed thither. 
 
 Having disembarked his men, General Brannan led them forward 
 toward the village of Pocotaligo without delay. Their road lay through 
 a fertile cotton-growing country ; yet the scourge of war had desolated 
 it, and the sumptuous mansions, once the abodes of opulence and luxury, 
 which lined their pathway, were abandoned, while a saddening air of 
 loneliness and ruin overspread the once blooming and flourishing face 
 of nature. The forces of the Rebels advanced bravely, seven miles from 
 Pocotaligo, to meet the Federal troops. They had posted their artillery 
 on both sides of the road, on the summit of a small elevation. In order 
 to advance, the Federals were compelled to cross a wide open space, and 
 then a narrow causeway, during which operation they would be exposed 
 to the fire of the enemy's artillery. As the forty-seventh Pennsylvania, 
 which led the van, approached, they were assailed by a vigorous and 
 well directed cannonade of grape and shrapnel, to which they responded 
 with musketry, and with Lieutenant Henry's artillery. The fire of the 
 enemy was very effective. The extent of the damage done by them may 
 be inferred from the fact, that out of six hundred men who went into 
 the engagement, nearly one hundred and fifty were killed and wounded. 
 Notwithstanding this terrible havoc, the heroes pressed forward with 
 enthusiastic cheers. The fourth New Hampshire regiment supported 
 them manfully, and also suffered severely, losing fifty men in killed and 
 wounded. The remaining Federal troops then came up, and after a 
 desperate resistance the llebels were driven from their position with 
 heavy los.ses. 
 
 A chase of several miles in extent then ensued, after which the enemy 
 halted, again presented a hostile front, and made a determined resistance. 
 The result, however, was the same as before. They fled, and at last 
 rallied at the bridge over the Pocotaligo, half a mile from that village. 
 Here again the artillery of the foe demonstrated its deadly efficiency. 
 
THE EXPEDITION UNDER GENERAL MITCHEL. SfS 
 
 Their guns were more numerous than the guns of the Federals. The 
 former were twelve in number; the latter were only four Parrott guns 
 and three boat howitzers. These were commanded by Lieutenant Phcenix. 
 Notwithstanding this serious disadvantage, the Federal infantry charged 
 bravely upon the enemy, routed them, and drove them in confusion over 
 the bridge. As they made their retreat across this structure, they effect- 
 ually destroyed it. 
 
 It was now sis o'clock in the evening. The Eebels had escaped be- 
 yond the reach of the Federal forces. At the same time, the sound of 
 locomotives and the rumbling of trains were heard in the distance. It 
 was evident that these were bringing reinforcements from Charleston or 
 Savannah to the enemy. It was therefore high time to retire. The ex- 
 pedition had proved a failure; night was approaching, and longer delay 
 or further effort would only lead to the infliction of severer losses. Gen- 
 eral Terry conducted the retreat, which was effected in admirable order. 
 The dead and wounded were all brought away. The Federal loss was 
 two hundred killed and four hundred wounded. A portion of the ex- 
 pedition had been detached from the rest, sent up the Coosawhatchie, 
 and disembarked near the village of that name. There they encountered 
 five car loads of Eebel troops which were on their way from Savannah 
 to Pocotaligo. Colonel Barton, who commanded this portion of the ex- 
 pedition, immediately opened upon them with small arms and a boat 
 howitzer, killed and wounded about thirty, and then shelled the town. 
 The arrival of large masses of the enemy at the scene of conflict soon 
 compelled him to fall back to the steamer Planter and the gunboats 
 Vixen and Patroon, which had conveyed his forces thither. The entire 
 expedition reached Hilton Head on the morning of Friday, the 24th of 
 October, without having accomplished the chief purpose of its mission. 
 On the 30th of the same month, General 0. M. Mitchel, the efiSoient com- 
 mander of the Department of the South, died at Port Royal, South 
 Carolina, of yellow fever. 
 
 The most important operation of the Federal armies at this period, and 
 the chief interest in the popular mind concerning them, centred, during 
 the early portion of the month of November, 1862, around the army of 
 the Potomac which had fought at Antietam, and which still remained 
 under the command of General McClellan. But several weeks elapsed, 
 which were occupied in minor movements, in reconnoissances, and in 
 skirmishes, which, though not productive of very decisive results, may 
 here be briefly alluded to. At this period it was evident that the future 
 plans of the commanding generals of the two armies were incomplete or 
 undeveloped, and these explorations were necessary to obtain informa- 
 tion of the respective positions of the rival hosts, and to clear the way 
 for more decisive undertakings afterward. The country which was about 
 to become the scene of conflict was very intricate in its topographical 
 
374 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 peculiarities, marked by a number of mountain gaps, which it was neces- 
 sary to explore and to occupy in order to prevent the enemy from using 
 them as loopholes through which to make raids upon the rear of the 
 Federal army. 
 
 At this perod the Eebel army under Lee occupied the Shenandoah 
 valley. Ilis own headquarters were at Berryville. He had been rein- 
 forced by the troops who had recently evacuated Western Virginia. This 
 accession added very materially to his strength. The mountain range 
 which runs cast of the Shenaiidoah river was of great strategic impor- 
 tance to both armies. Tiie gaps which divided it, especially Snicker's, 
 Ashby's, and Thoroughfare gaps, from their location, could be used, if 
 possessed, to immense advantage. Hence, reconiioi-ssances were sent out 
 by General McClellan to explore and occupy them. One of these was 
 despatched to Snicker's gap on the 2d of November, under Generals 
 Hancock and Couch. As the Federal troops approached this place they 
 discovered that it was occupied by a considerable body of Rebels. Gen- 
 eral Hancock soon placed his men in position. General Caldwell was 
 posted with his brigade on the right, the left was occupied by the Irish 
 brigade, under Meagher, and the regiment of Colonel Zook. The bat- 
 teries were also planted in commanding positions. After a time the dark 
 masses of the enemy were seen approaching by the scouts who had been 
 sent to the summit, and were looking down into the valley which bloomed 
 below between the Blue Ridge and Winchester. Their cavalry were in 
 the van, then came the artillery, then their infantry. When they reached 
 a position within range of the Federal guns, tliey were saluted with ,a 
 heavy cannonade. Several discharges went directly through their columns. 
 The utmost confusion and panic immediately ensued among them, and 
 they quickly filed to the left and disappeared in the woods. The Federals 
 then advanced and took full possession of the gap at Snickerville and tiie 
 surrounding country. 
 
 At the same time a similar achievement was performed by Generals 
 PJeasonton and Averill, near Purcellville and Upperville, in the valley 
 of the Shenandoah. There the Federal troops encountered the renowned 
 Rebel cavalry under Stuart. The force of the enemy numbered four 
 thousand men, with two batteries. Various skirmi.shes took place, during 
 several days, between the parties. At length Pleasonton's cavalry' made 
 a resolute charge UDon the Rebels, and drove them several miles toward 
 Ashby's gap. The Federals pursued their advantage, and in the end 
 obtained possession of ttiis position after some resistance. On the 3d of 
 November General Sigel advanced with a portion of his corps, and occu- 
 pied Thoroughfare gap without much opposition from the enemy. On 
 the same day a reconnoissance was made from Fairfax beyond Bull Run, 
 by a portion of General Sickles' command, which revealed the fact that 
 
FEDERAL TRIUMPH AT MAYSVILLE, ARKANSAS. 375 
 
 the Eebels were posted there in force. It was also ascertained that a por 
 tion of them were then posted at Warrenton. 
 
 Such are some of the preliminary operations which were progressing, 
 in anticipation, doubtless, of another decisive engagement, when suddenly 
 the community was surprised by the announcement that General McClellan 
 had been removed from the command of the army of the Potomac; that 
 be had been ordered to report himself at Trenton, New Jersey ; and that 
 he had been superseded by General Burnside. This order was conveyed 
 to him by General Buckingham, and reached him at eleven o'clock at 
 night, at his headquarters in Salem, Virginia. The reasons assigned for 
 this act by the popular voice were the apparent tardiness and inefficiency 
 which had characterized the movements of General McOIellan since the 
 battle of Antietam. Winter was rapidly approaching; several months 
 of inactivity had elapsed after that battle was fought; the enemy had not 
 been pursued ; and to the unskilled eyes of a portion of the public, an 
 inexcusable delay, if not a treasonable complicity with the enemy, seemed 
 to disgrace the conduct of the commander of the Potomac. By this 
 class in the community the removal of McClellan, and the appointment 
 of Burnside in his place, were regarded as fortunate and propitious events. 
 General Burnside announced his acceptance of this difficult post to the 
 army in a brief address, characterized by great prudence and discretion. 
 He expressed his sentiments of regard and esteem for their late com- 
 mander, his diffidence in his own abilities, his confidence in the patriotism 
 and valor of the troops, and his firm hope of future success and victory. 
 
 While the two chief armies of the rival Republics were preparing for 
 their next colossal engagement, other conflicts of minor importance were 
 occurring elsewhere, to which we will now direct our attention. 
 
 On the 22d of October, General Blunt, who commanded a portion of 
 the army of the frontier, overtook a body of Confederate troops at "old 
 Fort Wayne," four miles from Maysville, Arkansas, and achieved a bril- 
 liant triumph. The Rebel army in that region had been divided into two 
 parts, one of which, commanded by Marmaduke and Rains, proceeded 
 southward toward Huntsville; the other, under Cooper and Standwaite, 
 advanced through Bentonville into the Indian territory. lu order to 
 confront this arrangement, the Federal forces were also separated into two 
 bodies. Those under Schofield and Totten started in pursuit of Marma- 
 duke and Rains. Those under Blunt followed after Cooper and Stand- 
 waite. General Salomon was left with his command, including the 
 batteries of Stockton and Blair, at Pea Ridge, in order to keep open the 
 communication of the Federals with the rear. 
 
 General Blunt led his troops rapidly in pursuit of the foe. When he 
 came up with them, near Maysville, he was accompanied only by a portion 
 of the second Kansas regiment and his body-guard, all of whom together 
 amounted to only six hundred men. Their artillery consisted of two 
 
376 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 small howitzers. General Blunt ordered his men to dismount and engage 
 the foe on foot. These had taken their position, and were prepared to 
 receive the attack. Their artillery numbered four large brass pieces, and 
 were advantageously posted. The action commenced between the artil- 
 lery. After this had progressed for some time, General Blunt ordered his 
 men to charge upon the enemy. These numbered at least three thousand ; 
 but so determined and ferocious was the assault of the brave Kansas 
 troops, that they broke under the shock, and fled in confusion, leaving 
 their four field-pieces in the possession of the Federals. The enemy then 
 retired under cover of the woods. At this stage of the combat the sixth 
 Kansas, headed by Colonel Judson, came galloping to the scene of battle. 
 They were followed by Rabb's battery, consisting of six pieces. These 
 were quickly unlimbered and opened upon the shelter of the foe. Then 
 came the eleventh Kansas, and afterward the first and third Indiana regi- 
 ments. These were all formed in line of battle, and the order given to 
 advance. The Rebels did not wait to receive the assault, but fled from 
 the woods, and made their retreat with such rapidity that the best efforts 
 of the Federals to overtake them proved unavailing. The result of the 
 brief but successful achievement was important. It delivered the south- 
 western portion of Missouri, and the northwestern part of Arkansas, from 
 the supremacy of the Rebel forces, and restored the influence of the Fed- 
 eral arms and Government. The loss on the part of the victors was slight, 
 being seven killed, fifteen wounded. 
 
 Not less heroic, though performed on a smaller scale, was the exploit 
 of Captain Ulric Dahlgren, of the staft" of General Sigel, who made a 
 recoimoissance with sixty men of the first Indiana cavalry into Fredericks- 
 burg, Virginia, on the 8th of November. It was ascertained that a con- 
 siderable body of Rebels were stationed at that place, forty miles distant, 
 consisting of five companies of the fifteenth, and three companies of the 
 ninth Virginia. On his march thither Captain Dahlgren was joined by a 
 detachment of the sixth Ohio cavalry, under Major Stedman. The entire 
 force crossed the Potomac at half-past seven on the morning of the 9th 
 of November, bravely entered the town, and soon encountered the enemy. 
 A desperate hand-to-hand combat ensued, which continued for some time. 
 The result was that the Rebels eventually gave way and retreated. The 
 Federals captured thirty-nine prisoners, their horses, accoutrements, a 
 Rebel banner, and several wagons filled with army cloth. The forces 
 then returned to camp with these trophies of their gallantry, having lost 
 but one man killed, three missing. On the same day General Stahel drove 
 in the Rebel pickets which had been stationed near Snicker's and Ash by 's 
 gaps, and succeeded in gaining important information respecting the po- 
 sition and movements of the enemy. 
 
 On the same day, the second brigade of General Doubleday's division, 
 commanded by Colonel nofTman, together with General Pleasonton's 
 
EXPEDITIONS IN NOYEMBER, 1862. 377 
 
 cavalry, charged upon the detachment of the Eebels posted at Philomel, 
 on the Winchester turnpike, and compelled them to retire beyond Upper- 
 ville. The enemy consisted of three thousand cavalry, commanded by 
 General Stuart. The Federal loss was four killed, eighteen wounded. 
 
 On the 9th of November, an expedition under General Kelley, com- 
 prising eight hundred men, left their camp at New Creek, Virginia, for the 
 purpose of attacking the Rebels under General Imboden, who was sta- 
 tioned four miles from Moorefield. When they reached the camp they 
 found that its occupants had deserted it. They were rapidly pursued, and 
 were overtaken fifteen miles beyond it. A skirmish ensued, which re- 
 sulted in the total rout of the foe, who scattered in every direction through 
 the adjacent mountains. The federals captured thirty-eight prisoners, 
 among whom were two captains and two lieutenants. The victors then 
 returned to their camp, with the loss of only one killed and two wounded. 
 
 On the 10th of November, General Foster organized an expedition for 
 the purpose of sailing up the Tar river, in North Carolina, and capturing 
 two Eebel regiments, with artillery, which had been sent to attack Ply- 
 mouth. A skirmish took place at Williamston on the way to Tarboro', 
 in which the Marine artillery, Belger's battery, a portion of the third New 
 York artillery, and the forty-fourth Massachusetts, were engaged. As 
 the Federals approached Hamilton, the enemy abandoned their intrench- 
 ments, nearly a mile in length, which they had erected on Eainbow bluffs. 
 These were soon occupied by the Federals. Several reconnoissances were 
 then sent out to ascertain the strength of the enemy, as it had been dis- 
 covered that they were receiving large reinforcements. The result was 
 that the general commanding was convinced of the impolicy of attacking 
 the foe with so great disadvantage in numbers, and ordered the expe- 
 dition to return to Newbera. The Federal loss during the operations of 
 this fruitless expedition, was six killed, ten wounded. 
 
 Nearly contemporaneous with these events, was the bold attempt made 
 by the Rebel forces under Generals Morgan and Forrest to capture the 
 city of Nashville, Tennessee. General Negley was the commandant of 
 the Federal troops appropriated to the defence of this place. The first 
 approach to it by the enemy was made by the cavalry of the famous 
 Morgan. He dashed into the town of Edgefield, captured the Federal 
 pickets posted there, fired the railroad depot, destroyed a number of cars, 
 and burned the tressel-work of the bridge of the Nashville and Louisville 
 railroad. While engaged in this work he was attacked by a portion of 
 Abbot's first Tennessee battery, commanded by Lieutenant Beach, and 
 compelled to retreat from the vicinity. 
 
 But the more formidable body of Rebels who purposed to capture the 
 capital of Tennessee, approached it at the same time in two bodies, on the 
 Murfreesboro' and Franklin turnpikes. They were commanded by Gen- 
 eral Forrest. General Negley having received information of his ap- 
 proach, advanced from the fortifications of Nashville, on the Franklin 
 
SIS TIIK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 road, to confront him. He was accompanied by Stokes' first Tennessee 
 cavalry, a portion of the seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, with four pieces 
 of artillery, the sixty-ninth Ohio, the seventy-eighth Pennsylvania, and 
 the fourteenth Michigan. When near Brown's creek, they encountered 
 the cavalry of the foe, accompanied by three field-pieces. General Neg- 
 ley immediately prepared to attack them. He posted his guns advan- 
 tageously, and ordered them to open on the enemy. He also directed his 
 cavalry to charge upon them. A contest of some energy and ferocity 
 then ensued, the result of which was that the Rebels eventually broke 
 and fled. The Union troops promptly pursued them, and continued the 
 chase to Brentwood, within four miles of Franklin, and seventeen from 
 Nashville. 
 
 While Negley was confronting the enemy on the Franklin road. Colonel 
 Roberts had advanced with another Union force from Nashville, on the 
 Murfreesboro' turnpike, to meet the Rebels approaching on that route. 
 He commanded a bi-igade of Palmer's division, consisting ch.iefly of troops 
 from Illinois. He soon met the approaching enemy, whose cavalry, im- 
 mediately upon perceiving him, advanced to the charge, with frantic yells. 
 At the same time the Rebels commenced to shell the Federals with their 
 guns, which they quickly posted on an eminence. Colonel Roberts re 
 sponded vigorously to the latter with Beebe's and Hewitt's Kentucky 
 batteries. The assault of the Rebel horse was bravely met, and effectually 
 broken, so that they soon fled in confusion. The Union troops of all 
 arms promptly pursued them, and the chase continued for some miles, as 
 far as Mill Creek hill, where it was abandoned. In this fight, the Rebels 
 lost four killed and seventeen wounded. The rout was complete of both 
 detachments of the force of the enemy ; and Nashville, whose inhabitants 
 had been suddenly overwhelmed with terror at the apprehenson of com- 
 ing horrors from the occupancy of the city by the Rebels, was relieved 
 from its temporary agonies by the bravery and energy with which the 
 invading troops were routed. The Federal loss on tliis occasion was sin- 
 gularly small. It consisted of one killed, five wounded, twelve missing. 
 This immunity is the more remarkable from the fact that the artillery of 
 the enemy numVjered twelve pieces. The entire Rebel loss was ten killed, 
 thirty wounded, forty prisoners, and the capture of several hundred valua- 
 ble horses by the Federals. 
 
 On the 24th of October, an expedition was sent from Carrollton to take 
 possession of Thibodeauxville, Louisiana. It was composed of the Reserve 
 Brigade of Federal troops in the Department of the Gulf, under General 
 Butler, and was commanded by Brigadier-General Weitzel. The troops 
 consisted of the eighth New Hampshire, thirteenth Connecticut, seventy- 
 fifth New York, and first Louisiana regiments. These were embarked on 
 board the transports at Carrollton, and commenced to ascend the Missis- 
 sippi. They were escorted by four gunboats, and were disembarked at 
 a point several miles below Donaldsonville. They marched through 
 
EXPEDITION TO THIBODEAUXVILLE, LOUISIANA. 319 
 
 tliis deserted town, and then proceeded down tbe Bayou Lafourche. As 
 the troops advanced, they were joined by multitudes of fugitive negroes 
 men, women, and children, who sought by this means to escape from their 
 servitude on the adjacent plantations. But most of these unfortunate and 
 half-starved creatures fell back by the wayside, from exhaustion and 
 fatigue, after accompanying the march for a few miles. The enemy were not 
 encountered in any strength until, after three days, the force reached the 
 vicinity of Labadieville, when an action of some importance took place. 
 Thompson's battery was sent forward to open with shot and shell upon 
 the enemy, who were discovered in the distance. Their batteries, which 
 were posted on both sides of the bayou, responded with spirit. The neces- 
 sary dispositions for attacking the foe were then made. The eighth New 
 Hampshire regiment was placed on the right. The twelfth and thirteenth 
 Connecticut were ordered to cross the bayou, with some artillery, and 
 there form in line of battle. The enemy opposed the crossing with a vig- 
 orous discharge of artillery ; but their resistance was fruitless. The eighth 
 New Hampshire immediately charged upon the enemy with great spirit, 
 through underbrush, over ditches and fences. The enemy here took to 
 flight; but their escape was prevented by the timely approach of the 
 twelfth Connecticut, who succeeded in flanking nearly the whole of their 
 left wing. This manoeuvre intercepted their flight, and resulted in the 
 capture of a large portion of them. During this operation Colonel Mc- 
 Pheeters, the commander of the Rebels, was slain. He was subsequently 
 buried in a field by the roadside, by his own men who were taken prisoners. 
 In the same spot were entombed Captains Ealston, Warren, and Kellahar, 
 of the eighth New Hampshire regiment, who fell fighting nobly for the 
 cause of the Union. The enemy still contended with desperation ; and 
 their artillery were served with such skill and precision that they pro- 
 duced considerable havoc in the Union lines. But after a struggle of sev- 
 eral hours' duration, they retired from the field leaving one of their pieces 
 in the hands of the Federals. The Union cavalry charged upon them as 
 they retreated. The victors then advanced and occupied the battle-field. 
 Later in the day they entered Thibodeauxville, and took possession of it. 
 A further engagement was expected to occur in this town ; but the enemy 
 had retired with no intention of renewing the contest. In their retreat 
 they partly destroyed the two railroad bridges which crossed Bayou La- 
 fourche and Bayou Terrebonne. The route which they took was toward 
 Berwick Bay. The Federal loss in this action was eighteen killed, seventy- 
 four wounded. But the whole number of prisoners taken by them, some 
 of whom were afterward paroled, was two hundred and eight, including 
 several officers. The result of the expedition was to re-establish the Fed- 
 eral authority throughout a considerable portion of the State of Louisiana. 
 Equally successful in its results was the expedition which started from 
 Lagrange, Tennessee, on the 8th of November, under the command of 
 General McPherson. Its purpose was to make a reconnoissance in force 
 
380 THE CIVIL WAR IN TEE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in the dirccticn of Holly Springs, Mississippi, and ascertain the strength 
 and movements of the enemy posted in that vicinity. The exploring force 
 consisted of the first, second, and third brigades of McPherson's division 
 of Grant's army, together with a body of cavalry. Having reached Old 
 Lamar, the enemy were discovered in the front waiting to intercept their 
 progress. The Federals were immediately drawn out in line of battle. 
 Skirmishers were thrown forward to feel the enemy, who were found 
 to be posted along the road to Holly Springs. The' action soon com- 
 menced with great energy, between the artillery and infantry of both sides. 
 During the progress of this contest in front, Colonel Lee was ordered to 
 make a detour with his cavalry along a road running southward, attain 
 the rear of the Rebels, and attack them. Tiiis order was obeyed with ad- 
 mirable promptness and skill. No sooner did the enemy perceive that 
 they were attacked both in front and rear, than they fled in disorder and 
 dismay. At that moment General McPherson directed several companies 
 to deploy on the right of his position and make a charge upon their flank. 
 This movement completed the rout of the enemy. A general chase of the 
 fugitives ensued, which continued as far as Coldwater creek. It was not 
 deemed expedient to advance nearer than that point, wliich was five miles 
 distant from the large body of troops who it was ascertained still occupied 
 and defended Holly Springs. The Rebel loss during the engagement was 
 twelve killed, fifteen wounded. The Union loss was insignificant, being 
 only two slightly wounded. A hundred and sixty-five prisoners were cap- 
 tured from the foe, among whom were ten officers. After this achieve- 
 ment the Federal troops returned without any further casualty to their 
 camp at Lagrange. 
 
 By the 20th of November, 1862, the immense army commanded by 
 General Burnside had been consolidated in the vicinity of Falmouth, op- 
 posite Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock. The most intense interest 
 of the ration was concentrated upon the movements of this formidable 
 force. Their acknowleged destination was known to be the Rebel capital. 
 Their advance would be the fourth attempt made by the most powerful 
 army of the Republic to capture and reduce the chief citadel of this Rebel- 
 lion, and the successful termination of its enterprise was confidently ex- 
 pected by millions of patriots, who knew the strength of the invading 
 army, who had boundless confidence in the valor and ability of its generals 
 and soldiers, and who had never despaired for one moment, even in the 
 darkest hour of preceding discomfitures, of the final subjugation of the 
 revolted States. 
 
 On the 21st of November, General Sumner, who commanded the right 
 grand division of the army, by order of General Burnside, sent General 
 Patrick, the provost marshal of his troops, with a requisition to the civil 
 authorities of Fredericksburg, demanding the immediate surrender of the 
 city to the Fefleral authorities. General Patrick crossed the Rappahan- 
 nock under a flag of truce. The written summons of General Sumner set 
 
OPERATIONS AT FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA. 381 
 
 forth that the city had been used by the enemy as a cover for their hostile 
 operations against the Federal army ; that shots had been fired from the 
 houses upon the Federal troops ; that their mills and manufactories had 
 furnished provisions and clothing to the Confederate soldiers ; that their 
 railroads had been employed to convey supplies to the Confederate armies ; 
 and that these outrages must be terminated by the surrender of the city 
 to Federal authority. Sixteen hours from the delivery of this letter were 
 allowed for the removal of women and children, the sick and wounded, 
 before the bombardment of the place would begin, if the requisition were 
 not complied with. 
 
 This communication was conveyed to General Longstreet, who com- 
 manded the Rebels at that point. In a short time an answer was returned 
 apparently from the municipal authorities, but really under the dictation 
 of that general, to the effect that the injuries complained of should be re- 
 dressed, so far as the firing of pickets, and the furnishing of supplies to 
 the Confederate army were concerned ; but that the possession of the city 
 by the Federal forces would be resisted to the last extremity. After the 
 receipt of this spirited reply, an immediate advance upon the city wag 
 confidently expected; but the events which ensued illustrated in a remark- 
 able manner, the uncertainty which inevitably attends all military opera- 
 tions, even when connected with the designs of the most prudent and 
 patriotic of commanders. General Burnside was utterly unable to execute 
 his threat against the recreant city. The neglect or inefficiency of others 
 completely paralyzed his efforts. It was found, upon inquiry, that the 
 pontoon bridges, by which his army must needs cross the Rappahannock, 
 had not arrived, notwithstanding the fact that express orders had been 
 given by the proper authorities to that effect some time previously, and 
 although General Burnside had been assured by the same authorities that 
 the bridges would be ready for his use at the time he might require them. 
 It was not until the 11th of December, that the crossing of his army was 
 eventually effected. During this long interval the commanders of the 
 Confederate troops had ample time to concentrate their forces in the 
 vicinity of Fredericksburg, to erect the most formidable breastworks, 
 and to mature every possible preparation with which to receive and 
 destroy the Federal army when they advanced to the attack. The Rebel 
 generals improved this advantage with the greatest diligence and with 
 consummate skill. Robert E. Lee was the most eminent among them both 
 in rank and in genius. He was assisted by Jackson, Longstreet, the two 
 Hills, and many others, who had already won by their perverted zeal 
 and talents a distinguished name in the annals of the Rebellion. But 
 before we proceed to describe the colossal and sanguinary contest which 
 subsequently took place between the flower of the Federal and Confed- 
 erate armies assembled at Fredericksburg, we will notice some preliminary 
 events which demand our attention. 
 
/ 
 3S2 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 ASSEMBI.INO OF THE FEDERAL CONGRESS, DETEMBER IsT, 1862 — ANNUAL MESSAGE OP PBESf- 
 DENT LINCOLN — ITS CIIARAOTERISTICS — ITS DISCUSSION OF TUB NATIONAL FINANCES — OF 
 TUE EMANCIPATION OF THE SLATES — PLAN PROPOSED BY THE PRESIDENT — OFFICIAL RB- 
 PORT OF THE SECRETARY OF TUE TREASURY — ITS LEADING FEATURES — FINANCIAL DETAIL3 
 — SKIRMISH AT FRANKLIN, ON THE BLACKWATER, VIRGINIA — CAPTURE OF UNION TROOPS 
 AT HARTSVILLE, KENTUCKY — GENERAL GEARy's RECONNOISSANCE TO CHARLESTOWN AND 
 WINCHESTER — SURRENDER OF WINCHESTER — STUARt'S RAID ON THE TOWNS OF DUMFRIES 
 AND OCCOQUAN — EXPEDITION OF GENERAL WASHBURNE FROM HELENA TO COFFEEVILLK, 
 
 MISSISSIPPI ITS RESULTS, AND RETURN THE CAPTURE OF THE STEAMSHIP ARIEL BY TUB 
 
 PIRATE ALABAMA — INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH IT — HER FINAL RELEASE — DEPARTURE OF 
 THE banks' expedition FROM NEW YORK — INFAMOUS FRAUDS PERPETRATED UPON THE 
 GOVERNMENT — ARRIVAL OF THE EXPEDITION AT NEW ORLEANS — GENERAL BANKS SUCCEEDS 
 GENERAL BUTLER — EFFECT OF BUTLER's ADMINISTRATION — RESULTS OP TUE BLOCKADE OF 
 TUE SOUTHERN PORTS. 
 
 The third session of the thirty-eighth Congress of the United States 
 commenced at Washington on December 1st, 1862. A full attendance of 
 the members of both houses graced the splendid halls in which they con- 
 vened. The condition of the country was in many respects critical ; and 
 tiie eyes of a loyal nation were directed with eager interest at that mo- 
 ment toward their capital. A still intenser feeling was experienced in 
 regard to the spirit and measures which might be disclosed in the annual 
 message of President Lincoln. This important document was sent to 
 the Senate and the House immediately after their organization, and be- 
 came at once the subject of universal scrutiny and attention. It was 
 characterized by that sound sense, that earnest and devoted love of country, 
 that simplicity, directness, and clearness, which adorned all the official 
 ])roductions of that functionary. His message on this occasion discussed 
 the usual topics which appertained to the administration; but it dwelt 
 with special minuteness and force upon two grand cardinal themes, which 
 exerted a vital influence upon the progress of the wa-" and on the destiny 
 of the nation. These were the regulation of the finances, and the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves. 
 
 In regard to the national finances, the President set forth, with great 
 truth, that the immense expenditure involved in the prosecution of the 
 war, both on land and on sea, had been met with promptitude, and that 
 the public credit had been amply sustained. But the continuance of hos- 
 tilities in future, and the accompanying expense, demanded the serious 
 attention of the national legislature. The suspension of specie payment 
 by the banks throughout the country, soon after the commencement of the 
 Eebellion, rendered it necessary that immense issues of United States 
 
ANNUAL MESSAGE OP PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 383 
 
 notes should be made. These notes had been rendered more valuable and 
 reliable by the judicious action of Congress, making them receivable for 
 the payment of troops, for loans, for internal duties, and as legal tenders 
 for other debts, thereby saving large sums to the community in discounts 
 and in exchanges. The President, however, contended that a return to 
 specie payment should be kept in view. But he regarded it as doubtful 
 whether a sufficiently large amount of United States notes could be per- 
 manently maintained to serve as a universal equivalent for coin, and pay- 
 able therein. He therefore recommended as a remedy for this unavoida- 
 ble difficulty the organization of banking associations, under a general act 
 of Congress, to which the Federal Government might furnish circulating 
 notes ou the security of the United States bonds deposited in the Treasury. 
 These notes being always convertible into coin, would protect the com- 
 munity from the evils of a vitiated currency, would facilitate commerce by 
 cheap exchanges, and would diminish that part of the public debt which 
 was employed as securities. The present condition of the Treasury was 
 favorable. During the preceding year the virtual receipts had been 
 $487,788,324 97. The entire expenditure in that period had been 
 $474,744,788 16, thus leaving a small balance in the Treasury. So far 
 the Government of the United States had sustained the colossal burden 
 imposed upon it by the vast expenditures involved in the war with mar- 
 velous vigor, prudence, and success. 
 
 The President proceeded to say that a much more difficult and anom- 
 alous question than that of the national finances demanded the attention 
 of the legislature. The irrepressible negro and his future fate had assumed 
 more than their usual importance in connection with the prosecution of 
 the war, and that great enigma must, if possible, soon be solved by the 
 assembled wisdom of the nation. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln then referred to his preceding proclamation in regard to 
 "compensated emancipation." He affirmed and demonstrated that dis- 
 union was no adequate remedy for the difficulties connected with the des- 
 tiny of the slave. He proved that there were inseparable objections to 
 the division of the Union ; that the geographical features of the country 
 forbade it; that the outlets of the Mississippi river, by an eternal law of 
 nature, belonged in common and forever to all the inhabitants of that great 
 valley through whose capacious and verdant bosom the father of waters 
 rolled the mighty burden of his flood to the distant ocean ; that there was 
 no line, either straight or crooked, which the ingenuity of man could devise 
 that would form a propitious boundary-line between the two hostile sec- 
 tions ; that even the institution of slavery itself would be damaged and 
 weakened by the establishment of such a dividing line; that disunion 
 would entail countless evils and miseries on both communities ; that slavery 
 was the chief producing cause of the Eebellion ; that the extinction of 
 slavery would inflict a death-blow upon that Rebellion, and that there was 
 
384 THE CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a plan of gradual, prudent, equitable emancipation, whicli, if adopted, 
 would remove this tremendous evil gently, propitiously, and efficiently. 
 That plan he then proceeded to reveal, to expound, and to commend. It 
 was as follows : 
 
 He proposed so to amend the Federal Constitution that every State in 
 which slavery existed at that time, which should abolish the same within 
 its limits at any period before the 1st of January, A. D. 1900, should re- 
 ceive compensation therefor from the Federal Government ; that the Presi- 
 dent should deliver to every such State bonds of the United States, bear- 
 ing interest, in payment for each slave proved to have been living therein 
 by the eighth census of the United States ; these bonds to be delivered by 
 instalments, or in one parcel, at the completion of the abolition of slavery 
 within such State, according as the same may have been efiected, gradu- 
 ally or immediately. Should any State, after having abolished slavery, 
 and after receiving these bonds, introduce it again within its limits, the 
 bonds delivered to it should be returned to the United States, and be 
 valueless. The President suggested further, that all slaves whom the 
 chances and vicissitudes of the war had at any time enfranchised should 
 continue to be free, though their former masters, if they had remained 
 loyal to the Union, should be compensated for their losses in a reasonable 
 manner. The President then set forth the advantages of this plan with 
 great earnestness. He said the measure was to be made constitutional by 
 a formal amendment of the Federal Constitution. To accomplish this it 
 is necessary that the concurrence of two thirds of the members of Con- 
 gress, and afterward of three fourths of the States should be obtained. 
 The approval of three fourths of the States would involve the concurrence 
 and consent of seven of the slave States. If they would co-operate now, 
 that act would effectually terminate the war, and would restore the Union, 
 lie concluded this remarkable message with the following appeal, which 
 was as impressive as it was original, both in thought and in language : 
 " The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The 
 occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. 
 As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. "We must dis- 
 enthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. We cannot escape 
 history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered 
 in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare 
 one or another of us. The fiery trial through which \ve pass will light us 
 down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. The way is plain, 
 peaceful, generous, just — a way which if followed, the world will forever 
 applaud, and God must forever bless." 
 
 This message was received by both houses of Congress with that respect 
 which was djc to it, and by the nation with very general admiration and 
 applause. Even that portion of the loyal community who disapproved of 
 any action on ihe subject of slavery, however moderate and conservative 
 
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OP THE TREASURY. 
 
 385 
 
 it might be, commended the unquestionable honesty, sincerity, and patri- 
 otism which illumined and adorned every line of this production. 
 
 Of the official reports made to the President by the members of the 
 Cabinet on this occasion, the most remarkable was that of Mr. Chase, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury. It displayed that profound financial ability 
 for which that officer had already become distinguished. It set forth 
 among other topics the state of the national finances as they then existed ; 
 and proceeded to the much more difficult task of expounding a method by 
 which the immense exigencies of the future might be met. If the war 
 continued until July 1st, 1863, a deficit of about two hundred and seventy- 
 sevefl millions of dollars would exist over the receipts from existing cus- 
 toms, excise, lands, and other income. If the war should be prolonged 
 until July, 1864, a deficit of about six hundred and twenty-three millions 
 over all existing revenues would have accumulated, and must be provided 
 for. To accomplish this herculean task, Mr. Chase recommended the adop- 
 tion of two important measures. The first was the passage of a general 
 law authorizing the organization of banking associations. The other was 
 the acquisition of money by loans, without increasing the issue of the 
 United States notes beyond the amount fixed by law, unless an imperative 
 exigency should demand it. This report indicated the line of policy which 
 Mr. Chase pursued more minutely, and to its practical results, during 
 the progress of the succeeding session, and was received by the Presi- 
 dent and by the members of the Federal Legislature with respect and at- 
 tention. 
 
 While the several departments of the Government at Washington were 
 engaged in the performance of their respective duties, the active opera- 
 tions of the war progressed in the field, and battles and slaughters still 
 continued to occur between the armed champions and enemies of the 
 Union. 
 
 On the 2d of December, 1862, a spirited skirmish took place near 
 Franklin, on the Blackwater river, Virginia. On that day a detachment 
 of Federal troops was sent out from Norfolk under Colonel Spear. It 
 consisted of the eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, four regiments of infantry, 
 and a battery of artillery. Their orders were to proceed to a point within 
 three miles of the Blackwater, as far as a building known as the Beaver 
 Dam church, from which videttes should be sent out to reconnoitre the 
 adjacent country, in which the enemy were known to have been posted 
 in some strength. This order was promptly executed. The videttes soon 
 encountered a body of Rebels who were out on a foraging expedition. 
 They were the second Georgia regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Towne. A brisk firing commenced, and the Federal videttes immediately 
 sent to the main army for reinforcements. Three companies of the cavalry 
 under Major Stratton were, in reponse to his command, ordered forward 
 at a gallop. They soon reached the scene of conflict. A desperate com- 
 25 
 
•8« 
 
 THK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 bat then ensued. The Federal troops charged upon the enemy with great 
 gallantry, and after a short collision the enemy broke and fled in confu- 
 sion. The Federals then pursued the fugitives with cheers. They quickly 
 overtook them, and cutting to right and left with their sabres among their 
 disorderly masses, slew many of them. The cha-se was continued for two 
 miles, with great excitement and disorder, until both sides reached the 
 vicinity of Franklin, where the Rebels had erected strong fortifications. 
 It then became expedient for the victors to retire and to return to Norfolk. 
 The results of this engagement were the capture of twenty -two prisoners, 
 two pieces of rocket battery, forty muskets; and ten horses. The most 
 singular feature in the whole expedijtion was that not a single person on 
 the Federal side received the slightest injury, although the fighting was 
 at one time quite severe. 
 
 Very different was the result of a sudden surprise and assault which 
 was inflicted by the Rebel guerrilla Morgan upon the thirty-ninth brigade 
 of Union troops of Dumont's division, at Hartsville, Kentucky. These 
 forces were commanded by Colonel Moore, and consisted of the hundred 
 and fourth Illinois, the hundred and sixth and hundred and eighth Ohio, 
 a small portion of the second Indiana cavalry, and Nicklen's battery. 
 They were surprised by an unexpected charge at daylight on the 7th of 
 December. Morgan's troops consisted of three regiments of cavalry and 
 two of infantry. The fight continued over an hour. A portion of the 
 Federal troops, notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances of the case, 
 fought bravely. But the remainder did not support their comrades with 
 any alacrity, and at length broke up in confusion. The result was dis- 
 astrous to the entire force, who were, after a sbdrt fight, surrounded and 
 compelled in the end to surrender to the enemy. Nearly the whole of the 
 brigade were captured. The enemy then burnt the Federal camp and 
 took possession of the teams and trains of tlie brigade. The loss of the 
 Union troops during the battle was sixty killed and wounded. After the 
 engagement closed, and when the disgrace and injury were complete, a 
 body of troops under Colonels Ilarlin and Mellen were sent in pursuit of 
 Morgan; but he had already crossed the Cumberland river with his 
 usual promptitude of movement and was safely be3'ond their reach. 
 
 In the army of the Potomac there were some skirmishes and actions 
 of no great moment, but which displayed in a creditable light the courage 
 and daring of the Union officers. General Geary, commanding a division 
 in Slocum's (twelfth) army corps, had throughout the war shown himself 
 a skilful and able pfiicer, and wherever he had been entrusted with re- 
 sponsibility, had acquitted himself with great credit. The corpf to which 
 he belonged had formed the rear-guard in crossing the Potomao-sobsequeut 
 to the battle of Antietam, and his divi-sion was for some time assigned to 
 garrison duty at Uarper's Ferry and the fortifications in its vicinity. On 
 Friday, December 2d, he was ordered to make a reconnoissance in force. 
 
SURRENDER OP WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA. 38t 
 
 with a body of three thousand infantry, twelve pieces of artillery, and a 
 squadron of cavalry, toward Winchester, Virginia. 
 
 At Charlestown, Virginia, they encountered a small force of Rebel 
 cavalry, who were speedily routed and fled toward Winchester. General 
 Geary then ordered his troops to move forward, and at a point two miles 
 beyond Berryville, they encountered the cavalry in still larger force, and 
 a short action ensued in which four Rebels were killed, twenty wounded, 
 and seven horses disabled. 
 
 Information was received the next morning that the Rebel General A. 
 P. Hill was at Winchester with fifteen thousand men. General Geary was 
 hardly willing to risk an engagement with a force five times as large as 
 his own, yet he was not disposed to return without ascertaining more defi- 
 nitely the position and strength of the enemy. He accordingly moved 
 only a few miles on the 3d, and camped at night on the banks of Opequan 
 creek, having skirmished through the day with the Rebel cavalry. 
 
 On the 4th he pushed toward Winchester. In sight of it, he found a 
 line of Rebel cavalry drawn up to dispute his entrance into the town. He 
 ascertained that the Rebel forces, except the cavalry, had left the city, 
 and sent a flag of truce to the mayor demanding an unconditional surren- 
 der of the place. In a short time he received a reply from Major Myers, 
 the commander of the Rebel cavalry, offering to evacuate the city if an 
 hour's delay were granted for such non-combatants as wished to leave the 
 place. This General Geary refused to grant, and informed Major Myers 
 that he should move immediately upon the town, and the citizens would 
 not be allowed to leave, but would not be disturbed unless they fired upon 
 his troops. The Rebel major, however, had not waited for a reply, but 
 had left with his cavalry with all haste, and the bearer of the flag of truce 
 went on and found the mayor of the city, who surrendered at once. The 
 small-pox was prevalent in the town, and General Geary's troops did not 
 enter it ; but the General and his staff took possession of the forts and the 
 town, and paroled one hundred and twenty-five Rebel soldiers who were 
 sick or wounded in the hospitals, and having driven off ;.he Rebel cavalry 
 by a few well-directed shells, he returned with his troops to Bolivar 
 Heights, Harper's Ferry. 
 
 General Geary soon after moved with his division southward, and on 
 the 11th of December occupied Leesburg without resistance, and a few days 
 later took possession of a part of the road from Aquia creek to Alexan- 
 dria, guarding the prominent points from Fairfax Court House to Dum- 
 fries. On the 27th of December, the Rebel General J. E. B. Stuart, at the 
 head of about three thousand five hundred cavalry and a battery of artil- 
 lery, crossed the Rappahannock for a raid through the Union lines. His 
 first point of attack was Dumfries, where were four regiments (three of 
 infantry and one of cavalry) and a section of artillery, belonging to Gen- 
 eral Geary's division, but under the immediate command of Colonel 
 
388 'iDB CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Charles Candy.. The enemy surprised and captured the pickets, about 
 fifty in number, aad thea opened upon the town with artillery, and made 
 repeated charges upon the Union troops, but were repelled with great 
 promptness and vigor. The fight lasted from two P. M. till eight P. M., 
 when, after a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to flank the Union force, 
 the Rebels retired, discomfited and beaten, to theNeobsco river, four miles 
 above Dumfries. 
 
 General Geary was promptly notified of the movements of Stuart, and 
 moved the same evening (December 27th) from Fairfax Court House 
 to Wolf Run Shoals, with the remainder of his division, and the next 
 morning crossed the Occoquan and advanced. General Williams' division, 
 of the twelfth army corps, following several miles in his rear. The Rebels 
 left their camp on the Neobsco early on the morning of the 28tb, and 
 moved on the road from Brentsville to Occoquan, and on their way sur- 
 prised the second and seventeenth Pennsylvania cavalry, taking nearly 
 one hundred of them prisoners, and killing and wounding about twenty. 
 Some of these routed cavalrymen took refuge in General Geary's lines. 
 Ten minutes later he came up and took position near the Brentsville road, 
 and threw out a company of cavalry as a bait to draw the Rebels under 
 his fire. In a few minutes about five hundred of Hampton's Legion 
 charged down the hill upon them, firing and yelling like demons. The 
 infantry opened their lines to admit the retreating Union cavalry, then 
 closed and presented a solid front, and greeted the advancing foe with 
 volleys of musketry and a storm of shell. At this unexpected reception 
 they turned and fled in confusion, having lost twenty killed and 
 ■wounded in a very few moments. They formed again, with reinforce- 
 ments, in a wood not far distant, but were again driven back and across 
 the Occoquan. 
 
 Nearly contemporary with the occurrence of this engagement was the 
 expedition which was made from Helena into the State of Mississippi, 
 under the command of General Washburne. The purpose of it was to 
 reach Cofl:eeville, in that State, attack and rout a detachment of Rebels 
 posted there, and destroy the bridges and telegraph offices which they 
 used in furtherance of their purposes. The troops appropriated to this 
 service were some cavalry, chiefly from Illinois and Iowa, numbering 
 about nineteen hundred men, and six hundred infantry. They left 
 Helena on the 27th of November, having embarked on boats provided for 
 their conveyance. They landed at Delta, and immediately commenced 
 their march into the interior of the country. On the first day they ad- 
 vanced thirty-five miles, as far as the junction of the Tallahatchie river 
 with the Coldwater. On the next day they succeeded in crossing the 
 former stream, and resumed their march toward Grenada. No incident 
 of importance occurred until they reached the vicinity of the Central Mis- 
 sissippi railroad. Major Buje was then despatched with the ninth Illinois 
 
CAPTURE OP THE ARIEL BY THE PIRATE ALABAMA. 389 
 
 cavalry, and a hundred men armed with carbines, crow-bars, and axes, to 
 destroy the telegraph and the bridges connected with it. This service 
 they performed with energy and success. The expedition then proceeded 
 toward Coffeeville. At Mitchell's Cross-Eoads they encountered a detach- 
 ment of Eebel troops, and a skirmish ensued, in which the latter soon 
 gave way and retreated in disorder. The march was then continued 
 through Panola and Oakland. The enemy, numbering fifteen hundred, 
 evacuated the latter place as the Federals entered it. They were rapidly 
 pursued, and beyond the town a brisk engagement occurred. The Rebels 
 fought for a while with considerable resolution. They succeeded in cap- 
 turing one of the Federal guns which had been imprudently posted too 
 far in the advance. Some Qnion soldiers were wounded. The loss of the 
 enemy in killed and wounded was more severe, as a number were after- 
 ward found in the houses adjacent to the battle-field. They fled toward 
 Coffeeville after having fought bravely for some time. At this point 
 General Washburne obtained intelligence that a large force under Price 
 had assembled at Coffeeville, much superior in numbers to his own troops. 
 He therefore deemed it expedient not to advance further. At this period 
 also he received a despatch from General Hovey, to the effect that, as the 
 chief object of the expedition had been accomplished, he should imme- 
 diately return. The order was instantly obeyed ; and after a laborious 
 journey of several days through a country which had been rendered ex- 
 tremely difficult by the continual rains which fell, the expedition reached 
 Helena by the same route in safety. It had been absent six days, and had 
 traversed two hundred miles on land. 
 
 On the 7th of December the Confederate piratical vessel Alabama, 
 achieved another of her signal successes upon the high seas. As the mao-- 
 nificent steamship Ariel was sailing from New York, bound to Aspinwall, 
 when oft' Cape May, near the eastern extremity of Cuba, she had the mis- 
 fortune to come within sight of this formidable vessel. She was crowded 
 with passengers enroute for California. She soon discovered the approach 
 of her unwelcome visitor, and increased her speed to the utmost of her 
 ability. Though she did her best it soon became evident that the superior 
 sailing qualities of the Alabama rendered escape impossible. The latter 
 gained upon her rapidly, and at length fired a blank shot at her. To this 
 the Ariel paid no attention. A more imperative summons soon followed. 
 She fired two shotted guns. One ball passed over the hurricane deck, and 
 the other struck her foremast and severed it. The Ariel then promptly 
 hove to, as the next salute would have been a full broadside. A boat 
 soon reached the vessel, which afterward conveyed Captain A. G. Jones, 
 her commander, on board the Alabama. Captain Semmes met him on 
 deck, and informed him that his ship was a prizp ; that the passengers 
 would be landed at a small settlement on the eastern end of Cuba, and 
 that the vessel should be destroyed. Captain Jones protested against the 
 
390 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cruelty of such a course to the large number of passengers, comprising 
 many women and children, who were on board. Two days elapsed 
 during which time negotiations progressed between the two commanders 
 in regard to the destination of the Ariel. In this interval her sails were 
 thrown overboard, and her steam valve taken away, to prevent her 
 escape in case the Alabama should give chase to any other vessel. At 
 length Captain Semmes determined to put the passengers on shore at 
 Kingston, Jamaica, and both vessels were headed for that port. But the 
 appeals of Captain Jones eventually prevailed, and Captain Semmes 
 finally agreed to take bonds for the value of the vessel and cargo, and re- 
 lease them. At eleven o'clock at night, on the 9th of December, the 
 arrangements were completed. Securities were entered into by Captain 
 Jones for the sum of two hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars, 
 payable to Jeflerson Davis immediately after peace was declared. The 
 money in the ship, amounting to nine thousand five hundred dollars, was 
 plundered by the pirate. A hundred and twenty United States marines 
 were captured and paroled. All the arms and cannon on board were 
 taken, but the private property of the passengers was respected and un- 
 disturbed. It must also be admitted that the conduct of the officers and 
 crew of the cruiser toward those on board the Ariel, during the several 
 days of her detention, was courteous and gallant in the extreme. All the 
 details of the capitulation and release having been arranged, the Ariel re- 
 sumed her voyage to Aspinwall, and the Alabama sailed away to resume 
 her lawless depredations on the high seas. 
 
 Raphael Semmes, who had thus distinguished himself by his energy 
 and rapacity in behalf of the Confederate Government, was born in 
 Maryland, and entered the United States navy in April, 1826. He 
 obtained the rank of lieutenant in February, 1837. During this long 
 interval he had studied law in Cincinnati, and entered upon its practice 
 in that city. He served two years in the Federal navy under Commodore 
 Dallas, in 1838 and 1839. Subsequently he obtained the post of second 
 in command of the brig Somers, in which the famous tragedy of Slidell- 
 Mackenzie was enacted. After the termination of that voyage, Semmes 
 became a resident of Mobile, and there resumed the practice of the law. His 
 success in this profession was limited, and he eventually obtained from 
 Mr. Buchanan the position of inspector of the light-house at Mobile. He 
 was soon afterward transferred to "Washington as secretary of the light- 
 house board. Secretary Dix dismissed him from this office at a later 
 date for frauds upon the Federal Treasury. He remained unemployed 
 until the outbreak of the Rebellion, when he tendered his services to the 
 Confederate Government, was accepted, and placed in command of the 
 Alabama. 
 
 During the month of November, 1862, extensive preparations wera 
 made in the city of New York to equip and send forth an expedition 
 
INFAMOUS FRAUDS UPON THE GOVERNMENT. 391 
 
 under the orders of Geaeral Banks, whose purpose and destination were 
 as yet unknown. This expedition started from that port on the 4th of 
 December. No warliise undertaking was ever entered upon by the 
 United States, during the progress of any war, in which the villainy of 
 those with whom the Government had negotiated for transports and 
 supplies was as excessive and unblushing, as ruinous to the interests of 
 the public, or as dangerous to the lives of hundreds of the brave defenders 
 of the Union, as in this instance. Jn purchasing vessels for the transport 
 of the troops, old and rotten boats, which had long been thrown aside as 
 wholly unfit even for the service required by commerce along the 
 seaboard and on the inland lakes, were sold at enormous prices to the 
 agents of the Government, under the pretence that they were perfectly 
 secure and able to encounter all the perils and storms of the deep. As 
 might be expected, tnany of these came very near being wrecked ; and all 
 on board of them would have perished had they not in some cases been 
 taken off by other vessels, and in others had they not put into some port 
 before half the voyage was completed. Nearly twenty transports out of 
 the whole number which conve3'ed the expedition were ultimately found 
 to have been worthless, unseaworthy, and infamous impositions upon the 
 Government. The remainder of the vessels reached their destination on 
 the 14th of December. New Orleans proved to be the point for which 
 the expedition had been destined, and its ultimate purpose was conjec- 
 tured to be to proceed up the Mississippi, at some future period, to assist 
 in the attack and capture of Vicksburg. On arriving at New Orleans, 
 General Banks superseded General Butler in the command of that im- 
 portant post. The latter welcomed his successor heartily, and gave him 
 all the information and advice which he might desire for his guidance in 
 the future performance of his duties. Five thousand of the troops who 
 accompanied the new commandant were landed at New Orleans, to be 
 ready for immediate operation.^!. He issued a proclamation, in which he 
 set forth the motives which should induce the people of that region to 
 remain loyal to the Federal Government, and announced his determina- 
 tion to secure the rights and just interests of all the citizens. 
 
 It must be admitted that the administration of General Butler had 
 been eminently vigorous and efficient. He had indeed performed some 
 acts which the inhabitants of the Confederate States stigmatized as 
 barbarous and inhuman ; but these were regarded by General Butler as 
 unavoidable and imperative under the peculiar circumstances of the case 
 One thing, however, was perfectly evident, that the measures which be 
 had adopted and executed resulted in the complete subjection of the in- 
 habitants of that region to the Federal Government, so far as outward 
 conformity was concerned, whatever the real sentiments and predilections 
 were which many of them may have secretly cherished. After resigning 
 
892 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his important trust into the hands of his successor, General Butler 
 returned to the North* 
 
 * The blockade of the southern ports, which had now been maintained for nearly 
 two years, had produced very perceptible effects upon the commercial and social con- 
 dition of the inhabitants of the Rebel States. The truth of this assertion will be 
 demonstrated by an allusion to the prices of the necessaries of life which prevailed at 
 this period among them. We may instance the figures which ruled at Charleston, 
 South Carolina, as a sample of what generally existed. Flour was thirty-six dollars 
 per barrel, corn two dollars and fifty cents per bushel, potatoes four dollars per 
 bushel, coffee two dollars and seventy-five cents per pound, common calico two 
 dollars per yard, shoes sixteen dollars per pair, butter one dollar and thirty cents per 
 pound, salt forty-seven dollars per bushel, wood twenty-two dollars per cord. Such 
 are some of the items which demonstrate that the Federal blockade had been suffi- 
 cieutly " ^ective." 
 
LAYING OF THE PONTOONS AT FKEDERICKSBURG. 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 TEE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBDRG — THE LATINO OP THE PONTOON BRIDGES — THE P0VTONIER8 
 DRIVEN AWAY — RENEWAL OF THE ATTEMPT — ITS SECOND AND THIRD FAILURE — BOMBARD- 
 MENT OF FREDERICKSBURG — THE BRIDGES ARE CONSTRUCTED — THE FEDERAL TROOPS CROSS 
 THE RAPPAHANNOCK — PREPARATIONS FOR TUB CONFLICT — STRENGTH OF THE WORKS OF 
 THE REBELS — SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF THEIR POSITION AND NUMBERS — COMMENCEMENT 
 OF THE ENGAGEMENT BY GENERAL FRANKLIN — INCIDENTS OP THE BATTLE ON THE LEFT 
 WING THE RESULTS — THE CONTEST ON THE RIGHT AND THE CENTRE — MOVEMENTS OF GEN- 
 ERALS MEADE AND GIBBON— HEROISM OF SOMNER — IMPREGNABLE POSITION OF THE ENEMY 
 
 A GALLANT CHARGE — HEAVY LOSSES OF THE REBELS — OPERATIONS IN THE CENTRE UNDER 
 GENERAL HOOKER — PLAN OF WILCOX AND BURNS — GENERAL RESULTS OF THE ENGAGE- 
 MENT — FEDERAL AND REBEL LOSSES — SKETCH OF GENERAL FRANKLIN — OF GENERALS JACK- 
 SON AND BAYARD — EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE BATTLE — RESIGNATION OP MR. SEWARD— 
 POPULAR CENSURE — GENERAL BURNSIDE ASSUMES THE RESPONSIBILITY — THE CABINET 
 REMAINS UNCHANGED — BATTLE AT CAVE HILL, IN ARKANSAS — FEDERAL VICTORY. 
 
 At four o'clock in the morning of the tenth of December, 1862, the 
 tardy pontoon trains, upon which the army commanded by General Burn- 
 side was to cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, proceeded to the 
 banks of the stream. They were in charge of the seventeenth and fiftieth 
 New York engineers, and under the orders of General Woodbury. The 
 operations commenced with an attempt to throw these bridges across the 
 river, two of which were opposite Fredericksburg, the third at a point 
 where the railroad bridge had formerly existed. The weather was fa- 
 vorable to the success of the enterprise, for a heavy fog concealed the 
 labors of the pontoniers from the observation of the enemy. One half 
 of the stream had been spanned, when the mist partly cleared away, and 
 revealed the progress which had been made to the foe. An attack was 
 instantly commenced upon the Federal workmen in the stream by the 
 Rebel sharpshooters, who were posted in rifle-pits along the opposite 
 shore, and from the windows of the adjacent houses. This fire was so 
 brisk and deadly that the pontoniers were compelled to abandon their 
 work, and retreat to the laud, beyond the reach of the enemy. 
 
 After a short interval, the fugitives were again formed and sent back 
 to resume their work. The Rebels immediately commenced the attack, 
 which proved to be more formidable and destructive than before. They 
 swarmed in large numbers on the opposite bank, and in the streets of the 
 town, and soon the boats and planks were riddled with their shot, and 
 many of the pontoniers were slain. Again they were compelled to retire, 
 and it was evident that it would be almost impossible to construct the 
 bridges in the face of the foe. The bombardment of the town across the 
 stream was then determined on. The batteries of the ninth corps, com- 
 manded by Edwards, Benjamin, and Miihlenburg, together with others on 
 
394 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the right and left of the town, began to throw their shot and shell into 
 the houses occupied by the Rebel riflemen. These were soon demolished. 
 The bombardment continued from seven until one o'clock, and much 
 damage was done to the edifices of that ancient city. During the prog- 
 ress of this assault the third attempt was made to construct the bridges. 
 But the enemy had not been dislodged from their position in the rifle- 
 pits, and from these concealed retreats the attack was again continued 
 with destructive effect. After a short time the whole party was ordered 
 back from the pontoons. To drive these sharpshooters from their rifle- 
 l)its was indispensable, and in the afternoon of the 11th, volunteers were 
 called for, and portions of the seventh Michigan and nineteenth Massa- 
 chusetts volunteered, and crossed over in pontoon-boats under a heavy 
 fire, and charging upon the sharpshooters, drove them from their pits, and 
 secured the laying of the bridges without further interruption. In this 
 ttisk they were assisted by the eighty-ninth New York regiment, under 
 the command of Colonel Fairchild. . . i ; , 
 
 The passage of the Federal troops over the bridges immediately com- 
 menced. This process occupied the morning and night of the 11th of 
 December. The corps of General Franklin composed the extreme left 
 of the line, and crossed three miles below Fredericksburg. General Sum- 
 ner commanded on the right wing. To General Hooker was assigned a 
 position in the centre. In a council of war which was called by General 
 Burnside some time previous to the crossing of the troops. General Hooker 
 had proposed that he should pass over the stream with his corps at one 
 of the fords ten miles above the city, and by a rapid march along the 
 south banks of the river move on Fredericksburg and take possession of 
 the hills in its vicinity ; and that a combined attack should then be made 
 upon the enemy posted in the rear of the town from two opposite direc- 
 tions. Whatever might have been the ultimate result of such a line of 
 operations, it was rejected by the commander-in-chief. The plan of battle 
 adopted was, that Franklin should open the assault by attacking and 
 breaking the lines of the enemy on the Federal left, and as soon as that 
 was accomplished Sumner was to fall upon the centre of the position of 
 the enemy, to be followed by a charge on the right by Hooker's grand 
 division. The assault on the right was not to be made until the rest of 
 the Federal troops had obtained possession of a new road which ran in 
 the rear of the city, crossed the heights which existed there, and connected 
 the two wings of the enemy together. By severing that connection, an 
 assault in the centre and right, as General Burnside supposed, would be 
 made with destructive effect upon their whole line. The issue of events, 
 as they subsequently occurred, proved to be very different from that which 
 that officer so confidently anticipated. 
 
 The preparations which the enemy had made to receive and repel the 
 Federal army, were of the most formidable description. They had erected 
 
STRENGTH OF REBEL WORKS AT FREDERICKSBURG 
 
 335 
 
 a series of powerful batteries, which extended for six miles, in the form 
 of a semi-circle, from one extremity at Port Royal, to Guiney's station, 
 on the Richmond railroad, at the other. The most important position in 
 this line was that occupied by the Washington Artillery, which was com- 
 manded by Colonel Walton, of New Orleans. It was posted on the heights 
 immediately in the rear of Fredericksburg. A short distance to the 
 southeast of this position stands a still higher eminence, from which the 
 whole range of the impending battle could be clearly seen. On this 
 height General Lee, the Confederate commander-in-chief, took his position. 
 Stuart's cavalry were posted on the extreme left of the Rebel lines. The 
 troops of Longstreet in the centre, of Jackson on the right of the hills as 
 reserves, were prudently distributed along the vast extent of their works. 
 Impartial as well as intelligent observers subsequently affirmed that the 
 position of the Rebel host had been so strongly and so skilfully fortified 
 that it would have been impossible for almost any body of men, however 
 numerous and valiant, to reduce it by means of an assault, or an open 
 attack in front. 
 
 During Friday, December 12th, the Federal troops which were destined 
 to take part in this memorable engagement were transferred to their re- 
 spective positions on the other side of the river. A hundred and forty- 
 five cannon were placed in position. During the day skirmishing took 
 place between the pickets of the two armies ; and in the afternoon some 
 of the Federal guns continued to thunder across the stream into the works 
 of the Confederates on the opposite heights, and into the city. During 
 the ensuing night the hostile outposts were within a hundred yards of 
 each other ; and the busy hum of preparation in both the rival hosts was 
 continually heard as the solemn hours of the night wore oh. But the 
 passage of the Rappahannock and the transfer of the troops had not been 
 accomplished without heavy loss. 
 
 At length Saturday, December 13th, dawned. It was a day destined 
 to be invested through all coming time with a melancholy and imperish- 
 able interest. The first few hours were obscured by a heavy fog, which 
 burdened the horizon on every hand. At nine o'clock it partly rose, and 
 revealed to view as magnificent a spectacle of martial splendor as the 
 most glowing imagination could conceive. The batteries of the enemy, 
 which could be seen extending along a series of heights in the rear of 
 Fredericksburg, supported by an army of eighty thousand men, frowned 
 upon the plain below, in which forty thousand valiant troops stood under 
 their glittering and gleaming arms ready to commence the contest. As 
 soon as the combatants became visible to each other the engagement 
 began. Every advantage both of numbers and of position belonged to 
 the Confederates, yet the dauntless heroes of the Union eagerly courted 
 the contest. 
 
 The action opened with the assault of General Franklin's division on 
 
396 THE CITTL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the extreme right of the Rebel forces. The enemy had here advanced a 
 single battery, consisting of four guns, commanded by Captain Carter 
 Braxton, which annoyed the Federal columns exceedingly by its spirited 
 and accurate firing. The ninth regiment of the New York State militia 
 were ordered to charge upon this battery and capture it. They advanced 
 rapidly at a double-quick, with colors flying and muskets glittering. The 
 earth shook beneath their heavy tread. But the enemy met them with 
 fierce and unflinching fortitude, and after a desperate struggle the ninth 
 were compelled to fail back, defeated in their purpose. They were soon 
 rallied, and then, supported by General Tyler's brigade, they advanced a 
 second time to the charge. Another furious struggle ensued, but the 
 noblest valor was in vain. The enemy again prevailed, and the Federals 
 recoiled and again retreated. After another short interval the same 
 troops were reformed, and brought forward once more to the charge. 
 The battery in dispute was supported by a numerous body of Rebel 
 troops posted in the adjacent woods, from which, when the Federals 
 reached a point in their advance within their range, a sheet of flame 
 issued, masking a deluge of rifle shots, which decimated the approaching 
 column, and covered the line of their march with wounded and dead. 
 This circumstance accounts for the difficulty and defeat which attended 
 these several efforts to capture the battery in question. Tliis battery 
 finally remained uijtaken; but now the engagement gradually extended 
 along the whole left of the Federal line. Here Franklin was confronted 
 by " Stonewall" Jackson. All the art and energy of that able commander 
 v/ere summoned to his support. One of the most desperate combats re- 
 corded in military annals took place on this portion of the field. Gen- 
 eral Franklin at length prepared to storm the tremendous works erected , 
 on the hills before him. He commenced this effort about half-past eleven 
 o'clock, and commanded the movement in person. He ordered six 
 brigades to advance to the attack. His chief effort was to turn the posi- 
 tion of the enemy on the Massaponax, and drive him beyond that creek. 
 Then ensued a long and sanguinary struggle, which continued with 
 various and shifting vicissitudes during some hours. The Rebels fought 
 from tlieir sheltered and elevated positions with great resolution. But 
 the Union troops were equally determined ; after a protracted contest the 
 enemy began to yield, and retire from some small hills on which their 
 first line had been posted. The Federals pressed upon them, and followed 
 up the advantage which they had gained. At one o'clock General 
 Franklin had a decided superiority over the foe. But about three o'clock 
 they received heavy reinforcements on their right wing, and made so firm 
 a stand that the Federals in vain attempted to drive them further from 
 their position. Many incidents occurred during this portion of the con- 
 test which indicated how ferocious the struggle was. Here it was that the 
 gallant Bayard was mortally wounded on the Federal side. He was con- 
 
a 
 
 
MOVEMENTS OP GENERALS MEADE AND GIBBON. 397 
 
 versing with General Franklin, when a cannon ball struck him on the 
 hip. The blow threw him far out of his saddle, and it was soon evident 
 that it was mortal. As if to counterbalance this loss, it was at this period 
 that General Thomas R. R. Cobb, of the Rebel army, was struck in the 
 thigh by an exploding shell, and soon after expired from the wound. It 
 was here also that three hundred of General A. P. Hill's division, belong- 
 ing to Jackson's corps, were captured and marched off to the rear. 
 
 1 he resolution and skill with which the enemy fought in this portion 
 of the field were not singular. The troops engaged here were the veterans 
 who had taken part in the battles of Cedar Mountain, the second Manassas, 
 and Antietam. Nevertheless, General Franklin succeeded during the 
 progress of the day in driving back the troops opposed to him nearly 
 a mile. When the day closed he held the position which he had wrested 
 from the enemy by the most tremendous exertions. In his portion of 
 the field the Federal forces had gained a success, and had the same 
 good fortune attended their eflbrts in the remainder of the far-reaching 
 scene of slaughter and blood, the issue of the day would have been very 
 different from that which actually occurred. 
 
 On the Federal right and centre, which occupied positions nearer to 
 Fredericksburg, the action did not commence as early in the day as on 
 the left. The fog, which in the morning rendered every thing invisible, 
 did not clear away until toward noon. While its thick and heavy folds 
 still enveloped the hills and vales, random shooting from artillery was 
 kept up by both sides. But this produced little effect, though the sullen 
 roar of great guns, as peal after peal rang responsively through the 
 murky air, produced a sublime and solemn effect. As soon as the sun 
 appeared, the infantry of the divisions of Generals Meade and Gibbon 
 were ordered forward. These were soon engaged iu close action with 
 the veterans of Longstreet and Stuart. Soon the divisions of Doubleday 
 and Stoneman were sent forward to their assistance. By great effort the 
 ejQeray were compelled to yield somewhat in the left of the centre. On 
 the extreme right, where the veteran hero Sumner commanded in person, 
 the contest was equally severe. The troops engaged here consisted of 
 the seventh and ninth corps. They won imperishable honor for them- 
 selves, though they suffered heavily. It was here that the superior ad- 
 vantages of the elevated and intrenched position of the enemy became 
 most conspicuous. It soon became evident that it would be impossible 
 to dislodge the Rebels from their breastworks except at the point of the 
 bayonet. General Sumner therefore ordered General French to charge 
 with his division on the hostile batteries. General Howard's column 
 acted as their support. The Federal troops rushed bravely forward to 
 the charge across the intervening plain, until they reached a point only 
 a few yards distant from the earthworks. Then a terrible fire opened upon 
 them, which cut down whole ranks, strewed the earth with wounded and 
 
398 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 dead, and compelled them to retire in confusion to a ravine in the dis 
 tance. Here these troops were reformed, strengthened by an a<lditional 
 body of infantry, and brought up again to the attack with fixed bayonets 
 at a double-quick step. As they advanced they were overwhelmed by a 
 still more deadly hailstorm of shot and shell than before. The enemy 
 concentrated both their artillery and musketry upon them. Hundreds 
 here strewed the ground with their dead or mangled bodies. So terrible 
 was this assault that these resolute troops were completely shattered and 
 unable to withstand it. They were thrown into confusion and dismay 
 more complete than before. They gave way and fled. For the third 
 time they were rallied and brought back. On each advance their ranks 
 became thinner and thinner, the piles of dead and wounded were more 
 and more numerous. At length it became evident that further attempt 
 to take the heights by storm would be utterly futile ; the troops were 
 withdrawn on the Federal right, and all the available artillery were 
 brought into play for the purpose of shelling the redoubtable enemy in 
 their stronghold. This cannonading continued until darkness put an 
 end to the abortive and bloody contest. But the loss of the enemy had 
 also been severe in this part of the field. The brigade of South Carolina 
 troops, commanded by General Kershaw, suffered terribly. Here General 
 Maxey Gregg was mortally wounded. Here the third regiment of South 
 Carolina volunteers was almost annihilated. Early in the fight its colonel, 
 lieutenant-colonel, major, senior and second senior captains, were all slain. 
 The shattered ranks of that once gallant and formidable body of men 
 furnished appalling proof of the terrible energy and skill with which the 
 Federal troops had assailed and crushed them.* 
 
 The centre of the Federal lines, in which the third and fifth army corps 
 under Hooker were placed, came into the action about noon. These 
 were then ordered forward to storm the works of the enemy in their 
 front. The same gallant charges were here made in the face of the same 
 desolating hailstorms of shot and shell, attended with the same tempo- 
 rary panics, partial successes, and final retreats which characterized the 
 operations of the right wing. At one time General Wilcox detached 
 the division under General Burns, and sent it to the left of the centre, for 
 the purpose of forming a junction with the left wing under Franklin. 
 Burns therefore crossed Hazel Run and took a position on Deep Run, 
 near to which Franklin's right wing extended. The object of this move- 
 ment was to support any operations which might be undertaken between 
 Deep Run and the corps of General Couch. But nothing of the kind 
 occurred, and Burns' troops did not take any part in the engagement. 
 During the day General Sturgis was ordered to support Couch in attack- 
 ing the Rebel batteries in the right of their centre, which had enfiladed 
 
 • The Richmond Despatch of December 16th, 1863. 
 
SKETCHES OP GENERALS JACKSON AND BAfARD. 399 
 
 the troops of that general. Ferrero's brigade led the charge upou these 
 works. Sturgis ordered Naglee to assist Ferrero, and he himself charged 
 valiantly upon the foe. By a dashing assault some of these troops suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the intervening space, rushed up the hills, carried 
 their crest, and approached witliin eighty feet of the Rebel intrenchments. 
 But so fearful was the discharge from the guns of the enemy that it was 
 impossible to advance any further. The troops were eventually compelled 
 to retire from the scene of their heroism, and take a position beyond the 
 reach of the deadly and murderous batteries of the unconquerable foe. 
 
 Such was the position of affairs over the widespread and revolting 
 scene when the sun descended beneath the horizon and darkness threw its 
 mantle over the exhausted combatants. Of all the Federal troops engaged 
 those under General Franklin alone had obtained any advantage. It was 
 expected that on the following day the struggle would be renewed. Such 
 however was not the case. The memorable battle of Fredericksburg had 
 been fought and ended. Its blood-stained record was complete. During 
 the night which followed, both armies reposed in the positions which they 
 held before the engagement. A portion of the Federal troops occupied 
 the town, whose obscure name has been rendered renowned from its con- 
 tiguity to this melancholy and unmerited defeat of the army of the Union. 
 The fourth attempt of the Federal generals to realize the wish of the 
 nation for an advance upou Richmond had proved futile. During the 
 action the Federal gunboats which were in the Rappahannock approached 
 the scene of conflict and shelled that portion of the works of the enemy 
 which came within their range; but their well directed fire coai4 ^ot 
 materially alter or avert the general issue of the day. 
 
 Among the casualties of this battle were the deaths of Generals Bayard 
 and Jackson, and the wounding of Generals Vinton, Gibbon, Kimball, 
 Caldwell, and Meagher. The loss of the two first named officers was a 
 serious calamity. 
 
 Conrad F. Jackson was a native of Pennsylvania. His military career 
 began with the commencement of the war. He then received the com- 
 mand of the ninth regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves, under General 
 McCall. When the Federal army advanced into Virginia, in December, 
 1861, the corps to which the ninth regiment belonged was posted between 
 the Great Falls, the Chain Bridge, Alexandria, and the Leesburg railroad. 
 On the 20th of December, General Jackson distinguished himself in the 
 battle of Dranesville, in the brigade commanded by General Ord. Sub- 
 sequently his regiment was transferred to the army of General McDowell, 
 which was posted at Fredericksburg. In June, 1862, he was ordered to 
 join the force of McClellan in the Peninsula with the Reserves under 
 McCall. He took part in the engagement at Mechanicsville and G-aines' 
 Mill, as well as in the more important contests around Richmond. He 
 fought with honor under Pope at Manassas, under McClellan at South 
 
'400 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mountain and Antietam. When General Ord was transferred to the 
 West, he was placed in command of his brigade, led them gallantly into 
 action at Fredericksburg, and there died upon the field of honor. 
 
 A similar fate befell General George D. Bayard, the gallant cavalry 
 officer who had obtained and merited the epithet of the Murat of Burn- 
 side's army. This officer was a native of New York, and entered West 
 Point in 1852. He graduated in 1856, and was immediatdly after ap- 
 pointed second lieutenant in the first United States cavalry. In August, 
 1861, he was promoted to a captaincy, and toolc command of the first 
 Pennsylvania cavalry, attached to General McCall's Reserves. He took 
 part with that brave corps in all the battles ia which they served in the 
 Peninsula and in Maryland. He was raised to the rank of brigadier 
 general in June, 18t52. He had distinguished himself by his bold and 
 dashing charges upon the foe in many a desperate engagement. He was 
 extremely chivalrous and gallant in his deportment as an officer, and 
 seemed destined by nature for no other sphere than that of a soldier. It 
 was his pride and glory to command a formidable body of horse; and 
 though only twenty-eight years of age at the period of his death, he had 
 already acquired renown as one of the most brilliant, skilful and daring 
 cavalry officers in the armies of the Union. He died as he had lived — 
 bravely, grandly, nobly, and like his great prototype of immortal memory, 
 " without fear and without reproach." 
 
 The losses suffered by the Federal forces engaged at Fredericksburg 
 were very heavy. They were eleven hundred and twenty-eight killed, 
 nine thousand one hundred and five wounded, two thousand and seventy- 
 eight prisoners. The loss of the Confederates in killed and wounded was 
 about three thousand five hundred. This disproportion resulted from the 
 superior advantages of position and protection which the latter enjoyed, 
 and from the vast number of their guns. 
 
 No fighting of importance occurred on Sunday, the 14th of December. 
 The combatants on both sides were nearly exhausted, and both were en- 
 gaged in the humane work of burying the dead and removing the 
 wounded. During the 15th some skirmishing took place between small 
 and detached bodies. It was expected by both armies that on that day 
 the general assault would be renewed. But a council of war having been 
 convened by General Burnside, the conclusion was arrived at that a 
 further attempt to carry the works of the enemy would only involve an 
 enormous sacrifice of life without any probability of success. General 
 Burnside therefore determined to withdraw his forces across the Rappa- 
 hannock to their first position. This purpose was accomplished with 
 great skill, and with perfect success, during the night of the 15th of De- 
 cember. Neither men, artillery, nor baggage were lost during the opera- 
 tion, nor were the enemy aware of what was transpiring until the trans- 
 portation was completed. The reason assigned for this step by General 
 
ilVENTS AFTEE THE BATTLE OF FREDEEICKSBURG. 401 
 
 Buroside, in a public despatch upon the subject, was the fact that it had 
 become a military necessity either to renew the attack or to retire ; and 
 because a repulse would have been extremely disastrous to the Federal 
 cause under existing circumstances. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the intensity of that disappointment 
 which filled the public mind upon the receipt of the intelligence of this 
 defeat. It was regarded as the greatest misfortune and disgrace which 
 had yet befallen the Federal arms since the commencement of the war. 
 The chief blame, in the popular mind, rested upon the commander-in- 
 chief, who it was affirmed should not have undertaken to carry by assault 
 a series of works which had been rendered impregnable to any attack by 
 the energy and skill of the Confederate generals during the long interval 
 which had been allowed them by the delay of the pontoon trains. The 
 Republican members of the Federal Senate, then in session, especially the 
 more radical portion of them, conceived the idea that a change should be 
 made in the Cabinet, and in the policy which governed the conduct of the 
 war, before such disasters would be avoided in future, and victory be won 
 by the arms of the Union. These Senators held several private meetings, 
 compared their views together, and at length appointed a committee to 
 • wait on the President, in order to demand the removal of Mr. Seward, the 
 Secretary of State, and the reconstruction of the Cabinet. Before this 
 committee could perform their functions Mr. Seward received information 
 of their purpose, and instantly sent in his resignation to the President, to- 
 gether with that of his son, the assistant secretary. This action of the 
 Republican Senators resulted from the fact that Mr. Seward was regarded 
 by them as the master-spirit, whose influence was paramount in the Cabi- 
 net, and who directed its whole policy and movements with resistless 
 potency. In the end, however, the proposed alterations were not effected. 
 Mr. Lincoln, after some days of deliberation, declined to accept the ten- 
 dered resignations, or to make any change in his Cabinet officers. At a 
 still later period General Burnside publicly assumed the responsibility 
 for making the attack upon the enemy at Fredericksburg, and affirmed 
 that all the blame and the consequent odium, if any such there were, ap- 
 pertained to him alone. This declaration was very honest and ingenuous 
 on his part, but from the testimony afterward given before the Com- 
 mittee on the Conduct of the War it appeared that the delay in the for- 
 warding of the pontoon trains, which was the real cause of the disastrous 
 character of the battle, was the fault of other parties, and that General 
 Burnside was not in any respect blameworthy for that delay. On other 
 fields, since that time, General Burnside has nobly redeemed his reputa- 
 tion from any charges of unskilful generalship, and his prompt assump- 
 tion of the blame on this occasion, when most men would have shrunk 
 from it, was in unison with the generosity and manliness o; his character, 
 and won him more friends than his misfortunes had lost. 
 26 
 
402 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On tbe 28th of November, a severe battle was fought near Boones- 
 borough, or Cane Hill, in Arkansas, between the Federal troops, com- 
 manded by General Blunt, and the Eebels, led by Generals Marmaduke 
 and Shelby. The former consisted of three brigades, with four batteries 
 and six mountain howitzers. The latter numbered eight thousand men. 
 The purpose of General Blunt was to attack and expel the enemy from the 
 position which they had taken in that vicinity, which contained the richest 
 grain-growing region in Arkansas; for if they were driven thence they 
 would suffer from famine more severely than from a defeat in the field. 
 The army advanced as rapidly as possible over the mountain roads, and 
 at length reached the pickets of the enemy. Some of these were captured ; 
 the rest were driven in. An attack upon the foe was commenced as soon 
 as their main body was reached. The Federals began the assault from a 
 hill which overlooked the town of Boonesborough and the camp of the 
 enemy. The artillery commenced the action. The Rebels responded 
 with spirit, but as soon as a charge was made with the bayonet by the 
 first brigade, led by Colonel Ware, they broke and fled. The Federals 
 pursued them with deafening shouts. A running fight then followed, 
 from one hill to another, through one ravine after another, the Eebels 
 making a brief stand from time to time, and then breaking away again in- 
 disorder. Thus the pursuit had continued from ten o'clock in the morn- 
 ing until night. It was kept up over an area of mountainous country ten 
 miles in extent. At last, when night came, it found the enemy inclosed 
 in a wild deep mountain-gorge, in which they could not be attacked with 
 much success in the darkness. The Federal troops then suspended their 
 labors. Finding himself destined to inevitable defeat if the battle was 
 renewed, the Rebel General Marmaduke sent a flag of truce asking per- 
 mission to remove his dead and wounded, and under cover of this escaped 
 with his demoralized forces to Van Buren, where a considerable force of 
 Rebels from other portions of the State were concentrating under General 
 Hindman. 
 
 The Rebels were greatly chagrined at this defeat, and resolved to avenge 
 it, destroy Bluut's little force, and obtain possession of the wheat region 
 of northwestern Arkansas. For this purpose Hindman commenced mov- 
 ing forward with his army of about thirty thousand men, on the 2d of 
 December, toward Crane Hill. General Blunt was promptly informed 
 concerning his movements, and telegraphed at once to General llerron, 
 then at Wilson's creek, Missouri, one hundred and ten miles distant, to 
 come to his aid by forced marches. Herron received his despatch on the 
 morning of the 3d of December, and in three hours was on the road with 
 his advance column, the others following immediately. The whole dis- 
 tance was accomplished in three days, and Herron's force, consisting of 
 about seven thousand men, encountered the enemy in a long valley, run- 
 ning from west to east, called Prairie Grove, about ten miles above Cane 
 
FEDERAL VICTORY AT CANE HILL, ARKANSAS. 403 
 
 Hill, on the morning of December 7th. General Blunt, during three days 
 which intervened, had been skirmishing with the enemy at points eight, 
 ten, and fifteen miles below Cane Hill, endeavoring to prevent them from 
 passing up the mountain road to the east of Cane Hill, and thus intercept- 
 ing Herron before he could join him, or pouncing upon his own train, 
 which was at Ehea's Mills, nearly opposite, and to the west of Prairie 
 Grove. On the morning of the 7th he found to his regret that Hindman 
 had succeeded in pushing his main column past his army, and would be 
 likely to attack Herron single-handed. He accordingly pushed north- 
 ward with all speed with his little force of about five thousand, saw that 
 his trains were transferred to a safe place, and passing through the valley 
 of Prairie Grove, attacked Hindman in the rear, about three o'clock in the 
 afternoon. General Herron's little force had fought with desperate bravery 
 for five hours, and were becoming exhausted in contending against more 
 than four times their numbers ; but the sound of Blunt's cannon, and the 
 charges of his men upon the rear of the enemy, infused new vigor into their 
 wearied limbs, and they rushed with energy into the fight, and soon began 
 to drive the enemy before them. At nightfall the Union forces occupied 
 the ground on which the enemy had first formed, and both parties slept on 
 their arms, the Union troops expecting to renew the contest in the morn- 
 ing ; but toward daylight General Hindman requested an interview with 
 General Blunt, and kept up a parley for five hours, meanwhile repeating 
 Marmaduke's trick of withdrawing his troops during the flag of truce. 
 The Union loss was about seven hundred, that of the Rebels over fifteen 
 hundred. 
 
404 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 THE EXPEDITIOK OP OKNgRAL FOSTKB TROM NEWBERN TO KIN38T0N AND OOLDSBOBO COM- 
 MENCEMENT OF THE MARCH — SKIRMISH AT SOUTHEAST CREEK — ITS RESULTS — THE FEDERALS 
 CONTINUE THEIR MARCH TC KINSTON — BATTLE AT THAT PLACE — INCIDENTS OF THIS KN- 
 OAOEMENT — ITS RESULTS — OPERATIONS OF THE FEDERAL FLEET WHICH ACCOMPANIED THB 
 EXPEDITION — SKIRMISH AT WHITEHALL — BATTLE AT OOLDSBORO — THE RETURN OF THB 
 IIPEDITION — SKIRMISUINO WITH THE ENEMY — EXPLOITS OF MAJOR GARRARD AND PITZ- 
 SIMMONS — ARRIVAL OF THE EXPEDITION AT NEWBERN — ITS RESULTS — FEDERAL LOSSES — 
 SKETCH OF GENERAL FOSTER — CAPTURE OF HOLLY SPRINGS — BATTLE OF DAVIs' MILI^ IK 
 MISSISSIPPI — HEROISM OF COLONEL MORGAN — DEFEAT AT VAN DORN — POSITION OF AFFAIRS 
 TOWARD THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1802 — PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMA- 
 TION — ITS PB0VI8I0NS — FEELINGS WITH WHICH IT WAS REGARDED BY DIFFERENT CLASSES 
 OF THE COMMUNITY — ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE FUTURE EVENTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 At the time that the cause of the Union was receiving a calamitous blow 
 at Fredericksburg, the general gloom was somewhat mitigated by the intel- 
 ligence of a successful movement of General J. G. Foster from Ncwbcrn 
 into the interior of North Carolina. The expedition organized by that 
 officer started from Newbern on the morning of the 11th of December, 
 1862. Its object was the capture of Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro, 
 and the severance of some of the railroad lines which connected Richmond 
 with various portions of the Confederate States. Preparations for this 
 undertaking had been progressing with energy for some time. The forces 
 detailed to this service consi.sted of the ninth New Jersey, which was 
 placed in the extreme advance, the brigade commanded by General 
 Wessel, with those of Generals Peck, Avery, Lee, and Stevenson. The 
 majority of these troops were from Massachusetts. They were accom- 
 panied by the third New York artillery, the Belger battery, the first Rhode 
 Island artillery, commanded by Colonel Ledlie, and the third New York 
 cavalry, led by Colonel Mix. 
 
 Having left Newbern, the expedition marched up the Trent road about 
 ten miles, where it halted. At three o'clock in the afternoon the pickets 
 of the enemy were first encountered, and three of them were captured. 
 The march had been already rendered difficult from the fact that the road 
 had been obstructed by felled trees and by other impediments. It was 
 necessary that these should be removed before the advance could be con- 
 tinued. This work was accomplished during the ensuing night, and the 
 ninth New Jersey infantry then proceeded until within three miles of 
 Trenton. On Friday morning, the 12th, the march of the main body was 
 resumed. During this day they encountered a body of Rebel cavalry, and 
 Rn ambush of their infantry. A portion of the third New York cavalry 
 
n 
 
 SKIRMISH AT SOUTHEAST CREEK. 406 
 
 charged upon them, driving tbem from their position, and taking a few of 
 them prisoners. Additional skirmishing took place during the day with- 
 out any very important result. On Friday night the column halted, and 
 it being evident that the forces of the enemy were posted in the vicinity 
 in considerable strength, they encamped in line of battle. No fires were 
 allowed to be kindled, and no noise of any kind was permitted. Early 
 the next morning the march was resumed toward Kinston at a slow and 
 cautious pace. At eleven o'clock they reached a point about seven miles 
 from Kinston, where the Whitehall and Kinston roads unite. It was ex- 
 pected that the enemy would concentrate their forces there, and that it 
 would become the scene of a desperate combat. The Federal troops were 
 formed in line of battle in an open area on the left of the road to Whitehall, 
 and in front of a wood in which it was suspected the enemy had concealed 
 themselves. At nine o'clock a company of the third New York cavalry 
 encountered a part of the Eebel troops at a spot called Southeast Creek. 
 Here the latter had thrown a breastwork across the road, and had posted 
 several guns behind it. In front of this position there was a bridge, which 
 the enemy had partially destroyed, so that it was not passable. They 
 opened with their guns upon the Federals before them. These responded 
 with their carbines. Soon afterward a section of the third New York 
 artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Day, arrived, and commenced to fire 
 upon the enemy with good effect. At ten o'clock the ninth New Jersey, 
 together with Morrison's battery, were brought forward and placed in 
 action. The latter took a position on a hill two hundred and fifty yards 
 from the battery of the Rebels, and commenced to shell them. A spirited 
 cannonading from both sides then ensued, which lasted nearly an hour. 
 The enemy then began to retire. As they did so the ninth New Jersey 
 were deployed as skirmishers to the left of the road, crossed the stream 
 on a mill-dam, attacked the Rebel battery on the flank, and captured one 
 of the guns — a rifled six pounder — together with several prisoners. The 
 enemy left six killed and wounded behind them. The stars and stripes 
 were instantly unfurled from the Rebel works, and cheers arose from the 
 whole Union force. 
 
 Three hours were then consumed in repairing the bridge for the transfer 
 of the troops and the artillery. The column then passed over it and pro 
 ceeded toward Kinston. When four miles distant from that place they 
 halted and encamped for the night in line of battle, strong pickets being 
 posted in all directions. Just before making this point, they again en- 
 countered a portion of the enemy with two pieces of artillery, stationed 
 behind a wood. A brilliant charge by the third New York cavalry soon 
 expelled them from that position, and thus ended the operations of the 
 I8th.* 
 
 * " On Saturday morning Company K, Captain Cole, third New York cavalry, took 
 
406 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Federal column, with the cavalry under Mix, and Wessel's brigade 
 in the advance, commenced to move cautiously at daybreak on the morn- 
 ing of Sunday, the 14th. After proceeding two miles they drove in the 
 pickets of the enemy. A mile further on, they met their main body near 
 Kinston. They numbered six thousand men, and were commanded by 
 General Evans, the Rebel hero of Ball's Bluff. His troops consisted of 
 three regiments of South Carolina infantry, together with a large body of 
 cavalry and artillery from North Carolina. General Foster inr.mediately 
 made his dispositions for the engagement. The enemy were drawn up in 
 line of battle on a ground which was partially covered with woods and a 
 dense undergrowth. Their artillery was posted in the centre and on their 
 flanks. They presented a form somewhat similar to a triangle, the base 
 of which faced toward the Federals. The latter were po.sted as follows : 
 In the first line the ninth New Jersey was placed on the right, with 
 Wessel's brigade in the centre and on the left. In the second line, the 
 twenty-third and forty-fourth Massachusetts were posted, while the forty- 
 fifth Massachusetts, the troops of Emory's brigade, together with those of 
 Stevenson and Lee, were held as reserves. The artillery were distributed 
 at intervals along the right, the left, and the centre of the line. 
 
 Tne engagement began at half-past ten. The artillery opened the com- 
 bat with energy on both sides, and continued without intermission till the 
 termination of the battle. Soon after the commencement of this artillery 
 duel the infantry came into action. The enemy fought bravely, and were 
 as bravely assailed. During the progress of the battle a flank move- 
 ment was made by the troops of General Wessel upon a battery of the 
 enemy on the left. Anotlor portion of the Federals moved to the right, 
 and obtained a position in an open field in that direction, which enabled 
 them to play upon the line of the enemy with great effect. At length the 
 ninth New Jersey, after a furious struggle with the foe, in which both 
 sides lost heavily, obtained a position near the bridge, which was the key 
 and centre of the line of the enemy. In this achievement they were ably 
 
 the advancQ, »nd while moving forward captured two prisoners, belonging to Nether- 
 cote's battalion, who gave some valuable information. Proceeded thence to Southwest 
 creek, about five miles from Kinston. On Captain Cole's approach, the enemy were 
 found engaged in endeavoring to destroy the bridge over the creek. Captain Cole dis- 
 mounted a platoon and fired a volley upon the enemy while they were at work. The 
 enemy then retreated, but soon after fired from a battery of two six pounder howitzers 
 upon our advance, wounding one man — a private, named John Costello — who was 
 shot through the head. Colonel Hickman, of the ninth New Jersey, (the advance 
 guard of the infantry,) here came forward and ordered the ninth to deploy as skir 
 mishers. This order was quickly excituted, and had the effect of partly dispersing the 
 enemy, and Schenck's third New Yiik battery coming up fired about a dozen shells, 
 driving the enemy entirely away. ( in the ninth New Jersey crossing the bridge, four 
 of the enemy were found dead, tlie wounded being carried on with the retreating 
 enemy. The ninth succeeded in capturing one of their howitzers, which was brought 
 M a trophy into Newborn."— Spectoi Corretpvndent of the New Fork Herald. 
 
THE BA'rrLE NEAB KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA. 407 
 
 supported by the seventeentli Massachusetta. It was soon discovered that 
 the Rebels had erected an iatrenchment on the opposite bank of the Neuse^ 
 nearly two hundred feet in length, which completely commanded all the 
 approaches to the bridge. To capture this fortification a combined move- 
 ment now became necessary. The forty-fifth and twenty-third Massa- 
 chusetts were ordered forward on the right to execute a flank movement 
 in that direction. The third New York cavalry and some light artillery 
 were posted on the left. Another diversion was made with a detachment 
 of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, under Major Garrard, upon the centre. 
 
 This result of this combination was decisive. After a contest of more 
 than three hours the Rebels were compelled to evacuate their works and 
 retreat. As they did so they fired the bridge over the Neuse in several 
 places. But the energy ojf the Federals, led on by the provost marshal. 
 Major Franklin, baffled and defeated their purpose. They succeeded 
 in extinguishing the fires before any material damage had been effected. 
 The Federal troops in the advance immediately crossed the bridge, and as 
 they did so the last of the Rebel forces evacuated Kinston. The tenth 
 Connecticut chased their rear-guard as they were clearing the opposite out- 
 skirts of the town. They had fired the railroad depot and other buildings, 
 some of which were ultimately saved through the exertions of the provost 
 marshal. 
 
 The loss of the enemy in this battle was two hundred and fifty killed 
 and wounded, several hundred prisoners, one thousand rounds of heavy 
 ammunition, eleven pieces of artillery, and five hundred stand of arms. 
 The Federal loss was about two hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 After the close of the battle General Foster despatched a flag of truce 
 after the retreating Confederate general, demanding the surrender of his 
 forces. The latter were then hurrying along the main road and through 
 various by-ways toward Goldsboro and Snow Hill. General Evans re- 
 fused to comply with this requisition, but sent a flag of truce in turn, 
 requesting that an interval might be allowed for the removal of the women 
 and children from Kinston, as he had determined to resume the combat at 
 that place with his artillery. This reasonable request was granted. A 
 period of several hours was allowed, and elapsed without further hostile 
 operations. At its termination it was ascertained that this plea of hu- 
 manity was a mere imposition, and that the Rebel troops had in the mean- 
 time made good their escape from the vicinity of the Federal forces. 
 After the retreat of the enemy the troops encamped for the night in and 
 near Kinston. One of the chief casualties of this engagement was the 
 death of Colonel Gray of the ninety-sixth New York volunteers. The 
 Federal gunboats, which had been sent to assist this expedition, were the 
 Delaware, Seymour, and Shawsheen, commanded by Captain Murray. 
 The steamboats were the Ocean Wave, Allison, North State, Port Royal, 
 and Wilson, under the orders of Colonel Manchester. The gunboats 
 
408 THE OmL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were unable to proceed furtlier than fifteen miles, and took no part in the 
 action. But the steamboats which conveyed the marines under Colonel 
 Manchester reached the scene of conflict. As these proceeded up the stream 
 they were occasionally fired on from the shore. When several miles from 
 Kinston they were assailed by an eleven-gun battery, which opened on 
 the Allison, which led the van of the flotilla, as she rounded a point of 
 land and suddenly came in presence of one of the Rebel fortifications, not 
 twelve hundred yards distant. Before she could retire from this danger- 
 ous position she was repeatedly struck with shot and shell, and although 
 she returned the fire with her forward thirty pound Parrott gun, she was 
 materially damaged. The top of her pilot-house was torn ofl", her smoke 
 stack was pierced by a shell, and her steam safety-pipe was cut away. 
 She eventually backed down the stream, the channel being too narrow for 
 her to turn around, and reached a point of safety beyond the reach of the 
 Rebel batteries. On the 14th, the steamboats continued to descend the 
 stream, inasmuch as the water had fallen fifteen inches during the pre- 
 ceding night, and threatened by a further reduction to prevent their re- 
 turn altogether if'they delayed much longer. During their passage they 
 were assailed by guerrillas from the shore. It was an incident worthy of 
 notice that the bullets which struck the vessels were found, upon exami- 
 nation, to have been steeped in verdigris, or had copper wire attached to 
 them, for the purpose of poisoning the wounds which they inflicted, and 
 rendering them incurable and mortal. 
 
 During the 15th, the expedition continued its advance toward Golds- 
 boro. It left Kinston early in the morning, and marched seventeen 
 miles through an impoverished and hilly country until nightfall, without 
 coming in contact with the enemy. As soon as the camp was chosen, 
 Major Garrard was sent with a portion of the third New York cavalry and 
 a section of the third New York artillery, to proceed four miles to a 
 village on the banks of the Neuse, named Whitehall, for the purpose of 
 making a reconnoissance. At that place they found a Rebel gunboat 
 nearly completed, and a detachment of the enemy posted to protect it. 
 A skirmish ensued between the troops without any very decisive result 
 to either party. But the gunboat was battered to pieces with shot and 
 shell. After this exploit the Federals returned without further incident 
 to their camp. On the 16th the main column under General Foster con- 
 tinued its march toward Whitehall. The enemy were now concentrated 
 there in stronger force than before, and disputed the passage of the 
 troops. An engagement of several hours' duration ensued. The Rebels 
 succeeded in destroying the bridge which here crossed the Neuse, as if 
 to stop the further advance of the Federals in that direction. But such 
 was not their intended line of march. General Foster deceived the 
 enemy by making several feints, one of which was an attempt to rebuild 
 the bridge. The Federal artillery under Colonel Ledlie drove the Rebels 
 
THE BATTLE AT GOLDSBORO. 409 
 
 from their position on the opposite side of the stream. But while they 
 were occupied by these simulated operations several important reconnois- 
 Bances were in progress by the Federals unobserved by the main body 
 of the foe. Major Garrard was sent with a detachment twenty miles off, 
 to Mount Olive station, on the Wilmington and Goldsboro railroad. 
 He there surprised a train about to start, captured the mail bags, de- 
 stroyed the telegraph and the railroad track for some distance, and burnt 
 a bridge and tressel-work. At the same time Captain Jacobs was 
 despatched toward Goldsboro to destroy the railroad track, several 
 culverts, and a bridge. This purpose was successfully accomplished, after 
 which the troops returned to the main column. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th the march of the entire force toward 
 Goldsboro was resumed. Their route lay through an open country ; on 
 their right Howed the river Neuse, on their left was a long stretch of 
 woods. Having reached the vicinity of the Goldsboro bridge, it was 
 soon evident that the enemy had been reinforced, and were prepared to 
 dispute the further progress of the Federal troops. Their first position 
 was on the near side of the river, and close to the railroad bridge. They 
 withdrew to the other side, however, after a short interchange of cannon- 
 ading. Then followed the chief struggle for the possession of the bridge 
 and for the mastery of the position. Colonel Ledlie's battery commenced 
 to assail the enemy with great energy. The ninth New Jersey supported 
 him with spirit. The seventeenth Massachusets, under Colonel Fellows, 
 moving toward the left, crossed a mill stream, and advanced on the rail- 
 road directly in front of the enemy. In this operation several men were 
 drowned by the sudden opening of the flood-gates of the dam. The chief 
 aim of the enemy was to protect this railroad bridge. The express pur- 
 pose of General Foster in advancing thus far into the interior of the 
 country was to destroy it. The contest, therefore, centred around this 
 structure. To Colonel Hickman was assigned the duty of setting fire to 
 it. That officer called for volunteers to assist him in performing this 
 task. A crowd of brave men instantly rushed forward from the seven- 
 teenth Massachusetts and ninth New Jersey, ready to devote themselves 
 to the dangerous task. Lieutenant Graham, of the Eocket battery, was 
 the first tc apply the torch. Soon the bridge was in flames, notwith- 
 Btanding the determined opposition of the enemy. The ruin was com- 
 pleted by the destruction of the adjacent railroad track, the ties and rails 
 of which were so efiectually injured as to be rendered wholly useless for 
 several miles. This achievement was accomplished while a desperate 
 resistance was kept up by the enemy, and a spirited engagement was going 
 forward between the two hostile forces. 
 
 And now, the purposes of the expedition having all been attained, 
 General Foster commenced his return toward Newbern. No sooner did 
 the Rebels discover this retrograde movement than they advanced more 
 
410 TilK CIVIL WAR IN THE UMTKD STATES. 
 
 bravel}' to the charge. The Federal supply train being placed in front, 
 the enemy were received with a deadly salute, which greatly checked their 
 ardor. Two South Carolina regiments, which undertook to make a charge 
 with the bayonet on Morrison's battery, were repulsed with immense 
 losses, for they were assailed at the same moment by the guns of Morri- 
 son, by Belger's battery, which put in a destructive cross fire, and by 
 Lee's brigade, which attacked them in front. The rapidity with which 
 they retired much exceeded the velocity with which they advanced. Two 
 hours were occupied in this combat. After its termination the march 
 was resumed. During its progress other exploits were performed by 
 the invading forces. Major Fitzsimmons, with a portion of the third New 
 York cavalry, made an excursion to Dudley station, five miles from the 
 Goldsboro railroad bridge, and captured a train of four cars, tore up 
 the track for three miles, burned a bridge and some tressel work, and de- 
 stroyed the telegraph line. Major Garrard proceeded in another direc- 
 tion to Tompkins' bridge, over the Neuse river. lie found the structure 
 already in flames, and surrounded by a detachment of the enemy, con- 
 sisting of four regiments of infantry and eight guns. After a combat of 
 several hours the enemy broke and fled, leaving the Federals in posses- 
 sion of the scene of conflict. After its termination the troops under 
 Garrard rejoined the main body. 
 
 The expedition reached Newbern on the 20th without any further in- 
 cident worthy of narration. It had proved a complete success, notwith- 
 standing the fact that General Evans, who had vainly resisted and har- 
 assed it during its advance and return, published an official report which 
 indicated the contrary, but which clearly proved that he had permitted 
 his imagination to embellish his narrative at the expense of his veracity 
 and accuracy. Nevertheless, the Federal successes had not been obtained 
 without considerable losses. In the four combats at Southeast creek, 
 Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro, there were ninety killed, three hun- 
 dred and fifty-four wounded. The losses of the enemy could not be 
 ascertained, but they were evidently heavy, from the results of the several 
 engagements which occurred. 
 
 General John G. Foster, the commander of this successful expedition, 
 was born in Whitefield, New Hampshire, in 1823. He entered West Point 
 in 1842, where he graduated with honor iu 1846. He had exhibited a 
 fondness for the profession of arras from his youth. After concluding 
 his studies at West Point, he immediately received the rank of brevet 
 second lieutenant of engineers. In January, 1847, he was ordered to 
 Mexico in the army of General Scott, as lieutenant in a company of sappers 
 and miners. He was present in all the engagements which touk place 
 in the march from Vera Cruz to Molino del Rey. In the latter action he 
 was severely wounded while leadmg a division of the storming party iu 
 the assault which was made on the Casa Mala, in which two thirds of the 
 
BATTLE AT DAVIS'S MILLS, MISSISSIPPI. 411 
 
 entire command were destroyed. He subsequently received three brevets 
 for his gallant conduct in Mexico. The first was at Contreras, the second 
 at Churubusco, the last at Molino del Eey, where he obtained the rank 
 of captain. After TL^covering partially from his wound he was ordered, 
 in 1859, to Charleston, South Carolina, as engineer, to repair and com- 
 plete the Federal forts in the vicinity of that harbor. After the surrender 
 of Fort Sumter by Major Anderson, he tendered his services to the 
 Federal Government. They were accepted, and he was at first employed 
 in superintending the construction of the great fort at Sandy Hook. He 
 was soon after ordered into active service in the army of the Potomac, 
 with the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. When General Burn- 
 side organized his expedition to Roanoke island, he was placed in com- 
 mand of one of its divisions, and contributed greatly to the success which 
 attended the expedition. He subsequently distinguished himself both at 
 Newbern and at Fort Macon. When Burnside was transferred to the 
 army under McClellan, General Foster was placed in command of all the 
 Federal forces remaining in North Carolina. The expedition to Golda- 
 boro, by its uniform success, added to his already well deserved and very 
 considerable renown. 
 
 A spirited contest took place at Davis's mills, Mississippi, on the 21st 
 of December, in which Colonel W. H. Morgan, of the twenty-fifth Indiana 
 regiment, with a small body of troops, attacked and routed a much larger 
 force under Van Dorn. This place is about twenty miles north of Holly 
 Springs, and is situated on a narrow and deep stream called Wolf river. 
 Several bridges here crossed it. Van Dorn had captured fifteen hundred 
 Federal troops, and destroyed a large amount of government stores at 
 Holly Springs a short time previous ; and information had reached Colonel 
 Morgan that the Rebel general was then marching northward to attack 
 him at Davis's mills. Morgan determined to dispute the passage of the 
 foe at one of the bridges, and to oppose their advance from two favorable 
 points, the saw-mill and the Indian mound. The mound was quickly con- 
 verted into a block -house by the use of several rows of cotton-bales, which 
 were placed at the ends, while the intervening sides were protected by 
 thick walls of bridge timber. A breastwork of earth, three feet in height, 
 was also thrown up around the base of the mound. This fort and the 
 mill were then provided with ammunition and stores sufiBcient to stand an 
 assault of twenty-four hours; and a portion of the twenty-fifth Indiana, 
 with some dismounted cavalrymen, were placed in the saw-mill. The 
 remainder of the troops occupied the block-house. The former was termed 
 Fort Morgan, the latter was named the Redan. 
 
 About mid-day the expected force of the enemy arrived in the vicinity 
 of Davis's mills. They drove in the Federal pickets, then dismounted and 
 formed in line of battle. They advanced rapidly toward the works with 
 colors flying, and making the air resound with their exulting shouta 
 
412 THE CmL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 They rapidly approached one of the bridges. The Federals reserved their 
 fire until the enemy were well within range. They then poured several 
 vollies successively, and with immense effect, into the crowded masses 
 before them. The enemy were evidently taken by surprise, and the utmost 
 confusion followed. Many were slain upon the bridge, and many fell into 
 the stream. In a short time, however, they recovered from their astonish- 
 ment, and rushed forward to attack the forts ; but before they could reach 
 them another volley was fired from each, inflicting still greater and heavier 
 losses. Soon they spread themselves along the banks of the river and 
 behind the breastwork of the dam, and commenced to attack the works 
 from their shelter. Subsequently they made additional attempts to cross 
 the bridges, but they were fruitless. On each advance they were received 
 with such a shower of bullets as compelled them to retire. Thus the 
 contest continued until four o'clock in the afternoon. They then attempted 
 to cross the stream half a mile further down, where a bridge had formerly 
 existed, but had been destroyed by the orders of Colonel Morgan. At 
 this point they were repulsed by a portion of the fifth Ohio cavalry, 
 under Lieutenant Slade, who opposed their passage with great heroism. 
 Seeing that a further prosecution of the attempt to cross the stream at 
 either point would only entail heavy losses upon him, Van Dorn at length 
 concluded that it would be more prudent to retire. He then proceeded 
 ten miles west of Lagrange, where he crossed the Wolf river, advanced 
 toward Bolivar, passed through the Federal lines at Middleburg, and made 
 his escape. Ilis loss at Davis's mills was twenty dead, and thirty severely 
 wounded, whom he left behind him in his flight. 
 
 The circumstances under which the Confederates had previously ob- 
 tained possession of Holly Springs on the 19th of December, were 
 peculiar. The Federal troops had occupied it about a month ; but most 
 of them had been gradually withdrawn, so that when a Rebel force under 
 General Forrest approached it became an easy capture. They entered the 
 town at dawn of day, and found the Federals asleep, and wholly unsus- 
 picious of an attack. They were quickly overpowered. Then com- 
 menced the work of plunder and destruction. Five hundred thousand 
 dollars' worth of goods, consisting chiefly of army clothing, was taken or 
 destroyed, together with a vast quantity of cotton, which was consigned 
 to the flames. After this achievement, Forrest, whose force numbered 
 six thousand well mounted cavalry, proceeded to cross the Tennessee river 
 at Clifton, and advanced toward Jackson. Uis purpose now was to get 
 possession of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, by which the supplies for 
 General Grant's army were procured. lie hastened on toward Jackson. 
 At Lexington, on his way thither, he encountered Colonel Ingersoll, in 
 command of about twelve hundred men. A brisk engagement ensued, in 
 which Forrest held the advantage, capturing two guns, some prisoners, 
 ond driving back the Federals to Jackson, and eventually to Trenton. 
 
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 413 
 
 This latter post was commanded by Colonel Jacob Fry, of the sixty-first 
 Illinois. His force was feeble, and wholly unable to cope with so large a 
 body of troops as that commanded by Forrest. He concentrated his men 
 in the railroad depot, which he had fortified by surrounding it with bales 
 of cotton, and made a desperate resistance ; but again the vast superiority 
 in numbers possessed by the enemy compelled him, in the end, to sur- 
 render. His men were captured and paroled. Forrest then proceeded as 
 far as a point twelve miles distant from Columbus, destroying as he went 
 the railroad, its buildings, its bridges, and its track. By this achievement 
 he cut off for the time being the avenue of supplies to the army of Gen- 
 eral Grant, compelled him to make new dispositions of his troops, and 
 effected no inconsiderable damage to the Union cause in that region of 
 country. 
 
 With events and contests such as these the end of the memorable year 
 1862 approached. During its progress two great and powerful communi- 
 ties had been engaged in mortal conflict, with indomitable resolution and 
 perseverance. The tide of victory had been variable and fluctuating. 
 On both sides, "remarkable energy, skill and heroism had been exhibited. 
 Armies of colossal proportions had been brought into the field and sus- 
 tained, which exceeded in magnitude and efBciency the most numerous 
 and formidable forces which the nations of Europe had ever produced. 
 Yet the result remained undecided. The final issue of the conflict seemed 
 as uncertain as it had been at any previous period of the contest. The 
 great disaster to the Federal arms at Fredericksburg cheered and re- 
 freshed the inhabitants of the Confederate States with unaccustomed joy, 
 while it cast an unwonted shadow of gloom over the loyal millions who 
 had already done and suffered so much to restore the once glorious Fed- 
 eral Union. 
 
 Under sucb auspices the old year closed. On the first of January, 1863, 
 President Lincoln introduced a novel feature into the struggle, which at 
 • once attracted the attention of the whole community, both in the north 
 and in the south. In accordance with the proclamation which he had 
 issued on the 22d of September, 1862,* in which he had declared that 
 all persons held as slaves within any State or part of a State which should 
 be in Rebellion against the Federal Government on the first of January, 
 1863, should thenceforth become forever free, and that the Federal Gov- 
 ernment and all its agents should thenceforth assist all such persons, in 
 all lawful ways, to assert and maintain their freedom — and whereas the 
 Executive had promised in the said proclamation of the 22d of Septem- 
 ber, 1862, to designate the States and parts of States which should be in 
 Buch a position of resistance to the authority of the Federal Government 
 on the 1st of January, 1863^therefore he proceeded to designate, in this 
 
 * See both proclamations in the Appendix. 
 
414 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 last proclamation, the localities which should be thenceforth subject to 
 the operation of this law.* Having specified these, he proceeded to decree, 
 by virtue of the authority vested in him, that all persons then held as 
 slaves within the designated States and parts of States should, from and 
 after the 1st of January, 1863, be and remain forever free ; and that the 
 Executive Government of the United States, including both its military 
 and naval authorities should recognize and maintain the freedom of all 
 such persons. 
 
 In this same proclamation the .President enjoined upon the persons 
 thus enfranchised to abstain from all violence except such as might be 
 absolutely necessary to their self-defence, and to labor with industry and 
 faithfulness for reasonable wages. He also announced that freedmen of 
 suitable condition would thenceforth be received into the armed service 
 of the United States, to garrison forts and other warlike stations, and to 
 man vessels in the naval service. On this solemn and important yet 
 beneficent measure, he then invoked the "considerate judgment of man- 
 kind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God." 
 
 The publication of this proclamation produced an unusual degree of 
 commotion and excitement throughout the nation. The extreme radical 
 party regarded it with boundless exultation, as being a measure in accor- 
 dance with their own peculiar views, and as a mortal blow aimed at the 
 detested institution of slavery. The more conservative inhabitants of 
 the loyal States generally received it with approbation, as a movement 
 powerfully adapted to assi-st in crushing the Rebellion, and in diminishing 
 the strength and resources of those who were in arms against the Federal 
 Government, and were striving to destroy the Union. Even the most 
 moderate of those who condemned secession approved of it on the ground 
 that all the property of Rebels who were guilty of treason against the 
 Federal Government, and were aiming to destroy it, was justly forfeited 
 to the State ; and they could see no reason why the slave property of such 
 persons should be exempt from a penalty which, in all civilized countries, 
 was invariably annexed to the heinous crime of treason. It was in the Con- 
 federate States alone that this proclamation of Mr. Lincoln evoked a storm of 
 defiance and oDudemnation more furious and frantic than had yet been 
 elicited by any event of the war. No terms of execration and opprobrium 
 w ere sufficiently extravagant to express the full extent of the ferocious 
 
 * The States and parts of States designated in this proclamation were as follows : 
 Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (p.\cept the parishes of St. Bernard, Plariucmincs, Jcffor- 
 Bon, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Martin, and 
 Orleans, including the city of New (Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
 South Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West 
 Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, 
 York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth.) 
 These excepted parts were for the time being left precisely in the same condition as if 
 this proclamation had not been issued. 
 
JEFF. DAVIS ON THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 416 
 
 condemnation which was heaped upon it and upon him, both by the 
 general voice of the press and of the community. And, as they evidently 
 feared, its subsequent influence upon the fortunes and incidents of the 
 civil war were extremely potent and influential * 
 
 * Jefferson Davis, in his third annual message to the Confederate Congress, 
 expressed his convictions in reference to the emancipation proclamation of President 
 Lincoln in the following language : 
 
 " In its political aspects this measure possesses great significance ; and to it, in this 
 light, I invite your attention. It affords to our whole people the complete and 
 crowning proof of the true nature of the designs of the party which elevated to power 
 the present occupant of the Presidential chair at Washington, and which sought to 
 conceal its purpose by every variety of artful device, and by the perlidious use of the 
 most solemn and repeated pledges on every possible occasion. The people of the 
 Confederacy, then, cannot fail to receive this proclamation as the fullest vindication 
 of their own sagacity in foreseeing the uses to which the dominant party in the United 
 States intended from the beginning to apply their power ; nor can they cease to re- 
 member with devout thankfulness that it is to their own vigilance in resisthig the first 
 stealthy progress of approaching despotism that they owe their escape from conse- 
 quences now apparent to the most skeptical. It is, also, in effect, an intimation to 
 the people of the North that they must prepare to submit to a seperation now become 
 inevitable ; for that people are too acute not to understand that a restoration of the 
 Union has been rendered forever impossible by the adoption of a measure which, from 
 its very nature, neither admits of retraction nor can coexist with them. Humanity 
 shudders at the appalling atrocities which are being daily multiplied under the sanction 
 of those who have claimed temj orary possession of power in the United States, 
 and who are fast making its once fair name a by-word of reproach among civilized 
 men. Not even the natural indignation inspired by this conduct should make us, 
 however, so unjust as to attribute to the whole mass of the people, who are subjected 
 to the despotism that now reigns with unbridled license in the city of Washington, a 
 willing acquiescence in its conduct of the war. There must necessarily exist among 
 our enemies very many, perhaps a majority, whose humanity recoils from all partici- 
 pation in such atrocities, but who cannot be held wholly guiltless, while permitting 
 their continuenec without an effort at repression." 
 
416 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATKa 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF T*E YEAR 1862 — THE ARMIES OF ROSECRANS AND BRASO APPROACH EACH 
 OTHER AT MURFREKSBOBO, TENNESSEE — POSITION OF THEIR RESPECTITE FORCES — NUMBER 
 OP TROOPS ENGAGED — BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE — INCIDENTS OF TUK FIRST DAT — TUB 
 FEDERAL RIGHT WING DRIVEN BACK — PURSUIT BY THE CONFEDERATES — THE RETREAT 
 STOPPED — END OF THE FIRST DAY's COMBAT — THE ENGAGEMENT RESUMED — ARTILLERY 
 DUEL — FURIOUS CHARGE BY THE REBELS — HEROISM OF GENERALS NEGLEY AND DATIS — 
 THE REBEI.S FINALLY OVERPOWERED — A GENERAL CHARGE ON THEIR LINES — ITS RESUI.T-r- 
 COMPLP.TE DEFEAT OF THE REBEL ARMY— REVOLT OF THE ANDERSON CAVALRY — ITS ALLEGED 
 CAUSES — THE LOYALTHREE HUNDRED — FEDERAL LOSS IN THE BATTLES AT MURFREESBORC — 
 LOSSES or THE CONFEDERATES — FIELD ORDER OF GENERAL ROSECRANS RESPECTING TH> 
 ANDERSON CAVALRY. 
 
 The conclusion of the year 18G2, and the commencement of 1863, were 
 signalized by the occurrence of one of the most protracted and desperate 
 struggles of the war, for during that period was fought the battle of Mur- 
 freesboro, in Tennessee. The Federal forces were under the orders of 
 General Rosecrans. The Rebel host was led by Braxton Bragg. The.se 
 commanders had been approaching each other for some time, and assidu- 
 ously preparing for a combat which should tell effectually one way or the 
 other on the fortunes of the rival Republics under whose banners they 
 respectively fought. The Federal army numbered about forty-seven thou- 
 sand men ; that of the Rebels, fifty thousand. Among their ofiBcers were 
 many on both sides whose names had already become renowned, or 
 notorious, in the annals of the Rebellion. The enemy, after having been 
 driven from Nolansville, had taken a strong position in and around Mur- 
 frcesboro ; had fortified it with admirable skill, and they awaited the attack 
 of the Federal troops, who were now advancing from Nashville. The 
 last day of the expiring year, 1862, found the two armies at last in pres- 
 ence of each other; and on Wednesday, the 31st of December, this 
 memorable engagement of several days' duration commenced. 
 
 The Confederate army was drawn up in line of battle on Stone river, 
 extending from Murfreesboro on their right to the Franklin road on their 
 left. Hardee commanded their left wing. Here were posted the divisions 
 of Cheatham, McCoun, Wither, and Cleburne. General Polk led the right 
 wing of the foe, which included the divisions of Breckinridge and Preston 
 Smith. General Kirby Smith was posted in the centre. On the Federal 
 side, General McCook commanded the right wing, consisting of the divis- 
 ions of Davis, Sheridan, and Johnson. The right centre was commanded 
 by General Thomas, under whom were Generals Rousseau and Ncgley. 
 Rousseau's division constituted the reserve of the centre. The left wing 
 
FIRST DAY'S BATTLE AT MUEFREESBORO. 417 
 
 was placed under the orders of General Crittenden, in whose column Pal- 
 mer occupied the right, Wood the centre. Van Cleve the left. The battle- 
 field consisted of an extensive plain, three miles in extent, for the most 
 part cleared, but with occasional patches of woodland. It was traversed 
 by a turnpike, on both sides of which there were gentle elevations. The 
 lines of the Eebels reached across the Stone river, a stream which, taking 
 its rise in Eutherford county, and traversing Campbell county, emptied 
 into the Cumberland, ten miles below Davidson. A western branch of 
 this river flows by Murfreesboro, and bisected the Rebel lines on this 
 occasion. 
 
 The contest began at break of day on Wednesday, on the right of the 
 Federal forces. There the whole mass of the foe, under McCoun, Cheat- 
 ham, and Cleburne, had advanced with great impetuosity, and charged the 
 linfe^f Johnson and Davis. A part of Johnson's infantry gave wa}'^ and 
 retreated. In vain did the Federal officers endeavor to stop the flight. A 
 panic .soon spread through the whole division, and a disgraceful flight 
 commenced. The enemy now succeeded in surrounding the right flank. 
 The confusion became complete and overwhelming. General Eosecrans, 
 perceiving the peril of the moment and of the disaster, despatched one 
 brigade and battery after another from the divisions of Palmer and Neg- 
 ley, to the assistance of the overpowered and shattered troops ; but these 
 reinforcements were in their turn crushed by the impetuous onsets of the 
 now triumphant enemy, and carried away in the whelming torrent of the 
 fugitives. The panic then spread from the division of Johnson to that of 
 Davis, and the whole right wing was soon involved in an unmitigated and 
 disastrous rout. They were driven two miles by the enemy with great 
 slaughter, and the fortunes of the day seemed already to have been irre- 
 trievably lost. 
 
 But the misfortune did not terminate here. The retreat of the divisions 
 of Johnson and Davis left that of Sheridan exposed to the onset of the foe. 
 The Eebel commanders followed up their advantage promptly, and charged 
 with fury on this division, whose flank was unprotected. The troops 
 which composed it resisted the terrible battle-shock of the enemy for some 
 time ; but at length they also gave way, and were driven, thoug'r not in 
 much confusion, with heavy losses, to join in the tumultuous flight of 
 their comrades. Before they thus yielded, one fourth of their number lay 
 either dead or wounded on the ensanguined field, proving how determined 
 their resistance had been. The result of this rout of the Federal nghv 
 wing was that they were hurled back in their flight toward the centre and 
 left of the Federal army, which remained firm and immovable in its posi- 
 tion, facing the woods through which the Eebels were advancing. In the 
 interval which yet existed between them, a turnpike and railroad ran, 
 which was the key of the whole Federal position. There the immense 
 trains of wagons which belonged to the Federal army were placed. If 
 27* 
 
418 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that were lost all would be ruined. And now tte horrible spectacle was 
 presented of thousands of retreating soldiers, who were running in the 
 utmost confusion before the pursuing foe, through the woods and over the 
 plains, making both resound with their maniac yells, either of exultation 
 or of despair. Thus the chaotic mass of fugitives and of pursuers rapidly 
 approached within range of the guns of that wing of the Federal army 
 which remained unbroken, and which was waiting in stern and determined 
 fortitude to receive the enemy with an annihilating salute as soon as their 
 serried masses came within range. It was a moment decisive of the des- 
 tinies of thousands — pregnant with the fate of an empire. With admirable 
 skill General Eosecrans now prepared to confront and repel the on-rolling 
 deluge. He posted his regiments and batteries along the turnpike which 
 fronted his line, so that when the Rebels emerged from the woods in pur- 
 suit of the flying and scattered Federals, they should receive such a hail- 
 storm of shot and shell as might check their advance, break their power, 
 and turn the tide of victory. At length that vast sea of discordant fugi- 
 tives appeared in view. So complete had become their confusion and 
 chaos that all distinctions of regiments and divisions, of horse and foot, 
 had been lost. Closer and closer the deluge approached, with the exulting 
 foe pursuing hard upon them. General Thomas commanded that portion 
 of the Federal army to whose skill and valor the salvation of the day had 
 been entrusted. Calmly and firmly he rode along the ranks, cheering and 
 encouraging his men to confront the coming storm with steadiness. 
 Silence as of the grave pervaded his steady columns, while frantic yells 
 resounded from the advancing hordes of the foe. The critical moment had 
 at last arrived. The stern word of command was given. Instantly a daz- 
 zling sheet of flame burst from the firm ranks of the Federal heroes, which 
 penetrated the masses of the enemy. It was quickly followed by the roar 
 of their numerous and well served artillery, which shoolc the very earth, 
 and crushed into flying fragments the thick masses of the enemy. Then 
 came the awful confusion, the sudden recoil, the broken flight of the Confed- 
 erates, who had till then exulted in the fancied success of the day. Whole 
 ranks were swept from the field by the terrific fire of the Federals. Entire 
 regiments were battered to pieces. When the heavy mantle of smoke 
 arose, after a few minutes, from the scene, it displayed an appalling spec- 
 tacle. The ground was literally covered with piles of killed and wounded, 
 so terrible had been the destruction. The Federals were then ordered to 
 advance. The enemy gave way and retired through the woods, and were 
 in turn driven over a small portion of the ground which had just witnessed 
 the ignominious rout and flight of the Federal right wing. The artillery 
 pursued them with inexorable and destructive vengeance along the scenes 
 of their marvelous success, and followed them as they retired toward the po- 
 sition which the Federals occupied at the commencement of the engagement. 
 Thus ended the first day of this great battle. During its progress Gert 
 
SECOND DAY'S BATTLE AT MURFREESBORO. 419 
 
 eral Rosecrans had superintended in person the operations of his army, and 
 rode bravely over the field amid hailstorms of bullets. It was while thus 
 engaged that Colonel Gareschd, his chief of staff, a valuable and accom- 
 plished ofiicer, was killed close at his side, and his orderlies fell rapidly 
 around him. Nevertheless, the general results of this day were not very 
 favorable to the Federal forces. The shock given by the defeat of the 
 right wing had been too terrible not to be severely felt. It was evident 
 that a desperate blow must be struck on a later day, before a complete 
 triumph could be claimed by the champions of the Union.* 
 
 Neither party seemed disposed to renew the engagement on Thursday. 
 Both were exhausted, both had many dead to bury and wounded to pro- 
 vide for, so that it was not until Friday, January 2d, that the contest was 
 resumed. During the interval some changes had been made in the 
 positions of the Federal forces. General Van Cleve's division of Crit- 
 tenden's corps was transferred, so that its left wing rested on the Lebanon 
 road, with its right on Lytle's creek. General Palmer's troops were 
 placed east of the Na.shville road, Eousseau's were posted between the turn- 
 pike and the railroad, McCook's corps lay on the right of Eousseau, and 
 Negley's was held as reserves in the rear. 
 
 The battle commenced on Friday morning by an attack from the 
 enemy upon the batteries of Eousseau's division, commanded by Colonel 
 Loomis. A furious artillery duel ensued. The deafening reverberation 
 of the guns aroused the whole of both armies, who now seemed eager for 
 the contest. But as yet the strife was confined exclusively to the artil- 
 lery. In a short time several of the Rebel batteries were disabled and 
 silenced, and it was evident that the advantage was with the Federals. 
 As soon as this result became apparent the enemy withdrew the rest of 
 their guns from the contest, and an interval of several hours took place, 
 which was employed by the enemy in reconnoitering the position of the 
 Union forces. It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when they 
 renewed the engagement. 
 
 At that time they advanced in immense columns, under the command of 
 General Breckinridge, and attacked Van Cleve's division, which was then 
 commanded by Colonel Beatty, of the nineteenth Ohio. General Van Cleve 
 had been wounded and disabled on Wednesday. This division made a 
 gallant resistance for half an hour; but the troops of Breckinridge were 
 reinforced successively by those of Anderson and Cleburne, so that they 
 
 * General Bragg claimed in his official report to the Confederate Secretary of War, 
 respecting the fight on the 31st of December, that he had captvjed two brigadier- 
 generals, four thousand prisoners, thirty-one pieces of artillery, and two hundred 
 wagons and teams. But he ingenuously admits that his own losses were very heavy. 
 His estimate of the number and value of his prizes was made too soon to permit him 
 to arrive at any thing like even an approximation to the truth ; hence it was charac- 
 terized by great exaggeration and ludicrous fallacy. 
 
420 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were soon overpowered by a resistless superiority of numbers. The 
 Rebels here fought with unusual determination. Soon two brigades of 
 Beatty's troops gave way and retired slowly. They were charged upon 
 by the pursuing foe, and driven as far as the banks of Ly tie's creek. A 
 third brigade was about to follow in retreat, when Negley's divison was 
 opportunely sent to their assistance. This division had been placed by 
 Rosecrans with great wisdom and prudence as a reserve, and now it came 
 to the rescue at a critical moment, and with most propitious effect. His 
 troops rushed forward with loud shouts of enthusiasm, and having 
 reached the banks of the creek, opened a fire upon the enemy which 
 completely decimated and destroyed their close masses. They were soon 
 so much broken that they retired in confusion. At that crisis the troops 
 of Jeflerson C. Davis arrived on the scene, to complete the triumph of 
 Negley. They rushed forward, plunged into the stream, reached the 
 opposite side, and charged furiously on the confused enemy. The seventy- 
 eighth Pennsylvania, led by Colonel Sirwell, was the first to cross the 
 stream. That officer then ordered his men to charge up the hill. The 
 order was obeyed with enthusiasm. A desperate fight ensued between 
 the seventy-eighth and the twenty-sixth Tennessee infantry. At its con- 
 clusion a large portion of the latter were captured, and their colors fell 
 into the hands of the victors. Bat the latter had paid dearly for their 
 advantage, for many of their bravest comrades had fallen on the bloody 
 field. Colonel Scott and Major Guthrie were severely wounded. Captains 
 Chandler and Camseller were killed. The nineteenth Illinois had lost 
 nearly fifty men. The sixty-eighth Ohio and seventy -eighth Pennsylva- 
 nia suffered heavily. But the Federals were the conquerors. They drove 
 the enemy out of the woods and across the corn-fields, which were covered 
 with their dead and wounded over an area of a mile and a-half in extent 
 until they reached the vicinity of Mufreesboro. Several of their colors 
 were captured, together with a battery and a large number of prisoners. 
 
 While General Negley was achieving this grand success against the 
 enemy before him, General Rosecrans was perfecting the victory through- 
 out the remainder of his columns. lie now ordered the whole line to 
 advance. Then came a terrific and resistless charge. Hope and en- 
 tliusiasm had given fresh power to the Federal troops. As their grim 
 and stern batile-line advanced upon the foe, a far extending sheet of 
 deadly fire and flame issued from them, which melted down the serried 
 columns of the enemy like frost-work. In their centre and on their lefl, 
 which were now assaulted, they made a desperate resistance. But their 
 right wing was broken and pursued by Negley. The distant cheers of 
 the victors came floating on the breeze, to their unwilling ears, and 
 seemed the knell of their own inevitable doom. They gave way at length, 
 and retired slowly, until they reached their intrenchments beyond Lytle's 
 creek, close to Mufreesboro. At that moment night descended upon the 
 
fr DIAGRAM ', 1 -™roseoLms« 
 
 OpOSITION OF ARMIES DE? 31 '^^nPXaqS&m^ 
 
EBVOLT OF THE ANDERSON GUARDS. 421 
 
 scene, and necessarily suspended the struggle. It saved the works of the 
 enemy from an immediate assault and from inevitable capture. In this 
 pursuit the Federal cavalry under General Stanley had fought with great 
 heroism, and had Contributed effectually to turn the flight of the foe into 
 a confused rout. 
 
 At the close of the day the Federal victors occupied and possessed the 
 ground from which the enemy had been driven. During Friday night 
 their position was intrenched with great industry. When Saturday 
 dawned it found the works completed. During that day the enemy were 
 shelled by the Federal artillery, but no regular engagement took place. 
 The rain descended in torrents, and both armies seemed disposed to await 
 its cessation before resuming hostilities. Another great battle was then 
 anticipated ; but during Saturday night the Confederate forces evacuated 
 their intrenchments and retreated toward Tullahoma, thus furnishing the 
 most conclusive evidence of their discomfiture and defeat. On Wednesday 
 they had captured twenty-eight pieces of artillery, several thousand prison- 
 ers, and their other successes were not inconsiderable. But the events of 
 the concluding struggle on Friday demonstrated that the victory at last 
 remained unequivocally with the champions of the Union. 
 
 An incident happened in connection with this battle which possessed 
 a peculiar character and interest ; and was unparalleled among the trans- 
 actions which occurred during the progress of the Eebellion. It was the 
 revolt of a portion of the regiment known as the Anderson cavalry. 
 This troop had been originally recruited in Pennsylvania during the 
 period that General Buell held command of the army of the Cumberland, 
 for the express purpose, and with the distinct understanding, that they 
 should serve exclusively as the body-guard of that officer. An enlist- 
 ment under such circumstances was in itself an anomaly in military affairs 
 ■which was not very indicative of self-sacrificing patriotism. The removal 
 of General Buell from command after the termination of his campaign in 
 Kentucky, necessarily rendered the fulfillment of the precise terms of the 
 enlistment of this troop an impossibility ; nor had General Rosecrans, 
 his successor, as yet possessed the leisure or opportunity to make such 
 a disposal of them as might be more congenial with the views with which 
 they had entered the service. Their position thus remained undefined 
 and uncertain, when the great struggle at Murfreesboro approached. 
 The troop had reached the camp only a few days previous to the fight. 
 As it was necessary to summon every energy and resource to assist in 
 crushing the formidable power of the enemy arrayed against him, General 
 Eosecrans immediately assigned this troop to General Stanley's division 
 x)f cavalry. This order was the signal for the outbreak of a treasonable 
 spirit, which terminated in the refusal of the whole troop, with the ex- 
 ception of about three hundred, to continue in the service, or to take part 
 in the impending conflict. The recusants suddenly deserted the camp 
 
423 THE CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and returned to Nashville. Tbe reasons assigned for this act were, that 
 they had been recruited to serve as the body-guard of General BucU 
 alone, and for no other purpose ; that they had no confidence in the officers 
 vho had been placed over them ; and that they had not been furnished 
 with proper provisions and supplies. Those members of the troop who 
 remained faithful to their colors, and declined to unite with their associates 
 in deserting the service on these grounds, took part in the several engage- 
 ments which occurred in the vicinity of Murfreesboro, and greatly dis- 
 tinguished themselves. Their most gallant achievement was in the pre- 
 liminary combat which took place on Tuesday, previous to the main 
 actions. On that day several detached struggles occurred between frag- 
 ments of the two armies ; and it was in one of these, when charging upon 
 the Eebel horse, that these young heroes displayed the bravery and valor 
 of veterans. In this fight they lost about eleven killed and thirty 
 wounded. Among the former was Major Eosengarten. After the termi- 
 nation of the contest General Rosecrans complimented those members 
 of the troop who had remained loyal, notwithstanding the efforts which 
 had been made to seduce them, in just terms of applause and commenda- 
 tion, lie ordered the remainder to be placed under arrest at Nashville. 
 These were seven hundred in number, and they were reserved to be 
 subjected to the future scrutiny of a court-martial.* 
 
 * The special field-order of General Rosecrans, in reference to this subject, was 
 as follows : 
 
 " XVIII. The jreneral commanding announces his high satisfaction with those 
 brave and determined men of the Anderson Guards who promptly marched, under 
 tlic gallant Majors Rosongarten and Ward, to aid liim in his advance on Murfreesboro. 
 These yoimg soldiers and their brave commander vied with our most veteran cavalry 
 in their steadiness under fire, and the intrepidity of their advance on the enemy, and 
 nobly sustained the honor already won by the seventh Pennsylvania cavalry for the 
 Keystone State. While he deplores the early death of the brave young Rosengarten, the 
 sorrow he feels at his loss is mingled with a soldier's pride, to know that he fell like 
 a hero, and for the sacred cause of nationality. lie trusts that Major Ward, recov- 
 ering from his desperate but honorable wounds, will live to gather fresh laurels on 
 many a field in his country's service. 
 
 "The general commanding is grieved to learn that about seven hundred of those 
 noble Guards — said to belong to families of good standing at home — have chosen, 
 under some pretext or other, not to follow their companions in arms to the field, to 
 share with them the dangers and the glories of the fourteenth army corps. 
 
 " lie could not imagine what could have moved men in whom he laid such hopes to 
 a course so base and selfish. He cannot conceive how they could shame their own 
 kin, and stain the clear honor of their native State by conduct not merely appearing 
 base and cowardly, but so criminal as to deserve the penalty of death. 
 
 " IJcfore proceeding to do what his duty requires, and having them dealt with as 
 their conduct merits — before covering them with that deserved infamy which will 
 blast thein forever in the esteem of their fellows — the general commanding wishes 
 this order read to them ; and, to all who are not too lost to a sense of honor, to step 
 forth and confess that whatever may have been their private wants and griefs, the 
 
FEDERAL LOSS AT THE BATTLE OF MUKFEEESBOEO. 423 
 
 The Federal loss iu the battles near Murfreesboro was fifteen hundred 
 and thirty-three killed, including ninety -two officers ; seven thousand two 
 hundred and forty-five wounded, together with several thousand prison- 
 ers. Among the Federal officers wbo fell on this famous field of glory 
 were Brigadier-General J. W. Sill, Colonels Eoberts and Schaffer, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Garesche. Among the wounded were Major-General 
 Alexander McCook, and Brigadiers Willich, Kirk, Wood, and Van Cleve. 
 The Federal loss amounted to twenty per centum of their whole force 
 engaged. That inflicted upon the Confederates in this great contest was 
 heavier than that suffered by the victors. General Bragg in his official 
 report acknowledged a loss of over ten thousand killed and wounded ; and 
 did not include in this, twenty-eight hundred prisoners and wounded left 
 in our hands. That this statement was much below the truth is certain. 
 In no struggle since the commencement of the war had the enemy fought 
 with more desperate resolution ; in none had they been met with more 
 determined fortitude, than on the blood-stained field of Murfreesboro; 
 and in few had they suffered a. more signal and disastrous defeat. 
 
 hour of their country's need and peril was not the time to stand back and falter, or 
 expose their brothers in arms to danger and death without help. Let them .resolve 
 on some reparation which will give them an opportunity to save some of them from 
 impending disgrace and ruin." 
 
424 THE CIVIL WAR IN TDE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVm. 
 
 THE LOSS OF THE FEDERAL IRON-CLAD MONITOR AT SEA — HER PECULIAR 8TRUCTURR — HE* 
 
 DEPARTURE FROM HAMPTON ROADS — A RISINO STORM — THE MONITOR BE(^OMES DISABLED 
 
 CAUSE OF THE MISFORTUNE — HER SITUATION BECOMES DESPERATE — REMOVAL OF HER 
 CREW TO THE RHODE ISLAND — HER FINAL DISAPPEARANCE — THE FEDERAL ARMY UNDER 
 GENERAL SHERMAN ATTACK VICKSBURO, MISSISSIPPI — LANDING OF THE TROOPS AT JOHN- 
 SON'S FERRY, ON THE YAZOO — THE ATTACK COMMENCED ON THE 27tB OF DECEMBER — 
 PARTIAL SUCCESS OF THE FEDERAL FORCES — THE ASSAULT RESUMED ON THE 'itlTn — DES- 
 PERATE FIGHTING — THE FIRST LINE OF WORKS CARRIED — SHERMAN ORDERS A GENERAL 
 CHARGE — THE FEDERALS REPULSED AND DEFEATED — TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER — THE UNION 
 
 ARMY WITHDRAWN — GENERAL SHERMAN SUPERSEDED BY m'cLERNAND FEDERAL LOSSES 
 
 — CAUSES OP THEIR DEFEAT — MINOR ENGAGEMENTS AT SPRINGFIELD AND HART8VILLE, 
 MISSOURI. 
 
 The commencement of the year 1863 witnessed a scene of intense and 
 thrilling interest, connected with the naval service of the United States, 
 which has rarely been surpassed in the annals of the great deep. At that 
 period the Monitor, the first and oldest of the Federal iron-clad war 
 vessels, foundered at sea. This vessel had become renowned from her 
 successful combat with the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac, which took 
 place in Hampton Roads on the 9th of March, 1862. After a struggle of 
 five hours, she compelled her antagonist to retire disabled into the port 
 of Norfolk. She was a hundred and seventy -two feet in length, forty-one 
 in breadth. Her turret was twenty feet in diameter, and nine in height. 
 Her turret and the pilot-house were the only objects visible above her 
 deck, which was so low in the water as to afford scarcely any surface for 
 the balls of an enemy. Every thing else was below the water line. She 
 was covered with rolled-iron armor five inches in thickness. Her hull 
 was constructed of solid white oak, twenty-six inches thick. The turret 
 was protected by rolled-iron plate, an inch thick, over which were riveted 
 five layers of similar plates, each an inch in thickness. The port-hole of 
 the turret was only large enough to permit the muzzle of the gun to be 
 run through it. The turret revolved by means of auxiliary engines. The 
 ofiicers' rooms below were large and comfortable, and lighted by dead- 
 lights placed in the deck. 
 
 Tiie ilonitor left Hampton Roads, in tow of the steamer Rhode Island, 
 on the 29th of December, at half-past two in the afternoon. She passed 
 Cape Henry at six on the same day. Every thing proceeded favorably. 
 The weather continued to be propitious until five o'clock the next morning, 
 when a gale commenced from the southwest. The vessel was commanded 
 on this trip by Captain John P. Bankhead, who had succeeded the gallant 
 
LOSS OF THE lEON CLAD MONITOR AT SEA. 425 
 
 Worden. The sea soon began to break over the pilot-house, at some 
 distance in front of the tower, and reached the base of the tower itself. 
 At that moment it was discovered, for the first time, that the packing of 
 oakum, under and around the base of the tower, had become partly 
 loosened by the working of the ponderous tower, which was produced by 
 the pitching and rolling of the vessel, but the bilge-pumps were as yet 
 able to keep her perfectly free from water, and no apprehensions for the 
 safety of the vessel were entertained by her commander. 
 
 Her condition continued the same during the remainder of the 30th. At 
 half-past seven the wind increased in strength, and caused the sea to be- 
 come more rough. The vessel began to tow badly, to yaw very mu^-h, 
 and to make more water around the base of the tower. The Worthington 
 pump was then put on to assist in keeping her free, and the centrifugal 
 pump was prepared for use. At this time, which was about eight o'clock 
 in the evening, the sea began to rise rapidly, and to become so rough that 
 the vessel plunged more heavily, completely submerging the pilot-house. 
 It was now noticed that when she rose to the swell of the angry deep, 
 the flat iron under-surface of her projecting armor came down with tre- 
 mendous force, causing a heavy shock to the whole vessel, and loosening 
 still more the packing around the base of the tower. The condition of 
 the Monitor was evidently becoming critical. Captain Bankhead at length 
 signalled to the Rhode Island to stop, in order that he might ascertain 
 whether, by suspending her progress, the vessel would ride easier and 
 would ship less water. The result was that no difference was perceptible, 
 and what was worse, she fell off immediately into the trough of the sea, 
 and rolled more fearfully than before. The centrifugal pump was now 
 started, in addition to the other pumps, but with no benefit. The sea 
 continued to rise, the water in the hold was not diminished, and it soon 
 rose several inches above the floor of the engine-room. 
 
 It now became certain that the situation of the Monitor was hopeless. 
 All the resources of able seamanship had been exhausted in vain in her 
 preservation. The scene presented at that moment was terrible, and suf- 
 ficient to appal the stoutest heart. The ocean had been lashed into fury 
 by the increasing gale. Far and wide over the watery waste nothing was 
 visible in the partial darkness of the night, except the mountain waves 
 rolling far upward to heaven, or yawning into profound abysses below, 
 together with the roaring of the winds, the dashing of the spray, the angry 
 voices of many waters, and the two vessels tossing like feathers upon the 
 agitated bosom of the deep. The only hope of safety to those on board 
 the Monitor, was in reaching the Rhode Island by means of the boats of 
 that vessel, but so fearful was the tempest and so rough the sea, that this 
 experiment was one of the utmost danger. At length, at half-past ten. 
 Captain Bankhead made the signal of distress, which was immediately 
 answered and obeyed bv her consort. He then ranged the Monitor close 
 
42G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to the Eliode Island, and requested her commander to send his boats to 
 take off his crew, as his vessel was in a sinking condition. Before the 
 first boats reached her, the water had entered her ash-pits. The heavy 
 seas were then breaking and rushing over her entire deck, and it became 
 extremely perilous for any one to leave the turret. Nevertheless, several 
 boats were filled with a portion of the crew, who succeeded in reaching 
 the Ehode Island. Both vessels were at this time proceeding slowly for- 
 ward. But at half-past eleven the water extinguished the fires of the 
 Monitor, and she became stationary. While waiting for the two boats to 
 return, it was necessary to organize bailing parties to diminish the water. 
 The vessel again fell into the trough of the sea, and it became impossible 
 for the boats to approach her. As a last resource. Captain Bankhead 
 ordered the anchor to be let go, and all the chains to be given her, for the 
 purpose of bringing her to. This expedient happily succeeded. The 
 vessel swung around her head to the wind. Iler deck was now on a 
 level with the water. The boats again approached, and the remainder of 
 the crew were ordered to enter them. In the attempt, several men were 
 washed overboard. A few others, appalled by the horrors of the scene, 
 were so paralyzed that they refused to leave the turret, in and around 
 which they coniinued to cling with frantic fear. At last, when the rest 
 of the crew had entered the boats. Captain Bankhead abandoned his vessel 
 and proceeded with his men to the llhode Island. Scarcely had he reached 
 her deck, when the Monitor gave a tremendous lurch, then sank and dis- 
 appeared from view forever. The unfortunate men who had remained in 
 the turret descended with her. 
 
 Great credit was due to Captain Bankhead for the coolness and self- 
 possession with which he had directed his men during this terrible scene, 
 and to Captain Trenchard, of the llhode Island, for the skill with which 
 he had rescued them from a watery grave. During the transfer, so peril- 
 ous was the undertaking, that four officers and twelve men were lost, 
 including those who had remained on the Monitor. It was the opinion 
 of Captain Bankhead that the disaster of the loss of his vessel was chiefly 
 owing to the fact that she must have sprung a leak somewhere forward^ 
 caused by the tremendous .shocks which she received as she came down 
 upon the sea. The gallantry of Lieutenant Green, of Ensign Stodder, 
 of Master's-Mate Peter Williams, and of Quartermaster Kobert Angier, 
 were conspicuous during the whole of these perilous scenes. 
 
 The first attempt of the Federal generals to capture Vicksburg, on the 
 Mississippi, proved a failure. That effort was commenced on the 21st of 
 June, 1862, by the gunboats and the fleet under Captains Davis and 
 Porter, as was narrated in a previous page. The effort also to dig aa 
 artificial channel for the Mississippi, across the narrow peninsula opposite 
 to the extremity of which the city was built, was abandoned after some 
 time as impracticable. It had been discovered that the co-operation of a 
 
THE NAVAL EXPEDITION TO VICKSBUEG. 427 
 
 land force was indispensable to the reduction of Vicksburg, and to the 
 opening of the navigation of the Mississippi. A considerable period of 
 time elapsed before the Federal authorities, both civil and military, were 
 prepared to resume the undertaking. At length, in the month of Decem- 
 ber, 1862, a powerful land force was placed under tl>^ command of Gen- 
 eral William T. Sherman, and appropriated to the attack and capture of 
 this important stronghold, which the Confederates had fortified during 
 the interval with the utmost energy and skill. 
 
 The naval portion of the expedition had been assembled at Memphis 
 and Helena. It started from those places on the 23d of December, and 
 proceeded toward Vicksburg. The entire fleet of transports and gunboats 
 numbered nearly a hundred vessels ; and the scene which it presented, as 
 it glided majestically along the broad and tranquil bosom of the great, 
 "father of waters," was magnificent and imposing in the extreme. Among 
 the iron-clad gunboats were the Benton, Carondelet, Black Ilawk, Mound 
 City, Louisville, Lexington, and Switzerland — all of which had already 
 become renowned in the annals of the Eebellion. At two o'clock on 
 Monday, the 22d, this armada reached Gaines' Landing, and remained 
 there during the night. Before its departure a large portion of the tcJwn 
 at this place was destroyed by fire, together with a considerable amount 
 of other property. This outrage was committed through the lawless spirit 
 which disgraced some of the Federal forces under the command of General 
 Sherman, among whom a singular and censurable want of discipline seems 
 to have existed. On the 24:th, the voyage down the stream was continued. 
 As a preliminary movement to the grand assault on Vicksburg, an attack 
 was made on the Kebel works at Milliken's Bend, twelv.e miles above the 
 mouth of the Yazoo. The importance of this operation was evinced by 
 the fact that all the reinforcements which the enemy might wish to send 
 to Vicksburg from Arkansas must, of necessity, pass over the railroad 
 from Shreveport, which traverses this bend. A portion of the Federal 
 forces were therefore disembarked -at this place. They burned a part of the 
 town, and then proceeded twenty miles inland. They struck the railroad 
 at a point about twenty-five miles distant from Vicksburg, and imme- 
 diately commenced the work of its demolition. They tore up the track? 
 blew up the culverts, burnt the bridges, destroyed the wood and water 
 stations, and rendered the road completely unfit for use. They then re- 
 turned to the main body at Milliken's Bend, and on the next day pro- 
 ceeded down the river to the mouth of the Yazoo, which they reached on 
 the afternoon of the 26th. They then steamed up that stream a distance of 
 sixteen miles, to the spot which had been selected as the scene of the dis- 
 embarkation of the troops. This process was successfully accomplished at 
 several points, extending over an area of three miles, between the junction 
 of the Yazoo with the Old River, and Johnson's ferry. The troops landed 
 on the south side of the stream toward Vicksburg. The distance from 
 
428 THE CITIL -VVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Johnson's ferry to that city was eight miles. The main army of the Con- 
 federates was posted at Haines' Bluff, where they had erected a battery of 
 twenty heavy guns. They had also fortified every crest of the range of 
 hills, so as to command completely all the approaches from the land side 
 toward the city. . 
 
 The Federal forces appropriated to the attack of Vicksburg consisted 
 of the troops which had been stationed at Memphis under Halleck, some 
 of those under Curtis in Arkansas, the army which had evacuated Cum- 
 berland gap, together with a large number who had been recently re- 
 cruited in the Western States. These troops were divided into four grand 
 divisions, commanded by Generals Frederick Steele, Morgan L. Smith, 
 George W. Morgan, and A. J. Smith. The largest of these divisions was 
 that under the orders of General Steele. Of the commanders of brigades the 
 most distinguished were Frank Blair, A. P. Ilovcy, Thayer, and Colonel De 
 Courcey. General Sherman, though the commander-in-chief of the expe- 
 dition, was under the superior orders of General Grant. The entire num- 
 ber of Fcileral troops who marched to the attack on Vicksburg was about 
 twenty-five thousand. The forces of the Confederates appointed to defend 
 it were known to be much greater, with the advantage of a fortified posi- 
 tion, and a hundred guns placed in batteries. The intrenchments were 
 well constructed of felled timber, earth-embankments, together with sloughs 
 .and rifle-pits. The place might with truth be termed the Eebel Gibraltar 
 of the southwest. 
 
 General Sherman's dispositions having been made for the attack, he or- 
 dered the brigades of Generals Blair and Stuart to advance through the 
 woods toward th^ position of the enemy. They surprised their pickets, 
 and drove them in, about a mile from the bluffs. The division of General 
 A. J. Smith then followed, advanced to the front, and took their position 
 in the field. The division of M. L. Smith was next in order. Other dis- 
 positions were made on Saturday, the 27th of December, during which 
 some unimportant skirmishing took place. On Sunday morning, both 
 armies being now in line of battle, a cannonading was commenced by a por- 
 tion of the artillery, and continued for an hour. During its progress the 
 Federal infantry were ordered to lie upon the ground to avoid the balls. 
 But at the expiration of that time, an order was given to charge upon the 
 nearest batteries of the enemy. In the execution of this order by the thir- 
 teenth Illinois and Stuart's brigade, Colonel Wyman was killed, and Gen- 
 eral M. L. Smith was wounded. The sixth and eighth Missouri assisted 
 in the assault. The result was that the enemy removed their guns, and 
 retired to a position on the other side of an intervening lagoon at the foot 
 of the bluffs. 
 
 During the progress of this operation heavy cannonading was heard at 
 a distance on the left, which was supposed to come from the attack made 
 bv General Steele. To occupy the attention of the rest of the enemy's 
 
THE ASSAULT UPON VICKSBURG. 429 
 
 forces, General Sherman resohed to attempt the carrying of the outer line 
 of the Eebels by assault. General Morgan and Colonel De Courcey were 
 ordered to the front with their forces ; Colonel Landrum's brigade was 
 held as a reserve. In spite of an intervening slough, in which the Fed- 
 erals sank up to their knees, they advanced bravely. After a short con- 
 flict the enemy abandoned their works and fled. Thus the first line was 
 carried without much difficulty. It was from the position thus obtained 
 that the Federals for the first time saw the full extent and the formidable 
 nature of the intrenchmeuts which they would be required to take before 
 they could capture the city. 
 
 After this success, the Federal land forces ceased their operations for 
 that day. During its progress the gunboats on the river had not been 
 idle. The Benton, Louisville, and DeKalb, proceeded toward the batteries 
 of the Rebels on the lesser Haines' Blufi", and commenced an attack upon 
 them. An engagement of an hour's duration ensued, in which about sixty 
 guns were fired on each side, and by each vessel. Before its conclusion 
 Captain Gwin, of the Benton, was mortally wounded, and his vessel was 
 twice perforated by the balls of the enemy. Four men were killed on 
 board. It soon became evident that the attack on this point was a failure 
 and the vessels were withdrawn from the contest. 
 
 It was on Monday, the 29th of December, that the last grand assault on 
 Vicksburg. was attempted. The point selected for this purpose was the' 
 one at which the enemy confidently anticipated it; it was therefore in- 
 judiciously chosen, and placed the Federal forces at a disadvantage. It 
 was on the only accessible wagon-road which led into the city. The first 
 gun was fired at nine o'clock in the morning. Soon battery after battery 
 was hurried up into position, until twelve of these threw their hailstorms 
 upon the position of the enemy on the elevated plateau above them. The 
 Rebels responded with the utmost celerity and resolution. The air was 
 soon filled with a deluge of shot and shell passing in opposite directions 
 on their missions of destruction. The noise and reverberation were deaf- 
 ening, and for two hours it continued without the least intermission. 
 Then came a pause. An important movement was now contemplated by 
 General Sherman. It was nothing less than a general assault for the 
 purpose of storming the works of the enemy. The necessary dispositions 
 and changes were efl'ected. General Steele's men were brought forward 
 close to those of Morgan. A concentration of troops was made at the 
 forks of an intervening bayou. On the left of the bayou were placed the 
 troops of General Blair. A.t length, at half-past two in the day. General 
 Sherman gave the order to advance. It was executed by the men with 
 admirable spirit and valor. They rushed forward toward the second line 
 of the enemy, and in spite of the murderous discharge both of musketry 
 and artillery which was poured into their ranks ^they succeeded in reach- 
 ing the intrenchmeuts of the foe, and after a desperate contest drove them 
 
430 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 out of their strongholds. But they had lost fearfully during the progress 
 of this achievement, and with thinned and shattered ranks prepared to 
 continue the contest. 
 
 Wheu all were ready to resume the charge General Blair's brigade 
 advanced with the utmost heroism toward the still more formidable bat- 
 teries of the foe. They climbed the hill, as before, amid a flood of deadly 
 missiles. They were followed by the troops of Fletcher, Diester, Thayer, 
 Cavender, and Peckham. At last the stars and stripes were planted near 
 the interior breastworks of the enemy. Then came a mortal combat, on 
 the issue of which depended the fate of the day. It were vain to attempt 
 to describe the intensity of that struggle, in which brave men, commanded 
 by valiant and skilful officers, exerted the last resources of heroism and 
 fortitude to achieve a glorious result. The superior advantages which 
 the enemy possessed in position and in artillery, as well perhaps as iu 
 numbers, rendered the most determined efforts of the Federal troops and 
 officers unavailing. They were hurled down the battlemented heights of 
 Vicksburg, with fearful losses — broken, mangled, decimated, disconcerted. 
 The carnage was terrible. The place was in fact impregnable to such a 
 force, attacked from such a position, without proper reconnoissances of the 
 positions of the Kebels, and without the necessary combinations, by the 
 commander-in-chief, to divide the strength, divert the attention, and con- 
 ■found the counsels of the enemy. Many obstacles of a peculiar character 
 impeded the operations and diminished the eflectiveness of the Federal 
 forces. Among these, in addition to the immense strength of the position 
 and guns of the Rebels, were their insidious rifle-pits, tlie deep sloughs 
 and bayous, the undergrowth of felled trees and brushwood, and the 
 numerous abattis which had been constructed. While the Federals were 
 overcoming these obstacles with difficulty, the powerful and numerous 
 artillery of the foe had ample time to assail them, and to diminish their 
 strength by adding to their multitude of wounded and slain. 
 
 It was now evident that this attack on Vicksburg was and must needs 
 be a failure. It was clear that the city could not be taken with the Yazoo 
 as a base of operations. The Federal losses had already amounted to 
 about six hundred killed, fifteen hundred wounded, one thousand prisoners. 
 On Thursday, January 1-ith, 1863, General McClernand arrived at the 
 camp, and before General Sherman could organize any further offensive 
 operations he was superseded in the command by that officer. At a coun- 
 cil of war held on board the Tigress between the commanders of the land 
 and naval forces of the expedition, the conclusion was arrived at that it 
 would be vain and ruinous to renew the attack on Vicksburg at that time 
 and with their present force. The consequence was that the project was 
 abandoned for the present. After several days the troops were re-em- 
 barked upon the fleet, and preparations made to direct the energies of the 
 
MINOft ENGAGEMENTS IN MISSOURI. 431 
 
 brave troops who had failed before Vicksburg under more favorable 
 auspices in some other direction. 
 
 On the 10th of January, 1863, the Eebels attacked Springfield, Missouri, 
 in considerable force. The place was defended by Colonel Crabb, who 
 commanded the nineteenth Iowa. The enemy made several desperate 
 charges, but were uniformly repulsed, so that they eventually retired in 
 confusion. They left thirty-five dead upon the field, but carried their 
 wounded away with them. The Federal loss was seventeen killed, fifty- 
 two wounded. An engagement also took place at the same time at 
 Hartsville, Missouri, in which seven hundred Federal troops, under Major 
 Collins, attacked and routed several thousand Eebels under General Mar- 
 maduke. The latter were chased five miles southward. The Federal loss 
 was thirt^^-five killed and wounded; that of the enemy was about ono 
 hundred 
 
4M2 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIX. 
 
 A PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE BISTORT OF THIS CIVIL WAR — TUB BATTLE OF HUNT's CROGB- 
 
 EOADS IN TEXXESSEB — OALLANTKT OF GENERAL SULLIVAN AND THE INDIANA TROOPS 
 
 DEFEAT OF FORREST — HIS FLIGHT TO THE TENNESSEE RIVER — THE EXPEDITION OF GEN- 
 ERAL CARTER INTO EAST TENNESSEE — ITS OB.IECTS — ITS SUCCESS — DIFFICULTIES AND 
 
 MERIT OF THE UNDERTAKING SKIRMISH NEAR IIOOREFIELD, VIRGINIA — ATTACK OF TUK 
 
 REBELS OX GALVESTON — TUEIR SUCCESS — CAPTURE OF THE UAKKIKT LANE — EXPLOSION 
 or THE WESTFIELD — FEDERAL LOSSES ON THIS OCCASION — ADDRESS OF THE WORKINO- 
 MEN OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN — HIS REPLY — THE BOMBARDMENT 
 OF ARKANSAS POST — LAND AND NAVAL FORCES DETAILED TO THIS SERVICE — THE LOCA- 
 TION AND IMPORTANCE OF ARKANSAS POST— COMMENCEMENT OF THE ASSAULT BT ADMIRAL 
 PORTER — CO-OPERATION OF THE LAND TEO» PS UNDER GENERAL m'cLEUNAND INCIDENTS 
 
 of the conflict — surrender of the fort and of the rebel troops — losses on 
 both sides — value of the conquest — sketches of admiral porter and general 
 m'clekkand. 
 
 Few wars have occurred in any country, or any age, in which the 
 number of battles fought was so great — in which the activity of the com- 
 batants was so restless and unceasing — in which so many important move- 
 ments were progressing at the same time over the immense area of con- 
 flict, as in the civil war in the United States. It is this peculiar feature 
 of the struggle which renders its history so sanguinary and martial, so 
 destitute of gentler and more pleasing details, and which compels the 
 author to pen, and the reader to peruse, so monotonous a narrative of bat- 
 tles, slaughters, and sieges. It is an evil inseparable from the nature of 
 the subject. 
 
 Contemporary with the battles of Murfree.sboro and Vicksburg was that 
 which occurred near Hunt's cross-roads, in Tennessee. The Confederate 
 General Forrest commanded seven thousand troops, chiefly cavalry, to- 
 gether with a battery of ten guns. The Federal hero, J. C. Sullivan, from 
 Indiana, led six thousand men into the action, together with ciglit pieces 
 of artillery. The engagement took place in the vicinity of Lexington. 
 Forrest, after gathering seventy-five wagons loaded with plunder and 
 other spoil, was endeavoring to make good his retreat beyond the Ten- 
 nessee river, which he purposed to cross at Clifton. Sullivan was sent 
 out from Jackson tp intercept him, and defeat his purpose. As soon as 
 he received information that the Federal general was in pursuit of him, 
 he returned toward Clifton, but was overtaken, and compelled to fight, at 
 Ilunt's cross-roads, on the 31st of December. As soon as the two armies 
 came in sight of each other, preparations were made for a combat. Both 
 columns were formed in line of battle on an extensive plain. Soon the 
 enemy opened with their artillery, which were well posted and served. 
 
OPHKATIONS ON THE EAST TENNESSEE RAILllOAD. 433 
 
 The battle was gallantly commenced on the Federal side by Major Atkin- 
 son, in command of the fiftieth Indiana. In the early part of the engage- 
 ment the advantage was on the side of the enemy. The Federal troops 
 were nearly all raw recruits, while those of the Rebels were experienced 
 veterans. They had also the advantage of more numerous and better 
 served artillery. But the Indiana troops displayed an unusual degree 
 of .steadiness, and continued to advance and charge upon the foe, notwith- 
 standing the terrible losses inflicted upon them. The charges made by 
 the Confederates in return were manfully resisted, and a fierce and 
 desperate close combat ensued, upon the issue of which depended the 
 success of the day. At length the gunners were driven from two of the 
 cannon of the enemy. The Federals rushed forward, captured them, and 
 turned them upon the Rebels. This was the turning point of the battle. 
 The enemy were gradually overpowered throughout the entire field. 
 They then fled in confusion, leaving an immense number of dead and 
 wounded behind them. Their entire loss was nearly one thousand. Four 
 hundred of these were prisoners, who, together with seven cannon, their 
 caissons and ammunition, five hundred horses, many wagons, ambulances; 
 and small arms, fell into the hands of the Federals. The loss of the latter 
 was twenty killed, one hundred wounded, sixty prisoners. During the 
 engagement Colonels Dunham and Fuller, Majors Smith and Atkinson, 
 specially distinguished themselves. 
 
 Similar success attended the expedition which was sent by General 
 Granger to destroy the bridges of the East Tennessee railroad. The force 
 detailed to this service consisted of a thousand cavalry, and was placed 
 under the command of General Carter. That officer proceeded from Man- 
 chester, Kentucky, toward the Union and Watauga bridges. He encoun- 
 tered the enemy in considerable force at both places, and several spirited 
 actions ensued, in which the enemy were defeated. . General Carter suc- 
 ceeded in destroying both bridges, as well as ten miles of the railroad, in 
 killing, wounding, and capturing about five hundred Rebels, and in ob- 
 taining seven hundred stand of arms, and a large amount of ammunition 
 and stores. These successes were achieved in the face of great difficulties, 
 in consequence of the almost impassable nature of the country, the inclem- 
 ency of the weather, and the distance to be travelled. The last was two 
 hundred miles, both in going and in returning. The Federal loss was in- 
 significant, being only ten killed, when compared with the importance of 
 the results accomplished. The chief of these was the severing of one of the 
 main avenues of communication between Virginia and the southwest. So 
 valuable were the consequences of this expedition regarded, that General 
 Halleck, the commander-in-chief, expressed his admiration of General 
 Carter's achievement in a letter of commendation to General Wright, the 
 Federal commander of the department in which it occurred. 
 
 On the 3d of January, 1863, a spirited skirmish took place at Moorefield, 
 28 
 
434 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Virginia, between the Tiundred and sixteenth Ohio, under Lieutenant ('(>1- 
 onel Wilder, assisted hy a section of Keeper's battery, and a body of Rebels 
 commanded by General Jones. The Federals were encamped near this 
 town, and the purpose of the enemy evidently was to surprise and capture 
 them. They came upon them suddenly, and opened the assault with their 
 artillery. To this salute the Federals responded with courage and skill, 
 and soon succeeded in silencing several of their guns. The'attack was 
 then continued by the cavalry of the enemy, but they were effectually 
 checked by the well directed discharges of musketry which proceeded from 
 the ranks of the Federals. The Rebels, however, continued the engage- 
 ment with stubbornness, and the issue might have been doubtful, perhaps 
 adverse, had not reinforcements opportunely arrived. Colonel Washburn 
 reaohed the scene of conflict from Petersburg in command of the twelfth 
 Ohio, with a portion of Chalfont's battery. This unexpected assistance 
 eventually decided the contest; for the enemy, fearing to be overpowered 
 between two hostile forces, at length retreated in the direction of the South 
 Fork road, and over the mountains toward Petersburg. At Petersburg 
 Colonel Waslibuvn h;id left behind a number of sick soldiers. These per- 
 sons the retiring foe paroled on their route, and thus it was that tliey 
 claimed the honor of having captured a large body of prisoners. Tlie 
 losses on both sides in this skirmish were inconsiderable; and the action 
 itself would have been unworthy of record, were it not for the unusual 
 coolness and valor exhibited by the Federal troops during its progress. 
 
 One of the mo.«t complete and signal victories gained by the Confederate 
 arms in this war was achieved at Galveston, Texas, on the last day of 1862, 
 and on the first of 1863. The possession of this place was of great import- 
 ance to the Federal cause, inasmuch as it controlled a large portion of the 
 seaboard of that State. Accordingly, a naval force had been sent three 
 months previous to this date to capture it. This achievement was accom- 
 plished with little difficulty, for the military strength of the enemy tliere was 
 then insignificant. But the latter formed the resolution to recapture and 
 possess it at the earliest possible period. The Federal naval force posted at 
 Galveston was commanded by Commodore Renshaw ; but as it was evident 
 that no defence could be made of the city if an attack were made by the 
 enemy, a land force had been sent to his assistance, which reached its posi- 
 tion on the 25th of December. This consisted of three companies of the 
 forty-second Massachusetts, commanded by Colonel Burrill, together with 
 additional troops and stores. These were conveyed to Galveston on the 
 steamers Saxton, Cambria and Mary Boardman. 
 
 The situation of Galveston is peculiar. It stands upon an island, and is 
 connected with the mainland, which is nearly five miles distant, by a mag- 
 nificent bridge. Tlie Rebels had collected a considerable force at the op- 
 posite extremity of this structure, on Virginia Point. To prevent their 
 approach to Galveston, Commodore Renshaw had deteriniued to destroy 
 
CAPTURE OF THE HARRIET LANE. 435 
 
 this bridge; but bis purpose was altered by an arrangement by which the 
 enemy agreed that it should not be used for the transfer of troops, or for 
 any other contraband purpose. This lenity was afterward perverted, and 
 the Rebels planted a battery at Virginia Point. This act compelled Com- 
 modore Renshaw to station the Harriet Lane at the other terminus of the 
 bridge. Trains of cars were, however, allowed to pass at any hour of the 
 day and night; and during the night of the 31st of December, the Rebels 
 acting in concert with their naval force in the bay, sent over a large num- 
 ber of troops and guns. The troops amounted to about three thousand ; 
 the guns numbered fourteen pieces of light artillery. During that night 
 they erected a battery on Pelican island, which they purposed to turn 
 upon the Federal gunboats, when they proceeded to the assistance of the 
 Harriet Lane, after the attack upon her began. 
 
 On the evening of the 31st of December, the approach of the Rebel 
 gunboats was first discovered by the lookout on board Commodore Ren- 
 shaw's flagship Westfield. They were four in number, and the Westfield, 
 together with the Clifton, advanced to encounter them. But the wind and 
 tide being stronger than usual, they were diverted from their intended 
 course, and carried on to Pelican island, where they grounded. Precisely 
 at this time, an attack was made by the land forces of the enemy upon the 
 town. The moon shone so brightly on the animated scene, as to render 
 every object perfectly distinct, and the operations of the different parties, 
 both on land and sea, were visible to each other. As soon as the attack 
 of the enemy was commenced on Galveston, the Harriet Lane opened upon 
 them. She immediately became the object of their assault. She was 
 surrounded on all sides, and soon hundreds of the Rebels succeeded in 
 reaching her deck. A spirited but transient combat ensued for the pos- 
 session of the vessel. Very soon after its commencement her commander, 
 Captain Wainwright, was slain. The crew of the Harriet Lane then be- 
 came disheartened, and no longer defended the vessel. But as soon as the 
 enemy gained possession of her, they turned her guns upon the Union 
 gunboats. Before her fate was known, the Owasco approached her, and 
 received several broadsides from her guns. But as soon as her real situa- 
 tion was known, the Owasco sent a ball through the machinery of her 
 engine, and disabled her. 
 
 These events occupied the hours of the night. Toward morning, the 
 enemy attacked the Federal land forces who were posted in defence of the 
 city, and their vast preponderance of Tiiimbers soon gave them a resistless 
 advantage. The Federals fought bravely, a large portion of them were 
 slain, and the city fell into the complete possession of the enemy. As 
 soon as this result was attained, General Magruder, the commander of the 
 Rebel land forces, sent a boat to the commodore, demanding the surrender 
 of the fleet. It was nine o'clock, and he allowed but a single hour for 
 deliberation. In this emergency Commodore Renshaw adopted the reao- 
 
436 TnE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 lution to blow up the Westfield, and sent orders to the remaining vessels 
 of the squadron to the effect that, as soon as the explosion occurred, each 
 vessel should, if possible, make good its escape to the sea. 
 
 It was now half-past nine, and the order was given that every one 
 should abaudon the fated flag-ship within fifteen minutes. Prepara- 
 tions were instantly made for the explosion. The vessel was saturated 
 with turpentine. The powder magazine was thrown open. The safety- 
 valve of the steam-engine was chained down. At length all was ready. 
 The crew had been transferred to the Boardman, and none now remained 
 except the commodore. Lieutenant Green, the Chief Engineer Zimmerman, 
 and the crew of the commodore's gig. At length these left the vessel, 
 when the commodore, standing at the gangway, applied a match to the 
 train. Instantly a premature explosion took place, which blew the ship 
 to fragments, and destroyed the gallant officers and men who were about 
 to depart from her side. Immediately after the shock, the Federal guu- 
 boats commenced their flight toward the sea. The Rebel gunboats pur- 
 sued them, but were unable to overtake them. They had previously 
 captured the Uarriet Lane, two barques, one schooner, a yacht, and several 
 transports. Thus ended the attack and the conflict at Galveston. The 
 Federal loss was heavy, consisting of about three hundred in killed 
 wounded, and missing. Thirteen had been slain by the explosion of the 
 Westfield. Among those slain on the Harriet Lane was her valiant com- 
 mander, Captain Wainwright. Uis death was one of the chief causes of 
 the feeble defence which was subsequently made by the crew of the vessel. 
 Had he survived it is probable that the Confederates would not have 
 gained so easy and so prompt a victory, nor would the Federal arras have 
 suffered one of the most disgraceful defeats of the war. 
 
 While the civil war in the United Slates was thus progressing with 
 varied fortunes, its events and probable issue were exciting increased in- 
 terest in Europe. The suspension of the exportation of cotton from the 
 Southern States by the Federal blockade, had produced an important and 
 disastrous effect upon the immense manufacturing communities of several 
 countries of that continent, and the impressions which were created b}- 
 this result were intense and varied. The aristocratic and moneyed ranks 
 had become, to a considerable extent, hostile to the Union, who.se arma- 
 ments had, in order to suppress the Rebellion, intercepted and diminished 
 their enormous profits. But the great majority of the working classes 
 condemned the secession movement, and admitted the justice and necessity 
 of the policy pursued by the Federal Government to crush it. Many 
 illustrations of this fact were now furnished, but one of these was so sig- 
 nificant that it demands a place in our history. 
 
 On the last day of 1862, an immense meeting was held in Manchester, 
 England, composed chiefly of operatives, at which an address was prepared 
 and sent to Abraham Lincoln. Several persons of distinction were 
 
ADDRESS FROM THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER. 437 
 
 present and took part in the proceedings, among whom were Mr. Bazley, 
 a member of Parliament, Professor Greenbank, and Mr. Heywood, mayor 
 of the city. The utmost enthusiasm prevailed. After several speeches 
 had been delivered, the address to the President was read, and subse- 
 quently adopted. Its purpose was to express the fraternal sentiments 
 entertained by the citizens of Manchester toward him, and toward this 
 country ; to applaud the greatness of the American people as an outgrowth 
 of England, and to honor the United States as "a singularly happy abode 
 for the working millions," where industry and thrift were encouraged and 
 protected as they merited. One thing alone, the address proceeded to say, 
 had lessened the sympathy of its authors with the American people. That 
 was the fact that influential politicians had not only succeeded in main- 
 taining the existence of negro slavery among them, but were endeavoring 
 to root it more firmly, and extend it more widely. But since they had 
 discovered that the efforts of the free North were now energetically de- 
 voted to the suppression of slavery, their sympathies were entirely won 
 over to the cause of the Union. The address then commended the several 
 anti-slavery measures adopted by Mr. Lincoln, particularizing among the 
 rest his determination to receive ambassadors from the negro Republics of 
 Hayti and Liberia.* 
 
 * Other portions of this address were so peculiar and significant that we quote thein 
 
 verbatim : 
 
 " We assure you that you cannot now stop short of a complete uprooting of slavery. 
 It would not become us to dictate any details, but there are broad principles of hu- 
 manity which must guide you. If complete emancipation of some States be deferred, 
 though only to a predetermined day, still, in the interval, human beings should not 
 be counted as chattels. Women must have rights of chastity and maternity, men the 
 ri(]hts of husbands, masters the liberty of manumission. Justice demands for the black, 
 ■no less than for the white, the protection of law — that his voice be heard in your courts. 
 Nor must any such abomination be tolerated as slave-breeding States and a slave 
 market^f you choose to earn the reward of all your sacrifices in the approval of the 
 universal brotherhood, and of the Divine Father. 
 
 " It is for your free country to decide whether any thing but immediate and total 
 emancipation can secure the most indispensable rights of humanity against the invet- 
 erate wickedness of local laws and local executives. We implore you. for your own 
 honor and welfare, not to faint in your providential mission. While your enthusiasm 
 io aflame, and the tide of events runs high, let the work be finished effectually. Leave 
 not the root of bitterness to spring up and work fresh rnisery to your children. It is 
 a mighty task, indeed, to reorganize the industry, not only of four millions of the col- 
 ored race, but of five millions of whites. Nevertheless, the vast progress which you 
 have made in the short space of twenty months, fills us witt hope that every stain on 
 your freedom will shortly be removed, and that the erasure of that foul blot upon 
 civilization and Christianity — chattel-slavery — during your Presidency, will cause the 
 name of Abraham Lincoln to be honored and revered by posterity. We are certain 
 that such a glorious consiunmation will cement Great Britain to the United States in 
 close and enduring regards. Our interests, moreover, are hidentified with yours. We 
 are truly one people, though locally separate. And if you have anv ill-wishers here. 
 
43S TllJC CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On the 19tli of January, 1863, President Lincoln responded to this ad- 
 dress of " the working-men of Manchester." After thanking them for 
 their epistle, he proceeded to dwell upon the chief mutter of his commu- 
 nication, which was to set forth liow " tlie duty of self-preservation rested 
 solely with the American people." lie then expressed his regret that in 
 the performance of this duty otlier nations had been indirectly involved 
 to some extent in the issue. He deplored the sufferings to which the 
 working people of several portions of Europe were subjected, but he justly 
 laid the blame of this calamity on those Eebels and traitors who were 
 endeavoring to overturn the Federal Government, lie concluded by 
 thanking them for their sympathy, and expressing the wish that the wise 
 and equitable sentiments which they had uttered miglit be universally 
 diffused among the whole British nation, and by hoping that the relations 
 of peace and good will which existed between the two nations might be 
 permanent and pej-pelual.. 's"*?**'- 
 
 Nothing could have been more appropriate and dignified than the 
 response of the President on this occasion, and it was with pleasure every 
 loyal citizen in the United States observed this exhibition of friendly and 
 just feeling on the part of a portion of the British people, some of whom 
 had disgraced themselves by sympathy with traitors, and a disguised 
 hostility against a nation whom they evidently regarded as a powerful 
 and hated rival. 
 
 Immediately after the repulse of General Sherman before Vicksburg, 
 he was superseded, as has been already narrated, by General McClernand. 
 The new commander resolved at once to withdraw from the attack on that 
 city, to postpone its completion until a more propitious period, and to 
 direct the energies of his troops in another channel. It soon appeared 
 that the Eebel fortress known as Arkansas Post, was to be the next object 
 of attack. General McClernand requested Bear Admiral D. D. Porter, 
 who commanded a poition of the Mississippi flotilla of iron-elads, to assist 
 him. That officer readily complied, and ordered the Louisville, Pittsburg, 
 DeKalb, Cincinnati, together with the ram Monarch, and a number of 
 light-draught gunboats, to joiu the expedition. 
 
 The combined military and naval forces reached Montgomery Point on 
 the morning of the 8th of January, 1663. On the following day they 
 resumed their progress up the White river. The transports were preceded 
 by the gunboats, and soon reached the cut-off, where they entered the red 
 waters of the Arkansas. That stream was obstructed by many landbars 
 and snags, so that the progress made was very slow. On the evening of 
 the 9th, the expedition arrived at Belleville, a village situated on the south 
 
 be nssxired thoy are chiefly those who oppose liberty at home, and that they will be 
 powerless to stir up quarrels between us, from tfee very day in which yoiir country 
 becomes undeniably and without exception the home of the free. Accept our high 
 •dmiration of your firmness in upholding the proulaiuatiou of freedom. 
 
THE iOMBARDMENT OF ARKANSAS POST 439 
 
 biiok of the river, ten miles below Arkansas Post. Here the troops were 
 disembarked, with the exception of one division, which proceeded up the 
 White river beyond the cut-off, for the purpose of making a flank move- 
 ment, and intercepting from the rear the line of the retreat of the enemy 
 toward Little Eock. 
 
 Arkansas Post was one of the oldest settlements in the State whose 
 name it bore. It was founded by the French in 1685. It remained for 
 many years merely a frontier trading-post, and was the favorite resort of 
 hunters and trappers, whose adventurous lives were spent amid the 
 primeval wilds and solitudes of that remote region. It stands upon a bluff 
 of the river, eighty feet in height. Its inhabitants numbered about five 
 hundred at the period of the attack. Below the village, at a point where 
 the Arkansas makes an abrupt turn, the .Rebels had erected an extensive 
 "ort. It was rectangular in shape, and mounted a number of guns on each 
 of its four sides. Each side was a hundred yards in length. The guns 
 facing the river were long sixty-four pounders, which the enemy regarded 
 as able to destroy any vessels that might dare to approach within their 
 range. Around the fort, they had dug a ditch fifteen feet wide, and an 
 extensive range of rifle pits, which extended along the bluff so as to sur- 
 round the village. Outside of these they had constructed a'line of abatis, 
 which obstructed the approach to the works on the land. All of the roads, 
 with the single exception of the one which led to Little Eock — which 
 they reserved for their own escape, if necessary — had been encumbered with 
 felled timber. The commandant of the fort was Colonel Dunnington. 
 The works were defended by about five thousand Eebels, beside the gar- 
 rison, who were under the orders of General Churchill. These were con- 
 fident of victory at that time, because they had already repulsed an ill- 
 advised attack, which had been made upon them some months before, by 
 General Hovey, who was defeated more by the physical obstacles which 
 impeded his efforts, than by the valor of the enemy. 
 
 According to the plan of attack agreed upon between General McCler- 
 nand and Admiral Porter, the iron-clad gunboats advanced, and took 
 their position about four hundred yards from the fort. The land troops 
 were all disembarked, and approached the works by different routes, and 
 completely surrounded them. The assault was commenced by the fleet, 
 consisting of the Louisville, Pittsburg, Eattler, De Kalb, and Cincinnati, 
 at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 10th of January. These bom- 
 barded tb 3 enemy's works, during an hour and a half, with great energy 
 and spiri/ . The cannonading was tremendous on both sides. At first 
 the proper range was not obtained. The balls and shells of the Eebcla 
 passed over the iron-clads, while the missiles of the latter reached the 
 Federal land forces in the rear of the fort, and did them much damage. 
 But soon the mistake was rectified. The result was that in a short time 
 several of the guns of the enemy were silenced, and the Union vessels 
 
440 THE CIVIL WAR IN' THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were much cut up. In this day's action, the killed on the Louisville were 
 twelve; those on the De Kalb were seventeen; those on the Rattler were 
 two. 
 
 After a contest of an hour and a half, Admiral Porter signalled to hia 
 fleet of gunboats to suspend their fire. The reason of this order was that 
 night was approaching, and it was then too late for the land forces to 
 commence and to conclude their co-operative assault. It was therefore 
 determined between the two Federal commanders to postpone the com- 
 pletion of the undertaking until the next day. The gunboats were then 
 withdrawn from the vicinity of the fort, and in the evening General 
 McClernand visited Admiral Porter, and arranged the programme for the 
 ensuing day. During the night a shot was fired every half hour to inter- 
 rupt the repose of the enemy, and on Sunday morning, the 11th of 
 January, at daybreak, the attack was resumed. 
 
 During the hours of darkness the Confederates had repaired the damage 
 which they had suffered, and had replaced their dismounted guns. They 
 therefore responded to the cannonading of the fleet with undiminished 
 fervor. But they were now assailed from several points at once. The 
 troops under McClernand advanced toward the fort. General Sherman, 
 who commanded the rear division, planted a number of light artillery 
 guns in a favorable position, and began to shell the Rebel works. 
 During this process a reinforcement of several thousand men arrived to 
 the enemy from Fort Charles, twenty-five miles distant on the White 
 river, and they succeeded in entering the works. The Rebels were soon 
 driven by the land forces from their rifle-pits, and compelled to shelter 
 themselves behind their intrenchments. Then the contest continued be- 
 tween the artillery in the fortress and the batteries of the gunboats. At 
 one o'clock the contest increased in fury, and for three hours and a half a 
 tremendous cannonading continued without any intermission. One of 
 the shells from the fleet exploded over a hundred jiound Parrott gun, 
 which was mounted on the southern parapet of the fort. Seven of the 
 men who worked it were instantly killed, their bodies being torn into 
 fragments, and the remaining nine were so severely wounded as to be 
 unfit for duty. This enormous cannon had been the chief reliance of tlie 
 enemy in defending their position, but it was now so disabled as to be 
 useless. The spirited and accurate firing from the Federal gunboats soon 
 began to tear up and penetrate the solid timber, three feet in thickness, 
 which formed the casemates of the fort, and which was covered with 
 railroad iron. The battered rails commenced to tumble from their posi- 
 tion, and many of the guns behind them were dismounted. One shot 
 penetrated a cai.sson of the enemy, exploded it, destroying six men and 
 nine horses. With the fall and ruin of their casemates, the situation of 
 the Rebels became still more desperate; yet they bravely continued tin; 
 Struggle until it beoame evident that further resistance was useless. 
 
THE SURRENDER OE ARKANSAS POST. ' 441 
 
 During the progress of the battle the enemy had at one time emerged 
 from their works, and attacked the Federal right wing, with the intea- 
 tioa of making their escape in the direction of Little Eock. Here a 
 desperate fight occurred ; but the result was that they were intercepted 
 and repulsed by the division wliich had crossed from the White river, 
 and which had been expressly detailed for that duty. The enemy were 
 then compelled to abandon this undertaking and return to their works. 
 
 At length, at half past four o'clock, General Churchill, the commander 
 of the Confederate troops, determined to yield, and sent out a flag of truce 
 proposing a capitulation. The answer given was that an unconditional 
 surrender would alone be accepted. Immediately after the return of the 
 flag, the Rebel colors were hauled down, and the works given up. Col- 
 onel Dunnington, who commanded the fort and its garrison, requested per- 
 mission to surrender to Admiral Porter. This request was complied with. 
 General Churchill, who commanded the troops that had been stationed in 
 the fort, surrendered to General McClernand. As these two officers ap- 
 proached each other, the latter exclaimed : " I am sorry to meet you under 
 such circumstances ; but your men fought bravely in defending the fort." 
 Churchill replied that " it had not been his intention to surrender so soon, 
 but that the event had been hastened by treachery within his lines." 
 The fortifications were then entered by the victors. Four thousand eight 
 hundred and ninety-one of the garrison were surrendered as prisoners of 
 war, and paroled. A thousand of them were on the sick-list. All the stores 
 artillery, munitions of war, and several thousand stand of small arms, 
 became the prizes of the conquerors. The loss of the enemy in killed, 
 wounded, and missing, was five hundred and fifty. That of the Federals 
 was about one hundred and twenty-nine killed, eight hundred and thirty- 
 one wounded, and seventeen missing. This heavy loss was to be attrib- 
 uted to the fact that at the commencement of the bombardment the 
 shells of the gunboats passed over the fort, and fell among the Federal 
 troops in the rear, and that some time elapsed before the exact range 
 could be obtained. 
 
 This victory was of the' utmost importance to the Union cause. The 
 fort at Arkansas Post had been erected by the Confederates for the defence 
 of the passage of the Arkansas river. This stream was the highway to 
 Little Eock, the capital of the State. The fortifications were so situated, 
 and were of such strength, that they completely commanded the trade of 
 the river. By this capture it became comparatively easy for Federal 
 vessels and troops to ascend to Little Eock, and also to communicate 
 with Generals Blunt and Herron in the interior ; thus dispensing with 
 the transportation of supplies to them over a long and tedious route from 
 Eolla. 
 
 The chief merit of this conquest was due to the tremendous and destruc- 
 tive firing of the gunboats, whose artillery were much more formidable 
 
442 THE CIVIL AVAR IN' THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 than those of the Federal land forces. The gunboats were skilfully com- 
 manded by Admiral David D. Porter, whose prominence in many of the 
 desperate struggles on the Mississippi had already rendered him one of the 
 chief heroes of the war. This officer was born in 1814. He entered the 
 navy as midshipman in 1829, aboard the Constellation. In 1835 he 
 passed his examination, and then served six years on the coast survey, 
 lie was commissioned a lieutenant in 1841, and served during four years 
 on board the Congress with that rank. He was subsequently placed on 
 active duty under Commodore Tatnall, in the Mexican Gulf, and took an 
 active part in the naval operations which were connected with the Mexi- 
 can war. At a later period he commanded one of the steamers of the 
 California mail company. It was while holding this position that ho 
 bokfly defied the Spanish authorities at Havana, and ran his ship intc 
 tlie harbor of that city in the face of the shotted and threatening guns of 
 Moro Castle. Immediately after the commencement of the Kebellion he 
 was placed in command of the steam sloop-of-war Powhattan, which 
 carried an armament of eleven guns. He distinguished himself greatly 
 in the reduction of Forts Jackson and St. I'hilip, below New Orleans, on 
 which occasion he commanded the mortar fleet. After the reduction uf 
 New Orleans he proceeded up the Mississippi, and took part in several 
 engagements. He was subsequently ordered to the James river, and 
 while on his way thither in the Octorara, he captured the Anglo-Rebel 
 steamer Tubal Cain. He was soon afterward appointed to the supreme 
 command of the naval forces on the Mississippi, with the rank of rear- 
 admiral, though his squadron was held distinct from the "Western Gulf 
 blockading squadron under Admiral Farragut. His first exploit after 
 his promotion to this important position was the attack and capture of 
 Arkansas Post. 
 
 His associate in this achievement, Major-General John A. McClernand, 
 was a native of Ohio, and was known, previous to the commencement of 
 the war, as a prominent lawyer and politician in Illinois. He took a 
 leading part, as a friend of Mr. Douglas, in the Charleston Convention. 
 When hostilities began, he abandoned his profession and entered the 
 military service of his country. He soon obtained the rank of brigadier- 
 general of volunteers, and distinguished himself in the engagements at 
 Belmont, Forts Henry and Donelson, and especially at Pittsburg Land- 
 ing. His skill and gallantry were justly rewarded by his elevation to one 
 of the highest positions in the army. Having superseded General Sher- 
 man, on the 2d of January, in command of the Federal army before Vicks- 
 burg, his success at Arkansas Post soon afterward furnished ample evi- 
 dence that the change was a fortunate one for the promotion of the inte- 
 rests of the Union 
 
GENERAL BURNSIDE SUCCEEDED BY GENERAL HOOKER: 413 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 GK>KRA1, BORNSIDE RESIGNS TBK COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — HE 18 8U0 
 
 CEEDED BY GENERAL HOOKER — THE ARMY IN WINTER QUARTERS IMPORTANCE OF TUK 
 
 QUESTION OF NEORO TROOPS IN THIf ARMY — POLICY OF DIFFERENT PARTIES RESPECTI.NG 
 IT — EXPLOITS OF THE REBEL STEAMER ORETO — DESTRUCTION OF THE STEAMBOAT HAT- 
 
 TEKAS — EXPEDTTION OP ciENERAL WEITZEL DP THE BAYOD TECHE DEATH OF COMMODORE 
 
 BUCHANAN — SKIRMISH AT WOODBURY, TENNESSEE— SECOND 8IEG8 OF FORT DOKELSON — 
 ITS RESULT — FEDERAL VICTORY OVER GENERAL PBYOR ON THE BLACKWATER, VIRGINIA — 
 TRIUMPH OF CONFEDERATE RAMS IN THE HARBOR OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — 
 
 SKETCH OP COMMODORE INQRAHAM — THE PASSAGE OP THE NATIONAL CURRENCY BILL 
 
 THE CONSCRIPTION LAW — LOSS OF THE FEDERAL STEAMER QUEEN OF THE WEST — CAP- 
 TURE OF THE FEDERAL IRON-CLAD INDIANOLA DESTRUCTION OF THE REBEL STEAMER 
 
 NASHVILLE — ATTACK ON FORT m'aLLISTER — -RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS DENOUNCING 
 FOREIGN INTERVENTION — REMAINING MILITARY EVENTS OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1863 — 
 ENOAQEMENTS AT STRASBURG, VIRGINIA — AT HARTWOOD CHURCH, VIRGINIA — AT BRADY- 
 VILLE, TENNESSEE — AT THOMPSON'S STATION, TENNESSEE. 
 
 After tlie repulse of the Federal army at Fredericksburg, and the 
 failure of General Burnside as its commander to fulfil the expectations 
 which had been entertained throughout the nation of important and felic- 
 itious results from his abilities and experience, he asked to be relieved 
 from his command, and his request was reluctantly complied with by the 
 President. On the 26th of January, 1863, General Joseph Hooker, who 
 had been appointed his successor as commander of the army of the Po- 
 tomac, arrived at Falmouth, and assumed his new duties. General Burn- 
 side, in retiring from the command, issued an address to the troops, in 
 which he urged them to remain faithful in their devotion to their country, 
 until, by continued success, the Rebellion was crushed. On the following 
 day, his successor published an address to the army, in which he in- 
 formed them that by direction of the President he had assumed the com- 
 mand of the forces at Falmouth. He also complimented them upon their 
 former triumphs, and encouraged them to hope for more important and 
 brilliant results in the future. The new general-in-chief entered upon his 
 duties with energy and vigor, and with the confidence and good wishes 
 both of the army and the nation. 
 
 From the date of the accession of General Hooker to the command of 
 the army of the Potomac, a period of several mouths was destined to 
 elapse, during which that army may be said to have remained at Falmouth 
 in winter quarters. The work of reorganization, which devolved on General 
 Hooker, was an immense one, and some time necessarily elapsed before its 
 completion. Important changes and improvements were introduced, and 
 new plans were formed and developed in reference to future operations, 
 which involved extensive labors and profound deliberation. It was not 
 
444 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 until the spring of 1863 had fairly opened that this colossal army again 
 moved to encounter the enemy. During the interval, events of interest 
 were transpiring elsewhere in the Republic, both of a civil and military 
 character, to which we will now direct our attention. 
 
 It became evident to every observant mind, as the war progressed, that 
 the relation of the negro race in the United States to it, and their future 
 fate, assumed more prominence from day to day. That party in the Fed- 
 eral Congress who were termed radical Eepublicans, of whom the most 
 prominent were Messrs. Wilson and Sumner, of Massachusetts, Stevens 
 and Kelley, of Pennsylvania, and Trumbull and Lovejoy, of Illinois, were 
 desirous that a law should be passed providing for the employment of 
 troops of African descent in the Federal armies. It was the secret con- 
 viction of every intelligent person that the negro community were in a great 
 measure, though without any will or fault of their own, one of the causes of 
 the war, and that it was just that they should be made to endure a portion 
 of its burdens and sufferings. Another class felt convinced, in conse- 
 quence of the reverses which had recently befallen the Federal arms, that 
 the assistance of the free negroes, as well as of those who had been eman- 
 cipated in the South by the troops of the Union, would soon be indispen- 
 sably necessary to the ultimate success of the Federal cause, and therefore 
 that no real patriot could oppo.se the employment of them in that capacity. 
 Tlie conservative Republicans and the Democrats in Congress opposed the 
 measure, on the ground that it was unnecessary; that it was revolution- 
 ary ; that it would be repulsive to the feelings of the inhabitants of the 
 loyal slave States, and even insulting to the Federal white soldiers. 
 
 On the 28th of January, Mr. Stevens introduced a bill into the House 
 of Representatives authorizing the employment of African troops in the 
 Federal armies. A spirited debate ensued, in which the subject was fully 
 discussed on botli .sides. But the proposition proved to be premature; it 
 was therefore withdrawn for the present by that astute manager, and it 
 was not until a later period that he and his associates were able to secure 
 its passage by the Ilouse, its confirmation by the Senate, and its approval 
 by the President.* 
 
 * The bill proposed by Mr. Stevens, and eventually passed by Congress, was aa 
 follows : 
 
 " Be it enacted, etc., That the President be, and lie is hereby avithorized, to enroll, 
 ana, equip, and receive into the land and naval service of the United States, such 
 number of volunteers, of African descent, as he may deora useful to suppress the 
 present Kcbellion, for such teriu of service as he may prescribe, not e.xceeding five 
 years; the said voluuteers to be organized according to the regulations of the branch 
 of service in which tliey may be enlisted, to receive the same rations, clothing, and 
 equipments as other vohmteers, and a monthly pay not to exceed that of the voliui- 
 teers ; to be ofTicored by white or black persons appointed and commissioned by the 
 President, and to be governed by tlie rules and articles of war, and such other rules 
 and regulations as may be prescribed by the President. 
 
THE REBEL CRUISERS ORETO AND ALABAMA. 445 
 
 At the commencement of 1863, the Confederate Government had suc- 
 ceeded in adding several formidable vessels to their marine forces. Among 
 these was the steam-corvette Oreto, which had been confined in the harbor 
 rr Mobile, and succeeded in escaping therefrom during the night of the 
 16th of January. She was chased by several of the blockading squadron, 
 but was not overtaken. Her escape was chiefly due to her superior sail- 
 ing qualities, her speed being greater than that of her pursuers. This 
 vessel was built in Liverpool, England, and its owners pretended that she 
 was intended for the Italian government. She carried a complement of 
 eight heavy guns ; she registered seven hundred and fifty tons, and was 
 one of the best constructed vessels of her class then afloat. After arriving 
 in the vicinity of Cuba lier genuine character was revealed. Iler com- 
 mander was Captain John Newland Mafiit, who had been originally ap- 
 pointed to the United States navy from New York, but subsequently 
 became a citizen of Georgia. When the Federal navy was reduced during 
 the administration of Mr. Pierce, Captain Mafiit was dropped from the 
 service. When the Eebellion commenced he tendered his services to 
 Jeflerson Davis, and was accepted. He was subsequently appointed to the 
 command of the Oreto, or Florida. 
 
 On the 17th of January, the commander of the Alabama, another of the 
 piratical cruisers of the Rebel Government, was guilty of a most dastardly 
 outrage upon the United States steamer Ilatteras. This vessel was among 
 those which succeeded in making their escape after the conquest of Gal- 
 veston by the Confederates. The Alabama came within sight of the 
 Brooklyn and other Federal war vessels ofi' Galveston. As soon as she was 
 noticed the Ilatteras was despatched to ascertain who the stranger was. 
 When she came within hailing distance Captain Blake demanded the name 
 of the ship. The answer given was that she was her majesty's steamer 
 Spitfire. Blake then replied that he would send a boat on board of her. 
 While this was being done the Alabama suddenly poured a tremendous 
 broadside into the Ilatteras. The latter replied feebly from her small 
 battery of four light guns, and immediately commenced to sink. She soou 
 filled and went to the bottom, but her olficers and most of her crew were 
 
 " Provided, That nothing herein contained, or in the rules and articles of war, sliall 
 be so construed as to authorize or permit any officer of African descent to be ap- 
 pointed to rank or to exercise military or naval authority over white officers, soldiers, 
 or men in the military or naval service of the United States ; nor shall any greater 
 pay than ten dollars per month, with the usual allowance of clothing- and rations, be 
 allowed or paid to privates or laborers, of African descent, which are or may be in 
 the military or naval service of the United States. Provided further, That the slaves 
 of loyal citizens in the States exempt by the President's proclamation of January 1st, 
 1863, shall not be received into the armed service of the United States, nor shall 
 there be recruiting offices opened in either of the States of Delaware, Maryland, 
 West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee or Missouri, without the consent of the Gover- 
 nors of the said States having been first obtained." 
 
446 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rescued by boats sent from the Alabama. The Ilatteras was an iron 
 steamer, built in Wilmington, Delaware, which had recently been pur- 
 chased by the Government, and fitted out for the service. Iler side was 
 perfomted so badly by tlie accurate aim of the privateer that it was im- 
 possible to save her. 
 
 Contemporary with this event was the expedition conducted by General 
 AYeitzel up the Bayou Teche in Louisiana, the purpose of which was to 
 att;ick and destroy a Confederate steamer named the J. A. Cotton, which 
 hud long been committing depredations along the borders of that stream, 
 as well as to attack the Rebel troops collected in that vicinity. The Fed- 
 eral troops commenced to move from Thibodeauxon the 11th of January. 
 They consisted of the eighth Vermont, the seventy -fifth, the one hundred 
 and sixtieth New York, the twelfth Connecticut, sixth Michigan, twenty- 
 first Indiana, a portion of the first Loui.siana cavalry, four regular bat- 
 teries, and a portion of the seventy-fifth New York as sharpshooters. 
 These forces were accompanied by four Federal gunboats — the Calhoun, 
 Kinsman, Diana, and Estrella — commanded by Commander Buchanan. 
 Tlie vessels conveyed the troops, with the exception of the cavalry and 
 artillery, which proceeded by land. 
 
 The expedition arrived at a point called Corney's bridge at six o'clock 
 in the morning of the 14:th of January. At this place the Confederates 
 had placed a formidable obstruction across the bayou, consisting of a 
 number of old sunken vessels filled with stones, which rendered it impos- 
 sible for the Federal steamers to advance any further. Beyond this 
 banier the Cotton was moored, awaiting the approach of her assailants. 
 At lialf past eight o'clock an artillery duel began between the Federal 
 gunboats and the Cotton, assisted by several Rebel batteries which were 
 placed upon the shore. The contest was a fierce one. During its progress 
 a torpedo exploded under the stern of the Kinsman without doing her 
 much damage. In this action Commander Buchanan, who served on board 
 of his flag-ship, the Calhoun, was killed. lie was shot by a rifle-ball 
 in the temple, and expired instantly. The fire of the riflemen and bat- 
 teries of the enemy on the shore was unusually deadly, in consequence of 
 their proximity to the Federal vessels. The bayou at this point was so 
 narrow that the Calhoun, in turning, had both her bow and her stern 
 aground at the same time. 
 
 During the progress of this contest between the gunboats, the Federal 
 land forces, who had previously disembarked at Pattersonville and 
 Lynch's Point, proceeded against the enemy and their batteries, and 
 attacked them with spirit. They were soon driven from their rifle-pits 
 and from their breastworks. Three Federal batteries — the first Maine, 
 the fourth and sixth Massachusetts — had proceeded from Pattersonville, 
 through the woods, to a point above the Cotton, from which they could 
 fire upon her with advantage. Under the heavy firing of these guns, to- 
 
REBEL ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON. 447 
 
 getter with tbat of portions of the seventy-fifth and one hundred and 
 sixtieth New York, this vessel was thrice compelled to retire up the bayou 
 after thrice advancing. At length it was discovered that she was on fire 
 and soon the immense vessel was seen drifting down the stream, deserted 
 by her crew, and presenting the appearance of one enormous sheet of 
 flame. The Confederate troops were soon after driven away from the 
 vicinity. These troops consisted of the twenty-eighth Louisiana, Simms' 
 battery, Pelican's battery, and Fournet's battalion, comprising in all about 
 twelve hundred men. They were commanded by Colonel Gray. The 
 Federal loss during the whole expedition, was six killed and twenty-seven 
 wounded. That of the Confederates, was fifteen killed, fifty wounded, and 
 forty-three prisoners. The chief misfortune of the Federals was the death 
 of Commander Buchanan, who enjoyed the reputation of being an ex- 
 tremely brave and skilful officer. The expedition having thus accom- 
 plished the purpose of its mission, which was not, indeed, one of very great 
 difficulty or importance, returned forthwith to Lafourche station near 
 Thibodeaux.* 
 
 Fort Donelson, situated on the Cumberland river, which had already 
 witnessed one of the most signal victories of the Federal troops in Feb- 
 ruary, 1862, became the scene of another contest and of another triumph 
 to the Union cause in the beginning of February, 1863. At that time, a 
 Eebel force, consisting of about five thousand men, commanded by Gen- 
 erals Wheeler, Forrest, and Wharton, made an attack upon it. The fort 
 then contained only six hundred men who were fit for duty. These 
 belonged to the eighty-third Illinois regiment. Notwithstanding this 
 immense disparity of numbers, the Federal troops, commanded by Colonel 
 A. C. Harding, determined to resist the foe, with the hope tbat assistance 
 would opportunely arrive from the gunboats which then lay at Fort 
 Henry. Accordingly, the demand to surrender by the Confederate gen- 
 erals was courteously declined, and the action commenced. The enemy 
 brought eight guns to bear on the works, to which the Federals responded 
 with one thirty-two pounder and four brass cannon. At seven o'clock in 
 the evening, after a contest of five hours, the Eebels despatched a second 
 demand to surrender, adding the statement that not one half of their 
 force had as yet been engaged. A second refusal was given, and the 
 enemy was further informed that not the slightest idea of yielding had 
 been entertained. The battle was then resumed. But soon the sound of 
 a distant gun, echoing up the river, announced to the besieged the welcome 
 intelligence of the approach of their formidable allies. It was indeed high 
 
 * A spirited contest occurred on the 23d of January, at "W oodbxiry, Tennessee, in 
 which General Palmer's division, of Crittenden's corps, attacked and defeated an out- 
 post of the enemy at that place, consisting of seven regunents. The result of the fight 
 was that thirty-four Rebels were killed, and a hundred taken prisoners. The Federal 
 loss was two killed, nine wounded. 
 
443 'rUE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 time, for already had nearly all the guns iu the fort been silenced by tlio 
 accurate and vigorous firing of the enemy. In a short time the Lexington 
 steamed rapidly within view, and commenced to throw her destructive 
 shells over the fort into the ravines and valleys beyond it, which were 
 occupied by the Confederate forces. She was quickly followed by five 
 other gunboats, which, in like manner, commenced to cannonade the po- 
 sition of the enemy. The fort itself shook with the tremendous concus- 
 sion of the heavy guns, and the evening air was filled with innumerable 
 howling messengers of death. The result may be easily conjectured. 
 The Rebels were driven in confusion from the vicinity of the fort, and 
 were compelled to abandon the siege. Their loss was about a hundred 
 killed, three hundred wounded, a hundred and forty prisoners. The 
 Federal loss was sixteen killed, sixty wounded, fifty prisoners, and one 
 gun captured by the enemy. Before the arrival of the gunboats, several 
 desperate charges had been made upon the lines of the enemy, one es 
 pecially upon their right wing, which had succeeded in flanking the Federal 
 left, and threatened their rear. The small garrison had fought on this 
 occasion with unusual heroism and fortitude. 
 
 During some months, the Con federate General Pryor, who commanded 
 a force in Virginia, had loudly boasted that he would deliver the territory 
 of Suflblk, in tlie vicinity of the Blackwater, from the thraldom of Yankee 
 supremacy. General Corcoran had been sent thither with a number of 
 Federal troops, and held the country in spite of the threats of the Rebel 
 champion. The latter determined, on the 25th of January, to carry his 
 purpose into execution. During the night of that day, he advanced his 
 forces across the Blackwater, and moved forward ten miles to encounter 
 the Federal general. They met at three o'clock in the morning of the 26th. 
 Colonel Spear, of the eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, reconnoitered the 
 position and strength of the enemy, and immediately afterward both 
 armies joined battle. The conflict was a desperate and sanguinary one, 
 as was usually the case where Irishmen were engaged. The eleventh 
 Pennsylvania cavalry, and Dodge's mounted riflemen, charged on tlie enemy 
 with drawn sabres. The Federal infantry also made several splendid 
 assaults upon the foe. The Union force engaged, consisted of the sixth 
 Massachusetts, thirteenth Indiana, one hundred and twelfth, thirteenth, 
 and sixty -ninth New York, one hundred and sixty-fifth and one hundred 
 and sixty-seventh Pennsylvania, one company of the seventh Ma.ssachu- 
 setts, and one battery of the fourth United States artillery. After an 
 action of some hours the enemy began to give way. At two o'clock in 
 the afternoon, they were much weakened and disheartened. At three 
 o'clock their retreat became general, and they returned in confused haste 
 toward the Blackwater, which they recrossed in the evening. The Federal 
 cavalry pursued them for six miles, when it was deemed prudent to re- 
 linquish the chase. A more complete rout could not easily be imagined. 
 
DISASTER TO BLOCKADING FLEET OFF CHARLESTON. 449 
 
 The Federal loss was twenty-four killed, eighty wounded. That of the 
 enemy was much greater, though the exact number remained unknown 
 to the victors. A great part of the credit of this triumph was due to 
 Torbert's battery, of the fourth United States artillery, and to Davis's 
 seventh Massachusetts battery, which were particularly efficient during 
 the entire action. 
 
 To counterbalance this success, a disaster of some importance overtook 
 the Federal arms, about this period, in the vicinity of Charleston, South 
 Carolina. On the morning of the 31st of January, a thick fog enveloped 
 and obscured the port of that city. Two iron-clad gunboats took advan- 
 tage of this circumstance to emerge from the port through the main ship- 
 channel, and to make a sudden attack on the blockading fleet. The 
 time was opportune, for two of the most formidable of the Federal vessels, 
 the Powhatan and the Canandaigua, were then absent, coaling and repair- 
 ing. The Eebel vessels first encountered the Mercedita, commanded by 
 Captain Stellwagen. The Palmetto State sent a heavy rifle-shell through 
 ■ her starboard sides, which passed into her condenser, through the steam- 
 drum of her port boiler, and then exploded against her port side. It 
 made a hole during its passage some five feet square, killed the gunner, 
 wounded a number of men, and disabled the entire machinery of the 
 vessel. 
 
 This preliminary blow rendered all attempts at resistance utterly use- 
 less, and Captain Stellwagen was compelled at once to surrender. The 
 officers and men were then taken off and paroled. Having thus sealed 
 the fate of the Mercedita, and left her apparently in a sinking condition, 
 the victorious rams proceeded toward the Keystone State, which was the 
 nearest of the Federal vessels, and was commanded by Captain Leroy. 
 A tremendous shell from the Palmetto State exploded in the forehold of 
 this vessel, and at once set her on fire. Undismayed by this disaster, 
 Captain Leroy instantly gave orders to put on a full head of steam, and 
 advance against one of the rams, with the intention of running her down. 
 His guns were also so trained and depressed that at the moment of con- 
 tact- they would fire into the enemy. While this order was being 
 executed, and the vessel was advancing at the rate of twelve knots per 
 hour, a well directed shot from the Palmetto State passed through the 
 steam-chest of the Keystone State, which completely disabled her 
 machinery, and rendered her helpless. She was then fired at rapidly by 
 the two hostile rams. Of the ten rifl(yshells which struck her, two burst 
 on her quarter deck; the remainder struck her near or below the water 
 line. During the progress of these events, the Federal vessels Augusta, 
 Quaker City, Memphis, and Housatonic, attacked the Eebel iron-clads, 
 but with little effect. As soon as the work of the latter was completed, 
 they steameii away to the northward, and obtained a safe position in the 
 Swash Channel, behind the shoals. 
 29 
 
450 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 This attack by tlie Confederate rams was one of the most brilliant 
 achievements on their side which occurred during the war. It exhibited 
 extraordinary boldness and skill; and the success which attended it was 
 discreditable to the Union vessels which were engaged in the blockade. 
 The Federal loss during the action was twenty-four killed, twenty-three 
 wounded. Some hours elapsed before the blockading vessels could 
 resume their appropriate positions in front of the harbor. The two 
 disabled vessels were afterwanl towed to Port Koyal to be repaired. 
 Immediately after this attack, several vessels from Charleston steamed 
 out toward the Union ships, and then returned. The purpose of this 
 movement was to afford an excuse for the report, which was despatched 
 forthwith to Europe, that at last the blockade of the port of Charleston 
 had been raised by the daring and skill of the Confederate fleet. Had 
 this assertion been true, its effect abroad upon the political relations of 
 the Confederate States would have been important, and might have led 
 to valuable demonstrations in their favor. But it was essentially erro- 
 neous , for a few hours had not elapsed before the blockade was as com- 
 plete, as vigilant, and as effective as it had ever been. 
 
 The Confederate oflScer to whom the credit or disgrace of this achieve- 
 ment was due, was Commodore Duncan N. Ingraham, a native of 
 Charleston, and born in 1802. He received a midshipman's warrant, 
 through family influence, in June, 1812. He commanded the Federal 
 ship Somers, in the blockade olV Vera Cruz, during the Mexican war. 
 He subsequently commanded the St. Louis in the Mediterranean. In 
 1855 he was made a captain ; and in 1856 became chief of the bureau of 
 ordnance at "Washington. He held this position at the commencement 
 of the Eebellion, when he resigned it, tendered his services to the Rebel 
 authorities, and became a traitor to the government from which he had 
 received many honors and rich emolurnents during a period of nearly 
 half a century. 
 
 While military events of a stirring nature were thus transpiring 
 between the hostile armies and navies, the Federal Congress, then in 
 session at "Washington, was bu.sily engaged in adopting such financial 
 and other measures as were necessary to secure a vigorous continuance 
 of the war.- One of these was the passage of a national currency, or 
 banking bill, which was proposed by Mr. Sherman in the Senate, and. 
 after some modifications, was adopted by the House, and then approved 
 by the President. The chief pro^sioiis of this important measure were 
 as follows : It enacted that any number of persons, being not less than 
 five, might be incorporated so that they could carry on the business of 
 banking, provided their capital was at least fifty thou.sand dollars, in 
 shares of one hundred dollars each. In cities containing more than ten 
 thousand persons, the stock must not be less than one hundred thousand 
 dollars. Thirty ^er cen^Mm of this amount must be paid in before the 
 
FEDERAL REVERSES ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 451 
 
 association could commence operations. After they had thus begun, ten 
 per centum of the residue must be paid every two months, until the whole 
 amount was made up. But they would be required to purchase bonds 
 of the United States, to the extent of at least one third of their capital, 
 which must be deposited with the treasurer of the United States. For 
 these bonds the comptroller of the currency would give to the association 
 circulating notes equal in amount and in value to ninety per centum of 
 the value in bonds thus deposited. The association was bound to redeem 
 these notes; and in order to be able so to do, and to pay depositors, they 
 must always keep twenty-five per centum of cash on hand. The notes 
 were to be receivable for all debts due to the United States, except those 
 for customs, and the interest of the public debt. The bonds which were 
 deposited with the treasurer were to be held in trust for the security of 
 the note-holders; and in case of defliult being made in redeeming the 
 notes, the bonds were to be sold, and were to be redeemed by the Govern- 
 ment. Each shareholder in an association was made liable for an amount 
 equal to the par value of his shares, in addition to the shares themselves. 
 The most prominent and important purpose contemplated by this law 
 was the establishment of one sound, uniform, reliable circulation, possess- 
 ing an equal value throughout the whole country, and based upon two 
 firm, immovable pillars — the national credit and private wealth. The 
 original author of this admirable scheme was Mr. Chase, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, who, by its elaboration, increased and confirmed his fame as a 
 skilful and profound financier. 
 
 Similar in the effective and beneficial nature of its operation was the 
 conscription bill, which became a law of the land in the month of 
 February, 1863. That bill was designed to call out more completely the 
 military strength of the nation, and to elicit more thoroughly its patriotic 
 ardor. 
 
 The month of February, 1863, witnessed several minor disasters to the 
 Federal arms upon the Mississippi and other waters, which require a 
 brief notice. One of these was the loss of the steamer Queen of the West, 
 which was commanded by the bold and adventurous Colonel C. R. Ellet. 
 This officer had proceeded from the landing below Vicksburg on the 10th 
 of the month, according to orders which he had received , from Admiral 
 D. D. Porter; and had destroyed a large amount of Eebel property along 
 the shores of the Red and Black rivers. lie had captured a steamboat 
 laden with forty-five hundred bushels of corn, and had achieved other 
 commendable acts, when, on the lith, he neared Gordon's Landing, on 
 Red river, a short time before nightfall. Several gunboats of the enemy 
 were lying at that point, and a spirited action was anticipated. As the 
 Queen of the West approached, she was assailed by a vigorous and 
 skilful cannonade from the vessels and a fort on the shore. Soon her 
 escape-pipe was shot away, and an explosion took place which filled the 
 
452 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 interior of the vessel with steam. It was now evident that the Queen wa8 
 overmatched, and Colonel Ellet gave the order to his pilot to back her 
 out of the range of the guns of the enemy. Instead of complying with 
 this direction, he ran her aground ou the right hand bank, within full 
 reach of the destructive firing of the enemy. In this predicament the 
 only alternative was to abandon the steamer to the possession of the 
 Eebels. This was done, and her crew and officers transferred to the 
 De Soto, which had accompanied the Queen as her tender. Several inci- 
 dents occurred during this expedition which induced Colonel Ellet to 
 believe that the conduct of the pilot Garvey was influenced by treason- 
 able motives. He therefore ordered him under arrest. lie then returned 
 to his former station in the steamboat Era, which he had previously 
 captured from the enemy. At the time of the loss of the Queen, twenty- 
 four prisoners were taken by the Ilebels. One white man and four 
 negroes were also drowned during the progress of the disaster. 
 
 Shortly after this occurrence, the Federal iron-clad Indianola was 
 attacked by the Confederate steamers Webb and the Queen of the West, 
 which had been repaired, and perverted to the service of its recent 
 captors. The action took place on the Mississippi, below Vicksburg, and 
 was a spirited one. But the numerical strength of the enemy gave them 
 a resistless advantage. Soon after the battle began, a shot from the 
 Indianola struck tlie upper works of the Webb. Another penetrated the 
 machinery of the Queen, partii-lly disabling her. The "Webb then pre- 
 pared to butt the Indianola, and, as she turned to accomplish her pur- 
 pose, she received another shot, which considerably diminished her 
 momentum. At length, however, she struck the Indianola aft the turret, 
 on the starboard side, with tremendous violence. Uad she delivered the 
 blow with full force, she would have unquestionably sunk her antagonist 
 immediately. At this stage of the action, the Queen returned to the 
 attack ou the other side, and inflicted a heavy blow upon the Indianola. 
 In return the latter, though reeling, sent one of her shot directly through 
 the cabin of the Queen, and another through her pilot-house, which 
 staggered her considerably. While she was recovering, the Webb con- 
 tinued the contest by approaching the starboard side of the Indianola, 
 and prepared to strike her. The latter manoeuvred to avoid the blow 
 though without success, and she received a powerful salute, which for a 
 time disabled her. Large seams were made by it in her side, and the 
 water rushed in rapidly. Kotwithstanding her gallant defence, the 
 Indianola was now in a sinking condition, and no alternative was left except 
 to surrender. As soon as the signal was displayed, the AVebb and Queen 
 came alongside and took possession. The Indianola was then run 
 aground ou the Louisiana shore. Iler officers and crew were captured, 
 and were afterward paroled. 
 
 To counterbalance these disasters, a naval success was achieved near 
 
OAPTUEB OP THE REBEL STEAMER NASHVILLE. 453 
 
 this time at Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee river, in Georgia, by Com- 
 mander J. L. Worden, which consisted in the destruction of the Eebel 
 steamer Nashville. This vessel was a privateer, and had already inflicted 
 some damage on the commerce of the loyal citizens of the United States. 
 Some months previous, she had taken refuge under the guns of the Con- 
 federate fort just named; but her exit from the river had been barred by 
 the vigilance of several naval officers. Commander Worden had ordered 
 J. L. Davis, of the Wissahickon, Barnes, of the Dawn, and Gibson, of the 
 Seneca, to watch her movements, and as soon as she ventured to leave 
 the vicinity of the fort, to attack her. On the 27th of February, having 
 been loaded with cotton, and fully armed, she was observed to be moving 
 about, as if preparing to run the gauntlet of the Federal vessels. She 
 soon ran aground, however ; and this fact having been ascertained by a 
 reconnoissance ordered by Commander "Worden, that officer immediately 
 directed his whole fleet to advance and attack her. The guns of Fort 
 McAllister were industriously used to assist and defend the Eebel craft, 
 and the crew of the Nashville fought bravely. But their exertions were 
 of no avail. A hailstorm of eleven and fifteen inch shell was rained upon 
 her from the Federal vessels, some of which exploded in her ; and soon 
 she was completely enveloped in flames. In a short time the intense 
 heat discharged one of her own heaviest guns, which effected much 
 damage. Her destruction was soon afterward completed by the explosion 
 of her magazine, which shattered the once stately and magnificent ship 
 into innumerable fragments. Commander Worden superintended these 
 operations on board of his flag-ship, the iron-clad Montauk. Had the 
 Nashville succeeded in escaping to sea, it is probable that her pernicious 
 achievements in the service of the Rebellion would have subsequently 
 rivalled those of the Alabama and the Oreto.* 
 
 While the Federal Congress at Washington was busily engaged in 
 providing pecuniary means for the vigorous prosecution of the war, it did 
 not neglect other measures which were necessary to increase the ardor of 
 the nation, and to inspire continued hopes of ultimate success. One of 
 the most important and significant of these was the passage of a series of 
 resolutions, which were introduced into the Senate by Mr. Sumner, of 
 Massachusetts, protesting against all foreign mediations or intervention 
 for the purpose of obtaining peace through concessions made by the Fed- 
 
 * At a later period, on the 3d of March, an attack was made by the fleet commanded 
 by Commodore Worden on Port McAllister. The firing was spirited on both sides ; 
 but the engagement was productive of no results of importance. The fort was not 
 taken ; the Pederal vessels were not damaged ; the loss on both sides was insignificant ; 
 and after a useless cannonade of some hours, the fleet dropped down the Ogeechee, 
 and quietly returned to Port Royal. The conquest of the fort was not a matter of 
 sufficient importance to the Federal cause to induce a renewed attack upon it at that 
 time. 
 
454 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 eral Government to the Eebel autborites. These resolutions set forth 
 that " whereas, it appears from the diplomatic correspondence which had 
 been submitted to Congress, a proposition friendly in form, looking to 
 pacifications through foreign mediation, has been made to the United 
 States by the Emporer of the French, and promptly declined by the 
 President ; and whereas, the idea of mediation or intervention, in some 
 shape, may be regarded by foreign governments as practfcable, and such 
 governments, through this misunderstanding, may be led to proceedings 
 tending to embarrass the friendly relations which now exist between them 
 and the United States ; and whereas, in order to remove for the future all 
 chance of misunderstanding on this subject, and to secure for the United 
 States the full enjoyment of that freedom from foreign interference which 
 is one of the highest rights of independent States, it seems fit that Congress 
 should declare its convictions thereon ;" therefore, the following proposi- 
 tions were in substance submitted and adopted, as embodying the senti- 
 ments of the American Government and people on this subject. They 
 stated that while they sincerely deplored the misfortunes which the war 
 had inflicted on several foreign communities, they viewed all propositions 
 of mediation or compromise from abroad as unseasonable and inadmissible, 
 from whatever source they might come, or by whatever motive they 
 might have been dictated ; that any such propositions must in reality be 
 regarded as calculated to prolong and embitter the contest, by encouraging 
 the insurgents, and in so far as really hostile to the Federal Government 
 and to a loyal nation ; that the Eebels had been from the first encouraged 
 by the hope of foreign intervention, and were still cheered by the antici- 
 pations of it ; that the United States were not only confident of ultimate 
 success in the total suppression of the Eebellion, but that they were unal- 
 terably determined to prosecute the war to the last extremity, in order to 
 restore the Union of the States and the supremacy of the Federal Govern- 
 ment, as they existed before the commencement of the Eebellion. These 
 resolutions were passed, and became the authoritative expression of the 
 sentiments of the Federal Government, of the administration of Mr. Lincoln, 
 and of the loyal citizens of the United States. Their adoption produced 
 a decided effect upon the views and measures of those European potentates 
 who had contemplated an interference in American affairs, and terminated, 
 or at least postponed, their impertinent and of&cious activity in that 
 direction. 
 
 The remaining military operations which occurred during the months 
 of February and March, 1803, with the exception of several reserved for 
 the next chapter, were generally conducted on a small scale. The season 
 of the year, and the condition of the roads, necessarily rendered the move- 
 ment of large bodies of troops very difficult, if not absolutely impossible, 
 and both the rival Governments were actively employed in preparing for 
 the colossal and sanguinary operations which were anticipated with the 
 
MILITARY EVENTS OP FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1863. 455 
 
 arrival of more propitious weather ia the spring. The events of any con- 
 sequence which did occur during this interval of comparative repose may 
 be thus briefly described. 
 
 On the 2Gth of February, two battalions of the thirteenth Pennsylvania 
 cavalry were sent from Winchester, Virginia, by General Milroy, to 
 reconnoiter toward Strasburg, and ascertain the position and force of the 
 enemy in that vicinity. The two battalions were commanded by Majors 
 Byrnes and Kerwin. Having arrived at Strasburg without opposition, 
 Captain Dewees was sent forward five miles beyond it with fifty men. 
 There he encountered a camp of the Rebels. He attacked them, and 
 drove them into the woods. Soon, however, reinforcements approached 
 from Woodstock, where their main body was posted, under command of 
 Brigadier-General Jones. The latter pursued the retiring Federals until 
 they reached the position of the two battalions near Strasburg. There a 
 desperate conflict ensued. The Eebel infantry were assisted by three 
 pieces of artillery. Furious charges were made on both sides, and 
 mutual repulses took place. The enemy were chased as far as Middletown, 
 after which they returned without further interference to Woodstock. 
 The Federal loss was heavy, being about a hundred and fifty in killed, 
 wounded, and missing. That of the enemy was not so great. 
 
 On the same day, fifteen hundred Confederate cavalry, under General 
 Fitzhugh Lee, attacked the Union picket-line at Hartwood Church, near 
 Stafibrd Court House, Virginia. The pickets were driven in, and fled to 
 the main reserve in the rear, consisting of three hundred men. The ad- 
 vancing Rebels soon reached the position of these, and a spirited combat 
 ensued, notwithstanding the immense disparity of numbers. The enemy 
 were checked for some time, until they gained the flank, and threatened 
 the rear of the Federals. Then Lieutenant-Colonel Jones ordered his men 
 to fall back. The enemy pursued and charged upon them, by which 
 means the retreat was turned into a rout. After a time. Major Robinson 
 succeeded in stopping the retreat, and in making a brief stand against the 
 foe. The latter, then apprehending the approach of a large body of Fed- 
 eral cavalry, under Genei'al Averill, retired toward the Rappahannock, 
 and recrossed it without opposition. They had captured more than a 
 hundred prisoners. 
 
 On the 1st of March a brilliant advantage was gained over the Confed- 
 erates near Brandyville, Tennessee. This place was then occupied by 
 Rebel troops. Its distance from Murfreesboro is twelve miles ; and not- 
 withstanding the propinquit}-- of the great Federal army under Rosecrans, 
 the enemy had continued to ravage and desolate the adjacent country. 
 To rout aud punish these General Stanley selected sixteen hundred men 
 from the division of General Negley, seven hundred of whom were cavalry, 
 and proceeded toward Bradyville. He encountered the enemy two miles 
 from the village, numbering about eight hundred. A furious charn'e was 
 
456 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 instantly made upon tliem. They were driven back, through the village, 
 to a position a quarter of a mile beyond. There they made a stand, and 
 renewed the action, fighting with intense stubbornness for half an hour. 
 At length, overpowered by numbers, they again broke and fled. They 
 were pursued for three miles, and many were cut down as they ran by the 
 sabres of the Federal cavalry. Nearly a hundred prisoners were taken, 
 among whom were eight commissioned officers, together with a hundred 
 horses, and a large (juautity of quartermaster's stores. The Federal loss 
 was slight, being only three killed, seven wounded. The Federal troops 
 encamped on the battle-ground during the night, and on the next day 
 returned to Murfreesboro. 
 
 A disaster of considerable magnitude overtook the Federal arms on the 
 4th of March, at Thompson's station, near Franklin, Tennessee. Colonel 
 Coburn commanded a considerable body of Union troops, consisting of a 
 brigade, at that place ; and was attacked, perhaps surprised, by a much 
 larger force, consisting of about ten thousand men, under General Van 
 Dorn. The greater number of the enemy enabled them to assault the 
 Federals at the same time in front and on both flanks. The twelfth Wis- 
 consin, sixty-ninth Michigan, thirty-third and eighty-fifth Indiana, were 
 completely surrounded, and were eventually compelled to surrender. The 
 one hundred and twenty-fourth Ohio being in the rear with the wagon 
 train was separated from the rest, and succeeded in escaping. Desperate 
 fighting occurred, however, before the enemy obtained their victory. The 
 loss of the Federals was one hundred killed, three hundred wounded. 
 The number captured by the Confederates was about twelve hundred. 
 The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded was four hundred, of whom 
 more than a hundred were slain. Two regiments of Indians were engaged 
 in the battle on the side of the enemy, and the contest was unusually 
 fierce and sanguinary. This misfortune was not due to any cowardice 
 or carelessness on the part of Colonel Coburn ; but to the immense 
 superiority of numbers possessed by the Confederates, and to the orders 
 of his superior oflicer. General Gilbert, by which means he and his 
 men were placed in an exposed and isolated position. Colonel Coburn 
 conducted the battle with great skill and fortitude, and his troops fought 
 with superior heroism and gallantry. All the artillery, the entire 
 cavalry force, sixty of the wounded, and two hundred and fifty men, 
 succeeded in making their escape. This engagement, though it en- 
 tailed a numerical loss upon the Union forces, did not inflict any stigma 
 upon the valor of the Federal officers and soldiers engaged in it. 
 
EXPEDITION FROM MUEFREESBORO. 
 
 457 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 MINOR jmiTART OPERATIONS DURING MARCH, 1863 — EXPEDITION FROM MURFREESBORO 
 UNDER COLONEL HALL — HE ENGAGES AND DEFEATS THE REBELS AT MILTON, TENNESSEE — 
 EXPEDITION OP GENERAL PRINCE FROM NEWBKRN — ITS RESULTS — ATTACK BY THE REBELS 
 ON UNION TROOPS AT DEEP GULLY — THEIR REPULSE — DESPERATE CAVALRY FIGHT NEAR 
 
 THE RAPPAHANNOCK BETWEEN GENERALS AVERILL, STUART, AND LEE ITS RESULT — THE 
 
 PASSAGE OF THE FEDERAL FLEET PAST THE REBEL BATTERIES AT PORT HUDSON — CO- 
 OPERATITE MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL BANKS' — INCIDENTS OP THE ENGAGEMENT AT PORT 
 HUDSON — DEATi. OF COMMANDER BOYD CUMMI.' GS — HIS HEROISM — LOSS OF THE STEAMER 
 MISSISSIPPI — SUCCESS OF THE HARTFORD AND ALBATROSS — CONFLAGRATION OF JACKSON- 
 VILLE, FLORIDA — VICTORY OP GENERAL GILMORE AT SOMERSET, KENTUCKY — REPORT OF 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR — ITS PECULIARITIES AND 
 CONTENTS — ITS EXPOSITION ON THE CONDUCT OF GENERALS MCCLELLAN, PATTERSON, AND 
 STONE — IMPRESSION PRODUCED BY IT ON THE PUBLIC MIND — END OP THE WINTER CAMPAIGN 
 OF 1862-3 — SKIRMISHES IN CARROLL COUNTY, ARKANSAS — AT WOODBURY, TENNESSEE — 
 ABORTIVE EXPEDITION OF GENERAL SHERMAN UP THE BLACK BAYOU IN MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 DUKING the month of March, 1863, other minor operations occurred in 
 different portions of the Republic which were of sufBcient importance to 
 deserve notice, although their influence on the general issue of the con- 
 test could not be very potent or decisive. 
 
 On the 17th of March an expedition set forth from the Federal camp 
 at Murfreesboro, under the command of Colonel A. S. Hall. It consisted 
 of the second brigade of General Reynolds' division, and comprised the 
 one hundred and fifth Ohio, eighteenth and one hundred and twenty-third 
 Illinois, one hundred and first Indiana, a section of the nineteenth Indi- 
 ana battery, and a company of Tennessee cavalry. Its purpose was 
 to clear the adjacent region of country of a number of Rebel guerrillas 
 who then infested it, under the command of General John Moro-an. — 
 The expedition proceeded in the direction of Gainesville and Lib- 
 erty ; and occasionally encountered small scouting parties of the enemy. 
 These were dispersed without difiiculty. Colonel Hall had reached 
 Milton, on his return toward Murfreesboro, when he was suddenly at- 
 tacked by the chief object of his pursuit — the twenty -five hundred men 
 commanded by Morgan. His own force was not more than one half that 
 number ; yet he instantly prepared to receive the advancing foe. He 
 posted his troops on the crest of a hill, where they would have the ad- 
 vantage of a favorable position. The enemy commenced their attack by a 
 fire of shot and shell from their battery in the centre, and by a simulta- 
 neous assault on both flanks. These were followed up by furious charo-es 
 upon the Federal lines, with the evident intention of throwin(T them into 
 confusion. While executing these movements they were received by the 
 
453 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Federal artillery with such spirit as to compel them to recoil. This 
 check, however, was only teinporay. Colonel Ilall had succeeded in 
 forming his men in three separate lines of battle, which commanded every 
 approach to the hill on which he had posted them. Then followed a 
 desperate combat, consisting of repeated assaults and repulses, several 
 hand-to-hand struggles, and an interchange of shot and shell between the 
 artillery. One of the field pieces of the llebels was struck and shattered 
 to pieces. Finding his attempts upon the Federal front and flank unavail- 
 ing, Morgan then moved his forces to the rear, and charged from that 
 direction. Here he was met and repulsed with equal heroism. In vain 
 did he renew the assault from time to time upon the adamantine ranks of 
 the Federals posted upon the hill. After a bloody and furious struggle 
 of three hours' duration, he gave up the contest, and withdrew his men. 
 But being reinforced a very short time afterward by the arrival of a regi- 
 ment from "Woodbury, he renewed the attack. The result was the same 
 as before. So valiant was the defence made, that after another vain 
 attempt he was compelled to withdraw his troops. He retreated rapidly 
 to a point several miles beyond Liberty, and, his men being all mounted 
 pursuit was useless. The Federal victors bivouacked during the ensuing 
 night upon the battle-field, and on the next day returned to Murfreesboro. 
 After the fight was over Colonel Minty arrived with reinforcements to 
 Colonel Hall, which happily were not needed. The Federal loss in this 
 action was only ten killed, tliirty-live wounded; but the loss of the 
 enemy was much greater. It was about forty killed, a hundred and 
 fifty wounded. This engagement and its result diminished very consider- 
 ably the terror which the name and prowess of General Morgan were 
 accustomed at this period to create in the minds of the loyal citizens of 
 the State of Kentucky. 
 
 A short time previous to this date another expedition left Newbcrn, 
 under the command of General Prince. The troops composing it consi.sted 
 of the Spinola Legion, the Jourdan brigade, two batteries of artillery, and 
 eight companies of cavalry. They proceeded on the first day twenty 
 miles along the south side of the Trent river, as far as ^IcDaniel's planta- 
 tion. There they encamped for the night. On the following day they 
 advanced six miles further toward Trenton, for the purpose of attacking a 
 body of Rebels who had been assembled at that point. But the latter 
 evacuated the place on the approach of the Federals, and fled so rapidly 
 that they could not be overtaken. After several movements in the direc- 
 tion of Young's cross roads, of Kinston and Swansboro, in search of 
 the fugitive foe, without being able to overtake them, or bring them to a 
 conflict, the expedition returned to Newbern. Tlie only achievement 
 which it had performed was to capture a number of prisoners, and to clear 
 the country between Newbern and Kinston, for a short time, of the pres- 
 ence and depredations of the enemy. The latter, however, soon returned 
 
CAVALRY COMBAT NEAR KELLYS FORD. 459 
 
 to tlie vicinity of the Federal camp at Newbern, and a spirited action took 
 place between them at Deep Gully, several miles from the quarters of the 
 twenty-fifth Massachusetts regiment, ou the 13th of March. The advance 
 of tlie Confederates was first made known by their driving in the Union 
 pickets about three o'clock in the afternoon. General Foster being in- 
 formed of the approach of the foe, immediately sent General Palmer to the 
 rescue with a brigade, consisting of the fifth, twenty-fifth, and forty-third 
 regiments of Massachusetts volunteers, together with the batteries of Riggs 
 and Belger. Brisk skirmishing then ensued across the intervening creek 
 until the close of the day, by which the Eebels were thus far held in check. 
 On the following morning the fighting was renewed. It was, however, very 
 desultory in its nature. The enemy were for the most part concealed in 
 dense woods, in which they were shelled with uncertain eflfect. At three 
 o'clock in the afternoon they retired from the combat, without having 
 achieved any results of importance. At one stage of the action the Eebel 
 General Daniels sent to demand the surrender of the ninety -second New 
 York regiment. But the requisition was answered by its commanding 
 officer, Colonel Anderson, with laughter and derision. The attack of the 
 enemy proved a total failure. The Federal lo.ss was one killed, four 
 wounded ; that of the Eebels was much greater. After their discomfiture 
 their whole force, consisting of four brigades of infantry, two regiments 
 of cavalry, and several batteries of artillery, retired in the direction of 
 Kinston. 
 
 On the 17th of March, a combat of more than usual proportions and 
 ferocity occurred between a large body of Rebel cavalry, commanded by 
 Generals Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee, and an equal number of Federal horse 
 under General Averill. It took place several miles beyond the Eappa- 
 hannock, in the vicinity of Kelly's ford. This battle chiefly consisted of 
 a series of desperate charges and furious hand-to-hand combats, in which 
 both sides exhibited the utmost heroism and gallantry. Several thousand 
 Eebel cavalry had previously made a daring raid across the river, and 
 had invaded the territory lying between the Federal lines near Falmouth 
 and the Warrenton road. They advanced as far as the Berea Church, 
 then turned toward the Eappahannock, and recrossed it. As soon as in- 
 telligence of this invasion reached General Hooker, he directed General 
 Averill to start in pursuit of the foe with about two thousand cavalry. 
 Before he could overtake them they had made good their escape across 
 the stream ; and when the Federal troops arrived near the crossing at 
 Kelly's ford, a portion of the enemy was discovered posted on the opposite 
 side of the river. They had fortified their position by a number of rifle- 
 pits, which were occupied by dismounted cavalrymen. 
 
 Notwithstanding the disadvantage and danger of crossing the river in 
 the face of the enemy, General Averill boldly gave the order to advance. 
 The ford was narrow, and the stream was so deep that many of the horses 
 
460 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were up to tlieir girths in the water, while others were compelled to 
 swim. During the process of fording, the enemy opened upon the 
 Federals from a battery which they had concealed in an adjacent wood. 
 Undaunted by this assault, the crossing was soon completed. The 
 Federals then formed in line of battle, and charged upon the enemy 
 occupying the rifle pits, and upon their battery. Both of these were 
 soon silenced, the pits being evacuated and the battery removed. The 
 Federal troops tlien advanced three m^les beyond the river. At this 
 crisi.s, the main body of the enemy, under Stuart and Lee, appeared in 
 sight. They were drawn up in battle array, and were awaiting the attack 
 of the approaching Federals. The latter accepted the challenge thus 
 offered them, and at once charged upon the foe. A tremendous scene of 
 confusion and slaughter ensued, which lasted several hours. While the 
 cavalry were thus engaged, the artillery on both sides continued to play 
 upon each other. But the infantry of the Confederates, who soon arrived 
 at the scene of conflict, did not venture to fire upon the Union troops, 
 in consequence of the complete intermingling of the cavalry, which made 
 it impossible to distinguish the one side from the other. Toward the 
 close of the combat, the ammunition of the Federals, both for their 
 artillery and their carbines, began to be exhausted ; and a retreat became 
 inevitable. It was accomplished, however, in excellent order; and the 
 Confederates had been so severely handled that they did not attempt to 
 follow or intercept them. The loss of the Federals in killed and wounded 
 was about forty. That of the enemy was known to be equally great. 
 The truth is, that both sides fought in this action with unusual gallantry, 
 and deserved the plaudits of their respective commanders. It was one 
 of the most desperate struggles, in which cavalry were almost exclusively 
 engaged, which had occurred during the progress of the war. After 
 crossing the river, the Federal forces returned without further casualty to 
 their camp near Falmouth. About fifty prisoners were taken on each 
 side during the action. 
 
 A contest of much greater magnitude and interest occurred about the 
 middle of March, at Port Iludson, a stronghold of the Confederates, 
 situated on the banks of the great father of waters, below Vicksbnrg. 
 A plan of attack had been arranged between General Banks and Admiral 
 Farragut. The former was at that time posted at Baton Rouge with a 
 considerable land force. It was agreed that both commanders should 
 advance to the object of assault, and make a combined attempt by land 
 and water to reduce it. The troops of Banks proceeded from Baton 
 Rouge on the afternoon of Friday, March 13th. General G rover's 
 division led the advance; then followed the divisions of Emory and 
 Augur. They proceeded on the road without an}' molestation as far as 
 Springfield. At that point they encountered about five hundred Con- 
 federate cavalry, who retired without making any hostile demonstrations. 
 
ATTACK ON PORT HUDSON. 
 
 461 
 
 Eeconnoissances were then made in the direction of Port Hudson, along 
 the road to the Bayou Sara, and toward Ross and Springfield landings. 
 Several skirmishes took place between detachments of hostile troops in 
 that vicinity. One of these occurred between the one hundred and sixty- 
 second New York and a body of Rebel cavalry who were concealed in the 
 wojds, and made a sudden attack on them. The latter were soon com- 
 pelled to fall back in confusion, with the loss of five killed and twelve 
 wounded. 'Another skirmish took place between the Rebels and a com- 
 pany of the second Rhode Island cavalry, commanded by Captain Stevens, 
 who were sent out on the Springfield road to reconnoiter the position 
 and strength of the enemy. They reached a point where a bridge had 
 been destroyed, and the way rendered impassable. While wheeling 
 around in order to return, they were assailed by a discharge of musketry 
 from the concealed foe. Captain Stevens was wounded and taken 
 prisoner. Three or four privates were afterward missing. The move- 
 ments of the troops under General Banks being intended merely as a 
 diversion, to attract the attention of the enemy while the fleet of Admiral 
 Farragut was passing or assailing the works at Port Hudson, General 
 Banks ordered his men to return to Baton Rouge on the IGth. He 
 presumed that, by that time, the purpose of the admiral had been success- 
 fully accomplished, and inferred that his services would no longer be 
 needed in connection with that particular enterprise. 
 
 It was at nine o'clock at night of Saturday, the 14th of March, that 
 Admiral Farragut signaled to his fleet to commence their advance. They 
 were then at anchor at the upper end of Prophet's island, five miles 
 below Port Hudson. The moon and stars shone brightly in the heavens. 
 The formidable batteries of Port Hudson were visible in the distance. 
 The principal vessels of the fleet were the flag-ship Hartford, Monon- 
 gahela, Richmond, Kineo, Mississippi, Essex, Albatross, and Switzerland. 
 These were accompanied by six mortar boats. As this fleet approached 
 Port Hudson, five Rebel gunboats were seen nearing the batteries from 
 above, from which a body of troops were landed to strengthen the 
 defenders of the fortifications. At half-past one o'clock, at a signal from 
 the sloop of war Hartford, the mortar boats commenced to fire upon the 
 Rebel batteries, for the purpose of ascertaining tlie range of tlieir guns. 
 It was discovered that they were too distant to injure the works of tlie 
 enemy. At this period, signal lights were seen flashing along the in- 
 trenchments, which were answered by Rebel forces stationed on the 
 opposite shore, and by the gunboats of the Confederates on the river 
 above. It was now evident that the foe was on the alert, and prepared 
 to give the Federal fleet a fierce and desperate resistance. 
 
 As the Federals slowly approached the immense works of the Con- 
 federates, the latter employed a novel stratagem, which essentially aided 
 their purposes. They kindled an immense bonfire immediately in front 
 
462 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the most formidable of tbeir fortifications, the glaring light of which 
 was refracted from the walls across the stream, in such a manner as to 
 expose each vessel clearly to view as it passed. It was this expedient 
 more than any other which enabled the Eebel engineers to direct their 
 shot and shell with such destructive accuracy upon the Union vessels. 
 And now the majestic Hartford, leading the van of the doomed fleet, 
 came gallantly within range. The batteries of the enemy extended over 
 a space of nearly four miles, with an occasional interval between them. 
 They were placed on the liigh blufTs, and seemed to consist of three 
 distinct and successive ranges of guns. At this point the river bends 
 toward the west, in a curve resembling the shape of a horse-shoe. It is 
 in the centre of this hollow that the village of Port Hudson was situated. 
 The most powerful batteries of the enemy, the central ones, were located 
 in this vicinity. Here four enormous guns were mounted in casemates. 
 The rest of the Eebel artillery were either placed en larhette, or peered 
 menacingly through open embrasures. Such was the terrible gauntlet 
 through which the Union vessels were compelled to pass. 
 
 As the Hartford came within range, the batteries of the enemy opened 
 upon her. Her guns responded promptly and vigorously. Then came 
 the Richmond, to be followed in quick succession by the Essex, the 
 Monongahela, and the rest. Ere long the mortar boats added their 
 thundering salutes to the already far resounding chorus of the artillery, 
 both on land and afloat. The reverberation of the guns became constant 
 and uninterrupted. The intervening space between the long line of 
 vessels and the land batteries was filled with a heavy volume of smoke, 
 through whose dark curtains the lurid flashes of the guns were continually 
 visible. As the vessels advanced, a new difliculty arose. The dark- 
 ness became so complete that it was almost impossible to steer with 
 safety. The tortuous nature of the river at this point increased the 
 danger, and a double peril existed, that the vessels might either be run 
 ashore, or be driven against each other. And now all the vessels had 
 passed the lower batteries of the enemy, and as they proceeded up the 
 stream, the spectacle became one of appalling and majestic splendor. 
 Along the whole line occupied by the Federal vessels a continuous 
 deluge of fiery and destructive hail ladened the air. The midnight 
 heavens were filled with the ascending, descending, and exploding shells, 
 which were passing both ways. Even the howitzers in the tops were 
 continuously discharged. The earth and water shook with the tremendous 
 and rapid concussions. As the fleet approached the central battery, 
 which stood upon a lofty bluilt" the cannonading became still more terrific 
 and destructive. At that point the enemy had a decided advantage, for 
 it was impossible to elevate the guns on the vessels to the necessary 
 height. Then the batteries of the Eebels, placed on the two horns of the 
 crescent, poured down a fearful cross-fire, to which the vessels could 
 
DEATH OF COMMANDER BOYD CUMMINGS. 4G3 
 
 make no return, except a feeble one from their bow and stern chasers. 
 At this point, also, the stream was narrow, and sometimes not more than 
 twenty or thirty yards intervened between the muzzles of the guns 
 of the hostile armaments. It was here that, as the Mississippi was passing 
 the fearful assault to which she was subjected, she grounded. Every 
 effort made by her commander, Melancthon Smith, to remove her proved 
 unavailing; and it soon became evident that the only alternative was to 
 abandon and destroy her, to prevent her falling into the hands of the 
 enemy. This was eventually accomplished, and the officers and crew 
 saved. About the same time the executive officer of the Eichmond, 
 Lieutenant-Commander Boyd Cummings, was mortally wounded. He 
 was standing on the bridge which connected the starboard with the port 
 gangway, with his speaking-trumpet iu his hand, bravely cheering on his 
 men. A conical shot of immense size, after passing through the ham- 
 mocks over the starboard gangway, struck him, took off his left leg 
 below the knee, knocked over an adjacent officer with the windage, and 
 then passed through the smoke-stack. The wounded commander was 
 instantly carried below, the blood pouring in torrents from his wound ; 
 and as he descended to undergo a surgical operation, from which he was 
 destined never to recover, he exclaimed aloud to his men : "Get the ship 
 by, boys, and they may have my other leg." While the stunning roar of 
 the conflict resounded around him, he submitted, with the lurid light of 
 battle glaring on his countenance, to the operation, and soon afterward 
 expired. In the far future ages, when the events of this tremendous war 
 shall have become familiar household incidents to millions of freemen yet 
 unborn, the heroism of this dying soldier and patriot will commend him 
 to their reverence and admiration ; and he will be classed with such men 
 as Wolfe, who, when expiring in the hour of victory, exclaimed, " I die 
 happy ;" and with Lawrence, who, amid the death agony, commanded his 
 men never to give up the ship. 
 
 Vain, however, was the matchless fortitude of Cummings and his as- 
 sociates. It soon became evident that an attempt to pass the remainder 
 of the Rebel batteries would entail certain destuction on many of the 
 vessels. Of the whole fleet, the Hartford and Albatross alone succeeded 
 in effecting their purpose. At length the commanders of the remaining 
 vessels gave orders to their helmsmen to turn their prows; they steamed 
 quickly down the stream and reached a point of safety on the west side 
 of Prophet's island. There they anchored amid peaceful scenes, which 
 furnished a singular contrast to the horrible havoc and bloody slaughter 
 from which they had just escaped, for the fragrant blossoms and verdant 
 leaves of the adjacent luxurious forest bent gracefully over the sides of 
 the vessels, and filled the air of nigljt with their sweet perfumes, while 
 their boughs and limbs yielded gracefully to the gentle pressure of the 
 whispering winds. 
 
464 THE CrVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 During thia action, most of the Federal vessels had been more or less 
 injured. The Genes.see was severely damaged. The rigging of the Kineo 
 was badly cut, and her rudder-post shot away. Other casualties occurred. 
 On board the Mississippi twenty-two men were killed, and more were 
 wounded. Oa the Monongahela seven were killed, twenty-one wounded. 
 The entire Federal loss was about forty killed, ninety wounded, forty 
 missing. The battle had continued from half-past nine o'clock at night, 
 until one o'clock in the morning. The number of Confederate troops who 
 ■were present were estimated at twenty thousand. After the engagement, 
 Admiral Farragut proceeded with the Hartford and the Albatross five 
 miles above Port Uudson, in a safe position beyond the guns of the 
 enemy, on either side of the river. The chief victim of tliis disaster, for 
 a disaster it undoubtedly deserves to be termed, was Lieutenant-Com- 
 mander Cummings. He was a native of Philadelphia, and entered the 
 United States Navy in April, 1847. He was engaged in active service 
 from tiiat period until his death. He was a brave and talented officer, 
 whose brief career of glory deserves to be enshrined in the grateful memo- 
 ries of Ids countrymen. 
 
 On the 2Sth of March, one of those few instances occurred, wliich tar- 
 nished the glory of the Union arms during this war, in which brutal 
 violence was permitted to outrage every sentiment of justice and humanity. 
 On that day, the beautiful town of Jacksonville, in Florida, was nearly 
 destroyed by fire. The conflagration was the work of a number of Fed- 
 eral soldiers, who belonged to the force who had occupied the town for 
 some time previous. That force being ordered to a different point, before 
 tliey took their departure the incendiary torch was applied simultaneously 
 in a variety of places. Tlie chief perpetrators of the deed were members 
 of the eighth Maine, and the sixth Connecticut regiments. Among the 
 ruined edifices, were several churches and other useful j)ublio buildings. 
 The conflagration, like tliat of Pensacola and Ilampton, was an act of the 
 most infamous and heartless vandalism, which reflected disgrace upon 
 those who popetrated and permitted it, upon the cause which they .so un- 
 worthily represented, upon the age and country in which they lived. 
 
 On the 30th of March, a desperate contest took place near Somerset, 
 Kentucky, in which a body of Federal troops, under General Gillmore, 
 attacked a number of Rebels commanded by General Pegram, chiefly 
 cavalry. The former were about twelve hundred strong, the latter twenty- 
 five hundred. The action commenced at Button Hill, ten miles distant 
 from Somerset. The Eebels look a strong position, and planted their 
 guns so judiciously that, as the Federals approached, they were able to 
 give them a bloody reception. The Federal artillery responded to tliose 
 of the enemy, and three of the latter were disabled, after an action of an 
 liour and a-half. A general charge upon the foe was then ordered. Wool- 
 ford on the right wing, Bundle on the left, Garrard in the centre, advanced 
 
COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. 465 
 
 upon the enemy. After a desperate collision tlie Rebels broke and fled. 
 They took the road toward Somerset, and were pursued. They dashed 
 through that town in the utmost disorder, with the Federals at their heels. 
 Three miles south' of Somerset, they attempted to make a stand, but were 
 again compelled to give way. But at this stage of the action the approach 
 of night terminated it, and the pursuit was not continued. The lo.ss of 
 the Confederates was considerable, being about three hundred in killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners. They also lost two stand of colors, and four 
 hundred cattle which they had collected. The Federal loss was thirty- 
 eight killed and wounded. During the night which followed the battle, 
 the enemy succeeded in crossing the Cumberland river in several places, 
 but the purpose of their invasion of this portion of Kentucky was com- 
 pletely baffled and defeated. Their only achievement was the burning of 
 the bridges over Dick's river at Bryantsville and Lancaster, and the 
 plundering of many private residences of articles of dress and ornament. 
 
 While the attention of the loyal community in the United States was 
 occupied but not wholly absorbed by the occurrence of minor events of 
 this description, a development of a more pacific character was made, 
 which, for a brief period, superseded every other topic in their minds. 
 This event was the publication of the report of the Congressional Com- 
 mittee on the Conduct of the War. In December, 1861, a joint committee, 
 consisting of three members of the Senate and four members of the House, 
 had been appointed by Congress, with instructions to inquire into the 
 manner in whicli the war had been conducted. They proceeded to the 
 investigation of the subject committed to them, and in the first week of 
 April, 1863, their first report was rendered. It was signed by B. F. Wade- 
 and Z. C. Chandler, on the part of the Senate ; by D. W. Gooch, J. Covode, 
 G. W. Julian, and M. F. Odellj on the part of the House. It exhibited 
 evidences of extensive research, of impartial investigation, and of a desire 
 to promote the interests of the Union by the exposure of the blunders 
 which had already entailed so many disasters upon the country. A 
 prominent peculiarity which characterized this report, was the fact that it 
 dealt exclusively in events and incidents, and did not undertake to express 
 private opinions, or to draw authoritative conclusions in reference to 
 them. The latter duty the committee transferred entirely to the reader. 
 It threw upon him the whole responsibility of maturing a judgment in 
 regard to the persons to whom the censure was due, for the errors which 
 had been committed, and the calamities which had been thereby entailed. 
 
 The impression produced upon the public mind by this report was 
 profound. A large portion of it was devoted to the operations of the 
 army of the Potomac under General McClellan. It presented many novel 
 facts in regard to the conduct and movements of that ofiicer from the 
 period of his arrival at Washington in August, 1861 ; also concerning the 
 condition of the defences of the Federal capital at that period, the blockade 
 30 
 
466 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the Potomac by tlie Rebels which ensued, and which was not raised, 
 the long and nij'stcrious delay of McClellan at Washington during eight 
 months, the final advance of the army by the express order of the Presi- 
 dent, to take effect on the 22d of February, 1862, the circuitous route 
 that was taken through the Peninsula toward Richmond, instead of the 
 direct road tliither, and the protracted and unnecessary delay of the com- 
 mander-in-chief at Yorktown. The report set forth further, how, when 
 the enemy had made all their arrangements to defend Richmond, they 
 quietly evacuated Yorktown on the very day before that on which 
 ilcClellan had proposed to attack them ; how the battle of Williamsburg 
 was gained through the gallantry of Hooker, while McClellan remained 
 in the rear; how a procrastinating and over-cautious spirit had charac- 
 terized tlie conduct of the commander-in-chief during the whole of the 
 peninsular campaign ; how, after the pernicious delay of nearly a month 
 in tlie trenches before Richmond, by which an immense number of his 
 troops perished through disease and exposure, the enemy, having had 
 ample time to complete all their preparations, and to concentrate all their 
 available forces, came forth and attacked the Federal troops ; how those 
 troops fought for mere existence with dauntless heroism and desperation, 
 and finally reached Harrison's Landing in the most pitiable plight ; how 
 the fatigue and exhaustion of the troops were so great that during more 
 than a day and a night after the arrival of the array at the landing, no 
 preparations for defence were made, and the troops lay exposed to certain 
 ruin or capture if the Rebels had been iu condition to venture upon 
 another attack during that interval. 
 
 It cannot be denied that this report astonished and incensed a majority 
 of the loyal communit)'- to an intense degree, and that feeling was destined 
 to continue in full force, as long as no reply to it was issued by General 
 McClellan or by his friends, as long as no explanation was given, nocoun- 
 terfacts produced to illumine the mystery of the querulousness, hesitation, 
 and incfiiciency which seemed to envelope the whole career of that officer 
 after assuming the command of the army of the Potomac. The conclusion 
 at whicli the greater portion of the public in the loyal States arrived, after 
 reading this report, was, that McClellan's army numbered, from first to 
 last, a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; that his forces were as fit 
 for use on the 1st of November, 1861, as they were on the 1st of March, 
 1862, wlien they moved toward Manas.'^as after Manassas had been evacuated 
 by the enemy ; that tlie blockade of the Potomac might have been raised 
 at any time during the winter of 1861-2, by four thousand troops ; that 
 the plan of the peninsular campaign was McClellan's own device; that 
 his arrangements had not been interfered with by the administration in 
 any important respect ; that when McClellan arrived at Yorktown with 
 more than one hundred thousand effective men, the enemy had only 
 twenty thousand to oppose him at that point; that the place could have 
 
COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. 407 
 
 been carried at once by an assault with perfect ease; tbut McClellan 
 might have captured Eichraond at three different times — the first, by ad- 
 vancing immediately after the battle of Williamsburg, the second, after 
 the battle of Seven Pines, the third, after the battle of Malvern Ilill ; that 
 the retreat of the army from Richmond to Harrison's bar was untiecessary 
 and. premature; that all the reinforcements had been sent to McClellan 
 dui'ing the time that he was in the peninsula, which could possibly be 
 spared ; and that even some troops were sent to him which were really 
 indispensable to the safety of "Washington. In addition to 'all these points, 
 the report alleged that when General McClellan received positive orders 
 to withdraw his army from Harrison's Laading, he delayed eleven daj's 
 before he executed it, by which delay the army of Virginia and the Federal 
 capital were both placed in imminent peril ; that the battle of Antietam 
 was unsatisfactoi-y and indecisive in its results ; and that the destruction or 
 capture of the army of Lee would have been certain if the conflict had 
 been renewed on the next day, and if the large body of troops had been 
 brought into action who had remained idle spectators of it; and finally, 
 that McClellan's mysterious inactivity from the 17th of September to the 
 26th of October, was extremely pernicious to the cause of^the Union, and 
 greatly promoted the interests of the Rebellion.* 
 
 This interesting report also presented many facts in relation to the 
 three months' campaign of General Patterson in Virginia, which seemed 
 to demonstrate that to his failure in intercepting the march of Johnston 
 to Manassas, was to be attributed the defeat of the Federal forces under 
 General McDowell at Bull Run. The report also set forth the fticts in 
 reference to the disaster of the Federal troops at Ball's Bluff, which left 
 the impression that that misfortune was attributable to the neglect and in- 
 comjjetence of General Stone, the commanding officer. Other matters of 
 minor importance, including the battle of Fredericksburg, were discussed 
 in this document, and the effect produced by its revelations was to con- 
 vince a large proportion of the community that unless its statements 
 could be rebutted by evidence of an explanatory and mitigating character 
 by those parties whose acts were scrutinized in it, the general belief would 
 be that they had been guilty of incompetence, cowardice, and of a line of 
 
 * This portion of the report of the committee developed an amusing illustration 
 of the playful satire sometimes indulged in by the President, when his patience was 
 exhausted. It was as follows : "On the 25th of October, (Sencral McClellan trans- 
 mits to General Ilalleck, a report from Colonel Robert Williams, commanding a de- 
 tachment of cavalry, in which it is stated that nearly half his liorses are unsound from 
 sore tongue, grease, and consequent lameness, and sore backs ; and that the horses 
 which are still sound, are broken down from fatigue and want of flesh. To this the 
 President replies on the same day : 'I have just read your despatch about sore tongue 
 and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army 
 have done, since the baltle of Antietam, that could fatigue any thing!'" — Report of 
 Congressional Committee, p. 23. 
 
468 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 policy which had proved pernicious to the interests of the Union. At 
 
 the same time the friends and partisans of the generals in question, 
 confidently anticipated that they would be able to set forth such facts in 
 defence of their conduct as would demonstrate their loyalty, their ability, 
 and their innocence of the charges preferred against them. 
 
 The summer campaign of 1863 was now rapidly approaching, during 
 the progress of which the most important and decisive engagements were 
 anticipated. Various indications clearly proved that the Confederate 
 leaders, both civil and military, looked forward to the struggles of this 
 campaign as more desperate and bloody than any which had yet occurred 
 during the war ; and that they were determined, with dauntless resolution 
 and unconquerable patience, to exhaust every possible resource within 
 their reach in order to resist and to vanquish the forces of the Union. 
 Previous, however, to the termination of the winter campaign of 1862-3, 
 the events of which we have been describing, several minor incidents 
 occurred which here require a brief allusion. 
 
 On the 1st of April, a small detachment of the troops connected with 
 the command of General Curtis, in the Department of the Southwest, 
 consisting of two companies of the first Arkansas cavalry, made an in- 
 cursion into Carroll county, in the northwestern portion of Arkansas. 
 During this raid they had four skirmishes with the enemy. The result 
 was that they killed twenty-two of the latter and took seven prisoners. 
 Their own loss was insignificant, only one being wounded. On the 2d 
 of April, eight regiments of the army of General Kosecrans marched 
 toward Woodbury, the capital of Cannon county, Tennessee, twenty miles 
 from Murfreesboro, for the purpose of surprising and capturing a brigade 
 of Confederate troops which were posted at that point. The Federals 
 were commanded by Generals Craft and Ilazcn. The latter made a detour 
 of fifteen miles, with the intention of attacking the enemy on the flank 
 and rear, while the rest of the troops assailed them in front. During the 
 night, however, the pickets of the enemy had been extended in such a 
 way that the cavalry advance of the Federals encountered them unex- 
 pectedly before Ilazen was able to reach his destination. The result was 
 that the Rebels received notice of their peril, and succeeded in making 
 their escape. A running fight ensued, over the space of three miles, 
 during which twelve of the enemy were slain and thirty captured. They 
 left their camp equipage in the hands of the Federals, together with fifty 
 horses and twenty mules. 
 
 Contemporary with these skirmishes was the abortive attempt made to 
 proceed through the Black Bayou, in Mississippi, toward the rear of 
 Vicksburg. The expedition consisted of six gunboats from Eear-Admiral 
 Porter's squadron, and two thousand troops from Grant's army, com- 
 manded by General W. T. Sherman. This bayou runs for fifty miles 
 chiefly through dense foicsts, and is composed of a number of tortuous 
 
ABORTIVE EXPEDITION UP THE BLACK BAYOU. 4G9 
 
 streams, whose navigation is extremely difficult. It was supposed that 
 the Federal gunboats would move noiselessly and without observation 
 through the woods, and suddenly take a position near the works of the 
 enemy, to their great astonishment and dismay. The event, however, 
 proved to be entirely different. The Confederates had guarded this 
 avenue of access with their usual skill and vigilance. As the expedition 
 slowly advanced, the adjacent woods were found to be swarming with 
 Eebel riflemen— the banks of the stream to be lined in many places with 
 batteries defended by bales of cotton, and that immense numbers of negroes 
 were engaged in felling the trees to obstruct the passage. The bed of 
 the bayou was found to have been already made impassable in many 
 places ; and so difficult was the progress of the expedition that ten days 
 were occupied in advancing fifty miles. "When at length the admiral 
 found it impossible to proceed further, and resolved to return, he dis- 
 covered that the enemy had been actively engaged in rendering that 
 enterprise more difficult than his advance had been. After a forced 
 march, one of the most extraordinary on record, some desperate fighting, 
 and much hard work. General Sherman succeeded in releasing the gun- 
 boats from their perilous situation, and they returned to their former 
 position on the Mississippi. 
 
470 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 PREMMINART REFLECTIONS — RISK OF THE ANTI-WAR DEMOCRATS, OR THE PEACE TARTY — 
 ITS AVOWED OPINIONS ANB OPPOSITION TO THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION — SCSPENSE OP 
 THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS — THE COURSE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN SUSTAINED BY CON- 
 GRESS AND THE LOYAL PORTION OF THE NATION AS CONSTITUTIONAL, WISE, AND PATRIOTIC 
 
 PRECEDENT OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT — FACTIOUS OPPOSITION OF THE PEACE PARTY 
 
 TO THE CONSCRIPTION ACT AND TO THE PROSECDTION OF THE WAR — THEIR PROIFERl D 
 FRIENDSHIP SPURNED EVEN BY THE CONFEDERATES THEMSELVES — TUEIR ALLEGED BUT 
 GROUNDLESS FEARS OF DESIONED CENTRALIZATION BY THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION — 
 THEIR HOSTILITY TO THE PRESIDENT'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION — THE EXIKTKNCE OF 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND DETERMINATION TO PERPETUATE IT THE SOURCE OF OUR GREATEST 
 NATIONAL DIFFICULTIES, AND TUB ULTIMATE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT REBELLION — THE 
 JUDICIOUS, GRADUAL, AND PROGRESSIVE COURSE OF THE GOVERNMENT ON THIS SUBJECT 
 
 VINDICATED OBJECTIONS OP THE PEACE PARTY TO TUB FINANCIAL MEASURES OK THE 
 
 GOVERNMENT — THEIR VINDICTIVE BUT FUTILE ATTEMPTS TO DETRACT FROM THE PERSONAL 
 CHARACTER OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Evert civil war, like that between the loyal and disloyal States of the 
 Union, will inevitably be rich in developments both of national and indi- 
 vidual character. New parties will arise, new systems of political doctrine 
 will be afTirmed, which derive their birth from the novel combination of 
 events which take place during snch a contest. Perhaps the most 
 remarkable of these developments which occnrred during the progress of 
 this war was the sudden rise of a faction in the free States, to whom the 
 epithet of Anti-War or Peace Democrats was not inappropriately applied. 
 AVhen the Rebellion commenced, the sentiment of the'whole community 
 who lived beyond its limits seemed to be unanimous in its condemnation, 
 and harmonious in favor of the prosecution of a vigorous war against it 
 by the forces of the Federal Government, until it should be completely 
 crushed. After the expiration of a year, a few dissenting voices began 
 to be heard ; and at the period whose events we have just described, 
 these malcontents had become much more numerous, had ttiken external 
 organization and consistency, had become bold and fearless in their de- 
 nunciation of the measures of the Federal Government, and had acquired 
 an importance in connection with the war which renders it proper that 
 they should now be made the subject of our special scrufinj'. 
 
 The opinions and measures advocated by this party were regarded by 
 the majority of the community with great distrust, even with undisguised 
 censure. Many opprobrious epithets were applied to them.* By some 
 they were compared to the Tories and Royali.^ts of the Revolutionary era. 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 47 1 
 
 This comparison, however, Avas incorrect in one important respect. The 
 motives which gave rise to the two factions were evidently dissimilar and 
 incongruous. The Tory was induced to oppose the patriot cause during 
 tlie Revolution chiefly from cowardice and fear. He was afraid of the 
 penalties of confiscation and deatli by the British tyrant. But it cannot 
 be affirmed that the peace Democrats of the period now under considera- 
 tion were actuated by an apprehension of punishment in any case from 
 the power and vengeance of the Confederate Government. Whatever 
 may have been their motives, they were free from the craven meanness, 
 the pusillanimous baseness, which disgraced those who opposed the cause 
 of liberty in the memorable period which tried men's souls. 
 
 Let us proceed to describe the principal opinions affirmed and measures 
 advocated by this party, which, by its numbers, its boldness, and its 
 ability, had already made itself historical. 
 
 First, they condemned with intense fervor the indemnity bill, which 
 was passed by the Federal Congress during the session of 1862-3, the 
 purpose of which was to throw the broad shield of the protection of the 
 whole Federal Government over those acts which had been performed by 
 the sole authority of the Executive. The title of this bill was "An act 
 relating to the Iiaheas coiyus, and regulating judicial proceedings ia 
 certain cases." The peace Democrats affirmed that the suspension of the 
 writ of habeas corpus at an early stage of the Eebellion by the President 
 was an unconstituftional measure ; that it was wholly illegal ; and that no 
 subsequent legislation could justify it, or render it valid. It was objected 
 that the effect of this indemnity bill was to delegate to one branch of the 
 Government, namely, the executive, functions which legitimately belonged 
 only to the legislative, which would be an express violation of the estab- 
 lished principles maintained by the judicial branch of the Federal Govern- 
 ment.* Tlie answer to this allegation is, that it is an established principle 
 of the Federal Constitution, that Congress may grant to the executive or 
 the judicial brunch of the Government administrative functions; and tliat 
 the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and the arrest and conviction of 
 offenders are functions which are clearly administrative. The truth is, that 
 the act of President Lincoln in suspending this writ at a moment of fearful 
 peril to the country, was clearly justifiable under an express provision of the 
 Federal Constitution, which declared : " The privilege of the writ of habeas 
 corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion 
 the public safety may require it."t Now this section does not specify 
 which branch of the Federal Government shall exercise this power of 
 suspending the writ. It seems to have been vested in each of the three 
 
 * See address of G. M. Wharton, before tlie Democratic Central Club of PLila- 
 delpliia, April 18, 18G3. 
 t Constitution of the United States, Art. I. Sec. is. 2. 
 
4Y2 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 branches. But Congress manifestly cannot suspend the writ when it is 
 not in session. Nor can the Supreme Court when it is not sitting. 
 ITence, if a crisis should suddenly arise, when the safety and the life of 
 the nation required that the writ'should be instantly suspended, and the 
 arrest and punishment of traitors be effected immediately, and if Congress 
 be not then in session, or if the Supreme Court be not sitting, who shall 
 or can exercise this high and solemn prerogative, under such circum- 
 stances, except the Chief Executive ? 
 
 Hence, when this indemnity bill declared in its first section that the 
 President shall have the power, during the existence of the Kebellion, to 
 suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus throughout the United 
 States, whenever, in his judgment, the public safety may require it, it simply 
 reaffirmed an acknowledged principle of the Constitution, and at the same 
 time announced the conviction of the legislative branch of the Govern- 
 ment that the previous exercise of that prerogative by the President was, 
 under the peculiar circumstances of the case, lawful, constitutional, and 
 commendable. It was thus intended to protect him from any unjust cen- 
 sure or penalty which the rage of triumphant faction in after time might 
 attempt to inflict upon him. 
 
 As to the abstract justice and propriety of the conduct, both of the Pres- . 
 ident and of Congress, in relation to this matter, there could be no doubt in 
 any impartial mind. It is well known as one of the settled principles of 
 all civilized communities that when the situation of a State is so critical 
 that the ordinary powers of law and government are insufficient to protect 
 the life of the nation, the emergency justifies the use of. extraordinary and 
 more desperate measures. Thus the ancient Komans were accustomed in 
 such a crisis to invest their consuls with dictatorial power, with the stern 
 injunction : " Let the consuls see to it that the Republic receive no injury."* 
 The expedient saved the mistress of the world more than once from im- 
 pending ruin. It is worthy here of remark that despotic governments never 
 need any indemnity bills, for in them there are no restraints on arbitrary 
 power, and if the monarch perpetrate acts of the most unjustifiable tyranny 
 there is no arm which can punish him. What would be the advantage of 
 suspending a writ of habeas corpus in France under the tyranny of Louis 
 XIV., when a lettre de cachet or secret warrant, obtained by a parasite of 
 the court through favor, could immure its victim in the Bastihe for years, 
 without any power existing in any of the judicial tribunals to investigate 
 the merits of the case, or to cite the parties before them for a hearing. 
 
 In free governments and in limited monarchies the writ of Aaieow corp?/s 
 has often beea suspended under much less urgent circumstances than those 
 under which it was suspended by President Lincoln. In England this 
 has been repeatedly done in cases where the public safety required that 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON THE CONSCRIPTION BILL. 473 
 
 suspected persons should be arrested without following the regular pro- 
 cesses of law. Thus, in January, 1817, when the Prince Regent, after- 
 ward George IV.., was returning from Parliament to his palace, he was 
 hooted and insulted by an indignant multitude. Parliament immediately 
 suspended the habeas corjms act, in order to t'ake possession of the offenders, 
 and punish them with signal vengeance. And in the next year Parlia- 
 ment passed an indemnity bill to protect all parties who had apprehended 
 and prosecuted persons under the late suspension act.* We cite this case 
 particularly, inasmuch as it so nearly resembles the one under considera- 
 tion, with this difference, however, that the urgency and peril in the case 
 of President Lincoln were infinitely greater than they were in that of the 
 besotted and perfidious monarch of England. It is also to be observed 
 that those who condemned the indemnity bill were great advocates for pre- 
 cedent and authority. 
 
 The legalizing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus was the prin- 
 cipal ingredient of this indemnity bill. Its other provisions were merely 
 those which were necessary to give its operative force celerity and cer- 
 tainty. It is unnecessary to dwell upon these. Enough has been said to 
 indicate the real nature of this important act of Congress, and to prove 
 the fallacy of that political creed which condemned the bill as unconstitu- 
 tional, and pernicious to the liberties of the nation. 
 
 The second cardinal feature which characterized the peace Democrats 
 of this period waS" their condemnation of the conscription bill, which had 
 been passed by the recent Federal Congress. This law was entitled " An 
 act for enrolling and calling out the national forces." Its purpose was to 
 operate more efficiently in procuring troops than could be done by the 
 already existing militia laws, to be less expensive to the Treasury, and 
 less burdensome to the great mass of the people. The objection urged 
 against it by the peace party was that it made a distinction between the 
 rich and the poor, because it designated the sum of three hundred dollars 
 as the price of a substitute. They affirmed that while all the rich could 
 pay that amount, the poor would be unable to do so, and would thus be 
 compelled to serve if drawn. 
 
 Nothing, however, could be more unfair than this statement, because in 
 reality this conscription act was an immense improvement on all the exist- 
 ing militia laws of the several States, which it was intended to supersede. 
 Those laws exempted from service a large proportion of the community, 
 including members of Congress, custom-house officers and clerks, post- 
 ma.sters and their clerks, professors and students of colleges, clergymen, 
 judges, and many other officials. On the contrary, the conscription act 
 put an end to this absurd and unjust immunity. It made all classes and 
 persons liable to serve, with very few exceptions. Those exceptions were 
 
 ^See the British General Register for 1827, pp. 80, 81. 
 
4T4 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the most commendable kind. They were the only sons of widows, who 
 were dependent upon them for support, the only sons of aged and infirm 
 parents dependent on them for support, llie only brother of children not 
 twelve years old, without father or mother, and dependent on such brother 
 for support, and several similar exceptions. These were all dictated by 
 pure benevolence and wise policy. 
 
 But the objection that this act favored the rich was equally absurd. 
 And for this reason : it provided that if a drafted person could procure a 
 suitable substitute, at any price, however low, within a definite time, that 
 substitute would be accepted in his place. It also allowed the Secretary 
 of War the right to demand a less sum than three hundred dollars in lieu 
 of service, if in his discretion he deemed it just. The law simply forbade 
 him to demand more than three hundred dollars; it permitted him to ex- 
 ercise his discretion in accepting less. The equitable operation of this 
 regulation is self-evident, for it is clear that he would require the whole 
 amount from the rich, while from the poor alone would he be willing to 
 accept a less sura. The effect of the law would evidently be to prevent 
 the price of substitutes from ascending to many hundred dollars, as would 
 inevitably have become the result under any other arrangement. If any 
 drafted man could obtain a substitute for a less sum than even that de- 
 maude by the Secretary of War, he was at liberty to do so. 
 
 Such were the chief features of this conscription act. Nothing could 
 be more humane, more equitable, more beneficial in its operation, and it 
 was in vain that the peace party brought to bear upon it their objections 
 and invectives. It commended itself to every loyal and impartial mind 
 in the nation. 
 
 The third leading feature of the party under consideration was, the 
 advocacy of the immediate cessation of hostilities by the Federal Govern- 
 ment, the settlement of the dispute by negotiation, and the restoration 
 of the Union as it existed before the war. It seems singular that the 
 difTiculties and impossibilities involved in this plan should have escaped 
 the noti(je of any intelligent observer. In the first place, if the Federal 
 Government should consent to such an arrangement, it would involve a 
 direct admission of the injustice and iniquity of all its preceding acts. It 
 would be a confession that the war, on its side, had been ah iniliu a cruel 
 au'l execrable outrage. It would be an acknowledgment that thousands 
 of lives bad been destroyed, that hundreds of millions of treasure had 
 been wasted, that the peace and security of all the seceding States had been 
 invaded by the Federal Government, under a false and delusive pretext, 
 without any show of justice, humanity, or equitable obligation. Even if 
 the war for the Union had been unjustifiable, no government would ever 
 so far criminate and stultify itself as to make such an admission as this. 
 But the truth was, that this war on behalf of the Union was one of the 
 most necessary, unavoidable, and righteous which was ever waged by any 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON THE CESSATION OP THE WAR. 4'(5 
 
 legitimate and beneficent government against rebels, traitors, and out- 
 laws. How absurd and unfeasible then must the proposition of the jjeace 
 party seem in this view of the case to every impartial mind ! 
 
 Other diiSculties equally great were in the way. Ample proof existed 
 at this very period that the Confederates themselves would refuse all 
 propositions of peace, from any quarter, which did not involve the full 
 recognition of their new government, and the permanent dissolution of 
 the Union. Such was the universal sentiment uttered and reiterated by 
 their leading journals, by the members of their Congress, by their most 
 important officials, by their most influential citizens. That all these were 
 wearied of the war was already admitted; but with this admission was 
 uniformly connected the firm and resolute determination, the firm and 
 fixed resolve, never to return to the Federal Union, never again to coalesce 
 with the detested invaders of their soil, never to cease hostilities until 
 they had " conquered their independence." They even ridiculed the 
 propositions of the peace party themselves in the North, and assured them 
 of the utter hopelessness and futility of their jjlans and purposes. 
 
 But even if the Confederates would have consented to negotiate for 
 peace on the basis of the restoration of the Union, insurmountable diffi- 
 culties would arise during the consequent deliberations, which would 
 render an adjustment of the dispute utterly impossible. Thus, what 
 arrangement could be made in refereuce to the war-debts incurred by the 
 two Governments? It is evident that the loyal citizens of the Union 
 would never consent to pay a dollar of the debts incurred by the Confed- 
 erates through their execrable resistance to the lawful Government. It 
 is just as evident that the Rebels would demand reparation for their losses, 
 and full indemnification for their expenses, which they would allege had 
 been inflicted upon them by the unjustifiable coercive measures adopted 
 and executed by the Federal Government. It is also clear that the loyal 
 people of the country would demand that the Eebels should not only pay 
 their own war-debts, but that they should be compelled to repay the Fed- 
 eral Government the amount of indebtedness which it had been compelled 
 to incur in the prosecution of its efforts to restore the Union. No peace- 
 able negotiation could ever settle such litigated questions amicably. Here 
 was a Gordian knot which nothing but the sword, and that the sword of 
 an Alexander, could cut. 
 
 Other topics would present difficulties as insurmountable as these. "What 
 disposition would be made of the leaders of the Rebellion? The Confed- 
 erates would unquestionably demand that Jefferson Davis, his chief ad- 
 visers and associates, should be held harmless ; nay, that they should be 
 Honored; probably, that they should receive high dignities in the restored 
 Union. On the other hand, every loyal citizen in the land would clamor 
 for the condign punishment of those arch traitors; would insist that they 
 should suffer a traitor's doom, and end their career on the scaffold. It 
 
476 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 would be impossible for a harmonious arrangement to be made in refer- 
 ence to these topics. Any national convention which might be convened 
 for the avowed object of adjusting the terms of a re-union, would wrangle 
 for years on these ve:s.ed questions without being able to accomplish their 
 purpose. 
 
 Nor would the difficulties be less, even if the war was at that time to 
 be suspended, for the purpose of effecting the end which some of the 
 peace party desired — the quiet dissolution of the Union, and the recog- 
 nition of the Confederate Government by the Federal. For in that case 
 the demands of the Rebels would be such as could not possibly be con- 
 ceded. It is evident that they would insist upon the restoration of all 
 the teri-itory which had once formed part of the Confederate State.", and 
 which had been conquered by the arms or the influence of the Union. 
 They would demand Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Western Virginia, 
 and every other region which had at any time been in sympathy with 
 them. They would also demand the restitution of all the fugitive slaves who 
 had escaped. What loyal citizen would agree to make such concessions 
 as these ? Who would agree to abandon all the fruits of victory? Very 
 few, probably none, would be found to do it, and an amicable settlement 
 of the issue would be impossible. Peace could be obtained, and the dis- 
 pute could oidy be settled, through the resistless supremacy of the arms 
 of the one or the other of the contending parties. 
 
 Such are some of the difficulties which would attend the proposal of 
 the peace party, that the contest should be terminated by a cessation of 
 arm.s, and by subsequent negotiation. It involved impossibilities al that 
 time wliich no human power could overcome. 
 
 A fourth peculiarity of this peace party was, that they condemned the 
 measures of the Federal Government, because their tendency seemed to 
 be to concentrate too n\uch power in the Federal Central Government, 
 to the damage and derogation of the several State governments. We 
 admit the truth of the allegation to some extent, but deny the justice of 
 the complaint based upon it. Under the perilous circumstances in which 
 the administration of Mr. Lincoln was placed, with a vast empire reeling 
 around him, and toppling to its destruction, it became indispensably 
 necessary to adopt a centralizing policy, to make the Federal arm as pow- 
 erful as possible, to give it unity, harmony, and vigor of action, to remove 
 the po.ssibility of discord and division among the conservators and de- 
 fenders of the Union. But in so doing, not a single right of the States 
 was invaded. Tlie Federal Constitution was not violated in a single par- 
 ticular. These measures strengthened the Federal Government without 
 weakening the Slate governments. There was no clashing of jurisdiction ; 
 and llie evidence which demonstrates the truth of this assertion is the fact 
 that, during the subsequent operation of the measures adopted by tlic 
 administration of ^fr. Lincoln, no collision of any importance whatever 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON THE EIGHTS- OP THE STATES. 477 
 
 actually occurred betweea tlie State and Federal jurisdictions. And tliis 
 result followed in spite of the strenuous efforts of some to create such 
 collisions. 
 
 One of the causes of the terror which seemed to pervade the minds of 
 the party in question, was a very absurd and groundless fear lest the 
 absorjjtion of power at Washington indicated " a settled, well-considered, 
 most pestilent design to establish in the fragmentary North a consolidated 
 nationality, operating by its legislation directly on individuals, without 
 regard to State relations and duties."* A more preposterous conception 
 could not be formed. Its fallacy lies on its face. It amounted to this, 
 that the General Government, by using every legitimate means to increase 
 its own power, and by crushing the Rebellion, to cement the whole Union 
 more effectually than ever before into one restored and consolidated 
 government, was preparing the way to establish a "fragmentary" govern- 
 ment in the North 1 This is a direct contradiction, a palpable impossi- 
 bility. If the Federal Government succeeded in the end in crushing the 
 Confederates, and restoring the Union by force of arms, it certainly would 
 not contract its own proportions to the limits of a fragment. If it failed 
 eventually in restoring the Union, by the subjugation of the Rebels, there 
 would still remain a Federal Union, composed of many powerful and 
 prosperous communities, which would constitute one of the foremost 
 empires in the world. In that case there would be neither the temptation 
 nor the power to establish any fragmentary government anywhere — in 
 the North, the centre, or the West. 
 
 Those who seemed to be so jealous of the rights of the States, seemed 
 to imagine that it was a much greater glory to be a citizen of a State, 
 than a citizen of the United States. They appeared to regard Delaware 
 or Uhode Island as equal in majesty and power to the whole colossal 
 Union, of which they formed necessarily an unimportant portion. They 
 forgot that each State by itself is comparatively insignificant; that it is 
 only when they are consolidated into one compact, cemented, harmonious 
 unit, that they rise in majesty, become powerful and formidable, and 
 extort the admiration and respect of the whole commynity of nations. 
 These people complained that the State governments existed before the 
 Federal Government, and therefore were invested with a sacred and unap- 
 proachable sanctity. True, they did exist first in the order of tim.e, but, 
 if they had never existed in any other form than as State governments, 
 and not as components and equal parts of a Federal Union, what would 
 their condition have continued to be ? Would they have attained the 
 power, prosperity, felicity and grandeur which they have enjoyed as 
 members of the great Federal Republic of the Western World ? The 
 supposition is extremely improbable and absurd. 
 
 * Speech of Hon. William B. Reed, before the Democratic Central Club of Phila- 
 delphia, March 28th, 1805. 
 
478 TUB CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The next feature of the peace party which deserves notice, was theii; 
 condeinnatiou of the emancipation proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, as well 
 as the introduction of negroes into the military service of the United 
 States, that they might assist in the restoration of the Union. 
 
 The subject of slavery forms the most singular and anomalous feature 
 on the page of American history. No question within the whole range 
 of Federal or Slate legislation has ever been the cause of so many malig- 
 nant disputes between opposite portions of the Union ; and none had been 
 equall}' potent in producing this Rebellion. It was like Pandora's box, 
 pregnant with unnumbered ills to the nation. It had continually embar- 
 rassed the Federal Government, embroiled the several States, filled Con- 
 gress with pernicious and unseemly controversies, and proved itself more 
 difficult of solution than any otlier enigma connected with American 
 affairs. Even when there were giants in the land, and the Federal halls 
 of legislation were graced by the presence of the greatest of American 
 statesmen, it was constantly a formidable portent of disunion. As often 
 as this hideous spectre would I'ise, as it continually did, upon the floor of 
 Congress, it was in vain that the wisest and purest of patriots conjured 
 against it. In vain were the mellifluous and soothing eloquenccof Clay, 
 the vast constitutional learning of Webster, the acute, logical powers of 
 Benton, the withering sarcasm of Quincy Adams, directed against it. It 
 remained like the ghost of Banquo, a continual source of horror, a perti- 
 nacious portent of ruin, which no magician's wand could lay. At length, 
 its poison being thoroughly infused into the political lifeblood of the 
 South, it perfected its fruit, and the Rebellion broke forth. Even after tliat 
 occurrence, mild measures of negotiation were still pursued. The admin- 
 istration then in power did its best to deal gently with this pestilent 
 scourge. The existence of the negro race in the South was ignored in the 
 measures adopted, as long as it could possibly be. At last that policy 
 became utterly unfeasible. The acts of the Confederate Government 
 itself imposed an imperious necessity upon the Government at Washington 
 to recognize the existence, both political and social, of four millions of 
 negroes witliin the limits of the Rebellion, and to adopt such measures as 
 were calculated to turn their energies to beneficial account, as well as to 
 provide for the future political status of the negroes as freedmen. 
 
 And what were the measures adopted in reference to this subject ? They 
 were prudently gradual and progressive in their character and influence. 
 The slaves of Rebel owners, who were actually in arms against the Union, 
 were enfranchised. Tiie policy of emancipating the slaves of such owners, 
 and of those who directly or indirectly gave aid and comfort to the Rebels, 
 as well as the justice of the order forbidding Federal commanders from 
 returning fugitive slaves to their masters when they had escaped therefrom, 
 was one of the most reasonable and equitable that could be adopted, 
 becuu.se these slaves were claimed and recognized by the Confederate 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON THE rREEDMEN" AS SOLDIERS. 419 
 
 Government as property. They were regarded by their owners as the 
 most valuable of their possessions. By tlic laws of all civilized countries, 
 the prppertj' of traitors and rebels becomes forfeited to the State, and why 
 slave property should be exempt from the operation of this universal and 
 indisputable law it is impossible to discover. The only wonder is that 
 this measure should not have been rigidly enforced from the very com- 
 mencement of the Rebellion. The public mind may not then, indeed, 
 have been prepared for it ; but it is evident that as soon as the full force 
 of truth had properly enliglituned it, this measure should be vigorously 
 enforced. 
 
 The same principle justifies the other emancipation acts of the admin- 
 istration. They flowed logically the one from the other, all justified by 
 principles of abstract justice, by the spirit of the Federal Constitution, 
 by the claims of humanity, and by the perilous exigencies in which the 
 Union was then placed.- One of these measures — that of em[)loying 
 freedmen as soldiers — excited an unusual degree of opposition and denun- 
 ciation from the peace party. The utterly absurd charge was made that the 
 enlisting of the negroes was an expedient by which it was intended finally 
 to supersede the regular army, and to substitute soldiers of African 
 descent in their place ! The real reason why a portion of negro troops 
 was employed was that which must approve itself to the common-sense 
 of every man: to increase the number and strength of the defenders of 
 the Union; to employ the blacks to some extent in those southern terri- 
 tories, the peculiar climate of which had proved so pernicious to white 
 soldiers, but which was harmless to the negro; to permit the latter to 
 demonstrate their gratitude to the Government which had enfranchised 
 them ; and to allow that race, whose rights and wrongs had such an im- 
 portant influence in connection with the origin of the Rebellion, to share 
 in the toils and sufferings which were incident to the war intended for its 
 suppression. Nor did this objection to the association of black with 
 white soldiers in thp Federal army come with the grace of consistency 
 from those "Peace Democrats," by whom it was principally urged; for 
 Democracy involves the fundamental conception of equality, and often, 
 essential things being equal, requires that no distinction be recognized 
 by its disciples, from differences merely of nation or color, of social 
 rank, intelligence or wealth. Yet these advocates of ultra Democracy 
 ■applauded the policy of the Confederate States, whose whole constitution 
 was aristocratic, whose very corner-stone, as A. H. Stevens, its vice- 
 president, had affirmed, was the recognition of the normal and unalterable 
 inferiority of the negro race to the white in intellectual and moral quali- 
 ties, in their natural rights, in their foreordained and inevitable abasement 
 in the body politic* 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
480 
 
 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Another feature of this anti-war party was its condemnation of the 
 financial measures which had been adopted by the administration to 
 enable it to carry on the war, and perform its duty in restoring the Union. 
 They censured the issue of legal tender notes. They charged it with 
 emitting continental currency in the face of all authority, legislative and 
 judicial ; with enabling and instigating every dishonest debtor in the land 
 to defraud his creditor; with tainting the very credit which it represents by 
 aboriginal fraud; with foreshadowing that repudiation which such indebted- 
 ness renders inevitable in the end ; and with the accumulation of a colossal 
 and ruinous national debt. They condemned the financial measures in 
 question, as tending to break down all the State banks, and as endeavoring 
 to erect a huge system of free banking, based upon that impalpable and 
 unreliable fiction called Federal responsibility. But the absurdity of such 
 charges was self-evident, and alarmed no intelligent or patriotic citizen. 
 The conviction was universal that the financial plansof the administration 
 were the wisest and best which could possibly have been devised by human 
 wisdom, under the peculiar circumstances of the case. The loans of the 
 Government were taken freely and rapidly. Its securities were accepted 
 in the same manner by a confident and loyal nation ; and the prophecies 
 of impending financial ruin, which were uttered by this party, were re- 
 ceived with ridicule and derision by the vast majority of the community. 
 
 One additional characteristic of the party under consideration deserves 
 our notice. It was this continual and persistent ridicule of the personal 
 qualities of Abraham Lincoln. lie was made the- laughing-stock on all 
 occasions. He was compared contemptuously with Washington, and even 
 with Jefi'erson Davis — "the stern statesman who administered the execu- 
 tive power of the Southern Confederacy." No reasonable man would 
 affirm that the President, whom Providence had {)laced at the head of 
 the nation in this crisis, was immaculate, or that he had not a considerable 
 share of human weakness. But no one could scrutinize his conduct and 
 character with impartiality, without observing in tl;pin many great and 
 good qualities. That as a writer his style was somewhat crude and inele- 
 gant ; that in private intercourse he was fond of a jest ; that in his personal 
 appearance he was destitute of the grace and dignity which Washington 
 or John Adams exhibited, might be readily admitted. A severe, yet 
 kindly censor of his acts, would discover and condemn one other fault. 
 He did not exhibit a sufficient degree of determination and rigor in pun- 
 ishing traitorous generals, in removing imbecile and dilatory commanders, 
 and in turning the vengeance of the Federal power upon the heads of 
 knaves, thieves, and official villains of all descriptions, who infested the 
 civil and military service of the country during the war. But aside from 
 this defect, the President deserved the esteem and the gratitude of his 
 country. He was laborious, sincere, incorruptible, and profoundly patri- 
 otic. He devoted- all his energies of mind and body to the herculean task 
 
PEACE DEMOCRATS ON PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 481 
 
 whicli had so strangely fallen to his lot — the restoration of the Union. 
 His intentions were excellent, and he toiled to the utmost of his abilities 
 to reunite the broken fragments of the once glorious Federal Union. His 
 sole effort was to reinvest that Union with its pristine splendor, and to 
 render it what it once had been, to a greater extent than ever before, the 
 favorite home of the brave and the free, the refuge of the oppressed of 
 every land, the terror of tyrants of every name, the impregnable citadel 
 of true liberty, the blooming paradise of the world 1 
 
 Such a man was no legitimate subject for ribaldry or ridicule ; and tho 
 contempt with which the peace party affected to treat the President de- 
 monstrated clearly that their cause was an unrighteous one, and that, bad 
 as their cause was, they were driven to still worse expedients to defend it, 
 and to advocate its measures. 
 
 31 
 
482 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 THE PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER ATTACK ON CnAKI-ESTON — FORMIDABI-E CHARACl'ER OF 
 THE FORTIFICATIONS — THE CROSSINQ OF THE BAR — ORDER OF BATTLE PRESCRIRED KT AD- 
 MIRAL DU PONT — THE ATTACK — OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE HARBOR — THE TERRIBLE STORM OF 
 FIRE — THE NEW IRONSIDES UNMANAGEABLE — GALLANTRr OF THE COMMANDER OP THE 
 KEOKUK, AND OF TUB COMMANDERS OF THE MONITORS — THE KEOKUK RIDDLED AND SINK- 
 ING THREE OF THE MONITORS DISABLED — WITHDRAWAL OF THE FLEET — RETURN TO PORT 
 
 ROYAL— ADMIRAL DU PONt's ACTION JUSTIFIABLE — OTHER NAVAL ACTIONS ON THE ATLAN- 
 TIC COAST AND IN THE GULP AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER — BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES ON LAND 
 ■ — IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND, AT VARIOUS POINTS IN TENNESSEE AND KEN- 
 TUCKY ; IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI, THE ATTACK ON THE BAM OATV ; IN THE DE- 
 PARTMENT OF THE FRONTIER, AT FATETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, AND ITS VICINITY, AND IN THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF — EXPEDITION TO PASCAGOULA — THE BATTLES ON THE TECUE 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THREE REBEL IRON-CLADS, AND CAPTURE OB DESTRUCTION OF ELEVEN 
 TRANSPORTS, AND TWO THOUSAND PRISONERS COMPLETE ROUT OF THE REBELS. 
 
 AViiiLE tlie reorganization of the army of tlie Potomac, under tlie ener- 
 getic management of General Ilooker, was in progress, and all active 
 movements were prohibited there by the condition of the roads, and at the 
 West General Grant was carefully maturing the plans which were yet to 
 culminate in the overthrow of the Ecbcl Gibraltar on the Mississippi, the 
 Government had not been unmindful of that fountainhead of the Eebel- 
 lion — Charleston — and was gathering at Port Royal its iron-clad ships for 
 another, and it was hoped a more successful attack upon its strongly for- 
 tified harbor. 
 
 It was expected that the land forces would be able to participate in the 
 attack, but they were not sufficiently strong in numbers for such a work, 
 and it would have perilled the holding of the Department of the South, 
 had they made the effort to do so, for which, as the event proved, there 
 was no opportunity. 
 
 The appointed rendezvous for the fleet was in the North Edisto river; 
 and thither, during the last week in March, and the first two or three days 
 of April, it had been concentrating. The New Ironsides, the only broad- 
 side iron-clad of the navy. Commodore T.Turner commanding; seven 
 monitors, viz : the Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers ; the Passaic, 
 Captain P. Drayton ; the Montauk, Captain J. L. Worden ; the Patapsco, 
 Commander D. Ammen ; the Catskill, Commander George Rodgers ; the 
 Nantucket, Commander D. M. Fairfax; the Nahant, Commander J. 
 Downes; and the Whitney iron-clad the Keokuk, Lieutenant-Commander 
 A. C. Rind, were all assembled there, as well as the Canandaigua, Ilousa- 
 tonic, Huron, Unadilla, Wissahiekon, and otlier wooden gunboats, and 
 with nearly ninety of the other vessels of the blockading squadron, trans- 
 
THE DEFENCES OF CnAELESTON HARBOR. 483 
 
 ports, etc., constituted a fleet whicli has rarely if ever been equalled ia 
 formidableness and extent of power for offensive or defensive purposes. 
 The land troop.s were to disembark on Cole's island, and work their way 
 up across to Folly island, and hold a position as near to Morris island as 
 possible, in the hope of effecting a diversion of the Eebel force, and thus 
 aiding in the naval attack on the Eebel city. 
 
 It was decided, after such exploration as could be made, that the iron- 
 clad vessels alone could be trusted to make the attack, as so terrible 
 would be the concentrated fire of the batteries that no wooden vessels 
 could escape destruction from it. The harbor of Charleston is a cul-de-sac, 
 about four miles in depth, and the lines which bound it on both sides, as 
 well as central points in the harbor commanding its navigable channels, 
 had been fortified with all the skill of the best engineers in the country, 
 ■who had had two years in which to perfect their work. It was intended 
 to be, and was, to any exclusively naval attack, entirely impregnable. 
 
 In order to enable our readers to comprehend more fully the character of 
 these defences, it may be well to give a brief description of them. Cross- 
 ing the bar, which blocks the entrance, at ordinary tides, to any vessel 
 drawing more than seventeen or eighteen feet of water, we speedily ap- 
 proach the gateways of the harbor — Sullivan's island on the north, and 
 Morris island on the south. Both islands terminate in long tongues of 
 sandy beach, the extremities of which are not more than a mile apart. 
 This is the mouth of the harbor, and equi-distant from each, and forming 
 the apex of a triangle, of which a line stretched from one headland 
 to the other would be the base, stands Fort Sumter, on an artificial 
 island made for its foundation. Sullivan's island, which forms the 
 northern or right hand boundary to this entrance to the harbor, has 
 three formidable fortifications the first. Breach Inlet battery, at the 
 mouth of the creek (Breach Inlet) which separates the island from 
 the main land, and which furnishes Maffitt's channel, through which most 
 of the blockade-runners enter Charleston harbor. This work, which 
 mounted a number of heavy guns, was principally of use to protect the 
 blockade-runners, and drive away the vessels of the blockading squadron. 
 Further up on the island, toward the mouth of the harbor, was Fort Beau- 
 regard, a powerful sand battery, with very heavy rifled guns, with which 
 it could sweep the lower portion of the harbor. Near the point of the 
 island was Fort Moultrie, which had been greatly strengthened by the 
 Rebel engineers, and was now one of the most formidable forts on the coast. 
 Fort Sumter was too well known, and has been too often described, to 
 need further portraiture. Beyond this and along the surface of the break- 
 water, erected some years ago by the United States Government to pro- 
 tect this part of the harbor, intrenchments had been thrown up for a long 
 distance en cremailUere, forming what was known as the Eedan, and 
 mounted with fifty heavy guns. Still beyond this, and near the head of 
 
484 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the harbor, on a small island, stood Castle Pinckney, bearing a resem- 
 blance in the distance to the appearance of the Battery and Castle Garden 
 at the head of New York harbor. 
 
 On the left or southern side of the harbor, the first work was "Wappoo 
 battery, at the mouth of Wappoo creek, and directly opposite the lower 
 part of the city, effectually commanding the embouchure of Ashley river, 
 and protecting the left side of the city. Next below this and standing in 
 the "middle ground," on an artificial island built by the Eebels, was 
 Fort Ripley. Below this, on a projecting point of James island, was Fort 
 .Johnston, and still below, on the point of Morris island, were at this time 
 Battery Bee, and below this, Fort Wagner, a new and powerful sandwork' 
 Still further down on Morris island was a sandwork of considerable ex- 
 tent and mounting heavy guns, and at Lighthouse Inlet, which divides 
 Morris island from Folly island, was a fort to prevent the Union troops 
 from landing at that point. Thus the harbor was protected by twelve 
 distinct fortifications, three of them forts of great strength, and armed with 
 the heaviest and most perfect guns to be obtained, and most of the others 
 sandworks of the most skilful construction, which experience has shown 
 to possess greater capacity of resistance than the best brick or stone forts. 
 All were provided with heavy siege guns, many of them rifled. Ten of 
 the twelve batteries could concentrate upon the iron-clad fleet a fire of 
 more tlian three hundred guns. 
 
 It was not without misgivings that Admiral Du Pont decided to attack 
 so formidable a series of fortifications. The odds were greatly against 
 him; the entire number of guns carried by the iron-clads was but thirty- 
 two, and these, though of large calibre and long range, were not superior 
 in these regards to many of those of the enemy. It was an old maxim in 
 naval warfare that one gun on shore was equal to an entire ship's battery; 
 but the building of iron-clads had changed the old theories in respect to 
 the comparative value of ships and forts in offensive and defensive war. 
 fare. Still the preponderance in this case on the side of the forts was 
 enormous — ten to one. The power of resistance of the armed vessels to the 
 fire of the heaviest guns known could hardly be said to have been fairly 
 tested. The first monitor had indeed endured the fire of the Merrimao 
 unscathed, and the iron-clads at the West had taken Fort Ilenry, though 
 not without serious damage to one of them. On the other hand, at Fort 
 Donelson, at Drewry's Bluff, at Vicksburg, and more recently at Fort Mc- 
 Allister, they had failed, and in the two first-named instances had been 
 materially injured. Still, in most of these cases it was not the armored 
 ships of the monitor model which had failed of success, or which had been 
 disabled ; but again, no armored ships had ever been exposed to so con- 
 centrated and terrible a fire as was likely to be poured upon these. The 
 results could not be predicted with any certainty, for there were no data 
 from which to reason. 
 
PEEPAEATIONS FOR AN ATTACK UPON CHARLESTON. 485 
 
 It was not, then, without anxiety that Admiral Du Pont and the com- 
 manders of his iron-clad fleet, men as brave as ever went into battle, looked 
 forward to the coming conflict. 
 
 The fleet lay at the mouth of the North Edisto river, on the 8d of April, 
 1863, waiting for favorable weather, and the influx of the spring tide, at 
 which the passage over the bar of Charleston harbor was more easily 
 effected than at ordinary seasons. For two days the wind continued high) 
 and rendered the passage over the bar, in vessels so little adapted to rough 
 weather as the monitors, somewhat hazardous. On the night of the 5th, 
 however, the wind subsided, and the resplendent full moon rose on a 
 calm and unruffled sea. On the morning of the 6th the fleet moved to 
 the blockading station off the bar ; and the Keokuk, the coast survey 
 schooner Bibb, and the pilots of the squadron, were sent to buoy out the 
 bar, which they accomplished without difficulty , and on Monday morning, 
 the 7th, Admiral Du Pont transferred his broad pennant from the James 
 Adger to the New Ironsides, which was to be the flag-ship during the en- 
 gagement, and the iron fleet got under way in battle order, to cross the 
 bar on the flood tide. This was accomplished without accident or delay, 
 and by nine o'clock A.M. the whole nine had gained a position in the main 
 ship-channel, parallel with Morris island, and within a mile of the shore. 
 A slight haze hung, meantime, over sea and shore, and obscured the 
 range by which the fleet was to steer, thus rendering delay necessary. 
 It was also deemed desirable by the pilots to wait till ebb tide, in order 
 the more readily to discover the obstructions with which, report said, the 
 harbor was abundantly strewn. 
 
 At twelve o'clock a gentle north wind dispersed the haze, and left the 
 atmosphere clear and transparent. At half-past twelve the fleet began to 
 move to the attack in accordance with the following order from Admiral 
 Du Pont : 
 
 " The vessels will, on signal being made, form in the prescribed order 
 ahead, at intervals of one cable's length. 
 
 "The squadron will pass up the main ship-channel, without returning 
 the fire of the batteries on Morris island, unless signal should be made to 
 commence action. 
 
 " The ships will open fire on Fort Sumter, when within easy range, and 
 will take up a position to the northward and westward of that fortifica- 
 tion, engaging its left or northwest face at a distance of from one thousand 
 to eight hundred yards, firing low, and aiming at tlie centre embrasure. 
 
 " The commanding officers will instruct their officers and men to care- 
 fully avoid wasting a shot, and will enjoin upon them the necessity of ^;re- 
 cision rather than rapidity of fire. 
 
 " Each ship will be prepared to render every assistance possible to 
 vessels that may require it. 
 
48G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "The special code of signals, prepared for the iron-clad vessels, will be 
 used in action. 
 
 "After the reduction of Fort Sumter, it is probable the next point of 
 attack will be the batteries on Morris Island. 
 
 "The order of battle will be the line ahead in the following succession: 
 
 " 1, Weehawken, with raft. Captain John Eodgers. 
 
 "2. Passaic, Captain Percival Drayton. 
 
 "3. Montauk, Commander John S. Worden. 
 
 "4. Patapsco, Commander Daniel Ammen. 
 
 "5. New Ironsides, Commodore Thomas Turner. 
 
 " 6. Catskill, Commander George W. Rodgers. 
 
 "7. Nantucket, Commander Donald McN. Fairfax. 
 
 " 8. Nahant, Commander John Downes. 
 
 "9. Keokuk, Lieutenant-Commander Alexander C. Rhind. 
 
 "A squadron of re?erve, of which Captain J. F. Green will be the senior 
 officer, will be formed outsUe the bar, and near the entrance buoy, con- 
 sisting of the following vessels : 
 
 "Canandaigua, Captain Joseph F. Green. 
 
 "Unadilla, Lieutenant-Commander S. P. Quackenbush. 
 
 "Ilousatonic, Captain William II. Taylor. 
 
 " Wissahickon, Lieutenant-Commander J. G.Davis. 
 
 " Huron, Lieutenant-Commander G. A. Stevens. 
 
 "And will be held in readiness to support the iron-clads when they 
 attack the batteries on Morris Island. S. F. Du PoxT, 
 
 "Bear Admiral Commanding South Atlantic Blockading SjuadroJi." 
 
 The appearance of this little fleet, sailing thus, in single file, into the 
 very jaws of death, was impressive ; not grand and imposing, like that of 
 Nelson's fleet of stately ships of the line at the attack on Copenhagen, or 
 that of the allied forces at the assault on Sveaborg, but impressive as an 
 exhibition of the chivalrous audacity of a little band of brave men 
 attempting, in untried vessels, an assault upon fortifications mounted 
 with ten times their number of guns, and manned by fifty times their 
 number of men. In the appearance of the vessels themselves there was 
 little beauty ; the majesty of the old war-ships, with their three decks 
 towering above the waters, their tall and shapely masts and spars, tjieir 
 network of rigging, and their ports yawning with a hundred cannon or 
 more, was wanting. The New Ironsides had indeed a gun-deck, and its 
 projecting port-shutters indicated that it could deliver a terrible broad- 
 side; but it was stripped of all its sailing gear, and with its iron surfaces 
 slushed, to cause the shot more readily to glance off, it seemed rather a 
 resurrection of some of the horrible pachydermatous monsters of the 
 paleontological era, in iron, than a ship of war; while the monitors, seem- 
 ingly flat rafts, with a turret rising from their slippery surface, showed 
 
NAVAL ENGAGEMENT IN CHARLESTON nAEBOR. 481 
 
 such apparently feeble powers of attack or resistance, tbat the mere 
 thought of their assaulting the frowning walls of the vast fortress which 
 stood directly in their path seemed absurd. 
 
 Meanwhile, they moved onward, the Weehawken, the file leader, having 
 attached to her bows a raft, which was intended for the removal of ob- 
 structions, and the exploding of any torpedoes that might hinder the pro- 
 gress of the fleet. The grappling-irons attached to this raft became fouled 
 in the anclior-cable of the Weehawken at the moment of starting, and 
 occasioned a delay of about an hour. This trouble remedied, the fleet 
 once more moved forward, and soon came within range of the lower bat- 
 teries on Morris island, then within the line of fire of Fort Wagner and 
 Battery Bee, on Cummings' Point ; but much to the surprise of the officers 
 of the fleet and the spectators, none of these works fired a gun. The 
 reason for this silence, though not at first apparent, seemed to have been 
 to draw the iron-clad fleet forward into the circle of fire which awaited it 
 when it came within range of Sumter's batteries, and the formidable 
 guns of Fort Wagner and Battery Bee were trained upon the devoted 
 fleet to aid in the tempest of iron hail which fell upon them a few 
 moments later. 
 
 The line having crossed the front of Morris island rounded to, to make 
 the entrance of the harbor, and soon came within easy range of the guns 
 of Fort Sumter and the batteries on Sullivan's and James' islands. For 
 a few minutes the suspense was painful. The stillness of death brooded 
 over the scene, and even the sea-birds paused on wing in mid-air, as if in 
 expectation of some dire event. Suddenly, at four minutes past three, a 
 hollow square of smoke rises from the top of Sumter, and from its line 
 of barbette guns a broadside of flame streams down upon the Weehawken. 
 This is the signal for the opening of the fire from Battery Bee, Fort 
 Moultrie, Fort Beauregard, and the fifty guns of the Eedan. The fire of 
 all was concentrated upon the Weehawken ; and the spectators on the 
 Union side looked, with anxious and throbbing hearts, for the clearing 
 away of the smoke, fearing lest, when it lifted, nothing but scattered frag- 
 ments of the noble vessel would be seen. Great was their surprise and 
 joy when, through the rifts of the smoke, they discovered her apparently 
 unharmed and indifferent to such a fire as never burst upon a vessel 
 before. 
 
 But another difficulty now impeded her progress, and, but for the skill 
 of her captain and those of the other ships in the first line, would have 
 placed them all at the mercy of the current, to be drifted ashore into the 
 bands of the Rebels. It will be remembered that the orders issued by 
 Admiral Du Pont contemplated an attack upon the northwest front of 
 Sumter, confessedly its weakest point. This the Rebels were resolved 
 to prevent at all hazards ; and they had stretched a stout hawser from a 
 roint close to the northeast angle of Fort Sumter completely across the 
 
488 THE CIYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 channel to Fort Moultrie, floating on lager beer casks, on which were 
 hung nets, seines, and cables, strung with torpedoes. If the propellers of 
 the iron-clads became fouled with these entanglements, they would at 
 least be deprived of all motive power, and the explosion of the torpedoes 
 might effectually cripple them otherwise. The danger was discovered by 
 the "Weehawken not a moment too soon ; and just when another turn of 
 the propeller would have involved her inextricably, she steered off to the 
 right, and the other vessels following her example were saved. There 
 was another channel by which the northwest face of the fort could be 
 reached — that between Cummings' Point and Fort Sumter. But this 
 was effectually blockaded by a row of piles rising ten feet above the 
 water, and extending completely across, and be3'ond them were other lines 
 of piles, with torpedoes of vast size at the apparent openings, and still 
 beyond, the three Rebel iron-clads drawn up in battle array. 
 
 The northwest front, it was evident, could not be reached, and the plan 
 of operations must be changed, and the iron-clads, taking such positions 
 as they could, must assail the fort as best they might, on its strongest side. 
 To add to the difficulties of their position, the flag-ship, the New Iron- 
 sides, was caught in the tideway, and not obej'ing her helm, became 
 almost entirely unmanageable. The two monitors immediately behind 
 her fell foul of her, and it was full fifteen minutes before they could be 
 disengaged and pass on. The admiral now signalled to the other vessels 
 to disregard the movements of the flag-ship, and they proceeded, amid a 
 tempest of shot and shell, to take their places for the attack. The Keokuk, 
 though less fully protected than the monitors from the effects of the 
 enemy's fire, was run by its commander, Lieutenant-Commander Khind, 
 within a little more than five hundred yards of Fort Sumter, and opened 
 its fire upon it. The Catskill, Commander Eogcrs, followed, and opened 
 its fire at about six hundred yards distance. Near by was the Montauk, 
 whose commander, J. L. Worden, had already in the first monitor had 
 his baptism of fire, and not fiir removed were the Passaic, the Patapsco, 
 the Nahant, the Nantucket, and the Weehawken. The Ironsides lay 
 nearer to Fort Moultrie, and poured her broadsides into that work ; but 
 the rest were flinging their massive shot upon the walls of Sumter, and 
 with good effect, disabling four of its guns, making deep cavities in its 
 walls, and tearing off a considerable portion of the parapet and the wall 
 below it near the eastern angle. For thirty minutes from this time Ihe 
 fight continued at its full intensity, and could the fleet have endured 
 another thirty minutes they might undoubtedly have made Fort Sumter 
 untenable; but the storm of fire was too terrible for human endurance, 
 and what was more to the purpose, was crippling too seriously these 
 valuable war vessels. The Keokuk was compelled to come out of the 
 fight in a sinking condition, her turrets riddled, her hull torn above and 
 below the water-line, and twelve of her men, including her gallant com- 
 
UNJUST CENSURE OF ADMIRAL DU PONT. 489 
 
 mander, wounded. The Nahant, the Passaic, and the Nantucket, were all 
 disabled so as to be incapable of continuing the fight ; the two-hundred 
 pound Parrott on the Patapsco was so much injured that it could not be 
 fired; and the others had received numerous shots, damaging though not 
 disabling them. The Keokuk sunk the next morning, her crew escaping, 
 though losing all their efi'ects. The loss of life was small, three being 
 killed, and seventeen wounded, several of them slightly. The loss of the 
 Eebel garrisons of Sumter and Moultrie was about the same. During the 
 half hour when the contest raged the fiercest, the number of shot and 
 shell thrown by the Eebel batteries reached one hundred and sixty a 
 minute, and thirty-five hundred rounds were fired in the half hour. It 
 had been expected that the attack would be renewed on the following 
 day; but the admiral, on receiving the reports of the commanders, 
 decided that it was inexpedient to renew the assault, and on Thursday 
 the fleet returned to Port Eoyal. The monitors, though hit an average of 
 over sixty times each, were so little injured that a few days, and in most 
 of them a few hours only, of repairs were requisite to put them again in 
 fighting condition ; but some modifications were subsequently made, 
 which rendered them more impervious to shot, and prevented the forcing 
 through of the bolts, which had caused injury to some of the crews. 
 
 The action, fierce as it was, had been in reality but a naval reconnois- 
 sance in force, and had demonstrated the substantial impregnability of the 
 monitors to the heaviest artillery which could be brought tp bear upon 
 them. In all past naval history, no vessel or vessels had ever sustained 
 such a fire for even fifteen minutes without destruction, yet of these, 
 though some of them were partially disabled for offensive purposes, not 
 one was penetrated at a vital point, or had their turrets perforated. The 
 Keokuk, on the contrary, whose turrets were composed of only five and 
 three-fourths inches of iron, was riddled both in turrets and hull. The 
 Ironsides received no injury in her plating, but her projecting port-shut- 
 ters were carried away, and her wooden bows, which were unprotected, 
 were perforated several times. 
 
 Admiral Du Pont was severely censured by certain writers connected 
 with the press, for his decision not to renew the attack on the succeeding 
 day; and it was asserted that his removal from the command of the 
 South Atlantic blockading squadron, and the appointment of Eear 
 Admiral A. H. Foote, was due to the dissatisfaction of the Government 
 with his course. However this may be, there would seem to have been 
 no just grounds for censure in his conduct. It was said that he had no 
 faith in iron-clads ; but few commanders, without full as much faith as 
 their previous trials had warranted in their powers of ofience and defence, 
 would have been willing to expose themselves and their men to the terri- 
 ble ordeal through which this iron-clad fleet passed. And the doing of 
 this was no piece of reckless foolhardiness ; nor was it the desperate act 
 
490 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of a man goaded to action against his judgment by the powers above him 
 in official station whose behest he is compelled to obey. His action was 
 deliberate and well-considered; and though not entered upon without a 
 full perception of its hazards and dangers, yet his courage never faltered. 
 It was a scene worthy of a painter's pencil and a poet's pen, when, just 
 before the vessels of the fleet took their positions for the battle, that noble 
 old man stood with bared head in the midst of the four hundred men. 
 composing the crew of the New Ironsides, and reverently joined in the 
 prayer offered by Commodore Turner for their preservation in the deadly 
 conflict then about to commence, and fur the success of the arms of the 
 defenders of the Union. The repulse which followed was due to no cause 
 which could have been foreseen — to none which reflected either upon the 
 honor, courage, or judgmentof the admiral — but to circumstances wholly 
 beyond liis control ; and to have renewed the battle the next day would 
 have been an act of utter recklessness, which could only have terminated 
 in the loss of several of our iron-clad vessels without inflicting a com- 
 pensating damage upon the enemy. 
 
 During the early part of the month of April, the gunboats of the Union 
 navy achieved several successes, both on the Atlantic coast and in the 
 waters of tlie Mississippi and its tributaries. On the 1st of tbe month, 
 Admiral Farragut, with the Hartford, Switzerland, and Albatross, 
 engaged the Rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and after an action 
 of some houj-s, succeeded in passing below them without material damage. 
 The next day he proceeded with his squadron to the embouchure of Red 
 river, destroying on his way a large number of Rebel skiffs and flat-boats, 
 and after blockading the Red river for several days, passed down to 
 Bayou Sara, where he seized and destroyed a large quantity of Rebel 
 stores, and finally came to anchor five miles above the Rebel batteries at 
 Port Hudson. 
 
 On the 13tl), on the Bayou Tcche, Louisiana, the Union gunboats 
 Estrella, Calhoun, and Arizona, acting in connection with the land troops 
 under command of General Banks, caused the destruction of tlie Rebel 
 gunboats Diana and Hart, and the iron-clad ram Queen of the West; and 
 on the.20th, having been joined by the Clifton, captured the strong Rebel 
 fortification Bute a la Rose, Louisiana, driving the Rebel gunboats up the 
 Techc, wliere most of them were afterward captured or destroyed. Several 
 other small gunboats, belonging to the Rebels, were captured about the 
 same time in Louisiana. On the 14th, the Union gunboats. Commodore 
 Barney, Mount Washington, and Stepping Stones, engaged a Rebel bat- 
 tery on the banks of the Nansemond river, Virginia; and, though tbe 
 Mount Washington had been disabled in a previous fight with Dill's bat- 
 teries, near Washington, North Carolina, and was aground at the com- 
 mencement of the action, she was hauled off by the Stepping Stones; 
 and after a severe battle of four hours, they silenced the battery and 
 
EVENTS DURING APRIL, 1863. 491 
 
 captured six guns. Oa the SOtli, another Eebel battery on the Nanse- 
 mond was silenced, after a spirited contest, by the Commodore Barney 
 and the Morris. 
 
 Turning to the movements of the Union land forces, we find that while 
 all is quiet, or apparently so, on the Eappahannock, and in the department 
 of the South, there is some activity in the Western departments, espe- 
 cially in those of the Cumberland, Missouri, the frontier, and the Gulf. 
 "We will notice these in chronological order, as, though few of them were 
 of very great or decisive importance, they served to keep up the martial 
 spirit of the men, and to maintain a constant watchfulness on both sides. 
 
 In the department of the Cumberland, on the 2d of April, General 
 Stanley, chief of cavalry of General Eosecrans' army, left Murfreesboro 
 with about thirty-five hundred men, two thousand of them cavalrj'-, to 
 attack Morgan's and Wharton's Eebel regiments of cavalry and infantry 
 at Snow Hill, Tennessee. They met the Eebels at first nefJ? Auburn, and 
 drove them back with considerable loss to Smith's ford and Dry Fork, 
 from both which places they were compelled to retreat after a brief re- 
 sistance. They then fell back to Snow Hill, where they made a stand, 
 but were flanked, and their lines broken by the second and fourth Ohio 
 cavalry, and finally fled in great disorder, with a loss of fifty killed and 
 wounded, sixty prisoners, and three hundred horses. 
 
 On the 6th of April, General E. B. Mitchell, with three hundred and 
 fifty cavahy, made a descent from Nashville on Green Hill, Tennessee, 
 and broke up a, Eebel camp there, killing five, and taking fifteen prisoners, 
 with all the arms, horses, and equipments in the camp. 
 
 On the 11th of April, the Eebel General Van Dorn made an attack he 
 had long threatened upon Franklin, Tennessee, with a large force, but 
 was held at bay for an hour or more by the infantry and cavalry pickets 
 and regiments on guard ; and when these fell back the Eebels marched 
 up within short range of the Union batteries, which opened upon them 
 with murderous effect, literally strewing the ground with men and horses. 
 General Stanley, who had been in reserve on the Murfreesboro road, was 
 sent to their rear, and moved down upon them with great energy, captur- 
 ing six pieces of artillery and two hundred prisoners ; but afterward, 
 Owingto the unfavorable character of the country for cavalry operations, lost 
 most of these. Van Dorn's forces, were however, repulsed on all sides, and 
 driven until darkness put an end to the pursuit. The Union loss in 
 killed and wounded was less than one hundred, while that of Van Dorn 
 was somewhat more than three hundred, of whom nearly one hundred 
 were prisoners. On the same day, a skirmish took place between a small 
 force of Eebels and some Union troops near Waverly, Tennessee, in 
 which twenty-one Eebels, including a major and two captains, were taken 
 prisoners. ♦ 
 
 In Eastern Kentucky, a detachment of two hundred of the thirty-ninth 
 
492 THE CIYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Kentucky mounteil infantry made a forced march on Pikeville, Kentucky, 
 on tlie 16th of ^.pril, and after a sharp fight captured sevent3'-eight 
 Eebel soldiers, (seventeen of them officers,) with their horses, arms and 
 equipments. Thirteen more were captured the same day in Breathitt 
 county, Kentucky. On the 17th, a skirmish took place at Bear creek, 
 Tennessee, between the Union troops under General Dodge and the 
 llebels, which resulted in the rout of the latter with considerable loss. 
 On the 19th, three regiments of infantry and one of cavalry left Memphis, 
 Tennessee, and meeting Blythe's llebel cavalry, bad a running fight of two 
 days with them from Nonconnah to Coldwater river, each side being in 
 turn reinforced. The result of the fight was that the Eebels were routed 
 with a heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. On the 22d, Mc- 
 Minnville, Tennessee, was occupied by the Union forces ; and on the 
 25th a fight took place at Duck River Shoals, on the Tennessee river, 
 between the Uliion gunboat Lexington and the ram Monarch, and a series 
 of strong Rebel batteries on the bank of the river, which resulted in the 
 defeat of the Eebels, with a loss of twenty-five killed and wounded. On 
 the 27th, a party of Union cavalry from General G. Granger's division of 
 the army of the Cumberland, left their camp at Murfreesboro at daybreak, 
 and captured the entire Texan legion of Eebel troops, posted at a point 
 eight miles from Franklin, Tennessee. 
 
 In the department of Missouri, the guerrillas belonging to Todd's or 
 Quautrell's band were guilty of a most dastardly outrage on the 28th of 
 March. They stopped the steamer Sam Gaty at Sibley, on the Missouri 
 river, before daylight, and going on board killed two and wounded one 
 of the soldiers on board belonging to Colonel Penick's regiment, paroled 
 all the other soldiers, drove on shore about eighty negroes whom they 
 found on board, and shot ten or twelve of them in cold blood, the rest 
 making their escape in the darkness, robbed all the passengers of what 
 money they had, and compelled them to throw overboard whatever 
 there was of government property on board the steamer. The triumph 
 of these ruffians was short ; for, on the 2d of April, Major Eansom, of 
 the sixth Kansas cavalr}-, attacked the band in Jack.son county, Mis- 
 souri, killed seventeen, and hung two, whom he identified as having been 
 concerned in this robbery and murder, and took twenty-one of their 
 horses, and all their camp equipage, ammunition, stores, etc. He also res- 
 cued the negroes whom they bad driven from the boat. 
 
 On the 18th of April, a battle of some magnitude was fought at Fay- 
 etteville, Arkansas, a place in which already two or three severe conflicts 
 had taken place, while the vicinity had been fought over more thoroughly 
 than perhaps any other region of equal extent in the Union. Tlie com- 
 batants, in this instance, were the first Arkansas loyal infantry, and the 
 first Arkansas loyal cavalry, on the Union side ; and the first and second 
 Arkansas Eebel cavalry, a part of Parsons' Texas cavalry, a section of 
 
■- <'"cn,^ 
 
EECONNOISSANCE TO PASCAGOULA. MISSISSIPPI. 493 
 
 artillery, and several companies of bushwhackers, making in all about 
 two thousand men, under the command of the Rebel General W. L. Ca- 
 bell. The Union troops were under the command of Colonel M. La Rue 
 Harrison. The Rebels made a forced march over Boston Mountain 
 during the night, hoping to surprise the Union force, and approached the 
 town a few minutes after sunrise. Colonel Harrison was on the alert, 
 and when the Rebel cavalry charged upon his men they were promptly 
 and gallantly repulsed. The battle continued from sunrise to near noon, 
 when the Rebels, having lost about forty killed, sixty wounded, and 
 fifty-five prisoners, retreated in great haste toward Ozark. The Union 
 loss was four killed, twenty-six wounded, sixteen prisoners, and thirty- 
 five missing. 
 
 On the 20th of April, Colonel Smart, the Union commander at Patter- 
 son, Missouri, who had a force of about four hundred men at that point, 
 was attacked by a force of nearly two thousand Rebels, and compelled to 
 retreat to Big creek, about eight miles distant, but saved most of bis 
 stores, ammunitions, etc., by skilful management and desperate fighting. 
 His loss was about fifty in killed, wounded, and missing, in the engage- 
 ments. He succeeded in crossing the creek in good order, and the enemy 
 did not renew the attack. In the Department of the Gulf, early in April, 
 Colonel N. U. Daniels, of the second regiment of Louisiana volunteers, 
 stationed at Ship island, having learned that the greater part of the Rebel 
 forces at Mobile were to be sent to reinforce Charleston, determined to 
 make a reconnoissance within the Rebel lines at Pascagoula, Mississippi — 
 a town of some importance, situated on the Mississippi sound — with a 
 view of creating a diversion of the Rebel troops from Charleston, and se- 
 curing their detention in the vicinity of Mississippi sound. Accordingly, 
 he embarked on the 9th of April, with a detachment of one hundred and 
 eighty men of his command, on board of the United States transport 
 General Banks, and landed at Pascagoula at nine A. M., and took posses- 
 sion of the town, throwing out pickets, and holding by small detachments, 
 the roads leading to it. The Rebels at once sent about three hundred 
 cavalry and one hundred infantry to drive out the invaders, and advanced 
 a large body of troops to a point within six miles of the town. The cav- 
 alry attacked Colonel Daniels' troops with great fury, but were repulsed 
 with considerable loss ; they came up a second time, accompanied by the 
 infantry, and placing the women and children in front of the houses for a 
 cover, fired from the windows of the dwellings upon the Union troops, 
 but were again repulsed, and with more loss than before. A third time 
 they came up with further reinforcements, but were for the third time 
 driven back. Finding that they were bringing up a large body of troops 
 and having accomplished the object intended, of compelling them to 
 divert their troops from Charleston, Colonel Daniels took advantage of 
 their retreat to withdraw his men, quietly and in good order, on board of 
 
494 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the transport, and returned to Ship island. His loss was two killed, and 
 eight wounded. The Eebel loss was over twenty killed, and a large 
 number wounded. 
 
 A much more important action, and one which from its magnitude 
 and results is worthy of detailed description, was the expedition into the 
 Attakapas country, in Louisiana, resulting in the series of engagements 
 known collectively as the battle of the Teche. 
 
 The region lying along the Bayou Teche, the Atchafalaya river, and 
 Grand Lake, and comprising the parishes of St. JEary's, St. Martin's, St. 
 Landry, and Lafayette, is usually denominated by Louisianians the 
 "Attakapas country," and is regarded as the garden of the State. It had 
 been the favorite camping-ground of the Eebels, and from it they had 
 made repeated attacks upon those portions of the State held by the Union 
 troops — the facility of communication with the Mississippi by means of 
 the Atchafalaya river, and with other parts of the State by different 
 water-courses, rendering its possession of great importance to them. 
 During the winter and early spring, they had succeeded in capturing the 
 Diana, one of the Union gunboats on the Mississippi, and also one of the 
 ram fleet, the Queen of the West, and had taken them from the Missis- 
 sippi, through the Atchafixlaya, into Grand Lake, where, having thor- 
 oughly repaired and strengthened them, they were preparing to use them 
 effectively against the Union ports of Brashear City, Berwick, and, if op- 
 portunity offered. New Orleans. They had also procured a steamer of 
 great strength and speed, which they had plated with railroad iron, and 
 named the Hart, which they bad almost completed, to add to their formida- 
 ble iron-clad fleet. 
 
 General Banks deemed it best to break up this nest of Rebels, and de- 
 stroy their fleet of iron-clads before they succeeded in coming out into the 
 Gulf, or the Mississippi, and accomplishing serious mischief Ilaving 
 ascertained that their laud forces numbered about eight thousand— a large 
 ])ortiou of them cavalry — he moved from Berwick City, on the 11th of 
 April, with the division of General Emory, and the brigade of General 
 Weitz;ul, toward Pattersonville, on the Bayou Teche, having despatched, 
 the same day. General Grover's division from Brashear City by a number 
 of transports, tug-boats, etc., convoyed by the gunboats Clifton, Estrella, 
 Arizona, and Calhoun, up the Atchafalaya and Grand Lake, to attack the 
 enemy in the rear. The column commanded by General Banks had con- 
 stant skirmishing from Berwick city to Pattersonville, and at the latter 
 place encountered the enemy in considerable force, on Sunday, the 12th, 
 when a severe battle ensued, mainly with artillery, in which the Eebel 
 gunboat Diana took a prominent part. The Rebel forces were on both 
 sides of the Teche, and the firing was continued with great spirit till dark, 
 when the opposing forces encamped on the battle-field. The battle was 
 renewed at half-past six on the morning of the 13th — there having beea 
 
THE BATTLE ON THE TECHB. 
 
 495 
 
 picket skirmishing all night — by the Eebels, with a large infantry and 
 cavalry force, for the purpose of regaining possession of a sugar-house and 
 a piece of woods, from which they had been driven during the night. 
 Their artillery also opened with great fury on the Union troops, the 
 Diana, as before, taking part in the fight. The brigade of General Paine, 
 of Emory's division, were in the advance, and, though at first without 
 artillery supports, and under this galling and terrible fire, succeeded in 
 driving the Eebels back to their breastworks, though not without con- 
 siderable loss. They were then reinforced by Mack's, McLafliu's, and 
 Healy's batteries, and the Rebel batteries silenced ; the Diana was dis- 
 abled by shells passing through her iron plating, steam-chest, and Avheel- 
 houses, killing a number of her ofiBcers and crew, and compelled to with- 
 draw up the Teche. Colonel Gooding, commanding one of the brigades 
 of Emory's division, was sent across the Teche, and drove the Eebels 
 before him. Before ten o'clock the enemy were driven back along the 
 whole line to their breastworks, and made no further attempt to secure 
 the coveted point — the woods and sugar-house — for the possession of 
 which they had made their morning attack. The Union troops now 
 moved forward to the breastworks, and bringing up their batteries, com- 
 menced an attack upon them. The Eebel position was one of great 
 strength, extending on the west side of the Teche from the river to a 
 dense mass of woods, and on the east side of the river from the Teche to 
 Grand Lake, effectually preventing any flanking movement. For the 
 defence of this fortification they had, on the west side, Valverde's and 
 Semmes' batteries, both of heavy metal, and a number of single guns, 
 rifled and of large calibre ; and on the east, fourteen or fifteen guns. 
 The Union batteries succeeded in silencing part of the guns of the Eebels 
 on the east side, and the infantry moved forward to attack them at mas- 
 ket-range, but were met by a terrible cross-fire from both sides of the 
 river, and were compelled to lie down in the plantation ditches ; but 
 soon moved still nearer, and compelled the enemy to expose his infantry 
 force to drive them back. This was a part of General Banks' design, in 
 order to ascertain their strength in infantry. It was expected by the 
 troops that an assault on the enemy's works would now be ordered, and 
 General Paine's brigade formed in two lines for this purpose ; but Gen- 
 eral Banks deemed it best to wait till morning — it was now half-past five 
 P. M. — when the gunboat Clifton, which had just arrived, could co-operate 
 in the attack. 
 
 On the west side of the Teche, the third brigade of Emory's division, 
 commanded by Colonel Gooding, had, after a hard day's fighting, succeeded 
 in carrying the enemy's outworks, and driving them back with very heavy 
 loss. 
 
 During the night of Monday, the entire Eebel force evacuated their po- 
 sition in such hot haste as to leave theii' cannon unspiked, and made the 
 
496 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 best of their way up the Teche, the cavalry remaining in the rear to pro- 
 tect their retreat. On ascertaining this early in the morning, General 
 Banks ordered an immediate pursuit. 
 
 General Grover, meantime, had ascended the Atchafalaya and Grand 
 Lake with his division, and crossed to the Teche, with the intention of 
 following that stream down, to come upon the rear of the Rebels with 
 whom General Banks was fighting. At a point some distance above 
 Franklin he encountered a small body of the Rebels with some artillery, 
 who, however, retreated after a slight skirmish, and on their retreat at- 
 tempted to destroy two bridges over the Teche, but were prevented from 
 accomplishing their purpose by the Union cavalry and artillery. 
 
 The Union forces pushed on till night, when they bivouacked on the 
 banks of the river. On Monday morning, April 13th, at about seven 
 o'clock, the advance reached Irish Bend, a sharp bend of the Teche, about 
 eleven miles above the point where General Banks was engaged with the 
 enemy. Ilere, on the edge of a dense line of woods, they found the Rebels 
 in position and in large force. A sharp conflict ensued, in which the 
 third brigade of General Grover's division, commanded by Colonel Birge, 
 was, after a time, driven back a short distance; but General Dwight, of 
 the first brigade, coming up with his command, moved forward with such 
 firmness as to sweep the enemy before him, taking over one hundred pris- 
 oners. After a breathing time of an hour or two, the whole division ad- 
 vanced upon the enemy's main position, with a view of carrying it by 
 assault ; but on their approach the Rebels evacuated their works, and re- 
 treated to the woods and cane-brakes, having first set fire to the gunboat 
 Diana, which had been disabled by the batteries below, and also to the 
 transports Gossamer, Newsboy, and Era No. 2, large river-steamers, which 
 they had seized and converted to their use. The retreat was accomplished 
 in such a way as to prevent effectual pursuit. The Rebel force here en- 
 gaged had been, according to the testimony of prisoners, about five thou- 
 sand, and they had come up the river with the intention of defeating and 
 driving General Grover's division across the Bayou Teche before General 
 Banks could arrive to form a junction with him. They had been signally 
 defeated in this intention, and had lost between three and four hundred in 
 killed and wounded, beside about one hundred and fifty prisoners. The 
 Union loss in killed and wounded in Grover's division was not far from 
 four hundred. Immediately on the retreat of the enemy a reconnoitering 
 force was sent out, which met a courier from General Banks' army, who 
 announced the retreat of the enemy from the Beasland plantation, where 
 the battles of the 12th and 13th had been fought. General Banks sent his 
 cavalry and artillery, supported by two infantry brigades, early Tuesday 
 morning in pursuit of the flying foe, and they proceeded on both sides of 
 the Teehe, the Clifton aiding in the pursuit as far as possible. On the ap- 
 proach.of our troops to Franklin, the Hart, the new Rebel iron-clad, was 
 
COMPLETE ROUT OP THE REBELS ON THE TECHE.. 497 
 
 towed across the Teche, scuttled, and fired by tlie Eebe^s to prevent her 
 falling into the hands of the Union troops ; her armament, consisting of 
 two heavy guns— one rifled, the other a large brass piece — was saved by 
 the Union soldiers. The united force now wholly under General Banks' 
 command, pressed on to New Iberia, where five Rebel transports, laden 
 with ammunition or commissary stores, were either burned or sunk, and 
 the Eebel hospital-boat, Cornie, with a load of wounded, captured, and 
 some Union prisoners captured some time before on the Mississippi, and 
 found on board of her, released. At Franklin a large foundry, employed 
 in casting cannon and gun-carriages for the Rebel army, was taken posses- 
 sion of, and another at New Iberia. The New Iberia salt-works, which 
 had furnished salt to most of the Rebel States, were also seized. A large 
 nufliber of prisoners were taken each day, and the Rebels did not attempt 
 to make a stand but once after their retreat on Monday night. This was 
 at Bayou Vermillion, on the 17th, and after a short but sharp contest 
 they again fled precipitately, destroying the bridges behind them, and 
 throwing their guns and ammuniiion into the bayou. On Friday General 
 Banks had about fifteen hundred prisoners. He proceeded as far as Ope- 
 lousas, the capital of St. Landry parish, when, the Rebel force having 
 become so thoroughly scattered and demoralized as to be no longer formi- 
 dable, he desisted from further pursuit with his main army, but sent Briga- 
 dier-General Dwight on with his brigade to push forward to Alexandria. 
 The capture of Bute a la Rose, already mentioned, the key of the Atcha- 
 falaya, was also one of the fruits of this expedition, and with the previous 
 victoi'ies, secured East Louisiana from invasion or disturbance. General 
 Banks reported from Opelousas, on the 28th of April, as the fruits of this 
 expedition, two thousand prisoners, two transports, and twenty guns taken, 
 and three gunboats and eight transports destroyed. The lo?s of the Rebels 
 in killed and wounded was over one thousand. General Banks' loss was 
 seventy-seven killed, three hundred and sixty-one wounded, and forty 
 missing. 
 32 
 
498 THE CIYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIV. 
 
 RAIDS IN BOTH ARMIES — MARMADUKR's EXPEDITION FOR THE CArXCRE OF CAPE GIRARDEAU 
 — COLONEL carter's DEMAND FOB THE SURRENDER OF THE TOWN — GENERAL m'NEIL's 
 REPLY — MARMADUKE's DEMAND — THE RESULT — FLIGHT OF MARMADCKE, AND PURSUIT 
 BY VANDEVER AND m'nEIL — COLONEL STREIOHT's RAID — DIFFICULTIES AND DISASTERS — 
 PENETRATES NEARLY TO ROME — IS COMPELLED TO SURRENDER — REBEL TREATMENT OF THE 
 OFFICERS OP THE EXPEDITION — COLONEL ORIERSON's RAID — ITS CONTINUED AND WONDER- 
 FUL SUCCESS — HIS BRIGADE REACHES BATON ROUGE — RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE 
 EXPEDITION — COLONEL CLAYTON'S RAID — MEETS MARMADUKE — CLAYTON WITH TWO HUN- 
 DRED AND THIRTY MEN FIGHTS AND REPELS MARMADUKE'S DIVISION — LIEUTENANT- 
 COLONEL JENKINS' FIGHT WITH CARTER'S TEXAS BRIGADE — THE EXPEDITION REACHES 
 HELENA IN SAFETY — SKIRMISHES IN WESTERN VIRGINIA — THE AFFAIR AT GREENLAND 
 GAP — CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA, MISSISSIPPI — SKIRMISH AT MONTICELLO, KENTUCKY. 
 
 The vast extent of territory over which the war extended, the neces- 
 sity of railroad lines for the transportation of troops and supplies, and 
 the immense quantities of ammunition, quartermasters' and commissary 
 stores which were deposited at points, which, though within the lines ot 
 the army to which they belonged, were not always adequately protected, 
 have oil'ered inducements for expeditions of cavalry, by either army, into 
 the territory claimed by the other, on a more extended scale, and to 
 greater distances, than have been known in any previous war. 
 
 At first, as was natural, the Rebels possessing a much larger share of 
 cavalry than the Union army, these raids, as they were called, were 
 mostly made by Rebel cavalry officers upon the towns, depots, or rail- 
 roads of the North. Such, for instance, were the repeated raids of Ashby, 
 Stuart, and Moseby, in the rear, and occasionally around the army of the 
 Potomac ; such the dashing exploits of Morgan, Forrest, and Wheeler, at 
 the West. These men were regular officers in the Rebel army, and their 
 troops, though sometimes composed in part of citizens — farmers by day, 
 within the Union lines, and guerrillas by night — were usually regularly 
 enlisted cavalry of that army. In the West, however, there was another 
 set of raiders — bushwhackers, as they were called, men not belonging to 
 the army, but ruffians, thieves, murderers, and freebooters, who plundered 
 indiscriminately, and were guilty of the greatest outrages, murder being 
 one of their least criminal offences against society. These men, when 
 captured, claimed to belong to the Rebel army, and indeed fought as 
 irregular troops in some of its battles, and received its protection ; but, 
 being regarded by the Union officers as outlaws, deserving of condign 
 punishment, were not always reserved for exchange. To this class be- 
 longed Quantrell's gang, whose outrage on the steamer Sam Gaty was 
 noticed in a previous chapter. Jeff Thompson's and Marmaduke's bands 
 
MAEMADUKE'S EXPEDITION TO CAPE GIRAEDEAU. 499 
 
 were nlso largely composed of these ruffians, who swarmed in Missouri 
 and Arkansas. 
 
 As the Union armies grew stronger in disciplined cavalry, tliey too 
 engaged in cavalry raids or expeditions, not undertaken for purposes of 
 plunder, but to break up the enemy's lines of communication, to destroy 
 his depots of supplies, and cut off reinforcements to his armies at critical 
 periods. The names of Stoneman, Pleasanton, Buford, and Kilpatrick, in 
 the army of the Potomac, and of Carter, Stanley, Grierson, Wilson, and 
 Clayton, at the West, became as famous for successful expeditions of this 
 sort as those of the Eebel partisan leaders. 
 
 Several of these raids took place in the spring of 1863, and in most of 
 them the activity, skill, and adroitness of the Union officers placed them 
 in favorable contrast with the Rebel raiders. 
 
 The first which we shall notice, in the large number of the troops 
 employed was rather the movement of an army to besiege a town than a 
 partisan expedition ; but its leader being best known as a partisan leader 
 of the most unscrupulous character, and its motives and aims being such 
 as usually characterize such expeditions, it is generally known as Marraa- 
 dukes raid. The hope of regaining some portion of their lost foothold 
 in Missouri had never been relinquished by the Rebels ; and General 
 Sterling Price especially, who had sacrificed social position, standing, and 
 character, for the sake of participating in the Rebellion, looked from his 
 involuntary exile in Arkansas and Mississippi, with longing eyes toward 
 the fair cities and towns of his own State, and in every enterprise for 
 regaining the control of it was always an active participator. Great 
 exertions had been made by the Rebel commanders in the Trans-Missis- 
 sippi Department to bring their army, which had been repeatedly defeated 
 and routed by Generals Blunt, Herron, and Banks, up to a degree of 
 efficiency, in numbers at least, equal to that of the Union army in that 
 I'egion. By gathering to their standard large numbers of the bush- 
 whackers or outlaws of whom we have spoken, by a rigid and severe 
 military conscription, and by bringing into the field all the Texan troops 
 which could be raised, they had succeeded in assembling a force respecta- 
 ble in numbers, if in nothing else. The command of the first army corps 
 of this army was assigned to General Price ; and at his earnest solicitation 
 it was sent at once into southeastern Missouri, to plunder the towns of that 
 region, to seize the large quantities of ammunition and stores belonging 
 to the United States Government at Cape Girardeau, and, perhaps, should 
 fortune favor, to attack St. Louis. For some reason, General Price does 
 not seem to have led this army in person, but confided it to General 
 Marmaduke. The first considerable town reached by this marauding 
 army was Fredericktown, on the headwaters of the St. Francis, from 
 which place there is a good road to Cape Girardeau, at that time a large 
 depot of quartermasters' and commissary stores. The post was under the 
 
500 THE CnTL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Baumer, of tbe first Nebraska infantry, 
 and had a garrison of five hundred men, mostly of his regiment, though 
 there were a few artillerymen of the second Missouri artillery also in the 
 town. General McNeil, of the Missouri State militia, a brave and skilful 
 officer, was at Bloomfield, Missouri, with twelve hundred men and six 
 pieces of artillery ; and having received intelligence of Marmaduke's 
 entry into Missouri and appearance at Fredericktown, started thither in 
 search of him; but on reaching Dallas, thirty-five miles from Cape 
 Girardeau, he became so strongly impressed with the belief that Marma- 
 duke would attack that city, that he marched his force thither with all 
 speed, reaching it himself on the 23d of April, and bringing his troops 
 in the next day. He also established communications the same day with 
 St. Louis, and asked for reinforcements and gunboats. The whole force 
 now under his command, including Lieutenant-Colonel Baumer's regi- 
 ment, was seventeen hundred ; and, including his own artillery, there were 
 sixteen guns, of various calibres, three or four of them rifled twelve 
 pounders. The town had four, so-called, forts for its defence — earthworks 
 of the simplest form, over which cavalry could ride without difficulty ; 
 and there was no time for adding materially to these defences, for on 
 Saturday morning, the 26th of April, Marmaduke advanced with his 
 force of ten thousand, divided into four brigades, with the intention of 
 carrying the place by storm. 
 
 General McNeil had already planted his batteries and stationed his sharp- 
 shooters to as much advantage as possible, and awaited the attack. When 
 the enemy approached, he advanced his artillery to within four hundred 
 yards of their line, and stationing his sharpshooters as supports, he poured 
 such a terrible fire upon their advancing columns that they were checked, 
 fell back, and in spite of the urgencj' of their officers, could not be induced 
 to face the deadly fire again. They retreated out of range after an action 
 of little over an hour ; and some reinforcements arrived for the Union 
 force from St. Louis about the same time. Determined to defend the town 
 to the last. General McNeil had caused all the government stores, etc., to 
 be removed across the river into Illinois, and had sent away the women 
 and children ; and thus prepared, he, with his little force, resolved to fight 
 it out with the invaders. At ten o'clock Saturday evening the Union 
 pickets reported the arrival of a flag of truce from the Eebel camp. It 
 was not allowed to come nearer to the town than three miles, and the fol- 
 lowing letter was transmitted by it : 
 
 " Headquarters Fourth Division, near Cape Girardeau, 
 
 "April 25, 1863. 
 " To the officer commanding United States forces in and around Cape 
 Girardeau : 
 "Sir: — By order of Major-General Sterling Price, commanding, I 
 
DEMAND FOR THE SUERENDER OP CAPE GIRARDEAU. 501 
 
 formally demand of you the immediate surrender, unconditionally, of the 
 troops in Cape Girardeau and the adjoining forts, together with all the 
 ammunition, stores, and other property belonging to the United States, in 
 the same. If the surrender is made, I pledge myself to treat the troops 
 as prisoners of war, and to parole and exchange them as soon as practi- 
 cable. I shall scrupulously protect private property ; no difference will 
 be made in this particular between parties, whether Union or Southern in 
 sentiment. One half hour is allowed for your decision. Colonel Watson, 
 commanding second Texas cavalry brigade, who bears the flag of truce, 
 will present this demand, and wait for your reply. 
 " I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " G. "W. Carter, 
 
 * "Colonel-Commanding Fourth Division, First Army Corps, 
 
 Trans-Mississippi Department." 
 
 Colonel Strachan, General McNeil's chief of staff, who had been deputed 
 1,0 receive the flag of truce, requested "Watson to tell Colonel Carter that 
 he must credit General McNeil with twenty-nine minutes, as one was 
 sufficient for reply, and at once wrote the following : 
 
 " To G. IF. Carter, Colonel- Commanding First Army Corps, Trans-Mississippi 
 Department : 
 " Sir : — I am instructed by General John McNeil to decline your demand 
 for the surrender of the post of Cape Girardeau. He thinks himself able to 
 maintain its possession. I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " William E. Strachan, 
 
 " Colonel and Chief of Staff." 
 
 The little garrison lay on their arms that night, and the next morning, 
 Sunday, April 26th, awaited an attack from the Rebels. At about fifteen 
 minutes after ten A. M., they opened fire upon the town with two bat- 
 teries, one posted on the Bloomfleld, the other on the Jackson road. Soon 
 after the engagement commenced another flag of truce was announced, 
 and the following letter brought in : 
 
 "Headquarters Confederate States Forces, 
 " District of Southeast Missouri, 
 
 "April 26, 1863. 
 " General : — I have this moment arrived, and learn that Colonel 
 Carter has demanded the surrender of the forces in Cape Girardeau, the 
 fortlScations, and government property, which demand you have declined. 
 With my combined forces now surrounding Cape Girardeau, I deem it an 
 easy task to storm and capture the town, and I, therefore, reiterate the 
 demand that you immediately surrender to me unconditionally your 
 command. 
 
502 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "In case the demand is not immediately complied with, I request that 
 you will inform all non-combatants in the town to provide for their safety, 
 as I will immediately proceed to attack your position and storm the 
 works. Major Henry Ewing, adjutant-general, is intrusted as the bearer 
 of this flag of truce. 
 
 "I am, general, very respectfully, 
 
 "J. Marmaduke, 
 
 "Brigadier-Qeneral Commanding. 
 "Brigadier-General McNeil, 
 
 "Commanding D. S. Forces in Cape Girardeau." 
 
 The Eebel adjutant-general was stopped, as his predecessor had been, 
 at a distance from the town, and knowing the base uses which Marmaduke 
 had made on previous occasions of the flag of truce, Greneral McNeil 
 ordered the firing to be continued, and gave the verbal answer to the 
 insulting demand of the Eebel general, that he had already removed the 
 women and children, and that, so far from surrendering, he should defend 
 the place to the last extremity. The adjutant-general attempting to 
 remonstrate. General McNeil told him that the Rebels had had their 
 answer the evening before, and that any further discussion was super- 
 fluous. A sharp action ensued, in which, however, the reinforcements 
 from St. Louis took no part, nor did the gunboats, which came up a little 
 after noon, fire a shot; for at thirty minutes past two P. M., Marmaduke 
 was retreating with heavy loss. The fire of the little garrison had been 
 too steady and well directed for his bushwhackers to endure. At first 
 General McNeil supposed that he had withdrawn with the intention of 
 making a night attack, and the whole force was kept on the alert through 
 the night to repel it ; but when Monday morning came, and no enemy 
 was in sight, he reconnoitred, and finding that they had fled, made imme- 
 diate preparations for pursuit. During the afternoon General McNeil 
 marched with his wearied men sixteen miles to Whitewater, and found 
 the bridge destroyed by the enemy, and that General Vandever, his 
 ranking officer, had made a feeble pursuit, engaged the enemy, and lost 
 quite a number of his troops as prisoners. The bridge was repaired in 
 three hours, and McNeil pushed on ten miles, and had nearly come up 
 with the enemy, when an orderly arrived from General Vandever, who 
 had not left Whitewater, ordering them to halt. Finally, the column was 
 allowed to press forward, and had again come within three miles of the 
 enem}' when they were again halted. The pursuit was continued in this 
 way for three da3's; and though there were occasional skirmishes with 
 their rear guard, yet whenever the Union troops approached near enough 
 to make an engagement imminent. General Vandever was sure to order a 
 halt ; and thus the Rebels made good their escape into Arkansas with 
 their artillery, and with a less severe punishment than they should have 
 received. 
 
E^ID OF COLONEL STKEIGHT THROUGH GEORGIA. 503 
 
 The next raid was one led by a Union officer, and, for the energy and 
 ability with which it was couducted, deserved a better fate than befell the 
 brave men who composed the expeditionary force. General Eosecrans, 
 desirous of ascertaining the real condition of affairs among the Eebels in 
 northern Georgia, and of cutting their communications by which rein- 
 forcements were sent to General Bragg, then lying at Tullahoma, and 
 destroying a large foundry, the Eound Mountain Iron Works, where 
 cannon and munitions of war were cast for the Eebel army, determined 
 to send a cavalry expedition into Georgia by way of Tuscumbia, Alabama. 
 He selected for this purpose Colonel A. D. Streight, of Indiana, and as he 
 could spare but little of his cavalry force — the greater part of it being 
 required to hold in check the enemy's partisan officers, who were con- 
 stantly dashing into prominent towns of Tennessee and southern Ken- 
 tucky — he assigned to him two companies of the Tennessee cavalry, 
 composed of loyal Alabamians, and four regiments of infantry— the fifty- 
 first and the seventy-third Indiana, eightieth Illinois, and third Ohio — 
 who were to be mounted for the expedition. There was great difficulty 
 in procuring horses for this force. On the 11th of April they were sent 
 down the Cumberland from Nashville, and up the Tennessee to Eastport; 
 and on landing, not one half of the whole number were mounted, and 
 many of those who were had only broken-down mules, which could not 
 endure two consecutive days of travel. On the 24:th, following in the 
 rear of General Dodge's forces, they reached Tuscumbia, Alabama, where 
 a further quantity of worn-out mules and wagon-horses were received, 
 but not enough to mount the whole brigade, about two hundred and fifty 
 being still obliged to go on foot. At three o'clock on the morning of the 
 27th, the brigade started for Eusselville, eighteen miles from Tuscumbia, 
 through a country which had been deluged by recent heavy rains. Their 
 object in moving in this direction was to obtain as many good horses as 
 possible to mount the men, as, if this was not accomplished, the expedition 
 would be of little service. 
 
 It was found that the inhabitants of Lawrence and Morgan counties, 
 having had information of the object of the expedition, had concealed 
 their horses and mules in the mountains, and very few could be obtained. 
 The brigade finally reached Moulton on the 28th of April, still poorly 
 mounted, and a few of the men yet on foot. Ilere they learned that the 
 Eebels, under command of Colonel Eoddy, a well known cavalry officer, 
 were advancing on them. As, however, General Dodge's column was 
 advancing also, and was likely to be more than a match for Eoddy, they 
 felt little apprehension, but moved before daylight on the 29th from 
 Moulton, in order to avoid a collision with the Eebel troops, which might 
 delay their ultimate purpose, and reached Day's gap before night, where 
 they camped and rested. On the morning of the 30th of April, soon 
 after leaving camp, the Eebels commenced firing on their rear guard with 
 
504 TUE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 two pieces of artillery. Selecting a favorable position on the crest of a 
 hill, and dismounting his men, Colonel Streight directed them to await 
 the approach of the enemy, and not to fire till they came very near. He 
 had two small pieces of artillery, which were under the charge of Lieu- 
 tenant Pave}'-, an experienced artillery officer. The Rebels moved up 
 boldly, bringing up their artillery very close, but fired without precision, 
 and their shells went over the heads of the Union troops. "When they 
 had approached sufficiently near, Colonel Streiglit opened upon them with 
 his artillery, and at the same time ordered a charge, which was made with 
 great effect, killing and wounding seventy-five of the Rebels, and cap- 
 turing their two pieces of artillery and a considerable number of horses. 
 The Union loss was one killed and twenty wounded, some of them mor- 
 tally. Fearing lest the Rebels might be largely reinforced, and return to 
 the attack, Colonel Streight moved forward, leaving his wounded in the 
 care of a surgeon and nurses. This apprehension proved to be well 
 founded. The enemy, reinforced till they numbered about three thousand 
 pursued, and at three o'clock in the afternoon again attacked the rear of 
 Colonel Streight's force as they were crossing a small creek. 
 
 Forming his men in line of battle, the Union commander again aw)iited 
 their approach ; and as they came forward very boldy, in consequence of 
 their superior numbers, he again poured upon thern a terrific fire, and 
 charging upon them with great fury, repulsed them with heavy loss. 
 They fell back for a time, but approached again on both flanks, and suc- 
 ceeded in so far turning the Union right as to subject the troops to a 
 galling cross-fire and compel the centre to fall back, with the loss of the 
 two pieces of artillery which had been captured in the morning, though 
 not until their ammunition was entirely exhausted and the cannon spiked. 
 The Union troops, after falling back a few rods, held their position in- 
 flexibly, and with their two small brass cannon and their carbines in- 
 flicted severe losses on the enemy. Their own loss was but slight, two killed 
 and several slightly wounded. Darkness put an end to the conflict, and 
 Colonel Streight again moved on, the Rebels receiving further reinforce- 
 ments just as he left. Expecting to be followed, on reaching a favorable 
 situation he disposed his men in ambush, on both sides of the road, and 
 waited for the enemy to come up. After two hours' delay, as they did not 
 come, he again pushed forward, and arrived at Blountsville, the county 
 scat of Blount county, on the Locust fork of the Black Warrior, at noon. 
 May 1st, both men and animals being nearly exhausted with watching, 
 fatigue, and hunger. Stopping here for two hours, rations were issued to 
 the men, and ammunition distributed. All the wagons but one were 
 burned, and the ammunition put upon the backs of pack-mules. At three 
 P. M. the brigade was again on the move, and had not proceeded far when 
 skirmishing again commenced in the rear. Selecting his position on the 
 bank of a .stream, the commander again formed his men in line of battle, 
 
FINAL MOVEMENTS OF COLONEL STREIGHT. 505 
 
 and again repulsed the enemy, whose advance only had yet come up, 
 This accomplished, he again moved forward, and continued his course till 
 twelve o'clock that night, when he stopped and rested till daylight. On 
 resuming his march, he found that the enemy's skirmishers were still 
 upon his rear, and annoyed his troops. During the forenoon the brigade 
 passed Gadsden, on the Coosa river, stopping only long enougli to destroy 
 a large quantity of commissary stores collected there by the Rebels. It 
 had been expected that a small steamer would be found here, on which a 
 detachment of men could be placed, and sent to Rome, Georgia, to hold the 
 place till the brigade arrived ; but there was no steamer in the vicinity, 
 and the wearied troops followed the north side of the Coosa, toward Rome. 
 The animals were becoming very much exhausted, and several of the men 
 falling in rear of the gaurd were taken prisoners ; and to prevent this the 
 whole body were compelled to proceed very slowly. 
 
 At about one o'clock, p. M., May 2d, the Rebels again attacked the rear ; 
 but the coolness and bravery of the rear-guard, assisted by one piece of 
 artillery, kept them at a respectful distance. Arriving soon after at 
 Blount's Farm, which was well provided with corn. Colonel Streight 
 ordered the animals to be sent forward and fed, while one or two regi- 
 ments, dismounted, held the enemy at bay. The Rebels were nearer, 
 however, than was supposed, and attacked the men before they were in 
 position, killing Colonel Hathaway of the seventy-third Indiana regiment 
 in their first onset. They were repulsed, after a time, with considerable 
 loss, but continued to skirmish briskly. From this point Colonel Streight 
 sent two hundred men, in command of Captain M. Russell, to Rome, to 
 take and hold it till the brigade should come up. Owing to delay in ferry- 
 ing a stream, they did not arrive before the town till nine A. M. the next 
 day, and then found that the citizens had been advised of their advance, 
 and had torn up the bridge across the Coosa, and that the town was pro- 
 tected by a considerable force and four pieces of artillery. Finding it im- 
 possible to gain possession of the town. Captain Russell slowly retreated 
 to rejoin the main force. Meantime, Colonel Streight had held the enemy 
 in check at Blount's Farm till late in the evening, and during this time 
 had sent on the pack-mules and a part of his force to cross two tributaries 
 of Coosa river. At the first ford it was expected that a ferry-boat would 
 be found on which the ammunition could be crossed, but it had been taken 
 away by the Rebels, and after a delay of several hours the train proceeded 
 two or three miles up the creek to a point where there was an unsafe ford 
 with a rapid current. In crossing this most of the ammunition was wetted 
 and ruined. At the left of the road, about a mile distant, were the Round 
 Mountain Iron AVorks, already referred to, where large quantities of can- 
 non and munitions of war were cast for the Rebel Government. These 
 were burned to the ground, and all the machinery effectually destroyed 
 At the second tributary of the Coosa was a bridge, which was destroyed 
 
506 THE CIVIL WAR EST THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 as soon as tbe Union forces had crossed ; and believing that two streams 
 were now between them and the enemy, the commander halted his men 
 two miles beyond Cedar Bluffs to rest and feed their animals, and prepare 
 their rations ; but tliey had hardly dismounted before they were again 
 disturbed by firing upon their rear-gaurd. Once more, wearied and jaded 
 as they were, they promptly formed in line, when a flag of truce came up, 
 demanding a surrender. Colonel Streight refused ; but the officer who 
 bore the flag of truce assured him that General Forrest, with five thousand 
 men and several batteries advantageously posted, had surrounded them, 
 and that they were at his mercy. Colonel Streight demanded to be per- 
 mitted to go round their lines and see for himself whether their represen- 
 tations were correct. This was allowed ; and finding that, with his ammu- 
 nition damaged by water, and his men exhausted by fatigue, he could not 
 hope to force his way through their lines and escape, he surrendered, first 
 drawing up his men in line, and stating to them the reasons which led 
 him to do so. The men gave three cheers for him, showing their confi- 
 dence in him as a leader. The prisoners were first taken to Home; and 
 then, after a litte delay, sent thence to Richmond, where the men were ex- 
 changed, but the officers were subjected to gross indignities, the Rebel 
 Government refusing to exchange them, and treating them with the ut- 
 most cruelty. It was said that the Governor of Georgia claimed them as 
 felons, in consequence of several negroes being found with them when they 
 surrendered. During this unsuccessful raid the brigade had lost twelve 
 killed and sixty-nine wounded. The number surrendered was one hundred 
 and one officers, and one thousand three hundred and sixty-five privates ; 
 in all, one thousand four hundred and sixty-six. The Rebel loss in killed 
 and wounded exceeded five hundred. 
 
 Another expedition sent out during the same month, under General 
 Grant's sanction, was more successful, and indeed, surpassed, in the extent 
 of country traversed, the damage inflicted upon the enemy, and the com- 
 pleteness of its achievements, any previous raid of the war, on either 
 side. 
 
 General Grant being about to transfer his operations for the reduction 
 of the stronghold of Vicksburg to the region below that city, was desirous 
 of effectually breaking the railroad communications of the Rebels with 
 Vicksburg, in all directions, and thus preventing them from obtaining 
 reinforcements or supplies of ammunition, arms, or quartermasters' and 
 commissary stores. For this purpose, he detailed Colonel B. H. Grierson, 
 an enterprising and skilful cavalry officer, then in command of the first 
 cavalry brigade, composed of the sixth and seventh Illinois, and the 
 second Iowa cavalry, to make an expedition into Mississippi, and cut the 
 Mobile and Ohio, the New Orleans and Jackson, and the Meridian and 
 Vicksburg railroads, and to destroy or capture such supplies as he might 
 find on his route. The cavalry force under Colonel Grierson's command 
 
CAVALKY RAID INTO MISSISSIPPI. 507 
 
 was composed of picked men, well mounted, and with a good supply of 
 led horses. Two of the regiments, the seventh Illinois, and the second 
 Iowa, had previously, under their present commanders, made expeditions 
 into northern Mississippi, and they were men eminently to be relied upon 
 for skill and tact in the management of such an enterprise. 
 
 On the 17th of April, the expedition left La Grange, Tennessee, on the 
 Memphis and Charleston railroad, near the point where the Mississippi 
 Central crosses it, and marched southerly to the vicinity of Ripley, Mis- 
 sissippi, a distance of about thirty miles. The next day, they passed 
 through Ripley to New Albany, and camped four miles south of that 
 town. At Ripley, Colonel Hatch, with his regiment, the second Iowa, 
 had been detached to move eastwardly, and then southwardly, to cross the 
 Tallahatchie about five miles above the New Albany, and then rejoin the 
 brigade six miles below that town. This was accomplished without any 
 incident. From this point regiments and parts of regiments were sent in 
 different directions to scour the country, and ascertain the location of 
 Rebel troops, supplies, etc., and rejoin the brigade at night. Several 
 prisoners were taken, and horses in such quantities, that about one hun- 
 dred and fifty men, with a considerable number of led horses, were sent 
 back to La Grange on the 20th. On the 21st, Colonel Hatch and the 
 second Iowa regiment, were directed to turn eastward from Clear Springs, 
 which had been their camping ground the night before, and proceed 
 toward Columbus, destroying as much of the Mobile and Ohio railroad as 
 possible. They marched about twenty-five miles southeast from Houston 
 on the route to Columbus, encountered a force of about eight hundred 
 Rebel cavalry, armed with shot-guns, whom they repulsed with their 
 rifles and a small cannon they had with them, and then turning directly 
 north, crossed a swamp, swam a deep creek, and at sunset of the 23d 
 entered Okalona, on the Mobile and Ohio railroad, entirely unexpected 
 by all, as, the day previous, a large body of southern cavalry and artillery 
 had gone south in pursuit of them. Here they destroyed the depots, 
 barracks, and Rebel Government storehouses, and tore up the railroad 
 track for a long distance, heating and bending the rails. Private property 
 was scrupulously respected. Thence they continued northward, destroy- 
 ing the track and bridges on the railroad, and reached La Grange some 
 days later. Meanwhile, Colonel Grierson continued to move southward, 
 with the sixth and seventh Illinois, camping on the night of the 21st, 
 eight miles south of Starkville. 
 
 On the morning of the 22d, Captain Forbes, of Company C, seventh 
 Illinois, was detached with thirty-five men to cut the Mobile and Ohio 
 railroad and the telegraph between Okalona and Macon as near Macon as 
 possible, with instructions, if he found a force at Macon, to try to cross 
 the Okanoxubee river, and move toward Decatur in Newton county by 
 the shortest route. Captain Forbes found a Rebel force at Macon, and 
 
/ 
 
 608 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 followed his directions, moving upon the trail of the brigade to Newton, 
 where he was informed they had gone to Enterprise, on the Mobile and 
 Ohio railroad. He pushed on to Enterprise, and marched into the town, 
 where he found about three thousand Rebel troops just landing from the 
 cars. Raising a flag of truce and riding boldly forward, he demanded the 
 surrender of the Rebel troop.s, in the name of Colonel Grierson. The 
 Rebel commander, Colonel Goodwin, asked an liour to consider the 
 proposition, and wished to know where Captain Forbes would be at that 
 time. The captain answered that he would go back with the reply to 
 the reserve, which he did with all speed, having first ascertained the 
 strength of the enemy. As may be imagined, he did not return at the 
 expiration of the hour to learn the decision of the Rebel commander. 
 
 Colonel Grierson had also detached, the same day, Captain Graham, 
 with one battalion, to burn a Rebel shoe-manufactory, which was supply- 
 ing shoes to the Rebel army. He succeeded in destroying several thousand 
 pairs of boots and shoes, and a large quantity of hats and leather, and 
 captured a Rebel quartermaster from Port Hudson, who was there procuring 
 supplies for his regiment. Colonel Grierson and the remainder of his troops 
 moved on to a point ten miles below Louisville, a distance of fifty-seven 
 miles, eight miles of it through the swamps of the Okanoxubee, at this time 
 overflowed with water, and having numerous deep mire-holes, in which 
 about twenty of the horses were lost. On the 23d they crossed the Pearl 
 river, near Philadelphia, preserving the bridge over Pearl river, which 
 the Rebels had attempted to destroy. The same day Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Blackburn, of the seventh Illinois, was sent forward with two hundred 
 men to Decatur, and passing through that place at four A. M. of the 24th, 
 reached Newton station, on the Meridian and Vicksburg railroad, at seven 
 A. M., and, with the aid of the rest of the command, who came up at nine 
 A. M. captured two locomotives and two trains of cars, took seventy-five 
 prisoners, burned the bridges and trestles for six miles each side of the sta- 
 tion, destroyed two warehouses filled with commissary stores, and four car- 
 loads of ammxinition, mostly for heavy artillery. At eleven a. m. the brigade 
 moved forward to a plantation twelve miles from Newton, where they 
 encamped. During the 25th and 26th they passed through Raleigh and 
 Millhaven to "W estville, on their way to the Mississippi and Jackson 
 railroad, and on the 27th Colonel Prince, with two hundred men, passed 
 on in advance to Hazlehurst on that road, cut the telegraph wires, and 
 destroyed a large number of cars, four of them loaded with ammunition. 
 This march of twenty-five miles was performed in a drenching rain ; and 
 the Georgetown ferry, over Pearl river — a wide and deep stream — crossed, 
 the proprietor of the ferry supposing, till the troops were all over, that 
 he was serving the first Alabama (Rebel) cavalry, on their way to Vicks- 
 burg. 
 
 Colonel Gricrso^ with his main column, moved on through Hazlehurst 
 
EESULT OP THE RAID INTO MISSISSIPPI. 509 
 
 to Gallatin, and encamped near that town, having on their way captured 
 a thirty-two pounder rifled Parrott gun, and fourteen hundred pounds of 
 powder, on its way to Grand Gulf. The next day (28th) four companies 
 were detached to proceed to Bahala, two miles below Hazlehurst, on the 
 New Orleans and Jackson railroad, and destroy the railroad and transpor- 
 tation. The sixth Illinois had a skirmish this day — the first during their 
 raid — with the Rebels, in which they wounded two and took a number 
 of prisoners. On the 29th, before daylight, the four companies came in, 
 having performed their mission, and bringing about thirty prisoners. The 
 seventh Illinois led the way this day, and charging into Brookhaven — 
 another station on the New Orleans and Jackson railroad — burned the 
 depot, cars, bridges, etc., and captured and paroled two hundred and one 
 prisoners. On the 30th, the sixth Illinois, being in advance, visited 
 Bogue Chitto, and burned the depot, bridges, and cars there, and all the 
 bridges and trestles between there and Summit, eleven miles below, and 
 the cars, and a large amount of property, belonging to the Rebel Gov- 
 ernment, at Summit. No private property was destroyed at any of these 
 places. 
 
 On the 1st of May, proceeding southwestward, they came to a bridge 
 over one of the forks of Amit^ river, where the Rebels had stationed an 
 ambush, and Lieutenant-Colonel Blackburn, of the seventh Illinois, was 
 severely wounded in attempting to cross the bridge. The enemy were 
 put to flight by a few rounds from Smith's battery, and the column 
 marched on, and reached and crossed the Amit€ river without opposition 
 at ten o'clock p. M. 
 
 On the 2d of May they surprised and burned a Rebel camp at Sandy 
 creek bridge, and soon after captured forty-two of Stewart's Mississippi 
 cavalry on Comity river, and at noon made their triumphant entry into 
 Baton Rouge. 
 
 In this expedition they had in fifteen days marched nearly six hundred 
 miles, had cut every railroad in Mississippi, and destroyed most of them 
 for miles, had burned the greater part of the cars, and most of the locomo- 
 tives on those roads, taken and paroled over five hundred prisoners, 
 liberated and brought in over three hundred negroes, and taken a large 
 number of excellent horses. Their own loss had been very trifling — none 
 killed, and only eight or ten wounded. The communications of the 
 Rebels with Yicksburg in all directions had been completely broken up, 
 and could not be re-established for weeks; while to restore them to their 
 former condition was beyond the power of the Rebel Government. 
 
 After the Rebel General Marmaduke's summary expulsion from Mis- 
 souri — already detailed — he remained in Arkansas ; and it was generally 
 supposed had made his way toward the northwest of that State, hoping 
 for an opportunity to slip from the old battle-grounds, where he had been 
 so often repulsed, into Southwestern Missouri. The supposition proved 
 
1,10 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 erroneous ; for ho was still ia the region lying between the White and St. 
 Francis rivers, watching an opportunity for mischief, and contemplating 
 a junction with General Sterling Price, who was now second in command 
 in the Rebel Trans-Mississippi army, when the two purposed to make 
 a descent upon Helena, Arkansas, and drive out the Union forces there 
 under the command of General Prentiss. 
 
 Rumors of this purpose on the part of the Rebels had reached General 
 Prentiss early in May, and he resolved to ascertain the actual position of 
 Price's army, to break up a gang of guerrillas under the command of a 
 Colonel Dobbins, and also to destroy any supplies which the Rebels 
 might have collected in the region lying between the White and St. 
 Francis rivers. For this j)urpose, on the 6th of May, he directed Colonel 
 Powell Clayton, of the fifth Kansas cavalry, one of the best partisan 
 officers in the West, to take command of a brigade — composed of his own 
 regiment, the fifth Illinois cavalr}', the first Indiana cavalry, one section 
 of Ilayden's Dubuque battery, one company of the third Iowa cavalry, 
 and one thousand infantry under the command of Colonel Rice, of the 
 thirty-third Iowa, for an expedition to scour the region between the 
 White and St. Francis rivers. 
 
 Colonel Clayton detached the infantry, the section of artillery, and the 
 company of Iowa cavalry, under command of Colonel Rice, to take the 
 Cotton Plant road, and make a thorough reconnoissance in that vicinity. 
 In order to reach this place it became necessary to bridge the Bayou de 
 Vue, and believing that it would occupy too much time to construct a 
 bridge over this extensive swamp, such as would admit the passage of 
 artillery and cavalry, and having ascertained satisfactorily that there 
 were no Rebel troops at Cotton Plant, Colonel Rice concluded to return t» 
 Mariana, and look after Dobbins, who was said to be in that vicinity. By 
 this course, too, he would be within supporting distance of the cavalry, 
 should they need his assistance. 
 
 Meantime, Colonel Clayton, with his cavalry force of eleven hundred 
 men, had pushed on toward Clarendon, where he ascertained that the 
 Rebel General Price was at a point about midway between the Arkansas 
 and White rivers, fifty miles from Clarendon, with three brigades of in- 
 fantry, and four companies of artillery. From Clarendon Colonel Clayton 
 had gone northward, toward the L'Anguille river, by way of the military 
 road leading to Memphis. This road crosses the L'Anguille by a cordu- 
 roy bridge, which Colonel Clayton deemed it important to guard, as, if they 
 were attacked by superior numbers, it would be their only way of escape. 
 The Indiana regiment was accordingly detailed to guard it, and Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Jenkins, of the fifth Kansas, (who had just returned from 
 a dash to a camp of negroes, some eight miles distant, and had brought in 
 about twenty,) was sent to Taylor's creek, five miles distant, to recon- 
 noitre, and ascertain where Dobbins was. On arriving at Taylor's creek, 
 
MOVEMENTS OF COLONEL CLAYTON. 511 
 
 Colonel Jenkins learned that Dobbins bad crossed Hughes' ferry, near 
 Mount Vernon, some distance up the L'Anguille river, that afternoon, 
 and consequently could not be far off. This intelligence he immediately 
 communicated by messenger to Colonel Clayton, and went on himself to 
 McDaniel's mills, seven miles from the ferry, where he took the proprie- 
 tor of the mill (which had been running for the Rebel army all winter) 
 prisoner, and destroyed between fifty and sixty thousand bushels of corn. 
 Before dawn of the 12th, a negro came into Colonel Jenkins' camp, and 
 brought the unexpected and startling news that General Marmaduke, 
 with his whole command, was encamped not more than twenty-five miles 
 up the creek, at Wittsburgh, and that this plan had been devised to cut 
 ofi" the entire expedition; Colonel Dobbins was to be at Hughes' ferry 
 with five hundred men to dispute their crossing, while Marmaduke 
 moved down a strong force to attack them in rear. At first Colonel Jen- 
 kins was inclined to disbelieve the report, but further examination of the 
 negro convinced him of its truth, and he immediately despatched a second 
 messenger to Colonel Clayton with it. That officer, on the receipt of his 
 previous message, had sent him orders to advance at daylight on Dobbins, 
 and he would follow as soon as possible. On receiving his second 
 message, there seemed to be no other course but to move directly on Mar- 
 maduke, and this he did, without informing Colonel Jenkins. This occa- 
 sioned him much anxiety, as his instructions to Colonel Jenkins had 
 been to meet him at Taylor's creek, where he would await his coming, 
 and to do this would have brought him immediately upon Marmaduke's 
 force, which now lay between him and Colonel Clayton. But remember- 
 ing that Jenkins and his command (the Kansas fifth and the fourth Illi- 
 nois) had been thoroughly accustomed, for years, to independent action in 
 emergencies, he felt measurably assured that he was informed of Marma- 
 duke's position, and would not attempt to return to Taylor's creek, but 
 would cross at Hughes' ferry, where he would receive the support of the 
 infantry force under Colonel Rice. 
 
 Colonel Clayton's entire force with which he set out to meet Marmaduke, 
 consisted of only two hundred and thirty men, (the Indiana cavalry) the 
 Illinois and Kansas regiments being with Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins. 
 Of these, he was obliged to detail forty as a rear-guard to hold the bridge. 
 Marmaduke had three or four brigades, and his advance, which met Col- 
 onel Clayton, consisted of an entire brigade. The Kansas officers had, 
 however, met Marmaduke too often, and driven him from the field too 
 precipitately, to feel much concern about the superiority of numbers he 
 could bring against them. Colonel Clayton first found the Rebel general 
 near the village of Taylor's Creek, and after a brisk fight, succeeded in 
 driving him out of that village, and into a wood beyond. Following him 
 promptly, and securing a good position, he fought the Rebels for an hour 
 longer, when they fled in disorder. A part of them turned off in a direc- 
 
512 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tion which Colonel Clayton knew led to a road by which they could reach 
 the bridge and cut off his retreat. This he must prevent at all hazards, 
 and he accordingly formed his men in column, and marched promptly 
 for the bridge. Just before his arrival, about thirty of the Rebels, who 
 were in advance of the main force, came up and endeavored to set fire to 
 the bridge, but were quickly dispersed by his guard. Colonel Clayton 
 had just placed his little force in position, with his two small field-pieces 
 on an eminence which commanded the bridge, when Marmaduke came up, 
 and opened fire upon him with artillery and musketry. Clayton replied 
 so vigorously, that after half an hour Marmaduke and his troops fell back, 
 and sought the shelter of the hills. 
 
 Colonel Clayton was unwilling to show the weakness of his force by 
 pursuing them to their stronghold, and accordingly remained at the bridge, 
 thinking it possible, also, that Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins might attempt 
 to come there according to instructions. In the evening, several citizens 
 were brought into his camp, and from them he ascertained that there 
 were two routes, one above and the other below his camp, by which the 
 enemy could cross Taylor's creek, and reach his rear. Calculating the 
 time it would take them to arrive at the bridge, by either of these routes. 
 Colonel Clayton waited till eight p. M., and then causing the camp-fires 
 to be replenished, and the pickets in front to fire, so that the enemy 
 might believe him still at the bridge, he quietly took up his march for 
 Helena. 
 
 Meantime, Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins, learning that Marmaduke was 
 at Taylor's creek, and appreciating the importance of consolidating their 
 little forces, started at daylight of the eleventh, to join Colonel Clayton at 
 the bridge. He had not proceeded far before his advance-guard came 
 upon the enemy, and he at once dismounted seven companies, to serve as 
 his main body, threw out one company to the right, and another to the 
 left as skirmishers, two more to guard the flanks, and one to protect the 
 rear, and ordered an immediate advance. The fire of his men was so well 
 directed that the enemy broke and retired three times, retreating in all 
 about six hundred yards. This occupied about three fourths of an hour. 
 In thus driving the enemy back, Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins had reached 
 a very fovorable position, where a small force could successfully check a 
 large one, and ordered his men to cover tlie road, and reserve their fire 
 till the enemy came within forty yards. Presently the Rebels fired a most 
 terrific volley, and then parted right and left, when a regiment of cavalry, 
 finely mounted, rode toward them at full gallop, in columns of platoons, 
 their colors flying, and the heavy tread of their horses making the earth 
 shake. When within sixty yards, they broke out into a prolonged yell, 
 such as might have came from ten thousand Comanche Indians. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Jenkins, sitting calmly on his horse, watched their motions, 
 and gave the order quietly to his men : " Reserve your fire until they are 
 
ARRIVAL OF COLONEL CLAYTON AT HELENA. 513 
 
 close on you, and then let every shot tell." He knew his troops; not an 
 eye quailed, not a cheek blanched, but with set teeth, and a firm grasp of 
 their Sharps' rifles, every man awaited the shock. The Rebel cavalry 
 were within less than forty yards of the line, when, at the given signal, a 
 stream of fire burst upon them, so well directed and terrible that the head 
 of their column staggered, reeled, and finally broke in confusion, and fell 
 back through the woods to the rear. About twenty minutes elapsed, 
 when the twenty-first Texas (Rebel) Rangers came down in the same 
 stylcj led by Colonel Carter, their brigade commander, (the same who in 
 Marmaduke's raid demanded General McNeil's surrender). Rendered 
 desperate by the previous repulse of their comrades, they rode forward 
 more fiercely than their predecessors, and uttering the same wild yell, 
 were allowed to approach still nearer, when at Lieutenant-ColonelJenkins' 
 word of command, the torrent of flame again burst upon them and swept 
 them down as with the besom of destruction. Colonel Carter was among 
 the wounded, and most of the line officers. The ground was strewed with 
 the wounded, who were begging most piteously for water, and the Kansas 
 men, as tender to the wounded as brave in fight, though the battle still 
 raged, brought water to the men who but a few moments before had 
 sought their lives. 
 
 A third time the enemy attempted a cavalry charge, but they could not 
 be brought up to the close range which had twice proved so fatal, and 
 halting at the distance of seventy or eighty yards, they retired. Thus far the 
 fifth Kansas- had done all the fighting, but the fifth Illinois now came up^ 
 and were greeted with hearty cheers. The enemy, who were now ascer- 
 tained to be the Carter's brigade of Texan troops, about sixteen hundred 
 strong, had taken up a position beyond musket range, and commenced a 
 heavy artillery fire, having the exact range of Jenkins' camp. It was 
 "now dark, and finding that the enemy could reach his rear by good roads 
 at a short distance, Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins, after consulting his offi- 
 cers, determined to cross the L' Anguille at Hughes ferry, though Dobbins' 
 force was said to be there. On arriving at the ferry, he found that Col- 
 onel Rice had driven Dobbins away, and crossing in safety, by swimming 
 his horses, he reached Helena the next day, May 12th. The loss of the 
 Union forces in this expedition was two killed, and nineteen wounded. 
 The loss of the Rebels was about fifty killed, and one hundred wounded, 
 including one colonel, four captains, and five lieutenants. The brigade 
 destroyed in all, about one hundred thousand dollars' worth of Rebel sup- 
 plies, and brought away thirty or forty negroes. 
 
 Among the minor skirmishes and affairs which occurred during the 
 latter part of April, and the first week in May, were several raids made 
 by Rebel cavalry under Imboden, Jenkins, Harper, and "William E.Jones 
 in "Western "Virginia, at Piedmont, Cranberry Summit, Oakland, Rowles- 
 burg, Altamont, and other points on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad 
 33 
 
5U THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 intended to ascertain the feasibility of an advance of General Lee's army 
 upon Pittsburg, and a severe fight at Greenland gap, a narrow pass in 
 Knobley mountains, Hardy county, where a little Union force of seventy- 
 five men withstood three attacks of a Rebel force of fifteen hundred men, 
 for more than two hours, and were only driven from their position by the 
 Rebels firing tlie building (a church) in which they had stationed them- 
 selves. The Union loss was two killed, and four wounded; the Rebel 
 loss in killed and wounded, was over eighty, including one colonel and 
 several line oflicers, being more than the whole Union force. In the De- 
 partment of the Gulf, Rcar-Adniiral Porter, early in May, completed the 
 series of triumphs of the Union arms in Central Louisiana, already com- 
 menced by General Banks, by the capture of Alexandria, on the Red 
 river, and the destruction of its fortifications, and by the burning of stores 
 belonging to the Rebel Government, of the value of about three hundred 
 thousand dollars, on the Black river, by gunboats belonging to his 
 squadron. 
 
 In the Department of the Ohio, on the 30th of April, General Carter, 
 on moving his division, about five thousand troops, across the Cumberland 
 river, at Monticello, Kentucky, encountered a considerable Rebel force, 
 variously estimated at from two thousand to thirty-five hundi'cd, under the 
 command of Colonels Chenault, Morrison, and I'egram, with which his 
 advance-guard skirmished briskly through the day, driving the Rebels 
 two or three miles on the Albany road, and finally pursuing a portion of 
 them some distance farther. The Rebels retreated toward Albany, and 
 the Union troops returned to their camp at Monticello. The Union losses 
 were very slight, one or two killed, and four or five wounded. The Rebel 
 loss was nine killed, a considerable number wounded, and about twenty 
 prisoners, including two ofScers. 
 
SIEGE OP WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 515 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF WASHINGTON, NOKTH CAROLINA — ATTEMPTS TO RAISE IT — THE STEAMER ESCORT 
 RUNS PAST THE BATTERIES WITH REINFORCEMENTS AND SUPPLIES — GENERAL FOSTER ES- 
 CAPES IN HER AND PREPARES TO RAISE THE SIEGE — THE REBELS ABANDON IT — SIEGE OF 
 SUFFOLK, TIRQINIA — LONGSTKEET ABANDONS IT TO REINFORCE LEE — HOOKEu's MANAGE- 
 MENT OF THE ARMT OP THE POTOMAC — HIS PLANS FOR ATTACKING LEE — MOVEMENTS OF 
 HIS TROOPS — RUSE BELOW FREDERICKSBURG — THE CONCENTRATION OF SIX CORPS IN THE 
 VICINITY OF CHANCELLOBSVILLE — THE COUNTERPLOT OF LEE — JACKSOn'S ATTACK ON THE 
 EIGHT WING — PANIC IN THE ELEVENTH CORPS — THEIR FLIGHT — THE ADVANCE OF THE 
 REBELS CHECKED BY BERRY'S DIVISION — BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS — JACKSON MORTALLY 
 WOUNDED — HOOKER EE-FORMS HIS LINES — BATTLE OF CHANCELLOBSVILLE, ON SUNDAY 
 MORNING — HOOKER AGAIN CHANGES HIS LINES — MOVEMENTS OF SEDGWICK's CORPS — 
 BATTLE OF MARTe's HILL — BATTLE OF SALEM HEIGHTS — THE REBELS RECAPTURE FREDERICKS- 
 BURG BATTLE OP banks' FORD — SEDGWICk's CORPS CROSS THE FORD — GENERAL HOOKER 
 
 CALLS A COUNCIL OF WAR — RECROSSES THE RAPPAHANNOCK AT UNITED STATES FORD — 
 REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN, 
 
 The Department, of North Carolina, and the adjacent region of South- 
 eastern Virginia, were, during the month of April, the theatres of some 
 severe fighting. Washington, North Carolina, on the Tar river, at the 
 point where it debouches into the wide estuary known as Pamlico river, 
 had been occupied by a Union garrison for nearly a year, greatly to the 
 annoyance of the Rebels, who hud made fi-equent attempts to recapture 
 it, but without success. As they had no gunboats in the waters of North 
 Carolina, they were obliged to confine themselves to attacks by land, and 
 these the Union gunboats generally repulsed with heavy loss. 
 
 On the 30th of March, there was a garrison of about two thousand 
 Union troops there", and the commander of the department, Major-General 
 Foster, was at this time in the place. A strong force of Rebels (two 
 divisions) under the command of General D. H. Hill and General J. J. 
 Pettigrew, appeared, early in the morning of that day, before the place, 
 and drove in the Union pickets and skirmishers with considerable loss, 
 but they were held at bay by the garrison ; and the gunboat Commodore 
 Hull opening upon them with shell, they were driven back to the hills 
 surrounding the town, where they immediately commenced fortifying, 
 with a view of besieging it. They also planted batteries with strong 
 earthworks on Rodman's Point, opposite Washington, at Hill's Point, and 
 at other promontories on the Pamlico river, near and below the town, 
 with a view to prevent the gunboats from aiding in its defence. On the 
 4th of April, the garrison attempted to capture the battery on Rodman's 
 Point, two hundred infantry, under the command of General Potter, em- 
 barking for that purpose on the gunboat Ceres, and intending to land at 
 
5ir. THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a point above, and attack the battery in rear, while the gunboats assailed 
 in front. The attempt was foiled, however, by the Ceres grounding while 
 within range of the Rebel battery, before the troops were able to land. 
 The enemy immediately opened fire upon her, killing and wounding five 
 men, when the gunboat getting afloat retired. The same day, the Sylvan 
 Shore, a Union transport, coming from Beaufort with troops for Wash- 
 ington, was fired at by the batteries on the Pamlico, and compelled to 
 return to Beaufort. The next day, the Union gunboats Ceres and Com- 
 modore Hull attacked the Rebel batteries on Hill's Point, and bombarded 
 them for two hours, but were unable to capture them. The Rebel force 
 besieging the town was increased by constant reinforcements, and was 
 drawing its lines closer and closer around the town. A force of eight 
 thousand Union troops, under the command of General Spinola, sent from 
 Newbern by way of the Neuse river, on the 5th of April, to reinforce 
 General Foster and raise the siege, met a superior force of the enemy, 
 and returned to Newborn, reaching that city on the 10th. Learning of 
 their retreat, the Union commander at Newbern resolved to attempt send- 
 ing reinforcements, ammunition, and supplies, by steamer up the Pamlico, 
 and past the Rebel batteries. The captain of the transport steamer E.scort 
 volunteered to run the batteries with his steamer, which was very fast, 
 and succeeded, though not without some damage to the steamer. He 
 reached Washington on the 13th, and General Foster the next day went 
 on board the steamer, and running past the batteries reached Newbern 
 in safety, when he immediately commenced organizing an expedition for 
 raising the siege. The Rebels finding that he had left the beleagnen d 
 city, and knowing that he would soon bring a force against tlicm which 
 they could not resist, prudently abandoned the siege on the niglit of the 
 loth. 
 
 On the Nansemond river, in the vicinity of Suffolk, Virginia, there was 
 some sharp fighting during the month. On the 12th and 13th of April, 
 there was considerable skirmishing, the Union force, under General Peck, 
 being attacked by a considerable body of Rebels, under the command of 
 Generals Longstreet and Anderson, who were beaten off by Pecl<'s troops 
 and the gunboats Mount Washington and West End. In the action of 
 the 13th the Mount Washington was seriously damaged. On Tuesday, 
 tlie 13tli, the Rebels were reinforced, and one division assailed General 
 Peck, while another engaged the Union batteries and gunboats on the 
 water front. Both were repulsed with heavy loss, though the West End 
 was crippled, and .seven of her crew killed or wounded. The Union gun- 
 boats Commodore Barney and Stepping Stones participated in the fight ; 
 and ai'ter a few hours bombardment the Rebel batteries were silenced and 
 the troops driven back. On Wednesday (loth) a Rebel battery of twenty 
 pounder rifled guns was effectually silenced, and an attack on the Smith 
 Briggs, an armed quartermasters' boat, repulsed. For the next two or 
 
HOOKER'S PKBPAEATIONS FOR ATTACKING LBE.^ 51Y 
 
 three days, repeated attempts were made on the Uuiou lines — General 
 Hill having come from Washington, North Carolina, to reinforce Long- 
 street — but all were foiled. On the 13th the Eebel battery near the west 
 branch of the Nansemond was stormed by General Getty, and the Union 
 gunboats under command of Lieutenant Commander Lawson, and six 
 guns and two hundred prisoners were captured The enemy kept up 
 skirmishing for several days longer, but with little success, and finally 
 abandoned the struggle, having lost a large number of killed and wounded, 
 four hundred prisoners, and six guns, during its progress. The Union 
 loss was forty-four killed, two hundred and one wounded, and fourteen 
 missing. As Suffolk possessed no advantage as a military post, and was 
 not susceptible of a good defence, the garrison was soon after withdrawn 
 within the new lines constructed around Norfolk. 
 
 From these minor skirmishes and battles, which, though possessing local 
 interest, were in no sense material to the final issue of the war, we now 
 turn our attention to the army of the Potomac, where preparations were 
 making for another of those great battles, which it was hoped might prove 
 decisive. 
 
 From the time when General Hooker took command of that army, his 
 energies had been directed to increasing its efficiency in discipline, in 
 mobility, and in esprit-du-corps. Incompetent and disaffected officers had 
 been dismissed; the army train, that incubus which had always paralyzed 
 its movements, had been cut down to two wagons for each regiment ; pack 
 mules had been substituted for wagons, whenever they could be with ad- 
 vantage; the health of the men had been carefully provided for, and their 
 comfort, as far as was consistent with that hardening and toughening 
 which is necessary to make first rate soldiers, had been cared for. The 
 cavalry had been greatly improved, and was now a more efficient arm of 
 the service ; and, in every respect, the army was in more perfect condition 
 than it had ever previously been. 
 
 It was not the purpose of a commander, whose successful and skilfully 
 managed attacks upon the enemy, when in a subordinate command, had 
 won him the sobriquet of "fighting Joe Hooker," to bring his army up to 
 this splendid condition, without hurling them upon the foe, as soon as a 
 favorable opportunity presented itself; and if, as was hardly to be expected, 
 the opportunity did not come of itself, he held it to be the duty of a gen- 
 eral to make one. 
 
 The topography of the country on both banks of the Eappahannock 
 and Rapidan had been carefully studied, and the fords, the slopes of the 
 hills, the banks of the rivers, the railroads, plank-roads, and turnpikes 
 traced, in the hope of discovering some point where a blow could be suc- 
 cessfully struck, and the adroit and able Rebel general outwitted. 
 
 At length General Hooker seemed to have found what he sought, and 
 busied himself in perfecting the details of a plan which as yet he did not 
 
518 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 communicate even to liis most trusted corps commanders, giving them 
 only their orders, from day to day, for each day's movements. A large 
 cavalry force under General Stoneman, with General Averill and Gen- 
 eral Kilpatrick as subordinates, was sent off upon a secret expedition ; and 
 on the 26th of April orders were issued that the different corps should be 
 prepared to break up camp the following day, with eight days cooked 
 rations. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th of April, the several army corps were put 
 in motion, but the purpose of tlie commander was still impenetrably 
 veiled. Three corps, the first (Major-General Eeynolds), the third (Major- 
 General Sickles), and the sixth (Major-General Sedgwick), were moved, 
 Monday evening, to a point near the bank of the Rappahannock, two 
 miles below Fredericksburg— the same place where General Franklin had 
 crossed before the battle of Frederick.sburg-^and were covered from the 
 enemy's view by the curtain of hills which fringe the Rappahannock in 
 that part of its course. At the same time, the fifth corps (Major-General 
 Meade's), and the twelfth (Major-General Slocura's), were despatched, by 
 different roads, up the north bank of the Rappahannock, and took up 
 positions in the neighborhood of Banks' and United States fords, which 
 are respectively eight and eleven miles above Fredericksburg. The 
 eleventh corps (Major-General Iloward's) had gone in the same direction, 
 on the night of the 26th. The second (Major-General Couch's) remained- 
 in camp during the day. 
 
 At dawn on Tuesday, April 28, the boats had been unloaded from pon- 
 toon trains, and under cover of a heavy fog, Russell's brigade of Brookes' 
 division, sixth (Sedgwick's) army corps, pushed rapidly over the river, 
 took possession of the Rebel rifle-pits on the Fredericksburg side, in which 
 were about four hundred Rebel sharpshooters, took a few prisoners, and 
 assisted in laying the bridges, over which, in the course of the morning, 
 the whole of Brookes' division passed. The remaining divisions of that 
 corps did not cross that day. The third corps (Major General Sickles') 
 had been ordered back to camp, and sent up the river. The first corps 
 (Major General Reynolds') attempted to cross about a mile and a-half be- 
 low Sedgwick's, but were annoyed by the Rebel sharpshooters to such an 
 extent that they could not effect a crossing till after ten o'clock, when 
 the batteries opened upon the rifle-pits from the Falmouth side, and kept 
 the sharpshooters in check till a reinforcement could cross in boats 
 and drive them out. One hundred and fifty Rebels were captured by this 
 movement. The bridges were then laid, and General Wadsworth's di- 
 vision crossed. The remaining divisions of both Reynolds' and Sedg- 
 wick's corps, together with the artillery and cavalry, were marched and 
 countermarched around the lulls, near the banks of the Rappahannock, 
 in such a way as to give the impression that the force crossed there was 
 not less than a hundred thousand men. This had the desired effect. The 
 
MOVEMENTS OP THE AEMY OF THE POTOMAC. 519 
 
 Rebel forces posted below, as well as those above, began to swarm into 
 Fredericksburg, and toward. the fortified heights which encompassed it, 
 evidently expecting a repetition of the scenes of December. They were 
 destined to disappointment. 
 
 Major-General Howard's corps (the eleventh) had passed on beyond 
 United States ford to Kelley's ford, on the Upper Rappahannock, twenty- 
 seven miles above Fredericksburg, where they crossed on a pontoon bridge, 
 and were followed by Slocum's and Meade's corps. Howard's and Slocum's 
 corps proceeded twelve miles south, to Germania ford, across the Rapidan, 
 which they crossed by wading. Meade's corps took a road leading east- 
 ward, and crossed the Rapidan at Ely's ford. At Germania ford, a force 
 of one hundred and fifty Rebel pioneers, who were building a bridge, 
 were captured. Having crossed the Rapidan, both columns moved, as 
 ordered, toward Chancellorsville, a large mansion situated at the junction 
 of the turnpike from Gordonsville to Fredericksburg, with the Culpepper, 
 Orange Court House, and Fredericksburg plank road, about ten miles west 
 of Fredericksburg. Pleasanton's cavalry kept up a communication be- 
 tween the diflerent corps, and protected them on either side from Rebel 
 cavalry. By this movement, United States ford, eleven miles from Fred- 
 ericksburg, and just below the mouth of the Rapidan, was opened, the Reb- 
 els flying from our cavalry, and Major-General Couch's corps (the second), 
 which had lain at Falmouth up to this time, moved forward, crossed that 
 ford, and approached Chancellorsville by a road running directly south 
 from the ford. The tliird corps (Sickles') and the first (Reynolds') had 
 been withdrawn from their position below Fredericksburg and followed 
 Couch's corps to United States ford. As these corps drew near their des- 
 tination, they took position around Chancellorsville as follows : Howard's 
 lay upon the road by which they had come, occupying most of the space 
 between Wilderness church, between four and five miles west of Chancel- 
 lorsville, and Dowdall's tavern, two miles west of that place. Slocum's 
 corps, passing Howard's, had camped around Dowdall's tavern ; Sickles', 
 coming from United States ford, had passed Chancellorsville and Dow- 
 dall's, and lay along a road extending southward from Dowdall's to the 
 left, and in rear of Howard's; Meade's, which had been the first to reach 
 Chancellorsville, was encamped arouqd the Chancellor house, and to the 
 right and left of it; Couch was posted along the road lending to United 
 States ford, to guard it, while Reynolds, who was the last comer, was lyino' 
 along the Rapidan, northwest of Chancellorsville, his left being about 
 four miles from Howard's right. The sixth corps (Sedgwiclc's) had finally 
 crossed below Fredericksburg, with the intention of flanking and capturino- 
 the heights which had been so formidable in December. 
 
 The movements by which Hooker had thus turned Lee's flank, and 
 compelled him to move out of his fortifications and fight in the open field, 
 were masterly, and, as it appeared, took Lee by surprise. The Union 
 
520 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 troops reached Chancellorsville on Thursday evening, April 30. In the 
 house at Chancellorsville was found a letter from Lee's chief of staff, Gen- 
 eral Taylor, dated at 4.29 p. M. of that day, in which he informs the Rebel 
 officer in command at that post that General Lee had that moment heard 
 that the Federal force was across Ely's ford, (they had crossed it eighteen 
 hours before;) that General Anderson — who commanded at United States 
 ford with a couple of brigades — knew nothing of their arrival, and con- 
 cludes by asking him "to come down immediately and consult the com- 
 mandino; sjeneral." 
 
 On Thursday night, April 30th, General Hooker issued the following 
 order : 
 
 " Heabqcabters Armt of the Potomac, near Fai-mocth, Yiroinia, 
 
 " Jpril 30, 1863. 
 "It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the general commanding announces 
 to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined 
 that our enemy must ingloriously fly, or come out from behind their de- 
 fences, and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction 
 awaits them. 
 
 "The operations of the fifth, eleventh, and twelfth corps have been a 
 series of splendid successes. 
 
 " By command of Major-General Hooker. 
 "S. Williams, Adjutant- General." 
 
 General Lee, though unquestionably outgeneraled by this brilliant ami 
 rapid movement, was too shrewd and experienced a commander to hesi- 
 tate long in his action. He did not probably comprehend at first the full 
 magnitude of Hooker's plans; but he was strong enough to give battle on 
 equal terms to General Hooker, even on ground of his own choosing, for 
 he had, as it afterward appeared, withdrawn the greater part of the Rebel 
 troops from Charleston, and had been reinforced by Longstreet's and IliU's 
 divisions, which, as we have seen, had up to a few days before been oper- 
 ating in the vicinity of Suffolk. With these additions his force probably 
 approached very nearly one hundred thousand men. He had also the two 
 advantages, of great importance to a general in his position, of moving on 
 the interior or shorter line, and of knowing thoroughly and minutely the 
 topography of the region in which the impending battles were to be 
 fought. 
 
 The Union troops, on Friday, were taking their positions and throw- 
 ing up defences, with a view to resist more effectually the advance of the 
 enemy; for it was General Hooker's design to make the battle at first a 
 defensive one; to let Jackson, who, from the situation he was known to 
 occupy, would be likely to be the first to assail him, throw himself upon 
 his front, till he was thoroughly exhausted, and then to bring forward his 
 strong reserves, perfectly fresh, and annihilate the Rebel army. To effect 
 this purpose he had arranged his troops in the form of an irregular tri- 
 
EVENTS PRECEDING THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS . 521 
 
 angle, of which the Rapidan and Eappahannock formed the base, the Gor- 
 donsville turnpike one of the sides, and Chancellorsville the apex — How- 
 ard's, Sickles' and Slocum's corps being on the right leg of the triangle, 
 Meade's at the apes and along the left leg, and Couch extending along the 
 left leg, to join Eeynolds, whose corps formed the base. The extreme right, 
 Howard's corps, should have joined Eeynolds', but there was really a gap 
 of four miles of a wooded region between them. Howard's corps had been, 
 until recently, commanded by General Sigel ; it was composed maiuly of 
 German regiments, though some of the regiments of one division were of 
 American birth, and they were somewhat disaffected at the loss of their 
 favorite commander. The three divisions of which the corps was com- 
 posed were commanded by General Steinwehr, a gallant and experienced 
 officer. General Devens, a Massachusetts ofi&cer of moderate reputation, 
 and General Carl Schurz, who, though possessing undoubted bravery and 
 resolution, perhaps lacked somewhat the experience to make him in all re- 
 spects qualified to occupy, as he did at this time, the post of danger. 
 
 Before proceeding to narrate the events of the battle of Saturday, May 
 2d, it may be well to describe briefly the topographical character of the 
 region in which the battle was fought. The turnpike from Fredericks- 
 burg to Gordonsville passed in this part of its route three prominent 
 buildings, which we have already named, situated at about two miles 
 distance from each other, viz : the Chancellor House, which was General 
 Hooker's headquarters, ten miles west of Fredericksburg, and in the 
 middle of a clearing of elliptical form about a mile in length, by half a mile 
 in width. Be3^ond this, on all sides the country was broken and wooded, 
 rising toward Fredericksburg, to the heights which overlook that city. 
 Two miles west of this house was Dowdall's tavern, surrounded by undulat- 
 ing fields, but on the northern, eastern, and southern sides having heavy 
 timber; within a moderate distance, on the west side, the land sloped down 
 toward open ground, traversed by a small brook. Two miles farther west, 
 in the midst of a dense forest, was a church known as " Wilderness Church," 
 or as oTten as "Wilderness." On either side of this turnpike was a 
 broken country, wooded, and with a dense undergrowth, and few clearings, 
 and traversed by country roads, coming into the turnpike at a variety of 
 angles. 
 
 There had been some skirmishing during the afternoon of Friday, May 
 1st, having mainly for its object the compelling the Eebel commander to 
 develop his force, while at the same time it made the Union officers more 
 familiar with the country, and the routes by which the enemy would' 
 approach to attack them. 
 
 All through Friday night General Howard heard a confused sound 
 south and west of him in the woods — the rattle of wagons, the clatter of 
 axes, men's voices, the low words of a multitude. Many supposed that 
 Lee, finding himself flanked, was retreating to Gordonsville. It was 
 
] 
 
 522 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 known that there was a country road, which had formerly been a turnpike, 
 
 whicli branched from the Gordonsville and Fredericksburg turnpike, south- 
 ward, five or six miles west of Fredericksburg, and crossed the Orange 
 Court House and Fredericksburg plank road nearly at right angles. 
 This road crossed the one running south from Dowdall's, on which 
 Sickles' corps was posted, also at right angles. The movement of 
 troops which Howard had heard on that Friday night was " Stonewall" 
 Jackson's corps, with Longstreet's division, making in all a force of about 
 forty thousand. They had passed along this old road to a point southwest 
 of Wilderness church, and had, during that night and the next morning, 
 cut a new road from tlie old road to the Gordonsville turnpike, and by a 
 little after noon of Saturday, May 2d, were massed near and to the south 
 of the Gordonsville pike, just west of Wilderness church. A part of his 
 advance-guard occupied a ridge curving round to the road, running south 
 from Dowdull's, and had thrown up some temporary earthworks and 
 planted one or two batteries in the vicinity of that road. 
 
 General Sickles had moved down on this road in the afternoon of Satur- 
 day, his advance going nearly five miles south. In thus advancing, he 
 had come in contact with Jackson's right wing, under General Longstreet, 
 and the Eebcl army train, and had found it intrenched. As he had but one 
 division with him, and met a steady resistance, he sent back to General 
 Howard asking for support, as he was going to attack the enemy. Howard 
 .sent word that he would support him, and sent a staff officer to ascertain 
 the exact locality of his line of battle, that he might join it on the right. 
 A few moments later, he received an order from General Hooker to send 
 a brigade to General Sickles. In compliance with this order, he took 
 his reserve, Bohlen's brigade, the best in his corps, conducted it in person 
 to its position, and returned with all speed, but was, nevertheless, too 
 late to arrest tlie panic which in tliat brief interval had seized his corps. 
 
 He had been suspicious, during the afternoon, that the Rebels wore 
 massitig their troops to the southwest of his position, but was not aware 
 that they had attained a location in which they could flank hfm. The 
 eleventli corps had been placed in a position in which its three divisions 
 formed three sides of a hollow square; the third division, General Carl 
 Schurz, lying north and parallel to the Gordonsville pike; the second 
 division, General Steinwehr, tit right angles with them, and f;iciiig Jack- 
 son's troops ; and the first division. General Devcns, lying parallel with 
 tlie third, below the Gordonsville pike. General Sickles' movement had 
 left a break between this division, and Birney's division of his corps, and 
 Bohlen's brigade from Howard's corps, which had just reinforced him. 
 
 General Howard, returning from General Sickles' line, about half past 
 six P. M., as we have savl, beard the roar of the enem^^'s artillery ; and 
 soon after, on his extreme right, where General Schurz's division was in 
 line, the rattle of musketry, and the yells of the Rebel soldiery. Putting 
 
PANIC IN THE ELEVENTH CORPS. 523 
 
 his horse to a gallop, he soon reached the left, General Devens' division, 
 which had also been attacked, and found both this and Schurz's, under 
 the influence of the terrible panic, caused by the unexpected onset of more 
 than three times their number, melting away, and despite the efforts of 
 their officers, and the heroic con-duct of some of the regiments, flying in 
 sad and terrible disorder to Chancellorsville. Steinwehr's division held 
 out longest, and struggled nobly to beat back the tide of panic-stricken 
 men that was sweeping them down, but in vain, and they too were at last 
 drawn into the current. Howard, left almost alone, begged, threatened, 
 and strove with all his might to rally his men and retrieve their disgrace, 
 but all in vain. With every yell of the enemy they fled the faster. 
 
 The news of this panic and retreat reached General Hooker a few min- 
 utes later, and mounting his horse, he was soon galloping at full speed to 
 the scene of the disaster. He had no need to go far; the flying soldiers, 
 who had now lost all self possession in the agony of panic, were rushing 
 toward Chancellorsville in hot haste, each believing himself but an arm's 
 length from the Eebel force. To check this torrent of frightened men, 
 and to drive back the advancing Rebel force in the full flush of victory, 
 were the tasks required of the commanding general, and with a prompt 
 decision he undertook them. Before him, 9.nd as yet unaffected by the 
 panic,'w£ls General Berry's division of Sickles' corps. Hooker's own old 
 division, with which he had fought through the battles of the Peninsula 
 and Pope's campaign, and which had fought so nobly at Antietam and 
 Fredericksburg. That division, now commanded by General Berry, was, 
 in many respects, the finest in the army. To send this, his favorite division, 
 into the breach to stay the onward rush of Stonewall Jackson's fortv 
 thousand veterans, was his determination, and very characteristic was his 
 order to General Berry : "General, throw your men into the breach — 
 receive the enemy on your bayonets — don't fire a shot— they can't see 
 you 1" The order was obeyed with a promptness and resolution which 
 showed the thorough discipline as well as the heroism of the division. 
 Forward they dashed, at the double-quickstep, but in perfect line, with 
 their bayonets at a charge, in the fast gathering darkness, and as the 
 Rebels rushed furiously onvrard their advance was summarily checked 
 by the solid line of glittering steel, but not until the head of their columns 
 had gone down under this gallant charge. 
 
 Meantime, General Hooker was exerting himself to stop the retreat of 
 the eleventh corps, and brave officers and men were rendering him efficient 
 aid in the attempt. Sickles had been promptly recalled, and did himself 
 great honor by his zeal in checking the fugitives. The artillery of the 
 corps, with the exception of seven or eight guns which they abandoned, 
 was thundering down the road, as much panic-stricken as the infantry. 
 About half-way from Dowdall's to Chancellorsville was a stone Wall, 
 extending from Scott's creek to the woods, with a gateway across the 
 
524 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 road. Eeaching this gateway before the flying artillery had arrived at it, 
 he rode directly at the foremost piece, with sword drawn and pistol raised, 
 and threatened instant death to the drivers unless they stopped. Unlim- 
 bering the piece, it was turned against the fugitives. Those behind came 
 crowding on, but could get no farther, and the officers rallying them, their 
 courage began to return, and they soon formed in order. The infantry 
 tumbled headlong over the wall, but Pleasanton's cavalry checked their 
 progress, and General Pleasanton himself took charge of the artillerj', 
 turned it up on the ridge, formed it in battery, and brought his cavalry 
 up to support it. Meantime, Captain Best, chief of artillery in Sickles' 
 corps, had brought his pieces in position in line with what had thus been 
 saved of Howard's, and with these forty cannon, all pieces of large calibre, 
 opened upon the Rebels, already checked and flung back by the bayonets 
 of Berry's division. It was when his columns had met their first check, 
 but were about to press forward for another assault on the Union troops, 
 that the Rebel General Jackson met his death-wound from the fire of his 
 own men. lie had gone forward to reconnoitre with some members of 
 his staff, leaving orders to General Hill not to fire unless the enemy (the 
 Union troops) should approach to attack them. Ilaving completed his 
 reconnoissance, he was returning upon a trot toward his corps, when the 
 advance, supposing that the enemy were approaching, fired and wounded 
 him severely, in tlie arm near the shoulder, and in both fore-arms, and 
 killed and wounded some of his staff. He fell from his horse, but was 
 caught by one of his staff; and at this moment the Union troops making 
 a charge, drove back his staff, and charged over his body. They were in 
 turn driven back a short distance, and tlie Rebel advance coming up he 
 was placed upon a litter, and while being borne to the rear, the artillery 
 fire, already mentioned, opened upon the Rebels, hia litter bearers wore 
 shot down, and he was seriously injured by the fall and contusions. From 
 these injuries, and an attack of pneumonia, partly if not wholly induced 
 by them, he died on the 10th of May. 
 
 General Jackson was thus disabled at a critical moment. It had been 
 his intention, as he himself avowed, to penetrate that night, and within 
 an hour, to the vicinity of the United States ford, and thus cutting off the 
 line of retreat of the Union troops, he would have had them very much 
 at his mercy. This intention failed of execution in consequence of his 
 wound, and the Rebels losing the presence and enthusiasm of their 
 greatest general, lost with it their desperate energy and dash, and fell 
 back more readily under the galling fire and determined charges of the 
 Union troops. It was nearly ten o'clock when General Jackson was 
 wounded, and the fighting continued till about midnight; when, after a 
 last fierce onslaught upon General Berry's division, now supported by 
 Whipple's and Birney's divisions, both of Sickles' corps, and by the 
 remnantiof Howard's corps (which, with almost superhuman exertion, he 
 
NEW LINES ESTABLISHED BY HOOKER. 525 
 
 had reformed and brought up to their work), they gave way and fell back, 
 the Union troops regaining a part of their lost ground. The _Rebel 
 General A. P. Hill, " Stonewall" Jackson's successor, was wounded in this 
 attack. There was no more fighting through the night, but the Union 
 generals had full employment in reforming and strengthening their lines 
 for the renewal of the struggle in the morning. 
 
 The new lines established by General Hooker were arranged with skill. 
 The eleventh corps re-organized, but after its flight the day before, hardly 
 yet firm enough to be trusted in a dangerous position, was placed in 
 reserve, and Berry's and Birney's divisions of Sickles' corps in the advance. 
 The arrangement of the troops was still in the form of a V or triangle, 
 and the apex was a little below Chancellorsville, but the Gordonsville 
 turnpike was no longer the line on which a part of thS corps was massed; 
 they were arranged rather with reference to the United States ford road, 
 which runs at right angles with the turnpike. The line which the day 
 before lay along the Gordonsville pike from Chancellorsville to Wilder- 
 ness church, had been swung around at nearly a right angle, and now 
 rested on the Eappahannock near the embouchure of the Rapidan. 
 Reynolds' corps was nearest the Rapidan, Meade below him, and a little 
 farther east, while Couch was still farther southeast and rested near the 
 west side of the road to the United States ford. These three corps were 
 in a strong position, and were unassailed by the enemy. Below and 
 farther west, just north of the Gordonsville pike, and perhaps half a mile 
 west of Chancellorsville, Berry's division occupied the extreme advance, 
 with Whipple's division in reserve immediately behind him; south of the 
 turnpike, and forming a continuation of Berry's line, was Birney's 
 division of Sickles' corps, with Williams' division of Slocum's corps in 
 reserve. In rear of these, on the other side of the United States ford 
 road, and forming, with Birney and Williams, the apex of the V, was the 
 remainder of Slocum's corps; while extending north of this toward 
 Banks' ford, and joining it on the right, was Howard's corps. The 
 artillery was massed in such a way as to command the approaches by the 
 turnpike on both sides. 
 
 Adhering to the figure of the V as the best illustration of the position 
 of General Hpoker's forces, it will be seen from the preceding account of 
 the location of the different corps and divisions that the Gordonsville 
 road cut the V just above the joint thus, y. To gain possession of this 
 road, and thus press the Union troops back to the Rappahannock, was the 
 paramount object of the Rebel commanders. For this purpose, they had 
 been massing their troops through the night on both sides of the turn- 
 pike, and now, Lee having come up, confronted Berry and Birney, with a 
 force of nearly or quite seventy-five thousand men. Jackson's corps, now 
 commanded by the Rebel cavalry general, J. E. B. Stuart, advanced on 
 the north side of the turnpike, and the rest of the Rebel army, under 
 
526 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 command of Lee himself, on the south side. They commenced the attack 
 at about 5.30 A. M., Sunday morning May 3d, coming through the woods 
 in solid mass, and receiving in their faces the terrible hailstorm which 
 burst with the fury of a tornado from Berry's and Birney's lines, and 
 from Whipple's and Williams', which were at once advanced to the front. 
 The batteries, at that range, hurled upon them grape and canister. The 
 advancing column was cut up and gashed as if pierced, seamed, and 
 plowed by lightning strokes. Companies and regiments melted away, 
 yet still they came. Berry and Birney advanced to meet them, and the 
 shock was terrible. The living masses surged and rolled against each 
 other like the billows of the sea in a tempest. The euemy, maddened by 
 the resistance of these brave men, rushed up to the muzzles of the cannon, 
 only to be swept back, leaving long lanes of dead men piled where the 
 grape and canister passed through. The Eebel commanders pushed their 
 men forward, and filled up the lines as fast as they were mowed down. 
 
 But with the immense odds of seventy-five thousand men against 
 twelve or fifteen thousand, the preponderance of numbers must eventually 
 tell, and the weaker party be forced back by the sheer weight of the foe. 
 It was so in this case. General Sickles sent for reinforcements, and 
 General Hooker ordered Generals French and Hancock of Couch's corps 
 to advance past Meade and attack the enemy in flank. Couch's corps 
 was in the centre of the V; but in obedience to this order, instead of 
 marching directly down to the point, their divisions marched westward 
 and encountered Stuart, and in half an hour's hard fighting put his troops 
 to night. Mean'time Sickles had been unable to hold out against the vast 
 force assailing him, and his divisions were being driven back toward 
 Chancellorsville ; General Berry was killed, and some of his brigadiers 
 disabled, and large numbers of his men were straggling noi'thward toward 
 the ford, not panic-stricken, but worn out and exhausted. They had had 
 no food since noon of the day before, and no sleep, and had been most of 
 the time fighting five or six times their number. General Hooker feeling 
 that his reserves, Reynolds' and Meade's corps, might yet be wanted for a 
 still more desperate struggle, did not bring them forward, but drstwing 
 Sickles' divisions back a short distance, he reinforced them with Couch's 
 divisions, and thus still retained his V-shaped line, only that the Y was 
 now shorter, thicker, and blunter ; and what was of more importance, 
 every part of this new line was strongly intrenched. The batlle of the 
 morning ended at a little past eleven o'clock. During this battle, and that 
 of the previous evening, the Union troops had taken over two thousand 
 prisoners, and had lost, by the panic in the eleventh corps, somewhat 
 more than three thousand. The line of the turnpike had been relin- 
 quished by General Hooker, but at a disastrous cost to the enemy, who" now 
 were in front and to the left, the greater part of their force being massed 
 directly between him and Fredericksburg. During the remainder of the 
 

I 
 
MOVEMENTS OF SEDGWICK'S CORPS. 527 
 
 day there was very little more heavy fighting along Hooker's lines ; tlie 
 Rebels attacked his positions several times, apparently by way of feeling 
 his force, but retired at once when his artillery opened upon them. 
 
 Meantime, tlie sixth army corps (General Sedgwick's) which we left at 
 Fredericksburg, had been busy. Eeynolds' (the first) coi'ps having re- 
 crossed the Rappahannock, and marched to United States ford on Saturday 
 morning, .to join the main army at Chancellorsville, only the sixth corps, 
 which, however, was the strongest and perhaps the best disciplined in the 
 army, was left for the attack on Fredericksburg. At a little past eleven, 
 P. M., Saturday night, orders were issued to take Fredericksburg and effect 
 a junction with General Ilooker. The corps was at this time below Hazel 
 run or creek, southeast of the town. Newton's division, with the light 
 brigade under his command, led the advance, followed by Howe's and 
 Brookes' divisions. The enemy's skirmishers contested the advance 
 almost step by step, but were pushed back gradually to Hazel run, where 
 they rallied for a desperate resistance, but a bold and furious charge, 
 made by the sixty-seventh New York regiment, routed them, and the 
 town was gained. The rifle-pits and batteries on the heights to the south- 
 west of the city, around the Marye house, yet remained frowning upon 
 them, and it was too late and too dark to attack them. The Union troops 
 were therefore massed in town. At dawn of day, on Sundny morning, 
 itay 3d, four regiments were thrown forward, in open order, to reconnoi- 
 tre the enemy's v/orks, and see if they were occupied, as it had been 
 reported that the Rebels had fled, leaving only a single regiment on picket. 
 The reconuoitering force approached to within twenty paces of the earth- 
 works, when, with a fierce yell, the Rebels unmasked themselves, and the 
 whole hill between the Marye house and the Richmond and Fredericks- 
 burg railroad became a double girdle of flame. Their artillery opened at 
 the same moment. The reconnoissance had accomplished its object, but 
 full one third of the men engaged in it lay dead and wounded on that 
 blood-stained slope. General Howe's division was now sent to the left, to 
 attempt to storm the heights on the left of Hazel run, and orders sent to 
 General Gibbon's division, of Couch's corps, which had remained at Fal- 
 mouth to hold the camp there, to cross the Rappahannock and endeavor 
 to gain the heights upon the right of the town. Neither of these attempts 
 succeeded, but they prevented the concentration of the enemy upon Gen- 
 eral Newton in the centre, where the principal attack was to be made. 
 
 At eleven A. M. (just about the time the battle with General Hooker 
 ceased) General Newton with his own division and the light brigade under 
 his command moved forward to attack. General Brookes' division being 
 held as a re'^erve, to support him if necessary. The three batteries of 
 McCarthy, Butler, and Harris, opened with concentrated fire upon the 
 Marye house, to prevent its being used as a shelter for the enemy's re- 
 serves. The division moved forward rapidly, with fixed bayonets ; the 
 
628 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 left, consisting of four regiments, was deployed, while the centre (two 
 regiments) and the right (four regiments) marched in column. The attack 
 lasted ten minutes, and was successful, the enemy being bayoneted in 
 their rifle-pits, not having time to get away ; but in that ten minutes the 
 Union force lost a thousand men in killed and wounded. 
 
 As soon as General Newton had succeeded, General Ilowe, at the left, 
 pushed the enemy vigorously, and after a short but sanguinarj contest 
 took the rifle-pits and heights on the left of Ilazcl run. Newton and 
 llowe together took about eight hundred prisoners, and twelve guns, 
 among them the battery of the famous Washington artillery. 
 
 After gaining these formidable and almost impregnable heights, General 
 Sedgwick reformed his lines, placing Brookes' division in advance, and 
 Newton's and Howe's following it, leaving Gibbon's division to garrison 
 the just captured heights, and pushed forward toward Chancellorsville, 
 where he was assured Hooker was hotly pressing the enemy. Lee, it 
 will be remembered, had succeeded by the terrible struggle of Sunday • 
 morning in obtaining possession of the turnpike road to Fredericksburg ; 
 and as Sedgwick was marching rapidly in pursuit of the flying Rebels 
 whom he had driven from Marye's hill, he was suddenly confronted by 
 the advance-guard of Lee's entire force, on Salem heights, strongly posted 
 in earthworks in the timber on either side of the road, and the under- 
 growth filled witli rifle-pits and abatis. General Brookes at once engaged 
 them with his entire division, but was overpowered by their superior force, 
 and compelled to retire, the enemy closely following. General Newton, 
 just previous to this, had sent two regiments (the ninety-third and one 
 hundred and second Pennsylvania) to protect the right, which seemed to 
 be in danger, and which, if turned, would cut off the possibility of retreat 
 to Banks' ford. These two regiments passed around the enemy's left 
 without opposition, crossing a deep ravine with a stream in it, and to the 
 top of the ridge, beyond which they met a most fearful volley from a hid- 
 den foe. To sustain this line many minutes was evidently impossible, and 
 three more regiments (the seventh and tenth Massachusetts and second 
 Ehode Island) were sent to support it. They arrived just in season to 
 check the Rebel advance ; and pouring a flanking fire on the enemy, who 
 were advancing to push Brookes, they caused them to retire with terrible 
 loss. As they retired, the Union troops advanced ; but not deeming it 
 advisable to enter the woods again with the force then at command, they 
 held the west of the hill to which they first came till dark, having been 
 strengthened by additional reinforcements, and in the evening were 
 relieved by Shaler's (late Cochran's) brigade. 
 
 Sedgwick's corps bivouacked on the field, resupplying the stock of 
 ammunition and food, obtaining knapsacks, and collecting their wounded, 
 the number of whom in this second battle (of Salem heights) was very 
 large. At dawn of day they again formed under arm.s, and rearranged 
 
CRITICAL POSITION OF SEDGWICK'S CORPS. 629 
 
 their lines, extending them to the right and toward the Eappahaunoek. 
 The light brigade was sent to occupy the works which the Rebels had 
 constructed at Banks' ford to oppose the crossing of Burnside's troops 
 there in the winter. Skirmisliing soon commenced, and continued until 
 nine A. M., and the enemy seemed determined to ascertain what was the best 
 point of attack. A lull of an hour ensued, during which General Sedg- 
 wick learned that during the evening previous Lee had sent a large force 
 past his left and rear, and had repossessed himself of Marye's hill and the 
 Fredericksburg heights, driving Gibbon into the'city. 
 ■ Sedgwick's position was a o'itical one. In his rear Fredericksburg 
 was in the possession of the enemy ; in front and on his left Lee's victo- 
 rious troops interposed between him and tlie remainder of Hooker's army • 
 and that army, with its six corps, had found the Rebel force fully its match. 
 Only one way of escape remained, and from this the enemy were pushing 
 vigorously to cut him off. He held as yet the line to Banks' ford, and 
 his light brigade occupied the iutrenchments built for the defence of that 
 ford. Crossing there, he might yet fall into a snare, for there was appa- 
 rently little to hinder the Rebels from crossing over to Falmouth and 
 taking possession of the fortified Union camp, and thus placing his corps 
 at their mercy. 
 
 General Sedgwick, however, was a brave and skilful general, and Ins 
 decision was promptly made. Rearranging his lines, he placed his men 
 in position to meet and hold the enemy at bay, from whichever point they 
 might attack him. Newton was placed on the right, with his right wing 
 on the Rappahannock and facing westward ; Brookes in the centre and 
 facing south ; Howe on the left, facing eastward, and his left resting on 
 the river. At four p. M. the enemy, who had been skirmishing through- 
 out three charges, approached in force and attacked Newton's left, but 
 were repulsed ; then Brookes' centre and left, and were again repulsed ; 
 they then concentrated their forces against Howe, endeavoring to break 
 his line, and force themselves between him and the river, to cut off his re- 
 treat by way of the ford. Brookes repulsed them, but they massed their 
 forces, and hurled them against him with such fury that he was compelled 
 to fall back a short distance, which he did in good order. Seeing this, 
 they pressed him still harder, but Sedgwick sent up reinforcements, in 
 such numbers, that, with the aid of his batteries, he drove them back with 
 their ranks fearfully thinned, and then fell back to the ford, the Rebels 
 not following closely ; and having reached the fortifications at the ford he 
 again turned and offered them battle. As they were evidently indisposed 
 to engage, and offered no further annoyance, General Sedgwick com- 
 ""menced crossing the Rappahannock at two A. M. of the 5th with his corps, 
 and by daylight had them all across in safety. In this campaign of less 
 than three days he had lost nearly six thousand in killed and wounded, 
 out of a force of not more than twenty-two thousand, but few or no 
 34 
 
630 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 prisoners. He had taken eleven hundred prisoners, twelve guns, and 
 five stands of colors. 
 
 We have already noticed the strength of Ilooker's position. Finding 
 it vain to assail it, and hoping that the annihilation of Sedgwick's corps, 
 wliich he confidently anticipated, would be a more satisfactory undnrtaking, 
 General Lee attempted notliing more on Monday than to place a battery 
 at Scott's dam on Scott's creek, which commanded tlie United States 
 ford, and commenced shelling that position. This battery was driven 
 away, and the position it occupied held, though not without some difficulty, 
 by tlie Union troops. Toward night on Monday, May 4th, a heavy rain' 
 commenced falling, and it was ascertained that it had been raining all day 
 in the mountains. Ou Monday night. General Hooker held a council of 
 his officers. Stoneman had not been heard from, and it was not known 
 whether his expedition had been successful or not. Lee had evidently all 
 the troops he needed, and holding Fredericksburg, was not likely to want 
 for supplies. Meantime, Hooker's supplies and ammunition were nearly 
 exhausted, and the Rappahannock, always sensitive to rains in the moun- 
 tains, was rapidly rising, and might soon become impassable. Sedgwick, 
 while he had fought with the most undaunted bravery and skill, had 
 failed to talvc and hold Fredericksburg, and the campaign, from several 
 causes, had lost its chances for success. Such was tlie condition of 
 afl'airs ; and tlie council, entertaining the same views in regard to it with 
 the commander, advised that the arm}' should recross the next morning 
 at the ford, and returning to its old quarters await another and more 
 favorable opportunity to strike a decisive blow. Accordingly, on Tuesday 
 evening, May 5th, General Hooker commenced moving his troops noise- 
 lessly across the Rappahannock, at United States ford ; and though the 
 river had risen so much that he was obliged to use the pontoons for three 
 bridges to make two, he brought his entire force and train across in 
 safety, and returned to Falmoutli, with his forces in perfect order. 
 
 [The losses of the Union army in this series of battles have never been 
 officially reported. Including General Sedgwick's losses at Fredericks- 
 burg, and Salem Heights, they were probably not- far from eleven thousand, 
 of whom four thousand two hundred were prisoners, many of them 
 wounded. Of this number about one tliousand six hundred were killed. 
 It is a matter of great difficulty to ascertain, even approximately, tlie losses 
 of the Rebels. The number taken prisoners by the Union troops ex- 
 ceeded three thousand six hundred ; and officers of great experience be- 
 longing to both armies were confident that the numbers of killed and 
 wounded considerably exceeded that of the Union troops. It was stated 
 by some of the Rebel papers at nine thousand two hundred. Whether 
 this was intended to include prisoners also is not stated ; if so, it was un- 
 questionably far below the truth. The loss of General T. J. Jackson, 
 better known as " Stonewall "Jackson, was a severer blow to them than 
 
EETIEW OF HOOKER'S CAMPAIGN. 531 
 
 the slaughter of twenty thousand troops, for with the exception, perhaps, 
 of General Lee, they had no commander of equal ability with him. 
 
 In the review of this battle, forming as it did the fourth unsuccessful 
 attempt to open the way to the capture of Richmond, we find that there 
 were certain errors apparent in the movement, which prevented its suc- 
 cess, although they do not tarnish the reputation of General Hooker as 
 an able and skilful commander of a great army. These were, 1st. That 
 Stoneman was sent too late upon his expedition. To have sent him a 
 week earlier would have prevented the reinforcement of Lee by Longstreet's 
 division of the South Carolina troops, and would have enabled General 
 Hooker to have moved with more certainty and confidence. 2d. A cav- 
 alry force should have been placed on duty to guard the approaches to 
 the right wing of the army (the eleventh corps), and thus have prevented 
 the surprise and panic which proved so disastrous. It is the testimony of 
 the ofBcers of that corps that there were but thirty-five cavalrymen de- 
 tailed for service on the flank of the right wing. 3d. It was a mistake 
 to have attempted the capture of Fredericksburg by an assault in front, 
 as was done by Sedgwick's corps. The possession of that city, in that 
 way, was .of no consequence to the Union army, while it cost six thousand 
 men, and drew off twenty-two thousand of the best troops in the army, 
 whose services were needed in striking a heavy blow upon the Eebel 
 force. Had Lee been defeated, Fredericksburg would have fallen into 
 Hooker's hands as a part of the victory. As it was, it was in the pos- 
 session of the Union troops less than twenty-four hours. 
 
 Aside from these errors, the plan of the campaign seems to have been 
 judicious, and displayed a high order of strategic ability ; while the'un- 
 daunted courage, readiness of resource, and skilful management of his 
 troops, showed conclusively that General Hooker possessed many, if not 
 all, of the qualities of a great general. 
 
 In the narrative of this series of battles, we have alluded more than 
 once to the expedition of General Stoneman, as forming an important 
 part of General Hooker's plan of the campaign, but we must reserve for 
 another chapter the account of that ably-conducted and successful expe- 
 dition. 
 
532 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVr. 
 
 STONEMAN's BXPBDITIOK — THE PLAN OP IT SUBSTANTIALLY THAT OF GENERAL BUENSIDE — 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP GENERAL STONEMAN — STARTING OP THE EXPEDITION — ITS 
 ADVENTURES — -DETACHMENTS SENT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS FROM THOMPSON'S CROSS 
 ROADS — COLONEL WTNDHAM's RAID TO COLUMBIA — COLONEL KILPATRICK's ADVENTURES 
 ■ — LIEUTENANT-COLONEL DAVIS'S EXPEDITION TO CUT THE TWO RAILROADS — RESULTS OF 
 THE EXPEDITION — THE ARMY OP THE POTOMAC AFTER THE BATTLE — LEE's DETERMINA- 
 TION TO INVADE PENNSYLVANIA — PLEASONTON SENT TO ATTACK STUART's CAVALRY — 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP GENERAL PLEASONTON — SUCCESS OF HIS ATTACK — HIS SUBSE- 
 QUENT SKIRMISHES AND FIGHTS WITH STUART's CAVALRY — LEE'S POSITION DISCOVERED 
 — MOVEMENT OP HOOKEe's ARMY — THE REBEL ARMY CROSS THE POTOMAC — HOOKER's 
 FOLLOW — HOOKER RELIEVED OP THE-COMMAND OF THE ARMY — MEADE APPOINTED HIS 
 
 SUCCESSOR — POSITION OP THE TWO ARMIES ONLY TWO UNION CORPS NEAR OETTYS- 
 
 BUEO A BATTLE IMPENDING. 
 
 The expedition, or raid, of General Stoneman, properly comes under 
 the history of the expeditions of that class given in Chapter XLIV., but 
 from its forming a part of General Hooker's campaign it was deemed 
 necessary to give it a place in connection with that campaign. In its 
 boldness, the amount of damage it inflicted ujjon the enemy, and the 
 success which attended it, from its inception to its close, it may'well rank 
 as one of the most remarkable expeditions into the enemy's country ever 
 undertaken. 
 
 Without desiring to detract any thing from the merits of General 
 Hooker's well-considered plan of operations for the turning of Lee's flank 
 and crippling his army, wc must admit that the idea of a raid like Stone- 
 man's was not original with him. It was conceived, and would have been 
 carried out, by General Burnside in January, but for the interference of 
 some of his subordinate generals. Indeed, Burnside's plan, though not 
 exactly identical, contemplated a still bolder movement — the extending 
 his raid in the rear of Eichmond, and reaching the Union lines at 
 SuOblk. 
 
 It is to the credit of General Hooker that he saw clearly the advan- 
 tages of such an expedition, and arranged its details so skilfully as to 
 insure its success. Could it have been undertaken a week earlier, as it 
 would have been but for severe storms and floods, it would in all human 
 probability have made the battles of Chancellorsville successful, instead 
 of disastrous, as Lee would have had from forty thousand to fifty thou- 
 sand less men with whom to defend his position, and attack the Union 
 troops. 
 
 Major-General George Stoneman, the chief of the cavalry corps of the 
 army of the Potomac, under General Hooker, and now (February, 1864) 
 chief of cavalry in the grand military division of the Mississippi, was the 
 
STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION UNDER STONEMAN. 533 
 
 leader of this expedition. He was born iu Busti, New York, in August, 
 1822, was educated at West Point, where he graduated in 1846, and was 
 appointed on the 1st of July of that year brevet second-lieutenant of the 
 fii'st dragoons, but did not obtain his full commission till July 12, 18-47. 
 In July, 1854, he was promoted to a first lieutenantcy, and the next year 
 acted as akk-de-camp to General Wool. On the 3d of March, 1858, he was 
 made captain in the second cavalry, and for the next two or three years 
 served in the southwest. In 1859, 1860, and the winter of 1861, he was sta- 
 tioned at Palo Alto, Texas. At the outbreak of the Eebellion he returned 
 north, and on the 9th of May, 1861, was promoted to the rank of major 
 in the fourth cavalry, and on the 13th of August was appointed brigadier- 
 general of volunteers. He reported to General McClellan, and when the 
 army of the Potomac moved, was placed in command of the cavalry. 
 When the Rebels evacuated Yorktown, he pursued them closely ; and for 
 his gallantry at the battle of Williamsburg was brevetted lieutenant- 
 colonel in the regular army. He was engaged in active operations during 
 the whole campaign of the peninsula, and for his brilliant movements at 
 the battle of Gaines' mill, June 27, 1862, was further brevetted colonel 
 of cavalry in the regular army. He served under General Pope, in the 
 several engagements before Washington, and also under McClellan in the 
 Maryland campaign. At the battle of Fredericksburg he commanded 
 the third- army corps, and with his corps exhibited great bravery and 
 resolution. General Hooker made him chief of his cavalry corps on the 
 5th of February, 1863 ; and on the twelfth of the same month, he was 
 promoted to a major-generalship of volunteers. In March, he made 
 several successful reconnoissances along the upper Rappahannock, and 
 undertook with great heartiness the expedition we are about to describe. 
 After that expedition he was placed by the Government at the head of the 
 new cavalry bureau, organized in connection with the War Department, 
 and rendered valuable aid in bringing that department of the service up 
 to a high degree of perfection. 
 
 The plan of the expedition, and the object to be accomplished by it, 
 having been laid down by General Hooker, and instructions furnished, 
 which still gave a large discretion to General Stoneman, he left Falmouth 
 on the 27th of April, and on the morning of Wednesday, the 29th, 
 crossed his entire force, of about two thousand seven hundred men, over 
 the Rappahannock at Kelly's ford, with the exception of a small division 
 under General Averill, which was sent still further up the river, and 
 crossed near the Orange and Alexandria railroad. This division en- 
 countered a small body of Rebel cavalry, soon after crossing, which it 
 repulsed, after a brave contest. General Averill's orders were to proceed 
 along the road toward Culpepper and Gordonsville, and by a dashing 
 flank movement, keep the Rebel troops, which were known to be in that 
 vicinity, employed, while detachments from the main column of cavalry 
 
534 THE CIYIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were engaged in the important work of cutting off the Rebel army on 
 the Rappahannock from its base of operations — Richmond. General 
 Avcrill was not successful in his attempt to accomplish this. He en- 
 countered on Thursday, April 30th, a considerable force of Rebel cavalry 
 at Rapidan station, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, and after a 
 short fight retreated and returned to the Union camp at Chancellorsville. 
 
 When General Stoneman crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's ford he 
 had entered the enemy's country, and he ordered at once the most careful 
 precautions to be taken, to avoid surprise from the enemy, and to prevent 
 such intelligence of his movements from preceding him as would thwart 
 his purposes. After crossing, he sent General Buford with a small force 
 to the left, where he had a skirmish with the enemy, whom he repulsed, 
 and before they could advance again he had constructed an abatis of trees 
 and as they charged again, he received them with a volley which sent 
 them back with some loss. 
 
 General Stoneman, with the bulk of his command, remained near 
 Kelly's ford, till nightfall, when the order to march was given, and the 
 whole force crossed and bivouacked a short distance beyond a little rivulet, 
 then much swollen by the recent rains, known as Fleischman's river, in 
 an open ploughed field, with no other protection from the heavy rain then 
 falling than their blankets and rubber coats. All fires were prohibited, 
 all bugle-calls suspended, and orders delivered sotto voce, so that the enemy 
 might have no opportunity of judging of the number and position of their 
 force. At dawn the following morning, the force was carefully inspected, 
 and all weak horses, all sick or weak-kneed troops, and all the pack 
 animals except about twenty, were sent back across the river. Having 
 brought his command thus into light marching order, General Stoneman 
 proceeded cautiously for several miles through the woods, till a large open 
 space of rolling ground was reached, when the whole district was patrolled 
 to ascertain the position of the enemy. The same precautions were 
 adopted every day. When the advance of General Buford's column 
 arrived near Minot's ford, on the Rapidan, Lieutenant Gaskill, with a 
 squadron of the fifth cavalry, crossed, and dashing up the river, caused a 
 force of about sixteen hundred Rebel cavalry, who had been stationed 
 there to prevent the crossing of Union troops, to retreat in haste. They 
 had one piece of artillery, which, however, they took with them. Tie 
 pursued them nearly five miles on the road to Orange Court House, and 
 captured ten prisoners. General Gregg's column, meantime, crossed 
 Raccoon ford without opposition. At night the whole force encamped 
 on a hill commanding the ford. The march was commenced on the morn- 
 ing of Friday, soon after daylight, and the force proceeded to Orange 
 Spring, pressing a column of Rebel cavalry so closely that they were 
 fth-ccd to throw away several wagon-loads of provisions and abandon their 
 jaded horses. A few prisoners were captured. Several hundred of the 
 
STONEMAN AT LOUISA. COURT HOUSE. 535 
 
 Rebel cavalry escaped by a side road, with their train, but were pursued 
 as far as Madison by Colonel Wyudharn. Having halted for a rest, and 
 the night being pleasant, the march was continued till three and a-half 
 o'clock A. M. Saturday morning, May 2d, when they halted at Greenwood, 
 one mile west of Louisa Court House. Here they reached the Virginia 
 Central railroad, and detachments were sent up and down the road for 
 miles, to destroy the track, culverts, and bridges, and also to act as pickets 
 to prevent surprise. The work was well and thoroughly done. Just at 
 dawn. Colonel (since General) Kilpatrick charged into the village of 
 Louisa Court House. The people of the village were panic-stricken, and 
 supposed, at first, that they should all be murdered and their property 
 plundered, but on finding that no outrages or insults were ofltjred to pri- 
 vate citizens, and that no private property was taken without compensation, 
 they recovered their equanimit}'. 
 
 While the troops were halting at Louisa, a squadron of the first Maine 
 cavalry, picketing the Culpepper road, was attacked by a superior Rebel 
 force, and, after a most gallant resistance, fell back, leaving two dead. 
 The remainder of the first Maine, and the second New York, were sent 
 to their support, when the enemy fled. At four o'clock p. M. on Saturday, 
 the railroad having been destroyed for many miles, and a number of cars 
 and bridges burned, and the horses and troopers well supplied with 
 forage and rations, General Stoneman moved his command upon a hill to 
 the east of the town, and, for an hour, awaited the threatened attack of 
 Rebel troops known to be approaching from Gordonsville, but the repulse 
 those troops had already received was sufficient to cause them to fallback 
 toward Gordonsville. At five o'clock the command resumed their march, 
 and arrived at Thompson's Cross Roads (or Four Corners) at half-past 
 eleven o'clock, p. M. From this point General Stoneman had determined 
 to send expeditions in different directions to cut the enemy's lines of com- 
 munication. At twelve o'clock, midnight, he called all the principal 
 ofScers together and explained his general plan of operations. The com- 
 mander of each detachment was directed to destroy certain specified jDoints, 
 and, the special object of his mission being accomplished, he was allowed 
 the widest latitude for any further operations. Colonel Percy Wyndham, 
 with the first New Jersey and the first Maine cavah-y, about five hundred 
 men in all, was sent south to Columbia, on the James river ; Colonel 
 Kilpatrick to Hungary, on the Fredericksburg railroad, and below on the 
 Virginia Central railroad, with the Harris light cavalry ; Lieutenant-Col- 
 onel Davis, with the twelfth Illinois, to the South Anne river, and Ash- 
 land, on the Fredericksburg road ; General Buford struck westward 
 toward the James river canal at Cedar Point, and thence passed near 
 Gordonsville ; and the remainder of the force scoured the country in the 
 vicinity of Thompson's Four Corners and Yancey ville. And on Friday 
 morning, the 8th of May, the whole force, except Colonel Kilpatrick's 
 
53G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ivnd Lieutenant-Colonel Davis's commands, reached Kelly's ford in 
 safety. 
 
 The adventures of some of these detachments were interesting, and ex- 
 hibited in a favorable light the tact and ability of their commanders. 
 Colonel Wyndham left Thompson's Cross Roads at half past two, a. m., 
 May 3d, and taking a soutlierly direction, crossed six or seven creeks, and 
 reached Columbia, on the James river, nearly fifty miles northwest of 
 Richmond, at about eight o'clock A. M., May 4th. The approach of his 
 force had been heralded by a man who had ridden ten miles to warn tlie 
 people, but no one believed it. The citizens hooted at him, threw dirt at 
 him, and threatened him with all sorts of vengeance, for starting a report 
 so absurd as that the Yankees were coming into Columbia. Just then 
 Colonel Wyndham's advance-guard, under Major Beanmont, dashed into 
 the town. The people persisted that it must be Stuart's cavalry, and were 
 only undeceived when they found that the gentlemanly and well-behaved 
 troopers took no private property, but destroyed all that belonged to the 
 Rebel Government. The banks of the James river canal, which had 
 been the great route of transportation for Rebel commissary stores and 
 supplies, were cut in several places, and the locks destroyed for a distance 
 of five miles. An attempt was made to destroy the aqueduct by which the 
 canal crosses the James at this point, but for want of suitable tools it was 
 not accomplished. Several canal-boats, loaded with commissary stores for 
 theTlebel army, were burned, and a large, quantity of such stores in ware- 
 houses were destroyed. Finding that two Rebel regiments with eight 
 pieces of artillery were approaching. Colonel "Wyndham, at four p. M., 
 moved down the river about five miles to Byrd's creek, which he forded, 
 and then turning nortli, arrived at Thompson's Cross Roads at ten p. M. 
 The command had captured during the day several hundred horses, and 
 were followed into camp by a large number of negroes. Colonel Kilpat- 
 rick's experiences read almost like the feats of a knight-errant in the 
 palmiest days of chivalry. He had under his command his own regiment, 
 the Ira Harris light cavalry, and left the rendezvous at Thompson's Cross 
 Roads early in the morning on Sunday, May 3d ; reached Hungary, a 
 station on the Fredericksburg railroad, about forty miles distant, and eight 
 miles from Richmond, at daylight on the morning of the -ith, and de- 
 stroyed the depot, telegraph wires, and railroad track for several miles. 
 He then passed over to the Brook turnpike; drove in the Rebel pickets 
 down the turnpike and across the Brook ; charged upon a moveable 
 battery, and forced it to retire within two miles of Richmond ; and cap- 
 tured Lieutenant Brown, akk-dc-camp to the Rebel General "Winder, 
 commander of the fortifications at Richmond, and eleven men, inside the 
 fortifications, and narrowly missed capturing General Winder himself. 
 Having thus bearded the lion in his den, he turned eastward, and followed 
 the line of the York river railroad to the Meadow bridge, over the 
 
EXPLOITS OP LIEUTENANT COLONEL DAVIS. 537 
 
 Chickahominy, burned the bridge, and ran a train of cars into the river. 
 He then retired to Hanovertown, on tlie peninsula, crossed the Pamunkej, 
 and destroyed the ferry just in time to check the advance of a pursuing 
 cavahy force ; burned a train of thirty wagons loaded with bacon for the 
 Rebel army; captured thirteen prisoners; and encamped for the night 
 five miles from the river. At one o'clock, A. M., of the fifth of May, he 
 resumed his march — surprised a troop of three hundred Rebel cavalry, at 
 Aylett's, on the Mattapony river, captured two officers and thirty-three 
 men; burned fifty-sis wagons, and a depot of Rebel stores containing up- 
 wards of twenty thousand barrels of corn and wheat, large quantities of 
 clothing and commissary stores, and safely crossed the Mattapony, and 
 again destroyed the ferry, just in time to escape the advance of the Rebel 
 cavalry — and proceeded northeast on the Richmond and Warsaw turnpike 
 to a point a few miles west of Tappahannock, on the Rappahannock river, 
 where he destroyed a third wagon train and depot of stores. From this 
 point, finding a large force of Stuart's cavalry in pursuit of him, he made 
 a forced march of twenty miles, almost directly southward, capturing 
 prisoners from his pursuers whenever they pressed too closely. At sun- 
 down of the sixth he discovered a force of cavalry drawn up in line of 
 battle above King-and-Queen Court House. He advanced at once to 
 attack them, but ascertained that they were a part of the twelfth Illinois, 
 under ifajor Bronson, who had become separated from Lieutenant-Colo- 
 nel Davis's command. At ten A. M. of the 7th of May, after a severe 
 march of over fifty miles, he reached the Union post at Gloucester Point. 
 In this separate expedition Colonel Kilpatrick's command had marched 
 nearly two hundred miles in less than five days, with a loss of one officer 
 and thirty-seven men, having captured and paroled upward of eight 
 hundred men. Lieutenant Estes, of his command, volunteered to carry 
 despatches to General Hooker. He failed in the attempt, but with 
 his escort of ten men, captured and paroled one major, two captains, a 
 lieutenant, and fifteen men. He was afterward captured himself, with bis 
 escort, bat was retaken by the Union troops. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Davis's exploits were hardly less remarkable. He 
 left General Stoneman's camp at Thompson's Cross Roads at the same 
 time with Colonel Kilpatrick. His ordei-s were to penetrate to the Fred- 
 ericksburg railroad, and, if possible, to the Virginia Central also, and 
 destroy the communications on both. Should he cross the Virginia Cen- 
 tral he was to make for Williamsburg, which was said to be in possession 
 of the Union forces. Passing down the bank of the South Anna river, he 
 burned one bridge, and routed a party of mounted guerrillas who attempted 
 to oppose their advance. Arriving at Ashland, on the Fredericksburg rail- 
 road, he sent Lieutenant Mitchell forward with a dozen men to occupy the 
 place. The Rebel force there was small, and they escaped with such haste 
 as to leave their arms, which he destroyed. Assuring the inhabitants, 
 
538 THE CIVIL WAR IX TxIE UNITED STATES. 
 
 who were in great terror, tliat no injury would be done to persons or 
 private property, he proceeded to cut the telegraph wires, and tear up the 
 rails on the railroad, and burned an extensive trestle-work south of the 
 town, captured an ambulance train of seven cars filled with sick and 
 wounded from the late battle, and paroled the officers of the guard, some 
 of whom were of considerable rank. The cars were left for the benefit of 
 the wounded, but the engine and tender, as well as another found in the town, 
 were rendered completely useless. lie captured also a large number of 
 liorses and mules collected there for the Rebel Government, and destroyed 
 about twenty wagons. Leaving Ashland aboutsixP. M., and destroyingon his 
 way eighteen wagons laden with Rebel stores, he reached Hanover station, 
 on the Virginia Central railroad, at about eight P. M., captured and paroled 
 about thirty officers and men at the station, burned an extensive trestle- 
 work below the depot, destroyed a culvert, cut the telegraph wires, and 
 burned the depot-buildings, storehouses, stables, and a train of cars, all 
 filled to overflowing with stores belonging to the Rebel army. ITe also 
 burned a hundred wagons loaded with commissary stores, a thousand sacks 
 of flour and corn, and a large quantit}' of clothing and hor.^e equipments. 
 No private property was injured. lie next marched to Uanover Court 
 Ilouse, where several prisoners were captured, and proceeded southward 
 to a point within seven miles of Richmond, where his command bi- 
 vouacked till morning, when they marched toward \Yilliamsburg. At 
 Tuustall station, near the Wliite House and Richmond and York river 
 railroad, a train of cars, filled with infantry and a battery of three guns, 
 was run out to oppose them. Colonel Davis charged upon them, but could 
 not break through, as there were formidable rifle-pits to the left of the 
 road, and the force largely outnumbered his. lie was forced to retire, 
 with a loss of two killed and several wounded. Failing to penetrate the 
 enemy's lines at this point, he turned northward to cross the Pamunkey 
 and Mattapony rivers, and reach Gloucester Point. He succeeded in 
 crossing tlie former river at Plunkctt's ferry after a slight skirmish, and 
 the Mattapony at Walkertown, cai)turing a few persons at each ferry. 
 Between the two ferries Major Bronson and a part of the regiment be- 
 came detached, and captured fifteen Rebels, and destroyed a quantity of 
 saddles at Kingand-Queen Court House. Colonel Davis having crossed 
 the Mattapony, made the best of his way toward Gloucester Point, 
 stopping however at Saluda to destroy a train of wagons laden with corn 
 and provisions for the Rebel army. His total loss in this separate expe- 
 dition was two commissioned officers and thirty-three enlisted men. He 
 brought into the Union lines at Gloucester Point, one hundred mules and 
 seventy-five horses captured from the enemy, and reported Rebel property 
 destroyed to the estimated value of over one million dollars. The fol- 
 lowing summary of the work accomplished by General Stoneman in this ex- 
 
GENERAL HOOKER'S ADDRESS TO HIS ARMY. 539 
 
 pedition, shows that it was the most successful raid ever undertaken in 
 this country: bridges destroyed, twenty-two; culverts destroyed, seven; 
 ferries destroyed, five; railroads broken in seven places; supply trains 
 burned, four ; wagons destroyed, two hundred and twenty-two ; horses 
 captured, two hundred ; mules captured, one hundred and four ; canals 
 broken, three; canal-boats burned, five; trains of cars destroyed, eight, 
 storehouses burned, twelve ; telegraph stations burned, four ; wires cut 
 in five places; depots burned, three; towns visited, twenty-five; contra- 
 bands liberated, one hundred and fifty. Value of property destroyed es- 
 timated at over two million dollars. 
 
 Colonel Kilnatrick remained with his command at Gloucester Point 
 till near the close of May, making an expedition on the 20th into Glou- 
 cester and Matthew counties, in conjunction with the gunboat Commo- 
 dore Morris, and capturing a large number of horses, mules and cattle ; 
 burning five mills which were running for the Rebel Government, and 
 which were filled to their utmost capacity with flour and grain, and de- 
 stroying a large quantity of corn and wheat collected in storehouses. On 
 the 30th of May Colonel Kilpatrick and his command passed through 
 Saluda and Urbanna, crossed the Eappahannock at Union Point, and re- 
 ported in person to General Hooker. 
 
 A portion of the fourth army corps, under command of Major-General 
 Keyes, arrived at West Point on- the 7th of May, having come thither 
 from Fortress Monroe by transports, accompanied by a fleet of gunboats, 
 and the same day sent forward a reconnoitering party, which penetrated 
 as for as the White House, and rescued Lieutenant Estes and fifteen men 
 of Colonel Kilpatrick's party who had been taken prisoners. The fourth 
 corps moved forward to a point within a few miles of Richmond, where 
 it remained for several weeks, it being the intention of General Dix, then 
 in command of Fortress Monroe, that it should attack Richmond while 
 stripped of its defenders and before the communications between that 
 city and Lee's army could be re-established. It failed however to accom- 
 olish this object, or even to attempt it — the failure resulting, it was al- 
 leged, from the inefficiency of one of the generals commanding. It was 
 therefore recalled in June, and the troops sent to reinforce the army of 
 the Potomac. 
 
 We return to the army of the Potomac. 
 
 On the 7th of May, Major-General Hooker issued the following address 
 to his troops : 
 
 "Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 
 
 '•May 6, 1863. 
 "Gexeral Orders, No. 49. — The Major-General commanding ten- 
 ders to this army his congratulations on its achievements of the last seven 
 days. 
 
540 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " It has not accomplished all that was expected — the reasons are well 
 known to the army. 
 
 " It is sufficient to say they were of a character not to be foreseen or 
 prevented by human sagacity or resources. 
 
 " In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock before 
 delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given re. 
 newed evidence of its confidence in itself and its fidelity to the principles 
 it represents. 
 
 " In fighting at a disadvantage, we would have been recreant to our 
 trust, to ourselves, our cause, and our country. Profoundly loyal, and 
 conscious of its strength, the army of the Potomac will give or decline 
 battle whenever its interest or honor may demand. 
 
 " It will also be the guardian of its own history and its own arm. 
 
 "By our celerity and secrecy of movement, our advance and passage 
 of the rivers was undisputed, and on our withdrawal not a Rebel returned 
 to follow. 
 
 " The events of the last week may swell with pride the hearts of 
 every officer and soldier of this army. 
 
 " We have added new laurels to its former renown. "We have made 
 long marches, crossed rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrenchments, 
 and whenever we have fought we have inflicted heavier blows than we 
 have received. 
 
 " We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners and fifteen 
 colors, captured and brought ofi' seven pieces of artillery, and placed 
 hors du comhal eighteen thousand of his chosen troops. 
 
 " We have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores, 
 damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the fortifications 
 of his capital, and filled his country with fear and consternation. 
 
 " We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave 
 companions; and in this we are consoled by the conviction that they 
 have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the arbitrament of 
 battle. 
 
 " By command of Major-General IIooker. 
 
 "S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant- General." 
 
 The President visited the camp at Falmouth ou the seventh, and con- 
 ferred with General IIooker, in regard to the campaign and future move- 
 ments, and on his return to Washington expressed his gratification at the 
 condition and spirit of the army. During the remainder of May the 
 army lay at Falmouth, and except some slight skirmishes at the outposts, 
 and cavalry affairs in General Slahl's brigade, there were no military 
 movements. 
 
 The Rebel general-in-chief had determined, as soon as his broken com- 
 munications could be repaired and his supplies accumulated to a degree 
 sufficient to warrant it, to attempt again to invade Maryland and Pennsjl- 
 
LEE'S DETERMINATION TO INVADE PENNSYLVANIA. 541 
 
 vania. His previous attempt at invasion had indeed terminated dis- 
 astrously, though, with less loss than he expected, but he had what he 
 deemed substantial reasons for believing that greater success would attend 
 a second undertaking. The successful raid of General Stoneman had 
 materially diminished the not over-abundant supplies upon which his 
 army was dependent, and had deprived him of a large number of cavalry 
 and artillery horses, of which he had great need. The portion of Mary- 
 land and Pennsylvania which he intended to invade was rich in agricul- 
 tural products, and abounded in fine horses, and he could thus supply his 
 army at the enemy's expense. In addition to this, it was alleged that 
 General Hooker's army was greatly demoralized by the unsuccessful 
 termination of the recent campaign, and it was well known that a large 
 body of the Union troops which had been enlisted for two years were 
 returning home, their term of service having expired; and he might 
 reasonably regard the Union forces as too much weakened from these 
 causes to be able to offer sufficient and determined resistance to his 
 attacks. There was also an apparent division of sentiment in the loyal 
 States in regard to the conduct and continuance of the war, and some 
 prominent men, in most of the States, were avowing their sympathy with 
 the Eebellion ; or, if they did not openly do this, were seeking in every 
 possible way to obstruct the action of the Government. The number of 
 these sympathizers with the South was far smaller than General Lee sup- 
 posed, but his information led him to believe that he had only to cross 
 the border to find an army of Secessionists ready to join him. So con- 
 fident were the Rebels of success in the enterprise, that it was heralded 
 and boasted over for weeks before it took place. With a view to this 
 movement, General Lee arranged and perfected his plans as rapidly as 
 possible, and remodelled and strengthened his army, improving its dis- 
 cipline, and increasing its numbers from all quarters, till, about the first 
 of June, when he was ready to advance, he was at the head of one of the 
 best disciplined and most efficient armies ever marshalled on this continent. 
 The accumulating signs of the coming storm had not been unnoticed 
 by the United States Government, or the commander of the army of the 
 Potomac, and suspecting that an advance was speedily to take place, 
 General Hooker, having first made a reconnoissance in force, with the 
 sixth army corps, across the Eappahannock, on the 5th of June, to ascer- 
 tain whether any considerable portion of Lee's army had yet evacuated 
 their camps near that city, directed that an attack should be made upon 
 the Rebel General Stuart's cavalry corps, at Beverly ford, on the Rappa- 
 hannock, by a cavalry and infantry force under the command of General 
 Alfred Pleasonton. This officer, who, on the promotion of General Stone- 
 man to the head of the cavalry bureau, had been appointed commander 
 of the cavalry corps of the army of the Potomac, was born in the District 
 of Columbia in 182-i, and appointed a cadet at "West Point in 1840. He 
 
642 TUE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 graduated from the military academy on the 30th of June, 1844, ranking 
 seventh in his class, and was at once appointed brevet second-lieutenant 
 in the first regiment of dragoons. lie received his commission as second- 
 lieutenant in the second dragoons November 3d, 1845. He served under 
 General Taylor in the Jlexican war, and was brevetted for gallant and 
 meritorious conduct at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. In September, 
 1849, he was promoted to the first-lieutenancy ; in 1854 he became adju- 
 tant of his regiment, and on the 3d of March, 1855, received a captain's 
 commission. In 1856, he was appointed assistant adjutant-general to 
 General Harney in the department of the West. On the 15th of Feb- 
 ruary, 18(12, he was promoted to the rank of major in the regular army, 
 and served with distinction in the peninsula in the corps of regular 
 cavalry, winning two nominations for brevet rank. On the 16th of July, 
 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and placed in 
 command of one of the best brigades in Stoncman's division of cavalry. 
 During the Maryland campaign he served with great celerity and bril- 
 liancy, and made his splendid dash into Frederick, on the twelfth of Sep- 
 tember, driving the Rebels through the town. At Boonsboro, on tha 
 15th of the same month, he again engaged the Rebel cavalry, and 
 drove them out of the place, capturing two guns and several prisoners. 
 During the march of the army of the Potomac from Berlin, Maryland, 
 to Fredricksburg, in November, 1862, General Pleasonton commanded 
 the advance, and was continually engaged in skirmishing with the enemy, 
 driving them from various gaps of the mountains, and clearing the way 
 for the infantry. Although present, he was not engaged in the battle of 
 Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, but was employed in reconnoissances 
 and scouting expeditions. During the advance upon and the battles in 
 the vicinity of Chancellorsville, he was, as we have seen, actively engaged, 
 first in keeping up the communications between the different corps on 
 their rharch from Kelly's ford, and afterward in checking the flight of the 
 eleventh corps, and opposing the advance of the Rebel force. He was 
 next ordered to the command of the expedition which we are about to 
 describe; and his brilliant conduct in that expedition led to his promotion 
 to the rank of major-general of volunteers, and the command of the cav- 
 alry corps ; and in this new capacity his services were of the highest order 
 in the subsequent battles. 
 
 The force under General Pleasonton's command in the battle of Beverly 
 ford was composed of the first cavalry brigade, under General Gregg, a 
 brigade of regular cavalry, under General John Buford, and the second 
 cavalry brigade, under Colonel DuflSe ; together with an infantry force 
 of about two thousand, from the first and second arm}' corps, and two 
 batteries of artillery — making in all about nine thousand men. The 
 command bivouacked at Beverly ford, on the Rappahannock, at twelve 
 o'clock, Monday night, June 1st, commenced their march at three A.M. 
 
PLEASONTON'S ATTACK ON STUART'S CAVALEY. 543 
 
 next morning, and at four o'clock crossed the ford. After marching 
 about two miles they came up to a semicircle belt of woods, where the 
 Eebels had a line of rifle-pits just within the timber, and had massed their 
 cavalry force, about twelve thousand or fourteen thousand strong, with 
 twenty-five pieces of artillery, under the charge of their most skilful 
 cavalry commander, General J. E. B. Stuaft. This force was collected 
 for the purpose, as was ascertained from papers found on one of the pris- 
 oners taken by the Union troops, of leading the way in Lee's advance 
 into Pennsylvania, and would have started on their march within an hour 
 but for the attack of the Union troops. 
 
 General Buford's brigade, which was on the right, charged at once on 
 the Rebels, Colonel Davis, of the eighth New York, leading the charge. 
 A very severe battle ensued, the Rebels being in strong force, and re- 
 sisting the advance with great determination. In this battle Colonel 
 Davis was killed. The Union troops used the sabre with terrible effect, 
 while the Rebels replied with the revolver. Finding the resistance too 
 great for Buford's brigade, Gregg's, which was in the reserve, moved up 
 to its support, and charge after charge was made by the Union troops with 
 the greatest gallantry, and resisted by the Rebels with equal determina- 
 tion. At last, about twelve ii., the Rebel force began to fall back, and re- 
 treated nearly five miles to the position where their artillery was parked. 
 Here they were heavily reinforced, with infantry and artillery, from Cul- 
 pepper. Finding that he should be greatly outnumbered, and his orders 
 being only to execute a reconnoissance in force. General Pleasonton re- 
 tired about four o'clock P. M. across the Rappahannock, in perfect order, 
 taking with him two hundred prisoners, whom he had captured, and all 
 his own killed and wounded. His loss in killed and wounded was some- 
 what more than two hundred, and from two to three hundred prisoners, 
 and that of the Rebels was acknowledged by them to exceed six hundred, 
 including the prisoners. 
 
 The information obtained by this reconnoissance of the intended im- 
 mediate advance of the Rebel army was of great importance, and led 
 General Hooker to put his army immediately in motion, so as to prevent 
 Lee, who had several days start of him, from flanking him, and coming 
 between his army and Washington and Baltimore. Hooker had not, 
 however, confined himself to this single reconnoi.ssance. Stahl's cavalry 
 had hovered for several days in the vicinity of Winchester, New Balti- 
 more, and Front Royal, and had had several skirmishes with Lee's ad- 
 vance-guard, whom they drove back toward the main body. 
 
 On the 11th of June, the War Department organized two new military 
 departments — the Susquehanna and the Monongahela — and assigned 
 Major-General D. N. Couch to the command of the former, with his head- 
 quarters at Harrisburg, and Major-General W. T. H. Brookes to the com- 
 mand of the latter, with his headquarters at Pittsburg. On the 12th, 
 
544 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Governor Curtin issued a proclamation and General Couch a call to the 
 people of Pennsylvania, urging tliem to organize and to hasten to the 
 defence of the State, and if possible to drive back the invader before he 
 touched the soil of Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the the 18th of June, the Rebel advance, under Longstreet, about 
 eighteen thousand strong, reached Winchester, Virginia, and gave battle 
 to General Milroy, who occupied that post with a force of eight thousand 
 to nine thousand men. After a severe battle, General Milroy succeeded 
 in repulsing them ; but on the next day they renewed their attack with a 
 largely increased force, and surrounded the town ; and finding that there 
 was no hope of a successful defence of the place. General Milroy resolved 
 to cut his way through, and in the attempt to do so lost nearly all his am- 
 munition and artillery, and a considerable number of men, in killed, 
 wounded, or prisoners. He succeeded in reaching Harper's Ferry with a 
 portion of his command, and ran his baggage train through safely, by 
 Hagerstown and Cliambersburg, to Harrisburg.^ About two thousand 
 cavalry and stragglers from his force broke through in another direction, 
 and effected their escape to Bloody Eun, Pennsylvania, where they were 
 reorganized and joined by recruits from the Pennsylvania militia. 
 
 General Jenkins, one of Longstreet's division commanders, followed in 
 pursuit of Milroy's train to Hagerstown, where he arrived at 10.30 A. M. 
 of the 15th of June, and pushing forward rapidly, entered Chambcrsburg, 
 Penusj'lvania, at 8.30 in the evening of the same day. 
 
 On the 15th of June the President issued the following Proclamation : 
 
 " Washington, Monday, June 15, 1863. 
 
 "By the President of the United States of America: 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION 
 
 " Whereas, The armed insurrectionary combinations now existing in 
 several of the States are threatening to make inroads into the States of 
 Maryland, "Western Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, requiring immedi- 
 ately an additional military force for the service of the United States: 
 
 " Now therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
 and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, and of the 
 militia of the several States when called into actual service, do hereby call 
 into the service of the United States one hundred thousand militia from 
 the States following, namely : 
 
 " From the State of Maryland, ten thousand. 
 
 "From the State of Pennsylvania, fifty thousand. 
 
 " From the State of Ohio, thirty thousand. 
 
 " From the State of West Virginia, ten thousand. 
 
 "To be mustered into the service of the United States forthwith, and to 
 serve for the period of six months from the date of such muster into said 
 service, unless sooner discharged — to be mustered in as infantry, artillery, 
 
PEOGKESS OF LEE'S INVASION. 
 
 545 
 
 and cavalry, in proportions wbich will be made known through the "War 
 Department, which department will also designate the several places of 
 rendezvous. 
 
 " These militia are to be organized according to the rules and regula- 
 tions of the volunteer service, and sueh orders as may hereafter be issued. 
 
 " The States aforesaid will be respectively credited, under the enroll- 
 ment act, for the militia service rendered under this proclamation. 
 
 " In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the 
 seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 " Done at the City of Washington, this 15th day of June, in the year 
 of our Lord 1S63, and of the Independence of the United States the 87th. 
 
 "Abraham Lincolk. 
 
 " By the President : 
 
 " Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of Slate P 
 
 Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, issued a proclamation the same day, 
 calling upon the citizens of Pennsylvania to enrol themselves in military 
 organizations, and to encourage others to do so, as well as to contribute 
 money in the defence of the Commonwealth. Governor Tod, of Ohio, and 
 Governor Bradford, of Maryland, also issued proclamations, urging the 
 speedy arming of their people, and calling out the militia for service in 
 the emergency. Governor Seymour, of New York, tendered twenty 
 thousand militia from that State, and Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, 
 all the available militia of that State, including three recently returned 
 regiments. 
 
 As yet, however, but a single division of Lee's army had entered 
 Pennsylvania, and no more than that force had crossed the Potomac. 
 The remainder were occupying the different passes or gaps in the Bull 
 Eun range, and were moving within supporting distance of each other, 
 ready to cross the Potomac as soon as their commander deemed the time 
 for a movement in that direction propitious. General Pleasonton, who had 
 hovered around them, seeking the opportunity to strike telling blows, 
 and who never permitted such an opportunity to pass unimproved, sent 
 his forces out, on the morning of the 17th' of June, from Aldie, to the 
 right and left of Goose creek, in search of the enemy's cavalry, which he 
 supposed to be near Aldie's gap. General Kilpatrick's brigade succeeded 
 in finding them, and a sharp and determined battle ensued, both sides 
 charging with great fury, and after a fight of about three hours the Rebels 
 fled, having lost heavily, and did not make a stand again till they reached 
 Ashby's gap, where the main column of Stuart's cavalry were encamped. 
 General Gregg, who had been fighting the Rebels, at the same time, near 
 Aldie, also drove them to Snickersville, and ordered Colonel Duffie, with 
 about three hundred and sixty men, to proceed to Middleburg, and hold 
 that place. On arriving there, he found that a force of Rebel cavalry 
 greatly outnumbering his own were encamped around the town, and that 
 35 
 
546 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Stuart's wliole force were within supporting distance. Determined to 
 carry out liis instructions, he sent back messengers to Aldie, asking for 
 reinforcements. Meantime the Rebels in force attacked hiin at several 
 different points, and finding himself in danger of being overpowered by 
 superior numbers, he resolved to cut his way through them, and regain 
 his position at Aldie. Failing in this, he turned toward Thoroughfare 
 gap, and had proceeded several miles, when he ascertained that the gap 
 was held by Evvell, commanding the centre of Lee's grand army, and that 
 he was in the vicinity in person. Colonel Duffie then turned to the left, 
 crossed the mountains at Hope gap, and by a circuitous route, succeeded 
 in rejoining the division. In the reconnoissances undertaken by General 
 Pleasonton, between the 9th and the 18th of June, he had caused a loss 
 to the Rebels in killed, wounded and prisoners of about two thousand five 
 hundred. In some of the skirmishes his own loss had been considerable, 
 but in the whole it had been less than one thousand. By the reconnois- 
 sance in the vicinity of Aldie, in connection with others, he succeeded in 
 discovering the location of the three columns of Lee's army. Longstreet, 
 with the left wing, was at this time at Leesburg, and Jenkins' division, 
 from his corps, had crossed into Pennsylvania ; Ewell, with the centre, 
 was at Thoroughfare gap, in the Bull Run mountains ; and Ilill, with the 
 right wing, was advancing by way of Occoquan and Maple Run Shoals. 
 His force was estimated, and probably correctly, to be between ninety 
 thousand and one hundred thousand men. 
 
 On the 20th of June, another engagement took place between Pleason- 
 ton's cavalry and the Rebel cavalry force, in which, after desperate fight- 
 ing through the day, the Union troops drove the Rebels througli Ashby's 
 gap into the Shenandoah valley, capturing about one hundred and forty 
 prisoners, and inflicting very severe loss upon them in killed and wounded, 
 lie also captured two pieces of artillery, three caissons and many small 
 arms. 
 
 During this time. General Hooker had been moving his army, by as 
 rapid marches as possible, from Falmouth toward Manassas Junction and 
 Fairfax, keeping between the Rebel army and Washington and Baltimore, 
 and crowding Lee's army constantly to the west of the Bull Run range, 
 and toward the Shenandoah valley, thus compelling them to cross the Po- 
 tomac at a higher point than they desired. The people of Pennsylvania 
 complained very bitterly, at the time, that troops were not sent to the de- 
 fence of their towns, which were invaded, and threatened with invasion by 
 the enemy; but General Hooker understood too well that this was just 
 what General Lee desired, and that if his army were weakened by sending 
 detachments to Pennsylvania, Lee would at once precipitate himself upon 
 the remainder, with his whole force, and if he could defeat it, would then 
 be prepared to attempt the capture of Washington or Baltimore. 
 
 On the 20th of June, Lee had reached Winchester with his left and 
 
APPARENT APATHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 547 
 
 centre, and General A. P. Hill, commanding his right, had been forced 
 beyond the Bull Eun mountains, and was following toward Winchester. 
 On the 22d, E well's corps crossed the Potomac — a part of them at Shep- 
 herdstown, near the site of the battle of Antietam, and a part at WiUiams- 
 port. Longstreet's corps crossed on the 27th at Williamsport. Hill's 
 corps crossed on the 2ith at the same place, or a little above. Oq the 23d, 
 the Rebel General Ehodes' division of E well's corps entered Chambersburg, 
 and was followed, the next day, by the remainder of that corps. On en- 
 tering the town, General Ewell issued general orders, prohibiting the sale 
 of intoxicating liquors to his command, and requiring all persons having 
 such liquors in their possession to report the fact and state the amount to the 
 provost-marshal, or nearest general oflScer, that a guard might be placed on 
 them, and the men prevented from obtaining them. A failure to do this 
 would be punished by confiscation of the liquors, and render the other prop- 
 erty of the parties liable to seizure. He also admonished all citizens to ab- 
 stain from all acts of hostility, under penalty of being dealt with in a 
 summary manner. 
 
 Up to this time, the people of Pennsylvania had apparently been apa- 
 thetic under the earnest calls of their Governor and General Couch, and 
 the proclamation of the President. Although large bodies of militia from 
 New York, New Jersey, and some from Massachusetts, had hastened to 
 defend the State from the threatened invasion, the citizens themselves, 
 with but few exceptions, seemed either utterly indifierent to the approach 
 of the enemy, or so panic-stricken that they fled northward or eastward, 
 leaving their property at the mercy of whoever might choose to take it. 
 As the Eebels actually entered the State in large numbers, this pusDla- 
 nimity was less marked, and there was a rallying of the volunteer militia 
 of the State in considerable numbers to Harrisburg. Even at this time, 
 however, they were inclined to haggle in regard to the terms and time 
 of enlistment, and to refuse to be enlisted in the United States service, 
 lest they should be required to go into another State to fight the Eebels. 
 In the language of one of her own citizens,* "It was not until the enemy 
 was at our very doors, and three days before the battle of Gettysburg was 
 begun, that the people began to realize the magnitude of their danger, 
 and Philadelphia, which was a most tempting bait for the invaders, began 
 to pour forth her men and treasures in real earnest." Lee, on his arrival 
 in Pennsylvania, was in ignorance of Hooker's movements, his cavalry 
 having been, by unskilful management, separated from his main array, 
 and Hooker's army interposed between. He knew, however, that there 
 was little leisure for delay, and he accordingly directed Ewell to send two 
 of his divisions to Carlisle and York. In their route to York, Early's 
 division entered Gettysburg on the 26th, and finding very little there (the 
 inhabitants having sent off almost all their movable goods which would 
 
 * Professor M. Jacobs of Gettysburg. 
 
54S THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 be of value to the Rebels to Philadelphia), they at first attempted to levy 
 a cash contribution of considerable amount, but failing also in this, thev 
 abandoned the place, and proceeded toward York, the cowardly chief 
 burgess of which went six miles from the town toward the Rebels, to find 
 them, in order to surrender the town to them. They occupied York ou 
 the 28th of June. 
 
 Meantime, General Hooker lost no time in following Lee. On the day 
 after the Rebel army entered Maryland, the Union army crossed the 
 Potomac at Edwards' ferry, and on the 27th were between Harper's 
 Ferry and Frederick, Maryland. 
 
 Ou the 27th of June, General Hooker was relieved of the command of 
 
 the army of the Potomac, General Halleck says, in his report, at his own 
 
 request — a request made probably from the conviction that, with divided 
 
 counsels and a lack of efiBcient co-operation with him on the part of some 
 
 of his generals, there would be little hope of success, in the battle which 
 
 it was evident must soon be fought. Major-General George G. Meade 
 
 was appointed his successor. The general orders of the retiring and the 
 
 incoming general were as follow: 
 
 "Headquarters Akmy of the Potomac, Frederick, Marti.axd, 
 
 "June 28, 18G3. 
 
 "General Order, Xo. 65. — In conformity with the orders of the 
 War Department, dated June 27, 1863, I relinquish the command of the 
 army of the Potomac. It is transferred to Major-General George G. 
 Meade, a brave and accomplished officer, who has nobly earned the con- 
 fidence and esteem of the army on many a well -fought field. Impressed 
 with the belief that my usefulness as the commander of the army of the 
 Potomac is impaired, I part from it, yet not without the deepest emotion. 
 The sorrow of parting with the comrades of so many battles is relieved 
 by the conviction that the courage and devotion of this army will never 
 cease nor fail; that it will yield to my successor, as it has to me, a willing 
 and hearty support. AVith the earnest prayer that the triumph of its 
 arms may bring successes worthy of it and the nation, I bid it farewell. 
 
 "Joseph Hooker, 
 
 " llajor-Oeneral. 
 
 "S. F. Barstow, 
 
 "Acting Adjutant-General." 
 
 "Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, 
 
 " June 28, 1863. 
 
 "General Order, No. 66. — By the direction of the President of the 
 United States, I hereby assume command of the army of the Potomac. 
 As a soldier, in obeying this order, an order totally unexpected and un- 
 solicited, I have no promises or pledges to make. The country looks to 
 this army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile 
 invasion. Whatever fatigues and sacrifices we may bo called upon to 
 undergo, let us have in view constantly the magnitude of the interests 
 involved, and let each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an all- 
 
POSITION OF THE TWO AHMIES. 549 
 
 controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It is with just diffi- 
 dence that I relieve in command of this army an eminent and accomplished 
 soldier, whose name must ever appear conspicuous in the history of its 
 achievements; but I rely upon the hearty support of my companions in 
 arms to assist me in the discharge of the duties of the important trust 
 which has been confided to me. 
 
 "George G. Meade, 
 
 „ „ _ "Major-General Commanding. 
 
 "S. F. Barstow, 
 
 "Assistant Adjutant-General." 
 
 Having assumed command on the 28th of June, General Meade di- 
 rected his left wing, the first corps, commanded by General J. F. Eeynolds, 
 to move to Emmettsburg, Maryland, and the right wing, the eleventh 
 corps, under General 0. 0. Howard, upon New Windsor, leaving General 
 French, with eleven thousand men, to protect the Baltimore and Ohio 
 railroad, and convey the public property from Harper's Ferry to Wash- 
 ington. Buford's cavalry was at Gettysburg, and Kilpatrick's at Hanover, 
 Pennsylvania. The Rebel commanders, Ewell and Hill, with their corps, 
 reached Fayetteville on the Cashtown road, on the 28th, and Longstreet 
 came up to the same point on the day following. 
 
 It now became evident that the point of collision of the two hostile 
 armies would be in the vicinity of Gettysburg, to which they were con- 
 verging from opposite directions. On the 29th of June, Buford's Union 
 cavalry encamped in the vicinity of Gettysburg, on McPherson's farm, a 
 mile and a half northwest of the village. The first and eleventh corps 
 (General Reynolds' and General Howard's, numbering in all about twenty- 
 three thousand men) also came from Emmettsburg, and encamped four 
 miles southwest of the village, on the right bank of Marsh's creek. On 
 the Rebel side. Hill's corps, consisting of Heath's division, ten thousand 
 men; Pender's, ten thousand; and Anderson's, fifteen thousand, were 
 moved to the vicinity of Marsh's creek ; while from Longstreet's corps, 
 McLaws' division, twelve thousand men, and Hood's, twelve thousand, 
 were encamped in the same vicinity. Pickett's division, seven thousand 
 men, was at Chambersburg, and Rhodes' and Early's divisions of Ewell's 
 corps, together nineteen thousand strong, were at Heidlersburg, nine 
 miles distant; and Johnson's of the same corps, twelve thousand, was at 
 Carlisle. The plan of Lee was evidently that which he so often found 
 successful, of massing an overwhelming force upon a numerically feeble 
 foe, and thus defeating the Union army in detail. He had, as will be 
 seen, fifty-nine thousand, ready to give battle to the two Union corps of 
 twenty-three thousand, while he had also nineteen thousand more in sup- 
 porting distance. The remaining corps of the Union army, except the 
 six thousand cavalry of Buford, were not within a day's march, and 
 hence could not furnish adequate support. The great battle could not be 
 delayed, and the prospect for the Union forces was exceedingly dark. 
 
550 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHArTER XLYir. 
 
 SKKTCn OF GENERAL MEADE — TOPOORAPHT OF THE BATTLE-FIEI.D — THE BEOINNINO OF THE 
 BATTLE — DEATH OP OEXERAL REYNOLDS — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE — COMING UP OF TBB 
 ELEVENTH CORPS — THE POSITION ON CEMETERY HILL SECURED — RETREAT OF THE FIRST 
 AND ELEVENTH CORPS TO CEMETERY HILL — GREAT LOSS OF PRISONERS — THE STATE OF 
 FEELING IN THE TWO ARMIES — DEPRESSION OF THE CITIZENS OF GETTYSBURG — REIN- 
 FORCEMENTS OF THE UNION ARMY — POSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES ON THE MORNING OP 
 
 JVLt 2 OPENING OF THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE — THE ATTACK ON SICKLES' CORPS — 
 
 THE NINTH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY — THE CHARGE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES — 
 THE ENEMY BEATEN BACK — EWELL's ATTACK ON THE ELEVENTH CORPS AND ON GREEN's 
 
 BRIGADE — HE PENETRATES TO SPANGI-Eu's SPRING THE THIRD DAy'S BATTLE — ATTACK 
 
 ON THE UNION RIGHT — THE REPULSE — TERRIBLE ARTILLERY DUEL ON THE LEFT CENTRE 
 
 ASSAULT BY PICKETT'S DIVISION — TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER — LONGSREEt's ATTACK ON 
 
 BOUND TOP — THIS TOO REPULSED — THE BATTLE OVER — RETREAT OF THE REBELS — 
 CROSSING OF THE POTOMAC — GENERAL MEADE'S ERROR — THE LOSSES ON BOTH BIDES — 
 GENERAL ORDERS OP THE TWO COMMANDERS — BENEFICIAL RESULT OF THE INVASION TO 
 THE UNION CAUSE. 
 
 At tlie close of the last chapter, we left the two armies rapidly ap- 
 proaching each other, and both preparing for a battle, whose results could 
 hardly fail of being decisive in their character. Before proceeding to 
 describe the battle of the first three days of July, it may be well to give 
 some account of the new commander of the army of the Potomac, who 
 had been promoted to that difficult and responsible position only two days 
 before the battle. George Gordon Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain, in 
 1816, where his fiither was, at that time. United States consul. His elder 
 brother, Captain Richard W. Meade, entered the navy in 1826, and is 
 now (January, 1865) in command of the steam frigate San Jacinto. 
 General Meade was appointed to the West Point military academy, from 
 Pennsylvania, in 1831, and graduated in June, 1835. He was appointed 
 brevet second-lieutenant of the third artillery, July 1, 1835, and received 
 his full commission in the same rank, in December of that year. On the 
 26th of October, 1836, he resigned his commission, and for the next six 
 years lived in complete retirement. In may, 1842, he again entered the 
 army, as second-lieutenant of topographical engineers, and served in that 
 capacity throughout the Mexican war, distinguishing himself at the 
 battles of Palo Alto and Monterey, and receiving a brevet for "gallant 
 and meritorious conduct" in the latter battle. He was appointed to a 
 first-lieutenancy in the topographical engineers, in August, 1851, and to 
 a captaincy in the same corps in May, 1856.. During the period which 
 had elapsed since the Mexican war, he had been engaged in topographical 
 surveys of the northern lakes, and in other duties connected with his 
 corps. "When the Pennsylvania Reserve corps was organized for three 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL MEADE. 551 
 
 years, Captain Meade was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and 
 ordered to the command of the second brigade of the Eeserves, his com- 
 mission dating from August 31, 1861. 
 
 While serving in tliis corps, he superintended the erection of Fort 
 Pennsylvania at Tenallytown, and subsequently joined the army of the 
 Potomac in the winter of 1S62. His brigade belonged to McDowell's 
 corps, and remained at Fredericksburg for some months. On the 18th of 
 June, 1862, General Meade was advanced to the rank of major of topo- 
 graphical engineers in the regular army, and assigned the same rank in 
 the newly organized engineer corps of the United States army. In June, 
 1862, the Pennsylvania Reserves were added to the army of the Potomac 
 on the peninsula. General Meade took part in the battle of Mechanics- 
 ville, on the 26th of June, and in the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 27; and 
 for his bravery in the latter battle, received the brevet of lieutenant- 
 colonel of engineers in the regular army. After the capture of Generals 
 McCall and Reynolds, he took command of the Reserves, and in the battle 
 of June 30 was severely wounded, but recovered in season to command 
 his division in the Maryland campaign ; and after General Hooker was 
 wounded at Antietam, commanded his corps, and had two horses killed 
 under him, and was himself slightly wounded. During the battle of 
 Fredericksburg, he commanded the second division of the first army 
 corps, and fought in the left wing, under General Franklin, with a 
 tenacity and daring which was hardly equalled in that day of magniiicent 
 bravery. All his brigade officers, many of his field and line officers, and 
 more than fifteen hundred men of his division, were either killed or 
 wounded, before he relinquished the attack. Two days after the battle he 
 was pronioted to the command of the fifth army corps, and was appointed 
 major-general of volunteers, his commission dating from the 29th of No- 
 vember, 1862. He remained in command of the fifth corps during the 
 whole period of General Hooker's command of the army of the Potomac ; 
 and during the battles of Chancellorsville, his corps, though less actively 
 engaged than some of the others, was yet a tower of strength to the rest 
 of the army. When it was found to be the intention of the Government 
 to relieve General Hooker of the command of the army of the Potomac, 
 the other corps commanders, without General ^leade's knowledge, unani- 
 mously asked his appointment of the Government; and the order re- 
 quiring him to take command of the army took him completely by sur- 
 prise. In his stragical movements in the battle of Gettysburg, he 
 displayed admirable skill and fertility of resource, and showed, conclu- 
 sively that he understood how to foil the most cherished plans of his able 
 and adroit adversary. 
 
 Gettysburg, the point toward which the two hostile armies were 
 hastening, and which was the scene of the most bloody and desperate 
 battle of the war, is the county seat of Adams county, Pennsylvania. It 
 
553 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 is situated iu a small valley, surrounded by hills, some of them rising to a 
 considerable height. South Mountain, the northern prolongation of the 
 easternmost range of the Blue Eidge, is about ten miles \ve.<t of the town, 
 and has a general course from northeast to southwest. Half a mile west 
 of the town, parallel with South Mountain, and extending southward for 
 several miles, is Oak or Seminary ridge. North of the town this ridge 
 extends across the roads leading to Carlisle and Ilarrisburg. Immediately 
 south of the town rises the bold, bluff" eminence of Cemetery hill, almost 
 wholly destitute of timber, but commanding, from its height, the Semi- 
 nary ridge and the borough of Gettysburg. Southeast of Seminary hill, 
 there are two other smaller elevations — the nearer and smaller, Culps 
 liill, and the remoter, Wolfs hill. Both are heavily wooded. About one 
 and three-fourths miles directly south of Cemetery hill, and forming a 
 continuation of the elevated plateau, are two summits — Little Round Top 
 or Granite Spur, and Round Top. These, too, are crowned with heavy 
 forest- trees. Perhaps half a mile further south, or a little southwest, was 
 another and somewhat lower eminence, occupied, on the 3d of July, by 
 two brigades of Kilpatrick's cavalry. 
 
 Ilaving thus briefly sketched the leader and the field of battle, let us 
 take up the narrative of the battle itself, from the morning of the 30th 
 of June, when the first corps (Reynolds') and the eleventh (Howard's) of 
 the Union army, camped, late in the evening, wearied with a long march, 
 on the bank of Marsh's creek, five miles from Gettysburg, with Hill's and 
 Longstreet's corps, fifty-nine thousand strong, in their immediate vicinity, 
 and nineteen thousand more but nine miles distant. General Buford had 
 that day entered the borough of Gettysburg, with his division of six 
 thousand cavalry, and had taken a position on the western slope of Semi- 
 nary ridge, northwest of the town. 
 
 Early iu the morning of "Wednesday, July 1, he moved forward to a 
 cultivated hill, a quarter of a mile west of Seminary ridge, and placed his 
 batteries on the eastern slope of it, near the summit, and formed his line 
 in rear of his batteries, near the base of the hill. He threw out his 
 pickets a mile or more in advance of his batteries. 
 
 On this point, the attack commenced a few minutes before ten A.M., by 
 the firing of some of the Rebel skirmishers upon Buford's pickets. Hill's 
 (Rebel) corps, or at least Pender's and Heath's divisions, numbering 
 twenty thousand men, bad moved forward by the Cashtown road, and 
 posted themselves along the line of Willoughby creek or river, which 
 flows along the western base of the hill, on which Buford was posted. 
 Anderson's division, of the same corps, followed soon after, and took its 
 position toward the Hagerstown road. The engagement between the 
 pickets and the skirmishers soon grew into the proportions of a battle, 
 and about ten o'clock A. M. the artillery on both sides opened. At half- 
 past ten, Major-General Reynolds, with the first corps, came at full speed 
 
DEATH OP GENEEAL REYNOLDS. 553 
 
 ttrougli Gettysburg, and formed in line of battle along the eastern slope 
 of Oak ridge, their right wing resting near the Seminary. From this 
 position he ordered the corps to advance to Buford's relief, who was at 
 this time warmly engaged with a force nearly four times the number of 
 his own. In thus advancing, they passed to the northwest till their left 
 was nearly opposite the Seminary, and half a mile west of it. 
 
 On the east bank of Willoughby run, and about one hundred yards 
 south of Chambersburg tunpike, is a small grove of timber, extending 
 eastward from the run nearly half a mile, to the summit of the hill on 
 which Buford's batteries were placed. This grove the Rebels had filled 
 with sharpshooters ; and as the first corps approached it, Major-General 
 Eeynolds, according to his usual custom, rode forward toward the woods, 
 and dismounted to reconnoitre. As he drew near a fence at the eastern 
 extremity of the grove, and stooped forward to examine the woods, he 
 was struck by a ball in the neck, breaking the bone. lie fell forward on 
 his face, and expired in a few minutes.* 
 
 * Major-General John Fulton Reynolds was born in Lancaster, Pennsylyania, in 
 1820. He was admitted a cadet at West Point in 1837, and graduated on the 30<h 
 of June, 1841. He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant of artillery on the 1st of 
 July, 1841, and on the 23d of October following received his commission as second 
 lieutenant in the third artillery. On the 18th of June, 1846, he was promoted to the 
 rank of first lieutenant in the same regiment, and served throughout the Mexican 
 war, winning the brevets of captain and major for his " gallant and meritorious con- 
 duct" at Monterey and Buena A'ista. After his return from Mexico he was engaged 
 in military service in California and against the Indians on the Pacific coast. In 
 1852, he was appointed aid to General AVool, and on the 3d of March, 1855, was pro- 
 moted to the captaincy in the third artillery. 
 
 At the commencement of the war Captain Reynolds assisted Governor Curtin of 
 Pennsylvania in organizing the State troops, and xmder the act of the Legislature of 
 May 15, proceeded to raise the Pennsylvania Reserve corps. For these services he 
 was presented with a sword by his native State. On the 14th of May, 18C1, he was 
 appointed lieutenant-colonel of the fourteenth United States infantry. On the 20th 
 of August, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, and appointed 
 to the command of the first brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserve corps, then under 
 General McCall. With this command he was engaged in the construction of Fort 
 Pennsylvania at Tenallytown, and in the early part of 1862 passed over the Potomac, 
 joining the army of the Potomac. The "Reserves," it will be remembered, formed 
 the second division of the first army corps under General McDowell. In June, 1862, 
 they joined the army of the Potomac on the peninsula ; and General Reynolds, on 
 the 26th of June, 1862, participated in the battle of Mechanicsville, and the nest day 
 took part in the severe and disastrous battle of Gaines' Mill. He was also engaged 
 at Savage's station and at Charles City Cross Roads, where he took command of 
 the division after General McCall was taken prisoner, and at a later hour the same 
 day was himself captured by the enemy and sent to Richmond. For his gallantry in 
 these battles he received the brevets of colonel and brigadier-general in the regular 
 army. After his release from Richmond, he took command of the Pennsylvania 
 militia when that State was invaded in September, 1862, and for his gallant conduct 
 at that time received the thanks of the State, through Governor Curtin, and also 
 
551 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On the fall of General Reynolds, the command of the corps devolved 
 on General Doubleday. The corps, which had been much reduced by 
 losses at the battle of Fredericksburg, numbered but about eight thousand 
 men. The battle now raged furiously for nearly two hour-s, the Eebels 
 relying on their superior numbers, and assaulting the Union lines with 
 great fury, and these resisting their eftbrts with equal determination. A 
 Rebel brigade, under command of General Archer, of Maryland, num- 
 bering about fifteen hundred men, attempting to outflank and capture the 
 Union brigade on the extreme right, was itself captured and sent to the 
 rear; and a regiment of ^lississippi troops, eight hundred strong, had also 
 been taken prisoners. As he came upon the field, General Reynolds, ob- 
 serving the numerical superiority of the Rebel force, had sent back to 
 Major-General Howard, commanding the eleventh corps, requesting him 
 to hasten forward with his troops. 
 
 General Howard came up about noon, and having stationed Steinwehr's 
 division on Cemetery hill, as the best position for the coming struggle, 
 hastened with Schurz's and Barlow's divisions to the support of the 
 struggling heroes of the first corps. It was time. Rhodes' and Early's 
 divisions of Ewell's (Rebel) corps, each about twelve thousand strong, 
 which it will be remembered were at Ileidlersburg, nine miles distant, the 
 day before, had been ordered forward at an early hour, and formed on the 
 left of Heath (of Hill's corps) with the intention of flanking the Union 
 troops. Rhodes' division, which was in the advance, moved forward on 
 the Harrisburg road, and took part in the battle about noon, and were 
 ppcssing the first (Union) corps so hard that they were beginning to give 
 way, when the divisions of Schurz and Barlow coming up upon the 
 double-quick step, took position on their extreme riglit, resting on the 
 ^lummasburg road. This stayed the tide of battle for an hour, when 
 Early's (Rebel) division coming up on the York road, arrived on the 
 
 those of General McClellan. On the 2Cth of September he relinquished this position, 
 and returned to the command of hisf division, and soon after assumed the command of 
 the first army corps liy virtue of seniority of rank. ITe commanded this corps in the 
 battle of Frcdcrickslmrfr, being in the left wing iinder General Franklin. In January, 
 18G3, he was nominated major-ireneral of volunteers, and confirmed in March, his 
 commission dating from the 29th November, 1862. In the movements preceding the 
 battles around Chaucellorsville, General Reynolds distinguished liimself for the 
 promptness and skill with wliich he moved his corps, carrying out the prints which 
 General Hooker had planned to deceive the enemy. In the battles the first corps 
 took no active part, being in the reserve. On the 12th of June he was appointed to 
 the command of tlie right wing of Hooker's army, having charge of three corps. He 
 moved rapidly from the Kappahaiuiock, and crossed the I'otomac on the 2.")th of June. 
 He was, as we have seen, with liis own corps, in the vanguard at Gettysburg, and fill 
 in the very beginning of the battle. He endeared himself greatly to liis officers and 
 men by his thoughtfulness for their welfare, and his extraordinary personal courage 
 and daring. 
 
MOVEMENTS OF THE TWO ARMIES 555 
 
 field, and took part in the fight. The Rebels had now forty-four thousand 
 men actually engaged in the battle, and as many more within supporting 
 distance, against not more than twenty thousand Union troops ; and as 
 their fresh troops were constantly moving up, and extending farther east, 
 with the evident intention of flanking the Union troops, it became evident 
 that these must fall back to Cemetery hill or be killed or captured. 
 General Howard had anticipated this contingency, and had, on first 
 coming upon the field, ordered the removal of the heavy artillery to 
 Cemetery hill, and sent orders to Steinwehr's division to be ready to sup- 
 port the Union troops, should they find it necessary to retreat. 
 
 As the pressure of the advancing columns of the enemy became greater, 
 the men of the first and eleventh corps were forced to yield before them. 
 The first corps, for the most part, moved in very good order through the 
 southwestern suburbs of the town, and took position on the left and rear 
 of Steinwehr ; while the eleventh corps, crowding through Washington 
 and Baltimore streets, took position in front, and on the right centre of 
 the hill. In the confusion consequent upon the dense crowd, they were 
 unable to repel the assaults of the enemy, who were pressing hard upon 
 them, and from two thousand five hundred to three thousand were taken 
 prisoners. 
 
 At 4.30 p. M. the two corps had reached Cemetery hill, and the well 
 directed artillery fire of Steinwehr's division, and a heavy force of sharp- 
 shooters stationed along the front of the hill, prevented the Rebels from 
 pursuing. Soon after they had reached the hill, General Hancock, com- 
 mander of the second army corps, who had been sent forward by General 
 Meade to represent him upon the field, arrived, and approving of the ju- 
 dicious choice of position made by General Howard, proceeded to post 
 the troops on the hill, and assign positions to the different corps, which, 
 under urgent orders from General Meade, were now rapidly coming up. 
 The twelfth corps (Major-General Slocum's) and part of the third, with 
 its commander, General Sickles, arrived about seven p. M. The twelfth 
 was stationed on Gulp's hill, extending to Wolf's hill, and the third on 
 Cemetery hill, to the left of the first. 
 
 At night the Rebel forces were stationed as follows: Ewell's corps 
 (Rhodes' and Early's divisions) occupied the town, and formed a line 
 thence southeast to Rock creek, a stream flowing southward about a mile 
 east of the town. Johnston's division of this corps did not arrive till the 
 next day (July 2d), and then took its position on the extreme left, beyond 
 Rock creek. Hill's corps was posted on Seminary ridge in the follow- 
 ing order : on the left, and extending from the Chambersburg turnpike, 
 to the Shippensburg or Mummasburg road, was Heath's division ; nest 
 came Pender ; then Anderson, who had come up late, and had taken no 
 part in the day's fighting; then McLaws' division of Longstreet's corps 
 
556 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 which had also come up too late for the battle of that day ; nnd this was 
 joined still further on the right, the next morning, by Hood's division. 
 
 The tone of feeling in the two armies was very different. The Eehcls 
 were boastful and jubilant; they were elated with their success on that 
 day, and fully confident that on the morrow they should completely an- 
 nihilate the Union army, fatigued as it was by long marches, and yet 
 scattered, for they were well aware that but two small corps had been 
 fighting them through the day. Their commander, however, saw less oc- 
 casion for rejoicing than some of his subordinates. lie had, indeed, driven 
 the small force opposed to him back about two miles, and taken about 
 three thousand prisoners ; but they had retreated to a strong and almost 
 impregnable position, and had carried off twenty-three hundred of his 
 men ; and their forces would come up rapidly, and soon would be equal 
 in numbers to his own, with a decidedly superior position. 
 
 On the Union side there was very little dejection or discouragement, 
 but as little rejoicing. The two corps which had been engaged had made 
 a good fight, and though tliey had lost heavily, in killed, wounded and 
 prisoners, they had not been panic-stricken and dishonored. They had, 
 indeed, lost their noble and gallant commander. General Reynolds, and the 
 youthful but fearless General Barlow was wounded well nigh to death. 
 Of Schurz's division, of the eleventh corps, numbering in the morning 
 three thousand six hundred men, two thousand two hundred were killed; 
 wounded, or prisoners. With all these misfortunes, however, there was 
 a full belief in the advantages of their position, a certainty that they 
 would be largely reinforced before another day's fighting, and an un- 
 shaken confidence in the ability of General Meade. When evening 
 brought Slocum's and part of Sickles' corps, and especially when, soon 
 after midnight, General Meade and his staff rode into camp from Taney, 
 town, the spirits of the men, weary as they were, began to rise, and they 
 felt that victory was yet within their reach. 
 
 The people of Gettysburg were overwhelmed with distress and anxiety 
 during this, the first night of the battle. They had seen one of the finest 
 dwellings of the town, the Harman house, wantonly burned in the morn- 
 ing; they knew that the rebels were plundering others at this very time! 
 they had seen the Union army flying before a triumphant foe through 
 their streets, and though they k'^ew that they had succeeded in gaining 
 the Cemetery hill, yet they feai ''--y would not be able to hold it, 
 especially as they knew nothing of ueneral Meade's near approach, or of 
 the reinforcements already come in, or within a short distance from the 
 town. Furthermore, the Rebels encamped in the town were loquacious 
 and boastful, and took delight in telling how easily they should be able to 
 destroy the Union army on the morrow. Disheartened, and almcst in 
 despair, the citizens of Gettysburg watched sadly for the dawn, which 
 they feared after all might come too soon, and too deeply laden with 
 
1 
 
OPENING OF THE BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG. 55T 
 
 sorrow. At seven A. M., Thursday morning, July 2cl, tlie remainder of 
 the third corps (Sickles') and the whole of the second (Hancock's) and 
 the fifth (Sykes') had reached the camp. Hancock's corps was placed on 
 the left centre, next to the first corps, and Sickles joined it still further 
 on the left, while Sykes' held the extreme left wing, resting on Round 
 Top and Granite Spur, or Little Round Top. Sedgwick's corps (the sixth) 
 did not arrive till two p. M., having marched thirty-two miles since nine 
 A. M, of the previous day. As the men were very much wearied with 
 their fatiguing march, they were ordered to take a place behind the fifth in 
 reserve, to be able to support either the right or left as might be required- 
 
 The Rebels were in no haste to commence the.attack. General Lee, the 
 Rebel commander, says in his report, that the force of the enemy (the 
 Union troops) was unknown, and that he deemed it advisable to wait till 
 the rest of his troop's came up. They were, however, all in ,the field ex- 
 cept Pickett's division of Longstreet's corps, Johnston's division of 
 Ewell's corps, and Stewart's cavalry — all of which came up on Thursday. 
 
 The force which was present for duty at Gettysburg, under his com- 
 mand, on the morning of July 2d, was not less than seventy-five thousand 
 men; and about twenty-nine thousand more came in during the day, in- 
 cluding Stuart's cavalry, giving an entire force of one hundred and four 
 thousand. The Union army, in the morning, numbered about seventy- 
 eight thousand ; and Sedgwick's corps, of about sixteen thousand, came 
 in at two P. jr., making the entire Union force about ninety-four thousand. 
 
 The day passed in silence, except occasional picket-firing, and now 
 and then a cannon-shot from the Union lines to ascertain the position 
 and strength of the enemy, till twenty minutes past four P. M., when, 
 liaving perfected his arrangements, the Rebel commander opened a ter- 
 rific artillery fire upon the left, and followed it by an infantry attack upon 
 the left wing. General Sickles, in command of the third coi-ps on that 
 wing, moved forward with his corps from half to three fourths of a mile 
 in front of the main line of the Union army, to the vicinity of Sherfey's 
 peach orchard. The ninth Massachusetts' battery, Captain Bigelow, ac- 
 companied the corps. General Sickles' position was unfortunately too 
 far from the main line to be promptly or immediately supported by the 
 second or fifth corps. General Meade sought General Sickles at once, and 
 discussed with him the propriety of falling back to the line of his sup- 
 ports ; but the enemy had perceived his exposed position, and were rush- 
 ing forward to the attack in heavy force, about twenty-six thousand men 
 being thrown at once upon this single corps. Very early in the engage- 
 ment, General Sickles was severely wounded, and Major-General Birney 
 took command of the corps, and retained it, though himself wounded 
 soon after. After a brave and determined resistance, the corps was forced 
 back ; and the enemy, flushed with success, pressed forward with all their 
 might for the high ground between Round Top and Little Round Top or 
 
658 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Granite Spur. If they could reach and hold this, they would be able to 
 command the Union position on Cemetery hill. The struggle was fierce 
 and desperate, and, for nearly four hours, victory seemed poised in the 
 balance. Bigelow's ninth Massachusetts battery, nine months' men, who 
 had not previously been under fire, occupied an exposed position, and the 
 Kebels seemed determined to take it. Major McGilvray, who commanded 
 the artillery on the left, ordered Captain Bigelow to hold his position till 
 he could get up two batteries on the ridge, and to give the Eebels grape 
 and canister. Captain Bigelow obeyed, and as the Eebels came up to the 
 very muzzles of his cannon to capture them, he blew them to pieces, and 
 filled the air with the scattered fragments of their bodies. Still they 
 rushed on with demoniac yells, climbing upon the limbers, and shooting 
 the horses, but Bigelow held on, though nearly all his horses were 
 killed, five of his sergeants dead, and three of his cannoneers and twenty- 
 two of his men wounded, and himself shot through the side, till the booming 
 of the guns from the ridge told that McGilvray had planted his batteries. 
 He then brought off five of his limbers and two of his guns, dragging 
 them in part by hand. The Rebels rushed forward, seized the four pieces 
 with loud shouts, and came on for new triumphs, but McGilvray's batteries 
 drove them back with terrible slaughter, and a fresh division (Humphrey's) 
 coming up to reinforce the third corps, charged upon the Eebels and re- 
 captured the guns. 
 
 In this desperate struggle, Doubleday's division of the first corps, the 
 second, and part of the fifth and sixth corps, together with two divisions 
 of the twelfth corps, came to the assistance of the third, and after nearly 
 three hours of the hardest fighting of the war, succeeded in repulsing the 
 enemy, who had at one time gained possession of the summit of Little Eound 
 Top. From this point they were driven by Crawford's division of the fifth 
 corps (the Pennsylvania Eeserves) who, coming up fresh, charged upon them 
 with great fury, drove them down the rocky front of that hill, across the 
 valley below, over the next hill, and into the woods beyond, taking over 
 three hundred prisoners. In this charge, the gallant Colonel Taylor, com- 
 mander of the Bucktail regiment of the Eeserves, and brother of the dis- 
 tinguished author, Bayard Taylor, was killed, and the Eebel General 
 Barksdale also fell. Thus thoroughly driven back, and with severe loss, 
 the enemy made no further attempts upon the Union left wing, but the 
 Eebel General Ewell, who commanded on the enemy's left (opposite the 
 Union right) and had determined to obtain possession of Gulp's and 
 AVolf's hills to the right and southeast of Cemetery hill, took advantage 
 of the weakening of the Union right to support the attack of Longstreet 
 and Hill on the left, massed his force first against the position of the 
 eleventh corps on Cemetery hill, and afterward on Green's brigade of 
 Geary's division, which, with Williams' division, alone remained of the 
 twelfth, the rest having crossed to the support of the third corps, and 
 
THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE AT GETTYSBUEG. 559 
 
 whicli guarded the valley between Gulp's and Wolf's hills. The attack 
 upon the eleventh corps was speedily repulsed, and with fearful loss to 
 the Eebels. Howard, depressing the muzzles of his forty cannon, poured 
 such volumes of flame, with such a hail of shell, upon the Kebel troops, 
 who were flying to climb the steep front of the hill, that they fell back 
 completely routed. E well's success was somewhat better, in his attempt 
 upon the lines further to the Union right. He attacked Green's brigade, 
 in the darkness, with great fury, but was received by the brigade with the 
 most resolute courage, and the whole ground in front of Green's breast- 
 works was covered with the killed and wounded. After some time a 
 brigade of the first corps was sent down to the assistance of this little 
 band of heroes. The conflict raged nearly two hours, till 9.30 p. M. ; and 
 though repelled from Green's breastworks, a small Eebel force succeeded 
 in penetrating to a point inside of the Union lines, near Spangler's Spring, 
 where they lay on their arms during the night. Owing to the late hour and 
 the darkness, they dared not push on further, lest they should fall into a trap. 
 
 The losses during this day's fighting had been very severe on both sides, 
 but they were heaviest on the side of the Rebels ; and, with the exception 
 of the slight advantage gained at Spangler's Spring, which proved of no 
 subsequent importance, they had been repulsed with great loss in their 
 attempts to carry every point. They were not however defeated ; and 
 the reinforcements which they had received during the day, and which 
 had as yet taken no part in the fighting, together with the fact that a 
 retreat could only prove ruinous to their cause, led the Rebel commander 
 to resolve to continue the assault on the next day, July 8d. To General 
 Ewell he assigned the task of carrying the Union right wing, and to 
 Longstreet that of breaking the Union left centre, the weakest point of 
 the Union lines. 
 
 On the morning of the 3d, General Geary, who had returned to the 
 right during the night, was attacked at early dawn by the enemy, and re- 
 plied with his batteries. The attacking force was that which had pene- 
 trated to Spangler's Spring the night previous, now largely reinforced by 
 Ewell's best troops. At sunrise Gearj^'s division, which had been rein- 
 forced by Shaler's brigade from the sixth corps, and Lockwood's Maryland 
 brigade, charged furiously upon the enemy and drove them back. Rein- 
 forced, they again advanced, only to be again driven back, and from 4.30 
 to eight A. M. the battle raged with the utmost violence, and there were 
 no symptoms of yielding on eithtS" side. At eight o'clock there was a lull 
 of a few minutes, and then the strife was renewed again with ever in- 
 creasing fury. At 10.30 A. M. the Rebels were retreating, driven by 
 main force over the breastworks with dreadful slaughter, and, as they 
 fell back, a battery on the Baltimore turnpike ploughed through their 
 lines with shot and shell, hurled over the heads of the twelfth corps, and 
 made terrible havoc in their ranks. 
 
560 THE CIVIL WAR IN" THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 After the retreat of Ewell's troops to the west and northwest of the 
 town of Gettysburg, the enemy remained quiet till one P. M., when they 
 opened fire with one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty 
 guns on the centre and left, the position of General Hancock's corps, 
 which, from the want of natural defences, was the weakest portion of the 
 Union lines. The Union Latteries, fully equal in number and calibre, 
 replied promptly, and for the next two hours the earth shook under the 
 feet of the two armies with the terrible concussion. The air seemed filled 
 with iron missiles, and the forest trees on both sides were riven, torn 
 and splintered, as if struck by lightening. At last the Union troops 
 ceased to reply, not from any disposition to yield, or from lack of am- 
 munition, but to compel the Eebels to a further demonstration. 
 
 They were not slow in making it. Pickett's division, the elite of 
 Longstreet's corps, which had not yet been under fire in this battle, was 
 advanced, and supported by three brigades from Heath's and Anderson's 
 divisions of Hill's corps. They moved steadily forward for nearly a half 
 mile, intending evidently to carry the Union lines by assault, when having 
 arrived within short range, the artillery opened on them with grape, can- 
 ister, and shell. They hesitated for a moment, tlien with tremendous 
 yells rushed on till, when within a short distance of the lines, they were re- 
 ceived with a most deadly and destructive fire of musketry. Under this 
 they reeled and staggered, and a part rushing up to the Union lines threw 
 down their arms and surrendered, while the remainder turned and fled. 
 Webb's and Stannard's brigades of Doubleday's division sprang furward, 
 and each captured ab6ut eight hundred prisoners, and the other brigades 
 con.siderable numbers. Fifteen stands of colors were also taken by the 
 Union troops. Of the three brigade commanders of Pickett's division, 
 Garnett was killed, Armistead mortally wounded, and Kemper severely 
 wounded and taken prisoner. General Pcttigrew and General Semmes 
 were also wounded, the latter mortally. Over one third of the men en- 
 gaged in this assault were left upon the field, and three thousand more 
 taken prisoners. On the Union side the loss had been much less, but 
 Major-General Hancock and Brigadier-General Gibbon were severely, and 
 Generals Warren and Hunt slightly wounded. Of course this closed the 
 battle in this part of the field, as there was no probability of rallying these 
 broken troops for another attack. 
 
 But Longstreet had not relinquished his hope of effecting a lodgment 
 of his troops upon Eound Top or Granite Spur. Hood's and lIcLaws' 
 division of his corps, while the fight with the Union centre was progress- 
 ing, assaulted these points with great vigor in front, and at the same time 
 Longstreet sent an infantry force with two or three batteries, to a point 
 nearly two miles southwest of Round Top, with orders to press forward 
 and turn the flank of the sixth corps, so as to fall upon the Union rear 
 and secure its trains of ammunition, which were packed behind Round 
 
RETREAT OF THE REBEL ARMY FROM GETTYSBURG. 
 
 561 
 
 Top. They were, as they thought, making good progress in this move- 
 ment, when they suddenly found themselves confronted by two brigades 
 of Kilpatrick's division of cavalry. A fierce engagement ensued, in 
 which the Eebel batteries were silenced, and the infantry driven back to 
 their original position in front of Round Top, and the Pennsylvania Ee- 
 serves charged upon them, capturing the battery, taking three hundred 
 prisoners, and five thousand stand of arms. At the same time, General 
 Gregg, with his division of cavalry, who had held a position on the 
 extreme right, crossed the Baltimore and Bonaughtown road, and attacked 
 Stuart's cavalry and Ewell's force on the left and rear. 
 
 The great battle was over. Thwarted at every point, his efforts to 
 penetrate and destroy the Union army all defeated, with nearly one third 
 of his whole force either killed, wounded, or prisoners, his ammunition 
 and supplies nearly exhausted, the Rebel commander sullenly drew back 
 to his intrenchments, and ordered the gathering up of such of his 
 wounded as could be most readily moved. The Rebel troops which had 
 hitherto occupied the town and the tract southeast of it, moved during the 
 night to Seminary ridge. "Owing to the strength of the enemy's posi- 
 tion," says General Lee in his report, "and the reduction of our ammu- 
 nition, a renewal of the engagement could not be hazarded, and the 
 difficulty of procuring supplies rendered it impossible to continue longer 
 where we were." Accordingly, he commenced his retreat by the Fairfield 
 and Cashtown roads toward Williamsport, on the evening of the fourth 
 of July, in a heavy rain, and with the utmost secrecy, and on the morning 
 of the fifth General Meade ascertained that he was in full retreat, and the 
 sixth corps was sent to pursue him on the Fairfield road, and cavalry 
 on the Cashtown road, by the Emmettsburg and Monterey passes. The 
 fifth and sixth of July having been occupied with the succor of the 
 wounded and the burial of the dead, and General Sedgwick having 
 returned from the pursuit of the enemy, which he had pushed as far as 
 the Fairfield Pass, with the report that the pass was very strong — one in 
 which a small force of the enemy could hold in check and delay any 
 pursuing force — General Meade resolved to follow the enemy by a flank 
 movement, and accordingly, leaving a brigade of cavalry and one of in- 
 fantry to continue hara.ssing the enemy, he put his army in motion for 
 Middletown, Maryland, and sent orders to Major-General French, at 
 Frederick, to re-occupy Harper's Ferry, and to send a force to hold 
 Turner's Pass in South Mountain. He ascertained subsequently that 
 Major General French had not only anticipated some of these orders in 
 part, but had pushed a cavalry force to Williamsport and Falling Waters, 
 where they partially destroyed the enemy's pontoon bridge, and captured 
 its guard. General Meade sent Buford at the same time with his cavalry 
 division to Williamsport and Hagerstown, where they successfully 
 36 
 
562 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 harassed the Kebel army, destroying its trains, and making many cap- 
 tures of guns and prisoners. 
 
 After halting a day at Middletown, to procure necessary supplies and 
 bring up trains, the Union army moved through South Mountain, and by 
 the 12th of July was in front of the enemy, who occupied a strong 
 position on the heights near the marsh, which lies in advance of Williams- 
 port. In taking this position several skirmishes and affrays had been had 
 with the enemy, principally by the cavalry, and the eleventh and sixth corps. 
 The loth of July was occupied in reconnoissances of the enemy's position 
 and in preparations for an attack ; but on advandng the next day, it was 
 found that during the night of the 13th they had crossed the river at 
 Falling Waters and Williamsport, Ewell's corps fording the river at tlie 
 latter point, wading waist deep, and Longstreet and Hill's corps crossing 
 at the former on the pontoon bridge, v\ hich had been rejjaired. Tlie cav- 
 alry in pursuit overtook the rear-guard of Longstreet and Ilill at Falling 
 Waters, and captured two guns and numerous prisoners. Such is Gen- 
 eral Meade's account of the retreat. General Lee, on the contrary, states 
 that he awaited an attack at AVilliamsport for two days (June 12lli and 
 13th) and that as none was made, and his preparations were completed, ho 
 crossed deliberately, and without interference on the part of the Union 
 army. Were it not that General Lee's report is, throughout, disingenuous, 
 and that though he does not directly assert falsehoods, yet often he so 
 states facts as to compel the drawing of false inferences, and as often sup- 
 presses important truths which would tell against his cause, we might 
 be disposed to accept as the whole truth his version of his escape. Gen- 
 eral Meade did not fail of censure from the Government for thus permitting 
 the Rebel army to glide away from him when it was seemingly within 
 his grasp. It should be said in his favor, that his forces were much ex- 
 hausted by their very long, forced marches ; that the Rebel position was 
 one of great strength, and that the Rebel army, fighting for existence, 
 would undoubtedly have fought with the utmost desperation, and the re- 
 sult of the battle might have been doubtful. Yet to have fought and been 
 repulsed would have been better than not to have fought at all, since he 
 could liardly have f;iiled to have innicted as much injury on the Rebel 
 army as he received, and this would have so thoroughly crippled Lee's 
 army as to have rendered it powerless in the future. It cannot be denied 
 that the mistake was a grave one. 
 
 General Gregg's cavalry force, which had crossed the Potomac at Har- 
 per's Ferry on the 12th or 13th, came up with the rear of the enemy at 
 Charlestown and Shepherdstown, had a spirited contest, in which the 
 enemy was driven to Martinsburg and \Vinchester, and pursued and 
 harassed in his retreat. General Lee says that this cavalry force was at- 
 tacked by (Rebel) General Fitz Lee near Kearneyville, and defeated with 
 heavy loss, leaving its dead and many of its wounded on the field. Gen 
 
THE LOSSES OP*rHE TAVO ARMIES. 563 
 
 eral Meade's army crossed the Potomac at "Berlin, and moved down the 
 Loudon valley, and keeping between the Blue Eidge and the Potomac, 
 compelled Lee to retreat up the Shenandoah valley, and to take a position 
 on tlie Rapidan, where his army remained for some time. 
 
 In the magnitude of the losses on both sides in this campaign, it is en- 
 titled to be regarded as the greatest campaign of the war up to that period, 
 and the battle as one of the severest of modern times. The Union losses, 
 as officially stated, were two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four killed, 
 fourteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded, and six thousand six 
 hundred and forty-three missing, of whom not far from four thousand 
 were prisoners. The total loss was therefore twenty-three thousand one 
 hundred and eighty-six. Among the killed were Major-General Reynolds, 
 and Brigadier-Generals Weed, Zook and Farns worth ; while Major-Gen- 
 erals Sickles, Hancock, Butterfield, Doubleday, and Birney, and Brigadier- 
 Generals Barlow, Barnes, Warren, Gibbon, Hunt, Graham, Willard, and 
 Paul, were wounded. The Rebel losses have never been officially stated, 
 but, from the best data to be obtained, it is believed that their dead num- 
 bered about five thousand five hundred. Nearly that number were buried 
 by the Union army, and others were found in the woods and ravines sub- 
 sequently. The number of wounded, from the most accurate estimates 
 to be obtained, exceeded twenty-one thousand. Of these seven thousand 
 five hundred and forty were left on the field, and abandoned to the care of 
 the victors, and were attended with tlie same assiduity and tenderness as 
 the wounded of the Union army. The number of Rebel prisoners was 
 thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty-one, inclusive of the wounded. 
 The total loss then of the rebel army was not less then thirty-two thousand 
 one hundred. Among these were Major-General Pender, and Brigadier- 
 Generals Barksdale, Armistead, Garnett, Semmes, and Pettigrew (killed ;it 
 Falling Waters), killed ; and Mnjor-Generals Heath, Hood and Trimble, 
 and Brigadier-Generals Kemper, Scales, Ander.son, Hampton, Jones and 
 Jenkins, wounded ; and Brigadier-Generals Archer and Kemper taken 
 prisoners. Three cannon and forty-one standards were also captured from 
 the Rebels. 
 
 On the 4th of July, General Meade issued the following general order 
 to his army : 
 
 " Headquarter.s Army of thk Potomac, 
 "Near Gettysburg, July 4, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders, No. 68. — The commanding general, in the name 
 of the country, thanks the army of the Potomac for the glorious result 
 of the recent operations. 
 
 " Our enemy, superior in numbers, and flushed with the pride of a suc- 
 cessful invasion, attempted to overcome or destroy this army. Baffled 
 and defeated, he has now withdrawn from the contest. The privations and 
 fatigues the army has endured, and the heroic courage and gallantry it 
 displayed, will be matters of history to be ever remembered. 
 
564 THE CIVIL WAR IN Ae UNITED STATES. 
 
 " Our task is not yet accomplished, and the commanding general looks 
 to the army for greater efforts to drive from our soil every vestige of the 
 presence of the invader. 
 
 " It is right and proper that we should on suitable occasions return our 
 grateful thanks to the Almighty Disposer of events, that in the goodness 
 of his providence he has thought fit to give victory to the cause of the 
 just. By command of 
 
 " (Signed) Major-General Meade. 
 
 " S. Williams, A. A. G." 
 
 General Lee on reaching Williamsport also issued a general order to 
 his army, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 •' Headquarters Armt of NoRinERjf Viboinia, 
 
 '^Jtilii 11, 13G3. 
 
 ■ "General Orders, No. 16. — After the long and trying marches, en- 
 dured with the fortitude that has ever characterized the soldiers of the 
 army of Northern Virginia, you have penetrated to the country of our 
 enemies, and recalled to the defences of their own soil those who were 
 engaged in the invasion of ours. 
 
 " You have fought a fierce and sanguinary battle, which, if not attended 
 with the success that has hitherto crowned your efforts, was marked by 
 the same heroic spirit that has commanded the respect of your enemies, 
 the gratitude of your country, and the admiration of mankind. 
 
 " Once more you arc called upon to meet the enemy from whom you 
 have torn so many fields names that will never die. Once more the eyes 
 of your countrymen are turned upon you, and again do wives and sisters, 
 fathers and mothei-s, and helpless children, lean for defence on your strong 
 arms and brave hearts. Let every soldier remember that on his courage 
 and fidelity depends all that makes life worth having, the freedom of his 
 country, the honor of his people, and the security of his home. 
 
 " Let each heart grow strong in the i-emembranoe of our glorious past, 
 and iu the thought of the inestimable blessings for which we contend ; 
 and, invoking the assistance of that benign Power which has so signally 
 blessed our former eflbrts, let us go forth in confidence to secure the 
 j)eace and safety of our country. Soldieis, your old enemy is before you. 
 Win from him honor worthy of your right cause, worthy of your comrades 
 dead on so many illustrious fields. 
 
 " R. E. Lee, General Commanding." 
 
 The invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by the Rebel army, so far 
 from accomplishing what the Rebels and their sympathizers at the North 
 had liopcd from it, was, notwithstanding its immense expenditure of 
 loyal blood and treasure, of great service to the Union. It thwarted the 
 schemes of the " Peace " party, and transformed many who had been 
 ardent sympathizers with the Rebellion, into active advocates of the war. 
 
EESULTS OF THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 565 
 
 It roused the dormant patriotism of tlie professed friends of the Union, 
 and gave a n^v impulse to volunteering. The heavy loss sustained by 
 the Rebels in the expedition, in men and munitions of war, convinced 
 them that the party on whose sympathy they had relied to sustain them 
 in their struggle, by rising against the United States Government, were 
 utterly powerless to effect any thing in their favor, and this did more to 
 dispirit and discourage them, and to injure their cause abroad, than any 
 previous event. Coming, as it did, in connection with other and still 
 more decisive victories for the Union arms, it encouraged the timid, 
 established the wavering, infused fresh courage into the hearts of the 
 friends of the Union at home and abroad, and turned the tide which had 
 in other countries set so strongly and unjustly against the national cause, 
 if not to favorable regard, at least to a far stricter impartiality than had 
 previously been manifested. 
 
5r.G THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CEAPTEK XLYIIT. 
 
 OENERAL ORANT TAKES COMMAND IN PERSON OF THE ARMY FOR THE REDUCTION OF VinKS- 
 
 BHRO HIS OANAL PROJECTS — THE CANAL ACROSS THE PENINSULA — ROUTE BT ROUNDAWAT 
 
 BAYOU — LAKE PBOVIDKXCE CANAL — YAZOO PASS — STEELE'S BAYOU — SUCCESSIVE FAILURES 
 — HE RESOLVES TO ATTACK FROM BELOW — THE RLNXING OF THE BATTERIES — EXCITEMENT 
 AMONG THE SPECTATORS — MARCH OF THE ARMY TO HARD TIMES, LOUISIANA^ — ATTACK ON 
 GRAND GULF — REPULSE OF THE GUNBOATS— THEY RUN PAST THE BATTERIES— LANDING AT 
 BRUINSBURG — BATTLES OP SHAIFER's PLANTATION AND PORT GIBSON — EVACUATION OF 
 GRAND GULF — SKIRMISH AT FOURTEEN MILK CREEK — BATTLE AT RAYMOND — CAPTURE OP 
 JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, AND DESTRUCTION OF REBEL PROPERTY THERE — MARCH OP THE 
 ARMY WESTWARD — BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL — BATTLE OF BLACK RIVER BRIDGE — 
 VICKSBUKG INVESTED — ASSAULTS OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTY-SECOND OF MAY — 
 SIEGE OF THE CITY — ITS CAPITULATION ON THE FOURTH OF JULY — TERMS OF THE SUR- 
 RENDER — THE RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN — REBEL AND UNION LOSSES — SHERMAN'S 
 
 PURSUIT OF JOHNSTON — CAPTURE OP JACKSON AND DEFEAT OF THE REBELS GENERAL 
 
 ransom's EXPEDITION TO NATCHEZ — GENERAL IIERRON'S CAPTURE OP YAZOO CITY — 
 OPERATIONS OF THE GUNBOATS ON THE TRIBUTARIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI — THE BATTLE OF 
 MILLIKJEN's bend BRAVERY OF THE COLORED TROOPS — ATIACK ON LAKE PORVIDENCE. 
 
 The efforts for the reduction of Vicksburg, the principal stronghold of the 
 Kebellion at the West, had thus far proved abortive. Sherman's unsuc- 
 cessful assault on Chickasaw Bluffs, at the close of the year 1862, had only 
 resulted in rendering its defences more formidable, and its garrison larger, 
 while it rendered it certain that the north line of the Rebel works around 
 that cit}' could only be carried by a very heavy sacrifice of life, if at all. 
 
 General Grant had been engaged in operations having in view the 
 command of the Mississippi Central, otherwise known as the New 
 Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad, as far south as Jackson, 
 and he had hoped to be able to move on Vicksburg in rear, by this route, 
 making Memphis his base. That hope bad been dispelled by the cutting 
 off of his communications by the Rebel cavalry in December, 18G2. 
 
 Early in January he took command of the army designed to reduce 
 Vicksburg, in person, and made his headquarters at first at Milliken's 
 Bend, twenty -five miles above Vick.sburg, and subsequently at Young'.s 
 Point, nearly opposite that city. General Thomas William.s, who had 
 been in command at Baton Rouge, and was killed there on the 5th of 
 August, 18G2, had, in the early summer of that year, made a survey of 
 the vicinage of the stronghold, and had projected a canal across the neck 
 of land opposite Vicksburg, with a view of turning the channel of the 
 Mississippi into the new route, and leaving Vicksburg an inland town, or 
 at most, with a deep and sluggisli bayou in front of it. To make it plain 
 to our readers how this could be done, it may be necessary to state that 
 the Mississippi, moving, as it does, in much of the lower part of its course, 
 
THE CANAL PROJECT BEFORE VICKSBUEG. 56T 
 
 through an alluvial soil, is very tortuous, forming a succession of bends 
 for nearly twelve hundred miles. Occasionally, where the peninsula in- 
 closed by one of these bends has a narrow ueck, the river, in time of flood, 
 breaks through, thus shortening its course, and forming what is called a 
 cut-off, while its older and more circuitous channel, retains a small volume 
 of water, but ceases to be the channel of the main river. There are a 
 number of these cut-offs and passes, by which the river communicates, 
 through the marshy and easily riven soil of Arkansas, Mississippi, and 
 Louisiana, with interior streams, and a part of its waters either find their 
 way to the gulf through these waters, or into other streams which reenter 
 the great river at points below. 
 
 It is a little below the centre of the concave front of one of these bends 
 that Vicksburg is situated ; and it was General Williams' belief, that by 
 making an artificial cut-off, she could be so far isolated, that her power 
 to obstruct the free navigation of the Mississippi would at least be de- 
 stroyed. This canal had, however, been improperly located, its upper 
 terminus being in an eddy, which would render the entrance to it difficult, 
 while its lower terminus was within the range of some of the enemy's 
 guns. When General Grant took command in person, he found that this 
 canal had been abandoned, temporarily, after General Williams' death, 
 although a large amount of labor had been bestowed upon it. Believing 
 that notwithstanding its objectionable location it could be so far made 
 available, as to furnish a route for sending transports below the strong- 
 hold, he prosecuted the work on it diligently, though much delayed by 
 the succession of heavy rains. Finally, on the 8th of March, the rapid 
 rise of the water in the river, and the consequent great pressure upon the 
 dam across the canal near the upper end, at the maiti Mississippi levee, 
 caused it to give way, and let through the low lands, back of the camps, 
 a torrent of water that separated the north and south shores of the pen- 
 insula as effectually as if the Mississippi rolled between them. This 
 occurred when the canal was so near completion as to promise success 
 within a short time, but it so completely destroyed it that there remained 
 no hope of passing through with transports by that route. 
 
 General Grant did not confine himself to this measure for the reduction 
 of the beleaguered city. Eesolving to make thorough work of the explo- 
 ration of the side, or indirect passages, by which the Mississippi might be 
 descended without passing by Vicksburg, he directed the opening of a 
 route from Milliken's Bend through Roundaway bayou, into the Tensas 
 river, which would communicate with the Mississippi at New Carthage, 
 and sent a small steamer and a number of barges through this route, but 
 the water commencing, about the middle of April, to fall rapidly, and the 
 roads becoming passable between Milliken's Bend and New Carthage, it 
 was found impracticable and unnecessary to open permanent water com- 
 munication between these two points. He had also caused a channel to 
 
568 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 be cut from the Mississippi river into Lake Providence, wliicli connected 
 through Bayou Baxter, Bayou ^Nfacon, and the Tensas, Washita, and Red 
 rivers, with the Mississippi below. This was done for the purpose of 
 communicating more readily with General Banks at Port Hudson. He 
 also opened a channel from the Mississippi into Coldwater river, by way 
 of Yazoo pass. His first intention was only to pass by this route through 
 the Coldwater and Tallahatchie into the Yazoo, and there destroy tlic Rebel 
 gunboats and transports known to be concealed in that river; but his 
 success in the early stage of the work led him, at one time, to hope that 
 he might be able through this route to obtain a foot-hold on tlie high 
 lands along the Yazoo above Haines' Bluff, and by the reduction of that 
 formidable outwork, make some progress toward the capture of the strong- 
 hold itself. But, owing to the difficulty of obtaining a sufficiency of small 
 steamers in season, the movement was delayed till the Rebels had time to 
 fonify a strong fort at Greenwood, the point where the Tallahatchie and 
 Tallobusha unite to form the Yazoo. The land around this fort is low, 
 and was at this time overflowed with water, so that no troops could be 
 put on shore to make an attack by land, while the gunboats bombarded 
 the fort. Only the smallest and lightest draft gunboats had been able to 
 enter the Coldwater river, and these did not carry sufficiently heavy can- 
 non to reduce the fort alone. After an engagement of several hours' 
 duration they withdrew, being unable to silence the batteries of the fort, 
 but still remained in the Tallaliatchie river. 
 
 While the force thus detached was at a dead-lock at Greenwood, unable 
 to go forward and unwilling to go back. Admiral T>. D. Porter, command- 
 ing the Mississippi squadron, informed General Grant that he had made a 
 reconnoissance up' Steele's bayou, one of the numerous water courses 
 which furrow the district of alluvial soil lying between the Mississippi 
 and Yazoo, and that through this ba^'ou, Black bayou, Deer creek. Roll- 
 ing fork and the Sunflower river, there was a practicable passage into the 
 Yazoo, a considerable distance below Greenwood, and at a point where 
 the vessels of the Rebels could be entrapped between the two squadrons. 
 This route was also tried on the 25th of ilarch, but failed in its main ob- 
 ject, rather, as General Grant states, " from a want of knowledge as to 
 what would be required to open this route, than from any impractica- 
 bility in the navigation of the streams and bayous through which it was 
 proposed to pass." Incidentally it proved of considerable advantage in 
 the destruction of stores for the Rebel army at Vicksburg, and in furnish- 
 ing some supplies to the Union forces. 
 
 Foiled in these repeated eflbrts to cut off the Rebel stronghold from its 
 commanding position on the Mississippi, or to assail its strongest out- 
 works in the rear, and destroy the great bulk of its supplies, General 
 Grant was not the man to yield to discouragement or despondency. 
 There remained the plan of assailing it from below and from the rear, by 
 
GRANTS MARCH TO HARD TIMES, LOUISIANA. 569 
 
 making a point some distance below and on tlie Louisiana side, Tiis base 
 of operations, and thence, by rapid marches, without heavy trains, fight- 
 ing, if need be, as he went, to gain and occupy the hills, which looked 
 out upon its lofty bluffs. The attempt to capture so strong a post by 
 such a movement was one of great daring, and beset by obstacles which 
 many, perhaps most, commanders would have deemed insuperable. The 
 eastern or left bank of the Mississippi was lined with formidable batteries 
 for most of the distance between Vicksburg; and Port Hudson ; and from 
 Young's Point to some distance below Warrenton, the batteries were con- 
 tinuous, and more formidable perhaps than had ever been passed by armed 
 vessels. It would be necessary for a considerable number of Admiral Por- 
 ter's best gunboats, and a small fleet of transports and coal barges to run 
 the gauntlet of these batteries, as they would be needed for the reduction 
 of some of the fortified points below. It was also necessary to march his 
 whole army, which had been considerably reinforced, and consisted of 
 three army corps (the nineteenth, fifteenth, and seventeenth), down the 
 right or west bank of the river, to some point below, where they could 
 safely cross the river. The wet, marshy soil, recently overflowed by the 
 Mississippi floods, was ill-fitted to bear the heavy trains which must ac- 
 company the army, and the roads were intolerable. General Grant had 
 intended to make New Carthage his base, but the want of transports, an i 
 the formidable character of the defences to be encountered, compelled him 
 to extend the march of his troops to Hard Times, Louisiana, seventy miles 
 from Milliken's Bend, their point of departure. Crossing the river at this 
 point, there was still a march of more than a hundred miles through the 
 enemy's country, and exposed at every step to attacks from a large hos- 
 tile force known to be in the field and determined to obstruct his pro- 
 gress, before the rear of the fortified city was reached ; and when reached 
 its defences were such that it was nearly as well adapted to resist an at- 
 tack in rear as in front. 
 
 The Union commander, however, having satisfied himself that this was 
 the most feasible plan of attack, was not appalled by any dangers or diffi- 
 culties, whether real or apparent, from pressing forward to its accom- 
 plishment. As a precautionary step, to cripple as far as possible the 
 power of the enemy, and cut off his communications and supplies, he sent 
 Colonel B. H. Grierson on that expedition, whose successful progress we 
 have recorded in a previous chapter. 
 
 On the 20th of March, he directed the thirteenth army corps, under the 
 command of Major-General McClernand, to take up their line of march 
 from Milliken's Bend for Hard Times, and ordered the fifteenth and 
 seventeenth corps to follow, moving no faster than supplies and ammuni- 
 tion could be transported to them. The fifteenth corps (Major-General 
 W. T. Sherman) was to remain to the last, and by making a feint of 
 
570 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE TJNTTED STATES. 
 
 attack on Haines' Bluff, with as much show as possible, attract the atten- 
 tion of the enemy from the real movement going on below. 
 
 While the army was thus making its slow and toilsome progress south- 
 ward, through the marshes, the gunboats and transports were preparing 
 to run past the batteries. The attempt was hazardous in the extreme; 
 Admiral Farragut had tried it at Port Hud.son, and lost the noble frigate 
 Mississippi; and of the five gunboats and rams that had entered upon the 
 fiery ordeal at Vicksburg, the Lancaster had been destroyed, the Essex 
 terribly riddled, and the Queen of the West and Indianola barely escaped 
 destruction, only to fall soon after into the hands of the enemy. In this 
 case the danger would be aggravated by the large number of vesisels 
 which would attempt the perilous passage at once. Yet great as might 
 be the peril, there was no reluctance on the part of the brave seamen on 
 the gunboats, or the volunteers from the arm)'-, who manned most of the 
 transports, to incur the dangers of the passage. Even the pilots, whose 
 position was more exposed than any others, volunteered in larger num- 
 bers than were required. 
 
 It was determined to send at first eight gunboats, three transports — 
 large river steamers, their boilers protected against the shot from the 
 batteries by cotton bales — and the transports themselves, laden with com- 
 missary stores, and a number of barges, flat-boats, etc., with forage and 
 coal on board. The night of the 16th of April was fixed upon for their 
 departure; and instead of starting just before dawn, as the Switzerland 
 and Lancaster had done, they were to leave the rendezvous near the 
 mouth of the Yazoo at eleven P. M. Long before that hour, all the other 
 steamboats in the vicinity were crowded with anxious spectators, assem- 
 bled to watch the passage of the vessels through the ordeal of fire. At 
 last one approached, and floated down silently near the Louisiana shore, 
 its dark sides hardly to be distinguished from the foliage lining the bank, 
 and, just below the rendezvous, crossed obliquely to the Mississippi side/ 
 where, as it crept slowly along in the gloom, all its lights hidden and its 
 fires concealed, it would require keen watclifulncss to distinguish it from 
 tlie trees which overhung the river bank. Another followed, and another, 
 till the whole eight gunboats and the three transports had started on the 
 perilous voyage. The spectators, awed with emotion and anxiety, main- 
 tained a breathless silence, and listened painfully for the intimation that 
 the enemy had discovered them. The upper batteries bad been passed in 
 safely, and, from the time which had elapsed, it was evident that they had 
 reached a point opposite the beleaguered town. Some were sanguine 
 enough to hope that they might escape past the whole without discovery, 
 when suddenly a flame leaped into the air, and was followed almost in- 
 stantly by another and another, and soon the heavy booming of the can- 
 non succeeded the flashes. The boats had evidently been seen, and the 
 fire of ten miles of batteries was opening upon them. The wind was 
 
EUNNING THE BATTERIES BEFORE VICKSBURG. 5T1 
 
 blowing flown the river, and tlie reverberation of the cannon — thud, thud, 
 thud — fell with a dull sound upon the ear. As time passed, the batteries 
 lower and lower down came into action, indicating to the anxious listenera 
 that some, at least, of the gunboats have yet escaped destruction, and are 
 passing on toward the lower batteries. While watching their progress as 
 thus chronicled by the reports of the enemy's cannon, the spectators were 
 horrified by observing that the Eebels had lighted an immense beacon- 
 fire on the loftiest bluff of the city, which threw a clear and brilliant light 
 on each arm of the bend of the river, which brought into bold and distinct 
 relief every object passing on its surface. Guided by this light, the gun- 
 ners at the Rebel batteries now redoubled their fire, and along the whole 
 line there belched a constant sheet of flame. The light, however, had also 
 revealed to the gunboats the exact position of the Rebel batteries, and 
 soon the fierce screech of the Parrott shells from the armament of the 
 gunboats, mingled with the din, and more than once carried destructioa 
 into the batteries on the shore. 
 
 The upper batteries have at last slackened their fire, and it began to be 
 evident that most, if not all, of the squadron have passed the most dan- 
 gerous part of their perilous journe}'-, both from the spiteful fire of the 
 lower batteries and the heavy thunders of the answering guns of the fleet, 
 when suddenly a new light creeps up athwart the sky, about midway be- 
 tween the now nearly-extinct beacon and the fire of the lower batteries at 
 Warrenton. It was soon apparent that this light was moving, and the 
 dense white smoke which rose from it showed that cotton furnished a part 
 of the fuel for the flame. The inference was inevitable — one of the trans- 
 ports was on fire. The sight of the burning vessel seemed to rouse the 
 Rebels to new exertions, for the firing increased in intensity for some 
 time, as the fiery wreck floated down past their batteries. In the morn- 
 ing it was ascertained that the whole of the gunboats had passed this 
 terrible ordeal without material damage, one man only being killed and 
 two wounded on the flag-ship by the explosion of a shell. The transport 
 which was burned was the Henry Clay, which was set on fire by a shell 
 exploding among the cotton with which her engines were protected. Her 
 cargo was all destroyed, but the crew escaped to the Louisiana shore in 
 safety. 
 
 On the 22d of April, six more transports, and twelve barges, ran past 
 the batteries, and with similar success. One of the transports, the Ti- 
 gress, was sunk by a shot in her hull, but the rest escaped, though in a 
 somewhat damaged condition. They were, however, speedily repaired, 
 and having discharged their cargo at the depot below, were used for 
 transporting the troops across the river on the 29th of April. They 
 moved in front of Grand Gulf on that day, and the gunboats Louisville, 
 Carondelet, Mound City, Pittsburgh, Benton, Tuscumbia, and Lafayette, 
 attacked the batteries at Grand Gulf; but after a severe naval action of 
 

 572 THE CIVIL WAR I\ THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 five hours and a balf, and sustaining a loss of twenty-six killed and fifty- 
 four wounded, they were unable to silence the batteries completely, and 
 General Grant landed his troops again at Hard Times, and directed them 
 to march across the neck of tlie peninsula made by a bend in the Missis- 
 sippi, and running past the Grand Gulf batteries with gunboats and trans- 
 ports, to a point ten miles below Hard Times, crossed his troops the next 
 morning to Bruinsburg, Mississippi. Here, after furnishing the thirteenth 
 army corps with three days rations, in their haversacks, he ordered them 
 to march immediately for Port Gibson. The seventeenth corps (McPher- 
 son's) followed as rapidly as it could be put across the river. At a little 
 after midnight on the morning of the first of May, the army moved for- 
 ward, and at two o'clock A. M. the advance met the Kebel skirmishers 
 eight miles from Bruinsburg, and five west of Port Gibson. The Ecbcls 
 fell back, but were not pursued flir till daylight. As soon as it was light, 
 McCIernand's (thirteenth) corps followed the enemy rapidly, and came 
 up with them four miles from Port Gibson, at a point where the road 
 branches in opposite directions, though both eventually lead to Port Gib- 
 son. These roads, like most of those in this section, ran along the summit 
 of narrow, elevated ridges, while on either side there were deep and im- 
 penetrable ravines and marshes. The enemy's force did not probably 
 exceed twelve thousand to fifteen thousand, and in the attempt to occupy 
 both these roads, with a view to divide the Union troops, he committed 
 the fatal error of dividing his own inferior force still more widely, and 
 exposing the severed portions to be beaten or captured in detail. Three 
 divisions of McCIernand's corps, Ilovey's, Garr's, and Smith's, pursued the 
 Rebels on the right-hand road, and Osterhaus' division followed them on 
 the left. The Union force on the right drove the enemy steadily before 
 them to Port Gibson, though not without stubborn and desperate resis- 
 tance, but Osterhaus encountered such vigorous opposition that he sent 
 back for assistance, and a brigade of Logan's division, of McPherson's 
 corps, was sent to him ; but before it came up he had driven the enemy. 
 
 The struggle at this point, which, for the sake of distinction, is called 
 the battle of Shaifer's plantation, ceased about noon, though the enemy 
 kept up a slow and occasional fire, even while retreating, and attempted 
 to repel pursuit with their skirmishers. At about three P. jr., they took 
 another position, on a plateau known as Clear Ilills, within little more 
 than a mile of Port Gibson, and opened upon the advancing Union troops 
 with artillery; but after a sharp struggle, in which the Rebels suffered 
 heavily in killed, wounded, and prisoners, they fled in disorder, and burned 
 the bridge over the Bayou Pierre, on the Grand Gulf road, behind them. 
 The Union troops slept on their arms that night, and in the morning, 
 while a brigade of Logan's division was sent forward to occupy the atten- 
 tion of the enemy, on the road on which they had retreated, a pontoon 
 bridge was laid across the Bayou Pierre, directly at Port Gibson, and the 
 
PROGRESS OP GRANT'S ARMY. 573 
 
 advance of the army commenced crossing upon it at five A. M. on the 3d 
 of May. During the day the enemy were pursued as far as Hawkinson's 
 ferry, with continued skirmishing and a large number of prisoners cap- 
 tured. The losses of Grant's army in the engagements in the vicinity of 
 Port Gibson, were one hundred and thirty killed, seven hundred and 
 eighteen wounded, and five missing. On arriving at Hawkinson's ferry, 
 General Grant learned from his scouts that Grand Gulf had been evacuated 
 by tlie enemy, who, by his capture of Port Gibson, were effectually flanked, 
 and as it was desirable to make that point his base, and as he deemed it 
 unnecessary to send back any considerable number of his troops, who 
 were now fifteen miles on their way toward Jackson, he rode to Grand 
 Gulf, with an escort of fifteen or twenty cavalry troopers, and made his 
 arrangements for a change of base from Bruinsburg, and awaited the ar- 
 rival of supplies, wagons, and Sherman's (fifteenth) army corps, at that 
 point, for four days. These having arrived, he ordered an advance from 
 Hawkinson's ferry on the 7th of May; McPberson's corps, forming his 
 left wing, to keep the road nearest to the Black river; McClernand's 
 corps to follow the'ridge road from Willow Springs (see map); and Sher- 
 man to divide his corps between the two roads. All the ferries were 
 closely guarded until the troops were well advanced. It was General 
 Grant's purpose to keep McClernand's and Sherman's corps as near as 
 possible to the Black river, while McPhersoii was to move farther east, 
 through Utica to Eaymond, and thence into Jackson, destroy the railroad, 
 telegraph, the supplies of the enemy, etc., and then push westward to re- 
 join the main force. Accordingly, Sherman was ordered to cross Four- 
 teen Mile creek at Dillon's plantation, and McGlernand to move across 
 the same creek farther west, sending one division to hold and guard the 
 ferry at Baldwin. Both corps skirmished for a considerable time with 
 the enemy at Fourteen Mile creek, before obtaining possession of the 
 crossing. General McPherson met the enemy in considerable force (two 
 brigades) at Eaymond, and after several hours' hard fighting, drove him 
 toward Jackson, with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Many 
 of the Rebel soldiers threw down their arms and deserted to the Union 
 lines. General Grant had ordered McClernand's corps to march toward 
 the Jackson and Vicksburg railroad at Edwards' station, and. Sherman's 
 at a point between that and Bolton (see map), but having ascertained that 
 the Rebels were receiving, daily, large reinforcements at Jackson, and 
 that General Joseph Johnston was hourly expected there to take command, 
 of the Rebel forces, he countermanded the order, and directed both these 
 corps to move toward Raymond. 
 
 On the 13th, General McPherson moved to Clinton (see map), destroyed 
 the railroad and telegraph, and captured some important despatches from 
 General Pemberton (the Rebel commander at Vicksburg) to General 
 Gregg, who had been in command in the battle at Raymond the day be- 
 
5H THE CIVIL WAR IN TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fore. General Sherman took a position at Mississippi Springs, on the 
 Eaymond and Jackson road, and General MoClernaud moved to a point 
 near Eaymond. On the 14th, Generals Sherman and McPherson moved 
 tlieir troops toward Jackson, marching fourteen miles in a heavy rain, 
 and about noon engaged the enemy near Jackson. McGlernand's corps 
 hud been brought up within suj)porting distance. The enemy marched 
 out their principal force on the road to Clinton, two and a half miles from 
 Jackson, and there gave battle to McPherson's corps, while a small body 
 of artillery and infantry took a strong position in front of Sherman's corps 
 but, by a resolute advance of his troops, were soon driven witliin their 
 rifle-pits, just outside city. "While McPlierson was engaged in a fierce 
 fight with the Eebel force, which probably equalled, if it did not exceed 
 his own in numbers. General Sherman, by a reconnoissance, discovered 
 the weakness of the force in front of him, and ordering a general ad- 
 vance, soon drove them into and through the city, when he learned that 
 after a battle of about two hours witli General McPherson, the Eebels had 
 retreated northward, badly beaten, and had been pursued till night, but 
 Avlthout any serious result. Papers captured in Jackson showed that 
 General Johnston, as soon as he became satisfied that Jackson was to be 
 attacked, had sent peremptory orders to General Pemberton to march out 
 from Yicksburg and attack General Grant in the rear. On learning this, 
 the Union commander directed General McPherson to retrace his steps on 
 the Clinton road the next morning, and General McClernand, with Blair's 
 division of Sherman's corps, wiiich was in the rear with McClernand, to 
 face about and march toward Edwards' station, on different roads, which 
 converged near Bolton. (See map.) General Grant himself proceeded 
 westward as far as Clinton, leaving General Sherman at Jackson to de- 
 stroy the railroads, bridges, factories, workshops, arsenals, and every thing 
 valuable for the support of the enemy, and then move forward to rejoiti 
 the other two corps. This woik was performed in the most thorough 
 manner. McGlernand's corps was sent forward on the morning of llie 
 16th, toward Edwards' station, with orders to feel the enemy if he encoun- 
 tered him, but not to bring on a general engagement unless he was confi- 
 dent of his ability to defeat him. There were then McPherson's and 
 McClernaiid's corps, and Blair's division of Sherman's corps, all concen- 
 trating by different roads from an arc of about ninety degrees upon 
 Edwards' station, and the line of railroad a little east of it. The region 
 traversed by the Union troops was very hilly and broken, with heavy 
 timber and deep ravines, and occasionally open and cultivated tracts. 
 
 At five o'clock a. m. of the 16th, two men, employees on the Jackson 
 and Vicksburg railroad, who had passed through Pemberton's army the 
 night before, were brought to General Grant's headquarters. From these 
 it was ascertained that the Eebel army consisted of about eighty regi- 
 ment.s, with ten batteries of artillery, and that it numbered about twenty- 
 
BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL. 515 
 
 five thousand men. They also informed him of the positions occupied by 
 the enemy, and of their intention of attacking the rear of the Union army. 
 General Grant had previously intended to leave one of Sherman's divis- 
 ions for a day longer in Jackson, but on learning these facts he decided 
 to send orders to General Sherman to move his whole force forward with 
 all possible speed till he should come up with the main army near Bolton. 
 McClernand's corps was also ordered to push forward rapidly, and Blair's 
 division to establish communication with Osterhaus' division, and if the 
 latter became engaged, to move promptly to its support. General Grant 
 also furnished to General McClernand the information he had received, 
 and himself left for the advance at an early hour. 
 
 General A. P. Hovey's division formed the right of McClernand's corps, 
 and occupied the main road from Jackson to Vicksburg, near the railroad, 
 while the remainder of that corps was coming up on other roads nearly 
 parallel, but from three to five miles south. McPherson's corps were 
 north of this road, and Logan's division of that corps occupied the left, 
 next to Hovey. The skirmishers of Hovey's division found the enemy, 
 before nine o'clock A. M., at Champion Hill, on the Champion plantation, 
 about eight miles east of Edwards' station, and, by General Grant's orders, 
 skirmishing was maintained as long as possible before bringing on a bat- 
 tle, as he did not desire to enter upon a general engagement until McCler- 
 nand's other divisions were sufficiently near to come directly to the support 
 of the troops who were engaged. 
 
 The enemy's position was a very strong one, on a narrow ridge covered 
 with a heavy forest and almost impenetrable undergrowth, and his left 
 resting on a precipitous height, where the Vicksburg road made a sharp 
 turn to the left. In front, beyond the timber, which extended for a short 
 distance beyond the hill, was a succession of gentle slopes, mostly under 
 cultivation, and swept by the enemy's cannon. By eleven o'clock A. M. 
 it became evident, from the great rapidity and intensity of the firing, that 
 the skirmishing was fast assuming the proportions of a battle. McCler- 
 nand was, at this time, about two and a half miles distant; and, sending 
 several successive messengers to him to hasten forward. General Grant 
 suffered the battle to go on. General Hovey attacked the enemy in front, 
 and Logan's division assisted him in flank. The Rebel force actually en- 
 gaged was two or thi-ee times the number of the Union troops then on 
 the ground, and they made a stubborn and determined resistance to the 
 Union attack. General Hovey's charge was a gallant and brilliant one, 
 but he was for a short time forced back by the overwhelming weight of 
 numbers, but being reinforced by a part of Quimby's division, regained 
 his position, and Logan, having flanked the enemy and operating on his 
 rear, was in a situation to have captured nearly the entire hostile force, could 
 the attack in front have been made in greater force. Owing in part to the 
 nature of the ground, and the density of the timber, the divisions under 
 
5:C THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 McClernand's immediate command did not arrive upon the field till four 
 o'clock, when the Rebels were in full and rajnd retreat. Carr's and Os- 
 terhaus' divisions of this corps were ordered forward immediately in 
 pursuit, and captured a train of cars laden with commissary and ordnance 
 stores. The battle of Champion Hill was by far the severest battle which 
 General Grant's forces had yet fought, and though but three divisions, 
 Ilovey's, Logan's, and Quimby's, were actually engaged in it, the losses 
 on the Union side were, in killed and wounded and missing, nearly two 
 thousand five hundred. The Rebel loss was nearly three thousand in 
 killed and wounded, almost two thousand prisouers, thirty-two cannon, 
 and an unusual quantity of small arms and equipments. A large propor- 
 tion of the prisoners gave themselves up voluntarily. 
 
 The Rebels had retreated to the Big Black river, eight miles west, and 
 there, in a position of extraordinary strength, they resolved to make one 
 more stand. On the east side of the Big Black (which at this point was 
 crossed by the railroad on a fine trestle-work bridge), a bayou filled with 
 stagnant water about three feet deep, and from ten to twenty feet wide, 
 extends in a semi-lunar form, both ends uniting with the river, and in- 
 closing a cultivated bottom land nearly a mile in width. On the inner 
 side of this bayou the Rebels had constructed their rifle-pits, and planted 
 what cannon they had left. They were protected on either flank by heavy 
 timber, while, for a distance of nearly three hundred yards in front, the 
 approach was unobstructed by timber, and was swept by the Rebel can- 
 non and musketry. Ou the morning of the 17th, after a heavy artillery 
 duel, the Union troops approached to the edge of the timber, fronting the 
 Rebel position, and by a careful reconnoissance it was ascertained that 
 opposite the extreme right of the Union troops, where the rifle-pits joined 
 the timber, there was an opening through which the Rebel works might 
 be entered at the end, by charging across the ploughed field, three hun- 
 dred yards in width. Four regiments, the twenty-third Iowa, the twenty- 
 first and eleventh Wisconsin, and the twenty-second Iowa, all of Lawler's 
 brigade and Carr's division, formed the forlorn hope for this perilous 
 charge. The troops moved forward with fixed bayonets, but their mus- 
 kets loaded, at a double-quick step, with heads bowed and foces averted, 
 like men encountering a storm of hail, and though with a loss of more 
 tlian one tenth of their number, gained the desired point, and rushed 
 through the creek, through the abatis, and over the rifle-pits, into the 
 enemy's works, and poured in a terrible volley, cheering meanwhile most 
 lustily. Thus carried by assault, the Rebel position was surrendered at 
 once; eleven hundred of their men were taken prisoners, and eighteen 
 cannon and several stand of colors were captured. The remainder of the 
 Rebel forces fled most precipitately acro.ss the Big Black, burning the 
 bridge, and thus preventing the escape of any portion of their troops who 
 were still on the east bank of the river. General Sherman and his corps 
 
THE SUCCESSFUL INVESTMENT OP YICKSBUEG. 511 
 
 had been ordered to Bridgeport, a point farther up on the Big Black, and 
 a pontoon bridge sent liim, on which he crossed on the morning of the 
 18th, and marched directly for Walnut hills and the Yazoo river, at the 
 northwest of Vicksburg, and occupied that important position on the even- 
 ing of the same day. McClernand and McPlierson built floating bridges, 
 and crossed on the morning of the 18th, and McPherson occupied the 
 hills east of the city, while McClernand took possession of those to the 
 southeast. The city was thus completely invested, for the river front, 
 above and below, was held by Admiral Porter's gunboats. 
 
 In this campaign of eighteen da3's. General Grant had fought five se- 
 vere battles, in all of which he had been victorious ; had skirmished 
 nearly the entire distance (somewhat more than one hundred miles); had 
 taken more than five thousand prisoners, sixty-five field pieces, and nine 
 heavy siege-guns, and an immense quantity of small arms, equipments, 
 etc., and had destroyed a vast amount of the property of the enemy, in- 
 flicting upon them irreparable losses. The wisdom and forethought whicR 
 prompted the expedition of Colonel Grierson, had been signally manife:-t 
 in this entire campaign. Had not the railroads been so extensively cut, 
 and such large supplies of ammunition and of railroad cars and locomo- 
 tives been destroyed, Johnston would have found little difficulty in col- 
 lecting at Jackson a force sufficiently large to have effectually checked 
 General Grr.it's progress toward Vicksburg, and rendered his enterprise, 
 if not wholly a failure, an undertaking in which the losses would have 
 very nearly counterbalanced the gains. Great, however, as had been the 
 advantages derived from this expedition. General Grant was fully aware 
 that they could not in all probability be of long continuance. The rail- 
 roads would in a few weeks, perhaps in a few days, be repaired ; and 
 though the locomotives and cars which had been destroyed could not be 
 so readily rebuilt, yet their places could be supplied by those drawn from 
 other roads, and the troops which Johnston was straining every nerve to 
 gather at Canton, would probably be accamulated in sufficient numbers 
 to resume the offensive, and attack Grant in the rear while he was be- 
 sieging Vicksburg. General Grant's force, though sufficient to cope with 
 the Vicksburg garrison, was not as yet large enough to repel also an 
 attack from a considerable force who might attempt to raise the siege. 
 
 Taking this view of the position of affairs, General Grant resolved to 
 lose no time in attempting the reduction of the Eebel stronghold by as- 
 sault. For success in this he relied very much upon the enthusiasm of 
 his troops, and the demoralization of the Rebels consequent upon their 
 repeated defeats. His first assault was made at two o'clock P. m. on the 
 19th, the day upon which he arrived before Vicksburg. The fifteenth 
 army corps (Sherman's) having already attained a good position, made a 
 vigorous assault, and gained a situation within the enemy's outworks. 
 The thirteenth and seventeenth army corps (McClernand's and McPher- 
 37 
 
573 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 son's) were ]ess successful, but obtained advanced positions covered from 
 the fire of the enemy. 
 
 On tlie 22d of May, a second assault was ordered to commence at ten 
 o'clock A. M., and the gunboats of Admiral Porter's squadron made an 
 attack on the front of the city, and bombarded it continually from seven to 
 11. ?0 A. M. The assault on the rear of the city by the land forces was not 
 simultaneous, and the " forlorn hopes" which made the attempts to storm 
 the enemy's forts were not well supported, owing in part to the difficul- 
 ties of the ground. On the left, in McClernand's corps, Lawler's brigade 
 headed the assault, and gained a part of one of the forts, but. found that it 
 was divided by a partition breastwork, and commanded by rifle-pits iu 
 the rear, and the troops were slaughtered iu their efforts to hold their po- 
 sition. Benton's brigade, followed by Burbridge's, attacked another fort 
 to the right of this, and succeeded in planting their flag upon the parapet, 
 but were driven back by the Rebels, who hurled shells with lighted fuses 
 down upon them. The struggle was maintained for five or six hours in 
 both these forts, but resulted only in very heavy losses. General McCler- 
 nand asked repeatedly for reinforcements from the other corps, but as 
 they were engaged in assaulting the works in front of their respective 
 positions, and as McClernand's own corps was not fully engaged. General 
 Grant could only direct him to use the remainder of his own troops, and 
 make a diversion in his favor by a more earnest and heavy attack on the 
 part of the other corps. He had also become satisfied that General McCler- 
 nand's attempts to capture these forts were not likely to be successful, 
 and that a persistence in the assault would only be attended with great 
 loss of life without advantage. He did, however, finally, at McClernand's 
 repeated and urgent demands, send McArthur's, and subsequently Quira- 
 by's division from McPherson's corps, to his assistance, but without other 
 result than a large increase of the killed and wounded.* The assault hud 
 proved a failure, and had caused severe losses to the Union army, but it 
 had not in any way impaired its confidence or energy, or its hopes of 
 success. 
 
 It was necessary, however to resort to the slower method of advancing 
 by regular approaches, and maintaining so close a siege that the belea- 
 guered army in the city could receive no supplies or reinforcements. 
 Information received at this time of the difficulty which Johnston expe- 
 rienced in raising a sufiioiency of Rebel troops to attack him, and the 
 
 * In a congratulatory onlor mldresscil by General JlcClornand to the thirteenth 
 army corps on the Snth of May, he claimeil for himself and his corps all the success 
 of the campaign thus far, and animadverted so offensively upon General Grant's man- 
 agement of the assault, that that general, having read the order, and given opportu- 
 nity for explanation or apology, felt compelled to remove him from the command of 
 the thirteenth army corps. 
 
SUREENDER OF THE GARRISON AT VICKSBUEU. 5Y9 
 
 arrival of very considerable reinforcements from Memphis, Helena, and 
 Louisville, rendered his position safe, and enabled him to invest the city 
 more closely, and to make his approaches rapidly and successfully. At 
 first there was a scarcity of engineer officers for conducting the siege, but 
 under the skilful superintendence of Captains Prince and Comstock, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson of General Grant's staff, the volunteer officers 
 rapidly gained a practical experience in military engineering, which made 
 them capable and efficient engineers before the close of the siege. 
 
 By the 3d of July his saps were so far advanced as to render his success 
 certain, and he had made all preparations for a final assault on the 6th, to 
 be followed immediately by a vigorous pursuit of Johnston's forces, which, 
 though approaching as near as the Big Black river, had never ventured 
 to attack him. 
 
 On the 3d of July, General Pemberton, who was in command of the 
 Eebel forces in Vicksburg, sent a letter to General Grant, proposing an 
 armistice, and the appointment of commissioners to arrange terms for the 
 capitulation of the place. The correspondence resulted in the surrender 
 of the city and garrison of Vicksburg, at ten o'clock A. M., July 4th, I860, 
 on the following terms : The entire garrison, ofiicers and men, were to be 
 paroled, not to take up arms against the United States until exchanged 
 by the proper authorities ; officers and men each to be furnished with a 
 parole, signed by himself; officers to be allowed their side-arras and pri- 
 vate baggage, and the field, staff, and cavalry officers, one horse each ; the 
 rank and file to be allowed all their clothing, but no other property ; ra. 
 tions from their own stores sufficient to last them beyond our lines;* the 
 necessary cooking-utensils for preparing their food, and thirty (fifty were 
 finally allowed) wagons to transport such articles as could not well be 
 carried. 
 
 These terms, liberal as they were, were, after all, more advantageous 
 to the United States Government than an unconditional surrender. They 
 saved the necessity of transporting thirty-one thousand prisoners to the 
 North, which, from the limited amount of traosportation on hand, would 
 have been a matter of great difficulty, and saved also the expense of sub- 
 sisting them, while it left Grant's army free to operate against Johnston, 
 and gave him the command of his river transportation, to be used for any 
 purpose which the exigencies of the service might require. A large num- 
 ber of the prisoners deserted at once, and would not again serve in the 
 Eebel army. But for the violation of good faith by the Rebel leaders, 
 who forced many of these paroled prisoners into their armies again with- 
 out exchange, the arrangement thus made would have been an eminently 
 humane and satisfactory one. 
 
 The results of this campaign were, in the modest language of General 
 
 * It was found after the surrender that they had not sufficient rations to do this, 
 and five days' rations were furnished them from General Grant's stores. 
 
580 TOE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Grant, "The defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicksburg ; 
 the occupation of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, and the capture of 
 Yicksburg and its garrison and munitions of war ; a loss to the enemy of 
 thirty-seven thousand prisoners, among whom were fifteen general ofBcers; 
 at least ten thousand killed and wounded, and among the killed, Generals 
 Tracy, Tilghrnan, and Green ; and hundreds, and perhaps thousands of 
 stragglers, who can never be collected and reorganized. Arms and mu- 
 nitions of war for an army of sixty thousand men have fallen into our 
 hands (there were two hundred and twenty cannon, of which forty-two 
 were guns of heavy calibre and of the very best make, and seventy-one 
 thousand stand of small arms, of which fifty thousand were Enfield rifles 
 in the original Engli.sh packages), besides a large amount of other public 
 property, consisting of railroads, locomotives, cars, steamboats, cotton, etc., 
 and much was destroyed to prevent our capturing it." General Grant 
 says nothing in his report of the greatest result of this campaign, and the 
 surrender of Port Hudson, which followed a few days later; the opening 
 of the Mississippi, and the division of the Rebel Confederacy into two sec- 
 tions, without the means of communicating with each other, except by 
 stealth ; and the terrible blow thus inflicted upon the Eebel Government, 
 which tlicnceforth began to be distrusted at home and abroad, and though 
 making desperate efforts to retrieve its failing fortunes, found this disaster 
 constantly brought forward against it, as evidence of its inability to main- 
 tain its position. 
 
 The surrender was made partly from the consciousness of the inability 
 of the garrison to resist the assault which was soon expected, and partly 
 from the exhaustion of their supplies, as they had only a sufficiency for 
 three days longer, and had, for two or three weeks, subsisted mainly on 
 mule meat. The Union losses in this series of battles were as follows : 
 
 Rattlfs. Kill'Ml. Woun']t;il. Mi.Hni»jr. 
 
 Port Gibson, or Shaifer's plantation, etc 130 718 ."i 
 
 Fourteen Mile creek (skirmish) 4 24 
 
 Baymond 69 341 32 
 
 Jackson 40 240 6 
 
 Champion's Hill 426 1,842 189 
 
 Big r>lack river railroad bridge 29 242 2 
 
 Vicksburg (mostly in two assaults) 545 3,688 303 
 
 1,243 7,095 537 
 or a grand total of eight thousand eight hundred and seventy-five casual- 
 ties. Of the wounded many were but slightly injured and continued on 
 duty ; many more required but a few days or weeks for their recovery. 
 Not more than one half of the wounded were permanently disabled. 
 
 The general-in-chief of the army of the United States, General TIalleck, 
 whose praise is ever bestowed sparingly, well says of this campaign : " No 
 more brilliant exploit can be found in military history. When we con- 
 sider the character of the country in which the army operated, the 
 
EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE FALL OF YICKSBURGf. 581 
 
 formidahle obstacles to be overcome, tbe mimber of the forces, and the 
 strength of the enemy's works, .we cannot fail to admire the courage and 
 endurance of the troops, and the skill and daring of their commander." 
 
 But the grand catalogue of victories and triumphs of the Union arms, 
 in conneclioB with the army of Tennessee, did not close with the fall of 
 Vicksburg. On the 5th of July, General Sherman, by direction of Gen- 
 eral Grant, started with three army corps in pursuit of Johnston, who 
 retreated from the Black river, where he had intrenched himself, toward 
 Jackson, which place Sherman invested on the 14th and captured on the 
 18th, with a loss in this and a previous attack on the 13th on the part of 
 the Union forces of about one thousand in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 He captured seven hundred and sixty-four prisoners, two rifled guns, and 
 a large amount of ammunition, and destroyed over forty locomotives, and 
 a lar^ number of cars, being almost the entire equipments of the New 
 Orleans and Northern, and the Jackson, Meridian, and Vicksburg rail- 
 roads. This loss was a very severe one for the Eebels, and was -wholly 
 irreparable. General Eansom, with a force of one thousand two hundred 
 men, was sent to Natchez, on the 6th of July, to stop the crossing of cattle 
 from Texas for Johnston's army. He took a considerable number of pris- 
 oners, among whom were five Rebel officers, crossed the river, captured a 
 battery of nine guns, four of them ten pounder Parrotts, marched nine 
 miles back into the country, and seizet^ two hundred and forty-seven 
 boxes of ammunition and a number of teams for its transportation, and 
 nine more guns, the Rebels in charge of the battery flying in consternation. 
 Returning to Natchez he captured five thousand head of Texas cattle (two 
 thousand of which were sent to General Banks, and the remainder brought 
 to Vicksburcr), and four thousand hogsheads of sugrar. 
 
 Having learned that Johnston was fortifying Yazoo city, whiQli, with 
 the steamers and gunboats on the Yazoo river, had been captured and 
 destroyed by the gunboats early in May, General Grant sent General F. 
 J. Herron with his division to co-operate with gunboats from Admiral 
 Porter's squadron to destroy the Rebel works. After a short but severe 
 action the Rebels fled, leaving a large amount of stores and ammunition, 
 six heavy guns, and one vessel, formerly a gunboat, in the hands of the 
 Union troops, and destroying four of their finest steamers. General 
 Herron pursued them and took about three hundred prisoners. The 
 Baron De Kalb, one of Admiral Porter's gunboats, ran foul of a torpedo, 
 which exploded and sunk her. No lives were lost. 
 
 In addition to these substantial results of the enterprise of the Union 
 commander in following up his victories, was the surrender of Port Hud- 
 eon, which took place on the 9th, and of which a full account will be 
 given elsewhere. The Mississippi squadron penetrated into the interior, 
 on both sides of the Mississippi, by way of its numerous affluents, and 
 destroyed the transports and gunboats which the Rebels were preparing on 
 the smaller rivers. The Louisville and the Elmira, the former the finest 
 
582 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Steamer on tbe Western waters, were among the captures, and two other 
 large steamers were burned, anii a large amount of Rebel stores seized. 
 
 While the siege of Vicksburg was progressing, General Johnston 
 thwarted in all his eflbrts to open communication with General Pember- 
 tou through General Grant's lines, attempted to eilect it from the west side 
 of the Mississippi, and sent a force of three brigades, under the command 
 of General Walker, to attack Milliken's Bend, on the 6th of June. The 
 greater jjart of the Union force stationed there was composed of negro 
 troops, portions of four regiments which were forming for the service, but 
 had never been under fire. The whole force, including three hundred or 
 ibur hundred white troops, did not exceed fourteen hundred men. The 
 Rebel force numbered not far from four thousand five hundred. The 
 Rebels were discovered by a reconnoitering force on the afternoon of tlie 
 6th of July, and making an attack, were repulsed by the colored troops^ 
 and on being reinforced, and assailing the intrenchinents to which the 
 Union troops had fallen back, were met with such determined resistance, 
 that they in turn fell buck. On the morning of tiie 7th the Rebels again 
 made an attack upon the Union intreuchments at five A. il. The battle 
 lasted till late in the afternoon ; and though, by the use of his cavalry, 
 the enemy succeeded, after a desperate resistance, in turning the flank of 
 the Union troops, and, by an enfilading fire, driving them to the river's 
 brink, the gunboat Choctaw, coming up opportunely, and obtaining the 
 range of the Rebels, compelled them to fly from the field. Tbe loss on 
 both sides was large for the number engaged. The Rebels left sixty dead 
 on the field, but carried away all tlioir wounded and some of the killed. 
 The Union loss was one hundred and one killed, two hundred and eighty- 
 five wounded, and two hundred and sixty-six missing, nearly forty-seven 
 per cent, of the whole number engaged. Of these nearly six hundred 
 were from the colored regiments. The two hundred and sixty-six missing, 
 who were mostly prisoners, were nearly all colored, and there was too 
 much reason to believe that they were all murdered after their capture by 
 the Rebel forces. None of them have since been heard from, and the avowal 
 in a semi-official way, of the intention of the Rebel Government to deal in 
 this manner with any frecdmen who became soldiers in the Union armies, 
 coupled with the persistent refusal of the Rebel autiiorities to give any 
 account of them, justifies the painful presumption that they were thus 
 slaughtered. Their bravery in this, their fiist battle-field, completely 
 refuted the insinuations which had been so often made, of their want of 
 the courage necessary for the profession of arms. 
 
 On the lOlh of June a Rebel force attacked the Union garrison at Lake 
 Providence ; but there, as at Milliken's Beud, they were repulsed and fled. 
 The attack on Helena, Arkansas, on the 4th of July, of which we shall 
 give some account in another chapter, does not seem to have been made 
 by any portion of Johnston's troops, but by a detaohmeut from the Trans- 
 Mississippi army. 
 
THE INYESTMENT OF PORT HUDSON. 583 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIX. 
 
 THE INVESTMENT OF PORT HUDSON — BATTLE FOUGHT BY GENERAL AUGUR — THE AKRIVAL OF 
 ADDITIONAL FORCES — THE ASSAULT OF THE TWENTr-SEVENTH OF MAT — THE BRILLIANT 
 ATTACK OF GENERAL WEITZEl's DIVISION — PARTIAL SUCCESS OF THE ASSAULT — THE 
 ASSAULT OF THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE — ITS FAILURE — THE CLOSENESS OF THE SIEGE — 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON — THEIR SURRENDER — THE REBEL ATTACKS ON BRASHEAR 
 CITY AND TERREBONNE — INHUMAN MASSACRE OF INFIRM CONTRABANDS AND WOMEN AND 
 CHILDREN — THE MURDER OF NEGROES AT ST. MARTINSVILLE — THE ATTACK OF THE REBELS 
 ON HELENA, ARKANSAS — THEIR SIGNAL DEFEAT — REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR 
 DDKING THE LAST ELEVEN MONTHS — THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 We left General Banks, the commander of the Department of the Gulf 
 (Chapter XLIII., p. 501,) at Alexandria, Louisiana, which place he had enter- 
 ed with his troops on the 8tli of May. He remained at this point for about 
 ten days, having sent General Augur, meantime, to commence opei'ations 
 against Port Hudson from Baton Rouge, and despatched twg expeditions of 
 cavalry to break up the enemy's camps and destroy their communications 
 at Camp Moore, Ponchatoula, and on the Clinton and Port Hudson rail- 
 road. Admiral Farragut had also bombarded the batteries on the night 
 of the 8th of May for several hours. General Augur encountered a con- 
 siderable Rebel force on Port Hudson plains, about four miles east of the 
 town, on the 22d of May, and fought them, for nearly nine hours, and 
 finally compelled them to retreat with heavy loss toward Clinton. The 
 Union loss was. nineteen killed and eighty wounded. General Banks 
 moved forward from Alexandria with his troops as rapidly as possible, 
 and crossing his army over the Mississippi at Bayou Sara, which he 
 reached on the 21st of May, effected a junction with General Augur on 
 the 23d. The town was closely invested the next day. 
 
 Port Hudson is about twenty-five miles above Baton Rouge, on the 
 east side of the Mississippi. Like Vicksburg, it is situated on a bend of 
 the river, but unlike that city it is at the angle of the bend, which in this 
 case is nearly a right angle. On the north, for a distance of eight miles, 
 it is protected by an impassable swamp, which is bounded on the side 
 nearest Port Hudson by Thompson's creek, the hither bank of which is a 
 precipitous bluff, crowned by an intrenched abatis. This abatis extends 
 from the Mississippi river eastward, till it joins a series of intrenchments, 
 nine or ten miles in extent, sweeping to the south in a semicircle till they 
 rest upon the river on the crest of a range of high hills. The country in 
 the rear is rolling, and much of it heavily timbered. Between Baton 
 Rouge and Port Hudson is a long stretch of territory, difficult of access 
 at all times, being covered by dense woods and undei'growth, and abound- 
 ing in bayous and marshes. The Port Hudson plains, lying about four 
 
584 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 miles east of the town, on which General Augur's battle was fought, were 
 two open tracts of level country, one about a mile square, the other half 
 a mile in length by a fourth of a mile iu breadth. Both are surrounded 
 by dense forests. 
 
 The defences of Port Iludsoa were nearly as formidable and extensive 
 as those of Vicksburg. On the water front were eight batteries, one of 
 them stationed on a bluff eighty feet high. These batteries mounted about 
 twenty-five guns, two of them one hundred and twenty pounders, and 
 the remainder twenty-four, thirty-two, and forty-two pounders. On tl>e 
 land side, the defences occupied four distinct lines of fortifications, each 
 commanded by the one in its rear. In front of all a formidable abatis 
 extended for many rods. There were two large and 'strong forts, four 
 redoubts, and three extended bastions, connected with each otlier by earth- 
 works, and strengthened by lines of rifle-pits in front and rear. On these 
 fortifications were mounted between thirty and forty guns, some of them 
 of heavy calibre, and besides these there were four movable field-batteries. 
 The garrison consisted of about seven thousand men, under the command 
 of General Franklin Gardner, an able and skilful officer. 
 
 On the 25th of Ma}', General Bunks had compelled the enemy to aban- 
 don his first line of works. The Union forces, having been joined on the 
 26tli by General Weitzcl's brigade, which had distinguished itself so 
 greatly in the campaign on the Teche, General Banks ordered an assault 
 on the Rebel defences for the next day. The artillery commenced firing 
 between five and six o'clock A. M., and the squadron of Admiral Farragut 
 opened fire upon the water batteries above and below, about the same 
 time, and continued their bombardment most of the day. 
 
 At ten o'clock, General Weitzel, with his own brigade and portions of 
 Grover's and Emory's divisions, and two regiments of colored troops, un- 
 der the command of Colonel Paine — the whole being about five brigades 
 — attacked the right of the encm3''s works, and after a desperate and pro- 
 tracted contest, lasting till after four P. M., succeeded in forcing the enemy's 
 lines, crossing Big Sandy creek, and taking possession of a redoubt, 
 mounting six guns of large calibre, near Foster's creek. In this achieve- 
 ment every foot of ground had been contested with the most determined 
 resolution, and the slaughter on both sides had been fearful. Tlie colored 
 troops, especially, fought with such courage and daring as to call forth the 
 highest encomiums from the commanding general. Nearly one half of 
 tiie casualties of the day were from their ranks. The captured battery, 
 which had been the one which inflicted its death wounds on the frigate 
 Mississippi, was speedilj' turned upon the enemy, and with great effect 
 The positions gained in tliis terrible struggle were firmly held. 
 
 On the lefrand centre, the assault led by Generals T. W. Sherman and 
 Augur, was equally resolute and determined, though commenced later, 
 and not crowned with the same measure of success. General Sherman 
 
SURRENDER OF PORT HUDSON. 585 
 
 ■was severely wounded, losing a leg, and barely escaping with tis life. 
 The bastions were approached but not captured, and after dark the troops 
 were campelled, in order to avoid a flanking fire, to fall back a short dis- 
 tance. Tlie success of the day had been sufBcient, incomplete as it was, 
 to excite the highest hopes of the speedy reduction of the stronghold. 
 The losses in killed, wounded, and missing, were nearly one thousand. 
 There was reason to fear that those of the colored troops who were taken 
 prisoners were put to death by their captors. 
 
 The siege was now pushed with great energy, and the Rebel garrison 
 was soon reduced to great straits for food. Ou the lith of June, General 
 Banks ordered a second assault. It was intended that the attack should be 
 made simultaneously by three divisions, Weitzel's, Grover's, and Paine's, 
 before daybreak, and that General Augur's division should make a feint to 
 divert the attention of the enemy. But the obstructions to be overcome 
 were so many that the three divisions could not act together; General 
 Weitzel's division was the first to come up, and drove the Eebels out of 
 their rifle-pits into their breastworks, but after an hour's strenuous assault 
 of these, were compelled to fall back under cover. Paine's division 
 assaulted that portion of the fortifications in front of their camp, but^ 
 early in the attack, their gallant commander was severely wounded, and 
 fell very near the breastworks, where he lay for twelve hours before he 
 could be brought off. The losses in this division were very heavy, as 
 they were also in Grover's. division. The assault was unsuccessful, and 
 the loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was nearly one thousand. A 
 charge made on the 17th by the fourth "Wisconsin and the sixth Michigan 
 .was also repulsed, and the Union army lost heavily in prisoners. The com- 
 manding general now proceeded to invest the city still more closely, and 
 to press the siege' with greater ardor. The Eebel garrison were speedily 
 reduced to great straits for food, and their mules were killed and eaten, 
 the cattle being entirely exhausted. They had no breadstufts except a 
 considerable quantity of beans, of very indifferent quality. They held 
 out stubbornly, however, till the 7th of July, when the news of the sur- 
 render of Vicksburg having been received by the Union army, and 
 occasioning great rejoicing, the Eebel officers began to inquire the cause 
 of the uproar, and though at first unwilling to believe the intelligence, yet 
 General Gardner, tlie Eebel commander, on ascertaining its truth, at once 
 made overtures for a surrender, and finally gave up the town, on the Sth 
 of July, though it was not entered by the Union forces till the 9th. 
 
 By this surrender six thousand two hundred and thirty-three prisoners 
 fell into General Banks' hands, together with fifty-one pieces of artillery, 
 two steamers, four tliousand eight hundred pounds of cannon powder, five 
 thousand small arms, one hundred and fifty thousand rounds of ammuni- 
 tion, and some stores and equipments. It also opened the navigation of 
 the Mississippi, as Port- Hudson was the last of the Eebel fortresses which 
 
58G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 had commaoded the river, Columbus, Island Number Ten, Fort "Wright, 
 Fort Pillow, Memphis, and Vicksburg, having all been captured or aban- 
 doned during the previous sixteen mouths. 
 
 General Banks now returned to New Orleans, and Port Hudson was 
 garrisoned by colored troops, and made the camp of instruction for the 
 colored regiments, which were forming in the Department of the Gulf, 
 under the direction of General UUman. 
 
 The necessity of supplying a large force in the siege of Port ITudson, 
 and the expiration of the term of service of a portion of the nine months 
 men, compelled the temporary abandonment by General Banks of the 
 Teche country, which he had so recently rescued from the Rebels, as he 
 had not a sufficient army to occupy it while conducting the siege. The 
 enemy were not slow in availing themselves of the opportunity of repos- 
 sessing a portion of it. About the 19th of June they appeared with a 
 force of about seven thousand, mostly Texans, at Terrebonne, tore up tiic 
 track of the Opclousas railroad, and attacked the small Union force at 
 Lafourche, but were repulsed with considerable loss. Their next point 
 of attack was Brashear City, which had been made a depot of stores and 
 the location of a large hospital and convalescent camp. The Union garri. 
 son at that place was about one thousand men, chiefly of the one hundred 
 and seventy-sixth New York and the twenty-third Connecticut, though 
 there were a few squadrons of the second Rhode Island cavalry with them. 
 Two companies of the one hundred and seventy-sixth New York were 
 absent on detached duty near New Orleans. The Union forces were badly 
 handled, and being attacked in front and rear soon surrendered. Three 
 were killed and seven wounded of the New York regiment. The whole 
 number of prisoners taken, including the large number of convalescents i 
 and the sick and wounded in the hospital, was three thousand five hun- 
 dred and thirteen. Most of the privates were paroled. The amount of 
 stores lost was estimated at one million five hundred thousand dollarsi 
 and included thirty pieces of artillery. There was a large camp of frced- 
 men, mostly the infirm and old men and women and children, near Bra- 
 shear, the able bodied freedmen having joined the colored regiments. 
 After the capture of the town the Rebel troops rushed upon this camp, 
 and slaughtered jiH indiscriminately, except the few who were able to con- 
 ceal themselves and escape. It was estimated that more than two thousand 
 helpless prisoners were thus inhumanl}' murdered. This atrocious act of 
 barbarity, unhappily, does not stand alone in the history of that depart- 
 ment. About a month previous, a body of about five hundred negroes, 
 from the abandoned plantations of the Attakapas country, had determined 
 to come to the Union camp and enlist as soldiers. Arming themselves 
 with such weapons as they could find, old shot-guns, pitchforks, etc., they 
 made their way toward the camp peaceably, molesting no one. 'Arriving 
 near St. Martinsville, through which they must pass, they resolved to dc- 
 
BBBEL ATTACK ON HELENA, AEKANSAS. 587 
 
 mand the surrender of the place, their leader, an intelligent Creole, think- 
 ing this would be the best plan to avoid a collision with the people. A 
 number of the citizens of St. Martinsville, together with some professed 
 Unionists then in the place, went out to them with the Union flag, and 
 professing to be friends, told them to lay down their weapons and march 
 into the town. As they did so they were seized by the inhabitants, and 
 every one hung on the spot, and Rebel ofScers who participated in the 
 horrible massacre afterward boasted of the number they helped to kill. 
 It speaks volumes for the humanity and forgiving nature of the negro 
 troops that, in the opportunities which have since offered, they have not 
 taken signal vengeance on those who had so brutally murdered their kins- 
 men and their families. 
 
 With the capture of Port Hudson, the triumph of the Rebels in the 
 " Attakapas country " terminated, and they speedily escaped to western 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The necessity of assembling as large a force as possible for the siege of 
 Vicksburg had led to the reduction of the corps of the other armies of the 
 "West to as small numbers as would be at all sufficient to hold their 
 respective districts. The corps assigned for the defence of northeastern 
 Arkansas, under the command of Major-General Prentiss, having its head- 
 quarters at Helena, had, among others, been much reduced for this pur- 
 pose, and the Rebel Generals Holmes, Price, and Marmaduke, having 
 ascertained this, acted promptly on their information. Prentiss's army 
 numbered, including several regiments of raw troops, and two or three 
 colored regiments who had not been under fire, a little more than 
 four thousand men. The gunboat Tyler was also in port, and able and 
 willing to render assistance. The combined Rebel force under Holmes, 
 Price, and Marmaduke, amounted to thirty-seven regiments, or about 
 fifteen thousand men, and they were all seasoned troops, though some of 
 those under Marmaduke's command had done more retreating than 
 fighting. Confident of success, the Rebels made their attack about day- 
 light, and though losing terribly by the fire of the Union sharpshooters 
 in the rifle-pits, and the continuous fire from the batteries, they succeeded, 
 after a desperate struggle of nearly two hours, in taking a small fort 
 mounting four guns, one of the outworks of the Union jDosition. Greatly 
 elated at this measure of success, they were pressing forward in the hope 
 of capturing the more important forts near the town, when the gunboat 
 Tyler, having obtained their range, commenced dropping the huge shells 
 from her Parrott guns into their ranks, and drove them back with terrific 
 slaughter. Falling back out of range, they attempted to approach the 
 town from the north, but Colonel Clayton, with the fifth Kansas and the 
 first Indiana cavalry, charged upon them and routed them completely 
 They then attempted to approach from the south, but here the gunboat 
 rained its shells upon them. They endeavored to plant batteries to bom- 
 
588 TIIK CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 bard tlie town, but General Prentiss charged upon them repeatedly, and 
 rendered their eftbrts ineffectual. At length, completely foiled at every 
 point, having lo.st in killed and wounded over one tliousand, and in pris- 
 oners a little more than eleven hundred, they abandoned the effort to cap- 
 ture the town, and in their rage burned the contraband camp, as they 
 retreated. The Union loss in killed, wounded, and missing was two 
 hundred and thirty. The Eebel forces remained in the vicinity for a day 
 or two, but finding that the Union troops were reinforced, and that five 
 gunboats were stationed tliere, they made the best of their way toward 
 Little Rock, the capital of the State. 
 
 With this defeat of the Rebels in their final attack in any considerable 
 force upon the posts of the Union army upon the Mississippi river, we 
 close our narrative of the events of the war to the present time. It 
 has reached one of the periods of comparative inaction, though not of 
 complete cessation of hostilities, which, on several previous occasions, have 
 followed great battles. It remains for us to pass in rapid review the pro- 
 gress which had been made during the eleven months whose history \ve 
 have been attempting to detail. 
 
 Some of the preceding chapters have been devoted to the recTord 
 of disasters to the Union army, or, at least, but half-succes-ses. The 
 utter failure of the peninsular campaign, terminating in the igno- 
 minious retreat to the James river, and the subsequent transference 
 of the remains of that noble army to Alexandria and Fredericksburg, 
 wera followed by the sad and painful scenes of the battles before 
 Washington, where the gallant but unfortunate General Pope strug- 
 gling for three weeks to cover the retreat of the army of the Potomac 
 from tlie Peninsula, found himself constantl}' confronted by a supe- 
 rior force, and pushed back by the irresistible weight of numbers, 
 yet fighting with a resolute determination at every step. At last, by the 
 insubordination and covert hostility of some of the generals of the army 
 of the Potomac, the reinforcements promised to him delayed, or, if brought 
 forward, retained in idleness on some plea or another, forage and supplies 
 withheld, his men worn out with fatigue, hunger, and want of sleep, he is 
 compelled to fall back upon the defences around Washington, and the 
 sound of the enemy's cannon was heard thundering at the gates of the 
 capital. 
 
 Emboldened by his success, the Rebel commander regarded the capture 
 of Washington and Baltimore as merely a question of time, and pressed 
 rapidly northward to commence a war of invasion upon the Northern 
 States. The Union army, dispirited and demoralized, he argued, could 
 afford no serious opposition to his victorious legions, and Maryland, which 
 the Rebels had always claimed as their own, would not only aQ'ord ample 
 supplies, but her sons would gladly embrace the opportunity of enlisting 
 in the Confederate army. These rose-colored visions were doomed to dis- 
 
REVIEW OF TDE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 589 
 
 appointment. Maryland had awakened from Tier early dream of secession. 
 With the gaunt, woe-worn and filthy Rebel soldier before them, the dainty 
 secessionists of Maryland felt little inclination to share its hardships, and 
 though Lee had strictly prohibited all plunder in Maryland, still the wel- 
 come he had expected was wanting, and the State remained unflinchingly 
 Union. 
 
 The opinion he had formed in regard to the condition of the Union 
 forces proved equally in error. At the blast of the trumpet, calling them 
 to a new conflict to beat back the invader, who now, for the first time, 
 was penetrating to the homes and hearths of the loyal States, the grim 
 soldier again shouldered his musket, and rushed to the field, forgetful of 
 his weariness and hardships. ' The troop's which, on Wednesday, haggard, 
 dispirited, and hungry, dragged, with weary steps, their way into the de- 
 fences of Arlington Heights, on Friday of the same week were marching 
 promptly, and elate with hope, northward to encounter the enemy on new 
 battle-fields. Then came the hard-fought battle of South Mountain, a 
 Union victory, the disgraceful surrender of Harper's Ferry, and the bloody 
 but indecisive battle of Antietam, where thousands of brave hearts shed 
 their life blood for a nation's redemption. The retreat of the discomfited 
 Rebel chieftain, thankful that his punishment was no more severe, the 
 leisurely and inefficient pursuit, and the final removal from command of 
 the general, whose magnificent promises had come so far short of perform- 
 ance, were the events of the autumn months in the army of the Potomac. 
 
 At the West, matters were not in a much better state. General Buell, 
 who, though possessing some of the qualifications of an able commander, 
 was a martinet in discipline, and never acquired the love or attachment of 
 his troop.s, had marched his men, in September, across Tennessee and Ken- 
 tucky in that wearisome chase after General Bragg, never overtaking him, 
 and always just too late to prevent some heavy loss which the Rebel 
 General had inflicted. Early in October, when Bragg deemed it desirable 
 to return by the way he came, sending before him his trains laden with 
 the rich plunder of the Blue Grass region, Buell again pursued him leis- 
 urely, and finally suffered one of his army corps to be attacked and fight 
 an indecisive action at Perryville, in which the Union forces were re- 
 pulsed, if not defeated, and Bragg reaped all the advantages of a victory, 
 preventing and delaying effective pursuit. Falling back again to Louis- 
 ville, Buell was removed from command, and the brave and able Rose- 
 crans, who had so recently distinguished himself at Corinth, put in his 
 place. There was, however, much to be done before the "Army of the 
 Cumberland," as it was now called, was ready to take the field. It was in 
 need of almost every thing. The long and severe marches of the pre- 
 vious two months had worn out the clothing and shoes of the old troops; 
 the raw recruits, who formed about half the army, were badly equipped, 
 undisciplined, and in many instances commanded by inefficient officers. 
 
590 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The cavalry arm of tlie service could hardly be said to exist ; it must be 
 reorganized and almost created anew. The communications with Nash- 
 ville, the proper headquarters of the army, were so completely destroyed, 
 that some weeks were required to restore the single line of railroad, over 
 \ichich, in default of a high stage of water in the river, supplies must be 
 brought. Everywhere the master's hand was needed, and everywhere it 
 was felt. In these works of preparation the months of November and 
 December were spent, and it was in the closing week of the year that 
 General Rosecrans felt that he was ready to move forward. Then came 
 the three days at Stone river ; the first, with its disastrous rout of the 
 Union troops on the right wing ; the second and third, with their retrieval 
 of the disaster, and their terrible slaughter of Breckinridge's (Kebel) corps ; 
 the evacuation of Murfreesboro followed, and on the third day of the 
 new year the song and shout of victory went up from the army of the 
 Cumberland. In the other military departments, the Union armies had 
 but held tlieir own. North Carolina, as well as the Department of the 
 South, had been depleted of so large a portion of her forces, to reinforce 
 the army of the Potomac, that any considerable aggressive movement was 
 impossible; and though small expeditions were occasionally sent to break 
 up Rebel depots of supplies, or cut railroad communications, nothing 
 further could be attempted, without too great risk. In the Department of 
 the Gi'lf, tlie stern but patriotic rule of General Butler had awed and sub- 
 dued the secessionists for the time, and had kept the small portion of 
 Louisiana which was included within the Union lines, quiet. More than 
 once, however, the enemy had made threatening demonstrations upon the 
 outposts of the department. At Baton Rouge, on the 5th of August 
 they had attacked the Union troops, and only been repulsed after a hard 
 fought battle, and as yet the country of the Attakapas was wholly in their 
 possession, with its labyrinths of bayous and its connections with the 
 Mississippi river. Farther north, but little progress was made during the 
 autumn. The enemy were indeed defeated at luka, and routed, after 
 terrible slaughter at Corinth and the Ilatchie, but Vicksburg yet frowned 
 baughtilj) on its assailants, and barred the passage of commerce down the 
 Mississippi. Helena was held by a Union garrison, but the interior of 
 Arkansas was firmly grasped by the Rebels. lu the west of that State, 
 the brave army of the frontier, inured to the hardships of war by their 
 previous experience in the border ruffian contests, defeated the Rebels 
 over and over again, but, like the heaving of the stone of Sisyphus, the 
 toilsome labor was but accomplished when it was necessary to do it anew. 
 Missouri was still haras-sed by guerrilla bands, villanous outlaws, whose 
 only vocation was to murder and rob. The fair young State of Minnesota 
 made the heavens vocal with her cries of distress and anguish, for the 
 eight hundred of her sons and daughters massacred by the ferocity of the 
 Indian tribes, who had seized the opportunity of war to attempt the ex- 
 
1 
 
REVIEW OP THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 591 
 
 pulsion of the white population from Western Minnesota. The fearful 
 conflict was but short, and the Indians were many of them slain or brought 
 to justice; but fair villages had been destroyed, and prairie homes made 
 desolate in great numbers, and the mothers everywhere in the State pressed 
 their babes more closely to their breasts as they thought of the peril, 
 perhaps not yet wholly overpast, of the visitation of the murderous and 
 blood-thirsty savage. 
 
 The principal cities of the States bordering on the Ohio, Cincinnati, 
 Louisville, and New Albany, had been threatened by the Eebel armies, 
 and the arms-bearing population of Ohio and Indiana had been called out 
 to repel the apprehended invasion ; and though this danger had for the 
 time been averted, there was as yet no certainty that it would not 
 return. 
 
 As the winter approached, the army of the Potomac, under its new 
 commander, prepared for another trial of strength with the enemy, and on 
 the 13th of December, the fearfully -disastrous battle of Fredericksburg 
 was fought. The Union forces were repulsed with very heavy losses, and 
 though not routed or demoralized, they were for the time defeated. In 
 Arkansas, in the latter part of November and early in December, the 
 battles of Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, in which the Union arms were de- 
 cidedly successful, alleviated to some extent the gloom which was settling 
 upon the minds of the people at the misfortunes of our armies. But ex- 
 cept these successes, and that of the army of the .Cumberland at Stone 
 river, the advent of the new year brought little to cheer or encourage- 
 General Sherman had assailed Vioksburg, and been repulsed with severe 
 loss ; the garrison and fleet at Galveston had been attacked, the Harriet 
 Lane captured, and the "Westfield destroyed, while the gallant Eenshaw, 
 Wainwright, and Lea, had given their lives to the cause of their country. 
 
 There was one ground of hope and encouragement, however, which 
 made the loyal and true hearted look forward, with more confidence, to 
 the year that was to come. The new year brought the promised procla- 
 mation of emancipation ! Hitherto the armies of the Union had been 
 fighting not only the entire Rebel force, but that force strengthened by 
 the labor of the slave, who, though really the friend of the Union, was 
 thus made the powerful ally of the Eebel Government. The Rebels could, 
 with the slaves to till their soil, provide for the support of their families, 
 and perform the severer labors of the camp and fortification, bring a pro- 
 portionably larger force into the field than the North, without seriously 
 perilling their future. To cut of this resource, and thus more nearly 
 equalize the relative position of the two contestants, was a military neces- 
 sitv, and apart from any humane or moral considerations, its adoption was 
 indispensable to the success of the Union cause. In this instance, too, hu- 
 manity, morality, and religion were all on the side of the movement. 
 Slavery had been the spring and cause of the Rebellion ; the determiua- 
 
592 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tion of the southern leaflcrs to extend its area and increase its power, had 
 been their governing motive in plunging into the war. The intelligent 
 people of the North believed slavery an evil and curse, before the}' had 
 seen this manifestation of its wicked designs, and as they saw more and 
 more of its atrocities during the progress of the war, its inhumanity to 
 the slave, its violation of all the principles of morality, virtue, and honor, 
 and its degrading influence upon tlie white population, both the slave- 
 holding and non-slaveholding, they were ready to bail with joy a i)rocla- 
 mation which brought freedom to the slave. 
 
 Growing out of this proclamation, as a necessary corollary, was the de- 
 termination to arm as large a portion of these new freedmen as possible, 
 to defend the liberty they had received. This measure, though exciting 
 some opposition at first, soon became generally popular, and the freedmen 
 did much to render it so, by their bravery and good conduct in several 
 battles in which they were engaged. Before midsummer of 18(53, more 
 than thirty thousand troops of African descent had been enrolled in the 
 Union army. 
 
 Thus it happened, that with the opening of the new year, a more cheer- 
 ful feeling prevailed throughout the loyal States ; and though some 
 disasters occurred to the Union arms, these were far more than counter- 
 balanced by the great and extraordinary successes which crowned the 
 effort of the armies to overthrow the Rebellion. The Department of the 
 Gulf was among the first to feel the impulse of the rising wave of Union 
 triumphs. General Banks, who had succeeded General Butler in the 
 command of the department, sent an expedition in January into the 
 Attakapas country, and destroyed a huge Rebel gunboat, and drove the 
 Rebels from Berwick and Brashear City, and two months later cleared the 
 whole region of the Bayou Teche, as far as Opelousas and Alexandria, of 
 their presence, destroying their fortresses, capturing their transports, and 
 burning their gunboats and iron-clads. In Arkansas, Generals Blunt and 
 Herron held the northwestern counties against the raiders, guerrillas, and 
 bushwackers, who had so often sought to bring them into subjection. In 
 Western Missouri, the fleet-footed Marmaduke, who sought the destruction 
 of the stores deposited at Springfield, Missouri, for the supply of the army 
 of the frontier, found his plans thwarted, and was compelled to make one 
 of those masterly retreats for which he had already become famous, down 
 the White river to Batesville. An expedition, under command of Gen- 
 eral McClernand, accomi)anied by gunboats, captured Arkansas Post, 
 Arkansas, on the 10th of January, and ascending the White river, took 
 possession of other important points. Those sturdy sea-kings, Admirals 
 Farragut and Porter, if they had not yet free navigation of the Mississippi, 
 yet managed between them to patrol the lower portions of it very thor- 
 oughly, now raining their iron hail upon the batteries which frowned 
 upon its banks, and anon sending some swift gunboat or ram past the de- 
 
REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 693 
 
 fences of Vicksburg, "Warrenton, or Port Hudson, or a;? in the case of 
 Admiral Farracjut at Port Hudson, and later of Admiral Porter at Vicks- 
 burg, running by with a whole squadron. That this was not done with- 
 out some damage and loss the shattered wrecks of the frigate Mississippi 
 and the gunboat Lancaster gave sad evidence; but notwithsanding these 
 losses and others of less importance, their objects were gained — the afflu- 
 ents of the Mississippi explored, every Rebel gunboat or transport in their 
 waters destroyed, and all the depots of supplies for the Rebel armies 
 seized or burned. In the Department of the South there was activityand 
 zeal, though no remarkable successes. Fort McAllister, near Savannah, 
 was assaulted, but not captured — the Nashville, a Rebel iron-clad, de- 
 stroyed, and Charleston, the birthplace of the Rebellion, besieged, and 
 Fort Sumter bombarded by the monitors and the other iron-clads. The 
 fort was not captured or silenced, but the substantial impregnability of 
 the monitors was demonstrated, and the problem settled that the Rebel 
 defences there could be successfully assailed. la the Department of North 
 Carolina, the Rebels, in their efforts to capture "Washington, North Caro- 
 lina, were thwarted, and their forces, which had laid siege to Suffolk. 
 Virginia, were defeated. 
 
 The array of the Potomac, which in January had again changed gener- 
 als, and was now commanded by General Hooker, who had exerted him- 
 self to the utmost to perfect its discipline, to increase its mobility, and to 
 make it in every respect the finest army the world had ever seen, was 
 destined to another reverse, not so overwhelming and terrible as that of 
 Fredericksburg, still one which, for a time, cast a gloom over the country. 
 General Hooker attempted to turn Lee's flank, by a movement on the 
 right, crossing the Rappahannock at a considerable distance above Fred- 
 ericksburg, with the greater part of his force, while making a feint of 
 crossing below — and actually sending one corps to cross and attack the 
 heights where Burnside had been repulsed, while the remainder of his 
 army were assailing Lee's left wing in the vicinity of Chancellorsville. 
 The plan was well devised, but the failure of the eleventh corps (General 
 Howard's) to stand their ground when attacked, and the necessary change 
 of lines which followed, so deranged his plans as to give his adroit and 
 able adversary an advantage which he was not slow to improve. Fred- 
 ericksburg was taken, but lost again within twenty-four hours, and the 
 Union commander was forced to recross the Rappahannock to avoid being 
 cut off from his supplies. The loss by the Rebels of their best general, 
 " Stonewall " Jackson, made the victory a dear one to them, and their killed 
 and wounded in the the three days' fighting considerably outnumbered 
 Hooker's losses. The skilfully conducted cavalry expeditions of Generala 
 Stoneman and Kilpatrick, in connection with this battle, were important. 
 not only as showing that the Union cavalry had become superior to that 
 of the Rebels in this kind of expeditions, but in crippling the natural re- 
 38 
 
694 THE CIVIL WAll IX TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Bources of Lee's army, and rendering it a matter of necessity for that 
 commander to move northward to obtain supplies. 
 
 The remainder of May was occupied with cavalry movements, some of 
 them of considerable importance, and when, early in June, Lee commenced 
 moving his army northward, Hooker, keeping the nearer circle, drove 
 him beyond the Bull Run mountains, harassed him with his cavalry, de 
 layed his movements, and repelled him from any near approach to either 
 Washington or Baltimore. Thus thwarted in his main object, Lee moved 
 forward into Pennsj^vania, in the hope, doubtless, of reaching its com- 
 mercial metropolis, but his movement had been too long delayed, and he 
 found himself compelled to fight at Gettysburg, near the southern border 
 of the State. Here, on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of July, the most sangui- 
 nary battle of the war, and one of the most sanguinary of modern times, 
 ■was fought. General Meade, who had succeeded General Hooker in the 
 command of the Union army^ only two days before the battle, manifested 
 rare skill and ability in the handling of his troops, and the battle, which, on 
 the first day, resulted in a partial success of the Rebels, was at its close a 
 most triumphant victory for the Union army. The Rebels were pursued 
 as far as Williamsport, but by a serious error of judgment were sullered 
 to escape and cross the Potomac without fighting seriously. 
 
 At the West, General Grant, who was in command of the army of the 
 Tennessee, after attempting in a variety of ways to turn the flank of the 
 enemy at Vicksburg and compel the evacuation of that Rebel stronghold, 
 finding his plans partially or entirely unsuccessful, formed the bold project 
 of marching his troops down the west side of the Mississippi, sending the 
 gunboats and transports past the ten miles of continuous batteries around 
 the bend at Vioksburg, and, landing at some point below, marching upon 
 the city from the rear, and investing it. He found himself compelled to run 
 not only the Vicksburg and Warrenton batteries, but those of Grand, 
 Gulf also, ader a five hours' bombardment of them, and landing at Bruins- 
 burg, marched northeast, fighting a battle at Port Gibson, compelling the 
 evacuation of Grand Gulf, whicli he made his base, fighting again at Ray- 
 mond, at Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, which he captured and nearly 
 destroyed, at Champion Hill, and at Black river railroad bridge, and 
 finally sat down before Vicksburg, eighteen days after his landing at 
 Bruinsburg. He made two attempts to carry the city by assault, but be- 
 ing repulsed, commenced its siege, which terminated in its surrender on 
 tlie 4:th of July, its entire garrison of over thirty-one thousand marching 
 out as prisoners of war. No grander or more successful military achieve- 
 ment is recorded on the pages of history. The boldness, energy, skill, 
 and perseverance of General Grant, in this great enterprise, entitle him 
 to rank among the first military commanders of the century. 
 
 The siege of Port Hudson, conducted by General Banks, simultaneously 
 with that of Vicksburg, and its successful issue on the 9th of July also 
 
EEVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OP THE WAR. 595 
 
 deserves to be reckoned among the remarkable acbievements of tbe 
 present war. Though defended by a smaller garrison, and in itself a 
 town of much less size than Vicksburg, its defences were even more for- 
 midable than those of that stronghold. It was twice assaulted by- 
 General Banks' army, and each time with the utmost vigor and determi- 
 nation, but without eliect. "When it finally surrendered, the waters of 
 the Father of Rivers, which since 1861 had been closed to peaceful com- 
 merce, once more floated argosies laden with the products of the prairie 
 States to the great southern metropolis, New Orleans. 
 
 The loss of these two fortresses and the consequent opening of the 
 Mississippi to the Union, was the severest blow which had thus far been 
 inflicted upon the Rebellion. The trans-Mississippi region, which had, 
 up to that time, furnished it with cattle, and to some extent with grain 
 also, was thenceforth cut off, and the Confederacy practically sundered. 
 The State of Mississippi, the home of the Rebel President, and, next to 
 South Carolina, the foremost of all the States of the South in the Rebel- 
 lion, lay, by these victories, prostrate in the victor's hands ; organized 
 resistance in that State was henceforth fruitless; and it is but justice to 
 the citizens of Mississippi to say that but few of them were disposed to 
 attempt farther resistance. Louisiana and Arkansas, it was evident, 
 must soon follow, and Tennessee was almost wholly in Union hands 
 already. Mr. Jefferson Davis had seen the inevitable consequences of the 
 loss of these strongholds so clearly that he had strained every nerve to 
 collect a sufficient force, under the command of General Johnston, to 
 raise the siege of Vicksburg, visiting Alabama, Mississippi, and Bast 
 Tennessee in person, and appealing to the people of these States to rally 
 for the purpose. His efforts proved futile, and his chagrin at his failure 
 was not disguised. From that hour the conscription was pressed with a 
 severity far beyond any former precedent, and the supplies required for 
 his armies seized without regard to the circumstances in which those from 
 whom they were taken were left. Sterner and sterner grew the discipline 
 of the army, and more deadly the vengeance on deserters, whose numbers, 
 nevertheless, increased with each day. The depreciation of the Confed- 
 erate treasury notes (the currency of the seceded States) which followed 
 these Union victories was very great, the exchange for gold being fifteen 
 or sixteen dollars for one, and for the United States legal tender notes 
 eleven or twelve for one. 
 
 Without rehearsing the less important skirmishes or battles, whose 
 influence on the great questions at issue was only indirect, it cannot but 
 be evident to the reader that during the eleven months ending July 15th, 
 1863, there had been great progress made in putting down the Rebellion. 
 There had been no step backward on the part of the United States Gov- 
 ernment. Even the apparently disastrous battles resulted in no perma- 
 nent loss of territory or prestige. At least two hundred thousand square 
 
596 THE CIYIIi WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 miles, which, in August, 1862, were under Confederate sway, were, in 
 July, 1863, redeemed for the stars and stripes. The navigation of the 
 Mississippi was no longer obstructed by hostile fortresses and gaping 
 cannon. The blockade had grown fearfully close, and the Rebel 
 promises to pay were little better than waste paper. Well might the 
 President of the United States proclaim a day of national thanksgiving 
 to Him who had so signally blessed the nation in its struggle for the 
 preservation of the freedom bequeathed to them by their fathers, for the 
 victories which his hand had wrought. 
 
 The war was not ended, indeed, nor the power of the Rebels fully 
 broken : the desperation of their leaders and the bravery of the defenders 
 of the Union were yet to be attested on other bloody battle-fields, but 
 everywhere were seen the evidences that their cause was failing, and 
 those who in other countries had hitherto been their strenuous and per- 
 sistent advocates were forced to admit that their fortunes seemed to be on 
 the wane, and that their ultimate success was doubtful. The oppressed 
 Unionists of the South, and the slaves, who had begun to comprehend 
 that the war concerned their future condition, breathed more freely, as 
 they sent up in secret, their thanksgiving to God that the end drew nigh. 
 
OVERTHROW OF TliE REBEL FOWER IN ARKANSAS. 597 
 
 CnAPTER L. 
 
 THE ARMY OP THE POTOMAC AT REST — THE OVERTHROW OP THE REBEL POWER IN ARKANSAS 
 — THE GUERRILLAS AND BUSHWHACKERS OP ARKANSAS AND THE INDIAN TERRITORY — 
 
 QUANTREL AND HIS BAND — THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE ATTEMPT TO MURDER GENERAL 
 
 BLUNT — CABELL, MARMADUKB, SUELBT, AND COFFEY, MAKE A RAID INTO MISSOURI, AND 
 ARE DEFEATED AND ROUTED — MORGAN'S RAID INTO KENTUCKY, INDIANA, AND OHIO— HIS 
 CAPTURE AND IMPRISONMENT — HIS ESCAPE — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE — HIS DEATH — THE RIOTS 
 OF THE SUMMER OF 18G3 — THE GREAT RIOT IN NEW YORK — ITS CAUSF.S AND OBJECTS — 
 THE REIGN OP TERROR — THE MOB SUBDUED — THE LOSS OP LIFE AND PROPERTY BY IT. 
 
 After the Rebel army had crossed the Potomac, and made its way to 
 its old quarters on the Eappahannock, followed as far as the northern 
 bank of the Rapidan by the Union army, there ensued a season of quiet, 
 while the two armies were recruiting in numbers, and being reorganized 
 for another and more desperate conflict. The quiet was not wholly un- 
 broken, though there were no engagements, except some slight cavalry 
 skirmishes, until about the middle of October. The battles of the later 
 autumn we shall describe further on. Meantime, we will turn our eyes 
 westward, and observe what progress the war is making there. 
 
 After the surrender of Vicksburg, the Government deemed it desirable 
 to drive the Rebels out of Arkansas, and assist the Union inhabitants to 
 recover the control of the State, which had been snatched from them by 
 a fraudulent vote. For this purpose General Steele was ordered to move 
 from Helena with a considerable force toward Duvall's Bluff on the 
 White river, where he was to be joined by General Davidson, who was 
 moving south from Missouri by way of Crowley's Ridge, west of the 
 St. Erancis river. The juncture of the two columns was effected, and 
 having established a hospital and depot of supplies at Duvall's Bluff, 
 General Steele moved forward from that point on the 1st of August, 1863, 
 against the Rebel army, which was then lying near the line of the Bayou 
 Metoe, and pushed it back to Little Rock, pi;rsuing it closely, skirmishing 
 frequently and successfully. Having reached the Arkansas river, he 
 crossed it below Little Rock, and with a part of his force marched upon 
 Arkadelphia, the base and depot of supplies of the Rebel army. General 
 Holmes, who commanded the Rebel forces in Arkansas, sent Marmaduke 
 with his cavalry to drive back the Union column ; but the Union troops 
 facing about and assaulting him, Marmaduke, as usual, fled with all his 
 men, and Holmes, fearing the effect of Steele's flanking movement, de- 
 stroyed what property he could at Little Rock, and after a slight resistance 
 retreated toward Arkadelphia, in great haste. General Steele entered 
 Little Rock on the 10th of September, having captured over one thousand 
 
698 THE CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 prisoners, and large quantities of stores, which Holmes in his haste had 
 been unable to destroy. His own loss was less than one hundred. Uis 
 cavalry and an infantry column continued to push the Rebel army, and 
 harass them as they retreated southwestward. Marmaduke, with three 
 thousand troops, separated from the main Rebel army, and attacked the 
 Union garrison at Pine Bluff, on the Lower Arkansas. The garrison 
 consisted of only five hundred and fifty men, but they were under the 
 command of Colonel Clayton, who had more than once defeated Marma- 
 duke, even at larger odds than this. The battle continued for five hours, 
 Marmaduke showing more than usual pluck, but finally flying, with a 
 loss of two hundred and fifty of his men. On the same day, October 
 25th, the Union army entered Arkadelphia, the broken remnants of the 
 Rebel army retreating across Red river. The whole of the State, except 
 two small districts, one in the southwest, the other in the northwest of the 
 State, was now restored to the Federal authority. 
 
 From the beginning of the war the northwestern portion of Arkansas, 
 and the Indian Territory adjacent, had been the haunt of an irregular 
 Rebel force of outlaws, bushwhackers, guerrillas, horse thieves, and mur- 
 derers, the associates and successors of the border ruffians of the old 
 Kansas days. These villains were best suited when they could make 
 foravs into the peaceful villages or farm-houses of the border, and rob, 
 murder, and ravish defenceless citizens. Sometimes, they would join the 
 Rebel armies, and fight under the Rebel generals of the region for a few 
 days, but they soon tired of this, and returned anew to the work of 
 plunder and bloodshed. To the disgrace of the Rebel authorities, it must 
 be said that most of the villains bore commissions from the Rebel War 
 Department. 
 
 Oue of the most daring and villainous outrages of which these outlaws 
 were guilty was the attack upon the city of Lawrence, Kansas, on the 
 21st of August, 1863. One of the guerrilla leaders, a noted thief and an 
 escaped convict, who had a.ssumed the name of Quantrel, with about eight 
 hundred of his men, entered Lawrence in the early morning, murdered 
 one hundred and twenty-five of its citizens in cold blood, plundered its 
 dwellings and stables, and burned the greater part of the business portion 
 of the city, destroying property valued at upwards of two millions of dol- 
 lars. General James 11. Lane, at the head of the few mounted troops 
 which could be raised, (Quantrel having stolen all the more valuable 
 horsf's.) pursued and overtook the rear-guard of his troops, and succeeded 
 in killing nearly one hundred of his men, but the remainder escaped. 
 1 General James G. Blunt, of Kansas, who had been for nearly two years 
 in command of the army of the frontier, was a terror to these bands of 
 marauders, whom he never failed to visit with severe punishment, when- 
 ever he could reach them, and they had sworn to be revenged on him 
 personally, if possible. In July he had attacked Cooper and Stand- 
 
REBEL FORAY INTO MISSOURI. 599 
 
 watie, the Rebel and Indian commanders of these outlaws in the Indian 
 Territory, and as usual, had defeated and routed a force much larger than 
 his own. Quantrel had been in this battle, and had resolved to capture 
 and murder Blunt. On the 5th of October, he ascertained that the General 
 was on his way from Fort Smith to Fort Scott, in Kansas, with an escort 
 of only one hundred men, and accordingly dressing three hundred of his 
 ruffians in Union uniforms, which he had stolen, he approached General 
 Blunt and his escort when they were but a few miles from Fort Scott. 
 Having come within pistol range of the escort, the disguised guerrillas 
 commenced firing, and the escort, surprised, broke, and seventy-eight of 
 them, including Major Curtis, a son of General Curtis, were captured and 
 murdered after surrendering. General Blunt, collecting fifteen of his 
 men, charged upon the guerrillas, and they, filled with their old terror, 
 retreated until he found an opportunity of moving southward, to a point a 
 mile or two distant, where Lieutenant-Colonel Pond's regiment were sta- 
 tioned. Quantrel himself supposed he had killed General Blunt, and 
 there was great rejoicing in the Rebel States over his death. 
 
 The Rebel commanders of these bands of outlaws, Cabell, Marmaduke, 
 Shelby, and Coffey, having been thus driven by the Union armies to the 
 very borders of Arkansas, and being satisfied of their inability to regain 
 possession of the State again, resolved to collect their forces and m.ake a 
 grand foray into Missouri, where, they believed, they could plunder and 
 murder unarmed citizens with greater impunity than in Arkansas. 
 
 They accordingly gathered six or seven thousand guerrillas, Indians, 
 bushwackers and the like, and Cabell and Marmaduke started from the 
 Choctaw settlements in the Indian Territory, about the first of October, 
 crossed the Arkansas river east of Fort Smith, and Marmaduke remaining 
 at Fayetteville, Arkansas, with a part of the force as a reserve, Cabell and 
 Shelby went on with the remainder to Crooked Prairie, Missouri, were 
 they were joined bj' General Coffey with a considerable additional force of 
 similar materials, and moved thence toward the interior of the State, 
 plundering and murdering, unchecked. They reached Booneville, on the 
 Missouri river, but being closely pursued, attempted to double on their 
 trail, but on reaching Merrill's crossing of Salt Fork found themselves 
 confronted by the Missouri State militia, under General E. B. Brown, 
 who fought them for several hours, on the evening of the 12th of Oc- 
 tober and having routed them, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Lazear, 
 with nine cundred men, to intercept them at Marshall, while he followed 
 them with the remainder of his command. General Brown's and Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Lazear's forces together did not number over sixteen hundred, 
 but they were more than a match for twice their numbers of the cowardly 
 ruHians whom they fought, and hemming them in between them they 
 punished them without mercy, killing or severely wounding one hundred 
 and fifty, taking several hundred prisoners, capturing two gnns, and 
 
600 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATIC. 
 
 nearly the whole of their train ; and when the remnant left — disorderly 
 dirty, and nearly starved — reached Fayetteville, not even Marmaduko 
 could rally or reorganize them. 
 
 The Rebel guerrilla chief John Morgan, who had, by his daring raid 
 into Kentucky, gained a remarkable notoriety as a partisan fighter, or 
 rather plunderer, for he always avoided fighting where he could, remained 
 quiet during the winter and spring of 1863 ; but early in the summer, 
 under orders it is said from Richmond, and with the design of creating a 
 diversion to prevent the northwestern States from sending troops to Penn- 
 sylvania to thwart Loe's operations, he made preparations for an extensive 
 raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. General Rosecrans ascertained 
 bis purposes through his scouts, and notified General Buruside, who then 
 commanded the Department of the Ohio, of his intentions. He moved 
 on the 2-ith of June, with somewhat more than thirty-five hundred 
 mounted men, and a battery of artillery. His men were carefully selected 
 from Bragg's cavalry and his own brigade. He assembled his force first 
 on the banks of the Cumberland near Jamestown, and, after resting for 
 several days, made a feint of attacking Tompkinsville, on the opposite shore 
 of the Cumberland in Kentucky, and this drew the Union forces, which 
 were watching him, to that point. He then set his men to constructing 
 flat-boats secretly, and moving with great rapidity, crossed the river at 
 Burksville, nearly thirty miles higher up the Cumberland, on the night of 
 the 1st of July, and by noon of the 2d was on his way toward Columbia, 
 Kentucky. Owing to the heavy condition of the roads he did not reacii 
 there till noon of the 3d, and had a rencounter with a small body of Union 
 troops near the town, whom he speedily repulsed. The Union troops 
 from Jamestown who had followed him, on ascertaining the number of 
 his troops, fell back and notified Colonel Wolford, who commanded their 
 brigade, who sent a courier to General Carter, the commanding oflScer at 
 Somerset, who ordered three brigades to be sent in pursuit. By this delay, 
 Morgan gained two days on his pursuers. Moving to Green river on the 
 3d of July, Morgan attempted to cross on the morning of the 4th, but 
 found a lete-de-jMnt on the opposite end of the bridge, together with other 
 earthworks, defended by two hundred men of the twenty-fifth Michigan 
 volunteers, commanded by Colonel Moore. Morgan sent out a flag of 
 truce demanding an instant surrender. Colonel Moore immediately 
 replied, " If it was any other day, I might consider the summons, but the 
 4th of July is a bad day to talk about surrender, and I must, therefore, 
 decline." Morgan thereupon sent two regiments to storm the works, but 
 after charging upon it repeatedly, they found the fire of its defenders too 
 galling to be endured, and withdrew, with a loss of thirty killed, many 
 wounded, and one hundred prisoners. Finding himself foiled, Morgan 
 now withdrew, and crossing at a ford farther up, reached New Market the 
 same evening, and moved the next morning on Lebanon. Here was 
 
RAID OF MORGAN INTO INDIANA. 601 
 
 a garrison of four hundred men, without fortifications. Morgan sum- 
 moned them to surrender, but their commander, Colonel Hanson, re- 
 fused, and sheltering his men in the depot and adjacent buildings, defended 
 the town for seven hours, when Morgan, in a rage, burned the town, and 
 the buildings in which Colonel Hanson and his men were stationed having 
 caught fire, they at last surrendered. Morgan drove them on foot before 
 his cavalry, to Springfield, passing over the ten miles in an hour and a 
 half, and shooting those who were too much exhausted to keep up the pace. 
 Having paroled the prisoners, he kept on with his force to Bardstown, and 
 there was resisted, for several hours, by a company of twenty of the 
 fourth United States cavalry, who, occupying a strong stable, fought him, 
 and held him at bay. He now found his pursuers gaining on him, and 
 moved rapidly on Shepherdsville, on Salt river, and thence to Lawrence- 
 ville and Brandenburg, forty miles below Louisville, and seized the 
 steamer McCombe, and by hoisting signals of distress, attracted the steamer 
 Alice Dean to the south side of the river, and captured her also. After 
 plundering these boats, he used them to cross the river with his troops. 
 The ferrying over his troops occupied him for two days, and on the 8th, 
 two of the Ohio river gunboats came down the river and opened upon 
 him, but as he replied briskly with his rifled pieces, and they, unfortu- 
 nately, it was said, had not ammunition suited to their guns, they soon 
 withdrew. Having crossed with his troops, Morgan burned the Alice 
 Dean, but after much solicitation consented to spare the McCombe. 
 
 General Hobson, who commanded the Union force in pursuit, pressed 
 on with great speed, though his horses were much jaded, but only reached 
 Brandensb'urg in time to see the Alice Dean in flames, and Morgan's 
 troops trotting up the bluffs on the opposite side of the river. He pro- 
 cured other steamers, however, promptly, and by three A. M. of the 10th 
 had his troops all landed on the Indiana side of the river. A party of 
 General Judah's division of cavalry, which had hitherto been stationed in 
 southern Kentucky, joined in the pursuit, coming to Louisville by railroad 
 and embarking there for some point above on the Ohio, where they might 
 confront Morgan if he attempted a raid into Ohio. 
 
 Morgan, meantime, marched immediately upon Corydon, where he met 
 with some resistance from a body of about two hundred home guards, but 
 soon overcame them, and killed a number, plundered the town, burned 
 some of the houses, and compelled the owners of factories to ransom them 
 by the payment of a heavy sura of money. On the morning of the 10th, 
 he reached and pillaged Salem, Indiana, and thence proceeded to Vienna, 
 on the Jeffersonville railroad, where he burned a railroad bridge, and 
 bivouacked for the night. On the evening of the 11th, he reached Vernon, 
 where Colonel Lowe was stationed with twelve hundred militia. Morgan 
 summoned him to surrender, but he replied, " Come and take me." Mor- 
 gan then ordered him to remove the women and children, as he intended 
 
602 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to bombard the town ; they were removed, but under cover of night 
 Morgan and his troopers left, after injuring the railroad as much as pos- 
 sible. From Vernon, he proceeded to Dupont's station, and to Versailles, 
 burning and plundering all along his route. lie then moved to Harrison 
 on the Ohio State line, plundering stores, houses, and stables, all along 
 his route, stealing clothing, jewelry, horses, carriages, &c. &c., and burning 
 barns, and stacks of grain and hay. He nearly remounted his force in 
 this part of his route, and thus made it very difiicult for his pursuers, on 
 their jaded horses, to overtake him. The Ohio and Indiana militia liad 
 been called out, but the raiders spent but four days in Indiana, and were 
 out of the State before the militia could arrive in the vicinity. Clncin. 
 nati was thought to be the object of ^forgan in Ohio, and the Stale 
 militia hastened thither for its defence, but Morgan was too shrewd to run 
 the risk of a battle with a largely superior force, and though he passed in 
 the course of his raid within three miles of the city, he made no attempt 
 to enter it. On the 13th of July the Rebels left Harrison, burning the 
 bridge over the Whitewater river, and crossed the Great Miami by the 
 Miamitown, New Baltimore, and Coleraine bridges, each of which they 
 burned, and encamped at night ten miles northeast of Cincinnati. The 
 next morning they passed through Glendale and Springfield, crossed the 
 Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton railroad, without doing it much injury, 
 plundered all the houses and stables on their route, threatened Camps 
 Donnison and Shady, but were driven off by the convalescents who were 
 stationed in the rifle-pits for the protection of the camps, burned fifty army 
 wagons near camp Shady, and in the vicinity of IMiamivillej obstructed 
 the track of the Little Miami railway, threw a train off, burned the cars, 
 captured and paroled two hundred recruits, and passing through Batavia 
 reached Williamsburg at three P. M. on the l-ith. 
 
 After resting for an hour or two, they went on to Sardinia, burning two 
 bridges behind them, and encamped there. 
 
 General Hobson, in command of the pursuing force, had pushed forward 
 as rapidly as possible, but his horses were jaded, and at Sardinia he was 
 twelve miles behind the Rebels. The military authorities at Cincinnati 
 had sent General Judah's cavalry up the river in steamboats, with orders 
 to land at such a point as would enable them to prevent Morgan from 
 moving southward, and bodies of militia were directed to move down 
 upon him from the north, while the military committees in the counties 
 in his route were ordered to obstruct the roads, and thus delay his progress, 
 that his pursuers might more readily come up with him. The gunboats 
 were also directed to patrol tlie river, and foil all his efforts to cross. 
 
 Morgan now began to find that his farther progress iu Ohio would be 
 diflicult, and looked anxiously about him for some way of escape across 
 [he river into Kentucky, where he might plunder without much fear 
 of defeat or capture. He had, on the 14th, sent his brother, Colonel Dick 
 
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OPERATIONS OP MORGANS RAIDERS. 603 
 
 Morgan, from "Williamsburg toward the Ohio river, to discover a route 
 by which he might safely reach the Kentucky shore, but the colonel had 
 found bodies of militia guarding every ford, and the gunboats patrolling 
 the river, and had rejoined the main body of the Eebels, near Jackson- 
 ville, Adams county, with the report that escape in that vicinity was im- 
 practicable. . 
 
 Meantime, Morgan pushed on, as the only thing he could do, passing 
 through, and plundering Winchester, Jackson, Wheatridge, and Jack- 
 sonville, and moved toward Jasper, on the Scioto. Six miles west of this 
 town the road had been obstructed, and the axemen were still at work east 
 of this point, and would have entirely arrested his progress, had he not 
 caused a telegraph operator in his band to send, by means of a pocket 
 instrument, despatches to Chillicothe, and the other towns along the route, 
 to the effect that Morgan was approaching the Marietta and Cincinnati 
 railroad. By the ruse the axemen were called off to obstruct the road 
 above. 
 
 He did not enter Jasper till the 16th, where, after two or three hours of 
 plundering and burning, he moved on toward Piketon, where he pillaged 
 stores and dwellings, murdered several citizens, and insulted the women 
 of the place. Finding that General Hobson was close upon him, he left 
 Piketon in the evening, burned the bridges over the Scioto, and pressed on 
 to Jackson, Jackson county, which he reached about eleven p. m. Here he 
 destroyed the office, types, and presses of the Jachson Standard, a Republi- 
 can paper, at the instance, it was said, of some traitorous citizens of the 
 place. General Hobson, who came up the next morning, retaliated for this, 
 by destroying, in turn, the office and presses of the Jackson Eiyress, 
 the paper of the peace Democrats, who had aided and encouraged Morgan. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 17th, Morgan left Jackson, and learning 
 that there were twelve hundred government horses at Berlin, six miles 
 northeast of Jackson, guarded only by militia, he turned his course thither 
 and after plundering for a time, moved up to attack the militia, who were 
 about twenty-five hundred in number, under the command of Colonel 
 Eunkle. That officer had selected a good position, and though his troops 
 were raw, and he had no artillery, he had resolved to fight Morgan till 
 General Hobson could come up. Morgan attacked them, but was repulsed 
 with a loss of about a dozen killed and wounded, and withdrew, moving 
 toward -Pomeroy in two colums, one going by way of Wilkesville, the 
 other through Yinton. The Rebels here found their progress obstructed 
 for two hours by barricades near the little town of Lindsville, and when 
 at last they had passed there and approached Pomeroy, all the roads were 
 blocked up, and defended by home guards. The lines were indeed fast 
 closing around them, as the Union troops were approaching from all points 
 of the compass, and the gunboats on the Ohio rendered it almost impossi- 
 ble to cross that river. The river was, however, their only hope, and 
 
604 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 taming away from Pomcroy they reached Chester with great difficulty, in 
 consequence of the frequent barricades, and pushed on to Buffington ford, 
 eight miles above Pomeroy, and opposite Buffington island, which point 
 their advance reached about three A. M. on the 19th of July, and immediately 
 began to make preparations for crossing, while the main body came up 
 and bivouacked in some corn-fields on the river bottom. At four A. M. 
 they commenced crossing, aided by a dense fog, and about fifty succeeded 
 in reaching the Kentucky shore, although they were fired upon and a 
 number wounded by the Kentucky home guard. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Judah had come on from Pomeroy, and rode down 
 the blufi" with a small body of troops into the river bottom, the fog ob- 
 scuring the Eebels from view. They discovered his approach first and 
 fired, throwing the Union advance into some disorder. They soon rallied, 
 however, and the fog rising, their artillery was brought up, and opened 
 upon the enemy, while the cavalry charged upon the Eebels, and drove 
 them back. General Hobson's advance came up at the same moment, and 
 attacked the Rebels in rear with great fury, and a body of infantry which 
 had been landed below, moved up along the bottom lands, and the gun- 
 boat Moose and the transport Alleghany had reached Buffington island, 
 and were directing their guns upon the Rebel force. Morgan had now 
 only the alternative of surrender or flight along the river bank. About 
 eight hundred of the Rebels, including Dick Morgan's, Basil Duke's, and 
 Smith's, commands, surrendered. Morgan, with the remainder of his band, 
 fled in confusion up the river, leaving behind them all their plunder, con- 
 sisting of carriages, horses, mules, dry goods in very large quantities, 
 jewelry, hats, boots, shoes, -women's and children's dresses, kid gloves^ 
 laces, carbines, shot-guns, rifles, pistols, sabres, &c. &c. Most of these 
 articles were carried off by the militia and citizens, and very little was 
 recovered by its original owners. 
 
 Morgan having with him about two thousand men, reached Belleville 
 ford, fourteen miles above Buffington island, about dark, and attempted at 
 once to cross, but the river was too deep, and over fifty of Ids men and 
 their horses were drowned. Nearly three hundred finally succeeded in 
 reaching the Virginia shore, and with great suffering, reached, after some 
 days, the Rebel lines in southwestern Virginia. But while these were 
 struggling in the water, the gunboats came up, and opening upon those 
 still on the bank, drove them back ; and Morgan, with the remainder, 
 reduced by these losses, and by capture and desertion, struck westward to 
 narrisonville, and thence southward toward the river again. Near 
 Cheshire, some miles below Pomeroy, on Monday afternoon, July 20th, 
 General Shackleford, who commanded one brigade of Hobson's division, 
 brouglit them to a stand, and after fighting for a short time, Morgan sent 
 a flag of truce offering an unconditional surrender, but while the parley 
 was in progress, the wily guerrilla slipped off with about eight hundred 
 
PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OP MORGAN. 605 
 
 of his men, leaving Colonel Coleman with about four hundred to sur- 
 render. About two hundred and fifty men were picked up during the 
 day in Meigs and Vinton counties. At daybreak on the 21st, Shackleford 
 started again, with six hundred picked men, in pursuit. Arrangements 
 had also been made by sending troops by railroad, and by light draft 
 steamers up the river, to guard all the fords of the river, and to head 
 them off from the north. Eetreating at full speed from Cheshire, Morgan 
 readied Ervington, in Gallia county, twenty miles west of Gallipolis, on 
 the moruing of the 21st, and halting to feed, saw a force of two hundred 
 and fifty militia under Major Sonntag approaching. He immediately sent 
 five men with a flag of truce, demanding that the Major should surrender, 
 assuring him that he had several thousand men with him. The Major 
 immediately complied, and Morgan thus obtained a supply of arms and 
 seventeen rounds of ammunition. Paroling the militia, he moved forward 
 toward Berlin, and came upon another body of militia of about the same 
 number, whose commander, a Major Slain, also surrendered upon his de- 
 mand. He then passed through Zaliska, near McArthurstown, and Nel- 
 sonville, and reached Deaverstown in the evening. On the morning of 
 the 23d, he was again early in the saddle, crossed the Muskingum at 
 Eagleport, skirmished with a militia regiment, but soon escaped from 
 them, passed around another body of militia near Cumberland, and though 
 sixty of his men deserted, he kept on to Senecaville. At five A. M. of 
 the 24:th, he crossed the Ohio Central railroad at Campbell's station, 
 burned the railroad bridge and station buildings, robbed the safe of ten 
 thousand dollars, and kept on to Washington on the national road, where, 
 having burned three bridges behind him, he determined to rest, but Gen- 
 eral Shackleford entered the town within three hours, and he escaped with 
 dif&culty, passing through Winchester, Antrim, Londonderry, Smyrna, 
 and Moorefield, burning the bridges behind him. Thence he moved toward 
 New Athens, but finding a considerable force there, turned and made for 
 Cadiz, in Harrison county, where he arrived at eight A. M. on the 25th' 
 From this point, he again attempted to cross the Ohio near Warrenton» 
 but it was not fordable. Turning northward again, he passed through 
 Alexandria and Centreville, where he encountered another considerable 
 force, which, after firing a few shots, he managed to elude, and proceeded 
 north to Eichmond, twelve miles distant, where he hoped to be able to rest 
 for a few hours, but finding Major Way was pushing him closely with his 
 cavalry, he moved on toward New Lisbon, in the hope of reaching Smith's 
 ferry, nearly opposite Wellsville. Major Way hung upon his rear, and 
 skirmished with him nearly all night, and at last, at eight o'clock A. M. 
 on the 26th, succeeded in forcing him into a fight, and after a sharp action 
 of an hour, routed his forces completely, with a loss of two hundred in 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners. Having secured his captives. Major Way 
 kept on with the pursuit, the Eebels straining every nerve to reach 
 
606 THE CIVIL AVAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Smith's ferry. Meauwhile Major Rae, who commanded the otlier battalion 
 of cavalry sent from Columbus, had pushed forward with all haste toward 
 Smith's ferry, to prevent their escape. By dint of hard riding, and use of 
 cross-roads, he reached there a few minutes first, and drew up his force 
 for action. Morgan soon came up, and with most consummate impudence, 
 demanded that Major Eae should instantly surrender. Major Rae replied 
 that he would immediately charge upon them unless they threw down 
 their arms and surrendered unconditionally. Morgan tried to secure 
 better terms, but failing to do so, surrendered, though claiming that he 
 was entitled to a parole, on the ground that he had before meeting with 
 Major Rae, surrendered to a militia captain, but the claim was too prepos- 
 terous to be allowed, and Morgan being brought before General Burnside^ 
 was by him consigned to the Ohio State Penitentiary, until the Rebel 
 Government should treat Colonel Streight and his officers as prisoners of 
 war. On the 27th of November, 1863, Morgan, with six of his staff, suc- 
 ceeded in digging their way out, and making their escape from the Peni- 
 tentiary through a sewer. Some of the number were retaken, but the 
 guerrilla chief made the best of his way to Tennessee, and soon raised 
 another band of guerrillas, 
 
 Major-General John II. Morgan, the Rebel leader of this daring though 
 unsuccessful raid, was born near Lexington, Ky, in 1827. Ilis family 
 were not wealthy, though belonging to a respectable class. He was the 
 eldest of six brothers, five of whom were, in one capacity or another, 
 connected with the Rebel army. John served in the Mexican war, at 
 first as a private, but was promoted from the ranks to a second lieuten- 
 antcy. On his return he engaged in manufacturing jeans, linseys and 
 bagging for the southern market. A dashing, free-and-easy man in his 
 manners, he was somewhat popular, but had the reputation of being a 
 libertine, and a man of intrigue. Soon after the commencement of the 
 war he resolved to take up arms on the side of the South, and raised a 
 company in the autumn of 18G1, and marched to Bowling Green, where 
 he asked to be allowed to serve as a partisan ranger. As this request 
 was not formally granted, he withdrew with his men a short distance 
 from the Rebel camp, and engaged in forays and raids on his own 
 account. His men having increased to a full regiment, he was com- 
 missioned colonel, but followed the same course as before, though oper- 
 ating to some extent under the direction of the Rebel army commanders. 
 The destruction of railroads and bridges, plundering cars, houses, and vil- 
 lages, with occasional acts of murder and outrage, were the style of his 
 jierformanccs. Occasionally, his natural good nature and friendship for 
 old acquaintances led him to do a humane or romantic act, for he affected 
 the Robin Hood style of plundering ; but generally, he showed no mercy. 
 He was several times in imminent danger of capture, but the fleetness of 
 his horse, or his own agility and muscular power saved him. In 1862 
 
THE EIOTS OF THE SUMMER OP 1863. 607 
 
 he made repeated forays into Kentucky, plundering the principal towns 
 of the Blue Grass region, and though seldom risking a battle when he found 
 a force nearly the size of his own, he managed to have matters very much 
 to his liking, and carried off his plunder with impunity. He also made 
 extensive raids within the Union lines in Tennessee, cutting Buell's com- 
 munications with Louisville, obstructing the railroads, burning bridges, 
 &c. In June 1863, as we have seen, he started upon the disastrous raid 
 we have described, in which, though he destroyed a vast amount of 
 property, and killed many unoffending citizens, the only results to the 
 Rebels were the annihilation of nearly thirty-five hundred of Bragg's 
 best cavalry, picked men, and the imprisonment of himself and his ofl&cers 
 in the Penitentiaiy. After his escape he again entered upon a partisan 
 career, visiting and plundering Central Kentucky and Tennessee. On 
 the Sd of September, 186i, he advanced with a small force upon Green- 
 ville, East Tennessee, and halted for the night at the residence of a Mrs. 
 AVilliams. The daughter-in-law of this lady, in the evening, rode to the 
 Union General Gillem's camp, sixteen miles distant, and informed him of 
 Morgan's whereabouts, and troops were at once sent to surround and 
 capture him. In the attemjjt to make his escape, Morgan was shot dead 
 by a private soldier. 
 
 The northern sympathizers with the Rebellion, demagogues who 
 believed that they could attain notoriety, place and fame by their oppo- 
 sition to the Government, had been, during the months of May and June, 
 endeavoring to stir up the lowest classes of the population of the large 
 cities to an armed aud bloody rebellion against the constituted authorities, 
 "While this had been attempted unsuccessfully in Philadelphia, Boston, 
 Troy, and other cities, the emissaries of the Rebels had been specially 
 active in New York city, as having the largest number of low, vicious, 
 and ignorant inhabitants, fit material for demagogues to work upon, in 
 its limits. The motives urged for an outbreak were two ; first, the draft, 
 which, by its commutation provision of three hundred dollars, it was falsely 
 alleged discriminated against the poor; and second, a pretended influx 
 of the negroes in consequence of the emancipation proclamation, and the 
 consequent appeal to the Irish to rally and prevent the negroes from de- 
 priving them of work. Neither of these was the real motive of the 
 leaders and promoters of the riot. The commutation feature of the con- 
 scription act was an advantage to the poor man, as was afterward apparent, 
 when, on its repeal, the price of substitutes rose from three hundred to 
 one thousand or twelve hundred dollars. There had been no influx ol 
 negroes since the proclamation of emancipation ; indeed there were 
 probably fewer colored people in the city of New York in July, 1863, 
 than in July, 1860. The real motive of the riots was to create a diversion 
 in Lee's favor, and by the destruction of property and life in New 
 York city and elsewhere, to compel the Government to call off its troops 
 
fi08 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 from making war upon the Eebel chiefs, to protect the property and 
 homos of citizens of New York. It had been the intention of the movers 
 in the matter, to bring on the riot earlier ; the 1st, and afterward the 
 4th of July, had been named, and letters written in Europe at that 
 time referred to it as probably then in progress. The Secessionists in 
 Paris and London were jubilant at the thought that the great commercial 
 metropolis was being given up to pillage, arson, plunder, and rapine. On 
 the 4th of July, prominent disloyalists addressed large bodies of men 
 in New York city, and sought to rouse their passions to evil deeds. 
 But the news of the great victory over Lee at Gettysburg was coming in, 
 and it roused such a burst of patriotic feeling, that the leaders felt that 
 they must delay. They could not delay long, however. "With an alacrity 
 which at the time surprised many of the Union citizens, but which was 
 afterward remembered as evidently a part of the nefarious plot, the 
 chief magistrate of the State, and others in his counsel, had sent from 
 New York and Brooklyn every fully organized regiment of militia, under 
 the plea of rendering prompt aid to Pennsylvania in her hour of need. 
 These would soon return, and the riot must be hastened, in order to avoid 
 a collision with them. Accordingly, the commencement of the draft was 
 fixed upon as the time for rising ; and the general features of the plot, the 
 property to be destroyed, &c., were communicated by the leaders to their 
 subordinate leaders in the mob, and by them to the masses. On Friday 
 night, July 10th, Governor Seymour sent his adjutant-general to Wash- 
 ington, to urge upon the President the suspension of the pending draft, 
 on the alleged ground that its enforcement would inevitably produce 
 a riot. Having done this, the governor took no measures to guard 
 against the outbreak which he had pronounced inevitable, but left the 
 State, and did not return till Tuesday. The draft commenced on Saturday, 
 and during that day, July 11th, and the next, there were no demonstra- 
 tions of mob violence, but on Monday morning, the attempt to complete 
 the draft in the ninth Congressional district, where it had been com- 
 menced on Saturday, was made the occasion of the outbreak. Meetings of 
 the prominent rioters had been held on Sunday ; and, at an early hour 
 on Monday morning, organized parties of men, mainly, though not ex- 
 clusively, of Irish birth, went from yard to yard, and from one workshop 
 and manufactory to another, to compel the workmen to desist from their 
 labor, and join the processions which were moving toward the enrollment 
 offices. One of the deputy marshals in the ninth district was beaten and 
 left for dead, and the furniture of the room destroyed. The building in 
 which the enrollment office was situated, as well as the whole block, was 
 burned, and the Superintendent of Police set upon by the mob, and nearly 
 killed. Other buildings in which there were enrollment offices, or which 
 were known or supposed to be the residences of prominent Republicans, 
 were fired, and their inhabitants robbed, beaten, or cruelly maltreated. The 
 
THE GREAT EIOT IN NEW YOEK. 609 
 
 mob went in this way from street to street, shouting their huzzahs for 
 Jefferson Davis, the Southern Confederacy, General Lee, Fernando Wood, 
 and others whom they supposed to be hostile to the United States Gov- 
 einment. The authorities were at first panic-stricken. Only the police had 
 manifested at first much presence of mind or resolution in endeavoring 
 to put down the mob, and their superintendent and several other officers, 
 had been nearly killed. The mayor was naturally timid, and though 
 well disposed, had neither the courage nor the power to resist and subdue 
 such a formidable riot. He could not call out a pos&e comitaius large 
 enough for its suppression, and he contented himself with half measures ; 
 The major-general of the militia had but very few troops at call, and 
 those but such as had seen no service ; and he was like the mayor, 
 nervous, hesitating, and alarmed ; the commander of the United States 
 Military Department of the East, Major-General "Wool, was in feeble 
 health, and mentally unfit for such a responsibility, and had at his com- 
 mand but a mere handful of troops. For a time, then, it seemed that 
 the mob would have its own way, and would inaugurate a reign of terror. 
 They went to work with a system which showed that their rising was no 
 momentary impulse, but a carefully planned plot. The railroad tracks 
 were torn up, the telegraph wires cut, and they moved from one piece 
 of mischief to another, at the direction of their leaders, with deliberation. 
 The New York Tribune and the New Yorh Times were both obnoxious to 
 them, and the attempt was made to destroy both of&ces, and it would 
 have been successful in the case of the former, but for the interposition 
 of a small body of police. But while prominent Union men and their 
 dwellings and offices were marked for destruction, the hapless negroes 
 were the objects of their special malignity. If a negro man or woman 
 was seen upon the street, they were instantly hunted down, beaten, 
 stamped upon, hung to the lamp-post, or thrown into the river ; their 
 dwellings plundered, torn down, or burned, and helpless women and 
 children beaten and murdered. The colored orphan asylum, a large and 
 fine structure on Fifth Avenue, occupied by seven or eight hundred 
 colored children, wa.s, in accordance with their previously avowed deter- 
 mination, plundered and burned to the ground, and but brief time 
 allowed to the teachers and children for escape. On Tuesday the reign 
 of terror continued ; a hotel, a block of buildings on Broadway, and 
 numerous private residences, were burned, and thirty or forty persons 
 murdered. The poor negroes were still pursued with the most relentless 
 hostility, and men and women, mainly Irish and of the lowest classes, vented 
 all the malignity of their natures upon that helpless, quiet, and unoffending 
 race, who, as a class, had been for years the most peaceful and orderly in- 
 habitants of the city. In the afternoon of Tuesday, the Governor of the 
 State came into the city, and made a speech to the rioters, appealing to 
 them as " his friends," to be quiet, and do no more mischief. This prov 
 39 
 
610 THE Civil WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ing in vain, he soon after issued a proclamation, declaring that the riot 
 must be stopped, and promising if they would disperse, to have r-e con- 
 stitutionality of the conscription act tested in the courts. This produced 
 as little effect as his speech, the mob having got beyond his control. He 
 finally issued a second proclamation, declaring the city in a state of insur- 
 rection, and warning the citizens against resisting the officers of the law. 
 General Harvey Brown, who had command of the forts in the harbor under 
 General Wool, marched a small force of regular troops into the city during 
 the day, and they had two or three collisions with the mob, and dispersed 
 them from several points. The ostensible leader of the mob, a Virginian, 
 and an openly avowed Rebel, meantime led them on from one crime to 
 another. On Wednesday morning, several of the militia regiments, and 
 among them the favorite Seventh, returned, and immediately undertook the 
 work of eft'ectually putting down the mob. The ringleaders were arrested, 
 and in the several collisions which occurred several hundred of the 
 rioters were killed or severely wounded, and the remainder began to 
 seek concealment or flight. During the day, however, they murdered, 
 under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, Colonel O'Brien, an Irish officer 
 who had volunteered to aid in putting down the riot. On Thursday, 
 Archbishop Hughes caused a placard to be posted throughout the city, 
 addressed " to the men of New York, who are now called in many of 
 the papers, rioters," inviting them to his house, where he would address 
 them. Very few of the rioters came, but a considerable crowd assembled, 
 whom the Archbishop, in a shrewd speech, advised against resistance to 
 the authorities. But the mob was now effectually subdued. Over one 
 thousand had been killed or severely wounded by the military and 
 police, and many others arrested, and the remainder made their escape 
 to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the eastern cities and towns, where they 
 either volunteered, or offered themselves as substitutes for those who 
 were drafted, and became the opprobrium and disgrace of the army for 
 the next year. About twenty-five of tho police were killed, and perhaps 
 one hundred wounded, and about thirty negroes were murdered, and 
 sixty or seventy injured. Property to the amount of nearly two millions 
 of doUa'^' was destroyed. 
 
CAPTURE OF THE REBEL lEON-CLAD ATLANTA. fill 
 
 CHAPTEE LI. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OP THE SODTH — CAPTURE OF THE ATLANTA — GENERAL GILLMORE SUCCEEDS 
 HUNTER, AND DAHLGREN, DU PONT OILLMORe'S STRATEGIC PLAN REASONS FOR BELIEV- 
 ING IT AN ERROR — FOLLY ISLAND GILLMORE's BATTERIES THERE — CAPTURE OF THE 
 
 SOUTHERN PORTION OF MORRIS ISLAND FEINTS IN OTHER DIRECTIONS — THE FIRST AS- 
 SAULT ON WAGNER — REPULSE — ERECTION OP BATTERIES — BOMBARDMENT AND SECOND 
 
 ASSAULT — A COSTLY FAILURE — THE SIEGE PRESSED OTHER BATTERIES ERECTED — THE 
 
 " SWAMP angel" located — BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER — ITS SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION 
 
 GILLMORE DEMANDS THE SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER AND THE FORTS ON MORRIS ISLAND, 
 
 AND THREATENS TO BOMBARD CHARLESTON IN CASE OF REFUSAL — BEAUREGARD REPLIES 
 HAUGHTILY AND INSOLENTLY — GILLMORe's REJOINDER — THE APPROACHES TO FORT WAGNER 
 COMPLETED — THE GARRISONS OF FORT WAONER AND BATTERY GREGO EVACUATE THOSE 
 WORKS — OILLMORe's DESPATCH ANNOUNCING THE CAPTURE — OTHER EVENTS IN THE DE- 
 PARTMENT — SKETCH OF GENERAL GILLMORE — SKETCH OF ADMIRAL DAHLGREN. 
 
 The Department of the South again demands our attention. Though 
 the army stationed there was not large, yet it made for itself, in the sum- 
 mer of 1863, a lasting record for patience, endurance under the most try- 
 ing circumstances, and that unflinching courage which is not appalled by 
 the imminent perils of the deadly breach, or the terrors of the assault. 
 No army of the Republic has a nobler or more gallant history, and none, 
 through greater perils, has won more brilliant victories, or sustained with 
 equal honor and firmnecs, inevitable repulses. The sudden death of Eear- 
 Admiral Foote, while preparing to take command of the South Atlantic 
 blockading squadron, led to the appointment of Eear- Admiral John A. 
 Dahlgren to the command of the squadron; while General Hunter was 
 superseded by Brigadier-General Q. A. Gillmore, who had distinguished 
 himself by the reduction of Fort Pulaski, the preceding winter. 
 
 Before these changes took place, or rather while they were pending, a 
 naval conflict took place within the limits of the department, which re- 
 sulted in the surrender to the Union commander of a Eebel armored 
 vessel of great power, and from whose strength and fleetness they had ex- 
 pected extraordinary results. The Fingal, an iron merchant steamer, 
 built in Glasgow, had run the blockade in December 1861, and entered 
 the port of Savannah. The vigilant watchfulness of the blockading squad- 
 ron had prevented her escape, and she had been finally sold to the Rebel 
 Government at a low figure, and fitted up as an armored ship, the contri- 
 butions of the Eebel women of Savannah, it was said, furnishing the 
 means for the conversion. The work of covering her with armor, and 
 effecting such changes as were necessary in her build, armament, and ap- 
 pliances, progressed slowly in a city like Savannah, but poorly supplied 
 either with skilled machinists or the necessary material for the work, but 
 
^1% THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in the spring of 1863 every thing was completed, and the Rebels vaunted 
 loudly of what they would accomplish with this wonderful iron-clad ship. 
 The blockading squadron were to be driven from the waters of the Geoi 
 gia coast, the iron-clads captured and sent back to Savannah to amuse the 
 women and children, and then, the Atlanta (for that was the new name be- 
 stowed upon the armored ship) would visit the great cities of the North, 
 and either bombard them, or exact a prince's ransom for its forbearance. 
 It encountered difficulties, however, from the very day of its launch. Its 
 draught was too great for the shallow river, and after long digging and 
 improving the navigation, it was found necessary to unload its cannon and 
 stores, and send it down to Warsaw Sound light, putting in its cargo 
 again when it had reached deeper water. At length all was ready ; stores, 
 instruments, &c., for a voyage of several months had been put on board, 
 and accompanied by steamers crowded with male and female spectators, 
 who were to witness her prowess, the Atlanta came down the sound. 
 Admiral Du Pont had sent the Weehawken and the Nahant, two monitors 
 to Warsaw Sound to await her coming, and Captain John Rodgers, of the 
 Weehawken, having descried her approach near the mouth of Wilming- 
 ton river, ordered his ship to be cleared for action, and commenced steam- 
 ing toward her, the Nahant following, as soon as she discovered her 
 approach. The Atlanta commenced firing at the Nahant, then a mile 
 and a half distant, but did not reach her; while the Weehawken reserved 
 her fire till she was within three hundred yards of the enemy, when, at 
 5.15 A. M., she discharged her first shot. She fired but five times (the 
 Atlanta having grounded at the very commencement of the action), but 
 four out of the five told ; the first, a fifteen inch shot, breaking through 
 the Atlanta's armor, prostrating about forty men by the concussion, and 
 wounding a number by the splinters; the second breaking her plates; 
 the third knocking off the top of the pilot-house, wounding two pilots, 
 and .stunning the men at the wheel, and the fourth striking and breaking 
 a port-shutter, and scattering the fragments among the men. In fifteen 
 minutes after the commencement of the action, the Atlanta hauled down 
 her colors and hoisted the white flag, and the steamboats which had ac- 
 companied her, made all speed back to Savannah, bearing very different 
 intelligence from that which they had expected to carry to the citizens 
 of that city. The vessel proved a valuable prize, and after some repairs, 
 and such changes as were necessary to improve her ventilation, she 'was 
 put upon the North Atlantic blockading squadron, where she did good 
 service, though less efficient for the work required of an iron-clad than 
 the monitors, her armament being six and four tenths and seven inch 
 guns, instead of eleven and fifteen inch. 
 
 The assumption of the command of the department by General Gill- 
 more, and of the South Atlantic blockading squadron by Rear- Admiral 
 Dahlgren, was the signal for new efforts for the reduction of Fort Sumter 
 
GILLMORE'S PLAN FOE THE CAPTUKE OP CHARLESTON. 613 
 
 and Charleston. Attempts had previously been made by land from James 
 island, and from the railroad below Charleston, but these had proved un- 
 successful ; as had the attempts to force a passage up the harbor with the 
 iron-clads. 
 
 General Gillmore, examining the situation with the eye of a skilful 
 military engineer, believed that the most feasible point of approach was 
 by way of Morris island, and that by erecting batteries on that island he 
 could not only destroy Fort Sumter, but with his long ranged rifled can- 
 non reach Charleston itself. 
 
 With the knowledge we now have of the actual position and strength 
 of the Eebel forces at that time guarding Charleston, there is strong 
 ground for the presumption that this decision of the Union general was 
 wrong, and that his true method of approach would have been by way of 
 James island. The garrison of Charleston, and its forts at this time, con- 
 sisted of only about five thousand men. It was under the command of 
 General G. T. Beauregard, a Eebel officer of decided ability, fully Gill- 
 more's equal as an engineer, but regarded with hostility and suspicion by 
 Jefi:'erson Davis, with whom he had often difi'ered in opinion. He had 
 repeatedly asked for reinforcements, but had been as often refused, Mr. 
 Davis believing that Charleston was in no danger from the assaults of the 
 northern troops, and declining to send more troops there, to be detained 
 from other, and as he deemed, more important points. Compelled thus to 
 make the most of the mere handful of troops at his command, General 
 Beauregard had assigned twelve hundred of them to the defence of the 
 islands, and of these, less than six hundred were on James island. The 
 number might have been increased on the emergency of an attack to fif- 
 teen hundred or two thousand, but General Gillmore had at this time 
 from eight thousand to ten thousand soldiers at his command, and the 
 Eebel works on James island were the weakest of those around Charles- 
 ton ; while by a little effort, the channel of Stono river could have been 
 cleared sufficiently for the lighter draught iron-clads and gunboats to have 
 ascended and aided in the attack. The Eebel works on James island 
 once captured, Charleston was at the mercy of the Union commander, and 
 could not have been held for a day ; and the forts in the harbor, the city 
 once captured, could not have held out ten days, and thus Sumter might 
 have been saved, and the two assaults on Wagner prevented. It is not, 
 however, the office of the historian to decide what might have been, but 
 rather, to narrate what actually did occur. Had General Gillmore known 
 the exact condition of affairs in Charleston, it would, no doubt, have 
 modified his plans ; but without that knowledge, his plan had the merit 
 of ingenuity and engineering ability, and, except the route by James 
 island, was the only one offering much chance of success. The map 
 gives a good idea of the position of this and the adjacent islands, and 
 their relations to Charleston and its harbor defences. The Union troops 
 
614 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 had, in April, taken possession of Folly island, a long, narrow sand-spit, 
 forming the outer barrier to the southeast of the group of low marshy 
 islands lying south and southwest of the harbor. This island was di- 
 vided from James island by a wide marsh and a crooked bayou, called 
 Folly river, and from Morris island, by Lighthouse inlet. On this island 
 a lookout, one hundred and forty-five feet in height, had been erected, 
 from which, with a good glass, a view of all the defences of Charleston 
 could be had, and their strength estimated. We have already (pp. 483-4) 
 described these defences as they existed in April. There had been added 
 to these, since that time, some temporary works of no great strength, on 
 the south end of Morris island, while Fort Wagner and the Cummings 
 Point battery (better known as Fort Gregg) had been greatly strength- 
 ened. The new general, after a careful and thorough examination of the 
 position and comparative strength of the fortifications of the Eebel harbor 
 and stronghold, decided upon these four points, viz.: 1st. To effect a lodg- 
 ment on the southern portion of Morris island. 2d. To carry Wagner by 
 assault, if possible ; if not to besiege and reduce it, and thus obtain pos- 
 session of all the Rebel works on Morris island. 3d. From the positions 
 thus gained, to reduce Fort Sumter. 4th. This accomplished, the war 
 vessels in the harbor were to remove tlie obstructions, and running by 
 the fort and batteries on Sullivan's island, approach and bombard the 
 city. In the end, this programme was somewhat modified by circum- 
 stances, but its general features were carried out, so far aa they depended 
 upon the army and its general. 
 
 To effect a lodgment on Morris island without heavy loss, secrecy was 
 essential, and it was most carefully maintained. Horses, wagons, shovels, 
 gabions, and fascines, were sent up from Hilton Head ; and having fixed 
 upon the locality for the erection of two lines of .siege batteries, whose 
 existence should be concealed from the enemy by woods until they were 
 ready to open upon the Rebel batteries on tTie south end of Morris island. 
 General Gillmore directed a road, entirely covered from view in its whole 
 extent by the dense forest, to be cut, and brushwood laid upon it for a 
 depth of two feet, and this covered with earth, to prevent the noise of 
 cart-wheels and cannon-trucks as they passed over it. The wheels of the 
 wagons were greased, and provided with leather washers, to prevent their 
 creaking ; the horses of the loaded teams were led, and the teams unloaded 
 witli the greatest care. Five hundred men worked diligently at the 
 batteries by night, and one hundred more plied the spade by day. The 
 Rebels were aware that something was being done on Folly island, but 
 what, they could not make out, and on the 9th of July, General Ripley, 
 who commanded the works on Morris island, after carefully examining 
 the island from his lookout, announced to his aids that the Yankees had 
 no batteries on Folly island, and that the next day he should send a force 
 of three hundred men to cross the inlet and drive their pickets from the 
 
THE ATTACK UPOK MORRIS ISLAND. 615 
 
 island. Oa the ninth of July, just seventeen days from the time of com- 
 mencement, the two lines of siege batteries, one twelve hundred yards, 
 and the other twenty-two hundred yards from the Rebel batteries, were 
 completed. They mounted forty-seven guns and mortars, and formed an 
 angle of thirty degrees with the Eebel line of fire. 
 
 On the morning of the 10th of July, General Gillmore was ready to 
 open fire from these batteries; but he had previously arranged with 
 Admiral Dahlgren the details for a combined attack on the Rebel worka 
 on the south end of Morris island, which he supposed to be much 
 stronger than they really were. His batteries were to open upon the Rebel 
 works, and fire as rapidly as possible, the iron-clad fleet meantime to take 
 position in the main ship channel off Morris island, and enfilade the 
 Rebel batteries, and General Strong's brigade to go up Folly river in 
 launches, and secreting themselves behind the woods which skirt Light- 
 house inlet on the left, await the opportunity to land on Morris island, 
 and carry the works by assault. In order to make assurance doubly 
 sure. General Terry, with his division, was ordered to proceed in trans- 
 ports up Stono river, which separates James from John island, and land- 
 ing on James island, threaten a vigorous attack upon Charleston. 
 
 Every part of the programme was successfully carried out, and had the 
 gallant Terry known how panic-stricken the inhabitants of Charleston 
 were at his approach, he might have gone beyond his orders and captured 
 the city at once, in place of merely demonstrating against it. The 
 astonishment of the Rebels on Morris island, as, under the vigorous blows 
 of two hundred axemen, the trees in front of the Folly island batteries 
 fell and exposed to view the two lines of formidable batteries within easy 
 range of their works, may be imagined, but not described ; and when these 
 batteries opened upon them, they soon began to fly in terror toward Wagner 
 and Gregg, on the northern end of the island, even before Strong, landing 
 his troops, came charging down upon their batteries. Before noon, three 
 fourths of the island, including all that portion which was more than 
 eight hundred yards from Fort Wagner, was in possession of the Union 
 troops. By the erection of some temporary defensive works, General 
 Gillmore secured the ground already gained, and, after consultation 
 with Admiral Dahlgren, ordered a combined assault on Fort Wagner at 
 daybreak the next morning. The assault was led by General George C. 
 Strong, a young officer of great merit and bravery, who was mortally 
 ■wounded in the second assault with his brigade, while the Nahant (iron-clad 
 monitor) was endeavoring to silence the fire of the fort. The storming 
 party, with great energy and resolution, dashed through the terrible fire 
 of the fort at a double-quickstep, and one regiment reached the fort, and 
 mounting the parapet, battled with the garrison desperately ; but the 
 supports could not come up, and they were compelled to fall back and 
 abandon the assault. The number of killed, wounded, and missing, in 
 
eie THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 this action and that of the preceding day, did not exceed one hundred and 
 fifty. 
 
 General Gillmore having satisfied himself that Wagner was a stronger 
 work than had been supposed, now determined to bombard it until its 
 guns were silenced, and then assault again, with an overwhelming force. 
 He accordingly commenced the erection of siege batteries, at distances of 
 from eight to twelve hundred yards from Fort Wagner. The work was 
 mostly done at night; but Fort Johnson, on James island. Fort Gregg, at 
 Cummings Point, and Fort Sumter, opened upon the lines where the 
 battery was erecting with a slow fire, which was very annoying, and Fort 
 Wagner would have joined in, had not General Gillmore stationed his 
 sharpshooters where they could pick oS" every gunner who dared to show 
 himself at the guns, which were pointed inland. After seven days, or 
 rather nights, of severe toil, the batteries were completed and the maga- 
 zines filled, ready for the bombardment. The fleet, including the New 
 Ironsides, the great iron-clad which had previously been unable to pass 
 the bar, was now inside, and ready to join with the monitors in the action. 
 Orders were issued to commence the bombardment on the morning of the 
 18th of July, and after a concentrated fire of twelve hours by the gun- 
 boats and ironclads on the sea front, and the powerful batteries on the 
 laud side, to assault the fort at eventide. 
 
 Mr. Robert S. Davis, an eye-witness of the whole conflict, thus graphi- 
 cally describes the scenes which followed : 
 
 "At half-past seven o'clock, Sumter opens with her morning salute, and 
 throws a shell, which explodes near our batteries; and Wagner, seeing 
 our gunboats take their position in the channel, sends forth a welcome, to 
 which the gunboats immediately reply, delivering their fire in succession 
 as they move around in a circle. This is the beginning of the bombard- 
 ment; and the gunboats, having from their previous practice acquired the 
 accurate range, threw their shells at Wagner with effect, bursting many 
 over the fort, on the parapet and sides, and in the moat. Soon our land- 
 batteries open on Wagner, and disclose their whereabouts and calibre. 
 Sumter, Wagner and Gregg now reply vigorously, and the cannonading 
 becomes fearful. The report of Sumter's guns is very heavy, confirming 
 the rumor that the Rebels are using in that fort fine English powder, and 
 double charges at th.at. At noon, the gunboats withdraw, and the iron- 
 clads move up the channel, and take position about a mile and a half 
 from Wagner. With battle-flags flying, they redouble in thundering 
 tones the sound of the cannonade. The New Ironsides is enveloped in 
 the smoke of her terrific broadsides; the monitors belch forth fire and 
 smoke from their turrets like small volcanoes, and the land batteries 
 keep up an incessant fire. 
 
 ' Our fleet and batteries fire with wotiderful precision and effect ; and 
 8uch a continuous and heavy fire is poured into Wagner, that it seema 
 
THE ASSAULT UPON FORT WAGNER. 617 
 
 impossible for any garrison to withstand it. Shells and solid shot fall 
 thick and fast, in front-fire from the batteries and cross-fire from the fleet, 
 the whole day long. Large holes are made in the parapet, and there is 
 hardly a spot, either within or around that fort, that has not been hit. The 
 bursting shells send cart loads of sand high into the air, the parapet is 
 ragged and torn by the iron hail, and the smoke of the bombardment 
 rests on it like a pall. Yet Wagner withstands it all, and her gunners 
 fire with singular regularity at the fleet. Their flag is three times shot 
 away, and as often some daring Rebel leaps upon the parapet and again 
 unfurls it to the breeze. 
 
 "All day long is "Wagner thus bombarded, and in the evening our 
 troops are formed upon the beach for the grand assault. They are 
 arranged in two columns, the supports and reserves commanded respect- 
 ively by Colonel Putnam and General Stevenson. The storming column, 
 under General Strong, has already formed behind our battery line, and 
 awaits the coming of its companions — the supports and reserves. With 
 colors flying and brave hearts beating, the regiments await in column by 
 company the order ' forward.' Now the cannonade redoubles its fury ; 
 our iron-clads and batteries roar with lurid flames, and the enemy, as if 
 penetrating our designs, more stubbornly replies. As the twilight 
 deepens, the flash of the guns becomes more vivid, and the shells of tlie 
 Rebel forts describe, with their fuses, fiery circles, traversing the heavens 
 in all directions; our batteries are one line of fire, the monitors floating 
 volcanoes, and the Ironsides gleams with continual broadsides; Wagner 
 is enveloped in a sheet of fire and smoke ; yet steadily she fires her guns 
 which point seaward, and when we think her silenced, the fiery volume 
 rushes from her embrasure, and a solid shot ricocheting by the fleet, tells 
 us of men whom our fire can neither terrify nor silence. Sumter, 
 Johnson, and Gregg gleam from their distant parapets ; their shells burst 
 over our batteries, but from them God protects the brave men who faith- 
 fully work our guns. 
 
 " It is now seven o'clock. The troops move slowly up the beach, and 
 are soon lost to view in the gathering darkness. They are now beyond 
 the battery line, and have joined the assaulting column under Strong. 
 Seymour is with them, having a general command over all, while Gillmore 
 and his staff choose a position for observation, which, while it gives a 
 good view of operations, is by no means the safest locality on the island. 
 The Rebels have seen the preparations for the assault, and know that our 
 troops are approaching the fort. Their forts are silent, our batteries and 
 fleet have ceased firing, and a strange stillness succeeds the fearful roar 
 of the day's action. What a moment of suspense is this, as we await the 
 gleam of musketry, the whistling grape and canister which will soon 
 greet our daring columns ! 
 
 "Hark I the storming column is already charging along a narrow sti'ip 
 
618 THE CIVIL WAU IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of land which leads up to the ditch of the fort. Sumter, Gregg, and 
 Johnson, break their ominous silence, and pour a hurricane of shells 
 among the dense columns. Now, "Wagner, reinforced, flashes with mus- 
 ketry, and from her embrasures and parapet, hiss the death-dealing grape 
 and canister. But our men are undaunted. In the dark, and before a 
 fort of which they know nothing, they press on, and shout a fierce de- 
 fiance. In the midst of this whirlwind of death, they cross the ditch 
 rush up the parapet, and strive like heroes to gain the interior of the fort. 
 AVho fight more valiantly than the fifty-fourth Massachusetts — colored — 
 as they struggle in the midst of this darkness and death to vindicate tbeir 
 race? They lead the advance, and follow, without faltering, the bravo 
 Shaw, as he ascends the wall of the fort. The parapet is reached, and 
 their lines melt away before the terrible fire of the enemy ; but they fight 
 on, though the voice of their colonel is heard no more, and their officers 
 have fallen in the death-struggle. Their color sergeant is severely 
 wounded in the thigh, but falling upon his knees, he plants the flag upon 
 the parapet, and lying down, holds the staff firmly in his hands. Noble 
 Carney 1 A half an hour the conflict has been raging, yet the storming 
 column has been unable to capture the fort. The supporting column 
 comes up, and the battle rages more fiercely. What a work of death is 
 here ! The eastern angle of the fort is gained, and held by three hundred 
 brave souls against the onsets of a superior enemy for over two hours. 
 Who shall tell the history of these hours, with their deeds of valor, more 
 heroic than the thought of man can compass ? It will never be written ; 
 for the brave and good perished unseen, and the gathering darkness of 
 death and night covered the wounds of heroes. Only three hundred men 
 gain the interior of the fort! Where is the remainder of the Union 
 troops whom but a few moments ago we saw marching up the beach so 
 proudly ? Many of them are lying dead and dying on the parapet and in 
 tlie ditch. See in the light of the hostile cannon, the mass of the wounded 
 and slain strewed a hundred yards around ; and in yon darkness, sneak 
 to the rear the cowards who have deserted their flag and comrades. 
 
 "But the fight goes on; and against fate, men struggle for victory. 
 Alas that such valor should come to naught! Officers and men alike are 
 swept down in the merciless fire of the enemy's cannon; or, pierced by 
 the unseen bullet, they call in wild agony upon God, and are no mora. 
 Strong and Seymour are wounded ; the gallant Shaw is dead ; Putnam 
 has foUen, sword in hand, among the slain ; and other officers, without 
 number, fall in and around the fort, while striving to animate their com- 
 rades to follow them. But the Rebels have made too fierce a resistance. 
 As our columns were moving up to assault, Wagner was reinforced from 
 Cummings Point; the garrison, which we thought had been killed by the 
 day's bombardment, came forth uninjured from their massive bomb-proof, 
 and poured a destructive fire of musketry and cannon upon our men, so 
 
FAILURE OF THE ATTACK UPON FORT WAGNER. ei9 
 
 Bure of victory. Again, our troops 
 had to charge a distance of fifteen 
 hundred yards, before they reached 
 the fort, and that too, under the 
 concentrated fire of the enemy's 
 fortifications. Death and terror 
 have decimated our ranks, and fate 
 has decreed that the valiant men 
 who have fallen, are sacrificed in 
 vain. The reserves are not ordered 
 up ; it would be folly to longer con- 
 tinue the struggle. The assault is 
 repulsed. The small band of heroes 
 who have fought so long and so 
 earnestly to drive the Rebels from 
 the fort, retire from Wagner, and 
 pass out of range over the heaps of 
 their dead comrades. Three long 
 hours have they fought, and fought 
 in vain ; Wagner cannot be taken 
 by assault. 
 
 "As our forces retire, Sergeant 
 Carney, who had kept the colors of 
 his regiment flying upon the para- 
 pet of Wagner during the entire 
 conflict, is seen creeping along on 
 one knee, still holding up the flag, 
 and only yielding his sacred trust 
 upon finding an ofBcer of his regi- 
 ment. As he enters the field- 
 hospital, where his wounded com- 
 rades are being brought in, they 
 cheer him and the colors. Though 
 nearly exhausted with the loss of 
 blood, he says, 'Boys, the old flag 
 never touched the ground.' " 
 
 The losses on the Union side in 
 this sanguinary assault, in killed, 
 wounded, and missing, were fifteen 
 hundred and thirty. 
 
 But though foiled in his expectation of carrying this immensely strong 
 earthwork by assault. General Gillmore was not discouraged. He ordered 
 immediately the line of the batteries to be advanced, and new ones con- 
 structed, mounting in all thirty-seven guns of the largest calibre, all or 
 
 o 25a sao 
 
 mrf/is-soNse-MY. 
 
e20 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 nearly all rifled, including one, two, and three hundred pound Parrotta, 
 and two verj large Whitworth guns. These batteries, which were only 
 seven hundred and fifty yards from Fort Wagner, were defended by a 
 chevaux-de-frise, an abatis, and a breastwork or entanglement of stron" 
 wire, crossed in all directions, was stretched across the narrow beach from 
 the sea shore to the edge of the marsh, a distance varying in width from 
 twenty-five to two hundred and twenty-five yards, to prevent the Rebel 
 garrison from charging upon their batteries. To the left of these batteries a 
 firm corduroy road, two and a half miles in length, was constructed through 
 the deep marsh, and by means of timber, piles, and ten thousand bags of 
 sand, a mound erected, on which it planted a battery mounting the two hun- 
 dred pound Parrott, subsequently known as the "Swamp Angel," and a 
 sufficient magazine. Meantime, the siege of Wagner is vigorously prose- 
 cuted, and parallel after parallel opened, till the fifth was but two hundred 
 yards from the parapet of Fort Wagner, and thence along the narrow 
 beach zig-zags were constructed, till the counterscarp of the fort was 
 mined on the sea point. 
 
 Twenty-nine days and nights of the severest trial were consumed in the 
 erection of the formidable batteries to which we have alluded, which had 
 for their object the reduction of Fort Sumter rather than Fort Wagner, 
 and fifteen more in the completion of the approaches to Fort Wagner. 
 
 The distance of the batteries on the first and second parallels from Fort 
 Sumter, was two and two and a half miles ; and though the Rebel officers sus- 
 pected that General Gillmore was constructing them to bombard Fort Sum- 
 ter, and made a desperate resistance to those who were building them, tliey 
 did not believe it possible that its walls could be breached at that distance. 
 Still, in order to be perfectly prepared against any possible danger, they 
 proceeded to strengthen the rear or gorge wall of the fortress, which was 
 about six feet thick, of solid hard-burned brick, by piling a wall of sand- 
 bags, fifteen feet thick and forty-five feet high, upon its exterior face, and 
 a similar one upon its interior face. 
 
 Having his batteries all ready, General Gillmore, on the evening of the 
 16th of August, ordered seven shots fired, by way of experiment, against 
 Fort Sumter. The first three fell short, but the remaining four struck 
 either the wall or the parapet, and did some damage. On the morning 
 of the 17th, the garrison of the fortress defiantly flung to the breeze extra 
 flags (the stars and bars) and formed temporary casemates of cotton-balea 
 to protect the artillerists who were to handle the barbette guns. The 
 New Ironsides and four of the monitors commenced a vigorous bombard- 
 ment of Fort Wagner, and soon drove its garrison into their bomb-proofs 
 for safety ; and the batteries and two monitors commenced their bombard- 
 ment of Fort Sumter, the batteries giving their undivided attention to 
 the rear wall. Fort Sumter replied to the batteries, and Forts Moultiie 
 and Gregg to the iron-clads. The shot and shell from the batteries and 
 
GILLMORB'S DEMAND ON GENERAL BEAUREGARD. 
 
 621 
 
 Fort Sumter necessarily passed over Fort Wagner, and added greatly to 
 the discomfort of its garrison. The bombardment of the fort was main- 
 tained through the day, and produced a marked effect upon Fort Sumter , 
 the sand-bags were cleared from the wall for a considerable space, and the 
 brick wall exposed. During the night a slow fire was kept up, and in the 
 morning the bombardment was renewed with the same severity as on the 
 previous day, and before nightfall the wall was breached. The bombard- 
 ment was steadily maintained for seven days, and at the end of that time 
 the fort was in ruins, the lower casemates entirely blocked up with debris, 
 the barbette guns toppled down, and either sunk in the water or buried 
 in the ruins, only two or three guns left in the casemates on the further 
 side, and its whole outline completely broken up ; presenting the appear- 
 ance indicated in the accompanying sketch, copied from that made by 
 Colonel Turner, chief of General Gillmore's artillery. 
 
 On the 21st of August, General Gillraore addressed the following note 
 to General Beauregard, the Rebel commander in Charleston : 
 
 " Headquarters Department of the South, Morris Island. S. C, 
 
 "August 2lst, 1863. 
 
 "To General G. T. Beauregard, 
 
 "Commanding Confederate Forces, Charleston, S. C. 
 " General : — I have the honor to demand of you the immediate evacua- 
 tion of Morris island and Fort Sumter by the Confederate forces. The 
 present condition of Fort Sumter, and the rapid and progressive destruc- 
 tion which it is undergoing from my batteries, seem to render its complete 
 demolition, within a few hours, a matter of certainty. All my heaviest 
 guns have not yet opened. Should you refuse compliance with this demand, 
 or should I receive no reply thereto within four hours after it is delivered 
 into the hands of your subordinate, at Fort Wagner, for transmission, I 
 shall open fire on the city of Charleston from batteries already established 
 within easy and effective range of the heart of the city. 
 
 " I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 
 
 "Q. A. GiLLMORE, Brigadier- General Commanding. ^^ 
 
(f29 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 By an oversight, this note was at first transmitted without the signa- 
 ture of the commanding general ; and before an answer was received, 
 twelve shells from the " Swamp Angel" battery had been thrown into 
 Charleston, a distance of four and a half miles, greatly to the astonish- 
 ment of the Rebel commander, and the citizens generally, none of whom 
 had believed it possible that a shot from one of his batteries could reach 
 the city. The next day General Beauregard replied as follows : 
 
 " HEADqUABTERS DEPARTMENT OF SoUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA, 
 
 " Charleston, S. C, August 22rf, 18C3. 
 
 "SiB: — Last night, at fifteen minutes before eleven o'clock, during my 
 absence on a reconnoissance of my fortifications, a communication was 
 received at these headquarters, dated ' Headquarters Department of the 
 South, Morris island, S. C, August 21st, 1863,' demanding 'the imme- 
 diate evacuation of Morris island and Fort Sumter by the Confederate 
 forces,' on the alleged grounds ' that the present condition of Fort Sum- 
 ter, and the rapid and progressive destruction which it is undergoing from 
 my batteries, seem to render its demolition, within a few hours, a matter 
 of certainty ;' and that if this demand were ' not complied with, or no 
 reply thereto received within four hours after it is delivered into the hands 
 of your (my) subordinate commander at Fort Wagner, for transmission,' 
 a fire would be opened ' on the city of Charleston from batteries already 
 established within easy and effective range of the heart of the city.' 
 This communication to my address, was without signature, and wa.s, of 
 course, returned. 
 
 "About half-past one o'clock, one of your batteries did actually open 
 fire, and threw a number of heavy shells, into the city, the inhabitants of 
 which were, of course, asleep and unwarned. 
 
 "About nine o'clock this morning, the communication alluded to above 
 was returned to these headquarters, bearing your recognized official 
 signature, and it can now be noticed as your deliberate, official act. 
 
 "Among nations not barbarous, the usages of war prescribe, that when 
 a city is about to be attacked, timely notice shall be given by the attack- 
 ing commander, in order that non-combatants may have an opportunity 
 for withdrawing beyond its limits. Generally the time allowed is from 
 one to three days ; this is time for the withdrawal, in good faith, of at 
 least the women and children. You, sir, give only four hours, knowing 
 that your notice, under existing circumstances, could not reach me in less 
 than two hours, and that not less than the same time would be required 
 for an answer to be conveyed from this city to Battery Wagner. With 
 this knowledge, you threaten to open fire on the city, not to oblige its 
 surrender, but to force me to evacuate these works, which you, assisted 
 by a great naval force, have been attacking in vain for more than forty 
 days. Batteries Wagner and Gregg, and Fort Sumter, are nearly due 
 north fnm your batteries on Morris island, and in distance therefrom 
 
BEAUREGARD'S REPLY TO GENERAL GILLMORE. 623 
 
 Tarying from half a mile to two and a quarter miles. The city, on the 
 other hand, is to the northwest, and quite five miles distant from the bat- 
 tery opened against it this morning. 
 
 "It would appear, sir, that despairing of reducing these works, you now 
 resort to the novel measure of turning your guns against the old men, the 
 women and children, and the hospitals of a sleeping city, an act of inex- 
 cusable barbarity from your own confessed point of sight, inasmuch as 
 you allege that the complete demolition of Fort Sumter, within a few 
 hours, by your guns, seems to you ' a matter of certainty.' 
 
 " Your omission to attach your signature to such a grave paper must 
 show the recklessness of the course upon which you have adventured ; 
 while the facts that you knowingly fixed a limit for receiving an answer 
 to your demand, which made it almost beyond the possibility of receiving 
 any reply within that time, and that you actually did open fire, and threw 
 a number of the most destructive missiles ever used in war, into the midst 
 of a city, to them unawares, and filled with sleeping women and children, 
 will give you a ' bad eminence' in history, even in the history of this war. 
 
 " I am only surprised, sir, at the limits you have set to your demands. 
 If, in order to attain the abandonment of Morris island and Fort Sumter, 
 you feel authorized to fire on this city, why did you not also include the 
 works on Sullivan's and James islands ; nay, even the city of Charleston, 
 in the same demand? 
 
 " Since you have felt warranted in inaugurating this method of reducing 
 batteries in your immediate front, which were found otherwise impregna- 
 ble, and a mode of warfare which I confidently declare to be atrocious, 
 and unworthy of any soldier, I now solemnly warn you, that if you fire 
 again on the city from your Morris island batteries, without giving a 
 somewhat more reasonable time to remove non-combatants, I shall feel 
 impelled to employ such stringent means of retaliation as may be available 
 during the continuance of this attack. 
 
 " Finally, I reply, that neither the works on Morris island nor Fort 
 Sumter will be evacuated on the demand you have been pleased to make. 
 Already, however, I am taking measures to remove all non-combatants, 
 who are now fully aware of, and alive to, what they may expect at your 
 hands. 
 
 "Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " G. T. Beauregard, General Commanding." 
 To this General Gillmore made the following rejoinder: 
 
 "Department of the South, Headquarters in the Field, 
 " Morris Island, S. C, 9 p. m., August 22d, 1863. 
 •'G. T. Beauregard, Commanding Confederate States forces, Charleston, S. d 
 "Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- 
 tion of this date, complaining that one of my batteries had opened upon 
 
824 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the city of Charleston, and thrown a number of heavy rifled shells into 
 the city, the inhabitants of which, of course, were asleep and unarmed. 
 
 " My letter to you demanding the surrender of Fort Sumter and Morris 
 island, and threatening, in default thereof, to open fire upon Charleston, 
 was delivered near Fort Wagner at 11.15 o'clock A. M., of the 21st inst., 
 and should have arrived at your headquarters in time to have permitted 
 your answer to reach me within the limit assigned, namely, four hours, 
 
 "The fact that you were absent from your headquarters at the time of 
 its arrival, may be regarded as an unfortunate circumstance for the city 
 of Charleston, but it is one for which I clearly am not responsible. This 
 letter bore date at my headquarters, and was officially delivered by an 
 officer of my staff. The inadvertent omission of my signature, doubtless 
 aSbrds grounds for special pleading ; but it is not the argument of a com- 
 mander solicitous only for the safety of sleeping women and children and 
 unarmed men. Your threats of retaliation for acts of mine, which you do 
 not allege to be in violation of the usages of civilized warfare, except as 
 regards the length of time allowed as notice of my intention, are passed 
 by without comment. I will, however, call your attention to the well- 
 established principle, that the commander of a place attacked, but not in- 
 vested, having its avenues of escape open and practicable, has no right to 
 a notice of an intention of bombardment, other than that which is given 
 by the threatening attitude of his adversary. Even had not this letter 
 been written, the city of Charleston has had, according to your own com- 
 putation, forty days' notice of her danger. During that time my attack 
 upon her defences has steadily progressed. 
 
 "The ultimate object of that attack has at no time been doubtful. If, 
 under the circumstances, the life of a single non-combatant is exposed to 
 peril by the bombardment of the city, the responsibility rests with those 
 who have first failed to remove the non-combatants, or to secure the 
 safety of the city, after having held control of all its approaches for a 
 period of nearly two years and a half, in the presence of a threatening 
 force, and who afterward refused to accept the terms upon which the 
 bombardment might have been postponed. From various sources, official 
 and otherwise, I am led to believe that most of the women and children of 
 Charleston were long since removed from that city. But upon your assur- 
 ance that the city is still full of them, I shall suspend the bombardment 
 until eleven o'clock p. m. to-morrow, thus giving you two days from the 
 time you acknowledge to have received my communication of the 21st inst. 
 " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Q. A. GiLLMORE, Brigadier- Oeneral Commanding" 
 
 The delay thus granted was conceded, not to General Beauregard's 
 haughty and insolent demand, but to the courteous request of the Spanish 
 and British consuls, and at the end of that time the bombardment was 
 resumed in a leisurely manner, but with decided effect, on the lower 
 
 \ 
 
GILLMORE'S DESPATCH TO GENERAL HALLECK. 625 
 
 portion of the city. Meantime, thougli Beauregard had refused to sur- 
 render the forts on Morris island, General Gillmore was determined to 
 compel their surrender. The approaches were pushed forward with all 
 diligence ; and though for the last eleven days the losses to the sappers and 
 miners were very heavy, and they became at times dejected and dis- 
 couraged, the commanding general did not for an instant give way to 
 discouragement, but renewed his efforts to hasten the completion of the 
 great work, and at the same time to protect his men. He moved all his 
 light mortars to the front, and kept them playing upon the fort, enlarged 
 the positions of his sharpshooters, obtained the co-operation of the New 
 Ironsides, by day, used powerful calcium lights to blind the enemy by 
 night, opened fire with as many of the heavy guns in his rear as he could 
 without danger to his men in the trenches, and thus kept the garrison for 
 the most part in their bomb-proofs, which he sought to breach through a 
 breach in the walls of the fort. Very early in the morning of the 5th of 
 September, he commenced a severe bombardment of the fort, which he 
 maintained steadily for forty -two hours, in order to enable his rien to com- 
 plete their work. 
 
 On the night of the 6th of September the work was completed, and 
 every thing was ready for an assault at nine o'clock the next morning, 
 which would have inevitably carried the fort, and captured the garrison, 
 when Colonel Keitt, who commanded the fort, seeing the hopelessness of 
 his position, evacuated both Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg on the 
 night of the 6th, and seventy -five of the garrison were captured in endeav- 
 oring to escape. General Gillmore announced this gratifying success to 
 the general-in-chief in the following despatch: 
 
 "Department of the South, Headquarters in the Field, 
 
 "September "ith, 1863 
 " Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in- Chief. 
 
 " General : — I have the honor to report that Fort Wagner and Battery 
 Gregg are ours. Last night our sappers mined the counterscarp of Fort 
 Wagner, on the sea-point, unmasking all its guns, and an order was issued 
 to carry the place by assault, at nine o'clock this morning, that being the 
 hour of low tide. 
 
 " About ten o'clock last night, the enemy commenced evacuating thp 
 island, and all but seventy-five of them made their escape from Cumming3 
 Point, in small boats. 
 
 " Captured despatches show that Fort Wagner was commanded by Colo- 
 nel Keitt, of South Carolina, and garrisoned by one thousand four hundred 
 effective men, and Battery Gregg by between one hundred and two hun- 
 dred men. Fort Wagner is a work of the most formidable kind. Its 
 bomb-proof shelter, capable of containing one thousand eight hundred 
 men, remains intact, after the most terrific bombardment to which any 
 work was ever subjected. We have captured nineteen pieces of artillery, 
 40 
 
626 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and a large supply of excellent ammunition. The city and harbor of 
 Charleston are now completely covered by my guns. I have the honor to 
 be, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " Q. A. GiLLMOKK, Brigadier- General Commanding." 
 
 General Quincy Adams Gillmore, the energetic officer who had thus 
 reduced three of the most formidable forts in the possession of the Rebels 
 on the coast, was born at Black River, Lorain county, Ohio, in 1825. He 
 graduated at West Point, first in his class, in 1849, and was assigned to 
 the corps of engineers, becoming first lieutenant in 1856, and captain in 
 1861. From 18i9 to 1852 he was employed on the fortifications of 
 Hampton Roads, Virginia, and was then, for four years, assistant instructor 
 of practical engineering at West Point, during the last year of which period 
 he was also quartermaster and treasurer of the Military Academy. From 
 1856 to 1861 he was employed in New York city in purchasing and for- 
 warding supplies for fortifications. In October, 1861, he was appointed 
 chief engineer of the expedition against the southern coast under General 
 Thomas W. Sherman. He superintended the construction of the fortifica- 
 tions at Hilton Head, and planned and carried out the operations for the 
 capture of Fort Pulaski, an account of which he published in 1863. He 
 was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, April 28th, 1862, and 
 after serving for a little time in South Carolina, was assigned in Septem- 
 ber, 1862, to the command of the district of Western Virginia, in the 
 army of the Ohio, and subsequently, to a division in the army of Ken- 
 tucky. On the 30th of March, 1863, he defeated Pegram, near Somerset, 
 Kentucky. On the 12th of June, 1863, he was appointed to the com- 
 mand of the Department of the South, and accomplished the results 
 which we have described above. His siege of Charleston he has described 
 in a very elaborate work, published in January, 1865. In May,- 1864, 
 he was ordered with the tenth corps to the army of the James, and made 
 one or two attacks upon Petersburg, which proved unsuccessful, and was 
 engaged in other operations in that vicinity. Sent again to the Depart- 
 ment of the South, in February, 1865, he was in command there at the 
 evacuation of Charleston, and occupied it at once with his troops. He is 
 now, September, 1865, commander of the Department of South Carolina. 
 The forts on Morris island being now in the possession of the Union 
 forces, and Fort Sumter so thoroughly reduced that it could ofier no 
 effectual resistance to the passage of a naval force, the fourth item in 
 General Gillmore's plan was apparently ready for execution, viz., the 
 passage of Admiral Dahlgren's squadron up the harbor to bombard the 
 city. It was found, however, that the batteries, redoubts, and forts, were 
 80 formidable, and the obstructions by piles, wire entahglements, and torpe- 
 does, so dangerous, that the admiral was unwilling, and perhaps wisely 
 so, to risk his valuable ships where the peril was so greatly dispropor- 
 
SKETCH OF ADMIRAL DAHLGREN. GSf 
 
 tioned to the result to be attained. General Gillraore was therefore obliged 
 to content himself with a bombardment of the city, and rendered the lower 
 portion of it nearly untenable. On the 7th of September, an expedition 
 was fitted out from the fleet, consisting of about four hundred men, sailors 
 and marines, to make a night assault on Fort Sumter, and if possible 
 capture its garrison. It proved a failure, three of the boats being sunk, 
 a considerable number of the men killed or wounded, and one hundred 
 and tliirty taken prisoners. On the 5th of October, the Ecbels made an 
 attempt to explode a torpedo utider the New Ironsides, but failed, and the 
 commander and inventor of the torpedo boat was picked up by the crew 
 of the Ironsides. The Weehawken (monitor) which had captured the 
 Atlanta, was sunk in Charleston harbor on the 6th of December, in a 
 storm of some severity, by the leaving open of her hatches, and perhaps 
 the improper stowing of her ammunition. 
 
 Rear- Admiral John A. Dahlgren, who was in command of the South 
 Atlantic blockading squadron from July 6th, 1863, to March, 1865, is a' 
 native of Pennsylvania, born about the year 1810, and entered the United 
 States naval service as midshipman on the 1st of February, 1826; was 
 promoted to be a lieutenant in March, 1837, a commander in Septem 
 tember, 1855, a captain in 1861, and a rear-admiral, February 7th, 1863| 
 He was detached in 1846, for special service in the ordnance department, 
 having given for years special attention to this subject, and for a number 
 of years subsequent to 18i7, he was engaged in important experiments in 
 relation to the form, size, and materials of guns and projectiles. He is the 
 inventor of a shell gun of high reputation, which bears his name, of a 
 very efficient armament for boats, (bronze howitzers,) and light field car- 
 riages of iron for these howitzers. He has published several works on 
 ordnance, between 1850 and 1856. Although but eight and and a half 
 years of his thirty-eight years of service in the navy had been spent afloat, 
 yet on his desire for active service, the Government made him commander 
 of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, believing that his skill in 
 ordnance matters, and his strong faith in the monitor iron-clads, would 
 lead him to undertake the work they desired, of capturing Charleston by 
 means of armed ships. This hope was destined todisappoinment, though, 
 perhaps, from no fault or timidity on the part of Admiral Dahlgren. The 
 Rebel officers stationed at Charleston acknowledge that they desired the 
 navy to make the attempt, as they were confident that with the appliances 
 they had at command, they could have destroyed the entire fleet before- 
 they had reached the vicinity of the city. 
 
 Charleston, though destined eventually to fall before the military skill 
 of the Union commanders, was not yet ready for its downfall, and both 
 General Gillmore and Admiral Dahlgren, after much gallant fighting, and 
 a record of the highest honor, were compelled to acknowledge that the 
 capture of the Rebel city was not within their power. 
 
«S8 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND — ARMT OF THE CUMBERLAND IN MOTION — THl 
 STRENGTH AND POSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES — TOPOORAPHT OF THE COUNTRY OF MIDDLE 
 
 TENNESSEE GENERAL ROSECRANS' TACTICS — THE MOVEMENT BY THE LEFT FLANK — ITS 
 
 COMPLETE SUCCESS — MANCHESTER, DECUERD, COWAN, 8HELBTVILLE, AND TULLAHOMA 
 TAKEN — BRAOG's ARMY DRIVEN EASTWARD TO UNIVERSITY, AND SWEDEN'S COVE, AND 
 THENCE TO CHATTANOOGA — THE RAILROADS PUT IN ORDER — TOPOORAPHT OP THE REGION 
 AROUND CHATTANOOGA — THE MOVEMENT OP THE UNION ARMT TOWARD CHATTANOOGA 
 — ROSECRANS DETERMINES TO OUTFLANK BRAGO's POSITION — ROUTE OF THE SEVERAL 
 CORPS — PERIL OF MCCOOK's CORPS^THE CONCENTRATION OF TROOPS AT MCLAMORe's 
 COVE — PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE — THE FIRST DAY OP THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUOA 
 — THE SECOND DAY — THE LINE BROKEN AND SEVEN BRIGADES CUT OFF GENERAL ROSE- 
 CRANS AT CHATTANOOGA — GENERAL THOMAS FIGHTS TILL SUNSET AND REPULSES THE ENEMT 
 — SKETCH OF GENERAL THOMAS — RESULTS OP THE BATTLE — MCCOOK AND CRITTENDEN RE- 
 LIEVED AND THEIR CORPS CONSOLIDATED — GENERAL THOMAS SUCCEEDS GENERAL ROSE- 
 CRANS — PERILOUS CONDITION OK THE ARMY — GENERAL GRANT PUT IN COMMAND OF THE 
 GRAND MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — REINFORCEMENTS ORDERED UP. 
 
 Afteb the battle of Stone river, both the Union and the Rebel armies 
 were left in a condition of exhaustion, from which, under the circum- 
 stances, it required several months for them ip recover. The attention of 
 the great military leaders was attracted in other directions ; to the east, 
 where the bloody fields of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg were fought, 
 and to the Mississippi, where Vicksburg and Port Hudson were undergoing 
 a siege which would eventuate in the grandest success of the war thus far. 
 No reinforcements could be spared by either side to the armies lying near 
 Murfreesboro, and their operations were conflned to raids and expeditions, 
 of some of which we have already given an account. The loss of Streigbt's 
 cavalry weakened considerably General Eosecrans' cavalry force, and it 
 required some months to bring this indispensable arm of the service up 
 to the commander's necessities. The general-in-chief, and the Secretary 
 of War, not thoroughly familiar with the very difficult topographical 
 character of the country between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga and the 
 necessity of a very strong cavalry force to a successful advance, became 
 impatient at General Rosecrans' delay, and their urgency, and the irritable 
 tone of their letters, provoked a corresponding irritation on the part of 
 General Rosecrans, who was fully informed both of the character of the 
 country, and the position and strength of his adversary. 
 
 Having at last, by commendable diligence and energy, succeeded in bring- 
 ing his army up to the best possible condition. General Rosecrans ordered 
 a general advance on the 2-ith of June, and so arranged his movements as 
 to compel Bragg to come out of his strong defences and give battle, or 
 evacuate them and retreat upon Chattanooga. That city, a great railroad 
 
POSITION OP THE TWO ARMIES IN TElNNESSEE. 629 
 
 centre, and commanding the passes of Lookout mountain and Mission 
 Eidge, and being the gateway also to East Tennessee from the south, was 
 Eosecrans' ultimate objective, and he had not ordered an advance until he 
 saw the way clear to its capture and occupation ; not indeed, without 
 some hard fighting, but as the result of a severe and protracted struggle. 
 
 The two armies at this time varied but little in numbers, Eosecrans 
 having probably a small superiority in infantry, and Bragg in cavalry. 
 The region of Middle Tennessee, south of Murfreesboro, is broken and 
 hilly, the land rising into high and infertile plateaus, which have a spongy 
 soil, that under the influence of heavy rains becomes almost like quick- 
 sand. These plateaus or barrens are approached by a few narrow, diflB- 
 cult, rocky passes, which afford strong natural fortifications to the army 
 holding possession of them. Two affluents of the Tennessee, Duck and Elk 
 rivers, cross these rocky barrens from east to west, in nearly parallel 
 lines, about twenty-five miles apart, and both flow through deep channels, 
 with high, rocky, and precipitous banks. 
 
 The Union army lay in the immediate vicinity of Murfreesboro, with 
 its reserves toward Nashville ; the Eebel array occupied a strong position 
 north of Duck river, the infantry extending from Shelbyville to War- 
 trace, while their cavalry covered both the right and left wings, extending 
 from Wartrace to ?ircMinnsville, and on the left from Shelbyville to 
 Columbia and Spring Hill. Their immediate base was Tullahoma, situated 
 about midway between Duck and Elk rivers, a strongly fortified position, 
 where Bragg had his headquarters. Liberty and Hoover's gaps, two of the 
 passes through the mountains to which we have already alluded, were 
 held by them with strong detachments. Through these two gaps passed 
 the only macadamized roads leading southward from Murfreesboro, and 
 the only other roads having a southerly direction, were rough dirt roads, 
 difficult of passage, and after heavy rains, nearly, or quite impassable by 
 heavy wagons or artillery trains. The Eebels also held possession of the 
 railroad from Tullahoma to Murfreesboro and McMinnsville. General 
 Eosecrans' design was to compel his adversary to evacuate these positions 
 by a movement on the left flank, while he demonstrated at the same time 
 on the right. The movement was wisely planned, and was completely 
 successful. Granger's small corps, and Sheridan's division of McCook's, 
 moved to Salem and Middleton, ami thus threatened Shelbyville directly, 
 while Johnson's and Davis's divisions of the same corps, passed down the 
 Wartrace road to Liberty gap, which, after a brief action, they captured 
 and held. Meanwhile, Thomas's and Crittenden's corps were moving down 
 on the left, having Manchester, Decherd, and Cowan, for their objectives. 
 Thomas's corps moved on the Manchester road, directly to Hoover's gap, 
 a strongly fortified pass, and having beyond it a formidable defile two 
 miles in length, known as Mott's Hollow, and after a gallant struggle, suc- 
 ceeded in driving the enemy out of both, and on the 27th of June pushed 
 
630 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UXirKD STATES. 
 
 on to Manchester. Most of Crittenden's corps, and part of McCook's, 
 arrived at Manchester on the 28th and 29th of June, while General Eose- 
 crans had sent forward a cavalry and an infantry brigade to destroy the 
 railroad bridge over the Elk river at Estill Spring, and tear up the rail 
 road from Decherd to Cowan, to check and embarrass their retreat. They 
 did not succeed in destroying the bridge, but broke up the railroad for a 
 little distance. 
 
 The Union cavalry on the right, supported by Granger's corps, had not 
 only demonstrated against Shelbyville, but finding the opposition weaker 
 than they expected, after a brief action, drove the enemy to and through 
 that place, and captured a large supply of stores and ammunition, and 
 several guns. 
 
 On the 30th of June, General Eosecrans had completed his arrange 
 ments for attacking Tullahoraa in front and rear, and issued orders to as- 
 sault it the next morning, but during the night Bragg evacuated it with 
 his army. Occupying the place at once, Negley's and Eousseau's divisions 
 of Thomas's corps were sent forward to harass the enemy, and engage 
 them at Bethpage bridge. After a short skirmish, the Eebels withdrew 
 behind their intrenchments, south of Elk river. The Union troops were 
 constantly in motion for the next two days, and gave the enemy no op- 
 portunity to destroy the railroad, or to burn the bridges thoroughly. 
 They at last succeeded in driving them from the railroad completely, and 
 as they took to the broken country eastward toward University and 
 Sweden's cove, where further pursuit was exceedingly difficult, they re- 
 luctantly abandoned it. During this whole period of nine days, the rain 
 had been constant and drenching, and it continued for eight days 
 longer. The effect on these barrens was to turn the roads into quick- 
 sands, and for several days the supply and ammunition trains were com- 
 pletely stalled in the mud. Bragg made his way, as best he could, with 
 his defeated and dispirited troops, to Chattanooga, burning the bridges 
 behind him, and commenced fortifying his position, and throwing up de- 
 fensive works along the Tennessee, at every fonl above and below Chat- 
 tanooga, for fifty or sixty miles. The losses of the army of the Cumber- 
 land in this flanking movement, were eighty-five killed and wounded, and 
 thirteen missing. The Rebel losses in killed and wounded have never 
 been published, but the Union troops captured sixteen hundred and thirty- 
 four prisoners, eight cannon, many hundred small arms, and large quan- 
 tities of quartermasters' and commissary stores. 
 
 General Eosecrans deemed it necessary, in order to facilitate the bring- 
 ing forward his supplies, and move his troops with rapidity, to repnir 
 thoroughly the railroad from Nashville and Murfreesboro to Stevenson, 
 Alabama, the point of junction of the Nashville and Chattanooga with 
 the Memphis and Charleston railroad, a place which, for the time, he 
 could use to advantage as a secondary base. This point was thirty -seven 
 
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE REGION AROUND CHATTANOOGA. 631 
 
 miles "W. SW. of Chattanooga. He also caused the Memphis and Charles- 
 ton railroad to be repaired as far as Bridgeport, where it crosses the Ten- 
 nessee river, and the Tracy city branch, by which he conveyed supplies 
 to Crittenden's corps. 
 
 Before proceeding farther with our narrative of the march of the army 
 of the Cumberland toward Chattanooga, let us glance at the topographical 
 character of the region upon which they had entered ; a region whose 
 alternations of hill and valley were so peculiar, that without a description, 
 the movements of the Union and Eebel forces would be absolutely in- 
 comprehensible. 
 
 The Appalachian mountain system, of which the White mountains in 
 New England, and the Alleghanies in the middle States, form portions, 
 extends through East Tennessee into Alabama and Georgia, its western 
 chain taking the general name of the Cumberland mountains, while the 
 eastern, which bears in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North and South 
 Carolina, the name of the Blue Eidge, or the Smoky mountains, spreads 
 in Georgia, into six or eight parallel ranges of varying height, but mostly 
 with precipitous ascent. 
 
 The Cumberland mountains consist of two ridges : the Cumberland 
 mountains proper, and Walden Eidge. The former, sloping gradually, 
 though in broken bluffs, westward toward Middle Tennessee, presents on 
 its southeastern face, a rapid and precipitous descent to the narrow valley 
 of the Sequatchie. This stream, for more than sixty miles, has riven a pas- 
 sage through the longitudinal axis of the mountain. Walden Eidge, which 
 stretches between the Sequatchie and the Tennessee, is a bold and high 
 ridge, descending by lofty and precipitous banks to either river. It has in 
 its whole extent of more thaii sixty miles, but two gaps through which a 
 wagon-road can be made, viz: Dunlap's pass, extending to Foe's Tavern, 
 and Thurman's pass, to a point opposite Chattanooga. Below the mouth 
 of the Sequatchie, the hills and bhiffs on the northern side of the Tennes- 
 see do not approach nearer than witliin two or three miles oj the river ; 
 but on the southern side, the ranges, which, as we have said, seem to 
 belong rather to the Blue Eidge or Smoky mountain chain, abut, with 
 their towering bluffs, directly on the river, leaving no space for the pas- 
 sage of road or railroad, except by cutting into the side of the bluff. The 
 Sand mountain range, the westernmost of these, whose northern spur 
 bears the name of Eaccoon mountain, hugs closely this left, or southern 
 bank of the Tennessee, for a hundred miles. Separated from it by the 
 valley of Lookout creek, the lofty Lookout mountain rears its head far 
 above its fellows, and, in a clear day, the vista which spreads for a hun- 
 dred miles in all directions from this king of the Georgian mountains, 
 is by turns sublime and beautiful. Its height is over three thousand feet, 
 and a spur from its bold bluff drives the Tennessee northward for several 
 miles, and compresses its waters into a narrow channel against the hills 
 
632 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 on the northern shore ; while the main bluff meets the returning curve of 
 the stream, and frowns with its dark shadows upon its rapid current. The 
 Nashville and Chattanooga railroad has cut its way along the side of the 
 steep bluff, through the hard rock, where, with difficulty, it has secured a 
 roadway along the precipitous slope of the giant mountain. Eastward of 
 Lookout, comes Mission Ridge, separated from it by the beautiful valley 
 of Chattanooga creek. Less lofty than Lookout, its sides are also less pre- 
 cipitous, though at some points steep and frowning. Beyond, the West 
 Chickamauga creek, or river, makes a somewhat wider valley, shut in at 
 its southern extremity by mountains, and known to the inhabitants as 
 McLaraore's cove; a complete cul-de-sac, accessible from the south, east, 
 or west, only by mountain passes. The eastern wall of the cove is formed 
 by Pigeon mountain, higher, and with more precipitous sides, than Mis- 
 sion Eidge. The Chattooga river, an affluent of the Coosa, and its valley, 
 divides this from Taylor's Ridge, a rough, rocky range, with a single 
 practicable gap, through which passes the turnpike from Lafayette to 
 Rome. East of this, are a confused group of mountain spurs, known as 
 Sand mountain, John's mountain. Pocket mountain, and Chattoogata, or 
 Rocky-Faced Ridge ; the latter forming the western bank of the Oostan- 
 aula river. The Nashville and Chattanooga, the Chattanooga and Knox- 
 ville, or East Tennessee, and the Chattanooga and Atlanta railroads, curve 
 in and out around the bluffs from these ridges, keeping as near as possible 
 to the banks of the Tennessee, till the last but one has been passed, and 
 then, suddenly striking southward, the Chattanooga and Atlanta road 
 forces its way through the Chattoogata, or Rocky-Faced Ridge, by a diffi- 
 cult mountain pass, known as Buzzard Roost gap. We have been thus 
 minute in our description of the topography of this region, because the 
 want of a thorough knowledge of it led to the undeserved censure of one 
 of our best generals, and because, in all the movements which followed 
 for a year, the features of the country greatly modified the action of both 
 armies. 
 
 With the fords and ferries of the Tennessee river guarded by Bragg's 
 troops, and the mountain passes, which gave access to the valleys by 
 which it was approached, all watched from the summit of Lookout, and 
 firmly held, if there were indications that they were threatened, it was 
 evident that the capture of Chattanooga by the Union troops, upon which 
 Rosecrans had set his heart, would be a work of great difficulty ; yet 
 without its possession. East Tennessee, which Burnside was now moving 
 to secure, could not be held, and the patient and long-suffering loyalists 
 of Knoxville, and the mountains and valleys of East Tennessee, must 
 still submit to the cruelties and murders of the dominant Rebels. Chat- 
 tanooga, too, was the key to the possession of northern Alabama and 
 Georgia, and through it lay the route to the further division of the Rebel 
 Confederacy, already sundered by the opening of the Mississippi. 
 
MCTEMENT OP THE ARMY TOWARD CHATTANOOGA. 633 
 
 Yet it was evident to the clear intellect of General Rosecrans, that a 
 direct attack upon the stronghold would only result in a terrible slaugh- 
 ter of his troops, while the chance of success would be very problematical. 
 He resolved to attempt to compel its evacuation, by a movement by the 
 right flank, which should put Bragg's communications in peril. Such a 
 movement was hardly less perilous than the direct attack, and success, 
 while it would stamp its projector as one of the ablest generals of the 
 time, was rather to be hoped for than expected. To accomplish his pur- 
 pose of seriously endangering Bragg's communications, it was necessary 
 to cross the lofty Lookout mountain range, and there were but three 
 passes, in a distance of sixty miles, where wagon trains and cannon could 
 cross, and neither of these passes was in supporting distance of the other. 
 It was desirable, too, to demonstrate directly against Chattanooga from 
 the north bank of the Tennessee, and to make a feint of crossing the river 
 at points abov§ the city, in order to distract the attention of the enemy 
 from the movements below. If he should succeed by this bold movement 
 in compelling the evacuation of Chattanooga, it was not to be expected 
 that Bragg would suffer the Union troops to enjoy, without a struggle, 
 their possession of the stronghold ; and he might, especially if largely 
 reinforced (as there were reports that he was to be), fall upon one or 
 another of the separated corps, and defeating them in detail, regain his 
 coveted possession, after inflicting upon Rosecrans the loss of his army. 
 These were important considerations, and they were carefully weighed by 
 the Union general, who, however, did not relinquish his determination to 
 encounter the great risk, for the sake of the prize to be won. 
 
 All necessary preparations having been made, Crittenden's corps was 
 ordered to move in three columns; Van Cfeve's division to Pikeville, 
 Palmer's to Dunlap, and Wood's to Thurman's, and uniting in the Se 
 quatchie valley, to descend to Jasper, and thence to cross the river at the 
 mouth of Battle creek and Shellmount. Three brigades of cavalry and 
 one of infantry, were sent up the east side of the Sequatchie valley, to 
 cross Walden Ridge to Poe's Tavern, and from Anderson, (opposite Thur- 
 man's,) to the Tennessee river opposite Chattanooga, and reconnoitre the 
 northern bank of the Tennessee from Igo's ferry to Chattanooga. 
 
 General Thomas's corps moved in two columns — Reynolds's and Bran- 
 nan's divisions, from University, by way of Battle creek, to take up a 
 concealed position near its mouth ; while Negley and Baird, marching from 
 Tantellon, near the Tunnel, took position along the railroad from Ander- 
 son to Stevenson. 
 
 McCook's corps moved in three columns — Johnson's division by Salem 
 and Larkin's fort to Bellefont ; Davis's division by Mount Top to Crow 
 creek, to halt near Stevenson ; and Sheridan's farther west to Maysville, 
 and thence by the Memphis and Charleston railroad to Bellefont, to join 
 Johnson. On the 20th of August, all these movements had been com- 
 
634 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pleted; and ou the 21st, Wagner's and Wilder's cavalry brigades ot 
 Crittenden's corps made a recounoissance along the north bank of the 
 Tennessee opposite Chattanooga, and shelled the city, to the great con ■ 
 sternation of the inhabitants and of Bragg's troops. 
 
 The Union armj^ having been brought safely to the Tennessee, General 
 Rosecrans made preparations to cross — a matter of considerable difficulty 
 and hazard, as from their signal position on the top of Lookout mountain, 
 the Rebels could observe all his movements, and keep their garrisons at 
 tiie fords and ferries on the alert. The movement of the cavalry brigades 
 at Chattanooga and above, had, however, so far deceived the enemy that 
 they watched closely the upper Tenneseee, but paid no attention to what 
 was passing below. General Rosecrans crossed his army at four points — 
 by a pontoon bridge at Caperton's ferry near Stevenson, by a pontoon and 
 trestlework bridge at Bridgeport, by boats and rafts at Shellmount, and 
 at Alley's ferry, at the mouth of Battle creek. The whole army was 
 across by the 3d or 4th of September ; and having gained the soutliern 
 side, Crittenden's corps marched to Wauhatchie, and their advance-guard 
 passed over the point of Lookout mountain and threatened Chattanooga, 
 while the main body kept up their communication temporarily with 
 General Thomas's corps, which had at first taken up a position at Trenton, 
 and sent an advance to secure Frick's, Cooper's, and Stevens's gaps in 
 Lookout mountain, the only practicable passes into McLamore's cove. 
 His corps soon after passed by these gaps into the cove, and occupied the 
 head or southern portion of it. McCook's corps had moved down to 
 Valley Head, except Sheridan's division, which was still at Trenton, but 
 was under orders to follow the remainder of the corps to Valley Head or 
 Alpine; and on his arrival General McCook had directions to send a re- 
 connoitering force to Broomtown and Summerville, in the Broomtown 
 valley, between Pigeon mountain and Taylor's ridge. By this movement 
 he would not only threaten Rome, but be able to ascertain where the 
 Rebel force was concentrated, and what reinforcements were approaching 
 it. The recounoissance ordered, demonstrated that General Bragg had 
 not retreated upon Rome (ho had evacuated Chattanooga and gone south- 
 ward on the 8th of September), but was concentrating his forces upon 
 Pigeon mountain, above Lafayette, where Johnson and probably Buckner 
 had already joined him, and that Longstreet's corps, from the army of 
 Virginia, had readied Atlanta about the 1st of September, and were march- 
 ing forward with all haste to reinforce him still further. These reinforce- 
 ments would make Bragg's force about double that of Rosecrans, and he 
 was now between McCook's corps and the other three corps of the Union 
 army, though, being on the other side of Pigeon mountain, he could not 
 yet take advantage of bis position. Crittenden's advance had, meantime, 
 entered Chattanooga on the evening of the 9th of September, and the 
 remainder of the corps, with its trains, passed around the nose of Lookout 
 
PKEPARATIONS FOR THE IMPENDING BATTLE. 635 
 
 mountain on the lOth, and camped for the night at Eossville. General 
 Thomas had crossed Lookout mountain with his corps, and taken position 
 in McLamore's cove, and was busily engaged in reconnoitering Bragg'a 
 position. Crittenden, leaving but one brigade in Chattanooga, was ordered 
 to push on vigorously to Einggold and Dalton, and send a reconnoissauce 
 to Gordon's mills and open communication with General Thomas. Two 
 of Thomas's divisions, Negley's and Baird's, had passed through Frick's 
 gap to Pond Spring, and beyond, on the Lafayette road, and there found 
 the enemy in large force. After a short skirmish they fell back into and 
 through Frick's gap, to protect their trains. General Halleck had tele- 
 graphed General Eosecrans that Bragg was to be reinforced by Buckner, 
 ■Johnson, and Longstreet, and it now appeared that they were all near at 
 hand, or had already formed a junction with him, and that his with- 
 drawal from Chattanooga had only been made with the intent to secure a 
 better position for fighting the battle which should again give him pos- 
 session of that stronghold. General Eosecrans found that the most prompt 
 action was necessary to bring his army together in season to confront his 
 enemy, whose force under the best circumstances would be double his 
 own. His energy was equal to the emergency. Crittenden was ordered 
 up to form a closer connection with Thomas, and McCook was directed 
 to make a forced march by the shortest practicable route to McLamore's 
 cove, lest Bragg's forces should be thrust between him and the remainder 
 of the Union army. McCook was fifty-seven miles south of Thomas's 
 camp, by the nearest road practicable for wagons — that from Alpine 
 through Doherty's gap into McLamore's cove — but of the existence or 
 good condition of this road he was not informed ; and having sent his 
 train under sufficient escort into Lookout valley, he marched back through 
 Valley Head on the night of the 13th of September, and thence up Look- 
 out valley to Stevens's gap, which he crossed into McLamore's cove, 
 arriving on the 17th, and taking position on the right of General Thomas. 
 The delay of nearly two days consequent upon this mistake in regard to 
 the roads, had aflbrded opportunity for Longstreet to come up within 
 supporting distance of Bragg's army, and had so far hindered General 
 Eosecrans' arrangements for the battle that he was unable to secure the 
 best position for a defensive conflict, such as under the circumstances he 
 must fight. On \e night of the 18th, and the early morning of the 19th 
 of September, tne final preparations for the impending battle were made. 
 The small corps of Gordon Granger were stationed as reserves at the 
 extreme left, near Eossville, with orders to guard the two roads leading 
 to Chattanooga, which it was the evident aim of the Eebels to seize. 
 About three miles further south commenced the actual line of battle, 
 Brannan's division of Thomas's corps occupying the extreme left; next 
 in order was Baird's division of the same corps ; then Johnson's division 
 of McCook's corps, which had been sent to support this part of Thomas's 
 
636 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 line ; next to Johnson, came Palmer's division of Crittenden's corps ; and 
 joining Palmer, Van Cleve's division of the same corps ; then came Eey- 
 Dolds' division of Thomas's corps, and Wood's division of Crittenden's 
 corps, which covered the Gordon's mills ford ; while Wilder's cavalry 
 brigade guarded the right wing. Four rniles below, at Crawfish springs, 
 Negley's division of Thomas's corps was engaged in observing Owen's 
 ford, over the Chickamauga, while a Rebel division on the opposite side 
 of the Chickamauga was endeavoring to cross, to get at the right flank of 
 the Union army. In reserve, west of Gordon's mills, were Davis's and 
 Sheridan's divisions of McCook's corps; and immediately behind them, 
 at the widow Glenn's house, were General Rosecrans's headquarters. 
 
 The battle commenced about ten a.m. of the 19th, two brigades of 
 Brannan's division, on the extreme left, reconnoitering and attacking the 
 Rebel force which was endeavoring to force a passage by way of the 
 Lafayette road toward Chattanooga. These two brigades attacked so 
 vigorously as to drive the Rebels back nearly half a mile, when a very 
 strong column advanced to their support. This column, which General 
 Eosecrans believed to have been composed of part of Longstreet's corps, 
 fell in heavy mass upon the Union left, and forced back the remainder 
 of Brannan's division, and threw Baird's division, which came up to its 
 support, into disorder. Johnson's fine division of McCook's corps now 
 came up, and striking the Rebel column in flank with great fury, drove 
 it back more than half a mile, until the superior numbers of the enemy 
 enabled them to overlap his right, which was in danger of being turned, 
 when Palmer, coming in on his right, which was, in the ardor of pursuit, 
 considerably advanced beyond the main army, threw his division with 
 such force against the Rebels as again to drive back their advancing 
 columns. But the immense numbers of the Rebels which now swarmed 
 up, showed their great superiority in troops to the Union army ; con- 
 stantly extending toward the right, they overlapped Palmer's flank, and 
 when Van Cleve's division came up, overlapped that also, and forced it 
 back, as they did Reynold.s, who came to his assistance. Davis's division 
 now advanced most opportunely, and drove the enemy back, but under 
 the immense pressure of fresh Rebel troops, he too was gradually being 
 pressed back, when Wood's division came up, and again turned the tide 
 of battle the other way. At three p. M., General Rosecrans finding his 
 line hardly pressed, ordered up Sheridan's division, one of the finest in 
 the army, and which till then had been in reserve, to support Wood and 
 Davis. It came up on the double-quick, and drove the Rebels back with 
 such slaughter that they did not again attempt to advance on the right. 
 
 Meanwhile, the centre (Van Cleve's and Reynolds' divisions) was being 
 driven, and the battle was approaching General Rosecrans' headqnarter.s. 
 Anticipating this, the general had ordered General Negley's division to 
 move up from Crawford Springs toward the headquarters, and at half- 
 
4 
 
THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE AT CHATTANOOGA. 631 
 
 paijt four lie reported with his division, and was sent to support Van 
 Clave, whom the Eebels had succeeded in dislodging from his position, 
 and attacking the enemy with great vigor, he forced them steadily back, 
 till nightfall. General Brannan had also been sent by General Thomas, 
 at General Eosecrans' request, to support General Reynolds. 
 
 The result of the day's fighting was indecisive ; both sides had taken 
 prisoners; each in turn had driven the other and been driven themselves; 
 the Union forces had found themselves at all points confronted by greatly 
 superior numbers, and these not raw recruits, but veteran warriors ; but 
 the preponderance of success, if there was any, was in their favor ; the 
 enemy had been forced back from all the ground they had gained, and in 
 the evening were farther east than in the morning. Every brigade but 
 two, aside from Granger's reserves, had been in the fight, and all had 
 acted well. The morrow, however, it was foreseen, must bring still severer 
 fighting, and a more desperate struggle for the possession of the prize for 
 which both were contending. A council was held in the evening, and a 
 new order of battle decided upon for the following day, which was 
 announced to the division and brigade commanders at one o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 General Eosecrans, by this new disposition of his troops, had shortened 
 his line more than a mile. His troops, instead of being posted, as they were 
 the day before, on the line of the Lafayette road, were stationed on a road 
 leading in a southwest direction from the Lafayette to the Rossville road, 
 the left wing overlapping the Lafayette road, the extremity of the right 
 wing refused, and covering the position at widow Glenn's house, and resting 
 in a strong position on Mission Ridge, the gap in which was covered by the 
 army. Davis's and Van Cleve's divisions were wholly, and Brannan's par- 
 tially, in reserve. General Rosecrans' headquarters were on the Rossville 
 road, in an elevated position, near the gap. He had abandoned the position 
 at Gordon's mills, but the pass through Mission Eidge, and the road from 
 Lafayette tc Chattanooga, were all-important, and must be held at all 
 hazards, and while his numbers were so much inferior to those of the 
 enemy, the effectual holding of these would occupy his entire force. 
 
 The new position was thus much stronger than the one of the previous 
 day, and but for the misfortune which subsequently occurred, the enemy, 
 in spite of their superior numbers, would undoubtedly have been badly 
 defeated. 
 
 The battle of the 20th commenced at half-past eight A. M., the effort 
 of the enemy being, as on the previous day, to turn the left flank of the 
 Union army, and then gain access to the Lafayette and Chattanooga road. 
 Thomas, who was in command at the left, was hard pressed from the start, 
 and General Rosecrans directed him to hold on, assuring him that he 
 should be reinforced if necessary, by the entire army. One of Negley's 
 brigades, which was on the right, was first ordered up to join the other 
 
G38 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 hiigades of his division at tbe left, but for some cause, there was delay 
 and hesitation in obeying the order, which produced some trouble. The 
 two reserve divisions, Van Cleve's and Davis's, were next sent to Thomas's 
 support, and took position near Wood's division. Still, though fighting 
 with great desperation, the Rebels invariably attacking, and being as in- 
 variably repulsed, the battle went on without any serious advantage to 
 either side, till about one o'clock p. M. The loss of the enemy had, up to 
 this time, been greatly heavier than that of the Union troops, the latter 
 being at some points protected by slight breastworks, and at others, lying 
 down and loading, and only rising to deliver their fire when the Rebels 
 came up. Brannan's division, which at first had been in reserve, had 
 been brought into action, and its commander had formed it en echelon, to 
 enable it the better to resist the Rebel attacks. To a superficial observer, 
 riding along the lines, this formation gave the division the appearance of 
 being partly out of line, and one of General Thomas's aids so reported it 
 to General Rosecrans. Supposing this to be the fact, General Rosecrans 
 ordered "Wood to close up on Reynolds, and Davis on Wood, while the 
 remainder of McCook's corps were held in readiness to go to the support 
 of the left. Unfortunately, though naturally enough, General Wood un- 
 derstood this order to mean that he should march past Brannan's division, 
 to close up on Reynolds, and in the attempt to do this, he left a gap in the 
 line of battle, into which the Rebels instantly worked, striking Davis in 
 flank and rear, as well as in front, and throwing his whole division into 
 disorder. The same attack shattered the right brigade of Wood's division, 
 before it had passed beyond the surging tide. The right of Brannan's 
 division was thrown back, and two of his batteries, then moving toward a 
 new position, were taken in flank, and driven through two brigades of 
 Van Cleve's division, which was at the time moving toward the left, and 
 that division was thrown into complete confusion, from which it never 
 recovered till it reached Rossville. While the enemy poured in through 
 this breach, a long line of Rebels, stretching beyond Sheridan's right, was 
 advancing; Laibold's brigade (of Sheridan's division) shared the fate of 
 Davis. The other two brigades of that division, at that time moving 
 toward the left, under orders to support General Thomas, made, under 
 tlieir gallant leader, a fierce charge against the enemy's advancing column 
 but were thrown into disorder, by the attack of his line upon their flank^ 
 and were compelled to fall back. They rallied again on the Dry valley 
 road, and repulsed the enemy, but were again compelled to yield to over- 
 powering numbers, and retired westward of the Dry valley, and by a 
 circuitous route reached Rossville, from whence they advanced by the 
 Lafayette road to support the left, reaching General Thomas's lines about 
 midnight. Seven brigades, or about one fourth of the entire Union force, 
 were thus swept away by this misfortune, and though the loss in killed 
 and wounded was not very heavy, and that in prisoners less so than 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE AT CHATTANOOGA. 639 
 
 ■would have been expected, they were efFectually cut off from rendering 
 any further aid to the remainder of the troops during that day. Among 
 those thus swept away, were, without fault of their own, and greatly to 
 their chagrin, Major-Generals Eosecrans, McCook, and Crittenden. Each 
 made decided and repeated efforts to rejoin the main body but in vain, and 
 at last fell back toward Eossville, whence General Eosecrans sent his 
 chief of staff. General Garfield, to ascertain how General Thomas was 
 succeeding in holding at bay the greatly superior force of the enemy, 
 and himself, with Generals McCook and Crittenden, went on to Chatta- 
 nooga, to secure the trains and put the city in a state of defence, if, as 
 he feared, the army should be driven to retreat thither. 
 
 The Eebels, after pursuing the seven routed brigades for a mile or 
 more into Dry valley, returned to drive General Thomas from the main 
 road, of which they must avail themselves if they would recapture Chatta- 
 nooga. Thomas's position was still a strong one, and the rough and 
 temporary breastworks thrown up in front of Eeynolds' and Palmer's 
 divisions, greatly increased its strength. From these breastworks, as the 
 Eebels returned to the charge, they were swept down in great numbers 
 by the grape and canister poured upon them incessantly by the Union 
 batteries. Through the efforts and bravery of Vandeveer's brigade, of 
 Brannan's division, they were driven back, and Baird and Johnson, with 
 one brigade of Palmer's division, restored the line. From two o'clock till 
 sunset, a fierce battle raged along the Union lines. General Thomas, 
 though confronted by a force numbering at least five to his two, stood 
 grim and defiant, resisting the repeated assaults upon his lines with a 
 vigilance and persistency never surpassed. The enemy at last pressed so 
 strongly on his whole line , that he fell back further into the jaws of the 
 gap, and setting his back against the mountains, the "Eock of Chicka- 
 mauga," as he has been appropriately named, held the foe at bay for 
 hours. At length, near sunset, an overwhelming force of the enemy suc- 
 ceeded in passing around the left, through a low gap in the ridge, and 
 would in a few minutes more have reached the flank of Brannan's position, 
 and turning it, perhaps have routed the greatly wearied Union troops. 
 At this critical moment, two brigades of Steedman's division, from 
 Granger's reserves, led by General Steedman in person, rushed upon the 
 advancing column of the enemy in a headlong charge. The shook was 
 terrible; and for a time, as the conflicting foes met in hand-to-hand fight, 
 success swayed from side to side ; a few minutes more, and the enemy 
 rolled back, repulsed with such slaughter that they dared not make the 
 attempt again. A thousand of Steedman's brave troops fell, killed or 
 wounded, in that brief half hour's struggle ; but the Uoion troops held the 
 gap. Again, however, did Longstreet's corps assay to force a passage 
 through the main gap, by breaking the lines of Thomas's force in the 
 centre. Two large divisions from that corps, determined upon capturing 
 
640 THE CIVIL WAR IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 it came up to the assault, and charged to within a few yards of the Union 
 battery of six pieces, which had been planted in the very throat of the 
 gorge. They came too far to return. The grape and canister of the 
 battery, delivered at such short range, mowed them down like grain 
 before the reaper's sickle. The survivors fell back, but after sunset 
 rushed forward once more, when the Union troops, having exhausted 
 their ammunition, rushed on them with the bayonet, and after a contest 
 of extraordinary severity, in which more bayonet wounds were given and 
 received than in any battle of modern times, they gave way, and did not 
 again return. In a final movement of a similar character on the ri"ht. 
 the Union troops captured over five hundred Rebel prisoners. The 
 enemy now fell back, leaving the field of battle in the possession of 
 General Thomas; but finding that the ammunition, food, and water neces- 
 sary for his men were exhausted, the general withdrew with his troops 
 about midnight to Rossville, where they arrived in good order, and took 
 post toward morning, and offered the enemy battle during the whole of 
 the next day, repulsing his reconnoissance. On the night of the 21st, he 
 withdrew from Rossville to Chattanooga, which was now in such a stale 
 of defence as not to fear the assaults of the enemy. 
 
 Major-General George H. Thomas, whose resolution and unflinching 
 tenacity of purpose thus saved the Union army from defeat, and saved 
 the day when all seemed lost, is a native of Virginia, born July 31, 1816, 
 in Southampton count}', of wealthy and respectable parents, of Welsh and 
 Iluguenot stock. lie commenced the study of law, but at the ige of 
 twenty, through the influence of family friends, received an appointment 
 as cadet in the Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated in 
 1840, twelfth in a class of forty-five, and was appointed second lieutenant 
 in the third artillery. After serving eighteen months in the Florida war, 
 he was ordered to the New Orleans barracks, in January, 1842, and in 
 June of the same year, to Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor. In Decern, 
 ber 1843, be was transferred to Fort McHcnry, Baltimore, and May 17th, 
 1843, promoted to a first lieutenantcy. Id the spring of 1844, he was 
 again ordered to Fort Moultrie. He was ordered to Corpus Christi, Texas, 
 in July, 1845, and was one of the garrison of Fort Brown when it was 
 besieged by the Mexicans. He subsequently took part in the battle of 
 Monterey, and for his gallantry there, was breveted captain ; and in the 
 battle of Buena Vista, for which he received the brevet of major. In 
 August, 1848, he returned to Texas, and was, for six months, in charge 
 of a commissary depot at Brazos Santiago. In June, 1849, he rejoined 
 bis company at Fort Adams, Newport, R. I., and in July was put in com- 
 mand of company C, and sent to Florida. There he remained till Decem- 
 ber, 1850, and for the next few months was in command at Fort Indepen- 
 dence, Boston harbor, whence he was assigned to duty in March, 1851, at 
 West Point, as instructor of artillery and cavalry. In December, 1853, 
 
SKETCH OF MAJOK-GENERAL THOMAS. 
 
 641 
 
 he was promoted to a full captaincy. In 1854 lie was assigned to duty 
 at Fort Yuma, California, and in 1855, was appointed junior major of the 
 second cavalry. After a residence of about six months at Jefferson bar- 
 racks, Mo., Major Thomas was ordered to Texas, where he was on duty 
 from May, 1856, to November, 1860, and three years of the time, in com- 
 mand of his regiment. He made extensive explorations of the country 
 on the headwaters of the Canadian and Eed rivers, and had several sharp 
 brushes with the Indians. After a short leave of absence, the second in 
 more than twenty years, he was ordered, in April 1861, to Carlisle bar- 
 racks. Pa., to remount his regiment, the second cavalry, which had been 
 dismounted and ordered out of Texas by the traitor Twiggs. On the 
 25th of April, he was promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy, and on the 5th 
 of May, appointed colonel of the fifth U. S. cavalry. In the same month, 
 he was assigned to the command of a brigade in General Patterson's army, 
 and after that general was mustered out, served in the same capacity 
 under General Banks. On the 17th of August, 1861, he was appointed a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers, and on the 26th of the same month, or- 
 dered to report to Brigadier-General Eobert Anderson, commanding the 
 Department of the Cumberland. On his arrival at Louisville, September 
 6th, he was assigned to the command of camp Dick Robinson, in southern 
 Kentucky, and at once commenced organizing his troops, and soon estab- 
 lished camp Wild Cat, thirty miles SE., wiiere, on the 26th of October, 
 the battle of Wild Cat was fought by General Schoepf. He then made 
 preparations to advance into East Tennessee, but General Buell, who was 
 now in command, ordered him to Lebanon, Ky., to prepare for an active 
 campaign. Early in January, he fought the battle of Mill Spring, in which 
 the Rebels were defeated, and Zollicoffer killed. This was the first of a 
 series of successes in that region, which greatly encouraged the Unionists. 
 After this battle, he again prepared to enter East Tennessee, but was again 
 recalled to Lebanon, Ky., by General Buell, and ordered to march thence 
 with all speed to Munfordsville, where Buell was then concentratinn- his 
 forces for an attack on Bowling Green. Before he could reach there, 
 however, he was met by another order to go on to Louisville, and take 
 steamers to move his division to Nashville, which, after the fall of Fort 
 Donelson, had fallen into the hands of the Union army. On his arrival 
 at Nashville, his division was constituted, by General Buell, the reserve 
 of the army of the Cumberland, and did not reach Pittsburg Landing until 
 three days after the battle of Shiloh. On the 25th of April, 1862, he was 
 appointed and confirmed major-general of volunteers, and on the first of 
 May, his division was transferred, by General Halleck, to the army of the 
 Tennessee ; but, forty days later, he was retransferred to the army of the 
 Ohio, and ordered to concentrate his command at Decherd, Tenn. He 
 took part in the campaign which followed in the pursuit of Bragg, and 
 was second in command in the army of the Ohio, both before and after the 
 41 
 
642 
 
 THE CIYIL WAR I.N THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 battle of Perry ville. He was offered the command of the army of the 
 Ohio, by the Government, when Buell reaolied Louisville, but declined. 
 When General Rosecrans took command of the army of the Cumberland, 
 (the new name given to the army of the Ohio) General Thomas was 
 placed in command of the centre, (the fourteenth army corps,) consisting 
 then of five divisions. He took part in the battle of Stone river, and it 
 was his corps which stopped the victorious progress of Bragg's army, 
 which had crushed and driven back Rosecrans' right wing; and his 
 troops also, which visited with such terrible punishment, Breckinridge's 
 audacious assault upon the left wing. We have seen how, against fearful 
 odds, he maintained his position at Chickamauga, and we shall have occa- 
 sion to see hereafter how, in command of the army of the Cumberland, his 
 troops scaled the heights of Mission Ridge, and drove Bragg, utterly dis- 
 comfited, over its farther slope, and across the mountains beyond ; how, at 
 Dalton and Rcsaca, at Kingston and New Hope church, at Kenesaw 
 mountain, at Peach Tree creek and Decatur, and at Jonesboro, he was 
 the sheet-anchor of Sherman's army; and above all how, at Nashville, he 
 crushed and crumpled Tlood's army, and finally drove it, a demoralized 
 mob, in a flight of thirteen weary days of midwinter, across the Tennes- 
 see. General Thomas did not command in person in any action subsequent 
 to the 16th of December, 186-1; but his fine and admirably disciplined 
 and equipped army was sent, at the call of the Government, to Wilming- 
 ton, to Salisbury, and to central Alabama and Georgia, until the war was 
 ended. Since the close of the war, he has commanded the military divi- 
 sion of the Tennessee, embracing the Departments of the Tennessee, Ken- 
 tucky, Georgia, and Alabama, with his headquarters at Nashville. After 
 the battle of Chickamauga, he was promoted, October 27th, 1863, to the 
 command of the army of the Cumberland, and at the same time made a 
 brigadier-general in the regular army ; and in December, 1864, after the 
 battle of Nashville, he was promoted to be a major-general in the regular 
 army. 
 
 The losses of the Union army in the battle of Chickamauga, were, 
 killed, one thousand six hundred and forty-four ; wounded, nine thousand 
 two hundred and sixty-two; missing, four thousand nine hundred and 
 forty -five ; and in addition to this, a loss in the cavalry of about one thou- 
 sand, making in all sixteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. They 
 also lost thirty-six guns, twenty caissons, eight thousand four hundred and 
 fifty small arms and five thousand eight hundred and thirty -four infantry 
 accoutrements. The Rebel loss, in killed and wounded, was stated by 
 General Bragg, as killed, two thousand two hundred and ninety-nine; 
 wounded, fifteen thousand two hundred and eighty ; making an aggregate 
 of seventeen thousand five hundred and seventy-nine; including four 
 general officers killed, four severely and four slightly wounded. Besides 
 
PERILOUS CONDITION OF THE FEDERAL ARMY. 643 
 
 these, they lost two thousand and three prisoners, taken by the Union 
 army. 
 
 After the battle, Generals McCook and Crittenden, the corps comman- 
 ders who came into Chattanooga, were relieved of their commands, and 
 their respective corps, the twentieth and twenty-first, consolidated into 
 the fourth, and put under the command of General Gordon Granger. The 
 conduct of these two generals was subsequently examined before a court 
 of inquiry at Cincinnati, and they were acquitted of any intentional mis- 
 conduct. General Crittenden subsequently resigned; General McCook 
 was ordered to duty in the Trans-Mississippi department, but neither 
 general participated in any subsequent important action. 
 
 Chattanooga was too strong to be captured by General Bragg by as- 
 sault, but for three months after the battle, there was a lack of supplies. 
 In order to secure the Union position in the city itself. General Rose- 
 crans considered it necessary to relinquish the outpost of Wauhatchie, near 
 the point where the Nashville raih'oad passes the brow of Lookout moun- 
 tain, and the enemy at once occupying this point, cut off communication 
 both by river and railroad between General Rosecrans' army and its base, 
 and compelled him to bring all his supplies by wagon trains, across the 
 mountain, and down the Sequatchie valley, a distance of sixty miles, over 
 the worst roads to be found. The Rebels had captured also a part of one 
 of the trains belonging to the army, and thus still further reduced their 
 supplies. In October it was found necessary to put the men upon half 
 rations, and one third rations were talked of, while the animals were dying 
 daily by scores, from the insufiBciency of forage. On the 27th of October, 
 General Rosecrans was relieved of his command, and General Thomas 
 succeeded him, while General Grant was appointed commander of the 
 grand military division of the Mississippi, and made his headquarters at 
 Chattanooga, to which point were now rapidly concentrating troops from 
 all quarters, the army of the Tennessee, from Vicksburg, under General 
 Sherman, two corps from the army of the Potomac, under General Hooker, 
 and such other troops from other parts of the west as could be spared. 
 General Burnside had, as we have said, captured Cumberland gap, and 
 occupied Knoxville, and East Tennessee was again under the Union flag, 
 and its long tried inhabitants peaceful and happy. 
 
eu THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 BEETCH or GENERAL GRANT — HE 18 APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OP THE MILITARY DIVISION 
 OF THE MISSISSIPPI, AND ARRIVES AT CHATTANOOGA — THE CAPTURE OF BROWn's KERRY — 
 MOVEMENTS OF HOOKER's COMMAND — BATTLE OF WADHATCHIF. — THE RESULTS GAINED — 
 ATTEMPTS OF THE REBELS TO BREAK GRANT'S COMMnNICATIONS — BRAGG SENDS LONO- 
 STREKT's CORPS TO BESIEGE KNOXVILLE — GENERAL GRANT'S INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL 
 
 BDRNSIDE — FIGHTING AND RETREATING LON<!STREET ARRIVES BEFORE KNOXVILLE AND 
 
 INVESTS IT — TOPOGRAPHY OF THE CHATTANOOGA VALLEY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS — BRAGO's 
 MESSAGE — grant's PLAN FOR THE DEFEAT OF HIS ARMY — THE CAPTURE OF THE REBEL 
 BATTERIES ON BALD KNOBS — SUERM AN's MOVEMENTS — THE PONTOON BRIDGES — THE BASTION 
 TAKEN — hooker's ATTACK ON THE REBEL LEFT WINO ON LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN — THE SUR- 
 PRISE — THE " BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS" — THE FIGHTING ON THE EAST SIDE OF LOOKOUT 
 —EVACUATION OK THEIR POSITIONS BV THE REBELS HJOKER FOLLOWS Til EM TO MISSION 
 
 BIDGE — Sherman's persistent and repeated attacks upon fort bicknek — repulse 
 
 OF HIS ATTACKING COLUMNS — THEIR OBJECT GAINED, IN DRAWING THE REBEL TROOPS 
 FROM FORT BRAGG — THE ASSAULT ON THE CENTRE BY THE FOURTH CORPS — DIFFICULTIES 
 
 OP THE ATTACK — CAPTURE OF THE CREST AND FORT BRAGG FLIGHT OF THE ENEMY — PDK- 
 
 BUIT TO RINGGOLD — FIGHT AT RINGGOLD GAP — SHERMAN MAKCIiES TO KNOXVILLE AND 
 RAISES THE SIEGE — BATTLE OF BKAN'S STATION — RESULTS OK THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN 
 
 GENERAL ORANt's CONGRATULATORY OKDK.R — GENERAL UAI.LECK's ESTIMATE OF THE 
 
 CAMPAIGN. 
 
 In oue of the earlier cliapters of the present work, we have given some 
 account of the western general who, from this time forward, was to attract 
 the attention of the nation, and of intelligent observers of other nations, 
 as the master mind of the Republic in its great struggle against slavery 
 and despotism ; but as that sketch brought him no farther than to the 
 demand of an " unconditional surrender" at Fort Donclson, it may be 
 •well to trace his subsequent career during tlie war. We have spoken of 
 Lim as tlie muster mind of the Republic, not for the brilliancy of his 
 genius, the profundity of his learning, or the rapidity of his action, but 
 because no character of our national history, with the possible exception 
 of Washington, has ever manifested more thoroughly than he that thorough 
 equipoise of the mental and moral faculties, which is the finest attribute 
 of a truly great soul. In some particulars, others surpass him ; but none 
 equal him in that admirable balauce, never disturbed, never requiring 
 adjustment. To none other of our officers can be attributed that patient 
 jjersistcnce which never gives up its object; and though a dozen or a 
 hundred efibrts for its accomplisliment Iiave proved unavailing, is ready 
 at once witli another, and if need be others still, lill the desired end is 
 attained. Me knows no such word as fail. The rare unselfishness and 
 reiicence of his disposition are also important and excellent traits in his 
 character, and add to its attractiveness. Tiie campaign which began witii 
 Forts Ilenry and Douelson, had its culmination at ShiloL. Kashvillo 
 
SKETCH OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT. 645 
 
 captured, the Tennessee ascended, Johnston driven from Middle Tennessee 
 into Mississippi, there were but few of the generals of that period who 
 would not have regarded the period as an auspicious one to rest awhile 
 upon the laurels already gathered. Not so Grant. As rapidly as possible 
 were the regiments organized or disciplined, and sent to the new camp, 
 far up the Tennessee, within twenty miles of the formidable position held 
 by Johnston. They were new recruits, many of them never under fire ; 
 nay, hardly knowing the use of the musket ; but there was the material 
 for making good troops in them. We will not go over that two days' 
 struggle at Shiloh, the attack, the capture of a portion of the Union troops, 
 and the forcing back of others, the apparent defeat, the sudden rallying 
 and return to the battle, the hard fighting and decisive victory of the second 
 day ; but this much we may say, that while Ulysses S. Grant was ably 
 seconded by some of his lieutenants, and notably by General Sherman, 
 the repulse of the enemy on the evening of the first day, and that stern 
 fighting, which on the second day would have cau'jed the defeat of the 
 enemy, even without Buell's reinforcements, was due to General Grant 
 alone. Persistent then as ever, he would not accept defeat, but struggled 
 on resolutely, till he had plucked victory out of seeming repulse. After 
 the battle of Corinth, in October, 1862, his persistency led again to a 
 pursuit of the enemy so unrelenting and successful that it formed a new 
 epoch in the history of the war. In that long campaign before Vicksburg, 
 when cue plan after another failed of success, and one resource after 
 another proved futile, he exhibited the versatility of his genius and his 
 fertility in resources, in being ready with one plan so soon as another had 
 failed,' and at last in the route he took for accomplishing his purpose, in 
 the daring which prompted him to cut loose from his base, and plunging 
 into the heart of the enemy's country with the knowledge that two hostile 
 armies, fighting on their own soil, were ready to meet him, and believed 
 themselves able to destroy his army, and the consummate skill and general- 
 ship with which he thwarted all their plans, and defeated their forces, he 
 gave the most decisive proof of his abilities as a military chief. Tlie 
 siege of the city, the various devices for rendering it untenable, the self- 
 possession and generosity manifested at its surrender, and the swift pur- 
 suit of Johnston and the other Eebel leaders in the vicinity, fully 
 warranted the high encomiums of the general-in-chief. After the fall of 
 Vicksburg, while on a visit to New Orleans, he was severely injured, but 
 on his recovery was promoted by the Government, as we have seen, to the 
 command of the grand military division of the Mississippi, embracing all 
 the armies of the Mississippi valley, except the departments west of the 
 great river. The appointment was wisely and worthily conferred, as we 
 shall see in the present chapter. "With great strategic skill, he managed 
 to wrest from Bragg's hands the territory and the power for which ha 
 had been fighting so desperately for two and a half years, planted himself 
 
646 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 firmly at Chattanooga, and redeemed Tennessee once for all from the 
 domination of the Rebels. Called to a still higher command, that of the 
 entire armies of the nation, with the rank of lieutenant-general, we shall 
 endeavor to show how resolutely, grandly, and persistently he undertook 
 the work of finishing the Rebellion ; how, while his lieutenants in far 
 distant fields were under his orders winning fame and achieving victories, 
 he had set to himself the hardest task of all, and adhering to it with a 
 tenacity which has no parallel in history, finally exhausted his adversary, 
 and by compelling the overthrow of his citadels and the capitulation of 
 his army, dealt its death-blow to a war which, in the vastness of its armies 
 and its expenditure, the fierceness of the fighting, and the resolution and 
 persistence of its combatants, has not been equalled in the history of the 
 race. 
 
 Ou reaching Chattanooga, on the 23d of October, General Grant found 
 matters assuming a gloomy aspect. It was simply impossible to procure 
 adequate supplies for a largo army by hauling them sixty mdes over the 
 horrible roads across the Cumberland and Walden ridges — roads in which 
 six miles a day was a greater distance than could be accomplished by a 
 six-mule team, and that with a load of not over five hundred pounds. 
 This state of things must be remedied at once. The plan adopted for 
 this purpose by General Grant evinced alike his ability and his practical 
 good sense. The Tennessee, like most of the w-estern river.?, is very 
 crooked ; just below Chattanooga it makes two bends, one eight miles in 
 circuit, and only one and a half miles across; the other, thirty miles in 
 circuit, and but four or five miles across. If he could obtain possession 
 of these two peninsulas, the wagon transportation could be reduced to ten 
 miles, supplies being transmitted by railroad and river to Shellmount and 
 Kelly's ferry. To accomplish this, he issued orders, on the 2Gth of 
 October, to Hooker's command (eleventh and twelfth army corps), which 
 had already reached Bridgeport, to move forward from that place through 
 Shellmount to Lookout valley, and thence to Brown's ferry ; and while 
 they were obeying this order, a force of fourteen hundred men from the 
 army of the Cumberland, under the command of General Ilazen, wore 
 detailed to descend the river, in fifty-six pontoon boats, to Brown's ferry, 
 six miles below the peninsula, carrying with them the materials for build- 
 ing a bridge across the Tennessee. The movement was successfully 
 accomplished, though for three miles of the distance the river was guarded 
 by Rebel pickets, yet the night being dark, they succeeded in passing 
 them without alarm, and on their arrival at Brown's ferry, were rein- 
 forced by other troops, who had come by land from Chattanooga, and by 
 noon of the next day they had a strong and substantial bridge erected 
 and protected by a tete-du-poni. From this ferry a good road extended to 
 Kelly's ferry, five or six miles distant, and loaded wagons could corao 
 from that point to Chattanooga in half a day, if the wagon-road could be 
 
THE BATTLE OP WAUHATCHIE. 64T 
 
 protected from the enemy. To effect this was tlie purpose of the move- 
 ment of Hooker's troops. Thej had marched promptly on receiving the 
 order from General Grant, reached Shellmount the same evening, and 
 advanced to Lookout valley the next morning, encountering some oppo- 
 sition during the day from the enemy, who shelled them from Lookout 
 mountain, but without much effect. On the night of the 27th, they en- 
 camped in Lookout valley, and Geary's division, of the twelfth corps, 
 which had pitched their camp at a distance of about one and a half 
 miles from the remainder of the force, on the road to Wauhatchie, was 
 attacked about two o'clock, on the morning of the 28th, by Longstreet, 
 who hoped to surprise them and capture their train. General Geary, 
 however, held his ground firmly, and other divisions coming to his 
 assistance, Longstreet's forces were defeated with severe loss. Meanwhile, 
 the eleventh corps captured and held the Eebel works on Moccasin Point, 
 a spur of Eaccoon mountain, which extends across the broader portion of 
 the larger of the two peninsulas formed by the bends of the Tennessee. 
 This position not only commanded the Kelly's ferry road, but the passage 
 from Lookout valley around the northern slope or brow of Lookout 
 mountain, through which the railroad passes, and which was the only 
 route by which the Rebel troops, stationed in the Lookout valley, or on 
 the western slope of the mountain, could communicate with the remainder 
 of Bragg's army, except by the long and difficult road by way of 
 Trenton and Frick's gap, a distance of thirty miles or more. By this 
 movement, then, Bragg's left wing was cut off from his main army, and 
 the Union army secured free communication with their secondary basis, 
 Stevenson and Bridgeport. Steamers commenced plying immediately 
 between these points and Kelly's ferry, occasionally extending their trips 
 to Chattanooga. General Grant availed himself of this reopening of his 
 communications, to urge forward, with all possible despatch, supplies from 
 Nashville and Louisville, and guarded the long line from Louisville to 
 Chattanooga with great care. On the 7th of October, Wheeler, the Rebel 
 cavalry general, who had attempted to cut the railroad line between 
 Nashville and Stevenson, had been terribly punished by General Crook, 
 losing nearly two thousand of his men ; and on the 3d of November, a 
 small guerrilla force, under Cooper, which had attempted a similar feat, 
 had been defeated with very severe loss by Major Fitzgibbon, at Law- 
 renceburg. 
 
 General Sherman, in command of the army of the Tennessee, had 
 essayed to come by way of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, rebuild- 
 ing it as he moved, but finding that he would be subjected to constant 
 delays, he crossed the Tennessee, and marched by the north bank to 
 Stevenson, and about the middle of November the head of his column 
 reached Chattanooga, though the entire army did not arrive there till 
 about the 2 2d of the month. 
 
C43 THE CiriL WAR TN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 During the next three or four weeks, the two opposing commandera 
 watched each other narrowly ; Grant was not disposed to move till his 
 old command, the army of the Tennessee, then on its way, should arrive, 
 and he could accumulate supplies sufficient to make a campaign prudent; 
 and Bragg, though having a sufficient force, shrunk from attempting to 
 assault Chattanooga, knowing that its great strength would render an 
 assault perilous and probably unsucceseful. 
 
 About the 12th of.November, General Bragg made the egregious blun- 
 der of sending Longstreet with twenty thousand men, more than one 
 fourth of his entire effective force, to attempt the recapture of East 
 Tennessee. General Grant was immediately informed of this, and saw in 
 it an opportunity to defeat both Bragg and Longstreet. He therefore 
 instructed General Burnside, who was then in command in East Tennes- 
 see, to lure Longstreet on, fighting moderately at each successive outpost, 
 resisting with just sufficient strenuousness to secure Longstreet's advance, 
 though delaying that advance as far as he could, and at la.st, falling back 
 on Knoxville, to hold the Rebel general there for a i)rotracted siege, 
 when the army at Chattanooga would break his communications with 
 Bragg, defeat that general, and then send a force to Knoxville sufficient 
 to compel Longstreet to raise the siege. General Burnside performed his 
 part of the plan with admirable skill, paying no heed to the denunciations 
 of the newspapers, at what they called his ignominious retreat. On the 
 14th of November, when Longstreet attempted to cross the Little Tennes- 
 see, Burnside resisted him, and drove back his advance about a mile. He 
 then retreated to Marysville, and the Rebels followed. After a slight 
 skirmish, Burnside again fell back to Lenoir station, where he made a 
 stand, as if intending to hold the place, and repulsed three attacks of the 
 Rebels on the 15th of November. The next morning, he withdrew to 
 Campbell's station, and there fought them from noon until evening, push- 
 ing his trains meanwhile into Knoxville, and ordering all hands to labor 
 on the defences of the city. After the battle at Campbell's station, Burn- 
 side again fell back, and after one more battle, retired in good order 
 within the fortifications of Knoxville, which had by this time made 
 considerable progress. On the ISth of November, Longstreet commenced 
 the investment of the city, and Burnside immediately advised General 
 Grant of the fact, who thereupon proceeded to execute his own portion of 
 the programme. 
 
 To understand fully what this was, we must describe, in a few words, 
 tlie topography of the region in the immediate vicinity of Chattanooga. 
 In front of the town, looking southward, stretches a considerable plain 
 known as the Chattanooga valley, broken, however by two bluffs or hills, 
 called the Bald Knobs, or collectively as Orchard Knob. On the right, 
 the steep and frowning cliffs, half palisade, of Lookout mountain, towered 
 up above the clouds, with Rebel batteries high up on the western slope, 
 
BRAGG'S MESSAGE TO GENERAL GRANT. €49 
 
 and barricades and rifle-pits at Summertown, while on the summit, in a 
 clear day, two sixty-four pounders could be discerned. On Bald Knobs, 
 were stationed two batteries of considerable strength, connected with 
 Lookout mountain on the west and Mission Ridge on the east by a line 
 of rifle-pits. Just east of Chattanooga the Tennessee river, which, at the 
 city, flows from east to west, turns northward, and leaves a considerable 
 open valley, beyond the northern termination of Mission Ridge, through 
 which the railroads to Knoxville and Atlanta pass. The ridge proper 
 terminates at Tunnel hill, but an isolated knob, or hill, separated by a 
 deep valley from Tunnel hill, forms a continuation of it toward the mouth 
 of the West Chickamauga river. Over this isolated hill, the Rebels had 
 erected a bastion of no great strength ; but on the brow of Tunnel hill, 
 was Fort Buckner, a very strong earth and timber work ; and about a 
 mile and a half below, still on the summit of the ridge, was Fort Bragg, 
 nearly or quite as strong ; while still farther south, and but a short distance 
 above the old Chickamauga battle-ground, was a third formidable earth- 
 work. Fort Breckenridge. Fort Bragg was connected with the batteries 
 on Orchard Knob by a line of rifle-pits, and the three forts, Buckner, 
 Bragg, and Breckinridge, were protected from approach by two lines of 
 rifle-pits, running parallel with the axis of the ridge, one near its base, the 
 other about half-way up the western slope. The whole position was one 
 of extraordinary strength, the only weak point being the separation of 
 the Rebel left wing from the remainder of their force on Lookout moun- 
 tain. Bragg had probably about sixty-five thousand effective troops at 
 this time, and he felt so confident of his ability to defeat Grant, notwith- 
 standing he had sent so large a contingent to East Tennessee, that on the 
 21st of November, he sent a flag of truce to Chattanooga with the follow- 
 ing message: 
 
 " Humanity would suggest the removal of all non-combatants from the 
 city, as I am about to bombard it. 
 
 "Braxton- Bragg, Lieutenant- General 
 
 General Grant made no reply, either verbal or written, to this message; 
 yet within four days, the Rebel general had received an answer, which 
 though hardly satisfactory, was certainly intelligible. Grant's plan con- 
 templated four distinct movements, yet each in some sense depending upon 
 the others ; they were, first, the capture of the Rebel works on Orchard 
 Knob, as the central point from which he could move in either direction; 
 second, the driving of the Rebel left wing from Lookout mountain, cap- 
 turing their artillery and rifle-pits, and the use of the same force to attack 
 Fort Breckinridge in rear ; third, a persistent and resolute demonstration 
 from the north, on the bastion and Fort Buckner, such as should draw 
 the Rebel troops on the crest, around Fort Bragg, to the assistance and 
 support of the garrison of Buckner ; and lastly, when, by this demonstra- 
 
USD THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tion, Fort Bragg was essentially weakened, then to hurl upon it a corps 
 of picked troops, and drive the Rebels over the eastern slope of the moun- 
 tain. The strategical ability manifested in this plan was of the highest 
 order, and its successful accomplishment added new laurels to the rising 
 fame of the able commander of the division of the Mississippi. 
 
 The preparations had been made for crossing the Tennessee and West 
 Chickamauga river, near its mouth, by pontoons, in order to attack the 
 bastion already mentioned and Fort Buckner, on the 22d and the morn- 
 ing of the 23d, and Sherman's two corps, (army of the Tennessee,) except 
 one division, were designated for the work, but finding that the Rebel 
 army was in motion. General Grant deemed it best to make his attack, 
 or rather a reconnoissance in force, upon the enemy's centre, first. On 
 Monday, November 23d, Fort Wood, the only Union work south of 
 Chattanooga, opened with its heavy guns upon the Rebel line, and 
 General Wood's division marched at a quickstep upon the enemy's posi- 
 tion, and after a brief but severe action, charged upon their rifle-pits, 
 carried them with a rush, taking two thousand prisoners, and capturing 
 the two batteries on Bald Knobs. While Wood was fortifying and 
 strengthening the position thus suddenly wrested from the enemy, Sheri- 
 dan's division was sent to his support, and the eleventh corps captured the 
 rifle-pits on Citico creek, thus giving to the Union army the command of 
 almost the entire upper Chattanooga valley, and enabling them to pour 
 an enfilading fire into the Rebel rifle-pits and forts on Mission Ridge. 
 
 Let us turn now for a moment to Sherman's movements. The North 
 Chickamauga creek, a small but partially navigable stream, flows into 
 the Tennessee river about seven miles above Cliattanooga; into this 
 stream one hundred and sixteen pontoon boats were launched, having 
 been brought thither by a concealed road from Chattanooga. Three 
 miles down the Tennessee, and just below the mouth of the West Chick- 
 amauga river, which enters the Tennessee from the south, a site had beea 
 chosen for a pontoon bridge, and an isolated hill there furnished a position 
 for a formidable tele dejwnt, while the bend of the river, and the proximity 
 of the hills to the north shore, at tliis point, permitted the planting of 
 batteries, wliich could sweep both sides of the river, if the intended cross- 
 ing was discovered. At one A. Jt. of the 24th of November, General 
 Sherman's force of picked men, about three thousand in number, entered 
 their pontoon boats and moved swiftly down, hugging closely the right 
 bank of the Tennessee for three miles; then crossed, and landed a small 
 force above the West Chickamauga, and the remainder just below it. 
 Having discharged their living freight, the boats were rowed to the other 
 shore, whither the main body of Sherman's army had marched, and where 
 the bridge material had been concealed. Two divisions, with artillery, 
 were at once ferried over by the boats, and the steamer Dunbar, which 
 had been sent up from Chattanooga for that purpose, and by noon, a pon- 
 
HOOKER'S ATTACK ON LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 651 
 
 toon bridge across the Tennessee, fourteen hundred feet long, and another 
 across the West Chickamauga, two hundred feet long, were completed, 
 and strong tetes de pont were erected, covering both bridges. The main 
 body then proceeded to attack the Rebel position in the bastion on the 
 isolated hill, of which we have already spoken. This was carried without 
 much difficulty, the Eebels retreating to Fort Buckner, on Tunnel hill. 
 The same afternoon, General Sherman, by direction of General Grant, 
 despatched a strong cavalry force across the pontoon bridge over the 
 West Chickamauga to Cleveland, to destroy the railroad, and the Rebel 
 government stores, and manufactories there. They were snccessful in 
 this expedition, and thus prevented Bragg and Longstreet from communi- 
 cating with each other. The bastion on the isolated hill, (or rather hills, 
 for there were three, connected by slight depressions, and forming almost a 
 semicircle around Tunnel hill), having been occupied, and fortified, Sher- 
 man's work for the day was done. 
 
 Let us now see what Hooker had been doing during the day. General 
 Grant had assigned to him the difficult task of dislodging the Rebel left 
 wing from Lookout mountain. The position on that mountain was of 
 great value to the Union army, and must be captured at all hazards, but 
 it was, also, as valuable to the Rebels, and would undoubtedly be defended 
 with great obstinacy. 
 
 The Rebels occupied the west side, or slope of Lookout mountain in 
 very strong force, and also the front or spur of the mountain. As we 
 have elsewhere intimated, the descent of Lookout mountain is not a reg- 
 ular slope from its summit to its base. The upper portion of the moun- 
 tain, after twenty-five or thirty feet of descent, is a perpendicular wall of 
 basalt, like the palisades on the Hudson, for some hundreds of feet ; below 
 this wall, the descent is sloping, but rough and rocky. There are but 
 three passes by which this wall of palisades can be crossed, one near the 
 front or spur of the mountain, known as the Summertown road, which 
 winds in zig-zags up the east side of the mountain, ascending the palisades 
 by a steep declivity, and a narrow, tortuous, and rocky road ; a second 
 by a gap, twenty miles south, near Trenton, which was held with strong 
 works by the Rebels ; the third, nearly sixty miles from the river, at 
 Valley Head. General Hooker's intention was to seize the Summertown 
 road, and by so doing, gain possession of the mountain. 
 
 By eight o'clock, General Hooker's column, consisting of one division 
 of Slocum's corps, one of Sherman's (fourteenth corps), and two brigades 
 from the fourth corps, was moving up Lookout valley, and to the sur- 
 prise of the enemy on the point of the mountain, it disappeared in the 
 forest south of Wauhatchie, but supposing he was intending to attempt the 
 ascent of the mountain by the pass twenty miles below, which they knew 
 to be well fortified, they gave themselves no uneasiness in regard to his 
 'movements. Soon after entering the forest, the Union commander filed 
 
652 THE CIVIL TVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his troops to the left, and commenced the difficult task of ascending the 
 mountain. Meeting with no opposition, except that of inanim.ite nature, 
 he was able to reach the palisades in a short time. Ilere he faced the 
 head of his column northward, forming them in line of battle, with their 
 right resting against the palisades, and their left extending down the slope. 
 A second line was formed from the two brigades of the fourth corps, and 
 a third, which was held in reserve, from the division from the fourteenth 
 corps. ThvLS arranged, the troops were ordered forward, with a heavy 
 line of skirmishers thrown out, and marching along the slope of the 
 mountain, soon came upon the rear of the enemy, who, entirely unprepared 
 for such a movement, were taken completely by surprise. Before those 
 at the foot of the hill could comprehend the situation of affairs, the Union 
 skirmishers had penetrated far toward the point of the mountain, and now 
 opened a heavy fire upon the enemy, who were trying to escape up the 
 hill, while the Union troops assaulted them from above. At the same 
 time, the Union batteries on Moccasin Point, and those of the Rebels on 
 Lookout mountain, opened on each other, and the day being misty and 
 threatening rain, the base of the mountain was soon enveloped in clouds 
 of smoke and fog, and the battle which followed was, most of it, fought 
 " above the clouds." 
 
 The Rebels taken, thus in flank and rear, made but little organized resist- 
 ance, but their skirmishers for a long time kept up a heavy but irregular firci 
 from behind trees and jutting rocks. They were, however, finally forced 
 back by the heavy skirmish line under General Hooker, and the Rebel 
 force on the point of the mountain gradually gave way, and fell back in 
 some disorder to the line of breastworks on the east slope of the moun- 
 tain, at Carlin's house. The Union troops then swung around until their 
 line was parallel to that of the enemy, and again advanced, but being met 
 by organized and well directed resistance, recoiled, and hesitated for a 
 little time. Meanwhile, the reserves and the second line were gleaning a 
 large harvest of prisoners, the movement around the spur of the mountain 
 having been so rapid that the Rebel troops stationed at the foot of the 
 mountain, and along the river, had had no time to escape. Thirteen hun- 
 dred and sixty prisoners were captured here in a few minutes, and most 
 of them provc<l to have been paroled unexchanged prisoners from Vicks- 
 burg, who, through the bad faith of the Rebel Government, had been 
 declared exchanged, without an equivalent, and put into the ranks 
 again. 
 
 The enemy on the east side of the mountain were posted in strong 
 and deep rifle-pits, and behind them, to the right of Carlin's house, were 
 posted two pieces of artillery. ITad the Rebels had the force which had 
 been taken prisoners a few minutes before to aid them in maintaining this 
 line, they would have probably been able to hold their position against 
 Hooker's whole force ; but after a careful reconnoissance, General Hooker 
 
/ 
 
 Mlfr WTT-T- .1,1 ^a,T-^ ^1, 
 
 il ill I ^h ,^ 
 
 IT I 
 
 ^\.^'^ ^ 
 
 o ^-^ 
 
THE EEBELS DRIVEN PROM THEIR POSITION. 653 
 
 became satisfied that their line was very thin, and that under a systematic 
 assault they would be compelled to break it at some point, and at once 
 ordered a resolute advance. As he had foreseen, the Eebels were com- 
 pelled to contract their line across the field, and in doing so, left their 
 right flank exposed. The struggle v/hich followed was heavy and severe J 
 for an hour and a half, from two to half-past three P. M., the fighting was very 
 close, and almost entirely between man and man. The advance of Hook- 
 er's troops was stubbornly resisted, but a little before four o'clock P. M., the 
 general ascertained that they had been compelled from the lack of numbers 
 to contract their line on the left also, and that some of his troops had 
 effected a lodgement near their rifle-pits. Ordering a charge of the whole 
 line at double-quickstep upon their left flank, he soon had the satisfaction 
 of seeing them fall back, abandoning their rifle-pits, artillery, and position, 
 but still retaining their hold upon the important Summertown road. 
 A])parently repenting of their retreat, the Rebels now hastily reformed, 
 and charging upon the Union lines, sought to regain their position before 
 the Union troops could occupy fully their former position, or turn the 
 I'-aptured guns upon them. They rushed forward at first with great vigor, 
 but were soon halted by the terrible fire which was poured in upon them. 
 They attempted to push forward again, but met with a resolute resistance, 
 which would have repulsed them speedily, but for the fact that Hooker's 
 men had nearly expended their ammunition. General Hooker, anticipa- 
 ting this, had sent twice for a further supply, but owing to the difficulty 
 of transportation across the pontoon bridges in the rain, it had failed to 
 come. Just at the opportune moment, however, when his men werebegin- 
 ing to fall out of the line for want of ammunition, a fresh brigade from 
 the fourteenth corps, two thousand strong, marched up the hill, and rush- 
 ing at once to the attack, repulsed the enemy in ten minutes. The Rebels 
 now fell back, but still kept possession of the Summertown road. 
 
 It was now night, but not content with what he had already gained, 
 General Hooker pushed forward in the darkness, and after an hour's fight- 
 ing, succeeded in intrenching himself within three hundred yards of the 
 enemy's works on the Summertown road. Here the second Ohio rci- 
 meut. Colonel Anson McCook's, which was in the advance, was suddenly 
 and furiously attacked by the Rebel sharpshooters, as they were throwing- 
 up a line of breastworks, but repulsed their assailants, though not witli- 
 out suffering heavy losses. In the morning, General Hooker found that 
 the Eebels had abandoned their position on the Summertown road, and 
 on the summit of the mountain, and had escaped to Mission Ridge. The 
 Union troops took possession at once of these positions, and the main 
 body then moved down tlie eastern slope, by the Hickajack trace — the 
 route which General Jackson followed in his campaign against the 
 Cherokees — and crossing the Chattanooga cieek valley, ascended Mission 
 Ridge, at a point nearly opposite the battle-field of Chickamauga. From 
 
651 THE CIYIL WAE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 thence they moved northward to Rossville, and to the summit of Mission 
 Eidge, coming upon the rear of Fort Breckinridge, the southernmost of 
 the three Rebel works still held by the Rebels. 
 
 While he was thus moving upon the left flank of the Rebel army on 
 the morning of the 25th of November, General Sherman was movins; for- 
 ward to his allotted work of making a strong and persistent demonstration 
 upon Fort Buckner. Sherman knew, what the newspaper correspondents 
 did not, that this demonstration upon the Rebel fort, though long, contin- 
 uous, and bloody, was not expected or intended to be pushed to the point 
 of capture ; that its only intent was to make so strong a feint, as to draw 
 thither a large portion of the troops from Fort Bragg, and thus weaken 
 that stronghold, which, though larger, was weaker than Buckner, so that 
 it could be carried by assault. The capture of this central fort would 
 inevitably be followed by the abandonment of the other two, which might 
 not be the case if either of the terminal ones were captured. But Sher- 
 man had learned fully the soldier's lesson of obedience, and though it 
 might bring temporary reproach, he did not hesitate in his fealty to his 
 chief. 
 
 We have already alluded to the semicircular form of the hill, or cluster 
 of hills, on which his troops were posted, and which enabled him to send 
 his assaulting columns either up the eastern or western slope of Tunnel 
 hill. In the valley which lay between his position and Tunnel hill, was 
 a railroad station, near which the Rebels had planted a strong force. 
 These, by an artillery attack, as well as by a feint of attacking them on 
 the right, he drew out of their position, and compelled to fall back to the 
 ibrt on the hill. The first attack on Fort Buckner was made by Corse's and 
 Lightburn's brigades of the fifteenth army corps, upon the left or eastern 
 slope of Tunnel hill, and these brigades succeeded in reaching the plateau at 
 the top of the hill, but there met a most destructive fire from the fort, before 
 which they rapidly recoiled and fled. The enemy attempted pursuit, but 
 the Union batteries having the exact range, rained such a tempest of shell 
 upon them, that they were compelled to fall back into the fort for shelter. 
 Meanwhile, another brigade was ascending the western slope of the hill, 
 driving the Rebels from the outworks into the fort, and pursuing them 
 with a pitiless rain of musket-balls and sliells. The brigades on the 
 eastern slope, having sheltered themselves below the crest, and Smith's 
 brigade having been added to their ranks, and the eleventh corps 
 (Iloward's) advanced to the base of the hill to support them, moved for- 
 ward again to attack the fort, and this time approached slowly, and in 
 good order, within a hundred yards of it, only to be again forced back by 
 the terrible blast of fire from the fort, and this time with Generals Corse 
 and Smith among the wounded. General Lightburn reformed them below 
 the crest, and ordered them to lie down and await the attack of the enemy, 
 should he venture to make one. Sherman's batteries, meanwhile, and 
 
SHERMAN'S ATTACK UPON PORT BUCKNER. 655 
 
 Thomas's, from Fort Wood and Orchard Knob, were showering their shot 
 and shell upon Forts Buckner and Bragg, with great rapidity and effect. 
 
 On the right, another brigade had moved forward, and after skirmishing 
 for some time with the enemy, succeeded in gaining possession of an 
 abrupt ledge of rocks, which, outcropping from the hill-side, afforded a 
 secure position to an attacking column at a point not more than fifty 
 yards from Fort Buckner, which was near the crest of the west side of the 
 hill up which the brigade was now moving. They were soon after rein- 
 forced by a second brigade, which reached the position without skirmish- 
 ing. The enemy fearing their proximity, and finding themselves unable to 
 reach them effectually with musketry, began to roll down huge stones from 
 the crest of the mountain upon them. These novel missiles did consider- 
 able damage, and annoyed the men so much that they demanded to be led 
 against the enemy, but were met by so terrible a fire that they fell back 
 to their ledge again in considerable disorder. Here they formed again, 
 and lay down, waiting an attack from the enemy. 
 
 On the left. General Sherman now sent two more regiments to reinforce 
 the troops under Lightburn's command. On their approach the brigades 
 sprang up and pushed on again toward the fort, while the supporting 
 regiments toiled up, after them, and though met by a fiercer storm of shot 
 and shell, of musket balls, and as they approached nearer of grape and 
 canister, than before, they pushed forward, continuing their slow ascent for 
 half an hour in the midst of this terrible fire, dashing forward and furi- 
 ously upon the guns of the fort, and the flash of their guns meeting that 
 of the enemy, but were hurled back, maddened with their failure. Our 
 brigade, unable to endure this pitiless blast of fire, broke and rushed 
 down the hill, but midway in their flight, an officer of another brigade 
 sprang out in front of them, and shouted "Halt!" when instantly they 
 stopped, wheeled in order at the word of command, and marched up the 
 hill again, as steadily as if they had never faltered. On they went, sternly 
 and grandly, drawing down the visors of their caps over their eyes, 
 as if to shield them from the fearful flame that was sweeping their ranks 
 down. It was but fifty yards, but they found the distance long, and yet 
 seemed just on the point of winning, when the Eebel General Buckner, 
 fearing for the fate of the fort, brought up a large reinforcement from Fort 
 Bragg, and coming upon them at the double-quick, drove them hastily 
 back, though without disorder or panic. Pushing on to the east side of 
 the hill, the Eebels were met by Lightburn's force, and driven back to the 
 fort. The object of the demonstration had been accomplished; nearly 
 one half of the troops around Fort Bragg had been drawn by Sherman's 
 persistence, to Fort Buckner, and while Sherman ordered Lightburn to 
 intrench and go into position, the six guns, fired at intervals of two 
 seconds, the signal for the starting of the fourth corps to assault Fort 
 Bragg, had already been heard, and the men who, in their forced idleness 
 
65G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 had been restless as hounds straining at their leash, sprang at once into 
 position, and in another minute were marching rapidly toward Fort 
 Bragg. The distance from Orchard Knob, where the fourth corps had lain 
 perdu all day, to the base of Mission Eidge, was a mile and a half, a route 
 " with narrow fringes of woods, rough valleys, sweeps of open fields, 
 rocky acclivities, to the base of the ridge, and no foot in all the breadth 
 withdrawn from Rebel sight. The base attained, what then ? A heavy 
 Rebel work packed with the enemy, rimming it like a battlement. That 
 work carried, and what then? A hill, struggling up out of the valley 
 four hundred feet, rained on by bullets, swept by shot and shell ; another 
 line of works, and then up like a Gothic roof, rough with rocks, a wreck 
 with fallen trees, four hundred more, another ring of fire and iron, and 
 then the crest, and then the enemy." The hill was one almost inaccessible 
 to the tourist, who, struggling upward, panting and breathless, found it.') 
 precipitous sides too steep for his climbing, where no rocks, no steady 
 blaze of shot and shell and minie balls, made the ascent more impossible; 
 how then could these brave soldiers climb it with their muskets and 
 knapsacks, amid a fire whose terrors have hardly been equalled during 
 the war? 
 
 They did not, however, stay for impossibilities. The mile and a half 
 to the base was made in thirty minutes, and though the dead and wounded 
 were numerous, there were no stragglers. From six Union batteries, 
 Forts Wood and Negley, Forts Palmer and King, Bridge's battery on 
 Orchard Knob, and the heavy siege guns on Moccasin Point, a steady 
 bombardment was kept up on Fort Bragg, which replied stoutly so long 
 as its shot could reach the assaulting column. 
 
 The rifle-pits at the base were reached, and taken instantly, the Rebel 
 prisoners streaming out from the rear like the tail of a kite; and giving 
 no further heed to them, since the fire of their own forts would drive 
 them disarmed to a Union shelter, the daring troops went on, up, up, four 
 hundred feet, to the second line of rifle-pits, from which, with a suddenness 
 which would have been ludicrous, had not the occasion been too serious 
 ibr laughter, they jerked the Rebels out of these also, and sent them flying 
 down the hill, and addressed themselves to the mighty task yet before 
 them. Hitherto, from that crest, thirteen batteries, numbering sixty guns, 
 liad poured their concentrated fire upon the assaulting columns, but now 
 the ascent was so steep that the guns could not be sufficiently depressed 
 to reach them. The Rebels did not believe it possible for them to ascend 
 this part of the ridge, but to make that more impossible which they already 
 believed to be completely so, they directed a steady and continuous mus- 
 ketry fire upon them, rolled down huge rocks, and shells witli lighted 
 fuse upon them, and ranging themselves along the edge of the crest, pre- 
 pared to hurl to sudden destruction the score or so who they thought 
 might probably gain its verge. 
 
OPERATIONS BEFORE KNOXVILLE. 
 
 657 
 
 But the heroes of the fourth corps struggled upward amid the thick 
 falling leaden hail, the shells, and the rolling stones, now steadying them- 
 selves for a new effort, by the limb of some fallen tree, or the angle of 
 a projecting rock, but ever upward, upward still, till at last, panting with 
 the exertion, the edge of the crest is reached, and with a mighty struggle, 
 tlie level is gained. Here for a few minutes the fighting was sharp, for a 
 part of the Kebels, veteran troops, stood at bay, like gray wolves; but 
 soon they began to fly down the eastern "slope of the ridge, and Bragg, 
 Breckinridge, and Buckner, spurring their horses to the utmost, and 
 barely escaping capture, pushed down the mountain to Chickamauga sta- 
 tion. The cannon were seized, and turned on the retreating foe, but it 
 was already night, and further pursuit was relinquished till morning. 
 Meanwhile, Fort Buckner had been captured by Palmer's column imme- 
 diately after the fate of Fort Bragg was decided ; and General Hooker's 
 command had driven the Rebels out of Fort Breckinridge. Early in the 
 morning the pursuit was resumed, with three army corps, headed by 
 Sherman, Hooker, Howard, and Palmer, the first named in chief com- 
 mand. They reached Chickamauga station, from whence the Rebels were 
 already retreating, and captured there some of the commissary stores 
 whicli the enemy had not had time to destroy; they overtook them on 
 Pigeon Ridge, and drove them thence, routed them at Grayville where they 
 attempted to bivouac, pushed them the next morning to and through Ring- 
 gold, and into Ringgold gap, a narrow defile through Taylor's Ridge, 
 where they made a stand, and General Hooker rashly attacking them in 
 front, met with terrible losses, but finally carried the defile, and captured' 
 three hundred prisoners. The loss of Hooker's command hei"e was 
 heavier than in the capture of Lookout mountain. 
 
 The eleventh corps, meanwhile, crossing Taylor's Ridge by Parker's 
 gap, below Ringgold, pushed forward to the Cleveland and Dalton railroad, 
 ;it Red Clay station, and thoroughly destroyed the road for several miles, 
 thus preventing the junction of Longstreet and Bragg by that route. 
 They also captured about a thousand prisoners. Meantime, the siege of 
 Knoxville was pressed with ardor by Longstreet ; and Burnside, who had 
 had the misfortune, just -before the siege commenced, to lose, by the .in- 
 efficiency of the regimental commanders, a considerable portion of his 
 cavalry, and supply trains of great value, found himself in close quarters. 
 On the 18th of November, he was obliged to put his troops upon half 
 rations. The defences of Knoxville, by almost incredible labor, under the 
 superintendence of Colonel Poe, chief engineer of his staff, had been 
 strengthened so as to be nearly impregnable. A battle of considerable 
 severity had been fought on the 18th of November, at Armstrong's farm, 
 in which General Sanders, a young Union ofl&cer of much promise, had 
 been mortally wounded, and the Union troops had lost about one hundred 
 42 
 
658 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and fifty in killed and wounded, but the Union force fell back in good 
 order behind their second line of defences. 
 
 Longstreet was poorly supplied with artillery, and hence, though the 
 investment was complete, the siege was not so severe as it otherwise might 
 have been. Several sorties were made by the besieged, and most of them 
 were successful. On the 26th of November, ,the day after his defeat. 
 General Bragg sent orders to General Longstreet to abandon the siege, 
 and join him, but Longstreet, sanguine of capturing Knoxville, declined 
 to obey. He could not, probably, have succeeded in effecting a junction 
 with Bragg, had he attempted it, lor the communications were broken, 
 and Sherman was in his way. On the evening of the 27th of November, 
 General Grant, who had previously ordered General Gordon Granger, 
 with the fourth corps, to go to Knoxville to raise the siege, but had been 
 met with hesitation, objections, and complaints," ordered General Sherman 
 to take his own old corps, (the fifteenth,) together with the f(;urth and 
 eleventh, and making a forced march, relieve Burnsidc. The fifteenth 
 corps might well have complained of the hardship, for they had marched 
 with great rapidity from Vicksburg, and with their shoes and clothing 
 badly worn, and without a day's rest, had fout;ht the severe battles of the 
 23d to the 25th of November; and now still without rest, in winter, amid 
 snow and deep mud, with but a scanty and ill supplied commissariat, they 
 were required to make a forced march of about one hundred and thirty 
 miles. But the filteenth corps and its comnuuider were inured, to hard- 
 ship, and no complaint was uttered by them. Starting at early dawn of 
 the 28th of November, Sherman's cavalry reached Knoxville on ll)e even- 
 ing of the 3d of December, and his main column came up on the -ith, 
 when Longstreet abandoned the siege, and hastily retreated toward Vir- 
 ginia, but took a strong position at Bean's station, and fortified it, await- 
 ing an attack. A sharp fight ensued between General Shacklelbrd, who 
 commanded the Union advance, and the Kebels, though without any very 
 decisive result. Shackleford lost about two hundred men, and a part of 
 his train, and LoQgstreet about eight hundred. The next day Long.street 
 retreated to liogersville, and remained there, for several weeks, his men 
 being generally barefoot, and unable to move on the rough and icy roads 
 of that region during the winter months. Leaving the fourth corps at 
 Knoxville to strengthen the garrison, General Sherman returned with the 
 eleventh and fifteenth corps to Chattanooga. 
 
 The Union losses in the Chattanooga campaign, including the relief of 
 Knoxville, were seven hundred and fifty-seven killed, four thousand five 
 hundred and twenty-nine wounded, and three hundred and thirty missing: 
 total, five thousand six hundred and sixteen. The number of Rebels 
 killed and wounded were above six thousand, and they lost beside, six 
 thousand one hundred and forty-two prisoners unwounded, as well as four 
 thousand wounded prisoners, more than sixty pieces of artillery, and a 
 
OBNERAL HALLECK'S ESTIMATE OF THE CAMPAIGN. 659 
 
 large train. At the close of this campaign, General Grant issued the fol- 
 lowing congratulatory order to the troops under his command : 
 
 " Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, in the Field, 
 " Chattanooga, Tennessee, December 10, 1863. 
 
 " General Orders No. 9. — The general commanding takes this oppor- 
 tunity of returning his sincere thanlcs and congratulations to the brave 
 armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and their comrades 
 from the Potomac, for the recent splendid and decisive successes achieved 
 over the enemy. In a short time you have recovered from him the 
 control of the Tennessee river from Bridgeport to Knoxville. You dis- 
 lodged him from his great stronghold upon Lookout mountain, drove 
 him from Chattanooga valley, wrested from his determined grasp the 
 possession of Mission Ridge, repelled with heavy loss to him, his repeated 
 assaults upon Knoxville, forcing him to raise the siege there, driving him 
 at all points, utterly routed and discomfited, beyond the limits of the 
 State. By your noble heroism and determined courage, you have most 
 effectually defeated the plans of the enemy for regaining possession of 
 the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. You have secured positions from 
 which no rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For all this, the 
 general commanding thanks you collectively and individually. The loyal 
 people of the United States thank and bless you. Their hopes and prayers 
 for your success against this unholy rebellion are with you daily. Their 
 faith in you will not be in vain. Their hopes will not be blasted. Their 
 prayers to Almighty God will be answered. You will yet go to other 
 fields of strife ; and with the invincible bravery and unflinching loyalty 
 to justice and right which have characterized you in the past, you will 
 prove that no enemy can withstand you, and that no defences, however 
 formidable, can check your onward march. 
 
 " By order of Major-General U. S. Grant. 
 
 "T. S. Bowers, A. A. G:' 
 
 Of the battles around Chattanooga, General Halleck said in his report: 
 " Considering the strength of the Rebel position, and the difficulty of 
 storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered' 
 the most remarkable in history. Not only did the officers and men ex- 
 hibit great skill and daring in their operations on the field, but the 
 highest praise is due to the commanding general for his admirable dispo- 
 sitions for dislodging the enemy from a position apparently impregnable. 
 Moreover, by turning his right flank, and throwing him back upon Ring- 
 gold and Dalton, Sherman's forces were interposed between Bragg and 
 Longstreet, so as to prevent anv possibility of their forming a junction." 
 
660 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OK THK NORTIIWKST — INDIAN TROUBLES IN MINNESOTA — DEATH OF LITTLE 
 TROW — GENERAL SIBLEY'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS — HK DEFEATS, PURSUES, 
 AND ROUTES THEM — OEN'ERAL SULLY's BATTLE AT WHITESTONE IIILI. — ESCAPE OF THK 
 INDIANS — GENERAL CONNEk's BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS — DEPARTMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA 
 — GENERAL AVErKLl/s RAID INTO SOUTHWESTERN TIROLMA — HIS CAPTURE AT SALEM 
 AND DESTRUCTION OF COMMISSARY AND QUAKTEKM ASTERS' STORES — HIS ESCAPE FROM TUB 
 SIX GENERALS — SKETCH OF GENERAL ATERELL — OTHER OPERATIONS IN WEST VIRGINIA — 
 ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — LEE's FLANKING MOVEMENT^ — ITS EXTENT — GENERAL MKADE's 
 EXCESSIVE CAUTION — THE CAVALRY BATTLE AT BRANDY STATION — GENERAL WARREn'S 
 BATTLE WITH HILL's CORPS AT BRISTOW STATION — HILL REPULSED — CVSTEr's ATTACK ON 
 
 Stuart's CAVALRY — lee's return to the rapidan — imboden's attack on charlestown, 
 
 VIRGINIA^ — LEE removes TO THE li APPAHAXNOCK AND FORTIFIES HIS I'OSITION — MEADE 
 drives him back, taking OVER TWO THOUSAND PRISONERS — SEDGWICK'S ASSAULT AI 
 RAPPAHANNOCK STATION — ITS SUCCESS — THE LEFT WING AT KELLY's FORD AMD 
 BRANDY STATION — MEADtl's COXip-de-main — HIS PLANS UNMASKED — HIS WITHDRAWAL 
 ACROSS THE RAPIDAN — RESULTS. 
 
 In the Department of the Northwest, the summer of 1863, though hap- 
 pily unsullied by any massacres like the atrocious slaughter of 1862, ■was 
 not wholly free from Indian disturbances. Little Crow, the wily and 
 daring leader of the Sioux in their deeds of blood in 1862, had, during 
 the winter, visited the British settlements, and endeavored to obtain from 
 the authorities there, arms, ammunition, and provisions, in large quanti- 
 ties. Ue failed in this, but secured from some of the traders a moderate 
 supply of powder and fire-arms, and gathered, in May and the early part 
 of June, a large force of Indians at Miniwakan, or Devil's Lake, in Dakota 
 Territory, five hundred miles northwest from St. Paul. He had sent also 
 in April, May, and June, small bands of Indians, a half dozen or dozen 
 together, to penetrate into Minnesota, and rob, murder, steal horses, and 
 other valuables. S'everal of these bands had succeeded in eluding the 
 frontier guard of over two thousand men, which had been stationed along 
 the western line of Minnesota, and had succeeded in murdering twenty- 
 five or thirty persons, though full half the number of Indians had met 
 their death at the hands of the settlers. In the latter part of June, from 
 some unexplained cause, Little Crow, taking one of his sons with him, 
 left the Indian camp, and made his way into Minnesota .to sieal horses. 
 About the first of July, he was in the vicinity of Hutchinson, Minnesota, 
 and Mr. Chauncy Lampson and his son, who were out hunting, observed 
 them prowling about, and evidently bent on mi.schief Tliey were nearly 
 six miles from the town. Mr. Lampson fired upon them, and the elder 
 Indian fired in return, wounding Mr. Lampson, when young Lampson 
 fired and instantly killed Little Crow, but his son made his escape. Neither 
 
THE INDIAN TROUBLIOS IN THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 661 
 
 of the Lampsons had an idea that it was the famous Indian chief whom 
 they had killed, and the fact was not known till nearly a month later, 
 when the boy being captured, related the circumstances of his father's 
 death, and the body was identified. General Pope, who was in command 
 of the Department of the Northwest, sent General Sibley, early in June, 
 with a force of about two thousand five hundred men, to Lake Miniwa- 
 kan, to attack the Indians who had gathered there ; and ordered General 
 Sully to start, about the same tinne, with a large cavalry force, to ascend 
 the Missouri river if possible as high as Fort Clark, and co-operate with 
 him in cutting off the retreat of the Indians. . Owing to several causes 
 the two forces did not connect, and on the 25th of July, General Sibley 
 met the Indians, who had abandoned their position at Lake Miniwakan 
 and had marched toward the Missouri river, and encamped on the 
 lofty plateau extending eastward from the bank of that river, known as 
 Coteau de la Missouri. General Sibley attacked them at once, and fought 
 and pursued them for four days, opening on them with his artillery at 
 every point where they made a stand. There were foar distinct engage- 
 ments during these four days, at Big Mound, Dead Buffalo Lake, Stony 
 Lake, and the banks of the Missouri. In these, sixty or seventy Indians 
 were killed, and over one hundred wounded. General Sibley lost five 
 killed and four wounded. On the 3d of September, General Sully met 
 and defeated a large Indian force at Whitestone Hill, one hundred and 
 thirty miles northeast of the mouth of the Little Cheyenne. A part of 
 these had participated in the previous engagements with General Sibley. 
 The battle was a very severe one, though occurring near nightfall, the 
 Indians fighting with much greater tenacity than usual for them. They 
 lost several hundred in killed and wounded, and one hundred and fifty-six. 
 were taken prisoners. General Sully's loss was twenty killed and thirty- 
 eight wounded. It was ascertained that in August, 1863, these Indians 
 had attacked a Mackinaw boat, coming down the Missouri river, and after 
 fighting with its crew all day, losing themselves niuety-one killed and 
 many wounded, had succeeded in killing all on board, about thirty. The 
 Indians finding themselves thoroughly defeated, fled across the Missouri, 
 and a part of them took refuge in Idaho (now Montana) Territory. Late 
 in the autumn they were guilty of some outrages in that Territory, which 
 were summarily punished by General Conner, who was in command in 
 the Pacific department. General Conner had, on the 26th of January, 1863, 
 overtaken at Bear river, Idaho Territory, a band of about three hundred 
 roving Indians, who had committed thefts and murders on the overland 
 stage route, and attacking them with great fury, had killed two hundred 
 and twenty-four out of the three hundred, and captured one hundred and 
 seventy-five of their horses. His own loss in killed and wounded was- 
 sixty-three, beside a considerable number injured by the extreme frost. 
 Returning from this distant portion of the continent, let us pass briefly 
 
G62 'I'HE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in review some of the movements in the southwestern portion of Virginia, 
 included within the not very definitely determined bounds of the Depart- 
 ment of West Virginia. 
 
 After Lougstreet had relinquished the siege of Knoxville, and fallen 
 back on Rogersville, as recorded in the preceding chapter, it became de- 
 sirable to prevent his rejoining Lee. (lie could not make his way to 
 Bragg, or rather to Johnston, who had succeeded Bragg.) Accordingly, 
 General Averell, one of the ablest cavalry ofl&cers of the army, was ordered 
 to penetrate to the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, east of Longstreet's 
 position, and by destroying the railroad, and burning the commissary and 
 quartermasters' stores gathered along its route, prevent Longstreet from 
 advancing into Virginia by that route. The service was a dangerous one, 
 for the Rebels had in the valleys of southwestern Virginia five or six of 
 their generals, in command of small forces, half guerrillas, thoroughlv 
 familiar with the very difficult country, who would at once be on the alert 
 to entrap any Union force which might penetrate into their region. But 
 General Averell was too energetic a partisan officer to hesitate before any 
 such dangers. He set out on the 8th of December, with three regiments 
 of mounted infantry, one and a half of cavalry, and Ewing's battery, and 
 on the 16th of that month had penetrated to Salem, an important station 
 on the Virginia and Tennessee railroad. Here he broke up and com- 
 pletely destroyed fifteen miles "of the railroad, burned five bridges, and 
 broke down several culverts, cut and coiled the telegraph wires for half 
 a mile, burned three depots of Rebel stores, containing one hundred thou- 
 sand bushels of corn, fifty thousand bushels of oats, ten thousand bushels 
 of wheat, two thousand barrels of flour, two thousand barrels of meal, 
 several cords of leather, one thousand sacks of salt, thirty -one boxes of 
 clothing, twenty bales of cotton, and a very large quantity of harnes.i, 
 shoes, saddles, equipments, and other stores, and one hundred wagons, 
 which had been sent forward for Long.street's troops. He was obliged 
 on his return to swim his command, and drag his artillery with ropes 
 across Grog's creek, seven times in twenty-four hours. 
 
 On his return, he found the Rebels of six separate commands, under 
 Generals Earl}', Jones, Fitzhugh Lee, Imboden, Jackson, and Echols, 
 arranged in a line extending from Staunton to Newport, on all the avail- 
 able roads, to intercept him ; but he captured a despatch from General 
 Jones to General Earty, giving him his position, and that of Jackson, 
 at Clifton Forge, and marching from Jones's front to Jackson's by night, 
 he crossed the river, and pressing in his outposts passed him. Infuriated 
 at his escape, the Rebel generals concentrated their forces in advance of 
 him, at a place called Callaghan's, where they held every road but one, 
 which they deemed impracticable. Over that one he escaped, crossing 
 the summit of the Alleghanies, and reached Beverly on the 2l8t of De- 
 cember. He stated in his report that his command had marched, climbed, 
 
SKETCH OP GENERAL AVERELL. 663 
 
 slid, and swam, three hundred and fifty-five miles in thirteen days. His 
 losses were six drowned, five wounded, and fourteen missing. He cap- 
 tured and brought in two hundred prisoners, and one hundred and fifty 
 horses. The men suffered much from cold and hunger, but endured all 
 with great fortitude. The raid was one of the rnost daring and successful 
 of the war. 
 
 Brevet Major-General William W. Averell, the leader in this brilliant 
 cavalry exploit, was born in New York, about 1834, and received a good 
 education, in the academies of New York city. He entered West Point in 
 1851, and graduated, with a fair standing, in June, 1855 ; was appointed 
 brevet second lieutenant of cavalry, and assigned to the mounted rifles, 
 now third cavalry. On the 1st of May, 1856, he was promoted to a full 
 second lieutenancy, and ordered to service in the southwestern territories. 
 He was on duty in New Mexico from that time to the commencement of 
 the war, and distinguished himself in several conflicts with the Kioway 
 and Navajoe Indians. Eeturning east in the spring of 1861, he was 
 promoted to be first lieutenant in May of that year, and received leave 
 of absence to enable liim to take command of the third Pennsylvania 
 volunteer cavalry. He joined the army of the Potomac with this regi- 
 ment, and distinguished himself before Yorktown, at Williamsburg, and 
 at Malvern Hill, and received the brevets of captain and major in the 
 regular army for his gallant conduct. He was soon after placed tempo- 
 rarily in command of the cavalry of the army of the Potomac, by General 
 McClellan. In July, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of captain in 
 the regular army; and, as acting brigadier-general of cavalry, wa.s active 
 in the latter part of Pope's campaign, and rendered valuable service in 
 the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. For his good conduct in 
 this campaign he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, his commis- 
 sion dating from September 26th, 1862. He commanded a brigade of 
 cavalry during the operations of the cavalry under General Pleasonton 
 in the autumn and early winter of 1862-3, and in February, 1863, was 
 appointed to the command of one of the divisions in Stoneman's cavalry 
 corps. In March, 1863, he engaged the Kebels at Kelly's ford. He took 
 part, though with no great distinction, in Stoneman's raid in April and 
 May, 1863, and was soon after appointed to a command in Western Vir- 
 ginia. The opportunities for distinction here were not numerous, but he 
 kept the Rebels thoroughly in check. His first opportunity for a brilliant 
 achievement was the raid we have described. In the spring of 1864 he 
 took part with General Crook in a brilliant movement on the Eebel forces 
 in southwestern Virginia, from the Ohio river ; joined Hunter in June, and' 
 was engaged with his cavalry in the subsequent actions of the Shenan- 
 doah valley; led one wing of Sheridan's army at Winchester and Fisher's 
 Hill ; and on the 2-lth of September was relieved of his command in^ 
 the army of the Shenandoah, and subsequently held no command. He 
 
664 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 had been promoted to the brevet rank of major-general for hia gallant 
 conduct in the raid described in this chapter. 
 
 Tlie army of West Virginia had, during the preceding summer and 
 autumn, several skirmishes and affairs with the Kebels, which should per- 
 hai)s have received a passing notice. A small force, under Colonel 
 Tolaud, had captured the Rebel garrison at Wytheville, West Virginia, 
 on the 24:th of July, taking one hundred and twenty-five prisoners, two 
 pieces of artillery, and seven hundred muskets, and inflicting a loss of 
 seventy-five in killed and wounded, while their own losses had been only 
 seventeen killed and eighteen wounded. In August, General Averell had 
 attacked a Rebel force, under General Sam Jones, at Rocky gap, Green- 
 brier county, and captured one piece of artillery and one hundred and 
 fifty prisoners, killing and wounding, at the same time, about two hun- 
 dred. His own loss was one hundred and thirty killed, wounded, and 
 missing. On the 11th of September, the Rebel General Imboden had 
 returned the compliment by attacking, with a large force, a small body 
 of Union troops near Moorefield, wounding fifteen, and capturing one 
 hundred and fifty. On the 5th of November, General Averell avenged 
 this by attacking and defeating a Rebel force near Lewisburg, capturing 
 three pieces of artillery, one hundred prisoners, and a large number of 
 arms, wagons, and camp equipments, and inflicting a loss of three hun- 
 dred in killed and wounded. 
 
 The hostile armies in eastern Virginia, after the battles of Gettysburg 
 and the retreat and pursuit, had occupied for several months positions 
 facing each other on the opposite banks of the Rapidan. The Union 
 forces extended along the Orange and Alexandria railroad, from the vicin- 
 ity of Culpei)per to the neighborhood of Raccoon ford, and held possession, 
 also, of Thoroughfare mountain, on the south side of the Rapidan, which 
 they occcupicd as a signal station. The Rebel forces occupied the south 
 bank of the Rapidan, and the wooded country back of it, from Germania 
 ford to United States fonl, having their headquarters at Chancellorsville. 
 
 The Rebels had the advantage of the Union army, in being better able 
 to conceal their movements; the high, steep, and wooded southern bank 
 of the Rapidan hiding from view their evolutions in rear, while they 
 could easily overlook the changes in position of the Union army. 
 
 Both armies, as we have seen, had sent large contingents, not less than 
 twenty thousand men each, to reinforce their respective armies near 
 Chattanooga ; but the Union army was now considerably the larger of 
 tlie two. General Meade had been for some time maturing the details of 
 a movement to compel Lee to relinquish the strong position which he 
 held, when he found that his antagonist had anticipated him, and was 
 already executing a Hank movement which would compel him to foil back 
 to the vicinity of Manassas Junction. 
 
 The motive which led General Lee to attempt this piece of strategy is 
 
 L 
 
FLANKING MOVEMENT OF LEE'S ARMY. 665 
 
 somewhat obscure. The most probable explanation is that w.hich sup 
 poses that his object was to so thoroughly cripple the Union army, and 
 destroy its communications with its base, that it would not be able to 
 threaten Richmond, or molest him, should he find it necessary to send 
 further reinforcements to Bragg. If this was his object he did not accom- 
 plish it, and his effort was a costly failure. 
 
 The Rebel advance was made with great caution and secrecy, the object 
 of Lee being to move behind the high bank of the'Rapidan, and while 
 deceiving the Union army by maintaining a strong picket-line, and the 
 usual number of camp-fires in their front, to pass westward beyond Orange 
 Court House, to and beyond Burnett's ford, and crossing the Rapidan in 
 that vicinity, move northward to Madison Court House, Sperryville, and 
 Little Washington ; then marching rapidly eastward from that point, to 
 strike the Union army on its right flank, and if possible pass to its rear, 
 and cat off its communications with the capital, 
 
 On the 8th of October, Heth's and Anderson's divisions, of A. P. Hill's 
 corps, were moved beyond Orange Court House by this route, and the 
 remainder of that corps followed the next morning ; while Ewell's corps, 
 which had previously been moved by a road farther south, joined it, and • 
 both marched, on the 9th, directly for Madison Court House. 
 
 But stealth}' and secret as these movements had been, the Union signal 
 officers on Thoroughfare mountain had observed them, and telegraphed, 
 on the 9th, that two immense columns of Rebel troops were moving on 
 the Orange and Gordonsville roads, and threatened to flank the right 
 wing of the Union army. General Meade, satisfied that in case of danger 
 he had the interior line, and could outmarch the foe, devoted Satui-day, 
 October 10th, to cavalry reconnoissances, to ascertain whether it was any 
 thing more than a cavalry raid, and by a vigorous demonstration upon 
 the Rebel lines, sought 'to compel them to recall a part, at least, of their 
 troops which had already crossed the Rapidan. Kilpatrick, with his 
 division of cavalry, skirmished with and threatened them at James City, 
 near Robertson's river, and fell back very slowly toward Culpepper when 
 pursued by the enemy, thus obstructing their progress. The first and 
 sixth corps, with two divisions from the other corps, moved toward the 
 Rapidan, demonstrated at all the fords, as if intending to cross imme- 
 diately, while Buford, with his cavalry division, hovered around the Union 
 right wing at Germania ford. The Rebels were thus compelled to recall 
 Ewell's corps to the south of the Rapidan. Meanwhile, Meade had des- 
 patched his trains, under Pleasonton's escort, across the Rappahannock, 
 covering their movement by the second and third corps, -which were ordered 
 to support Kilpatrick, and were in position between the enemy and Cul- 
 pepper. Gregg's division of cavalry came up, by forced marches, on 
 Saturday, and on the evening of that day, Meade had a powerful cavalry 
 
666 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 force, commanded by gallant and able officers, in a position to fight the 
 enemy eftectively. 
 
 At two A. M. Sunday morning, October 11th, the entire infantry force 
 of five corps commenced falling back to the Eappahannock; the first and 
 sixth moving from the Rapidan, the second and third coming from their 
 position west of Culpepper, and the fil'th bringing up tlie rear. Gregg and 
 Kilpatrick covered their retreat, hovering on each wing, while Buford re- 
 mained near Germania ford to delay the passage of the Rebels. Gregg, 
 whose route lay east of that of the army, met with no enemy on his line 
 of march, but Kilpatrick was pressed closely by the Rebel cavalry under 
 General Stuart, who annoyed him continually, during the morning, by his 
 well directed fire. Having crossed Mountain Run about noon, he sup- 
 posed himself free from further annoyance, and hearing heavy firing in 
 •the direction of Germania ford, he sent some of his staff" to open communi- 
 cation with Buford, who, he feared, was struggling with a superior force, 
 His messengers returned, reporting Buford as doing well, and that a 
 junction of the cavalry and infantry was to be effected before night at 
 Brandy station. Thither he marched leisurely with his force, anticipating 
 no further op^josition ; but on reaching the hill south of tlie station, lie 
 discovered that a division or more of the Rebel cavalry had slipped in be- 
 tween him and Buford, and were now strongly posted, and awaiting his 
 approach, while other divisions were gathering on his flanks and rear. 
 They were drawn up across the road in companies, twelve platoons deep, 
 with supporting regiments on either side. Nothing daunted, he formed 
 his men in three columns for a charge, and placing himself at their head, 
 charged upon the enemy with the utmost fury, shooting, sabreing, and 
 tram]5ling them down. Unable to stand before such an a.ssault, the Rebels 
 gave way in terror, and Kilpatrick's men passed through with but small 
 loss, tliough they had inflicted a heavy .one upon the enemy, and reached 
 Buford's troops on the hill beyond. The Rebels, mortified that they had 
 suffered their prey to escape them so easily, formed again instantly, and 
 attacked the Union cavalry, but they were outmatched, and after a despe- 
 eate fight, lasting till long after nightfall, the foe, tired and exhausted by 
 his efforts, which all ended in his repulse, fell back sullenly, and ceased 
 his attacks; while the Union troops, gathering up tlieir dead and wounded, 
 withdrew quietly across the Rappahannock, whither the infantry had 
 preceded them. 
 
 On Monday, General Meade, still in doubt as to the extent of the Rebel 
 movement, with a hesitation which had well nigh proved fatal to his army, 
 determined to send the second, third, and sixth corps, who had already 
 crossed the Rappahannock, back to Brandy station, on a reconnoissance 
 in force; and .sent also, two or three regiments to Jeff'ersonton and Little 
 Washington, to observe the position of the enemy in that direction. These 
 , regiments met the enemy in greatly superior force, and were surrounded, 
 
MOVEMENTS OF THE JJNION AND REBEL ARMIES. 667 
 
 but cut their way through and escaped, though not without heavy loss. 
 The three corps found also, that the Rebels wei'e moving in great force 
 west of them, and the only result of this delay was to give the enemy the 
 advantage of a day or more in his flanking movement. 
 
 Satisfied, at last, that Lee was moving his entire army in this effort to 
 flank him, General Meade now exerted himself to the utmost to prevent 
 the Rebel general from accomplishing his object. The Rebels were mov- 
 ing from Madison Court House in two columns, toward Warrenton; one 
 by way of Culpepper, the other by way of Sperryville. Ewell's column, 
 the right, passed through Warrenton on the night of the 13th of October. 
 Meade's army, on the night of the 12th, was posted as follows : The first 
 corps, at Kelly's ford; the second, fifth, an J sixth, near Brandy station; 
 the third, at Freeman's ford ; Buford's cavalry, at Brandy station ; Gregg's, 
 . at Fayetteville ; Kilpatrick's, near Hartwood ; and Pleasonton's, with the 
 trains, toward Bristow station. The actual distance to be passed over in a 
 direct line by the Rebels, to reach the heights around Centreville, was 
 considerably less than that to be traversed by the Union troops, but they 
 were necessitated to use by-roads, and those which impeded their march. 
 The race was, however, very close and exciting, and the more so, from 
 the fact that neither army could ascertain what progress the other had 
 made. Lee, finding that General Meade was fully informed of his move- 
 ments, and ready to meet them, changed his tactics, and sent Hill's corps, 
 in light marching order, to gain, by forced marches, the heights of Centre- 
 ville in advance of the Union army, while Ewell's corps should harass 
 their flank and rear. 
 
 The marching on both sides was rapid and resolute, and in the space 
 passed by infantry troops in two days, has been rarely equalled; but the 
 Union army won. On Wednesday morning, October lith, Meade's entire 
 army crossed Cedar Run at Auburn, the second corps (Warren's) bringing up 
 the rear and protecting the corps trains. At this point, Ewell's advance 
 approached, and commenced annoying Warren's rear, and from this point 
 to Bristow station, his rear-guard was constantly skirmishing with Ewell, 
 and by various tactical manoeuvres, delaying his progress. At noon, War- 
 ren passed Catlett's station, and at forty -five minutes past two, entered the 
 village of Bristow station, seven miles distant. Here he found Hill's corps 
 drawn up in line of battle. Hill had crossed from Greenwich to Bristow, 
 believing that he should strike the head of Meade's army, but all had 
 passed save the rear corps. 
 
 General Hill was familiar with the ground at Bristow station, but, by a 
 strange oversight, he had formed his troops in a column perpendicular to 
 the railroad, and had not taken possession of the railroad cut and embank- 
 ment. General Warren, coming up on the quickstep, and being saluted 
 as he approached, by a heavy fire from the enemy, comprehended the po- 
 sition at a glance, saw Hill's blunder, and jumping his men into these 
 
668 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ready made breastworks, poured almost instantly a terrible musketry fire 
 into the advancing column of the enemy, whicli sent them back in disor- 
 der and confusion. While they were rallying for another advance, he had 
 brought his artillery up, planted it, and charging it heavily with grape 
 and canister, was ready for them, as they came up a second time with their 
 forces strongly massed, and ploughed great furrows in their columns. 
 They rallied again and again, and sought to break his lines, but in vain, 
 and after five hours of hard fighting, they retreated, leaving six guns on 
 the field (the corps' best battery), and having lost over five hundred in 
 killed and wounded, and four hundred prisoners. Hill fell back to Cat- 
 lett's station, and there joined Ewell. Warren, during the night, moved 
 forward quietly, and joined the remainder of the army on the heights of 
 Ceutreville, leaving Lee's army at Catlett's station. The Union army 
 formed in line of battle on Thursday morning, and awaited an attack from 
 the enemy; but Lee '.vas too shrewd to hurl his forces against those strong 
 works, especially when nothing could be gained by it; for Meade's posi- 
 tion could not be eflectually flanked, and Lee had no troops to sacrifice in 
 an attack which could only result in a disastrous repulse. He remained, 
 however, in the vicinity of Bristow station till the 18th, his men, mean- 
 while, destroying the railroad from Cub Run to the Rappahannock, and 
 making reconnoissances around the Union position. On the 18th, he 
 gave orders for the infantry to move southward to the Rappahannock. 
 
 The Rebel cavalry, under command of General J. E. B. Stuart, formed 
 the rear-guard of Lee's army, and did not move until the 19th. On the 
 morning of that day, Custer's brigade of Union cavalry attacked them, 
 and drove them from Gainesville to Bucklaad's mills, where, after a sharp 
 fight, he turned Stuart's right flank, and drove him across Broad Run to 
 Greenwich, where the Rebel infantry were overtaken, and came to Stu- 
 art's support. Custer fought another desperate battle, inflicting severe 
 losses on the enemy, and then withdrew to the north bank of Broad Run, 
 the Rebels making no attempt to pursue beyond the south bank. Li the 
 retreating movement, the Rebels intercepted and cut off a part of one regi- 
 ment, capturing nearly two hundred prisoners. But for this misfortune, 
 Custer's losses, in a protracted battle against such heavy odds, would have 
 been light. 
 
 On the 21st of October, Lee had returned with his army to his old quar 
 ters south of the Rapidan. The Rebels had captured, in this expedition, 
 nearly two thousand prisoners, but their own losses, in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners, were fully as many, and they had lost, also, their best bat- 
 tery. They had, indeed, destroyed the railroad for twenty-six miles, but, 
 with the abundant material and facilities possessed for replacing it by the 
 Union army, it would be rebuilt in a few days. It was, in fact, restored 
 almost completely in seventeen days. 
 
 General Lee had ordered General Imboden, who was in command of 
 
SEDGWICK'S ASSAULT ON RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. 669 
 
 the Eebel forces near the Potomac river, to make an attack simultaneously 
 with his own, upon the Union troops near the Potomac. Accordingly, 
 on the 18th of October, he marched suddenly and rapidly upon Charles- 
 town, Va., and surprised and captured the Union garrison, taking four 
 hundred and thirty-four prisoners, and though pursued by. a Union force 
 from Harper's Ferry, he managed to reach Front Eoyal with his prisoners, 
 without serious loss. 
 
 As we have said, Lee at first returned to his old quarters on the south 
 bank of the Rapidan, but he presently broke up his camp there, and 
 advanced to the Rappahanwock, occupying the south bank, from Rappa- 
 hannock station to Kelly's ford, while at the former point, he established 
 his camp on both sides of tlie river, and protected it by a strong fort, two 
 redoubts, and lines of rifle-pits. He evidently intended to make this po- 
 sition his winter quarters ; but General Meade had no intention of being 
 thus pushed back, and on the 7th of November, the railroad being nearly 
 repaired, he moved from Cedar Run, in the vicinity of which his troops 
 had been encamped, to regain possession of the line of the Rappahannock. 
 The sixth corps, forming the Union right wing, marched from Warren- 
 ton toward Rappahannock station ; the second, third, and fifth corps, 
 forming the centre, moved from Warrenton Junction to Bealeton, whence 
 the fifth turned its course to join the sixth corps, and the second and 
 third directed their march to Kelly's ford, whither also the first corps, 
 forming the left wing, had marched. Moving rapidly, and throwing out 
 heavy lines of skirmishers and sharpshooters, the first, second, and third 
 corps, the latter in advance, approached the river, drove the Rebel 
 pickets befpre them, occupied the line of hills on the north bank of the 
 river with their batteries, and under cover of these, which swept the plains 
 ou the south bank, laid their pontoons, and an attacking party crossing, 
 at the double-quickstep, charged the rifle-pits, and captured over four hun- 
 dred prisoners. 
 
 The fifth and sixth corps had a more difficult task before them. The 
 fort, redoubts, and rifle-pits on the north side of the Rappahannock, at 
 the station, were held by about two thousand men of Early's division, 
 Ewell's corps. By a series of brilliant and determined movements, the 
 sixth corps succeeded in obtaining possession of commanding positions in 
 rear of the fort in the morning, and planting heavy batteries on these, 
 bombarded it tlirough the day, and just before dark. General Sedgwick 
 formed a storming column of two brigades, which carried the fort by as- 
 sault, capturing over fifteen hundred prisoners, four guns, and eight battle- 
 flags. The Union loss in the sixth corps was about three hundred killed 
 and wounded. The fifth and sixth corps, having crossed the river, secured 
 the country as far as Stevensburg, about midway between the two rivers 
 the Rebels everywliere retreating before ther^. The first, second, and 
 third corps moved on toward Brandy station, and two miles east of that 
 
etO THE CIVIL WAR IN THE tJNITED STATES. 
 
 point, on the morning of the 8th, were confronted by a strong Rebel force 
 of cavalry and light artillery, with whom they skirmished all day, but 
 finally succeeded in driving them two miles beyond the station. The 
 Eebels, by the morning of the 9th, had all retreated beyond the Rapidan, 
 and as General Meade ascertained, occupied a strong position on the south 
 bank of the Rapidan, a little west of their former camp, and were dili- 
 gently employed in fortifying it. They had left their camp near the Rap- 
 pahannock in such haste, that they had not destroyed the railroad which 
 they had repaired, or the new station-house, platform, etc., which they 
 had built at Brandy station. While General Meade was waiting for the 
 connection of the railroad to Brandy station, and the bringing up of such 
 supplies as were necessary, he had a careful reconnois.sance made of the 
 enemy's position, and the extent to which the lower fords of the Rapidan 
 were guarded. He ascertained that Ewell's corps occupied a line running 
 nearly south from the Rapidan toward Orange Court House. His front 
 on the Rapidan was impregnable, consisting of a succession of ridges, 
 commanding every foot of the north bank of the river opposite, which at 
 that point was low and flat. This naturally strong position had been 
 greatly strengthened by extensive, and elaborate fortifications. Hill's 
 corps were at, and below Orange Court House, extending eastward on the 
 Orange and Fredericksburg plank road, and separated by an interval of 
 several miles from Ewell's corps. The lower fords of the Rapidan were 
 either left unguarded, or were held only by a small picket force. 
 
 Having 'ascertained these facts, General Meade determined upon a coup 
 de main, by which he hoped to divide, and conquer in detail, Lee's army. 
 His plan was to cut loose from his base of supplies, taking ten day's rations 
 for his men, cross the Rapidan at the lower fords, and marching in the 
 direction of Old Verdiersville, on a road midway between the Orange and 
 Fredericksburg plank road, and the Rapidan, moving willi great rapidity, 
 to throw his entire force between Ewell and Hill, and from the ridges 
 w6st of Mine Run, a position of rare strengtli, attack first one and then the 
 other. In order to accomplish' this, however, tlie elements of time and 
 space must be taken into account. The work was to be accomplished 
 rapidly and simultaneously, every corps reaching its specified position by 
 a given hour. The distance to be traversed by each corps to reach Old 
 Verdiersville, the place of rendezvous, varied from twenty to twenty-five 
 miles. General Meade reasonably calculated that each of the corps com- 
 manders could bring their corps over this distance in thirty hours. The 
 advance was begun on the morning of the 26th of November; he ex- 
 pected them to reach the designated point on the evening of the 27th. 
 But this was not accomplished. On the morning of the 27th the armj' 
 were only just across the Rapidan, not more than half the distance, though 
 twenty-four hours had passed. Orders were now given to push forward 
 with greater rapidity. Early in the afternoon. General Warren's second 
 
ABORTIVE MOVEMENT OF GENERAL MEADE. 671 
 
 corps came up with the enemy, and began developing his strength by a 
 brisk skirmish, but was ordered not to make a serious attack until the 
 third — French's — corps should come up. This corps, however, did not 
 come up, having been (Relayed by various difficulties, the most serious of 
 which was, that it took the wrong road, and was brought face to face with 
 Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, which held it in check, and de- 
 layed its progress. But this mishap was more serious in its consequences 
 than merely delaying the march of the corps, for it revealed to Ewell 
 the entii-e movement of Meade, and led him to plant his entire force across 
 the turnpike, and thus prevent Warren's advance, and while holding 
 Warren in check, to bring Hill up to close the gap between them. 
 
 His plan thus unmasked to the enemy, and completely thwarted by 
 being thus prematurely disclosed. General Meade could only order up 
 other corps to the support of Warren, in the hope that he might yet be 
 able to force Ewell back, and gain the position which he coveted, and from 
 which he might have fought Lee's army with -strong hope of decisive 
 victory. The first — Newton's — corps was ordered up, but did not reach 
 him before dark. The sixth — Sedgwick's — corps arrived about the same 
 time, and was posted on Warren's right, but they could not fight well in 
 the darkness, where the country was entirely unknown to them, and they 
 were compelled to wait until morning, with the certainty that before that 
 time Hill would have joined Ewell. In the morning, General Meade found 
 the enemy occupying the very position he had striven to gain, their line 
 formed on a series of ridges, with enfilading positions for batteries, wliile 
 in front stretched the marsh of Mine Eun, and the enemy had added forti- 
 fications to the natural strength of the position. To attempt to assail this 
 in front, was simply suicidal, for while floundering through the marsh, 
 every soldier would have been destroyed by the concentrated fire of the 
 enemy's batteries. Saturday, and a part of Sunday, were spent in a care- 
 ful reconnoissance of the enemy's position ; General Warren had exam- 
 ined carefully the enemy's right, and reported confidently his ability to 
 carry it. It was determioed to make the assault on Monday morning, and 
 to ensure the success of his attack, two divisions of the third, and one of 
 the sixth corps, were ordered to report to him. During the night of the 29th, 
 General Warren again examined the position, witlr still greater care, and 
 came to the conclusion that it could not be carried without an immense 
 sacrifice of life. This conclusion he. reported to General Meade, who then 
 resolved to postpone the attack. Under the circumstances, to postpone 
 it, was to abandon it. His ten day's rations were nearly exhausted,, and a 
 single day's rain would place the army in a perilous position. The com- 
 mander, therefore, reluctantly, but of necessity, marched his army back 
 in safety across the Eapidan, to their former position. The losses of the 
 army of the Potomac, in this unfortunate movement, were sixty killed, 
 and five hundred and forty wounded and missing. 
 
612 THE CJVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTEK LV. * 
 
 THE " anaconda" POLICY — REASONS WHY IT COULD NOT SUCCf;ED IN CRfSIIING THE REBEL- 
 LION — DEPARTMKNT OP THE GILF — THE OCCUPATION OF TEXAS DETERMINED UPON — THE 
 REASONS ASSIGNED FOR IT — GENERAL FRANKLIN ORDERED TO LOUISIANA — EXPEDITION OF 
 GENERALS BANKS AND FRANKLIN TO TEXAS — THE GREAT PREPARATIONS MADE FOR IT — THE 
 TROOPS AND THEIK COMMANDERS — THE DISASTROUS ATTACK ON SABINE PASS AND CITY — 
 ADVANCE OF THE ARMY TO VERMILLIONVILLE — THE COAST EXPEDITION TO TEXAS — RECON- 
 STRUCTION IN LOUISIANA — THE STARTING OF THE ADVANCE OF THE GRAND ARMY — CAPTURE 
 OF SIMMSPORT, BAYOU GLACE, AND FORT DE RUSSY — ALEXANDRIA CAPTURED AND OCCU- 
 PIED — BATTLES OF TBACHOES AND CANE RIVER — THE ARMY TOO MUCH SCATTERED — ARRI- 
 VAL AT GRAND ECORE — THE ADVANCE TOWARD MANSFIELD^THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD — 
 ROUT AND PANIC— BATTLE OF PLEASANT HILL — THE RETREAT DOWN THE RED RIVER — 
 GRAND ECORE — JUMPING THE SAND BARS — ALEXANDRIA — THE RAPIDS — COLONEL BAILEV's 
 DAMS^ESCAPE OF THE 0UN30ATS — REAR-ADMIRAL PORTBR'S REPORT — THE RETREAT TO 
 SIMMSPORT AND MOROANZIA — GENERAL STEELE'S RETREAT TO LITTLE ROCK — GENERAL 
 CAXBY IN COMMAND OF THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DIVISION — DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH — 
 POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS OF FLORIDA UNIONISTS — THEIR PLEAS FOB AN EXPEDITION INTO 
 NORTHKItN FLORIDA — THE EXPEDITION ORDERED — THE PLAN — GENERAL SEYMOUR AT ITS 
 HEAD — DELAYS AND DISASTERS — BATTLE OF OLUSTEE —RETREAT OF THE UNION FORCES — 
 LOSSES — END OF THE " ANACONDA" POLICY. 
 
 The policy of tlie Government of the United States during llie first 
 three years of the war, in regard to its prosecution, was that originated, 
 it is said, by General Scott, and more fully developed by General McClellan, 
 and known in popular phrase as the "Anaconda" policy. It contemplated 
 the surrounding the insurgents at all points by a cordon of troops, cutting 
 off their supplies by a land as well as sea blockade, and by a gradual 
 contraction of its lines, hemming them in and crushing them, as the 
 anaconda, by the contraction of its coils, crushes its prey. With a territory 
 far less extended, and a country possessing few or none of the topo- 
 graphical difficulties which the regicjn occupied by the insurgents pre- 
 sented, and a more gigantic army than that of the Union, this policy 
 would possibly have succeeded; but, under the circumstances, ils success 
 was impossible. Particular battles or campaigns might prove successful ; 
 the enemy might be defeated at one point or another; his sources of sup- 
 ply fiom one point or another, citlier by running the blockade, or by 
 communication with the disloyal at the north, might be cut off; but the 
 number of troops required to inclose the insurgent territory, and drive 
 the liebels in upon their own centre, was too great, the expenditure it 
 necessitated too vast, and the opportunities of evading the pressure too 
 many, to admit of complete success. The triumphs which led to the 
 close of the war were not attained until this policy had been abandoned, 
 and that of concentration adopted. When, by the movements of the 
 
THE ANACONDA POLICY. 673 
 
 Union armies, the Eebels were compelled to collect their forces mainly 
 around two or three points, whose preservation and defence was vital to 
 their existence, the problem of the continuance of the war was very much 
 simplified. If they could successfully defend these positions, and destroy, 
 or thoroughly and permanently cripple, the armies which assailed them, 
 they would thereby present a claim to foreign recognition, which would 
 not be long withheld. If, on the contrary, they found it impossible, after 
 a long and desperate struggle, to retain their possession of these vital 
 points, and were compelled to 3'ield them to the assailing power, their 
 claim to independence or separate national existence, would be proved 
 futile, and the Rebellion must come to an end. 
 
 The United States Government had not, however, at the time of which 
 we write, fully comprehended the necessity for the abandonment of the 
 "anaconda" policy. They were beginning, indeed, to see that it involved 
 a vast expenditure, and that when a particular section had been subdued, 
 the work -jvas often to be done over — that they could not maintain lines 
 of such vast extent, even with the great armies they were keeping in the 
 field ; but the desire to overrun and conquer new portions of the insur- 
 gent territory, even if their occupation of it were only temporary, where 
 such occupation yielded to the captors a plentiful supply of cotton or 
 cattle, or would result in a crop of lucrative offices, was too strong to be 
 as yet resisted. 
 
 The Department of the Gulf had not been in all respects judiciously 
 managed. Its civil administration under General Butler had been wise 
 and efiicient; but the military force, during his administration, had never 
 been suflB.cient to hold more than a narrow strip of territory along the 
 banks of the Mississippi, and his tenure of some portions of that was pre- 
 carious. When General Banks assumed command of the department, he 
 was at first crippled by the same lack of troops ; and it was not until his 
 second expedition into the "Attakapas country" that he was strong enough 
 to liold the region of central Louisiana. When he undertook the siege 
 of Port Hudson, though reinforced by a very considerable body of nine 
 months troops, he was compelled to weaken the garrisons of the central 
 towns to such an extent that the Eebels regained possession of several of 
 them. Galveston, Texas, had been captured and held for a few weeks by 
 a combined naval and land force ; but with the disastrous assault upon 
 the mere handful of Union troops forming its garrison, and the capture, 
 destruction, and defeat of the squadron there, it had lapsed again into 
 Rebel hands, and all efforts to obtain a permanent foothold in Texas had 
 failed from the want of a sufficient Union force to garrison and hold what 
 they might capture. The possession of Texas, except for the relief of its 
 oppressed and long-suffering Unionists, was not essential to the successful 
 conduct of the war. If left alone till the vital points in the insurgent 
 territory were reduced, it would, as it afterward did, fall into the hands 
 43 
 
Ct4 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 of the Union Government without a battle. But en the "anaconda" theory 
 its occupation was essential, and despite its vast extent, its plains and 
 jjlateaus, covered only with the mesquit, or the more formidable cactus 
 growths, its unnavigable rivers, and its storm-laslicd coasts,, the decree 
 went forth that it must be occupied. Tlie reasons assigned for the expe- 
 dition for its invasion were sufEciently plausible. It was known that 
 tliere had been many thousands of Unionists in the State, and that they 
 had been treated with great cruelty, murdered, imprisoned, exiled, and 
 plundered of all they possessed. Those wlio, amid great suflering, had 
 been able to make their escape into Mexico, or into the loyal States or 
 territories, gave a frightful, but probably not overdrawn picture of the 
 persecutions to which they and their loyal fellow-citizens had been sub- 
 jected. The Texan soldiers in the Eebel armies had been among the 
 most efficient and reckless troops in their service. Accustomed to a life 
 on horseback, and skilled in all equestrian accomplishments, leading, 
 especially on the frontier, a life of daring and hardship, exposed for years 
 to the attacks of tlie Apaches, Camanches, Navajoes, and other formidable 
 ti'ibes of Indians, and educated, from the early history of their State, to a 
 criminal disregard of the sanctity of human life, they were troops which 
 were not to be despised for their prowess, and often to be dreaded for their 
 ciuelty. Their numbers, too, compared with the population of the State, 
 were large. Nearly the whole disloyal male population, of military age, 
 had, in one capacity or another, entered the Rebel service, and the larger 
 portion had been enrolled in the armies east of the Mississippi, and in 
 Mi.s.souri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. To call these home, or to overrun 
 the State while they were absent, would, it was argued, inflict serious 
 injury upon the enemy. Texas, from a variety of causes, was richer than 
 the other insurgent States. She had, from the first, refused to receive the 
 worthless Confederate currency for her products, accepting nothing but 
 gold in exchange. Her cattle and sheep, which by tens and hundreds of 
 thousands dotted her plains and prairies, had furnished a large part of 
 tlie Rebel commissariat; and, on her western border, the Mexican port of 
 Matamoras formed the nominal, and Brownsville, Texas, the real, destina- 
 tion of great numbers of blockade-runners, which brought thitlicr the 
 greatly coveted products of European manufactories, and took in ex- 
 change, at high prices, vast quantities of cotton, carted across the plains 
 from eastern Texas. To check this blockade-running, and obtain for 
 loyal use this contraband cotton, was surely desirable. 
 
 The route to be selected was a question of great importance. To send 
 an expedition overland, through western Louisiana and eastern Texas, 
 was difficult, and fraught with numerous dangers ; there were bayous, 
 lakes, and rivers to bo crossed, requiring large pontoon trains; the road.s, 
 much of the way, were muddy and heavy, and where they were not, the 
 cross timbers, or dense forest, so matted as to obstruct passage, and extend- 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO TEXAS 675 
 
 ing for many miles, and the chapparal, a thick and impenetrable growth 
 of the thorny cactus and the acacia, barred any rapid progress, especially 
 of wagon trains ; yet a large force, and one having an immense train, 
 could alone force its way through, and the delay which the trains would 
 necessitate, would leave ample time for the concentration of the Eebel 
 forces in front of the advancing army. 
 
 The route by sea was perhaps equally perilous. The coast of Texas 
 presented but few even tolerable ports ; sand-bars at the mouth of nearly 
 every harbor, obstructed the entrance, and rendered the passage of vessels 
 drawing over ten feet of water impossible ; while the norther, a fierce 
 cold wind which sweeps down upon the gulf from the Eocky mountains, 
 and often lasts for a week, renders the navigation exceedingly dangerous, 
 and imperils the lives of the horses and cattle needed for the land service. 
 The knowledge of the coast possessed by the squadron, was imperfect, 
 especially of that portion adjacent to its ports. 
 
 Still, with all these difficulties, the Administration, stimulated to the 
 work by those who had sinister ends to gain, and who had the skill to 
 conceal their purposes under the cloak of desire to serve the country and 
 to put down the Eebellion, determined upon the expedition, and, as if to 
 reader disaster certain, decided to proceed by both routes, attacking by 
 way of the coast, and sending a column inland through western Louisiana. 
 Major-General Franklin was sent from the army of the Potomac to take 
 command of one of the corps which was to take part in the expedition ; 
 Major-General Ord was to command the other, and Major-General Banks 
 was to have the chief command of the expedition, as department comman- 
 der. At a later period, the commanding general was authorized to borrow 
 what troops could be spared from other departments, and did obtain por- 
 tions of the sixteenth and seventeenth army corps, under General A. J. 
 Smith, from the Department of the Tennessee, while General Steele was 
 ordered to march with as large an army as he could collect in Arkansas 
 and Missouri, to his support, through Arkansas. 
 
 "While the troops, supplies, and vessels of light draft were being col- 
 lected at New Orleans for the great expedition, it was determined to 
 attack, with a moderate force, Sabine City, a place of considerable strategic 
 importance, and defended by a small but somewhat troublesome fort, a 
 battery of small field pieces, and aifording shelter to two bay steamers, 
 which the Eebels had converted into rams. The town lies at the outlet 
 of Sabine lake, the estuary of Sabine river, and the boundary-line between 
 Louisiana and Texas. The place was supposed to be indifferently fci ti- 
 fied; though the information in regard to it was very imperfect, and such 
 as rendered the enterprise unjustifiable, without a previous reconnoissance. 
 
 About four thousand men of the nineteenth corps, were sent on this 
 ■expedition, under the command of Major-General Franklin, wliile Briga- 
 dier-General Weitzel accompanied it as chief engineer and chief of staff. 
 
■6Y6 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 They were embarked ia transports, and convoyed by the light draft guQ 
 boats Clifton, Sachem, Arizona, and Granite City. The attack was to be 
 made on the morning of the 7th of September, the land forces having been 
 previously landed under the protection of the gunboats, and these were 
 then to reduce the small fort first, which the Union troops would imme- 
 diately occupy. 
 
 The whole enterprise proved a failure. So ignorant were the leaders 
 of the expedition of the topography of the place they were attempting to 
 reduce, that they found, "on arriving at the spot where the troops were 
 destined to land," that it was the edge of an impassable swamp, and the 
 Granite City was obliged to protect them in their fruitless endeavors 
 to find more solid ground. As they were thus thrown liors du comhat, 
 the work of reducing the fort and batteries was necessarily left to the 
 squadron. The Clifton and Sachem, followed by the Arizona, proceeded 
 manfully to the work. For some time the forts deigned no reply, though 
 the gunboats threw their large shells directly into the works; but af 
 length they opened upon their assailants, and greatly to the surprise of 
 the officers of the gunboats, with eight guns, all of large calibre, and three 
 ©f them rifled, instead of the two thirty-two pounders which they had been 
 assured constituted the sole armament of the fort. For some time the 
 fighting was severe ; the fort and batteries replying shot for shot, and 
 with great accuracy, to every gun of the three boats. The Sachem, mean- 
 while, was working round to the flank and rear of the fort, where the 
 works were weakest, while the Clifton and Arizona continued their attack 
 in front, firing with great rapidity. When the Sachem had nearly accom- 
 plished her purpose, she was struck on the side by a rifled shot, which 
 penetrated her armor, entered her steam chest, and made her a complete 
 wreck; and her crew, being entirely helpless, ran up the white flag. 
 
 The Clifton, running down closer to the principal battery, to endeavor 
 to silence it, both by her broadside, and by her sharpshooters picking ofT 
 the enemy's gunners, unfortunately ran aground, when a new Rebel bat- 
 tery, hitherto silent, opened upon her at short range. She replied with 
 great vigor, but presently a shot from the battery entered and exploded 
 her boiler, when her commander, Lieutenant Crocker, determined that she 
 should be of no service to the enemy, ordered his deck to be cleared, and 
 loading the after pivot-gun with a nine inch solid shot, fired it through 
 the centre of the ship, from stem to stern, tearing the machinery to pieces, 
 and rendering it utterly worthless to the enemy, and then, with his crew, 
 made his escape to the other gunboats. The Arizona and Granite City, 
 finding themselves unable to cope with the formidable Rebel batteries, 
 withdrew, the Arizona grounding once, but getting afloat again without 
 serious injury, and the gunboats and transports returned to Brashear City. 
 The Union loss in this unfortunate adventure, in killed, wounded, and 
 prisoners, was about two hundred and fifty, and twelve heavy guns. 
 
MOVEMENTS OP THE FORCES UNDER GENERAL BANKS. 677 
 
 The armament of the two gunboats had also fallen into the hands of the 
 enemy. 
 
 After a somewhat protracted dehxy at Brashear City, one hundred and 
 thirty miles distant by railroad from New Orleans, the troops under Gene- 
 ral Franklin's command moved forward to Franklin and Vermillionville. 
 Here they met with some resistance, on the 9th of October, but, after a 
 sharp fight, drove the enemy before them in a precipitate retreat. The 
 same day the remainder of the nineteenth and the whole of the thirteenth 
 corps, under command of General Ord, reached Vermillionville. 
 
 General Banks now determined to make New Iberia, on the Bayou 
 Teche, about twenty miles below Vermillionville, his secondary base, and 
 commenced accumulating here the necessary supplies for his grand expe- 
 dition. Franklin's corps advanced, meanwhile, to Opelousas, but finding 
 no opposition, returned to Vermillionville, and eventually to New Iberia. 
 One division of the thirteenth corps was sent to Madisonville, on the north 
 side of Lake Pontchartrain, and encamped there. Detachments of the thir- 
 teenth corps, to the amount of about four thousand men, were embarked 
 at New Orleans, on the 27th of October, in about twenty transports, and 
 accompanied by the gunboats Owasco, Virginia, and Monongahela, for an 
 expedition to the coast of Texas. General Banks accompanied the expe- 
 dition, but it was under the special command of General C. C. Washburne. 
 The voyage lasted four days, and the expedition encountered a norther, in 
 which three vessels but no lives were lost. On the 31st of October, they 
 anchored off the mouth of the Rio Grande, and on the 1st of November, a 
 body of troops was landed, without opposition, on Brazos island. From 
 this point they marched to Brownsville, on the Rio Grande, twenty-seven 
 miles distant, and on the 4th of November, General Banks occupied the 
 town, the Rebels having fled, after an inefiectual attempt to destroy the 
 government property. Proceeding along the coast, leaving sufficient gar- 
 risons at every important point, the expedition captured, with but insig- 
 nificant resistance, successively. Point Isabel, Mustang island, and the 
 Rebel fortifications on Corpus Christi bay, Aransas, Matagorda island and 
 bay, with Fort Esperanza and two heavy siege guns, Indianola, Lavacca, 
 and Saluria. Early in December, General Banks returned to New Or- 
 leans. On his return, his attention was much occupied for some months 
 with the efforts making for the reconstruction of Louisiana, and its read- 
 mission to the Union, with Governor, members of Congre.ss, &c., elected 
 mainly by the votes of the soldiers and civilians from the North, who had 
 come thither for business or speculation. The work of collecting supplies 
 and troops went on slowly. The west gulf squadron, finding that their 
 services were not required, scattered to other portions of their cruising 
 ground, and the transports were sent north, to bring Sherman's army 
 from Memphis to Vicksburg, and at the close of his expedition, to return 
 a portion of it to Memphis. Meantime, the garrisons on the Texas coas* 
 
CTS THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 were rnaintaineJ, but were too small to attempt any enterprise of offence. 
 It was proposed, atone time, to send a considerable force to Indianola or 
 Matagorda, and thence march into the interior, prepared to hold western 
 Texas, prevent the illicit traffic on the Rio Grande, and pressing gradually 
 eastward, joined, as they would have been, by the loyal Texans in con- 
 siderable numbers, to crush the Rebel army in Texas between this advan- 
 cing force and that under Franklin and Ord, in western Louisiana. The 
 Rebel army in Texas, at this time, was weak, and such a movement, if prose- 
 cuted with energy, might have proved successful. Unfortunately, it was 
 neglected, and the notes of preparation sounded for so long a time before 
 any actual movement, served only to rouse the Rebels to action, and before 
 the march was actually commenced, they had thrown into western Louisi- 
 ana a force sufficiently formidable to cope successfully with General Banks' 
 army. 
 
 During the winter of 1863-4, from twenty to thirty thousand troops lay 
 idle in Louisiana, waiting for the proposed movement. Early in ilarch, 
 the thirteenth and nineteenth corps moved northward to Opelousas and 
 the banks of the Atchafalaya, abandoning the Teche country, except a 
 few important posts, in order to be nearer Natchez and Port Iludson, both 
 of which were threatened by the enemy. On the 10th of ilarch, an expe- 
 dition, composed of detachments of the sixteenth and seventeenth army 
 corps, amounting in all to nearly an average army corps, under command 
 of Brigadier, (now Major General) Andrew J. Smith, left Vicksburg on 
 transports for the Red river. They passed into the Atchafalaya river 
 through the old mouth of the Red, and on the 13th landed at Simmsport, 
 a few miles from the head of the Atchafalaya, and on its west bank. Tho 
 naval squadron of Rear-Admiral Porter, consisting of three monitors, 
 seven river iron-clads, three rams, and four small gunboats, accompanied 
 them. On the approach of these forces, the enemy abandoned his posi- 
 tion and defences at Simmsport, as well as the much stronger position at 
 Bayou Glace, and hastily retreated to Fort de Russy, distant by land 
 about thirty-five miles. Thither, leaving the navy to follow, General 
 Smith pursued, and arrived before the fort on the afternoon of the 14th 
 of March. Fort de Russy was a formidable quadrangular work, with 
 bastions and bomb-proofs, covered with railroad iron, and was regarded 
 by the Rebels as impregnable, especially on its water front. It was 
 garrisoned by a strong force, under General Dick Taylor. That general, 
 learning of Smith's approach, had gone out to intercept him, and had 
 taken by-roads, in the hope of reaching and attacking his flank and rear. 
 But three hundred and fifty troops of the large garrison were left in tho 
 fort. General Smith had made a forced march to reach the enemy's posi- 
 tion before the squadron, the route by water being nearly seventy miles, 
 and on coming up, immediately ordered an attack. After a very brief 
 engagement, conducted on the side of the Union troops with equal 
 
OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY IN LOUISIANA. 673 
 
 gallantry and skill, the garrison surrendered, and the Union flag was 
 hoisted on the ramparts just as the squadron hove in sight. By this 
 gallant action. General Smith captured two hundred and sixty pris- 
 oners, ten cannon — four of which had been captured by the Eebels from 
 the Harriet Lane and other Union vessels — a large number of small 
 arms, two thousand barrels of fine powder, and a considerable quantity of 
 ammunition and commissary stores. His losses were seven killed and 
 forty-one wounded. Ordering the destruction of the fort. General Smith 
 embarked on his transports, and in company with the squadron, ascended 
 the Eed river to Alexandria, which surrendered without resistance, and 
 was entered the same day by the advance-guard of the cavalry of the 
 army of the gulf, which had moved forward from Opelousas. General 
 Banks, who was still at New Orleans, now exerted himself to push forward 
 his troops, and having repulsed an impudent attack made by a mere 
 handful of Eebel troops on the upper portion of the Bayou Teche, sent the 
 thirteenth and nineteenth corps with all haste by way of Opelousas to 
 Alexandria, a distance from Brashear City of one hundred and seventy- 
 five miles. On the 2Uh of March, they had nearly all arrived at that 
 point. Alexandria was rich in spoils. Five thousand bales of Confeder- 
 ate cotton were found there, as well as other stores. On the 21st of 
 March, while awaiting the arrival of the army of the gulf. General Smith 
 bad sent Brigadier-General John A. Mower, with a detachment of several 
 hundred troops, to make a reconnoissance. He followed the retreating 
 foe to Trachoes, near Natchitoches, where, meeting them in considerable 
 force, he repulsed them, and by a skilful flank and rear movement cap- 
 tured two hundred and eighty-two prisoners, four pieces of artillery, one 
 hundred and fifty horses, and other spoils. Continuing his advance, he 
 captured, within a few days, thirteen more cannon. On the 27th of Jfarch, 
 General Smith left Alexandria to continue the forward movement, accom- 
 panied by a few of the troops of the army of the gulf. His whole 
 command did not number more than six thousand men. The next day 
 he met the enemy in force — about twelve thousand strong — at Cane river, 
 thirty miles above Alexandria, and after a battle of about three hours, the 
 Rebels gave way, losing two hundred in killed and wounded, and over 
 five hundred prisoners. Soon after this battle, General Banks arrived 
 and assumed command of the army. Its .progress from this time was slow' 
 and it was scattered too widely not to fall a prey to a wily and skilful 
 enemy. Mower, with his advance column, was far on the way to Shreve- 
 port ; Smith, with the force which had defeated the enemy at Cane Hill, 
 was marching near the river, and General Banks, with the greater part of 
 the thirteenth and nineteenth corps, was marching slowly in the interior, 
 at considerable distance from the river, his army gathering cotton in large 
 quantities. His army did not reach Grand Ecore, only sixty miles above 
 Alexandria, until the 6th of April. Porter, with his squadron, had pushed 
 
^SO TEE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 up llie Red river as far as Springfield landing, within eighty miles of 
 Shreveport; and the river, which he had ascended at its highest stage, 
 was already beginning to fall. General Steele was marching to join them 
 by way of Arkadelphia, at the head of fifteen thousand men, and General 
 Thayer of the army of the frontier, was coming southward, by way of 
 Washington, Arkansas, with a considerable cavalry force. These troops 
 were, however, too far distant, and their march was too long, to hope for 
 support from them ver^' speedily. The army of the Gulf had been weak- 
 eued before starting, by sending a considerable portion of its cavalry on 
 an expedition up the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass, four hundred miles above 
 Brownsville, to capture that post, which had been a noted outlet for Rebel 
 cotton, of which a large amount was captured. Indianola liad been 
 evacuated by the Union troops, on the plea that it was of no strategic 
 importance, and Corpus Christ! had been reoccupied, and eight hundred 
 prisoners captured, and large quantities of cotton. The greed for this 
 fibre, growing by what it had fed upon, had become the bane and curse 
 of the army. Reckoning their prospective profits by thousands and tens 
 of thousands of dollars, officers and men alike grew reckless and impatient 
 of restraint, and in a fit condition to meet with a disastrous defeat. It is 
 but just to General Banks to say that personally he did not profit hy this 
 mania for cotton, and that he did what lay in his power to prevent the 
 demoralizing effect which it had produced upon the army; but it was 
 utterly in vain. The entire army were infected by the cotton mania, and 
 had no thought of any thing else. 
 
 For two days, the cavalry pushed on recklessly, far ahead of the 
 infantry, driving the enemy before them, and supposed they could proceed 
 in the same way to Springfield landing, where the squadron awaited their 
 coming. But they reckoned without their host. The Rebel commander 
 was no longer the easy-going General Dick Taylor, but Lieutenant-General 
 E. Kirby Smith, a skilful strategist, who had met and measured the Union 
 army on the other side of the Mississippi, knew their scattered condition 
 here, knew thoroughly the country through which they were passing — a 
 country covered, for the most part, with a dense pine forest — and who had 
 at his command a large and well disciplined force, upon which, at that 
 time, cotton had not exercised its demoralizing power. 
 
 The Union cavalry, marching, as we have said, far in advance of the 
 infantry, had their own immense wagon train following them immediately, 
 laden with the precious fibre. On the afternoon of the Slh of April, near 
 Mansfield, Louisiana, where the road forks to Logansport, they met the 
 enemy, and immediately engaged hirn, little doubting the result. The 
 Rebel skirmishers fell back a little to the main body, and the Union 
 cavalry found that they had the entire Rebel army to fight. More cavalry 
 was hurried in, and ere long the whole cavalry division, much of it cavalry 
 only ia name, was engaged, but was compelled to fight dismounted. The 
 
DISASTER TO THE ARMY IN LOUISIANA. 681 
 
 Kebel infantry pressed steadily on, his line overlapping the Union forces 
 on both Hanks. Embarrassed by their horses, astonished at the extraor- 
 dinary fighting of an enemy who had hitherto shown them only his back, 
 the extemporized cavalry, which had been, for the most part, only 
 mounted infantry, melted away, the straggling became a panic, the panic 
 a crazy, mad rout of shrieking men on scared horses. The train was in 
 the way of flight or advance, the teamsters insane with fright, the horses, 
 with their traces cut, used by the drivers to expedite their flight, and the 
 wagons, without horses or drivers, effectually blocking the road. The 
 panic-stricken cavalry fly back till they reach the thirteenth corps, which, 
 better disciplined, forms and hurries into action against the pursuing 
 enemy ; but after fighting gallantly for a short time, they too are flanked* 
 and melt into a rout. The enemy, flushed with victory, now comes upon 
 the nineteenth corps, takes it almost by surprise, in the very act of 
 deploying, with scarcely time to recall skirmishers ; rushes upon it with 
 wild cheers to meet the first check that day. The nineteenth corps was 
 unable to hold its position ; but not being pressed by the full weight 
 of the enemy, and being measurably relieved from the terrifying 
 presence of its panic-stricken predecessors, its retreat never became a 
 rout. 
 
 Next day, at Pleasant Ilill, thirty-five miles in the rear of the first scene 
 of battle, the panic having burned out, the troops were halted, a hasty re- 
 organizat'.on of fragments was attempted, an excellent position taken up, 
 and the onset of the enemy awaited. He attacked impetuously, and with 
 varying success. All day the tide of battle ebbed, and flowed along the 
 line until, finally, a tremendous effort of the enemy, steadily met and vig- 
 orously repulsed, exhausted their force, and ]eft the Union troops a fruit- 
 less victory and safety. On the following day, the Union arm}' fell back 
 to Grand Ecore. The results of this short campaign, were the loss to the 
 Union army of thirty-nine hundred and sixty-nine men, thirty field guns, 
 and over two hundred wagons. At Pleasant Hill, they captured nearly two 
 thousand prisoners, and it was reported, twenty guns. The Eebel loss in 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners, was probably not much less than that of 
 the army of the Gulf 
 
 Rear- Admiral Porter was notified at once of the disaster which had 
 befallen the army, and was requested to descend the Red river to Grand 
 Ecore, to support their further retreat. The admiral complied at once 
 with the request, though greatly chagrined at the failure. On his way 
 down, he found the river falling rapidly, but though twice attacked by 
 the enemy during his passage down, succeeded in repulsing his assailants 
 without serious loss. He reached Grand Ecore on the 18th, and found 
 two of his gunboats which had been left, aground above the bar with but 
 little prospect of getting off. The army remained at Grand Ecore about 
 two weeks the commanding general summoning to his aid all the avail- 
 
682 THE CIVIL WAR IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 able troops in his department, including most of those in Texas, smd thea 
 fell back to Alexandria, its rear constantly harassed by the enemy, who 
 was, however, engaged with spirit at the crossing of Cane river, and re- 
 pulsed handsomely, with considerable loss. 
 
 The fleet and transports, meantime, were following as best they might, 
 "jumping" the sand bars and logs, which, either by accident or design, 
 obstructed their passage. Only one vessel, the Eastport, was lost, while the 
 only wonder was that in this perilous passage, where, in addition to the diffi- 
 culties of the navigation, the enemy had planted batteries at every available 
 point, and the light draft gunboats were riddled with their shot, any were 
 saved. The Cliampion was burned near Alexandria, the Cricket struck 
 thirty-eight timesand twenty-three men of her crew either killed or wounded, 
 and the other boats, though suffering less severely, had each lost a num- 
 ber of their crew. Arrived at Alexandria, they were safe from the 
 enemy, but a new danger menaced them. They could not pass the rapids, 
 and they could not spend the summer at Alexandria. Already General 
 Sherman had recalled General A. J. Smith and his command, which be- 
 longed to his army, to Vicksburg. 
 
 The rapids at Alexandria, at high water, offer no serious obstacle to 
 the passage of vessels, but at a low stage of the river, they are impassable. 
 Fortunately, there was an officer in the army, Lieutenant-Colonel (now 
 Brigadier-General)Bailey, of Wisconsin, acting engineer of the nineteenth 
 army corps, who had had large experience as a superintendent of lum- 
 berers, in the navigation in safety of rapid and rocky streams in the 
 north. lie proposed to build a series of dams across the rocks at the 
 falls, and raise the water high enough to let the vessels pass over. The 
 proposition seemed feasible to Admiral Porter, and though others ridi- 
 culed it, he requested General Banks to detail the necessary force to 
 carry it out. It must be done within ten days, as the supplies of the 
 army were getting short, and they could not wait longer than that time. 
 Colonel Bailey promised to finish it within the ten days. "We will allow 
 Admiral Porter to narrate in his own graphic way the process and result 
 of the undertaking. 
 
 "General Banks placed at the disposal of Colonel Bailey all the force 
 he required, consisting of some three thousand men, and two or three 
 hundred wagons. All the neighboring steam mills were torn down for 
 material, two or three regiments of Maine men were set to work fulling 
 trees, and on the second day after my arrival in Alexandria from Grand 
 Ecore, the work had fairly begun. Trees were falling with great rapidity, 
 teams were moving in all directions, bringing in brick and stone; quarries 
 were opened ; flatboats were built to bring down stone from above ; and 
 every man seemed to be working with a vigor I have seldom seen 
 equalled, while perhaps not one in fifty believed in the success of the un- 
 dertaking. These falls are about a mile in length, filled with rugged 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE RAPIDS AT ALEXANDRIA. 683 
 
 rocks, over whicli, at the present stage of water, it seemed to be impossi- 
 ble to make a channel. 
 
 " The work was commenced by running out from the left bank of the 
 river a tree dam, made of the bodies of very large trees, brush, brick, and 
 stone, cross-tied with other heavy timber, and strengthened in every way 
 which ingenuity could devise. This was run out about three hundred 
 feet into the river; four large coal barges were then filled with brick and 
 sunk at the end of it. From the right bank of the river cribs filled with 
 stone were built out to meet the barges. All of which was successfully 
 accomplished, notwithstanding there was a current running of nine miles 
 an hour, which threatened to sweep every thing before it. 
 
 " It will take too much time to enter into the details of this truly won- 
 derful work. Sufiice it to say, that the dam had nearly reached com- 
 pletion in eight days' working time, and the water had risen sufficiently 
 on the upper falls to allow the Fort Hindman, Osage, and Neosho to get 
 down and be ready to pass the dam. In another day it would have been 
 high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass the upper falls. Un- 
 fortunately, on the morning of the 9th instant, the pressure of water 
 became so great that it swept away two of the stone barges, which swung 
 in below the dam on one side. Seeing this unfortunate accident, I jumped 
 on a horse, and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, and 
 ordered the Lexington to pass the upper falls, if possible, and immediately 
 attempt to go through the dam. I thought I might be able to save the 
 four vessels below, not knowing whether the persons employed on the work 
 would ever have the heart to renew their enterprise. 
 
 " The Lexington succeeded in getting over the upper falls just in time, 
 the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered 
 directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing 
 so furiously that it seemed as if nothing but destruction awaited her. 
 Thousands of beating hearts looked on, anxious for the result. The 
 silence was so great as the Lexington approached the dam that a pin 
 might almost be heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of 
 steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic 
 rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, was then swept iuto deep 
 water by the current, and rounded-to safely into the bank. Thirty thou- 
 sand voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to per- 
 vade the face of every man present. 
 
 " The Neosho followed next ; all her hatches battened down, and every 
 precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lex- 
 ington, her pilot having become frightened as he approached the abyss 
 and stopped her engine, when I particularly ordered a full head of steam 
 to be carried ; the result was that for a moment her hull disappeared from 
 sight under the water. Every one thought she was lost. She rose, how. 
 ever, swept along over the rocks with the current, and fortunately escaped 
 
684 THE CITIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 with only one bo.^e in lier bottom, wliicU was stopped in the course of an 
 hour. 
 
 "The Ilindman and Osage both came through beautifully without 
 touching a thing, and I thought if I was only fortunate enough to get my 
 large vessels as well over the falls, my fleet onco more would do good 
 service on the Mississippi. 
 
 " The accident to the dam, instead of disheartening Colonel Bailey, only 
 induced him to renew his exertions, after he had seen the success of get- 
 ting four vessels through. 
 
 " The noble-hearted soldiers, seeing their labor of the last eight days 
 swept away in a moment, cheerfully went to work to repair damages 
 being confident now that all the gunboats would be finally brought over. 
 These men had been working for eight days and nights up to their necks 
 in the boiling sun, cutting trees and wheeling bricks, and notliing but 
 good humor prevailed amongst them. On the whole it was very for- 
 tunate the dam was carried away, as the two barges that were swept away 
 from the centre swung around against some rocks on the left, and made a 
 fine cushion for the vessels, and prevented them, as it afterward appeared, 
 from running on certain destruction. 
 
 " The force of the water and the current being too great to construct a 
 continuous dam of six hundred feet acro.'ss the river in so short a time, 
 Colonel Bailey determined to leave a gap of fifty-five feet in the dam, and 
 build a series of wing dams on the upper falls. This was accomplished 
 in three days' time, and on the 11th instant, the Mound City, Carondelet, 
 and Pittsburg, came over the upper falls, a good deal of labor having been 
 expended in hauling them through, the channel being very crooked, 
 scarcely wide enough for tliem. Next day the Ozark, Louisville, Chilli- 
 cothe, and two tugs, also succeeded in crossing the upper falls. Immedi- 
 ately afterward the Mound City, Carondelet, and Pittsburg, started in suc- 
 cession to pa-ss the dam, all their hatches battened down, and every pre- 
 caution taken to prevent accident. Tlie passage of these vessels was a 
 most beautiful sight, only to be realized when seen. Tbey passed over 
 without an accident, except the unshipping of one or two rudders. This 
 was witnessed by all the troops, and the vessels were heartily cheered 
 when they passed over. Next morning at ten o'clock, the Louisville, 
 Chillicothe, Ozark, and two tugs, passed over without any accident, except 
 the loss of a man, who was swept off the deck of one of the tugs. By 
 three o'clock that afternoon, the vessels were all coaled, ammunition re- 
 placed, and all steamed down the river, with the convoy of transports in 
 company. A good deal of difficulty was anticipated in getting over the 
 bars in lower Red river ; depth of water reported only five feet ; gunboata 
 were drawing six. Providentially, we had a rise from the back-water of 
 the Mississippi, that river being very high at that time ; the back-wutej 
 
MOVEMENT OP GENERAL STEELE. 685 
 
 extending to Alexandria, one hundred and fifty miles distant, enabling us 
 to pass all the bars and obstructions with safety." 
 
 Ou the 14th of May, the army took up its line of march from Alexan- 
 dria for Simmsport, which place was reached on the 19th, the march 
 having been a tiresome one, and the rear of the army continually harassed 
 by the enemy, who were twice briskly engaged and driven off. The 
 work of bridging the Atchafalaya was immediately commenced ; General 
 Banks' troops crossed on the 20th, and marched to Morganzia, on the 
 west bank of the Mississippi, above Port Hudson, which place they 
 reached on the 21st, and General Smith's troops embarked, and returned 
 to Vicksburg. At Morganzia, General Canby, who had in the meantime 
 been appointed to the command of the military division of the Trans-Mis- 
 sissippi, assumed personal command. The fleet reached the Mississippi 
 with a loss of one gunboat, the Covington, destroyed, and another, the 
 Signal, captured. 
 
 We have already referred to the march of General Steele, with a co-op- 
 erative column of twenty-five thousand or thirty thousand men from Little 
 Eock, with the intention of forming a juncture with General Banks at or 
 beyond Shreveport, and also to General Thayer's moving southward, with 
 a body of troops from the army of the frontier, by way of Washington, 
 Arkansas. These, which left Fort Smith ou the 25th of March, were to 
 join Steele at or near Camden, Arkansas, and had primarily in view, the 
 defeat of Price, who was said to be in the vicinity of Washington, Arkan- 
 sas. The two columns effected a juncture in safety, without having en- 
 countered Price, and General Steele succeeded in occupying Camden 
 without much difficulty, only to meet there the news of the failure of the 
 main column under General Banks. About the 1st of May, General 
 Steele, apprised of the retreat of the Union forces on the Eed river, and 
 of the definite abandonment of oSfensive operations in that quarter, and 
 finding his rear threatened by Marmaduke, and a large force, commanded 
 by General E. Kirby Smith in person, in his front, took up the line of 
 march for Little Eock. The retreat was substantially a race with the 
 enemy for his base, and was barely won by him with heavy loss of men 
 and materiel. The insignificant and despised enemy, who two months 
 before was threatened on all sides with destruction, having been forced 
 into concentration, was now attempting the passive offensive measure of 
 blockading the Arkansas, White, and Eed rivers. The escape of Banks' 
 weakened and dispirited columns was due to the attention of the enemy 
 being withdrawn from them, in the direction of the Arkansas forces. 
 
 Thus ended ingloriously, though with less of disaster than had been 
 feared at one time, this unfortunate campaign. 
 
 The Department of the South had been the scene of a parallel, though 
 less extensive disaster, during the winter, from a campaign prompted by 
 other, but hardly more honorable motives than those which led to the 
 
686 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Red rive." blunder. After the President's proclamation of December Sth 
 1863, relative to the reorganization of States then in Rebellion, prominent 
 Union politicians in Florida, as well as in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Ten- 
 nessee, resolved to bring their respective States under its provisions, with 
 a view to secure to themselves seats in Congress, or other oilicea of honor 
 and emolument. In Florida, tlie United States Government held most of 
 the coast, and the lakes and swamps of the peninsula were for the most 
 part uninliabited, but the northern portion of the State was still under 
 Rebel control, and its broad savannas furnished pasturage to tens of thou- 
 sands of cattle, whose flesh largely contributed to the commissariat of the 
 Rebel armies. The aspiring politicians to whom we have alluded, found 
 in this circumstance a strong argument for the undertaking of an expedi- 
 tion, which, while it should cut off the Rebel supplies of beef, would also 
 so far bring that section of the State under subjection, as to enable them 
 to accomplish their purpose of restoring it to the Union, in name if not in 
 fact, and would at the same time give them the opportunity of riding into 
 power. They accordingly sought the ear of the general commanding the 
 department, and by strong representations of the advantages which would 
 result from such an expedition, induced him to favor it in good faith. 
 Armed with his approval, they next hastened to Washington, and laid the 
 matter before the President, carefully concealing their real motives under 
 the plea of the public weal. The President, confiding in General Gill- 
 more's approval, and unaware of the sinister purposes of the proposers, 
 gave it liis sanction. 
 
 General Gillmore entrusted the command of the expedition to Brigadier- 
 General Truman Seymour, an officer of great experience and military 
 ability, who had already won a high reputation in some of the hardest 
 fought actions in that department. It is said, on what seems to be good 
 authority, that General Seymour, apprised of the motives which actuated 
 the promoters of tlie expedition, regarded it with distrust, and avowed his 
 opinion of its ill-advisedness to his superior. Ilowever this may be, he 
 was too thorough a soldier to disobey orders, and a man of too high prin- 
 ciple to neglect any measure which might conduce to its success. Five 
 brigades were designated for the expedition, but just before leaving 
 Hilton Head, the best of the five — Howell's — was detached from it. 
 
 The object of the expedition was to penetrate as far as Lake City, and 
 to cut the railro.id at Suwanee river. 
 
 On the 5th of February, 186'±, the expeditionary force, consisting of 
 Barton's and Ilawley's brigades, Montgomery's colored, and Henry's 
 light brigade, with Generals Gillmore and Seymour, left Hilton Head, and 
 landed on the 7th at Jacksonville without opposition, the Rebel outposts 
 falling back into the interior. The Union forces did not delay at Jack- 
 sonville, but pushed directly into the country, and at first met with 
 admirable success. They reached Baldwin, twenty miles from Jackson- 
 
THE BATTLE OP OLUSTEB, FLORIDA. 687 
 
 ville, on the 9th, and the light brigade arrived in the vicinity of Lake 
 City on the 11th. The advance was now delayed for several days, while 
 a secondary base was established at Barber's, on the south forks of St. 
 Mary's river, thirty miles from Jacksonville. The necessity of this arose 
 from the fact that sufficient transportation could not be procured in the 
 Department of the South to permit them to make Jacksonville their 
 secondary base. This delay proved disastrous. General Gillmore had 
 ordered a diversion to be made by General Schimmelpfennig with about 
 forty -five hundred troops, to Holover Cut, and the vicinity of the Charles- 
 ton and Savannah railroad, to intercept and hold at that point any troops 
 the Eebels might send to reinforce their army in Florida. This force 
 held the position until the 11th, skirmishing with the Eebels, when, under 
 their instructions, they withdrew, and the Eebel brigades which they had 
 held in check, immediately took the cars of the Savannah, and the Albany, 
 Savannah and Gulf railroads, and by vigorous marching, reached the 
 Suwanee in season to take part in the battle, and render the defeat of the 
 Union troops certain. On the 15th, Major-General Gillmore returned to 
 Hilton Head, and on the 20th, Brigadier-General Seymour, having ob- 
 tained some reinforcements and a battery, and having a sufSciency of 
 transportation to move his supplies from his secondary base, moved for- 
 ward his army, consisting of four thousand five hundred infantry, five 
 hundred cavalry, and twenty guns, arranged in four batteries. 
 
 They left Barber's station at seven A. M., reached Sanderson, sixteen 
 miles distant, about noon, and pushed on to Olustee, ten miles further, 
 without halting. The information which General Seymour had received 
 from his scouts led him to suppose that the enemy were in that vicinity. 
 At about three p. M., they came suddenly upon the Eebel position, which 
 was admirably chosen. On the right, their line rested upon a low and 
 rather slight earthwork, protected by rifle-pits; their centre was defended 
 by an impassable swamp ; while on the left their cavalry was drawn up 
 on a small elevation behind the shelter of a grove of pines. The railroad 
 intersected their camp, and on the embankment was placed a battery, 
 which commanded the Union left and centre, while a rifled gun, mounted 
 on a truck, prevented the Union troops from advancing along the line of 
 the railroad. The Eebel force was about thirteen thousand. The Union 
 position, from necessity, and not choice, was not desirable. They were 
 compelled to approach and form their line of battle between two swamps, 
 one in front, the other in rear. Their artillery was posted within one 
 hundred yards of the Eebel line, and was thus ■within easy range of the 
 Eebel sharpshooters, llawley's brigade led the attack, the seventh New 
 Hampshire regiment being in advance. The left flank of the regiment, 
 composed mostly of substitutes, who had not previously been under fire, 
 and who were but indifferently armed, soon gave way under the terrible 
 fire of the Eebel sharpshooters ; but the right, which was armed with the 
 
688 TUE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Spencer repeating rifle, maintained their position till tlieir ammuuitioa 
 was exhausted. The regiment lost its colonel and three hundred and 
 fifty men, killed or wounded. Barton's brigade was now brought up, 
 with the artillery, and eighth United States volunteers — colored — and 
 they met the enemy with great firmness, and forced them back for some 
 time ; but Colonel Fribley, commanding the eighth regiment, being killed, 
 and the .regiment for the first time under fire, they fought somewhat at 
 random, and were finally withdrawn, to prevent their useless slaughter. 
 Barton's brigade fought on, but were finally compelled, for want of 
 ammunition, to fall back, which they did slowly and in good order ; two 
 colored regiments, the fifty-fourth Massachusetts and first North Carolina, 
 from Montgomery's brigade, covering their retreat. During the whole 
 time that the battle lasted (about four hours), General Seymour was in 
 the front, encouraging and cheering his troops. The retreat was made in 
 the most perfect order, the Rebels not attempting to pursue. The Union 
 troops were obliged to abandon their wounded on the field, and five guns, 
 the horses having been killed. Their retreat was continued to Barber's 
 station, and the next day to Baldwin, where such stores as could not bo 
 transported to Jacksonville were destroyed. On the afternoon of the 22d 
 of February, the army reached its camping ground near Jacksonville, and 
 soon commenced fortifying its position, which, by subsequent reinforce- 
 ments, was made too strong to be attacked by the enemy, and was held 
 permanently as a Union post. The losses of the Union force in this 
 expedition were two hundred and three killed, about eleven hundred 
 wounded, and over five hundred and fifty prisoners. Five pieces of 
 artillery, and a considerable quantity of small arms and commissary 
 stores also fell into the hands of the enemy. The ill success of the expe- 
 dition, which, if well planned and conducted, might possibly have cut off 
 a lar"-e portion of the supply of beef from the Rebel army, was a matter 
 of serious regret in the Department of the South ; but its failure, under 
 the circumstances, was inevitable. The two expeditions, whose disastrous 
 termination we have recorded in this chapter, were the last attempts 
 which were made to carry out the "anaconda" policy. With the changes 
 which took place in the control of the Union armies, about this time, the 
 new policy of concentration was inaugurated, and resulted, within about 
 a twelvemonth, in the complete overthrow of the Rebellion. 
 
SHERMAN'S MERIDIAN EXPEDITION. 
 
 CHAPTEE LVI. 
 
 SHRRMAN's meridian expedition — THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS AND THEIR FAILURE — 
 THE MOVABLE COLUMN — ADVANCE INTO THE ENEMT'S COUNTRY — RETURN — GENERAL GRANT 
 PROMOTED TO THE LIEUTENANT-GENERALSHIP, AND SHERMAN APPOINTED TO COMMAND THE 
 MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — SKETCH OF SHERMAN — OTHER CHANGES IN COM- 
 MANDS — REORGANIZATION OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN ARMIES — IMPROVEMENT IN 
 DISCIPLINE AND MORALE — FORREST AND CHALMERS SET OUT ON AN EXPEDITION FOR 
 PLUNDER AND MURDER — ATTACK ON UNION CITY — ON PADUCAH — THE MASSACRE AT FORT 
 PILLOW — ATROCITY OF THE CONDUCT OF THE REBELS — THE REBEL GOVERNMENT PROMOTE 
 FORREST AND CHALMERS FOR IT — BUFORD's DEMAND FOR THE SURRENDER OF COLUMBUS, 
 KENTUCKY- — FORREST'S RETREAT 
 
 In the early part of the year 1864, the War Department, acting upon 
 the suggestion of General Grant, determined upon a series of co-operative 
 movements, looking to the repossession of Mississippi and Alabama, and 
 the menacing of the strong Eebel position of Atlanta, the Gate City, as it 
 was called, which commanded the entrance from the mountainous region 
 of north Georgia into the rich and fertile plains of the central and southern 
 portions of the State. The operations finally determined upon were, a 
 naval attack on Mobile and its defences in the lower bay, under the direc- 
 tion of Rear- Admiral Farragut, to prevent the blockade-running which, 
 in spite of the exertions of the West Gulf blockading squadron, was now 
 and then successful ; an expedition across the country, east from Vicksburg, 
 toward Selma and Montgomery, with a column of twenty or twenty-five 
 thousand men, under the command of General Sherman, to hold Polk's 
 army in check from reinforcing Mobile ; and a cavalry expedition from 
 Memphis and La Grange, southward, along the line of the Mobile and 
 Ohio railroad, to join Sherman at Meridian, under the command of General 
 W. Sooy Smith, General Grant's chief of cavalry. 
 
 Of these expeditions, two were unsuccessful, while the third, though 
 proving very effective in destroying the enemy's property, and carrying 
 terror and alarm into regions which had hitherto not been visited by the 
 war, did not accomplish so much as it would have done had the cavalry 
 column succeeded in effecting a junction with it. 
 
 Admiral Farragut approached Forts Morgan, Powell, and Gaines, situ- 
 ated at the entrance of Mobile bay, with his squadron, and bombarded 
 them for six days (February 23-29), but they could not, at that time, be 
 reduced without the aid of a land force, and having become convinced of 
 this, he withdrew, without having received or inflicted serious loss. 
 
 The force detailed for General Sherman's expedition consisted of four 
 divisions, of twelve regiments each, from the sixteenth army corps, under 
 -the command of General S. A. Hurlbut. and the whole of the seventeenth 
 44 
 
690 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 army corps, under command of General James B. McPherson. The whole 
 force numbered twenty-one thousand infantry, twelve hundred cavalry, 
 forty pieces of artillery, with the full quota of artillery troops for them, 
 and eight hundred wagons. The cavalry column, under General Smith's 
 command, numbered about nine thousand mounted troops, with a light 
 artillery train. 
 
 General Sherman's command embarked at Memphis, about the 28th of 
 January, for Yicksburg, where it arrived, without serious casualty (though 
 fired upon several times by the Eebels), on the 1st and 2d of February. 
 Here the troops were ordered to take twenty days' ration.s, but no tents, 
 either for of&cers or men, all bivouacking in the open air during the entire 
 campaign. It was the aim of General Sherman to bring his army into 
 the lightest possible marching order, that they might move with the 
 greater celerity and certainty in the enemy's country. It was the first 
 attempt at a movement of such extent, with so large a force, and for 
 so long a time, into the heart of the enemy's country without a ba.se of 
 supplies, and was destined to be the precursor of other and still more 
 extended applications of the movable column. General Grant had, indeed, 
 cut loose from his base for ten or twelve days, in his march from Grand 
 Gulf to Jackson and the rear of Vicksburg, but he bad at no time pene- 
 trated more than two or three day.s' forced march into the interior, and 
 that only for a brief period. General Lee, in his Gettysburg expedition, 
 had given an example of the movable column on a large scale, but his 
 distance from points of supply in his own territory was not great, and the 
 lack of supplies had as much to do with his somewliat precipitate retreat 
 across the Potomac, as the loss of men and ammunition. 
 
 On the 3d of February, the Union army left its camps at Vicksburg, 
 and the same evening reached and crossed the Big Black river, the left 
 wing — the sixteenth corps — crossing at Messenger's ferry, and the right 
 wing — seventeenth corps — at the railroad bridge, eight miles below. On 
 the 4th, they met a Rebel cavalry force of about seven thousand men, 
 under command of the Rebel General S. D. Lee, at Chamjiion hills. The 
 Union advance-guard was at first driven back, but their supports coming 
 up, forced the Rebels back to the west side of Baker's creek, where they 
 occupied a commanding position, but were driven from it about sundown. 
 The next morning, a brigade of McPherson's corps engaged them, and 
 after a sharp action, defeated and drove them to Jackson, twenty-tliree 
 miles distant, inflicting upon them a loss of one hundred and fifty killed 
 and wounded, while their own loss was but thirty. McPherson's corps 
 moved on to Jack.son, where they were joined, on the evening of the 5th, 
 by the sixteenth — Hurlbut's corps — the two having previously moved on 
 different roads. The Rebel force made their escape from the capital with 
 such precipitancy, that they had not time even to destroy their pontoon 
 bridge. On the 6th of February, the Union troops destroyed all the 
 
ADVANCE INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 691 
 
 public stores and arms accumulated at Jackson for the use of the Rebel 
 army, broke up and rendered useless the track of the Mississippi Central 
 railroad for some miles, and put the pontoon bridge in complete order for 
 crossing Pearl river. On the 7tb, they resumed their march, and though 
 the Rebel cavalry hovered on their flanks, they inflicted no serious loss. 
 On reaching Brandon, they found and destroyed a large quantity of Eebel 
 commissary stores. During the next day — February 8th — the Eebel 
 cavalry continued to skirmish with the Union troops, but only lost a con- 
 siderable number of prisoners by doing so. 
 
 At Moreton, tiiirty-six miles from Jackson, the Rebel troops were found 
 drawn up in line of battle, but as the Union advance approached they 
 retreated, and one hundred and fifty of their number were taken prisoners, 
 and some papers of importance captured, showing that the Rebel troops 
 had orders to fall back to Mobile. For the next two days, the Union 
 army found, all along their route, abundant evidence of the precipitancy 
 and disorderly character of the Rebel retreat, in the vast quantity of 
 abandoned stores, and the great numbers of dead horses and mules. On 
 the 11th, at Lake station, on the southern Mississippi railroad (which 
 leads from Vicksburg to Meridian), the Union troops destroyed the depot 
 and machine shop, two locomotives, thirty-five cars, and three steam mills. 
 On the 12th, the army reached Decatur, where they destroyed a large 
 tannery; and a body of Rebel cavalry, under General Adams, attacked 
 their train, but was driven off with but trifling loss. A part of the Union 
 'force here turned aside, and visited Quitman and Enterprise, destroying 
 stores belonging to the Rebel Government in both places. On the 13th 
 of February, they were together again on the banks of the Big Chunkey 
 river, from whence they marched to Meridian, which they entered on the 
 morning of the 15th, and from which General Polk and his army had re- 
 treated but half an hour previously. Meridian was of importance onl}' as 
 the point of junction of the Mobile and Ohio with the southern Missis- 
 sippi, and Alabama and Mississippi railroads, and as the principal depot 
 of supplies — quartermasters' and commissary stores — for the Rebel armies 
 of Mississippi and Alabama. General Sherman gave orders at once to 
 seize and use or destroy these stores, and to burn the store-houses, depots, 
 officers' quarters, and hospitals. The last named would have been spared, 
 but for the uniform practice of the Rebels to destroy the Union hospitals, 
 whenever they fell into their power. Among the stores captured was a 
 large quantity of corn, and the grist mills in the vicinity were put in 
 order, and this corn ground, and used by General Sherman's army during 
 his stay at Meridian. Detachments were sent out in all directions to 
 destroy the railroads and railroad bridges. General Smith's cavalry 
 column was, as we have said, to have joined Sherman's army at this point, 
 and for this purpose he had been ordered to leave Colliersville, near 
 Memphis, on the 3d of February ; but he was delayed waiting for General 
 
692 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Waring's brigade of cavalry until the 11th, and this delay enabled Forrest, 
 Ehoddy, and Chambers, to concentrate their forces in such positions as to 
 check his progress. With the utmost exertion, and without opposition, 
 he could not now reach Meridian till about the close of the time set for 
 the junction of the two forces (the 15th to the 19th of February); but, for 
 some reason, General Smith made but slow progress, averaging not over 
 fifteen miles a day, and did not reach Oakland, one liundred and twenty- 
 seven miles from Meridian, and one hundred and thirty-five from 
 Memphis, until the 18th, and on the 21.st was at West Point, but twenty- 
 nine miles farther. Here he encountered so large a Rebel force, so advan- 
 tageously posted, and offering him such determined opposition, that he 
 was compelled to fall back on Memphis, which he reached on the 26th, 
 having made the return march in four days. 
 
 This failure to connect was greatly to be regretted, as, witli the aid of 
 this cavalry, General Sherman could have penetrated readily and safely 
 to Selma and Montgomery, while without cavalry to cover his flanks, he 
 could not go much farther than he had already done into the enemy's 
 country, without encountering obstructions and resistance which an 
 infantry column would find it difficult to overcome. Having waited till 
 one day beyond the utmost limit set for effecting the junction of the two 
 corps, and being unable to ascertain, through his scouts, an}' indications 
 of General Smith's approach. General Sherman did not deem it wise to 
 delay longer, but gave orders, on the morning of the 20th, to return to 
 Vicksburg. Marching as far as Hillsboro, by the same route by which 
 they had gone eastward, tliey diverged at that point to the northward, 
 and, on the 26t"h, arrived at Canton, twenty-three miles north of Jackson, 
 on the Mississippi Central railroad. At this point General Sherman left 
 the army, the next day, in charge of General llurlbut, and taking a small 
 escort, proceeded at once to Vicksburg, and descended the river to New 
 Orleans. The army remained at Canton for several days, in the hope of 
 hearing from General Smiths cavalry. They had some skirmishes here 
 with the Rebel General Adams' cavalry, and in one of them lost sixteen 
 forage wagons. The Union troops destroyed here twenty-one locomotives, 
 a large number of cars, and other Rebel property ; but the town itself, and 
 the property of private citizens, were uninjured, in consequence of the 
 friendly conduct of the citizens. On the 2d of March, the Union troops 
 resumed their march for Vicksburg, which they reache<l on the -Ith. 
 Their total loss during the expedition had been one hundred and seventy 
 in killed, wounded, and missing. On arriving at Vicksburg, General 
 McPherson's corps went into camp there, while General Hurlbut's returned 
 at once to Memphis. 
 
 General Sherman made the following official statement of the results 
 of the expedition: One hundred and fifty miles of railway rendered use- 
 less, thirty mills and ten thousand bales of cotton burned, two millions of 
 
SKETCH OF MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN. 693 
 
 bushels of corn either used or destroyed, twenty-three locomotives, eighty- 
 eight cars, sixty-seven bridges, and seven thousand feet of trestlework, 
 were burned, or otherwise destroyed. The Union army also killed and 
 wounded about three hundred Rebel soldiers, took two hundred prisoners, 
 liberated nearly eight thousand negroes, and brought back several thou- 
 sand more horses and mules, and three hundred more wagons than they 
 had when they left Vicksburg. They had subsisted almost entirely upon 
 the country. General Sherman estimated the damage done to the Rebel 
 cause from this expedition as more than fifty millions of dollars. 
 
 On the 2d- of March, Major-General Grant, then in command of the 
 grand military division of the Mississippi, was promoted to the rank of 
 Lieutenant-General, and the command, under the President, of all the 
 armies of the United States ; and, at the same time, Major-General Sherman 
 was advanced to the command vacated by General Grant's promotion. 
 Other changes were made about the same time, but before noticing them 
 let us sketch briefly the life-history of this new general of the military 
 division of the Mississippi, who was henceforth Grant's most efficient 
 lieutenant in the prosecution of the war. Major-General William 
 Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 
 1820. He is a son of the late Hon. Charles R. Sherman, at the time 
 of his death one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Soon 
 after his father's death, in 1829, he was adopted by Hon. Thomas 
 Ewing, and at the age of sixteen, after receiving a good preliminary 
 education, appointed a cadet at West Point, where he graduated, June 
 30th, 1840, ranking sixth in his class. He was appointed immediately 
 second lieutenant in the third artillery, and ordered to duty in Florida, 
 where, in November, 1841, he was promoted to a first lieutenantcy. He 
 was soon after assigned to duty at Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor, 
 where he remained for several years. In 1846, he was ordered to Cali- 
 fornia, where he was made acting assistant adjutant-general, and performed 
 his duties with such ability that he received a brevet of captain, dating 
 from May 30th, 1848, '• for meritorious services in California during the 
 war with Mexico." In 1850, he was promoted to the rank of captain, 
 and appointed commissary of subsistence, being assigned to the staff of 
 the commander of the Department of the West, with headquarters at St. 
 Louis. He was soon after transferred to the military post of New Orleans. 
 In the duties of the office of commissary, he acquired his aptitude for 
 biinging together the necessary supplies for an army, with a promptness 
 which has never been surpassed by any military commander. On the 
 6th of September, 1853, he resigned his commission in the army, and for 
 the next four years resided in California, as the manager of the banking 
 house of Lucas Turner & Co., at San Francisco. In 1857, he was invited 
 by some of the friends whom he had made in New Orleans to take the 
 superintendency of the State ililitary Institute of Louisiana, then just 
 
694 THE CIVIL WAR I\ THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 organizing, and accepted the post. The purpose of the founders of this 
 military school was to educate young men for officers in the army of the 
 Rebellion, the coming of which they foresaw and desired; but this ulterior 
 purpose was carefully hidden, and other reasons, plausible enough, 
 assigned for the establishment of a military academy. When, in the 
 winter of 1861, it began to be evident that the secession of Louisiana was 
 resolved upon, and that war would probably follow, Captain Sherman 
 promptly resigned his superintendency, as incompatible with his views 
 of loyalty, and came north to St. Louis. Soon after he visited Wash- 
 ington, and warned the Government of the extent and fierceness of the 
 struggle which was so soon to come, but found them incredulous 
 on the subject. At the organization of the new regiments of the regular 
 army in June, 1861, he was appointed colonel of the thirteenth infantry, 
 his commission dating from ^lay lith, 1861. In the battle of Bull Run 
 he commanded the third brigade in the first (Tyler's) division, a brigade 
 composed of some of tlie most celebrated regiments of volunteers in the 
 subsequent history of the war, the thirteenth New York State militia, the 
 sixty-ninth (Irish), the seventy-ninth (Highlanders) New York State 
 militia, and the second Wisconsin. His conduct in that battle was not 
 only brave, but skilful, and no troops in the field that day behaved better 
 than those in his command. On the 3d of August he was confirmed a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers, his commission dating from May 17th, 
 1861. Early in August, he was ordered to report to General Robert 
 Anderson, then commanding the Department of the Ohio, and was by him 
 made second in command, and soon after sent with a force of seven thou- 
 sand men, volunteers and Kentucky home-guards, to occupy Muldraugh's 
 hill, a point of considerable strategic importance, south of the Rolling Fork 
 of Salt river. The troops under his command proved entirely unreliable, 
 the home-guards abandoning the camp for their homes; and the reinforce- 
 ments intended for his command being ordered elsewhere, he soon found 
 himself with less than five tliousand troops, badly armed, and wholly un- 
 tried, confronted b}' the Rebel General Buckner, with a force of twenty- 
 five thousand men. At this juncture, the failure of General Anderson's 
 health compelled his resignation, and, on the 8th of October, Sherman was 
 appointed his successor. His position was a trying one. His force was 
 entirely inadequate to cope with the greatly superior numbers of the 
 enemy, and his appeals for more troops met with no favorable response 
 from the War Department. Secretary Cameron and Adjutant-General 
 Thomas had an interview with him at Louisville, in October, and among 
 other questions, asked him how many troops would be required for a 
 forward movement in his department, lie replied, "Sixty thousand." 
 'And how many," asked the Secretary, " for the entire western depart- 
 ment?" "Not less than two hundred thousand," was the prompt reply. 
 This seemed to the Washington officials very absurd, and they repeated 
 
SKETCH OP MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN. 695 
 
 it publicly, with some ungracious comments. It did not require a twelve- 
 mouth to prove the accuracy of General Sherman's estimate, but at the 
 time he was denounced as insane for making it. Finding itw impossible 
 to obtain reinforcements, and General McClellan making inquiries which 
 indicated an intention of giving up Louisville and Kentucky, General 
 Sherman asked to be relieved of his command. His request was granted, 
 and General Buell put in his place, who was immediately reinforced to an 
 extent beyond what General Sherman had asked. Sherman himself was 
 shelved by being ordered to duty at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis. 
 Here, on assuming command of the western department, General Halleck 
 found him, and knowing his abilities, detailed him to forward reinforce- 
 ments and supplies to General Grant, then besieging Fort Donelson ; and 
 after the fall of that fortress, put him in command of the fifth division of 
 Grant's army, with which he fought with great gallantry at the battle of 
 Shiloh, April 6th and 7th, 1862. Of his conduct in this battle Colonel 
 Bowman well says: "There was not a commanding general on the field 
 who did not rely on Sherman, and look to him as our chief hope, and 
 there is no question that but for him our army would have been destroyed." 
 General Grant said in his report: "To General Sherman's individual 
 efforts I am indebted for the success of that battle." In the siege of 
 Corinth, his division was constantly in the advance, and carried, occupied, 
 and reintrenched seven distinct Kebel camps. After the evacuation of 
 Corinth, he was, at the urgent request of Generals Halleck and Grant, 
 promoted to the rank of major-general, his commission dating from May 
 1st, 1862. On the 20th of June, he captured Holly Springs, Mississippi, 
 and was soon after put in command of the district of Memphis, which he 
 governed with skill and decision, breaking up the contraband trade, and 
 suppressing the guerrillas. 
 
 In the latter part of December, 1862, General Grant ordered him, with 
 parts of two corps, to descend the river to Vicksburg, and attack the 
 works on Chickasaw bluff's, while he would approach from the rear, by 
 way of Jackson, and co-operate in an assault upon the city. General 
 Sherman obeyed the order, but the capture of Holly Springs, Grant's base 
 of supplies, pi'evented his co-operation too late to recall Sherman, and the 
 attack, though skilfully conducted, proved a failure. General Sherman 
 had submitted a plan for the reduction of Arkansas Post, an important 
 strategic point, to follow immediately his assault upon Chickasaw bluifs, 
 and General McClernand having been sent down with additional troops 
 to participate in this movement, and ranking General Sherman, took com- 
 mand of the expedition. There are but few generals who would, under 
 the sting of disappointment and defeat for which they were not responsi- 
 ble, have submitted, with so good a grace, to serve under another, and he 
 a civilian general, in the execution of their own plans; but General Sher- 
 man liad learned well that obedience is the first duty of a soldier, and he 
 
696 THE CIVIL WAK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rendered it heartily. Arkansas Post was taken, and Sherman returned \fl 
 Grant's army, which, about this time, took position at Young's Point, for 
 the operatiops against Vicksburg. In these. General Sherman was con- 
 spicuous for bravery, skill, and promptness of action. In the attempt 
 made by Rear- Admiral Porter to penetrate to the upper Yazoo, through 
 several of the interlacing creeks and bayous, it was due to the extraordi- 
 nary energy and promptness of General Sherman, that the light-draft 
 gunboats of the squadron escaped from the enemy, who had so nearly 
 captured them. The forced march through the deep mud of the Yazoo 
 country, which alone rescued them, was one of the most extraordinary 
 of the war. 
 
 When General Grant determined to assail Vicksburg from below, he 
 left Sherman's corps behind, to demonstrate on Haines' bluff, and draw 
 the Rebel troops in that direction, while he landed his other corps below, 
 and marched northward. Having been successful in this. General Sher- 
 man made a rapid march on the west side of the Mississippi, to a point 
 opposite Grand Gulf, and crossing there, participated in most of the sub- 
 sequent battles of the Vicksburg campaign. lie defeated one wing of 
 Johnston's forces at Jackson, and marching, at General Grant's order, by 
 the northern route to Vicksburg, crossed the Big Black river at Bridge- 
 port, and marching rapidly, compelled the evacuation of the Rebel works 
 on Walnut hills and Chickasaw bluffs, and divided the Rebel force in 
 the outer defences of the city, before the remainder of the army came up. 
 In the two assaults on Vicksburg, Sherman's corps alone made any con- 
 siderable gain; and when the city was surrendered, he started immediately 
 for Jackson, and drove Johnston's army from the capital. After devoting 
 the next two months to resting, refitting, and recruiting his force, he re- 
 ceived a telegraphic despatch on the 22d of September, ordering him to 
 send a division to reinforce Rosecrans at Chattanooga ; and the next day, 
 an order to follow, with the remainder of his corps. Both were promptly 
 obeyed, and though delayed by the low state of the river, and by the order 
 of General Ilalleck to repair the railroad, as well as by some hard fight- 
 ing, he made a march of most extraordinary celerity, and brought his 
 advance-guard into Chattanooga on the loth of November. It was while 
 on this march, that he was apprised that he had been appointed comman- 
 der of the army of the Tennessee, Grant's previous command. His part 
 in the battles of Chattanooga, we have already described, as well as his 
 promptness in raising the siege of Knoxville, and his daring expedition 
 into the heart of the enemy's country, in February, 186-1. Promoted to 
 the command of the military division of the Mississippi, he inspected 
 every post and garrison in his command, displayed his matchless energy 
 and executive ability in pushing forward, mainly over a single long rail- 
 road line, supplies for his army in such quantities as to be for weeks, in 
 the subsequent campaign, practically independent of his base, and by the 
 
REORGANIZATION OF THE UNION ARMIES. 697 
 
 first week in May, had accumulated at Chattanooga an army of one hun- 
 dred thousand men, fully equipped for a campaign such as had had no 
 previous parallel. Of the campaigns from Chattanooga to Atlanta, the 
 retrograde movement northward, the return to Atlanta, the departure 
 thence to Savannah, the ability manifested in military and civil affairs 
 there, the last and most marvellous march of all, through thS Carolinas, 
 moving for sixty days without a base of supplies through the enemy's 
 country, the rest and refitting at Goldsboro, the new advance to Ealeigh, 
 and beyond, and the final surrender of Johnston's army, we have yet to 
 speak; but in all we see displayed the ability, foresight, and strategic skill 
 of a great commander. 
 
 About the same time that Lieutenant-General Grant received his com- 
 mission, and Major-General Sherman his order to take command of the 
 military division of the Mississippi, General Halleck accepted the position 
 of chief of staff to the President; General McPherson was advanced to 
 the command of the army of the Tennessee; General Schofield was trans- 
 ferred from the command of the Department of Missouri to that of the 
 Ohio, with headquarters at Knoxville, Tennessee; and General Eosecrans 
 succeeded him in Missouri ; and General Sigel was appointed to the com- 
 mand of the army of Western Virginia. Generals Burnside and Han- 
 cock were directed to recruit the ninth and second corps, respectively, up 
 to fifty thousand men, and, as far as possible, to secure veteran soldiers 
 for the purpose. 
 
 The two months which followed, were months of great activity and in- 
 cessant preparation. Soon after taking command of the armies of the 
 United States, General Grant returned to the West, and in a protracted 
 interview with General Sherman, settled upon the outlines of the cam- 
 paign of the ensuing spring and summer, in the West, and then returning 
 to the East, devoted himself with great assiduity to the reorganization of 
 the armies of the Atlantic slope, and the marshalling and discipline of 
 the large body of new recruits which were being constantly added to their 
 ranks. Among these were two large divisions of colored troops, one in 
 Burnside's (ninth) corps, of the army of the Potomac, the other in Gill- 
 more's (tenth) corps, of the army of the James. 
 
 The morale of the army was greatly improved ; vicious, intemperate, 
 and "conditionally loyal " officers were dismissed with little ceremony, and 
 straggling, malingering, and intemperance, among rank and file, severely 
 and promptly punished. These great improvements were equally manifest 
 in the army of the West, where General Sherman, with unsparing hand, 
 weeded out the officers whose vices had hitherto been tolerated, but who 
 were unfit to command. In both armies the pulse of patriotism beat high, 
 and officers and men looked forward to the coming campaign with an eager- 
 ness and enthusiasm which betokened their confidence in the speedy triumph 
 of their arms. 
 
6!)S THE CIVIL WAR IX TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Rebel Government and commanders were, perhaps, less sanguine of 
 success, but they were not le.ss active and energetic in preparing for the 
 coming campaign. A new con.scription law called into the field all their 
 white able-bodied male citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty, 
 authorizing details, where necessary, for special civil duty ; the array 
 officers wer€ empowered to impress provisions for the army ; arms and 
 ammunition were purchased in England in large quantities, and run into 
 Wilmington and Mobile, evading the blockade; great activity was dis- 
 played at the few points where cannon, fire arms, and ammunition were 
 manufactured in their own territory; desertion and evasion of the con- 
 scription, both extensively prevalent, were punished with terrible severity, 
 and every preparation made for a sanguinary and desperate resistance. 
 
 While these preparations were going on, the Eebel cavalry in tlie West, 
 which, though recognized and commissioned as regular troops by the 
 Rebel Government, was largely composed of felons, outlaws, and ruffians, 
 more ready to commit murders and outrages than to engage in honorable 
 warfare, was guilty of a series of disgraceful and infamous murders, which 
 would stamp any government authorizing or sanctioning tliem with eternal 
 dishonor. The leaders in these horrible deeds were General Forrest and 
 General Chalmers, who had both attained a considerable notoriety as 
 partisan and guerrilla officers, and had not, in their previous career, been 
 free from the imputation of dishonorable deeds. 
 
 General Sherman was receiving, in March, large reinforcements from 
 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and was, at the same time, using his railroad 
 communications to their utmost capacity, in pushing forward supplies to 
 Memphis, Johnsouville, Nashville, Stevenson, and Chattanooga. It was 
 with a view to prevent these new troops from reaching his camps, and to 
 alarm him for the safety of his communications, that Forrest was sent on 
 his murderous raid. He had a force of about seven thousand cavalry, his 
 own and Chalmers' command, and his purpo.se was to attack the Union 
 garrisons of Paducah, Union City, Columbus, and Fort Pillow, and to 
 threaten Mempliis. It had no effect, however, in luring General Sherman 
 from the accomplishment of his plans, and atrocious as was the conduct of 
 the raiders, they accomplished nothing of any benefit to the Rebel cause, 
 while they lost from their own ranks more men than they murdered or 
 killed in battle. 
 
 Forrest first attacked Union City on the 24:th of March. The town was 
 garrisoned by five hundred men, under the command of Colonel Hawkins, 
 of the seventh Tennessee Union cavalry. This force repulsed him several 
 times, but finally yielded to his demand for surrender, though they 
 might, perhaps, have held the town. They were taken pri.soners, but 
 were not treated with particular cruelty. 
 
 From Union City he proceeded to Paducah, where was a garrison of 
 six hundred and fifty-five men, under Colonel S. G. Ilicks, and several 
 
FORREST'S ATTACK ON FORT PILLOW. 699 
 
 gunboats lay along the river near the town. The Union forces retired 
 into Fort Anderson, and successfully repelled the attacks of the Rebel 
 cavalry. Failing to make any impression by fighting, Forrest next de- 
 manded an unconditional surrender, and closed his letter of demand with 
 these words : "If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war; 
 but if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." Colonel 
 Hicks replied, saying that he should not surrender ; that he had been 
 placed there to defend that post, and that he should do so. Forrest then 
 a.ssaulted the fort three times, but was repulsed each time with severe loss, 
 one of his brigadiers being killed in the last assault. He withdrew the 
 next mornmg, March 26th, having lost over three hundred killed and 
 about twelve hundred wounded. In his attack on Fort Anderson, Forrest 
 was guilty of the same meanness and bad faith for which he had been 
 noted throughout the war. While professedly negotiating, under flag of 
 truce, for the surrender of the fort, he took advantage of the cessation of 
 fire to creep up and secure a better position for making an assault, and 
 also to plunder private stores and government property in the town. He 
 seized the women and children, whom the officers of the fort and of the 
 gunboats had advised to go down to the river, that they might be taken 
 acr.oss out of danger, and placed them, and the female nurses of the 
 hospitals, in front of his lines, while he was advancing toward the fort, in 
 order to prevent the garrison from firing on him. No brave or gallant 
 soldier would ever have stooped to such measures for protection in making 
 an attack. The other fortified posts along the Mississippi Central and 
 Mobile and Ohio railroads were each approached, but finding them watch- 
 ful and ready for him, and having no artillery, he soon relinquished the 
 effort to capture them. 
 
 His approach to Fort Pillow was'made stealthily, before sunrise on the 
 morning of the 12th of April. The garrison there consisted, at the time, 
 of nineteen officers and five hundred and thirty-eight enlisted men, of 
 whom two hundred and sixty-two were colored troops, comprising one 
 battalion of the sixth United States heavy artillery (formerly called the 
 first Alabama artillery), under command of Major L. F. Booth ; one 
 section of the second United States light artillery, colored ; and one bat- 
 talion of the thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, white, commanded by Major 
 W. F. Bradford. Major Booth was the ranking officer, and was in com- 
 mand of the post. 
 
 The first intimation which the garrison had of the approach of the 
 enemy was the driving in of their pickets. Fighting soon became general, 
 and about nine o'clock Major Booth was killed. Major Bradford succeeded 
 to the command, and withdrew all the forces within the fort. They had 
 previously occupied some intrenchments at a little distance, and further 
 from the river. There were six pieces of artillery in the fort, viz : two 
 six pounders, two twelve pounder howitzers, and two ten pounder 
 
•JOO THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Parrotts. The fort was situated on a high bluff, wliich Jescended rapidly 
 to the river's edge. The side of the bluff toward the river was covered 
 with trees, bushes, and fallen timber. Extending back from the river, on 
 either side of the fort, were ravines or hollows, the one below the fort con- 
 taining several private stores and some dwellings, constituting what was 
 called the town. At the mouth of that ravine, and on the liver's bank, 
 were some government buildings, containing commissary and quarter- 
 ma.stcrs' stores. The ravine above the fort was known as Cold Creek, 
 ravine, and its sides were covered with trees and bushes. To the right, 
 or below and a little to the front of the fort, was a level piece of ground, 
 on which had been erected some log huts or shanties, which were occupied 
 by the white troops, and also used for hospital and other purposes. 
 Within the fort, tents had been erected, with board floors, for the use of 
 the colored troops. 
 
 "The Rebels contiTuied their attack, but, up to two or three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, they had gained no decisive success. The Union troops, both 
 white and black, fought most bravely, and were in good spirits. The gun- 
 boat number seven (New Era), Captain Mar.shall, took part in the conflict, 
 slielling the enemy as opportunity offered. There being but one gunboat 
 there, no permanent impression appears to have been produced upon the 
 Kebel force ; for, as they were shelled out of one ravine, they would make 
 their appearance in the other. They would thus appear and retire as the 
 gunboat moved from one point to the other. About one o'clock, the fire 
 on both sides slackened somewhat, and the gunboat moved out into the 
 river, to cool and clean its guns, having fired two hundred and eighty-two 
 rounds of shell, shrapnell, and canister, which nearly exhausted its supply 
 of ammunition. 
 
 " The Rebels having thus far failed in their attack, now resorted to their 
 customary use of flags of truce. The first flag of truce conveyed a demand 
 from Forrest for the unconditional surrender of the fort. To this Major 
 Bradford replied, asking to be allowed one hour to consult with liis officers 
 and the officers of the gunboat. In a short time a second flag of truce 
 appeared, with a communication from Forrest, that he would allow Major 
 Bradford twenty minutes in which to move his troops out of the fort, and 
 if it was not done within that time an assault would be ordered. To this 
 Major Bradford returned the reply that he would not surrender. 
 
 "During the time these flags of truce were flying, the Rebels were moving 
 down the ravine, and taking positions from which the more readily to 
 charge upon the fort. Parties of them were also engaged in plundering 
 the government buildings of commissary and quartermasters' stores, in 
 full view of the gunboat. Captain Marshall states that he refrained from 
 firing upon the Rebels, although they were thus violating the flag of truce, 
 for fear that, should they finally succeed in capturing the fort, they would 
 justify any atrocities they might commit by saying that they were in 
 
THE MASSACEE AT FORT PILLOW. 701 
 
 retaliation for his firing while the flag of truce was flying. He says, how- 
 ever, that when he saw the Rebels coming down the ravine above the fort, 
 and taking positions there, he got under way and stood for the fort, deter- 
 mined to use what little ammunition he had left in shelling them out of 
 the ravine ; but he did not get up within effective range before the final 
 assault was made. 
 
 '•' Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the Eebels made a 
 rush from the positions they had so treacherously gained and obtained 
 possession of the fort, raising the cry of 'No quarter!' But little oppor- 
 tunity was allowed for resistance. The Union troops, black and white, 
 threw down their arms, and sought to escape by running down the steep 
 bluS' near the fort, and secretiner themselves behind trees and los^s, in the 
 bushes, and under the brush — some even jumping into the river, leaving 
 only their heads above the water, as they crouched down undei' the bank. 
 
 " Then followed a scene of cruelty and murder without a parallel in 
 civilized warfare, which needed but the tomaliawk and scalping knife to 
 exceed the worst atrocities ever committed by savages. The Eebels com- 
 menced an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white or 
 black, soldier or civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie with each 
 other in the fiendish work; men, women, and even children, wherever 
 found, were deliberately shot down, beaten, and hacked with sabres; some 
 of the children, not more than ten years old, were forced to stand up and 
 face their murderers while being shot ; the sick and the wounded were 
 butchered without mercy, the Eebels even entering the hospital building 
 and dragging them out to be shot, or killing them as they lay there unable 
 to offer the least resistance. All over the hill-side the work of murder 
 was going on ; numbers of Union men were collected together in lines or 
 groups, and deliberately shot ; some were shot while in the river, while 
 others on the bank were shot, and their bodies kicked into the water, many 
 of them still living, but unable to make any exertions to save themselves 
 from drowning. Some of the Eebels stood on the top of the hill, or a 
 short distance down its side, and called to the Union soldiers to come up 
 to them, and as they approached, shot them down in cold blood ; if their 
 guns or pistols missed fire, forcing them to stand there until they were 
 again prepared to fire. All around were heard cries of ' No quarter!' ' No 
 quarter!' 'Kill the damned niggers ; shoot them down!' All who asked 
 for mercy were answered by the most cruel taunts and sneers. Some 
 were spared for a time, only to be murdered under circumstances of greater 
 cruelty. No cruelty which the most fiendish malignity could devise was 
 omitted by these murderers. One white soldier who was wounded in one 
 leg so as to be unable to walk, was made to stand up while his tormentors 
 shot him ; others who were wounded and were unable to stand, were 
 held up and again shot. One negro, who had been ordered by a Eebel 
 officer to hold his horse, was killed by him when he remounted ; another, 
 
702 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a mere cliild, whom an officer had taken up behind him on his horse, was 
 seen by Chabners, who at once ordered tlie officer to put liim down and 
 shoot him, which was done. The huts and tents in wliich many of the 
 wounded had sought shelter, were set on fire, both that night, and the next 
 morning, while tlie wounded were still in them — those only escaping who 
 were able to get themselves out, or who could prevail on others less in- 
 jured than themselves, to help them out ; and even some of those thus 
 seeking to escape the flames, were met by those ruffians and brutally shot 
 down, or had their brains beaten out. One man was deliberately fastened 
 down to the floor of a tent, face upward, by means of nails driven 
 through his clothes and into the boards under him, so that he could not 
 possibly escape, and then the tent set on fire ; another was nailed to the 
 side of a building outside the fort, and then the building set on fire and 
 burned. The charred remains of five or six bodies were afterward 
 found, all but one so mucli disfigured and consumed by the flames that 
 they could not be identified. 
 
 "These deeds of murder and cruelty ceased when night came on, only 
 to be renewed the next morning, when the demons carefully souglit 
 among the dead, lying about in all directions, for any of the wounded yet 
 alive, and those they found were deliberately shot. Scores of the dead 
 and wounded were found there the day after the massacre, by the men 
 from some of the Union gunboats, who were permitted to go on shore 
 and collect the wounded, and bury the dead. The Rebels themselves had 
 made a pretence of burying a great many of their victims, but they had 
 merely thrown them, without the least regard to care or decency, into the 
 trenches and ditches about the fort, or the little" hollows and ravines on 
 the hill-side, covering them but partially with earth. Portions of heads and 
 face, hands and feet, were found protruding through the earth in every 
 direction. The testimony collected by the ' Committee on the Conduct of 
 the War,' also establishes the fact that the Rebels buried some of the living 
 with the dead, a few of whom succeeded afterward in digging themselves 
 out, or were dug out by others." 
 
 The whole number thus brutally murdered at Fort Pillow, was about 
 four hundred, and a very considerable number subsequently died of their 
 wounds at Mound City hospital, and elsewhere. Major Bradford, it ap- 
 peared, from the evidence obtained by the Committee on the Conduct of the 
 War, was murdered the day after the capture of the fort, between Browns- 
 ville and Jackson, Teuneseee, and of the nearly two hundred who escaped 
 death on that day, it is supposed that the greater part were subsequently 
 murdered. 
 
 Both Forrest and Chalmers undoubtedly ordered and sanctioned this 
 ma.ssacre, and both subsequently justified it, and declared that they were 
 under orders to kill every colored soldier, or " home-made Yankee" (the 
 name they gave to the white Tennessee and Alabama unionists), they 
 
BUFORD DEMANDS THE SURRENDER OF COLUMBUS. 703 
 
 might capture. The Rebel press also justified and gloried in these butch- 
 eries, and the Rebel Government made them the occasion for promoting 
 both Forrest and Chalmers to a higher rank in the army. 
 
 Having thus escaped with impunity, after committing these atrocities, 
 Forrest was emboldened to attempt further outrages. He accordingly 
 sent the Rebel General Buford, the next day, April 13th, to Columbus, 
 Kentucky, to demand the unconditional surrender of that post. This de- 
 mand was coupled with a threat, that if the post was not immediately 
 surrendered, and he were compelled to storm it, he would show no quarter 
 to the negro troops. Colonel Lawrence, the commander of tlie fortress, 
 replied, that "surrender was out of the question, as he had been placed 
 there by his Government to hold and defend the place, and he .should do 
 so." Buford, like his superior officer, took advantage of the flag of truce 
 to steal a number of horses, but on receiving the patriotic reply of Colonel 
 Lawrence, he made no attempt to attack the Union garrison, but retired 
 to Forrest's camp. A considerable force of Union cavalry were now in 
 pursuit of Forrest, and as his vocation was rather to steal and murder 
 than to fight, he made all speed southward, and escaped into Mississippi. 
 
104 THE UIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE ADVANCE — GENERAL GRANT'S STRATEGY — SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENT 
 — TUB NUMBERS IN TUB OPPOSING ARMIES — SITUATION OF THE SUBORDINATE ARMIES OP 
 THE UNION AND THEIR NUMBERS — GENERAL BUTLEr's ADVANCE — THE FEINT ON YORK 
 
 RIVER — ASCENT OF THE JAMES TO CITY POINT AND BERMUDA HUNDRED THE ADVANCE ON 
 
 FORT DARLING — THE TROOPS DRIVEN BACK — ATTACK OF THE REBELS ON BERMUDA HUN- 
 DRED THEY ARE REPULSED — DEPARTURE OP THE EIGHTEENTH CORPS — THE ATTACK ON 
 
 PETERSBURG ITS PARTIAL FAILURE — ARMY OP THE POTOMAC CROSSING THE RAPIDAN — 
 
 THE BATTLES OF MAY OTH AND 6tU — LEE's CHANGE OF POSITION — DEATH OF WADSWORTH — 
 SKETCH OF WADSWORTH — FIGHTING OF MAY 7tU AND 8tH — PARTIAL LULL ON THE 9tH — 
 DEATH OF GENERAL SEDGWICK — DESPERATE FIGHTING ON THE IOtH — THE RESULTS STILL 
 INDECISIVE — QUIET ON THE NEXT DAY — GENERAL GRANT'S DESPATCH- — " FIGHTING IT OUT 
 ON THAT line" — THE TERRIBLE BATTLE OF THE 12tU — THE CHARGE OF THE SECOND CORPS 
 
 — DESPERATE FIGHTING WILCOX'S DIVISION FORCED BACK — SUCCESS TORNINO TO THB 
 
 UNION SIDF.— LOSSES OK THE EIGHT DAYS ON THE UNION SIDE — LOSSES ON THE REBEL SIDE 
 —IMPOSSIBILITY OF MOVEMENTS DURING THE STORM — SKETCH OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. 
 
 The notes of preparation had sounded loud and long, and all was ready 
 for such a campaign between the opposing armies as had not been sur- 
 passed in any war of modern time.'?. Under the control and at the 
 bidding of the Lieutenant-General, Sherman's army in Georgia, Meade'.s 
 army on the Rapidan, Butler's on the Jnmes, Sigel's iathe Shenandoali 
 valley, were each to seek their foe, and plunge simultaneously into the 
 conflict. Hitherto it had been towns or cities which our armies sought 
 to win ; now it was the opposing army itself, wherever it might retreat, 
 which was the real objective. Not Atlanta, so much as Johnston's army, 
 was the prize Sherman sought to win ; not Richmond, so much as Lee's 
 army, was the guerdon of the armies of the Potomac and the James. The 
 old strategy consisted in driving the covering force of the foe from a city 
 whiuh it was deemed necessary to capture, and then reducing it, when it had 
 but a slender garrison. Grant's strategy aimed at something entirely 
 difi'erent; he drove the army of his enemy into his capital, surrounded 
 and held him there, striking first at one flank and then at the other, and 
 wearied him by his pertinacity and his heavy blows, until the citadel and 
 the army of the foe were surrendered together, and the war brought to an 
 end, almost simultaneously with the reduction of the enemy's capital. 
 The siege of the beleaguered city might bo longer by this process, but 
 when the surrender came, the results amply repaid the delay. The cam- 
 paigns of the spring and summer of 1864, both in Virginia and Georgia, 
 were on a far larger scale than those of any previous year of the war. 
 Tlie Union armies outnumbered their opponents in both States, but more 
 largely in the latter than in the former, but they were to a greater extent 
 new troops, and were to act on the offensive against an enemy on his own 
 
GENERAL BUTLER'S MOVEMENTS ON RICHMOND. 10b 
 
 territory, and with abundant intrenched positions, and these advantages 
 fully counterbalanced any excess of numbers. 
 
 In Virginia, by the most strenuous efforts, General Lee had assembled 
 a Rebel army far superior in numbers, discipline, and equipment, to any 
 he had hitherto commanded. His army, when much inferior in numbers, 
 training, and equipment, to the present one, had indeed been defeated at 
 Antietam and Gettysburg, but had always been successful on its own 
 territory, and its able commander might well be hopeful of victory in the 
 coming contest. But he had not reckoned upon the iron will, the stern 
 persistence, the unyielding grip, of his antagonist. He had hitherto been 
 matched against generals less skilled in strategy, less fertile in resources, 
 less capable of wielding a great army effectively than himself But he 
 was now to contend against a general who could parry all his attacks, 
 who was a greater master of strategy than himself, and who could work 
 steadily on for months, or even years, if necessary, to accomplish his 
 purposes. 
 
 The army of the Potomac, under the command of Major-General Meade, 
 numbering, including Burnside's reserves, which were at this time at 
 Annapolis, about one hundred and sixty thousand men, occupied a 
 position along the Eapidan, south and southeast of Culpepper Court 
 Hou.se. 
 
 Major-General Butler's command, afterward named the army of the 
 James, consisted of the army of southeast Virginia and North Carolina, 
 nearly or quite an ordinary army corps in numbers, the tenth (Gillmore's) 
 corps, from the Department of the South, and the eighteenth corps from 
 Louisiana ; it numbered about forty thousand, and was concentrated at 
 Fortress Monroe and its vicinity. In the Shenandoah valley, Major- 
 General Sigel was in command of a single corps of not far from ten 
 thousand men, with orders to participate in the simultaneous movement, 
 by attacking the forces of the enemy in the valley, and to strike at 
 Lynchburg. Generals Crook and Averell were in West Virginia, and 
 had assembled there a force of more than twenty thousand men, a part of 
 whom were to be pushed forward to join Sigel. 
 
 The forward movement commenced on the 4th of May. The tenth and ! 
 
 eighteenth corps, of General Butler's command, having marched previously 
 from Fortress Monroe to Yorktown and Gloucester Point, embarked, on [ 
 
 the 4th of May, on transports, and made a feint of ascending York I 
 
 river, a small force being landed at West Point to build wharves, &c. I 
 
 Having deceived the enemy by this movement. General Butler secretly f 
 
 re-embarked his troops, and descended the York river by night, ascended [• 
 
 the James, accompanied by a large squadron of gunboats, four monitors, ' 
 
 and the iron-clad Atlanta. Landing a part of his troops at City Point, he f 
 
 went on with the remainder as far as Bermuda Hundred, four miles 
 above Appomattox river, where, landing under the protection of the gua- 
 45 
 
706 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 boats, they proceeded at once to intrench themselves. On the 6th, he 
 ascertained the enemy's position by means of reconnoitering parties, 
 and on the 7th made a demonstration, with a force of five brigades, toward 
 Petersburg. After a sharp and severe fight, the Union troops succeeded 
 in reaching and cutting the railroad, General Kautz meanwhile being sent 
 with a cavalry force to burn the railroad bridge below Petersburg, thus 
 temporarily dividing Beauregard's force, a part of which had not yet 
 reached that city. Meanwhile, Colonel West, with two regiments of 
 colored troops, moved from Williamsburg, and made a successful demon- 
 stration on Lee's lines north of the James. 
 
 General Butler next sent reconnoissances in force toward Richmond, on 
 the south side of the James, which destroyed the railroad between that 
 city and Petersburg for a considerable distance, busying the rest of his 
 troops meantime, in fortifying the two positions at Bermuda Hundred and 
 City Poiut. This accomplished, he proceeded at once to lay siege to Fort 
 Darling, a work of considerable strength, situated on Drewry's bluff, an 
 eminence overlooking the James, and which had previously repulsed an 
 attack of the Union iron-clads on its river front. 
 
 On the ISth of May, the outer line of earthworks around the fort was 
 carried, after a brief but sharp battle, and the Union troops moved for- 
 ward toward the second line, and began to bring up their artillery to bear 
 upon it, but committed the fatal mistake, of neglecting to intrench their 
 new position. 
 
 On tlie 16th of May, the enemy, taking advantage of this blunder, made 
 a sortie upon their lines, in a dense fog, (having been reinforced for the 
 purpose by the greater part of Beauregard's army,) and attacking the 
 Union right wing with great violence, forced it back with very heavy 
 loss, flanking it so completely that the whole army was compelled to fall 
 back to their intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, which, however, they 
 succeeded in reaching in good order. The Rebel force, satisfied with hav- 
 ing compelled them to raise the siege of the fort, did not pursue them to 
 Bermuda Hundred. It is said that Beauregard sought, from the Rebel 
 President, the loan of ten thousand of Lee's troops, in addition to his own, 
 for thirty-six hours, promising, if he could have them, to annihilate But- 
 ler's force. Mr. Davis refused, because that reduction of Lee's troops, 
 even for so short a time, would compel him to fall back to Richmond, and 
 would add to Grant's prestige to such an extent, that the annihilation of 
 Butler's force would not compensate for it. He insisted, however, that 
 Beauregard could accomplish his object witliout reinforcement. The at- 
 tempt was made, and Butler sufl'ered heavy loss, nearly five thousand ot 
 his troops being killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, but he was very far 
 from being annihilated. On the early morning of the 20th of May, after 
 three days' skirmishing, the Rebel army advanced, and attacked Bermuda 
 Hundred, but were repulsed with severe slaughter, and retreated in con- 
 
THE ATTACK ON PETERSBURG. 
 
 707 
 
 siderable disorder, leaving two hundred and sixtj-three of their dead and 
 wounded on the field, and acknowledging a loss of over six hundred. 
 The Union loss was very heavy, but they held their position, though sorely 
 distressed by their protracted fighting, having had little food and no 
 rest for forty-eight hours. 
 
 On the night of the 21st, the Eebels again attempted to carry the Union 
 lines, making a vigorous attack with both infantry and artillery. The 
 whole heavens were lit up by the blaze of artillery and the bursting of 
 shells. But the afi'air ended in a complete repulse* of the enemy, who 
 suffered severely. 
 
 On the 24th of May, a brigade of Rebel cavalry, under command of 
 General Fitzhugh Lee, approached the Union position on the north side 
 of the James, at Wilson's wharf, which was held by two regiments of 
 colored troops, under the command of General Wild, and demanded the 
 instant surrender of their works, accompanj'ing the demand with the 
 statement that if they surrendered they should be handed over to the 
 authorities of Richmond as prisoners of war ; otherwise, he would not be 
 responsible for the consequences, when he captured the post. General 
 Wild replied, "We will try that." A battle of three or four hours ensued, 
 and at the end of that time, having exhausted his ingenuity in attempting 
 to carry the position, either by front or flank attack, General Lee found 
 himself compelled to retire, leaving the ground in front of the works 
 strewn with dead Rebel cavalry, and the colored troops masters of the 
 field. On the 27th and 28th of May, the eighteenth corps, commanded 
 by General William F. Smith, was withdrawn secretly, and embarked for 
 White House, whither they were sent to reinforce Grant's army. For 
 some days there was no further movement, all of Beauregard's troops 
 which could be spared, having been sent to reinforce Lee. On the 10th 
 of June, believing that Petersburg contained but a small garri.son. General 
 Butler ordered a combined attack upon it; General Gillmore, with about 
 three thousand five hundred troops, approaching it from the north ; Gene- 
 ral Kautz, with a fine cavalry force, attacking it from the south ; while 
 the remainder of the troops, commanded by General Butler in person, and 
 supported by the gunboats, should assail it from the northeast and east. 
 General Kautz approached on the south side, and after some severe fight- 
 ing, forced his way into the city, while the gunboats, and General Butler's 
 troops, attacked vigorously on the east and northeast; but General Gill- 
 mure, advancing toward the works on the north side, deemed them too 
 strong to be assailed by his force, and withdrew without attacking, and 
 General Kautz, after fighting some time, was compelled, in consequence, 
 to withdraw also. Tbis action ended the independent movements of this 
 army, which, though maintaining thenceforward a distinct existence as 
 the army of the James, was under the direct command of General Grant, 
 
JfOS THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and co-operated with the army of the Potomac ia its subsequent siege of 
 Richmond and Petersburg, making with it but one grand army. 
 
 We return now to the army of the Potomac, and its advance against 
 Lee's principal force. In his reorganization of thi.s army, Lieutenant- 
 General Grant had consolidated its five infantry corps into three; the 
 second, under command of Major-General W. S. Hancock, the fifth, com- 
 manded by Major-General G. K. Warren, and the sixth, by Major-General 
 John Sedgwick. Beside these, he had organized a reserve corps, from 
 the ninth (Burnside's old) corps, which had been recruited up to nearly 
 forty thou.sand, one division of them colored troops. The cavalry also 
 constituted a full corps, and was placed under the command of the bril- 
 liant and fiery Sheridan, whom Grant had ordered from the West for this 
 very service. 
 
 The reserves were yet at Annapolis, and were supposed by the Rebels 
 to be intended to strike some southern point. The Lieutenant-General 
 accompanied the army of the Potomac, and the principal movements were 
 directed by him, though the method of carrying them out was left very 
 much to Major-General Meade, who commanded the army. 
 
 General Grant's immediate design was, by a series of movements on 
 the right flank of Lee, to compel him to fall back toward Richmond, to 
 protect his communications with the Rebel capital. Of course, with an 
 antagonist so wary and skilful as Lee, and at the head of so formidable an 
 army, he could not hope to effect a speedy destruction or surrender of his 
 army, or such a weakening of it as to permit his ready entrance into 
 Richmond; but tlie region in which Lee's army was encamped was one 
 exceedingly unfavorable for fighting, and every mile he was compelled to 
 fall back brought him nearer to better battle-grounds; and it was, more- 
 over, a part of the Lieutenant-General's strategy to shut him up in Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 While hoping, doubtless, to succeed in his first flanking movement 
 without a battle, Grant was prepared to accept the chances of it without 
 flinching. He soon found that his wary foe was prepared to fight him at 
 almost his first advance on his right flank. Pontoon bridges were laid at 
 Ely's and Germaiiia fords, and on the morning of the 4th of May, Han- 
 cock's corps crossed at the former, and Warren's and Sedgwick's at the 
 latter, the entire force being on the south side of the Rapidan by noon of 
 that day. The region upon which tliey entered immediately was that same 
 Wilderness in which the battle of Ghancellorsville had been fought ; a 
 rough, sparsedly inhabited country, covered fjr the most part with a heavy 
 forest-growth, and having a wet and ofiien marshy soil, which nourished a 
 dense undergrowth of shrubs, brambles, and young trees, offering insu- 
 perable obstacles to the use of artillery, and rendering infantry movements 
 exceedingly difficult. 
 
 Gregg's division of cavalry was ordered to patrol the plank road lead- 
 
THE FIRST DAY'S BATTLE OP THE WILDERNESS. 709 
 
 ing to Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, while Wilson's division did 
 tbe same duty toward Parker's store and Orange Court House, the sup- 
 posed base of tbe enemy. At all events, there should be no surprise, no 
 unexpected attack, such as had stricken with panic the eleventh corps at 
 Chancellorsville; that much, at least, was effectually guarded against. 
 The second corps encamped on the old battle-field of Chancellorsville; the 
 fifth around the old Wilderness tavern, and the sixth between that and 
 Germania ford. Thus far they had proceeded without opposition, and at 
 roll-call hardly a man was missing. 
 
 On Thursday morning. May 5th, the reveille in the Union army was 
 beaten long before daybreak, and the troops were ordered to move in the 
 following order: Warren's — fifth — corps from its position on Belmont 
 farm, near Wilderness tavern, along the Spottsylvania plank road, five mile 
 to Parker's store; Sedgwick's — sixth — corps to follow him on the plank 
 road ; Hancock's — second — corps to move southwesterly from Chancellors- 
 ville toward Shady Grove church, on the Pamunkey road, and to form a 
 junction with Warren's left; Sheridan's cavalry, having been collected 
 at Piney Branch church, to make a sweeping reconnoissance on the left 
 flank, and endeavor to find and engage Stuart's cavalry. The immediate 
 object of these movements was to straighten the Union line, and bring it 
 in a continuous front upon Lee's right flank. They were, however, inter- 
 rupted before they had attained their full consummation. The Union army 
 had proceeded but a short distance, before there were indications of the 
 approach of the enemy in strong force ; Ewell's corps moving along the 
 turnpike from Old Verdiersville on Mine Run, and A. P. Hill's from New 
 Verdiersville along the Spott.sylvania county plank road, the one on which 
 Warren was advancing. Skirmishing soon commenced, and the cavalry 
 skirmishers were driven in with some loss, but General Grant ordered the 
 march to be continued until some rolling ridges in advance were gained, 
 and then halting his troops, disposed them advantageously in line of battle, 
 and quickly throwing up some hasty and rude breastworks, awaited the 
 enemy's onset. In the line thus formed, Sedgwick held the right toward 
 the Rapidan ; Warren the centre, on the plank road, near, but a little east 
 of Parker's store ; and Hancock stretched out toward Shady Grove church, 
 southeast of Warren, and formed the left wing. The Union line extended 
 nearly five miles, the centre being thrown a little forward. 
 
 About noon, Griffin's division of Warren's corps, whose advance had 
 already skirmished with the enemy and been driven back, was ordered to 
 push his division to the right and left of the turnpike to feel the enemy. He 
 obeyed, moving Bartlett's brigade to the right, and Ayres' (regulars) to 
 the left, while Barnes' brigade was held in reserve. Less than a mile's 
 march, stretching across the turnpike, brought them in collision with 
 Ewell's corps, well posted in a wooded acclivity. A sharp engagement 
 ensued for an hour, but the presence of this overwhelming force (a full 
 
710 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 corps) upon two brigades, and especially upon Ayres', could no longer be 
 resisted, and the two brigades fell back, leaving two pieces of artillery, 
 the horses of which had nearly all been killed, in the enemy's hands. 
 Wadsworlh's and Robinson's divisions, both of the fifth corps, advanced 
 promptly and relieved Griffin, holding the enemy completely in check. 
 After an hour more of musketry firing, with a little artillery, that partic- 
 ular locality 'oeing partially cleared, the enemy moved off to attack 
 another point. The purpose of this desperate attack on the part of Lee, 
 had been to pierce the right-centre, and thus destroy the Union army 
 before it arrived in position. He had been foiled by the steadiness and 
 firmness of Griffin's troops, and when they were at last forced back, by 
 the prompt support accorded to them by Wadsworth and Robinson. 
 
 Disappointed in this, the Rebel commander now transferred his troops 
 to the left-centre, and attempted to force his way between Warren and 
 Uancock. It was about three o'clock when this effort was made, and 
 Hancock, who had been recalled from his advance toward Shady Grove 
 when the first attack was made, and had marched rapidly across to close 
 the gap in the line of battle, had arrived — but with no time to spare, as 
 the Rebel advance were pushing on to insert themselves between the two 
 corps. Getty's division of the sixth corps, had been temporarily detached 
 and sent to the left beyond Warren, and the first brigade of Mott's division 
 of the second corps, had just formed a junction with it, when A. P. Hill's 
 corps came upon them with great force. The stubborn fighting of these 
 two divisions enabled the remainder of Hancock's corps to ari'ive and 
 form, and in a few moments Hancock burst upon their right with a hot 
 fire of musketry. Birney, Barlow, and Gibbons, successively hurried 
 their respective divisions into the fight. The contest that followed was 
 one of extraordinary intensity and stubbornness. The Rebel comman- 
 der, massing his troops, poured in for hours a deadly hail of musketry, 
 such as had n(jt perhaps been surpa.sscd in fury during the war. There 
 was little or no play of artillery, owing to the dense undergrowth ; but on 
 both sides the sharp crack of the rifle and musket, and the ringing of 
 the volleys was incessant. The iron second corps, mostly composed of 
 veterans, held nearly three times its own numbers at bay, but in order to 
 relieve the terrible pressure which was steadily crowding upon them in 
 spite of the splendid fight they were making, it was necessary to advance 
 along the whole line. The advance was ordered, and while the darkness 
 was fa.st gathering, Sedgwick's — sixth — corps, which had been engaged 
 heavily since half-past three, and to some extent since half-past one, p. M., 
 pressed upon the enemy, and drove him back, putting Ewell's corps 
 in extreme peril. With this gain upon the Union right, the fighting, 
 which had extended far into the night, closed. The losses in killed and 
 wounded on each side had been about equal, but the Rebels had the ad- 
 vantage in the number of prisoners, they having captured nearly one 
 
THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 711 
 
 thousand, while the Union troops had only three hundred. The battle 
 was indecisive, and each army awaited the coming of the morrow to renew 
 the contest. Still, General Grant had gained some advantage in the fight; 
 he had learned the position and strength of Lee's army, information of 
 great value to him ; he had, in the face of the enemy, formed his troops 
 advantageously, and had them well in hand for the next day's fighting, 
 and the ninth (Burnside's) corps, his reserves, which had been ordered up 
 when the advance was made, arrived in the evening after a forced march, 
 and were distributed to the support of the other three corps. The line 
 remained substantially as on the preceding day, stretching from north- 
 west to southeast, over a line nearly parallel with that from Germania ford 
 to Chancellorsville. 
 
 On Friday, May 6th, at the very dawn of day the battle was resumed. 
 Sedgwick's corps, on the right, had been ordered to advance at five 
 o'clock A. M., but fifteen minutes before that time the enemy were upon 
 them, making a desperate effort to turn their flank. This effort was re- 
 pulsed, and the Union line pushed forward a few hundred yards, but 
 without gaining any material advantage. At eight o'clock A. M., and 
 again at half-past ten, the Eebels massed on the right, and repeated their 
 efforts to turn Sedgwick's flank, but in vain, though heavy losses were 
 experienced on both sides. Whenever there was a lull, the Union troops 
 at once commenced throwing up breastworks, which proved of great 
 advantage. Hancock, moving out at dawn, had encountered and driven 
 back Hill's corps more than two miles, toward Parker's store. Here, 
 being reinforced by Longstreet, they succeeded in holding their ground, 
 leaving, however, many prisoners in the hands of the Union troops. 
 After a lull, the Rebels came up and assailed the left with great fury, fol- 
 lowing up their attack along the whole line with such vigor as to throw 
 it into some confusion. Eeinforcements from Burnside's corps coming up, 
 order was restored, and the Rebels held in check. 
 
 The entire line swayed back and forth with the shifting fortunes of the 
 terrific fight, and the dense and heavy thicket in contention was covered 
 with the dead and wounded of both armies. The Union right and centre 
 had gained a little ground under a hot fire ; but this only brought them 
 in front of the enemy's intrenched line, posted on an extended ridge, and 
 approached through a densely wooded swamp of considerable width, pro- 
 tected by a front and flank fire. Warren's and a part of Sedgwick's corps 
 assailed this twice, unsuccessfully, in the course of the morning, and in 
 the second attack, Brigadier-General James S. Wadsworth, commanding 
 one of the divisions in the fifth corps, was mortally wounded and taken 
 prisoner.* 
 
 * Brigadier-General James Samuel Wadsworth was the son of Hon. James Wads- 
 worth, of Genesee, one of the largest landholders of western New York, and a man of 
 most noble and philanthropic spirit. General AVadsworth was born in Genesee, 
 
712 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 A comparative lull took place about noon, and was improved by the 
 Union commander, in concentrating his lines, and bringing Burnside'a 
 corps up to fill the gap between Hancock and Warren. Hancock's corps 
 wa.s also brought forward from the Brock road toward the centre. These 
 changes had hardly been completed, when Longstreet and Hill again fell 
 upon the left and centre with great fury, and pushed them back for a little 
 distance. At the junction of tlie left and centre their attack was particu- 
 larly severe ; Crawford's division of the fifth corps, Carr's division of the 
 second corps, and Stevenson's division of the ninth corps, sustaining the 
 brunt of the attack. Stevenson's division at length gave way, but General 
 Hancoclc sent Carroll's brigade, of. the second division of his corps, to 
 drive back the enemy, who were rushing into the gap, and they were re- 
 pulsed with severe loss. Finding himself foiled in all his efforts on the 
 centre and left, lee again, just at night, turned his attention to the riglit, 
 and by a sudden and furious assault, turned and broke the brigades of 
 
 October 30th, 1807. He was educated at Harvard and Yale colleges, and studied law 
 under Daniel Webster, being admitted to the bar in 1833. He did not practice his 
 profession to any considerable extent, his extensive estates requiring Ins entire atten- 
 tion. He had become distinguished for his liberality, not only to his tenants, whose 
 rents he remitted, when tlieir crops were visited by the midge, to the amount of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars in a single year, but to the cause of education, of which, 
 like his father, he was a warm and bountiful friend ; to the starving poor of Ireland, to 
 whom, in 1847, he sent a thousand bushels of corn, and to every good object. Giving 
 was to him a pleasure and delight. Wlien, at the beginning of the war, the railroads 
 leading to AV^ashington were obstructed and torn up, he freighted a vessel with pro- 
 visions, at his own expense, and set sail in it for Annapolis, whence he sent the 
 supplies to Washington for distribution to tlie army. He was appointed in January, 
 1861, a member of the Peace Conference which met at Washington; but finding all 
 efforts to prevent the war were unavailing, he entered in earnest upon the contest. 
 Governor Morgan appointed him major-general of New York State troops, but he 
 declined the commission. He served as volunteer aid to General McDowell in the 
 battle of Bull Run, and his conduct in that relation was liighly commended by the 
 general. Mr. I<incoln nominated him for brigadier-general of volunteers, and he was 
 at once confirmed by the Senate. He commanded a brigade in the army of the 
 Potomac till March, 1862, when he was appointed military governor of the District of 
 Columbia, a post which he held during most of the remainder of the year. He was 
 the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, in the autumn of 1862, but was 
 defeated by Horatio Seymour. In the battle of Fredericksburg he was again engaged 
 in active duty, having command of the first division of the first (Reynold's) corps, and 
 participated in the hard fighting of that disastrous battle. He also took part in the 
 battle of ChancellorsviUe, or rather, in the feint which preceded it on the left wing, 
 and at Gettysburg distinguished himself for his coolness and bravery. He was greatly 
 rejoiced at being able to participate in the battles of Grant's campaign, but on the 
 second day of the battle, while leading a charge, was struck by a ball in the foreliead, 
 and fell into the hands of the enemy. He remained insensible till the 8th of May, 
 when he died. An Irishman, to whom he had rendered some service, recognized him, 
 attended him till his death, buried him, and informed the Union troops of the place 
 and circumstances of his death. 
 
< 
 
GENERAL LEE'S CHANGE OF POSITION. 713 
 
 Seymour and Shaler, on the extreme right, and captured both generals, 
 with a considerable portion of their commands. By the most extraor- 
 dinary effort and personal exposure, General Sedgwick succeeded in 
 rallying his corps and holding the position, which was in great peril at 
 one time, and the flanking of which would have brought destruction upon 
 the whole army. Had the enemy been fully aware how nearly they had 
 succeeded, they would not, in all probability, have relinquished the attack 
 as they did. The losses of this day had been very heavy, large numbers 
 being wounded, and many prisoners captured. The Rebels bad taken 
 many more prisoners than the Union troops, but their casualties in killed 
 and wounded had also been greater. The result was still indecisive, and 
 the two armies seemed very evenly balanced. 
 
 During the night, the right wing was drawn back and strengthened. 
 At daybreak on Saturday morning, the Union forces opened the conflict 
 again, with artillery, which they had planted in a favorable position to 
 protect their right wing. This cannonading elicited no reply, and an ad- 
 vance being ordered, a series of brisk skirmishes ensued, in which the 
 Union troops were generally victorious. About noon, it became evident 
 that General Lee was falling back with his main force toward Spottsyl- 
 vania Court House, having abandoned his strong line of intrenchments at 
 Mine Run, for his second defensive line on or near the North Anna. His 
 tactics in this movement were similar to those he practiced at Chancellors- 
 ville, his purpose being to outflank his antagonist, while be was attempt- 
 ing to flank him, and compel him to change his front or have his lines 
 broken and annihilated. There was a cavalry battle on Saturday after- 
 noon, between four brigades of Sheridan's cavalry, and Stuart's Rebel 
 cavalry, iu which Sheridan held the ground. The infantry meantime 
 pursued Lee, who turned again and again to give battle, as the Union 
 troops pressed him. On Saturday evening, Fredericksburg was occupied 
 and made a depot for the Union wounded troops. Hancock's and Burn- 
 side's corps pressed on as far as possible, and early on Sunday morning, 
 May 8th, resumed the chase. Warren's corps remained till dark, Satur- 
 day evening, on the site of the battle-field of Friday, and then set out and 
 marched all night, taking the Brock road, past Todd's tavern, to Spottsyl- 
 vania Court House. Soon after leaving Todd's tavern, Sunday morning, 
 Bartlett's brigade of Griffin's division, fifth corps, being in advance as 
 skirmishers, were fired upon by the enemy. Line of battle was formed 
 at once, and the corps came into action. A severe battle was fought, 
 and the enemy at last driven back, but the Union troops were so greatly 
 exhausted that they could march no farther for the time. Toward evening. 
 General Grant ordered an advance, which was attempted by the fifth and 
 sixth corps, and resulted in another sharp battle. 
 
 On Monday, May 9th, there was quiet in the morning, then skirmishing 
 and artillery firing, but no general battle till evening. During the day 
 
1U THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 General Sedgwick, the commander of the sixth corps, was killed by a 
 ball from the rifle of a sliarpshooter, while superintending the mounting 
 of artillery. The positions of the difl'erent corps had been changed on 
 Sunday, with a view to prevent Lee's attempted flanking movement. 
 Hancock now held the right, Warren the centre, and the sixth corps the 
 left. Toward evening. General Grant ordered another advance on the 
 enemy, and the second corps again led the attack, this time on the right, 
 while Burnside offered battle on the left. The battle was one of great 
 severity, artillery being used to a greater extent than in any previous 
 battle of the campaign, and both sides alternately charging. The object 
 of the battle was the possession of Spottsylvania Court House, but at the 
 close of the night's fighting, the Rebels still held it, and Hancock's brave 
 corps retired slowly, having largely increased their previous heavy 
 losses. 
 
 On Tuesday, May 10th, the incessant storm of battle culminated in the 
 most terrific carnage of the campaign. The position of the two armies 
 was as follows: the Union army stretched along the Po for a distance of 
 nearly six miles, from the vicinity of Corbin's bridge, nearly to Glady Run, 
 Hancock's corps being on the south side of the Po, and the other troops 
 on the north. Burnside occupied the extreme left, facing Spottsylvania 
 Court House ; next, north, lay the sixth (Wright's) corps ; then Warren's, 
 and finally Hancock's, on the extreme right; both right and left were pro- 
 tected by several batteries of artillery, and the ground was more favorable 
 than it had hitherto been for using them, though a dense forest lay directly 
 in front of the Union army. The Rebels still held Spottsylvania, and the 
 region north of the Court Hou.se. Their right rested on the Ny river ; 
 their centre was thrown forward a little, and posted on commanding 
 ground, and their left rested on Glady Run. Their whole line was strongly 
 intrenched. In his counter flanking movement, Lee had been so far 
 successful that his army lay east, or rather southeast, of the Union forces, 
 instead of southwest of them, as at the beginning of the campaign. His 
 position was not only well supported by breastworks, but along his cen- 
 tre was the forest and underbrush, lining a marsh partially drained by a 
 creek. 
 
 The battle opened in the' early morning, by a terrific cannonade of the 
 Union artillery against the advancing lines of the enemy, and for the 
 first time in the campaign was this arm brought into full and destructive 
 use. Burnside's corps next skirmished cautiously on the extreme left. 
 Mott's division, of Hancock's corps, was then transferred to the left, and 
 the advance continued, pres.sing heavily upon the enemy's right. General 
 Grant's orders were now to attack the Rebel centre, and accordingly, Gib- 
 bons' and Birney's divisions, of the second corps, were drawn back from 
 the south side of the Po, to connect with the fifth corps, the second and 
 fourth divisions of which co-operated in the attack, and were supported by 
 
GRANT'S DESPATCH TO SECEETAEY STANTON. 715 
 
 the remainder of tbe fifth corps. The Union troops fought with great 
 tenacity and fury for several hours, driving the enemy to his rifle-pits; 
 but, though Gibbons' division, and especially Carroll's brigade, charged 
 fiercely and repeatedly upon these, they could not capture thetn. General 
 Jame.s C. Rice, commanding a brigade in the fourth division of the fifth 
 corps, an officer of great promise, was killed. 
 
 By this check of the Union centre, Barlow's — the only remaining divi- 
 sion of the second corps on the right — was thrown into extreme peril, and 
 orders were given to withdraw it to the north side of the Po; but the 
 enemy had already attacked it in great force, and turned it. After severe 
 fighting, its withdrawal was at length efi'ected. Toward evening, a most 
 energetic and gallant assault was made by the whole line. Upton's bri- 
 gade, of the first division of the sixth corps, and Eussell's brigade, from 
 the third division, led the forlorn hope, moving steadily forward amid a 
 raking and murderous fire, without firing a shot, scaled the enemy's 
 works in gallant style, and captured more than a thousand prisoners, and 
 several guns; but finding themselves far in advance of the enemy, and 
 not properly supported, they were compelled to fall back, with their dearly 
 won prisoners, from this daring assault. As on each preceding day, night 
 closed on a hard fought but indecisive field. 
 
 On Wednesday, May 11th, the position of the two armies was much 
 the same as on the previous day, and though there was some skirmishing, 
 there was not much heavy fighting. A reconnoissance, intended proba- 
 bly as a feint, was sent out to investigate the condition of the enemy's left, 
 and a.ssaulting columns from the sixth and second corps were ordered to 
 put themselves in readiness for attack, but the object having been accom- 
 plished, of drawing the enemy's force to that wing, the enterprise was 
 delayed. In the afternoon, rain commenced, for the first time during the 
 campaign, and the two armies desisted for the time from their hostilities, 
 except occasional artillery firing. It was at this time that General Grant 
 sent his famous despatch to Secretary Stanton. It was as follows : " We 
 have now ended the sixth day of very hard fighting. The result to this 
 time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as well as those 
 of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. We have 
 taken over five thousand prisoners in battle, whilst he has taken from us 
 but few, except stragglers. I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
 all summer." 
 
 The fiercest battle, however, was yet in reserve. During Wednesday 
 night, Hancock's corps, which since Sunday had been upon the right, was 
 transferred to the left, between Wright's — sixth — and Burnside's — ninth — 
 corps, thus leaving Warren's — fifth — corps on the right wincr, while 
 Wright's and Hancock's constituted respectively the right and left-centre, 
 and Burnside's the left wing. At dawn of day on Thursday, May 12th, 
 sheltered by the darkness and by a dense mist, the second corps moved 
 
716 THE CrVIL WAR IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 quietly and cautiously up from its position toward the enemy's lines. 
 Barlow's and Birney's divisions formed the first line, and Gibbon's and 
 Mott's the reserve. Barlow's advance marched in columns of battalions, 
 doubled on the centre. As the corps surmounted gradually the rugged 
 and woody space which intervened, the excitement increased, till it broke 
 out in a splendid rush at the Rebel intrenchments, which the troops of 
 that gallant division leaped with loud cheers, dashing into the enemy's 
 camp and compelling their surrender in mass. Hardly a gun was fired, 
 the charge being made entirely with the bayonet. It was a clear surprise, 
 and resulted in the capture of an entire Rebel division (Edward Johnson's), 
 of three thousana men, thirty or forty guns, and Major-General Johnson, 
 and Brigadier-General G. H. Stewart, all of Ewell's corps. No sooner 
 was the ffrst line of rifle-pits carried than the second was stormed with 
 great impetuosity, and, after a stout resistance, wrested from the enemy. 
 This, the first considerable success of the campaign, inserted the second 
 corps as a wedge between the enemy's centre and right, and if that wedge 
 could be driv ■ fo its head, the result would inevitably be the dismember- 
 ment of Lee's ^^ >y- 
 
 The charge of the second corps was followed by a heavy cannonade 
 all along the line, to which the Rebels promptly replied, and under cover 
 of which the whole line moved up to support the second corps. Burn- 
 side pres.sed in on the extreme left, converging toward the penetrated 
 space, and speedily joined his right to Hancock's left division, closed the 
 gap, and mitigled his infantry fire with that of Hancock's corps. On the 
 other side, the sixth corps also threw itself against Ewell's left, and on 
 the extreme right Warren's corps became hotly engaged, and an incessant 
 rattle and roar of battle arose along the whole line. The rain began 
 again to descend with greater violence than on the preceding day, but it 
 did not in the least cool the ardor of the combatants. 
 
 By nine o'clock A. M., the Rebels, fully roused to the value of the posi- 
 tion they had lost, began a series of desperate and furious charges against 
 the second and ninth corps, in the hope of regaining their lines. For 
 three hours the battle was as bloody and fierce as any battle of the war. 
 The Rebel columns surged with unflinching determination against the 
 Union lines, retiring each time with their heavily massed columns cut 
 through and through by the cross and enfilading fires of artillery and 
 musketry which were steadily brought to bear upon them. At length, 
 about noon, the enemy, surfeited with slaughter, abandoned for a time 
 their attempts to regain their lost position. But if they had not been 
 successful in this, tliey had at least checked any further advance; and of 
 the captured cannon, the greater part lay covered by the guns of the 
 sharpshooters, neither party being able to carry them oflF. 
 
 The Union troops on the centre and right, emulating the success of the 
 second corps, had charged the enemy's centre with great gallantry; but 
 
DESPERATE BATTLE AT SPOTTSYLYANIA. 717 
 
 the position was impregnable, and after repeated heroic attempts, the 
 eflfort to capture it was abandoned. Finding that success lay most clearly 
 in turning the enemy's right, General Meade, after a temporary lull, 
 began, in the early afternoon, to crowd his troops down toward the left, 
 shortening and massing his line, and again pouring a fierce musketry and 
 artillery fire into the enemy, and pressing hard upon their right and right- 
 centre. All through the afternoon, and till nightfall, the carnage went on 
 with varying success along the line, the resistance of the Eebels being 
 stubborn, and the whole field, from headquarters to the extreme front, 
 being at times swept by their fire. Finding that the Union right had 
 been merely holding them in front from reinforcing their right, and that 
 the Union troops had now abandoned their front, the Rebels began to 
 concentrate their troops upon the important point on the Union left, and 
 every inch of the muddy soil, already .slippery with gore, was fought 
 over with desperation, and yielded only when it was impossible to hold 
 it. The rival bayonets often interlocked, and a fierce and deaih-like 
 grapple over the intrenchrnents lasted for hours, the Rebel flags now 
 surging up side by side with those of the Union, and anon, torn and 
 riddled, disappearing in the woods. The dead and wounded lay thickly 
 strewn along the ground, and were fairly heaped up where the fight was 
 deadliest. 
 
 Exasperated at our success on their right-centre, as well as at the per- 
 tinacity and determination with which Burnside's corps were forcing them 
 back, and attempting to turn their right flank, the Rebels prepared a 
 strong counter-movement on their extreme right, and massing their troops 
 against Wilcox's division, forming the extreme left of the Union army, in 
 spite of the most desperate fighting, bore it back, capturing three hun- 
 dred prisoners from Hartranft's brigade ; and leaving as large a number of 
 dead and wounded on the ground, rushed forward in pursuit, but were 
 checked and driven back with great loss, by a sweeping artillery fire, 
 from batteries brought up and posted since the advance of the morning. 
 Tlie other divisions of the corps stood firm, and even penetrated to the 
 enemy's intrenchrnents. Hard fighting continued, but the Union troops 
 were obliged to content themselves with what they had already gained, 
 and the Rebels to be resigned to their losses. After fourteen hours' fight- 
 ing, night fell on a battle unsurpassed in severity during the war. For 
 the first time in the campaign, a decided success had been achieved. A 
 strong and permanent foothold had been gained in the enemy's lines, and 
 the Union line pushed forward a mile beyond its morning position, and 
 though five determined assaults had been made during the day, to expel 
 them from the position they had won, they had all proved fruitless. During 
 the night the enemy fell back to a new position, a little to the rear of the 
 one they had previously occupied, and though there was some skirmishing, 
 and the filth and sixth corps were ordered to make another advance, and 
 
718 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 surprise the enemy, if possible, by an attack at dawn, it was found that tiis 
 new position was so strong as to offer no probabilities of success. The 
 heavy and persistent rain which had now set in, rendered any intended 
 movement impossible for some days. The position of the corps was 
 changed again, Warren being on the left, Wright on the left-centre, 
 Burnside on the right-centre, and Hancock on the right. There was now, 
 for nearly a week, a lull in the fighting, and both armies improved it, to 
 bring up as large a number of reinforcements as possible. 
 
 The first act of the campaign was completed. After eight days of 
 almost continuous fighting, the two armies paused to bury their dead, to 
 care for their wounded, and to count up their gains and losses. These 
 had been fearful on both sides. The Union losses, though not quite so 
 large as at first reported, w'ere sufficiently heavy, amounting, according 
 to official returns, to two hundred and sixty-nine officers, and three thou- 
 sand and nineteen men, killed ; one thousand and seventeen officers, and 
 eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty-one men, wounded; and one 
 hundred and seventeen officers, and six thousand six hundred and sixty- 
 seven men, missing — mostly prisoners — making an aggregate of twenty- 
 nine thousand three hundred and fifty hors du combat iu the eight days. 
 Among the officers slain were Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the 
 sixth corps,* Brigadier-Generals Wadsworth, Hays, Rice, and Stevenson ; 
 
 * Jolin Sedgwick, a major-general of volunteers, and at Ihe time of his death 
 commander of tlie sixth army corps, was born in Litclifield county, Connecticut, 
 about 1815. He was graduated at West Point in 1837, ranking twenty-fourth in a 
 class of fifty members — General Hooker, and the Rebel generals Bragg, Early, and 
 Peraberton. being among his clasfmates. He entered the Mexican war as first lieu- 
 tenant of artillery, and was successively brevetted captain and major for gallant 
 conduct at Coutreras, Churubusco, and Cbapultepee. He also distinguished himself 
 at the head of his command in the attack on the San Cosmo gate of the city of 
 Mexico. At the commencement of the Rebellion he held the position of lieutenant- 
 colonel of the second United States cavalry. He was promoted April 25th, 1861, to 
 the colonelcy of the fourth cavalry; and on tlie 31st of August was commissioned a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers, and placed in command of a brigade of tlie army of 
 the Potomac, which in the subsequent organization of the army was assigned to the 
 second corps under General Sumner — General Sedgwick assuming command of the 
 tliird division of the corps. In this capacity he took part in the siege of Yorktown, 
 and the subsequent pursuit of the enemy up the peninsula, and greatly distinguished 
 himself at the battle of Fair Oaks, where the timely arrival of Sumner's corps, and 
 his division of it, saved the day. In all the seven days fighting, and particularly at 
 Savage's station and Glendale, he bore an honorable part; and at Antietam lie ex- 
 hibited the most conspicuous gallantry, exposing his person greatly to the peril of his 
 life. He was twice wounded in this battle, but refused to be removed from the field 
 for two hours after receiving his second wound. On the 23d of December he was 
 appointed major-general of volunteers, having previously been breveted brigadier- 
 general in the regular army. In February, 1863, he was assigned to the command 
 of the sixth army oirps. At the head of his corps he carried Marye's heighto, 
 Fredericksburg, and subsequently fought the battles of Salem heights and Banks b 
 
SKETCH OP GENERAL SEDGWICK. 
 
 719 
 
 several general officers wounded, and two brigadier-generals taken pris- 
 oners. The Rebel loss had not been less severe. Tiieir killed, wounded, 
 and missing, by their own admission, considerably exceeded thirty thou- 
 sand, and amoni; the number were eight thousand prisoners. Eighteen 
 cannon and twenty-two flags were also captured, and the Union forces 
 had taken one major-general and one brigadier-general prisoners. They 
 liad also lost in these battles Major-General Samuel Jones, Brigadier- 
 Generals Jenkins, John M. Jones, Daniels, Gordon, Perrin, and Staflbrd, 
 while Lieutenant-General Longstreet was so severely wounded that he 
 was unable to resume command for seven or eight months. So far, though 
 there had been no decisive victory, success preponderated on the Union 
 side. Their loss was somewhat less, though they were better able to bear 
 a heavy loss than the Rebels; and they were pressing their enemy, slowly 
 indeed, but surely, toward the Rebel capital. 
 
 ford, in the first week of May ; and finally withdrew his command across the Rappa- 
 hannoclj, in the face of a greatly superior force, after a day of obstinate figrhting;. He 
 commanded the left wing of the army of the Potomac during the advance into Mary- 
 land in June, 1863, and also at the battle of Gettysburg, where he arrived on the 
 second day, after one of the most extraordinary forced marches on record, and where 
 his steady courage inspired confidence among his troops. During the passage of the 
 Rapidan, November 7th, 1863, he succeeded by a well-executed manoeuvre in captur- 
 ing about fifteen hundred men of Early's (Rebel) division, with a number of guns and 
 colors, for which he was thanked by General Meade in a general order. On the re- 
 organization of the army in the spring of 1864, he was retained in command of the 
 sixth corps, which was greatly enlarged. In the commencement of the campaign 
 whose history we are narrating, he had command of the Union right wing, and took 
 part in the severe fighting of the first days of the campaign. He was killed on the 
 Sth of May, a day of comparative quiet, falling by a shot from a sharpshooter. <ind 
 dying instantly. He had more than once declined the command of the army of the 
 Potomac, which had been tendered to him. 
 
720 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 CONTINUATION OP ORANT's CAMPAIGN — BATTLES NEAR 8P0TTSYLVANIA — REINFORCEMENT 
 THE BATTLE OP THE 18tH OP MAT — TUE REPCLSE — ANOTHER FLANK MOVEMENT TO TBI 
 
 NORTH ANNA, AND BEYOND EWRLL's RAID UPON THB UNION REAR — HE IS REPULSED WITH 
 
 LOSS — FIGHTINO NEAR THE NORTH ANNA — STRENGTH OP THE REBEL POSITION — ANOTHER 
 FLANK MOVF.MENT — RECR08SIN0 THE NORTH ANNA — MARCH TO HANOVERTOWN — CAVALRY 
 ENGAGEMENT ON TOI.OPATOMOY CREEK — BATTLE OF TOLOPATOMOY CREEK, OB SHADY OROVK 
 CHURCH — TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTRY NORTH OF THE CHICKAUOMINY — POSITION OP 
 lee's army — CAVALRY BATTLE FOR THE POSSESSION OP COLD HARBOR — THE BATTLE Of 
 COLD HARBOR — DESPERATE FIGHTING OF THE SIXTH AND EIGHTEENTH CORPS — FIGHTINO 
 ON OTHER PARTS OF THE LINE — THE BATTLE OP THE CHICKAHOMINY — INDECISIVE RESULT* 
 OF THE GALLANT AND DESPERATE FIGHTING — THE OPPOSING LINES VERY NEAR EACH OTHER 
 — LOSSES OF BOTH SIDES SINCE TUE BATTLES OP THE WILDERNESS — SKETCH OP GENERAL 
 
 HANCOCK — Sheridan's first raid — Richmond threatened — his force surrounded at 
 
 THE CHICKAUOMINY — REBUILDING MEADOW BRIDGE — GALLANT CHARGE ON THE ENEMY — 
 HIS ESCAPE — HIS SECOND RAID — THE BATTLES OP TREVILIAN STATION — SHERIDAN WITH- 
 DRAWS, AFTER PUNISHING TUE ENEMY SEVERELY, AND REJOINS THE ARMY OP TUE POTOMAC 
 SOUTH OF THE JAMES RIVER. 
 
 The temporary cessation, or rather relaxation, of hostilities which took 
 place from the 12th to the 18th of May, and which wa.s only broken 
 seriously by the fighting on Saturday, the 14:th, (the result of the capture 
 by the Union troops of a house near the Ny river, which had been occu- 
 pied by tlie enemy, and was dangerously near the Union lines, the 
 desperate efforts of the Rebels to recapture it, and of the Union troops to 
 recover it after losing it again,) was an absolute necessity for both armies. 
 The heavy rains made extended locomotion, except on railroads, impossi- 
 ble; and both contestants were so much exhausted as to require rest 
 The burial of their dead, the removal of their wounded, the bringing up 
 of reinforcements, and the intrenching and fortifying their position, fully 
 occupied the time of those who were able to move. The rest improved 
 very greatly the health and spirits of the Union troops, and when the 
 order came again, with the return of fair weather, for the renewal of the 
 conflict, they were eager for the tight. In all, during this and the suc- 
 ceeding week, about fifty thousand new troops were brought up, making 
 Grant's army larger by twenty thousand than at the beginning of the 
 campaign. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 17th of May, extensive reconnoissances were made, 
 and all the previous attacks having been made on the enemy's right flank, 
 and having led him to concentrate his forces on his right, it was now deter- 
 mined to strike the left flank, in the hope of effecting a surprise there. A 
 chan<Te of position was effected in some of the corp%and on "Wednesday 
 morning, when the new line was formed, Wright's — sixth — corps, occu- 
 
CONTINUATION OF GRANT'S CAMPAIGN. 121 
 
 pied the right, Hancock joined him on the right-centre, Burnside was ou 
 the left-centre, and Warren on the extreme left. Wright, Hancock, and 
 Burnside were to attack. The battle commenced by a heavy cannonade 
 from the Union right, to which the enemy responded promptly, and be- 
 tween half-past four and five A. M., a general assault was made by the three 
 corps, who dashed forward, drove back the enemy's skirmish line, and 
 carried two lines of rifle-pits promptly, and with comparatively slight 
 loss. These carried, a formidable, and, as it proved, insuperable barrier 
 interposed, preventing farther advance. In front of the whole Eebel line 
 stretched abroad, dense and almost absolutely impenetrable abatis, behind 
 which, in strong earthworks, lay a large body of riflemen and sharpshoot- 
 ers, too secure to be dislodged, and behind them batteries of heavy artillery. 
 It was impossible to penetrate this triple defence without terrible slaughter, 
 and it was equally impossible to stand longer under the murderous sweep 
 of artillery, and the troops were therefore withdrawn in good order, and as 
 promptly as possible. The assault was abandoned about eleven o'clock, 
 A. M., and all the troops recalled to their original positions, but it had cost, 
 in killed and wounded, about twelve hundred men. There was no further 
 fighting during the day, but with that promptness which characterized 
 all his movements. General Grant sent Torbert's cavalry on Wednesday 
 night to Guinney's station, on the Fredericksburg and Richmond railroad, 
 ten miles southeasterly from Spottsylvania, and north of the Po, which 
 receives the Ny, some distance above. This station was to the right and 
 rear of Lee's position, and threatened his communications with Richmond. 
 The cavalry destroyed the depot and warehouses, which contained large 
 amounts of supplies, cut the telegraph wires, and broke up the railroad 
 track. General Grant next ordered the preliminary changes of position 
 for a new flanking movement, and on Thursday, a part of the sixth corps 
 began to move from the right, and march across to the left. Lee at once 
 comprehended this movement, and E well's corps was despatched to check 
 it by a bold dash upon the rear of the Union army. A little after noon 
 of Thursday, Ewell crossed the Ny, passed the Union right wing without 
 discovery, owing to the withdrawal of the troops on the right, and about 
 five o'clock, struck the Fredericksburg wagon road in rear of the Union 
 right flank. Here he attaclced the wagons laden with commissary and ord- 
 nance supplies, and the ambulances with wounded, which were constantly 
 passing on that road. The number of these passing that point at that 
 time was fortunately small, heavier trains having passed just before 
 toward the camp, and others being nearer Belle Plain than the secondary 
 base of supplies, but the Rebels took possession of such as were within 
 reach, and fired after the others. The distance of this point from the front 
 was such that Ewell might well have ht)ped to plunder at will before the 
 Union troops could be upon him ; but Union troops were nearer by far 
 than he supposed. Tyler's division of heavy artillery, but armed as 
 46 
 
122 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 infantry, had been sent down from the Washington defences a day or 
 two previous, and were now approaching from Belle Plain, when the stam- 
 peded teamsters and ambulance drivers, rushing back, apprized them of the 
 coming of the enemy. Forming his troops as soon as possible in line, 
 General Tyler moved upon the enemy, who were already fighting Tan- 
 natt's brigade, which was in the advance, and after a short, but severe 
 battle, they drove the Eebela from the road into and through the woods, 
 repulsing them thoroughly, and in admirable style. Late in the evening, 
 three divisions (one each from the second, fifth, and sixth corps) hurried 
 up to support Tyler, but the enemy were already defeated. The enemy 
 effected uo capture of stores or animals. They killed a few horses, but 
 destroyed nothing else of importance. In this sharp but brief battle the 
 Union loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was about twelve hundred, 
 and that of the enemy fully as great. While this attack was in progress, 
 the Rebels advanced against the Union left, opening a very heavy can- 
 nonade against it at the same time, but after a brief engagement were 
 driven back, and the cannonading ceased. The object of this advance 
 was probably to cover Ewell's movement. About three o'clock on Fri- 
 day morning, the three divisions from the second, fifth, and sixth corps, 
 entered the wood silently and swiftly, and sweeping through them, 
 attacked the rear of the enemy's column, and cut off about four hundred 
 prisoners. Ewell immediately recrossed the Ny, and retreated to his 
 camp. 
 
 On Friday night, the new flanking movement commenced in earnest. 
 At midnight, Torbert's cavalry left Massaponax church, and advancing 
 through Guinney's station, proceeded to Guinney's bridge, over the Po, 
 just below its junction with the Ny, some two miles farther. At Downer's 
 bridge, a mile or two farther down the Po, they found a body of Rebel 
 cavalry threatening their further progress, but a sharp charge of the 
 Union cavalry drove them back, and pushing them from the road, the 
 cavalry colutnn went on to Bowling Green, a village fifteen miles south- 
 east from Spottsylvania, and six miles below Guinney's; and thence, still 
 pushing the enemy before them, to Milford station, from which they drove 
 out the Rebel garrison, a part of Pickett's division of Ewell's corps, cap- 
 turing about seventy men. 
 
 The second corps followed on Friday night, and reached and crossed 
 the Muttaponay, at Milford's bridge, on Saturday evening, forming line in 
 a commanding position, about a mile from the bridge. Warren's — fifth — 
 corps moved at ten o'clock Saturday morning, and reached Guinney's 
 station Saturday evening. The sixth and ninth corps followed, and before 
 night of Saturday the entire army had left Spottsylvania. On Sunday, 
 the Union army lay along and near the line of the Fredericksburg rail- 
 road, facing westward; its right at Guinney's station, its centre at Bowling 
 Green, and its left at Milford statio"n. Each corps had encountered some 
 
MARCH TO HANOVERTOWN. 723 
 
 opposition from the enemy's cavalry, but had easily driven it back. The 
 enemy were evidently fully aware of the movement, and had anticipated 
 it by removing their stores from every point on the route ; and General 
 Grant had already become convinced that Lee was moving also, and had 
 preceded him, in the direction of Hanover Court House. On Monday, 
 the Union army were pushed on at a rapid rate, and by nightfall reached 
 the North Anna river, in the neighborhood of Jericho bridge. The second 
 and fifth corps were in the advance — the fifth at the right of the second. 
 Here the enemy were formed in a very strong position, but the second 
 corps, under their gallant leader, Hancock, rushed upon their works, and 
 ' by a desperate charge, carried the position, losing about three hundred 
 men in so doing. The fifth corps crossed higher up the river, without 
 difficulty, but were soon attacked with great vehemence. General Grant 
 stated, in his despatch to Secretary Stanton, that he had never heard more 
 rapid or massive firing, either of artillery or musketry. It resulted, how- 
 ever, in a most destructive repulse of the enemy. 
 
 At night, the second and fifth corps were on the south side of the North 
 Anna, and the sixth and ninth, on the north side, and by Wednesday, the 
 25th of May, the whole army were across, though this had not been accom- 
 plished without some severe fighting, the passage of the river at Taylor's, 
 or Chesterfield bridge, and between that point and Jericho bridge and 
 ford, being stoutly contested by the Rebels. After crossing, the position 
 of the enemy was found to be one of great strength, their right resting on 
 the deep and impassable Bull swamp, and their left on Little river, while 
 their front was thrown forward toward Ox ford, of the North Anna, so as 
 to extend their line in the shape of a V, the apex being thrust forward 
 almost to the North Anna, and partially separating the Union right and 
 left wings, and its own right and left wings protecting the Virginia Cen- 
 tral and Fredericksburg railroads, and especially the important position 
 of Sexton's Junction, where they united. Port Eoyal, on the Eappahan- 
 nock, was temporarily made the Union base of supplies and a depot for the 
 wounded, but foreseeing that another flank movement would soon be 
 required. General Grant ordered supplies shipped to White House, on the 
 Pamunkey, the whilom base of General McClellan, in May and June, 1862. 
 This precaution was wisely taken. 
 
 The position of the enemy, which we have already described, near 
 Sexton's Junction, proving too strong to be carried without incurring too 
 heavy losses. General Grant again moved on the enemy's right flank. 
 Two divisions of Sheridan's cavalry (Torbert's and Gregg's), were sent, on 
 the 26th of May, to recross the North Anna, march southeastward, and 
 take possession of Hanover ferry and Hanovertown, about twenty-five 
 miles below the position the army were occupying on the Pamunkey 
 river, while Wilson's division was employed in destroying the Virginia 
 Central railroad, from the vicinity of Sexton's Junction westward. Still 
 
724 THE cmL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 better to cover the movement on which he had determined, a vigorous 
 demonstration was made on the enemy's left on Thursday, the 26th, sev- 
 eral divisions of infantry attacking the enemy in position. Meanwhile, 
 the two divisions of cavalry had arrived at their destination, where they 
 found only a Eebel vidette, of which they captured seventy-five. The 
 sixth corps had left its camp on Thursday night, and crossing the North 
 Anna, followed the cavalry, marching rapidly but silently. 
 
 On Saturday morning, May 28th, the infantry had possession of Ilan- 
 overtown and the crossing of the Pamuiikey. The cavalry now pushed on 
 southward, the whole of Sheridan's cavalry corps co-operating, and the 
 infantry followed as fast as they could. Near Howe's store, which is not 
 far from Tolopatomoy creek, an affluent of the Pamunkey, Gregg's cavalry, 
 which was in the advance, encountered Hampton's and Fitzhugh Lee's 
 Eebel cavalry, and a severe cavalry engagement ensued. Gregg, being 
 greatly outnumbered, but fighting gallantly, was on the point of being 
 forced back, when Custer's brigade of Torbert's division came up, and 
 being armed with the Spencer repeating rifle, soon compelled the Eebels 
 to retire before their concentrated and deadly fire, leaving their dead and 
 wounded in the hands of the Union tcoops. The loss on each side was 
 about four hundred. Aside from this battle, there was no fighting until 
 Monday, May 30th. The Union troops continued to press forward on 
 the Shady Grove church and Mcchanicsville roads. The Ecbels were 
 posted on the south side of Tolopatomoy creek, their right resting on the 
 Mcchanicsville road, near Shady Grove church, and their left extending 
 toward Atlee's station, on the Virginia Central road. On Monday, May 
 30th, about noon, the enemy attacked and drove in the Union skirmishers 
 on the road leading from Cold Harbor to Old Church tavern, making a 
 desperate effort to 9ffcct a raid upon the rear of the Union army. Devens', 
 Merritt's, and Custer's cavalry brigades came up successively, and after a 
 brisk engagement, beat off the enemy and drove them back with a loss of 
 eighty or ninety men. About five F. M., Warren's corps, which was 
 moving out along the Mcchanicsville road, was suddenly and fiercely 
 attacked by a Eebel force, consisting of one division of Ewell's corps and 
 two cavalry brigades; and Crawford's division, which was a little detached 
 from the rest, and near Shady Grove church, was forced back so far as to 
 . endanger the turning of Warren's flank. The other divisions of the corps 
 hastening up, prevented this disaster, and a severe engagement followed, 
 in which General Meade, in order to relieve Warren's corps from the 
 heavy pressure upon it, ordered an attack along the whole line. Only 
 the second corps, however, received the order in time to attack before 
 dark, and Hancock, without delay, dashed upon the enemy's skirmish 
 line, captured their rifle-pits, and held them all night. At nightfall, the 
 enemy had been driven at every point, and left his dead and wounded 
 upon the field, but moved down a large force to prevent any further con- 
 
CAVALBY ENGAGEMENT AT TOLOPATOMOY CREEK. 725 
 
 centration upon his right. General William F. Smith, with the eighteenth 
 corps, from the army of the James, had, however, been already ordered to 
 White House by General Grant, and was moving down upon the right of 
 the enemy ; and Burnside's corps was also marching toward the same 
 point. This engagement is known by the names of Tolopatomoy creek, 
 and Shady Grove church, though the former more properly belongs to 
 the cavalry engagement of the 28th, 
 
 There was a brief but somewhat sharp engagement toward midnight of 
 Monday, between the Rebels and Burnside's corps, but it soon terminated. 
 The position of the two armies at this time, in connection with the topog- 
 raphy of the country in which they were fighting, is of some importance, 
 as indicating the purposes of the movements of each army. The Chicka- 
 hominy river, which maintains a nearly parallel course with the Pamun- 
 key, and is about ten miles southwest of it, forms, from Winston's to 
 Bottom's bridge, the outer line of defences of Richmond on the north and 
 northeast, and as such, was vigorously defended by General Lee, who 
 saw clearly that to permit the Union army to cross it, would at once im- 
 peril the Rebel capital. The ground between the Pamunkey and Chicka- 
 hominy is, for the most part, open, high, dry, and favorable for military 
 manoeuvres. Near the Chickahomiiiy, however, there are some swamps, 
 of a similar character to those which proved so pestilential to the Union 
 array in 1862 ; from this low ground the land rises soon to ridges, on 
 which there are several roads running parallel to the Chickahominy, from 
 near Atlee's station to Bottom's bridge. These roads, as well as the river 
 bank, were firmly held by the Rebel commander, and every attempt to 
 gain possession of them was repulsed pj-omptly. 
 
 Lee's main line extended from near Atlee's to Gaines' mills and Cold 
 Harbor. His cavalry, with perhaps some infantry supports, extended 
 to Hanover Court House on the left, and on the right to Bottom's bridge. 
 His line ran as follows : A. P. Hill's corps on the left, Longstreet in the 
 centre, and Ewell on the right. Beauregard and Breckinridge were in 
 reserve, so far as the army of the Potomac was concerned, but the former 
 was engaged in holding the army of the James at bay. 
 
 On Tuesday, May 31st, there was a brief but brilliant action, in which 
 Birney's division of the second corps rushed at and carried a breastwork 
 of the enemy on the south side of Tolopatomoy creek, capturing about 
 forty prisoners. There were other desultory fights with small bodies of 
 troops, at various points of the extended line, (of over six miles in length,) 
 during the day. On the right, Wilson's cavalry division skirmishing suc- 
 cessfully, on the extreme right of the army, with Young's Rebel brigade of 
 Wade Hampton's cavalry, and Ledlie's brigade of Burnside's corps, attack- 
 ing the enemy in its front, and advancing its skirmish line. The most im- 
 portant action, however, was that of Torbert's division of Sheridan's cavalry 
 corps, in the vicinity of Cold Harbor, whither they had been sent by General 
 
726 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Grant, to hold that position for the occupation of the infantry. It was the 
 purpose of General Grant to extend his lines eastward, by removing his 
 corps successively from his extreme right, and force a passage across the 
 Chickahominy, on the enemy's right. In attempting to occupy Cold 
 Harbor, the cavalry found themselves opposed by a party of Fitzhugh Lee's 
 cavalry, and Clingman's brigade of Hoke's North Carolina division. A 
 sliarp fight resulted, Merritt's regular cavalry brigade opening, and Devens' 
 and Cu.ster's brigades quickly joining. The Union forces, after a somewhat 
 severe struggle, held the desired ground, though with difEculty. 
 
 On Wednesday, June 1st, the cavalry fighting, with artillery firing, was 
 resumed on both flanks. There was heavy skirmishing also, all along the 
 line. At Cold Harbor, the contest lasted longest, as the enemy were de- 
 termined to drive the Union troops out, while Sheridan's orders were to 
 hold it. Hoke's division was completely repulsed by Sheridan's dis- 
 mounted cavalry, fighting with carbines. McLaw's division then rein- 
 forced Hoke, and other portions of Longstreet's corps coming up, the 
 Union troops could only stand at bay, and hold their own, though fight- 
 ing with desperate bravery. The fighting died away about noon, and 
 soon after, the sixth — Wright's — corps arrived, and deployed into line on 
 the right of the Gaines' mill road, relieving Sheridan's cavalry. At three 
 o'clock the eighteenth corps also came up, having been delayed by taking 
 the wrong road, and at once deployed in line, though wearied by a long 
 march. A charge was ordered immediately. In front was a ploughed 
 field two-thirds of a mile wide, and beyond, a strip of pine forest, in which 
 the enemy lay intrenched. The artillery on the Union left and rear fired 
 sharply for an hour, and at length, ^bout six o'clock, the line dashed forward. 
 Devens' division of the eighteenth corps, and Eicketts' of the sixth, were 
 the assaulting force, and rushed forward across the ploughed land, through 
 a patch of green plain and into the woods, while a deadly storm of artillery 
 and musketry raked their ranks. The charge was made at the double- 
 quickstep, and the men of both divisions dashed over the Rebel earth- 
 works with great spirit, taking and holding their first line of rifle-pits, and 
 capturing about six hundred prisoners. In this charge, Drake's brigade, 
 in the advance of Devens' division, was badly cut up, and by the time it 
 reached the abatis and entanglements in the woods, had hardly men 
 enough left to surmount them. At this critical juncture. Barton's brigade 
 of the same division sprang forward, and gallantly crossing the open 
 under the murderous fire, swept the obstacles and carried the rifle-pits, 
 capturing two hundred prisoners in them. The enemy, however, still 
 held his line on the Union right, and began to enfilade the rifle-trench. 
 Henry's brigade of Brooks' division, eighteenth corps, was next sent in 
 to support Barton, and after a desperate struggle gained a lodgement in 
 the line, but it was soon found that a redoubt in the enemy's second line 
 completely commanded this position, and Henry was obliged to relinquish 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE CHICKAHOMJNY. 727 
 
 it. The other divisions of the two corps were brought up, but no more 
 ground was gained, though the struggle cost heavy losses. The Union 
 troops held Cold Harbor after a fierce conflict, but they could not drive 
 the Rebels from their position. During the night the enemy attempted, 
 by a succession of desperate charges, to regain the territory they had lost, 
 but they were repulsed promptly. The Union loss was not far from two 
 thousand. That of the enemy was considerably less in killed and 
 wounded, since they had fought behind breastworks, but they had also 
 lost six hundred prisoners. 
 
 The Union line now extended from Bethesda church, near Shady Grove, 
 to Cold Harbor, and the corps were arranged thus: from riglit to left, 
 Hancock, Burnside, Warren, Smith, and Wright. Cold Harbor, the object 
 of this desperate fighting, consisted of only a single building, the Cold 
 Harbor tavern, but it was important as the junction of the roads leading 
 to White House on the east, Dispatch station and Bottom's bridge on the 
 south, Richmond by way of Gaines' mill on the west, and Hanovertown 
 and New Castle on the north. 
 
 While this heavy fighting was going on at Cold Harbor, there bad been 
 also hot Work in front of the other corps. During the day, there had 
 been artillery firing, and some skirmishing and musketry firing, on the 
 extreme right of the Union army; but the advance of Gibbon's division 
 of the second, and Potter's of the ninth corps, intended to cover the with- 
 drawal of the second corps from the right to the left, to follow the sixth, 
 roused the fury of the Rebels, and toward evening, massing their troops, 
 they made a most desperate and determined attack along the whole line. 
 Regardless of the gaps the Union artillery ploughed through their dense 
 columns, they came on, till the leaden hail of the musketry delivered at 
 very short range, swept them down in frightful numbers. Again and 
 again they charged, but with the same result, and it was late in the night 
 before they desisted, their retirement being immediately succeeded by the 
 advance of the Union troops to their skirmish line. The loss of the 
 Rebels in this attack was fully two thousand, while the Union troops, fight- 
 ing behind breastworks, lost probably less than half that number. The 
 fighting of the day is known as the battle of Cold Harbor, though but a 
 part of the conflict was in that vicinity. 
 
 On Wednesday night, General Grant decided to follow up tbe occupa- 
 tion of Cold Harbor, by a serious attempt to push the enemy across 
 the Chickahominy, and establish for the Union troops a place for fording. 
 Accordingly, that night, the second corps was drawn ofl' from the right, 
 and marched across the lines to the extreme left, which point it reached 
 about noon on Thursday, and with the troops already there, formed a 
 very heavy force at that point. The attack was ordered for Thursday 
 evening, June 2d, but a heavy thunder-storm, with torrents of rain, pre- 
 vented its execution, and gave the enemy the opportunity to perfect still 
 
728 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STA'IKS. 
 
 farther their defensive preparations. The attack was then ordered for 
 dawn, on Friday morning, June 3d. During the afternoon, on Tliurs^lay, 
 the Rebels charged upon the fifth and nitlth corps, incited thereto by a 
 movement of some of the brigades, which they regarded with suspicion ; 
 they were repulsed, however, with severe loss. 
 
 The assault of the second corps on the enemy's lines on Friday morn- 
 ing, June 3d — the bloody battle of the Chickahoininy — was unsurpassed 
 for daring, lofty courage, and stubborn persistance, even by the gallant 
 action of the same corps at the battle of Spottsylvania. The divisions of 
 Gibbon and Barlow, which were in the advance, swept over the enemy's 
 works, drove Breckinridge's troops from the summit, and for a few min- 
 utes were masters of the position ; but in their valiant zeal, they had been 
 carried a considerable distance beyond their supporting columns, and the 
 enemy, aware that every thing depended upon their retaining this position, 
 puslied forward A. P. Hill's corps upon them, while an enfilading fire 
 swept through their already decimated columns, and they were compelled 
 to fall back upon their supports, which they did in perfeot order, carrying 
 back with them a captured color and three hundred prisoners, under a 
 most deadly fire, and even then they would only retreat over the brow 
 of the nearest ridge, where they formed anew, and intrenched, remaining 
 all day within fifty yards of the enemy's breastworks. 
 
 With no less gallantry, but with no better success, the sixth and 
 eighteenth corps had made their assault. Charging through the under- 
 brush and across the open, they succeeded in carrying the first line of 
 intrench ments, but it was only to be received by the murderous enfilading 
 fire by which all the Union troops that day found their daring repaid. 
 Tenaciously and obstinately they clung to their conquests, which were at 
 length wrested from them, and they were finally forced back with great 
 loss. They succeeded, however, as Hancock had done on the left, in 
 holding and intrenching a position considerably in advance of the starting 
 point, and very close to the enemy's works. The fifth and ninth corps 
 pushed out their skirmishers, and kept up a heavy cannonade along their 
 lines, but soon found that there was only a thin skirmishing line in front 
 of them. They did not, however, as would perhaps have been better, 
 move on to join the three corps on the left in the effort to break the enemy's 
 line which he had so heavily massed in defence of the passes of the 
 Chickahominy. At night the whole Union line was advanced to within 
 fifty yards of the enemy's breastworks and intrenched there, and the 
 fighting was maintained, furious assaults being made on one side or 
 the other till about nine P. M. Wilson's cavalry division had also had a 
 severe fight with Hampton's Rebel cavalry during the day, but without 
 any decisive results. 
 
 For the next nine days there were no more pitched battles, but the two 
 armies looked each other in the face steadily, and every officer or soldier, 
 
SKETCH OP MAJOR-GENERAL HANCOCK. 729 
 
 on either side, who exposed his head or body, was sure to be brought 
 down by a sharpshooter's bullet. Occasionally dashes were made from one 
 side or the other, but they were repelled at once by heavy artillery and 
 musketry fire. The carnage of the four weeks had been terrible on both 
 sides, though a little less than in the first week of the campaign. On the 
 Union side, two hundred and seventy officers, and three thousand seven 
 hundred and thirty-one -enlisted men, had been killed; seven hundred 
 and forty-seven officers, and seventeen thousand three hundred and eighty- 
 one men wounded, and eighty-five officers, and twent^'-nine hundred and 
 twenty-seven men were missing, mostly prisoners ; making a total of 
 twenty-five thousand one hundred and forty-one killed, wounded, and 
 missing. The loss of the Rebels had been little, if at all less. In sonje 
 of the actions they had lost more than the Union troops ; in otliers, fight- 
 ing behind fortifications, their killed and wounded had been less, but they 
 had taken a smaller number of prisoners than the Union troops. 
 
 In all the battles of the campaign, the commander of the second corps 
 had been conspicuous, among the many brave officers of the army, for 
 daring, enthusiasm, and steady valor. Wherever there was the most dif- 
 ficult work to be done, and it was necessary that an attack should be 
 made promptly, earnestly, and unflinchingly, there Hancock and his 
 second corps were sure to be, ready to do and dare any thing that human 
 courage and skill could undertake ; and if there was one post of greater 
 danger than another, or requiring those special acts of gallantry which 
 men will only attempt under the eye, and stimulated by the appi'obation 
 of a beloved and honored commander, there Hancock was certain to be 
 found, encouraging and urging his men to higher exertion, and the 
 accomplishment of seeming impossibilities. A brief sketch of the life 
 of this able and brilliant officer is appropriate in this portion of our 
 history. 
 
 Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock was born in Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 182-i. He entered West Point in 
 184:0, and graduated in 1844, not ranking very high as a scholar, but 
 with an energy and activity in his manner which betokened his future 
 success. He entered the army in July, 1844, with only the brevet rank of 
 second lieutenant of the fourth infantry, and did not receive bis commis- 
 sion as full lieutenant until the 18th of June, 1846, when he was ordered 
 almost immediately to Mexico, where he distinguished himself for gallant 
 conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and was breveted first lieutenant 
 therefor. He was also present and fought bravely at Molino del Key and 
 Mexico. On his return to the United States, he was appointed regimental 
 quartermaster, and retained that position till 1849, when he was promoted 
 to be adjutant of the sixth United States infantry, and saw service on the 
 plains, and afterward in California. In January, 1853, he received his 
 commission as first lieutenant, and on the 7th of November, 1855, was 
 
730 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 appointed assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of captain, and 
 assigned to duty in California. He remained on the Pacific coast till the 
 breaking out of the Rebellion, and exerted a powerful influence in pre- 
 venting the secessionists from carrying the State out of the Union. When 
 hostilities began, he returned to the east, and was appointed chief quarter- 
 master to General Anderson, then in command of the Department of the 
 Ohio, but before he reached his post, was commissioned brigadier-general 
 in the army of the Potomac. On the 9th of October, 1861, his brigade 
 formed part of the forces that occupied Lewinsville, Virginia. During 
 the winter of 1861-2, he was engaged iu several reconnoissances, and was 
 generally successful. lie went to the Peninsula with General McClellan's 
 army, and was breveted major in the regular army for his meritorious 
 services at Lee's mills and Yorktown. At Williamsburg, he led an in- 
 fantry charge, which turned the tide of battle, and was breveted lieuten- 
 ant-colonel from May 5, 1862. He was actively engaged in the seven 
 days' contests, especially in the battles of White Oak swamp and Gold- 
 ing's farm, and was breveted colonel in the regular army from June 27th. 
 He took part in the Maryland campaign, and commanded his brigade at 
 Antietam, September 17, 1862. He was in command of a division of 
 the second corps, at the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, 
 and was wounded during the engagement, iu which his division lost 
 heavily. He was subsequently appointed major-general of volunteers, his 
 commis.sion dating from November 20, 1862. He commanded his division 
 at the battle of Chancellorsville, and after the appointment of General 
 Couch to the command of the Department of the Susquehanna, was pro- 
 moted to the charge of the second corps. With this corps he took an 
 active part in the battle of Gettysburg, and on the third day of the battle, 
 July 3, 1863, was severely wounded. He did not recover so as to resume 
 command of his corps till the spring of 1864, and meantime it had been 
 recruited to more than forty thousand men. During the earlier battles of 
 tlie campaign, and indeed till late in the autumn, General Hancock re- 
 tained command of his corps, and distinguished himself on many fields, 
 but his old wounds, received at Gettysburg, breaking out afresh, he was 
 compelled to ask to be relieved, and was finally appointed to the com- 
 mand of the middle department, after fighting there had nearly ceased. At 
 the reorganization of the army, in June, 1865, he was appointed to com- 
 mand the new middle department, comprising West Virginia, the greater 
 part of Maryland, the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and the 
 States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, which he still (November, 1865,) 
 retains. 
 
 We have not turned aside from our narrative of the movements of the 
 army of the Potomac, to notice, at the time of their occurrence, the inde- 
 pendent, yet co-operative expeditions of the cavalry corps, lest we might 
 thereby render complicated the narrative of the progress of the main 
 
HOOKER 
 
SHEEIDAN'S EAID TOWARD RICHMOND. ^31 
 
 army ; but the present seems a good opportunity to describe Sheridan's 
 two great raids, which exerted a powerful influence in crippling Lee's 
 forces and reducing his supplies. 
 
 On the 9th of May, the cavalry, which for four days previous had been 
 engaged in guarding the army trains, and the ambulances containing the 
 sick and wounded, as well as in protecting the flanks of the army, was 
 relieved from that duty, and General Grant ordered General Sheridan to 
 select the best mounted troops of his command, and start on an expedition 
 to the rear of Lee's army, and cut off his communications and supplies, 
 allowing him full discretion as to the best plan of effecting the object of 
 the expedition. General Sheridan issued his orders at once for this im- 
 portant movement, selecting the staff of&cers who were to accompany 
 him, directing the issuing of three days rations to his men, and leaving 
 behind every thing in the way of a train, except the ammunition 
 wagons, and two ambulances. The baggage actually indispensable was 
 carried on pack mules. Thus freed from incumbrances, he perfected his 
 arrangements and moved on the evening of the same day that he received 
 the order, toward Fredericksburg, but before reaching that city turned 
 southward on the Childsburg road, and after a short halt there, moved to 
 Beaver Dam station, on the Virginia Central railroad, crossing the North 
 Anna river at the fords. At Beaver Dam they found a Rebel provost- 
 guard, with more than three hundred Union prisoners, who had been cap- 
 tured the day before at Spottsylvania ; these they promptly released, 
 taking the Eebel guard prisoners. Thence they moved toward Richmond, 
 sending a detachment to Ashland station, on the Fredericksburg railroad, 
 who destroyed the track, trains, station-houses, and other Rebel Govern- 
 ment property, and then, after a sharp fight, rejoined the main column. 
 On the 11th of May, the cavalry had reached a point within six miles of 
 Richmond. Here they encountered the Rebel cavalry, under command 
 of Lieutenant-General J. E. B. Stuart in person, and charging upon them 
 promptly, a severe battle took place, in which General Stuart was killed, 
 and some Rebel guns captured. 
 
 The next morning before daybreak, a detachment was sent toward 
 Richmond to reconnoitre, and penetjate to the second line of defences of 
 that city, within less than two miles of the capital, and having captured 
 a Rebel courier, withdraw. Early in the morning of May 12, Sheridan's 
 advance approached Meadow bridge, on the Chickahominy, where they 
 again encountered the enemy> who had destroyed the bridge, and con- 
 structed defences commanding the railroad bridge, over which the Union 
 troops must cross. Nothing daunted, Sheridan's gallant troopers dashed 
 on ; and though compelled to traverse about half a mile of swampy 
 ground, rushed on the Rebel works, and carried them, after the most de- 
 termined resistance. 
 
 Meantime, another Rebel force had come up in his rear, and surrounded 
 
}32 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his command. Though remarkably fertile in resource.s, the Union com- 
 mander had here a positioti which would call for bis ablest generalship. 
 To attempt to retreat would inevitably be fatal ; to go forward was to 
 encounter a Rebel force greatly outnumbering his own, and to cross the 
 river, a difficult one, on account of its swampy shores, under their con- 
 centrated fire. His decision was quickly made ; it was to reconstruct the 
 Meadow bridge over the Chickahominy, and cross it with his force and 
 train. This he accomplished, though under fire all the time, keeping the 
 Rebels at bay with his artillery the while, and repelling their charges by 
 fierce counter-charges. Once or twice his men were slowly pressed back, 
 but he encouraged them, and fighting under his eye, they soon re- 
 gained their position. At length, the bridge was completed, and his 
 ammunition train was to be taken across it; and if the Rebel fire con- 
 tinued, it could scarcely escape destruction from explosion, a destruction 
 which would imperil his force, and render their capture or death inevita- 
 ble. The emergency did not appal him or deprive him of self-possession 
 for an instant. When the train was ready to advance, he ordered up an 
 ammunition wagon, supplied his men who had fallen back with fresh carl- 
 ridges, and placing himself at their head, said "Boys, do you see tho.so 
 fellows yonder ? They are green recruits, just from Richmond ; there's not 
 a veteran among them. You have fought them well to day, but we have 
 got to whip them. We can do it, and we will!" The men responded with 
 arousing cheer, and with the order "Forward! — Charge!" in his clear 
 ringing tones, he led them on in a charge which sent the Rebels flying 
 back to their works, and his artillery immediately opened upon them, 
 greatly to their terror. Under cover of this charge, the train passed in 
 perfect safety. Pressing hard upon the now beaten and demoralized foe, 
 amid a most terrific thunder-storm, in which it was difficult to distinguish 
 between the artillery of heaven, and the thunder of his guns, he drove 
 them back to Mechanicsville, and finally to Cold Harbor, capturing a con- 
 siderable number, and encamped wiili his wearied command near Gaines' 
 mills. The next day he moved down the north bank of the Chickahom- 
 iny to Bottom's bridge, and the day following to General Butler's head- 
 quarters, not being molested in any oj his movements. He then opened 
 communication with Yorktown, and thence with Washington. He 
 returned to the army of the Potomac in season to take part in the 
 movements from the North Anna, and in the battles of Cold Harbor and 
 the Chickahominy. We have already spoken of the stubbornness with 
 which he held Cold Harbor, until the sixth corps could come up and re- 
 lieve him. He next led the advance of the army of the Potomac in its 
 passage to and across the James, and on the 8th of June, set out upon 
 a second expedition into tho heart of the Confederacy. This time his 
 object was to penetrate northward and westward of Lee's lines, and cut 
 the Virginia Central railroad at some point which should eflectually 
 
SHERIDAN'S WITHDRAWAL FROM TREVILIAN. 733 
 
 prevent the movement of supplies or troops from the Virginia and Ten- 
 nessee railroad toward Richmond. General Hunter, then in command in 
 Western Virginia, was ordered to co-operate with him, and had he been 
 able to do so, Gordonsville and Charlottesville might both have been cap- 
 tured. Crossing the Pamunkey, he moved at once to Aylett's station ; 
 thence the next day to the Fredericksburg railroad at Chestei-field station, 
 where he seriously damaged the railroad ; thence to Childsburg, New 
 Market, and Mount Pleasant, and crossed E. NE. creek at Young's bridge. 
 On the morning of the 10th of June, he moved forward again, and having 
 crossed both branches of the North Aima river, encamped at Buck Childs, 
 a small village three miles north of Trevilian station, on the Virginia 
 Central railroad. It had been his intention to destroy the railroad from 
 this point west for some distance, and then crossing to Keswick station, 
 cut the railroad in both directions from Gordonsville and Charlottesville, 
 which latter town was his ultimate objective. On arriving at Buck Childs, 
 however, he found the Rebel cavalry in his front, and immediately pre- 
 pared to give them battle. He divided his force, and sent a part to attack 
 the Rebels in rear, while he assailed them, the next morning, June 11th, 
 in front. The fighting was desperate, but he at last drove them back 
 from line after line of breastworks, through an almost impassable forest, 
 to the station at Trevilian ; and here his detached troops attacking them 
 in rear, their route was complete, and Sheridan established his headquar- 
 ters that night at Trevilian, 
 
 The next morning, June 12th, the railroad from Trevilian station to 
 Louisa Court House was completely destroyed, the ties burned, and the 
 rails twisted and bent, so as to be utterly unserviceable. This occupied 
 from daybreak to three P. M. The Rebels meantime had concentrated in 
 considerable force at Gordonsville, and advancing toward Trevilian, com- 
 menced the construction of rifle-pits, at a distance of about four miles, to 
 resist Sheridan's movements. After a careful reconnoissance. General 
 Sheridan found the enemy too strongly posted to be effectively assailed by 
 his light artillery, especially as his ammunition was running low, and he 
 therefore decided not to make a general assault. On the extreme riglit, 
 however, his troops assaulted and carried the enemy's lines again and 
 again, but were eventually driven from them, by the long-range guns of 
 the Rebel infantry ; and finding his ammunition giving out, and beino- 
 unable to obtain forage for his horses. General Sheridan determined to 
 withdraw ; but he carried out this determination in a characteristic way. 
 Returning to Trevilian station, he ordered supper, inviting his generals to 
 sup with him, and having given orders for the removal of the wounded 
 who could be moved, and detailed surgeons to stay with those who were 
 most severely injured, and perfected his order of march, he partook 
 quietly of his evening meal, and then set about the withdrawal of his 
 force from a position in which it was confronted by nearly the entire 
 
13* 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cavalry of the Rebel army. While the trains and the rear divisions 
 were moving off with the wouDded, he ordered forty rounds of canister 
 to be fired at the Rebel position ; and when the enemy, severely cut up 
 by this fire, attempted to take the battery by a bold, sudden dash, he 
 charged upon them with a regiment of cavalry, at the same time pouring 
 in a full round of canister at very short range, and compelled them to 
 retire in confusion. While they were retiring, the gun was withdrawn, 
 and as he found that the Rebels were still retreating, he moved quietly 
 back, and followed the divisions which bad already set their faces south- 
 ward. By day-dawn of the 13th, his men were well out of Treviliau sta- 
 tion, and he marched with them to Troyman's store, without encountering 
 any opposition ; and on the 14th, reached the vicinity of Spottsylvania 
 Court House, the scene of so many bloody battles a short mouth previ- 
 ous. Remaining here a day, to aid the wounded, who had been left in 
 field hospitals, he arrived at Guinney's station on the evening of the 15th, 
 and established his headquarters there for a few days, and then moved to 
 White House. On the 23d of June, having marched from White House, 
 he was attacked by the enemy at Jones' bridge, over the Chickahominy, 
 and on the 2-4th, near St. Mary's church, between the Chickahominy and 
 the James. On both occasions the Rebels were in strong force, and en- 
 tirely confident of their ability to overwhelm and capture his troops. 
 Sheridan acted entirely on the defensive, but produced such terrible havoc 
 among the enemy with his artillery, firing at short range, that they were 
 soon very willing to withdraw, and not further molest his progress. 
 During the afternoon and night of June 25th, he crossed the James 
 river, five miles above Fort Powhatan, ou a pontoon bridge, protected 
 on either side by gunboats, without loss, though the enemy were in 
 heavy force near him. 
 
THE TROOPS IN WEST YIRGINIA. 735 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 THE TROOPS IN WEST VIRGINIA — CROOK AND AVERELL DEFEAT THE REBELS ON NEW RIVER — 
 THE BATTLE OF NEW MARKET — SIGEL DEFEATED — HE IS RELIEVED OF COMMAND, AND SENT 
 TO MARTINSBURO AS POST COMMANDANT — GENERAL HUNTER SnCCEEDS HIM — BATTLE NEAR 
 MOUNT CRAWFORD — THE REBELS DEFEATED, AND THEIR GENERAL KILLED — HUNTER CAP- 
 TURES STAUNTON AND LEXINGTON, AND BURNS THE LEXINGTON MILITARY INSTITUTE, AND 
 
 GOVERNOR Letcher's house, but fails to join sheridan, and is compelled by early 
 
 TO fall back from LYNCHBURG INTO THE KANAWHA VALLEY, AFTER A LOSING FIGHT- 
 EARLY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THIS TO DESCEND THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY TO THE POTO- 
 MAC — hunter's EFFORTS TO RETRIEVE HIS BLUNDER — ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — CROSSING 
 THE JAMES — CAVALRY RECONNOISSANCE TO MALVERN HILL — THE ATTACK ON PETERS- 
 BURG — PARTIAL SUCCESS — BUTLER CUTS THE RAILROAD — THE ASSAULTS OP THE SECOND 
 
 AND NINTH CORPS ON THE DEFENCES OF PETERSBURG INCOMPLETE SUCCESS — THE REBELS 
 
 RETIRE TO THEIR INNER LINE OF DEFENCES — FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT TO CARRY THESE — 
 THE ATTACKS ON THE WELDON RAILROAD — THE DISASTROUS REPULSE OP JUNE 22d — THE 
 POSITION NEARLY REGAINED, BUT NO ADVANCE MADE — WILSON's AND KAUTZ's RAID ON 
 THE WELDON AND SOUTBSIDE RAILROADS — GREAT DESTRUCTION OP RAILROAD TRACKS 
 AND PROPERTY — HEAVY LOSSES OF THE EXPEDITION IN ITS RETURN MARCH — EARLY's 
 FORAY INTO MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA — TERROR OF THE INHABITANTS — THE BATTLE 
 OF MONOCACY — WALLACE DEFEATED — THE SIXTH AND NINETEENTH CORPS ORDERED INTO 
 MARYLAND — GENERAL ORD SUCCEEDS GENERAL WALLACE — RAILROADS BROKEN UP AND 
 TRAINS CAPTURED BY THE REBELS — WASHINGTON THREATENED — REBELS DEFEATED BY 
 
 GENERAL AUOUR THEIR RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC FIGHTING AT SNICKEr's AND 
 
 ASHBY's gaps — AVERELl's battle near WINCHESTER — DEFEAT OF THE REBELS — BATTLE 
 OF WINCHESTER, JULY 24tH — CROOK DEFEATED, AND MULLIGAN KILLED — SKETCH OF MUL- 
 LIGAN — THE PANIC IN MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA RENEWED — ABSURD REPORTS- 
 BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG MOSBY's LITTLE RAID— GOVERNOR CURTIN CALLS A SPECIAL 
 
 SESSION OP THE LEGISLATURE — THIRTY THOUSAND MILITIA CALLED OUT — EAELY's RE- 
 TREAT — FIGHTING NEAR CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND — REBELS DEFEATED BY AVERELL AT 
 
 MOOREFIELD, VIRGINIA- — THE MINE AT PETERSBURG DEMONSTRATION ON THE ENEMY's 
 
 LEFT — FIGHT AT DEEP BOTTOM — EXPLOSION OF THE MINE — FATAL BLUNDERING REPULSE 
 
 AND HEAVY LOSS. 
 
 "We have referred incidentally, in connection with other operations, to 
 the movements of the army under Sigel, in the Shenandoah valley, and 
 to those troops in Western Virginia, under Crook and Averell, whose 
 office it was to threaten the Rebel communications by way of the Vir- 
 ginia and Tennessee railroad. The movements of these troops, though 
 not, on the whole, successful, and perhaps contributing but little, one way 
 or the other, toward the final result, was yet of sufficient importance to 
 merit some notice. 
 
 The force under Crook and Averell fought three battles about the mid- 
 dle of May, near the west line of the State, on New river, with the Rebel 
 Generals Sam. Jones and A. G. Jenkins, and were successful in all. In 
 one of them General Jenkins fell into the hand? of the Union troops 
 
736 THE CIVIL WAR L\ Till'; UNITED STATES. 
 
 mortally wounded ; and in tlie three, about six hundred of the Rebels 
 were killed and wounded, and three hundred taken prisoners. Averell 
 also succeeded in cutting the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, burning 
 the bridge over New river, and destroying several miles of the track. 
 The loss of these troops, who were, perhaps, one half of them, guerrillas 
 and bushwhackers, was not a very serious one to Lee, and the injury 
 done to the railroad was but temporary. 
 
 General Sigel, in the Shenandoah valley, did not meet with success. 
 He moved, early in ifay, up the valley as far as New Market, where, on 
 the 15th of Ma}"^, he encountered a Rebel force of seven or eight thou- 
 sand, under the command of General Breckinridge, with Echols and 
 Imboden under him as subordinate generals. General Sigel chose an 
 untenable position, and after some hard fighting was defeated, with a loss 
 of about six hundred killed and wounded, fifty taken prisoners, and five 
 pieces of artillery. On receiving the report of this mishap, the "War 
 Department promptly relieved General Sigel of his command, and or- 
 dered him to Martinsburg, as post commander, while General David 
 Hunter succeeded him in the command of the army of the Shenandoah 
 valley. 
 
 Breckinridge, after defeating Sigel, hastened, as we have seen, to rein- 
 force Lee, whose numbers had been seriously leduced by the battles of 
 the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, and General Hunter found few Rebel 
 troop.s to oppose his progress toward Staunton, which town he reached 
 and captured on the 6th of June, having the previous day fought and 
 defeated a Rebel force under General W. E. Jones near Mount Crawford. 
 The Rebels were very heavy losers in this battle, their commander. 
 General Jones, being killed, a large number of their troops killed or 
 wounded, fifteen hundred prisoners, and three guns cau^ured, and the 
 remainder of their forces driven from Staunton to Waynesboro. On the 
 8th, a junction was effected between Hunter's force and those commanded 
 by Crook and Averell, from Western Virginia. 
 
 He had received instructions, after this reinforcement, to march toward 
 Charlottesville, tearing up the track of the Virginia Central railroad as 
 he went, and driving the Rebels before him toward Charlottesville and 
 Gordonsville, and there to form a junction with Sheridan, who, as we 
 have seen, was pushing toward the latter point. Had he done so, the 
 Rebels, somewhat too strong for either force separate, might have been 
 driven out of Gordonsville by the combined force with heavy loss, and 
 Lynchburg, one of the most important depots of supplies for the Rebels, 
 have been captured. Owing to some misunderstanding, for we cannot in 
 justice ascribe to so meritorious an officer as General Hunter any other 
 motive, he failed to join the cavalry commander; and while he delayed, 
 to destroy the Lexington Military Institute and Governor Letcher's house, 
 Sheridan was compelled to fall back for want of support ; and when at 
 
MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 731 
 
 last he approached Lynchburg, it was too strongly fortified and gar- 
 risoned to make success possible. 
 
 Lee now sent General Early, who had taken command of Ewell's 
 corps in consequence of the illness of Ewell, to drive Hunter out of the 
 valley. Early at once assumed the offensive, and marching out from 
 L3'nchburg with a large and well appointed force, he compelled Hunter 
 to fall back — and he adopted what he believed to be the most judicious 
 course, but, as it proved, was a very unwise one. He abandoned the 
 Shenandoah valley — having previously had a fight with the Eebels, in 
 which only a part of his troops were engaged, and in which he lost in 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners, about six hundred, and several pieces of 
 artillery — and moved westward into the Kanawha valley, leaving the 
 Shenandoah valley open to the Rebel forces. Early took immediate ad- 
 vantage of this blunder, and marched at once down the valley, capturing 
 Winchester, flanking Martinsburg, where General Sigel was in command, 
 and compelling him to evacuate the town, and retreat to Harper's Ferry, 
 on the 3d of July. This in turn was evacuated by Colonel Mulligan, and 
 Sigel took possession of Maryland heights, and the Rebels of the town 
 and the Virginia side. Of Early's subsequent movements we shall speak 
 by and by. Hunter saw his mistake too late, and made desperate efforts 
 to retrieve it, and to reach the Potomac ; but in attempting to cross the 
 mountains, the greater part of his train and seven cannon were lost, and 
 his troops were placed on short allowance, and suffered severely. The 
 blunders of Sigel and Hunter in this campaign were not the result of 
 cowardice, for there were not two braver generals in the army, but they 
 indicated a want of capacity and generalship for the somewhat difficult 
 situations in which they were placed, and resulted in serious and exten- 
 sive disaster to^aryland and Southern Pennsylvania. 
 
 We return to the army of the Potomac, which we left face to face with 
 its enemy on the banks of the Chickahominy. Convinced that the small 
 gains which could be made by a series of determined and persistent as- 
 saults upon the very strong positions occupied by the Rebels would only 
 be purchased by a heavy and excessive sacrifice of life, and having, be- 
 sides, resolved, as a part of his plan for the utter overthrow of Lee's army, 
 to approach it from the south and southwest, and by cutting off its commu- 
 nications compel it to surrender, General Grant now made the bold stroke 
 of transferring the army of the Potomac to the south side of the James 
 river. In this campaign he had already three times changed his base of 
 supplies, to Belle Plain and Fredericksburg, to Port Royal, and to White 
 House. He now proposed to change it again, to City Point, and at the 
 same time to make a flanking movement with bis whole army of about 
 fifty-five miles around the enemy's base, and by routes nowhere more than 
 six or eight miles distant from his fortified lines. It was in this case as in 
 
 all the previous ones, the enemy's right which he flanked. The move- 
 
 47 
 
738 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ment was a daring and extremely hazardous one ; two rivers, both too 
 deep for fording, and one a wide and formidable stream, were to be 
 crossed; a difficult, swampy region, luxuriant in its undergrowth, and 
 offering great facilities for ambushes, was to be traversed ; and if practica- 
 ble, this was to be done so quietly that the enemy should not become 
 cognizant of it in season to offer any serious obstruction to his progress. 
 
 The preparations for this transfer had been made with equal secrecy, 
 promptness, and skill, in the period between the 3d and the 12th of June, 
 and at the latter date, though frequent reconnoissancesof the enemy had tes 
 tified his uneasiness at the quiet which reigned throughout the Union lines, 
 yet he had failed to discover the secret, and all was ready for an advance. 
 
 On the night of Sunday, June 12th, the army began its march. As we 
 have already stated in the preceding chapter, the enemy's line extended 
 along the Chiukahominy as far as Bottom's bridge, where it was intrenched. 
 The Union forces lay north of the enemy, in a line generally parallel, and 
 were also well intrenched opposite his right. Of course, Bottom's bridge 
 could not be used for crossing. The next two bridges below are Long 
 bridge and Jones' bridge, the former about seven, and the latter about 
 twelve miles below Bottom's bridge. 
 
 On Sunday night, Wright's — sixth — and Burnside's — ninth — corps 
 marched to Jones' bridge, crossed the Chickahominy, and moved rapidly 
 thence to Cliarles City Court House, a mile from the James river, and 
 nearly nine miles south of Jones' bridge. At the same time, Hancock's — 
 second — and Warren's — fifth — corps moved to Long bridge, crossed there, 
 and took the road to Wilcox's wharf, on the James, about twelve miles, 
 by the road, almost due south, and about one and a half miles west of 
 Charles City Court House. Meanwhile, Smith's — eighteenth — corps 
 inarched to White House, there took transports to Fortfess Monroe, and 
 without pausing, passed directly up the river to Bermuda Hundred, oppo- 
 site City Point, and just above the Appomattox, on the south side of the 
 James. This was the headquarters of Butler's army. The place desig- 
 nated for crossing the other four corps to the south side of the James, was 
 Powhatan Point, near Wilcox's wharf. General Butler had carefully pre- 
 pared pontoon bridges for crossing. 
 
 The whole movement was conducted with consummate skill. The men 
 moved cautiously from their intrenchments, which for miles lay under 
 the Rebel guns. Only a few shells thrown at the rear, as it moved off, 
 indicated that the enemy had taken the alarm. All night and all day 
 Monday, the troops moved forward, with hardly more skirmishing or 
 impediment than they experienced in their first march from Culpepper to 
 Chancellorsville. On Monday evening the advance had reached Wilcox's 
 landing, where also headquarters were. Before noon of Tuesday the 
 forces had all arrived at Charles City Court House and Wilcox's landing, 
 having made their movement in perfect security, the only fighting being 
 
THE ATTACK ON PETERSBURG. 739 
 
 a little cavalry skirmishing at the close of their march. On Tuesday the 
 crossing of the James was commenced, the army transferred without diffi- 
 culty to the south side of the river, and the change in position fully con- 
 summated. 
 
 General Grant, having thus skilfully brought his army across the James, 
 was disposed to lose no time in attacking the enemy at his most vulnera- 
 ble points. On Wednesday, the 15th of June, the cavalry made a recon- 
 noissance toward Malvern Hill, on the north side of the James, and 
 ascertained that A. P. Hill's corps were holding the defences of Richmond 
 in that region in strong force. The movement, however, on which the 
 Union commander particularly relied for beneficial results, was one 
 against Petersburg. At one o'clock A. U. Wednesday morning, the 
 eighteenth corps, which had arrived at Bermuda Hundred the previous 
 evening on transports from White House, marched for Petersburg, Kautz's 
 cavalry being in the advance. Kautz moved out toward the Norfolk rail- 
 road and the Baxter road, on the extreme left, hoping to carry the position 
 of the enemy there, but found it too strong, and after some hard fighting, 
 reluctantly retired. The eighteenth corps, operating on the outer de- 
 fences of the city on the northeast and east, after fighting all day, carried 
 the enemy's line of intrench ments, the outer defences, about two miles 
 from the city, a little before sunset, by a determined assault, driving the 
 Rebels out, and capturing sixteen guns, a battle-flag, and three hundred 
 prisoners. General Grant ordered up the other corps to their support as 
 fast as they came in, the advance of the second corps coming up at dusk, 
 and the entire corps being on the ground before morning. During the 
 night, the enemy attempted to wrest these strong intrenchments from their 
 captors, but failed, Birney's division of the second corps holding them 
 firmly. The Rebels in the intrenchments in front of Butler's position at 
 Bermuda Hundred, during Wednesday night, left their works and hurried 
 to Petersburg, to prevent its capture, and early Thursday morning, Gene- 
 ral Butler took advantage of their absence to penetrate to and destroy 
 the Richmond and Peter.sburg railroad, in the vicinity of Port Walthall 
 Junction. Two miles of the track were torn up, and portions of the tele- 
 graph wire cut ; but Beauregard, who in the recent battles had been rein- 
 ibrcing Lee, hurried down from Richmond with such a force as to compel 
 the Union troops to retire, after having interrupted his transit one day at 
 least. 
 
 In front of Petersburg, the attempt of the Union picket-lines to push 
 forward ♦ oward the inner defences of the enemy in the early morning 
 was stubbornly resisted, and a heavy cannonade followed, which was 
 briskly responded to by the Uniou troops. On attempting to advance, 
 it was found that the Rebels had been so strongly reinforced during the 
 night, that it was necessary to wait till Burnside's corps could come up. 
 At six o'clock P. M., an assault was ordered, and Burnside's troops being 
 
^40 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 on the ground, it was made promptly by the second and ninth corps, and 
 maintained for three hours. Birney's division of the second corps carried 
 the crest in his front, and held it firmly. Barlow's division of the second, 
 and part of Potter's of the ninth, succeeded after a desperate and pro- 
 tracted struggle in gaining a foothold in the rifle-pits outside of the 
 stronger works, but being greatly annoyed by the enemy's fire from the 
 inner works. Barlow determined to assault them also, and Burnside made 
 ready a column to help him ; but the enemy opened upon Burnside with 
 so destructive a fire that he was forced to desist, and all further progress 
 was suspended till morning. 
 
 At four A. M. on Friday, the 17th, General Burnside ordered Potter's 
 division to take the works in his front. Two of Potter's brigades moving 
 at once with great rapidity, dashed gallantly upon the Rebel position, and 
 carried it as by a whirlwind, capturing six guns, sixteen officers, four hun- 
 dred men, and a stand of colors. Brisk skirmishing, and a constant but 
 moderate artillery fire was now maintained till afternoon, when Ledlie's 
 division of the ninth corps, which had relieved Potter, was ordered to 
 advance, under cover of a brisk artillery fire, and charging over a broad 
 field under an oblique fire on either side, reached the enemy's intreuch- 
 ments, and after a brief but bloody conflict, drove them out, and carried 
 the position, the combatants fighting desperately across the brea.stworks 
 for some time. Burnside was now a mile and a half from the city, into 
 which he threw some shells from his batteries. Several attempts were 
 made by the enemy to regain their lost intrenchments. but they were all 
 yifforously repulsed. Burnside now occupied tiie left, Warren's — fifth — 
 corps, having come up, and massed on his left and rear. The second corps, 
 now commanded by Birney, in consequence of Hancock's illness, from the 
 breaking out of his old wounds, occupied the centre, and the sixth corps 
 the rii'ht, while Martindale's division of the eighteenth corps were on the 
 extreme right, the remainder of that corps having returned to Bermuda 
 Hundred. At nine o'clock Friday night (17th), the Rebels, after trying 
 at all points along the Union lines, made a sudden and desperate attack 
 on Burnside, and succeeded in recapturing the works, taken by Ledlie's 
 division in the afternoon, pushing the Union troops out. 
 
 General Grant had determined to make a strong push on Saturday 
 raorninc, and had ordered an assault along the entire line at four a. m., 
 but upon sending out skirmishers, it was found that the enemy had aban- 
 doned the works in the immediate front of the Union lines for an inner 
 series of defences. Having reconnoitered these, an advance upon them 
 by the second, ninth, and fifth corps, was ordered at noon. The second 
 corps made two assaults, but was driven back both times, notwithstanding 
 their most strenuous eftbrts, by the murderous artillery fire of the enemy. 
 The ninth corps pushed forward, and established their line firmly across the 
 Petersburg and Norfolk railroad, driving the enemy before them for some 
 
THE ATTACK ON THE WELDON RAILROAD. 741 
 
 distance, but could not carry tlie enemy's lines. The fifth corps gained 
 some ground in two assaults, but was only partially successful. Attempts 
 made by the sixth, and part of the eighteenth corps, to advance on the 
 right, had also met with but indifferent success. The losses in these four 
 days had been heavy, eighty-five officers, and one thousand one hundred 
 and thirteen men having been killed ; three hundred and sixty-one offi- 
 cers, and six thou.sand four hundred and ninety-two men having been 
 wounded, and forty-six officers, and fifteen hundred and sixty-eight men 
 missing, most of them prisoners, making a grand total of casualities of 
 nine thousand six hundred and sixty-five. 
 
 After two days of comparative qniet, General Grant ordered another 
 advance around the south side of Petersburg, to take possession of the 
 AVeldon railroad, one of the two principal lines of communication over 
 which the Rebels now received their supplies. Over this road came the 
 ammunition, fire-arms, shoes, and clothing, thrown into Wilmington from 
 England by the blockade-runners, and if it could be possessed and firmly 
 held by the Union troops, the Rebels would be reduced to a single line of 
 communication for all their supplies, the Southside railroad, and goods 
 from Wilmington could only reach this by wagon trains, driven a long 
 distance. 
 
 The movement toward this road was commenced on Tuesday, June 
 21st, Wilson's and Kautz's cavalry divisions marching out ten miles 
 below Petersburg, and cutting the railroad at that point. This would, 
 however, prove only a temporary blockade of the road, and accordingly, 
 the same day. General Grant renewed his old tactics, extending the left 
 flank of his army, by ordering the second corps, which formed the right- 
 centre, to move out of its intrenchments to the extreme left, the ninth 
 and a part of the eighteenth corps closing up the gap. The second corps 
 moved out to the Jerusalem plank road, which bisects the region between 
 the Norfolk and Weldon railroads, and near that road encountered the 
 enemy in strong force, and their progress was not only checked, but they 
 received a counter-attack from the enemy, and a severe skirmish ensued. 
 The result of the action was indecisive, and during the night the sixth 
 corps was brought up to the left of the second, while the fifth formed on 
 their right, east of the Jerusalem plank road. The sixth corps, and Mott's 
 and Barlow's divisions of the second, were ordered to advance at day- 
 break, Gibbon's division of the second being already up with the enemy 
 on the right. There was some difficulty in regard to the movements of 
 the two corps, each waiting for the other to lead off. At length each corps 
 received orders to start at once, independently of the other, each being 
 cautioned to protect its flank, in case connection was not made by the other. 
 As they moved forward, Barlow's division began to open a gap between 
 itself and the sixth corps, and he had hardly reached his position when 
 Hill's (Rebel) corps having discovered this gap, came rushing through it, 
 
743 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rolling up in succession Barlow's flank, capturing several hundred pris- 
 oners, pushing back Mott, with the loss of about as many more, and finally 
 falling upon Gibbon's front and rear at the same time, and driving hia 
 division out ot their intrenchmenta, sweeping off several entire regiments, 
 and McKnight's battery. 
 
 At length the tide of disaster was staid by the exertions of a single 
 regiment, the twentieth Massachusetts, which, under the skilful handling 
 of its commander, Captain Patten, and the coolness and courage of the 
 men, checked the triumphant and dangerous advance of the enemy, and 
 profiting by this, the reserve brigades were brought up, what remained of 
 Gibbon's division rallied, and the line, being formed anew, dashed upon the 
 enemy, and regained, before evening, considerable of the lost ground, and 
 even at some points pushed the enemy back from his old line. Heavy firing 
 continued through the night. On Thursday, the 23d, there was a slight 
 further advance gained on the left; but the enemy proved to be strong in 
 numbers, and to occupy a position of great advantage. The Vermont 
 brigade of the sixth corps, attempting to seize and hold the railroad 
 farther south, were pounced upon by Anderson's (Rebel) division, enveloped 
 and repulsed, with a loss of several hundred of their number taken pris- 
 oners, and a considerable number killed and wounded. There was now 
 for more' than a month a lull in the fighting in front of Petersburg, except 
 occasional artillery duels, the sharpshooting practised on both sides,, and 
 one or two attacks and reprisals at particular points of the line. 
 
 On the 22d of June, General Grant had sent Brigadier-General Wilson, 
 with his own cavalry division, and Kautz's brigade, his entire force num- 
 bering from six thousand to eight thousand men, with three batteries of 
 four guns each, half rifled ordnance, and half light twelve pounders, and 
 one battery of four small mountain howitzers, to break up the Weldon 
 and Southside railroads. They left their camps, near Prince George Court 
 House, on the morning of the 22d of June, and moved to the Petersburg 
 and Weldon railroad, at Reams' station. There they took up and burned 
 the track for several hundred yards, as well as the water-tank, depot, and 
 public buildings. Thence they marched to Sutherland's station, on the 
 Southside railroad, and in the evening advanced to Ford's station, where 
 they found two locomotives, sixteen cars, a depot, and a few stores, and 
 . destroyed several miles of the track. The next morning. General Kautz 
 advanced toward Burkesvill^, the important junction of the Petersburg 
 and Lynchburg, and the Richmond and Danville railroad. Here he de- 
 stroyed depots, cars, and similar property, and several miles of the track, 
 east and west. Meanwhile, the main column followed, and in the after- 
 noon encountered a Rebel brigade near Nottoway. A sharp conflict 
 ensued until night, when the enemy retired. On the 24th, the column 
 reached Keysville, and bivouacked for the night, Kautz's men having de- 
 stroyed eighteen miles of railroad track, besides other property. The next 
 
EARLY'S FORAY INTO MARYLAND. 743 
 
 day they readied the bridge over Staunton river, which they were very 
 anxious to burn, but it was found to be too strongly guarded and de- 
 fended by the enemy. 
 
 They now commenced their return march, but were harassed at every 
 step by the enemy, who was thoroughly exasperated by their daring and 
 success, and who, confronting them at every turn, hanging upon their 
 rear, putting obstructions in their way, and fighting them whenever he 
 could fiad opportunity, reduced them to extremity. The men and horses 
 were worn and jaded beyond description, and only escaped into the lines 
 by making wide detours. Their entire wagon train, the ambulance train, 
 their guns, (sixteen in number,) nearly all their caissons, and many horses, 
 and about twelve hundred men, of whom about one thousand were pris- 
 oners, were lost, in efforts to regain the Union line. Still, the expedition 
 had been to some extent, a success. More than fifty miles of the track of 
 the Danville and Southside railroads had been destroyed, and their rolling- 
 stock so much crippled that they could not, during the war, restore them 
 to their former condition of efficiency. More than a thousand negroes 
 had been collected, and followed the column, and though many of them 
 had been recaptured by the Rebels, yet a considerable number found their 
 way to the Union lines. The expedition had very seriously embarrassed 
 the enemy, and rendered their supplies, never over-abundant, more scanty 
 than they had been hitherto. The cavalry came in by squads, from the 
 30th of June to the 3d of July. An infantry force sent out by General 
 Meade to relieve them, was too late to be of service. The intense heat and 
 drought which prevailed at this time, rendered active movements almost 
 impracticable, and greatly increased the sickness and suffering in the 
 camps, while the exhaustion consequent on such continuous and superhu- 
 man exertions, impaired, in a marked degree, the morale of the army. 
 
 While comparative quiet was maintained along the lines in the vicinity 
 of Petersburg and Kichmond, in consequence of this extreme heat and 
 exhaustion, there was no lack of activity in other and not distant portions 
 of the eastern departments. We have already noticed that Early, in com- 
 mand of what was Ewell's (Rebel) corps, the original " Stonewall" Jackson 
 corps, had moved down the Shenandoah valley, after driving Hunter into 
 the Kanawha, valley ; that he had recaptured Winchester, so often the 
 battle-ground of the war ; flanked Martinsburg, compelling Sigel to fall 
 back to Harper's Ferry; and had finally occupied the Virginia side of 
 that town, while Sigel intrenched himself on Maryland Heights. 
 
 Early now proceeded with his main column (a small detachment only 
 having occupied Harper's Ferry), to move, by way of Martinsburg and 
 North mountain, toward Hagerstown. The people, panic-stricken, fled 
 with such property as they could hastily seize and remove. On the 5th 
 of July, the government stores at Frederick, Md., were all put upon rail- 
 road cars, and preparations made for an immediate evacuation of the city. 
 
744 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On the same day, Uagerstown was occupied and the stores plundered, and 
 a requisition made on the inhabitants for twenty thousand dolhirs. This 
 amount was paid, and the raiders left. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad 
 was held by the enemy as far down as Sandy Hook, and much of the 
 track torn up. 
 
 On the 5th of July, the President issued a call for twelve thousand 
 militia from Pennsylvania, twelve thousand from New York, and five 
 thousand from Massachu.setts. The Governors of those States issued proc- 
 lamations calling out the troops, and they began to assemble. On the 
 6th, there was some skirmishing between the Union and Rebel cavalry, 
 between Hagerstown and Frederick, and the Federal troops fell back 
 toward Chambersburg. On Thursday, July 7th, a reconnoitering force 
 sent out by General Lewis Wallace, who was in command of the Depart- 
 ment of Annapolis, was quickly repulsed by the enemy. The Rebels 
 occupied Boonsboro and Middletown, and approached near enough to 
 Frederick to throw some shots into the city, but withdrew before morning 
 of the next day. Small bands of Rebel soldiers scoured the region about 
 Hagerstown, plundering, stealing horses, and burning buildings. On the 
 evening of the 8th, General Wallace withdrew with his force from Fred- 
 erick to Monocacy Junction, and at sunrise the next morning (July 9th) 
 the Rebels entered, and levied a contribution on the inhabitants. 
 
 About nine A. M. they advanced against General Wallace, who occupied a 
 position on the east side of the Monocacy river, with his batteries protect- 
 ing the railroad and turnpike. They attacked his left, which was under 
 the command of General Ricketts, and the battle continued with varying 
 success, for several hours, but at last Ricketts' division was forced to give 
 way. At the same time, they had succeeded in out-flanking General 
 Wallace's right, and pouring in a reverse fire upon his rear, swept ofl 
 about six hundred men and ofHcers, including General Tyler. General 
 Wallace now fell back, and the enemy pursued him some miles, toward 
 Ellicott's Mills, on the Baltimore turnpike. In the battle, he lost about 
 twelve hundred men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and six pieces of 
 artillery. He was greatly outnumbered in the fight, his entire command 
 consisting of only five or six thousand men, while that of the Rebels was ■■ 
 from fourteen to sixteen thousand. The object of Lee in sending this 
 expedition under Early into Maryland was two-fold. The grasp of Grant 
 upon the throat of the Rebellion was growing tighter and more oppressive 
 every day, and the only chance of compelling him to relax that grasp, lay 
 in threatening the capital of the Union. If that could be put in peril, he 
 reasoned, the outcry from the President and Cabinet and the officials, for 
 aid and protection, would be so strong that Grant wouhi be compelled to 
 march his army thither, and relinquish the siege of Richmond. With the 
 generals previously in command of the army of the Potomac, such a result 
 would probably have followed ; but he had not appreciated correctly 
 
"WASHINGTON THREATENED. fiS 
 
 General Grant's firmness, perseverance, and persistency. While a small 
 body of troops (the sixth corps) were sent to take care of Early, and the 
 nineteenth corps, then on its way from Louisiana to reinforce General 
 Grant, was ordered to Washington, the pressure upon the throat of the 
 Rebellion was not relaxed for an instant ; indeed, it was rather increased. 
 But another object had in view by General Lee was the plunder of the 
 rich granaries and the well supplied stables of southern Pennsylvania. 
 His cavalry were poorly mounted, and his troops but scantily fed. If 
 Early could obtain a good supply of superior horses to remount the cav- 
 alry, and an abundance of grain to feed his troops, it would grieatly relieve 
 his army, and meantime, while in the loyal States, they were living on 
 the country they ravaged, not drawing their supplies from his compara- 
 tively scanty stores. 
 
 The defeat of General Wallace created great excitement in Washington 
 and the northern States. The arrival of the sixth and nineteenth corps 
 did much to calm the minds of the citizens, and the change in command 
 of the forces in Maryland, General Ord relieving General Wallace, aided 
 in restoring a better state of feeling. Meantime, the enemy, after destroy- 
 ing the Baltimore and Ohio railroad for some distance below Frederfck, 
 turned their attention to the Northern Central railroad, which connects 
 Baltimore and Harrisburg. They destroyed twenty-five miles of this 
 railroad, and on Monday, July 11th, a considerable force appeared on the 
 line of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore road, and captured 
 and set on fire the trains at Magnolia station, seventeen miles south of 
 Havre de Grace. Major-General Franklin was on board of one of these 
 trains, and was captured, but though suffering from wounds received in 
 Louisiana, he made his escape soon after. The track was slightly dam- 
 aged, and the bridge over Gunpowder river partially burned. Having 
 accumulated a large amount of plunder, the Rebel cavalry approached to 
 within six miles of Baltimore, and finding a force there prepared to meet 
 them, turned off, and joined a larger body of Rebels, who were in the 
 vicinity of Washington. They approached within less than two miles of 
 the city, taking a position in front of Fort Stevens, on Seventeenth street. 
 Here their sharpshooters became so annoying, and their presence and 
 threatening position before the capital was felt to be so humiliating, that 
 General Augur, the military commandant of the city, resolved to attempt 
 to dislodge them. The garrison of the city was not large, the greater part 
 of the troops being in Maryland; but a brigade of veteran infantry was sent 
 out upon the continuation of Seventeenth street, which encountered them, 
 and after a sharp battle drove them off. They left about a hundred dead 
 and wounded on the field, and departed during the night from that 
 vicinity, after burning some fine residences. The Union loss was between 
 two and three hundred. 
 
 The number of the enemy who thus audaciously threatened the capital 
 
746 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 was undoubtedly much smaller than the Union troops supposed, and be- 
 fore moruing they had joined the remainder of Early'a force, which, 
 pressed by a part of Ord's troops, was now making its way as rapidly as 
 possible toward the Potomac, which it crossed in the vicinity of Harpers 
 Ferry. General Wright, with the sixth corps, and a division of the nine- 
 teenth, crossed the Potomac at Edwards's ferry, and moved to Leesburg 
 in pursuit ; while General Crook, with a part of the Union cavalry, cap- 
 tured a portion of one of the Rebel trains, and drove their rear through 
 Snicker's gap, after a sharp fight. The enemy succeeded, however, in 
 crossing the Snicker's gap ferry over the Shenandoah, and holding it, with 
 a battery, against the Union cavalry. On the 18th, Wright's corps came 
 up, and attempted to force a passage across the ferry; but after a severe 
 fight, a part of his troops having gained the west side of the Shenandoah, 
 he was compelled to recross, and fall back toward Snicker's gap, with a 
 loss of about three hundred. At Ashby's gap, the Union troops drove 
 the enemy through the gap and across the river, but, crossing in pur- 
 suit, they were compelled to retire to the gap, with a loss of about two 
 hundred. 
 
 The Rebel commander now moved leisurely toward Winchester and 
 Strasburg, and General Wright crossed the Shenandoah with the sixth 
 corps, but soon halted, and recrossing, returned to Leesburg; and thence 
 General Crook, with the nineteenth corps, moved to Ilarper's Ferry, and 
 General Wright to Washington. On the 19th of July, General Averell 
 moved from Martinsburg toward Winchester, and encountered a Rebel 
 cavalry force near Darksville. The next morning, July 20th, he pressed 
 ou toward Winchester, where he met the enemy, and a severe battle en- 
 sued for three hours — and Averell captured four guns, several hundred 
 small arms, and about two hundred prisoners. 
 
 General Crook, after retiring toward Harper's Ferry, joined General 
 Averell, and on the 23d of July there was considerable skirmishing at 
 Kernstown, four miles beyond Winchester, and the Union cavalry were 
 pushed back to the main army. On the 2'4th the enemy pressed his ad- 
 vantage, and the cavalry were driven in great disorder through Winches- 
 ter toward Bunker Hill. The breaking of his cavalry forced General 
 Crook to retreat. His command consisted only of the two small divisions 
 of cavalry under Generals Averell and DuflBe, and two divisions of in- 
 fantry — in all not far from ten thousand men. Early's force here exceeded 
 somewhat fifteen thousand men, (he had taken about that number across 
 the Potomac, and had left a considerable force to guard his rear,) and 
 taking advantage of these numbers, he outflanked General Crook and 
 compelled his retreat from point to point. After a brief battle, Early 
 halted his main force about five miles north of Winchester, but his cavalry 
 kept up a hot pursuit to Martinsburg. General Crook's loss in all was 
 about twelve hundred, among whom was Colonel (acting Brigadier-Gen- 
 
SKETCH OF COLONEL MULLIGAN. 747 
 
 eral) Mulligan, mortally wounded * On tbe next day a sharp artillery 
 engagement occurred, but General Crook having gained time to get off 
 most of his trains, again fell back, and on the succeeding day crossed the 
 Potomac into Maryland, without molestation by the enemy. The losses 
 in killed and wounded in these affairs were considerable. The enemy now 
 held the west bank of the Potomac from Williamsport to Shepardstown, 
 and the panic in northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania was re- 
 newed with still greater intensity. The most absurd reports were circu- 
 lated, and however extravagant they were, they were readily believed by 
 the credulous. " Early was coming into Pennsylvania with forty thousand 
 men ! No, it was Lee himself who was in command, with a hundred 
 thousand — and Longstreet's, Hill's, Early's, and Breckinridge's corps, were 
 certainly known to have entered Pennsylvania !" Meantime, on the 27th 
 of July, the Union troops h:id rallied, and found that the enemy had not 
 crossed the Potomac. On the 28th, General Kelly crossed the Potomac 
 into Virginia with a small body of Union troops and occupied Martins- 
 burg, which the enemy had evacuated. On the 29th, a small body of the 
 enemy, not exceeding twenty-five hundred, mostly cavalry, crossed the 
 Potomac below Martinsburg, and advanced toward Chambersburg, Penn- 
 
 * Colonel James A. Mulligan had acted so conspicuous a part during the war, that 
 he deserves a brief notice. He was born at Utica, New York, June 25, 1830, and was 
 of Irish family, his parents having emigrated to this country a few years before his 
 birth. In the autumn of 1836, the family removed to Chicago, and after a few years 
 residence he entered as a student in the University of St. Mary's of the Lake. He 
 graduated in 1850, in the first graduating class of the university, and the same year 
 commenced the study of the law. In 1851 he accompanied John L. Stephens, the 
 celebrated avithor and traveller, on his expedition to the isthmus of Panama. After 
 remaining at Panama about a year, he returned to Chicago, was admitted to the bar 
 in 1855, and immediately commenced practice in the city. In the winter of 1857 he 
 was appointed to a clerkship in the Department of the Interior at Washington. At 
 the outbreak of the war he raised a regiment, mostly composed of Irishmen, the 
 twenty-third Illinois infantry, afterward known as " Mulligan's brigade," and being 
 ajjpointed Colonel, left for the front in July, 1861. He was actively engaged in ser- 
 vice, first in Virginia, and afterward in Missouri, till September, when he was ordered 
 to the defence of Lexington, Missouri, The particulars of that siege are given in the 
 earlier portion of this work. For nine days he held the town against heavy odds, but 
 not being reinforced, and his troops being cut off from water, and pressed by an over- 
 whelming force, he at length surrendered to the enemy. He was exchanged Novem- 
 ber 25th, and returned to Chicago, where he reorganized his regiment, and in January, 
 1862, was ordered to New Creek, Virginia. He was, during the remainder of his career, 
 stationed in Western Virginia, and participated in many hard-fought battles, being 
 most of the time in command of a brigade. He was offered a commission as brigadier- 
 general, but finding it would take him from his gallant troops, who almost idolized 
 him, he declined it. In the battle of Winchester, and the retreat of General Crook, 
 he was mortally wounded while leading a charge, but seeing that the colors of his 
 brigade were endangered, he turned to his bearers, saying, " Lay me down and save 
 the flag," and repeated the order till they obeyed him. Before their return he waa 
 borne off by the enemy, and died soon after. 
 
748 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Bylvania. On the 30th they dispersed some troops at Carlisle barracks, 
 and their advance-guard of two or three hundred men entered Chambers- 
 burg, from which place a considerable number of the inhabitants had fled 
 the previous day. The Rebels demanded a ransom of five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, which not being paid, they set fire to the town, and about 
 two thirds of it (about two hundred and fifty houses) was burned. The 
 inhabitants who remained offered no opposition to the Rebels. During 
 the forenoon the enemy withdrew, and within an hour General Avercll, 
 who had retreated before them two days previous, passed through the 
 place in swift pursuit, and drove them back to their reserves, eight miles 
 below McConnellsburg, where he skirmished with them till night. The 
 next morning General Averell continued the pursuit to Hancock, on 
 the upper Potomac, where the enemy checked his pursuit by felling 
 trees and burning bridges. On the same day on which Chambersburg 
 was burned, Saturday, July 30th, Mosby, the notorious partizan ranger, 
 crossed the Potomac with about fifty men, at Cheat ferry, captured 
 pickets, cut the telegraph wires, robbed a few stores, and retreated across 
 the Potomac again, after a slight skirmish with a superior force at 
 Conrad's ferry. This, and the burning of Chambersburg, increased the 
 panic, and business was suspended, and public meetings called on Sunday, 
 July Bl.st, to prepare for defence. On the 1st of August, Governor Curtin 
 called a special session of the State Legislature for the 9th of August, to 
 take prompt measures in so great a crisis. The defences on the Ohio and 
 Monongahela rivers were examined by General Couch, and the sixth 
 corps, which was at Georgetown, D. C, on the 26th of July, marched 
 with all haste toward Harper's Ferry to join the nineteenth, and Hunter's 
 army of Western Virginia, and drive the Rebels from western Pennsyl- 
 vania, which they were said to be ravaging. They reached Halltown, 
 three miles fiom Harper's Ferry, on the 30th, and made long and rapid 
 marches on the 31st of July and 1st of August, notwithstanding the 
 inten.se heat, but could find no enemy. On the evening of August 1st, 
 they arrived at Frederick, Maryland, greatly exhausted, and rested for a 
 day. The small force of the enemy which Averell had pursued to Han- 
 cock, moved, on the night of July 31st, toward Cumberland, Md., and 
 approached that place on Monday, August 1st., in the afternoon, when 
 they met a Union force under General Kelly, and fighting till dark, were 
 repulsed by the Union troops, and fell back to Oldtown, leaving their 
 killed and wounded, some wagons and ammunition. There was sharp 
 skirmishing the next morning between them and Colonel Stough, who 
 was posted at Oldtown, with about five hundred men, and whom they 
 finally repulsed and routed, with considerable loss. On Thursday, August 
 4th, the enemy made an attack on General Crook, but were foiled, and 
 retreated toward Moorefield, Va. There they were overtaken by General 
 Averell, and routed, with the loss of their artillery, the larger portion of 
 
THE OPERATIONS BEFORE FETERSBURG. 'Hi 
 
 their train, and five hundred prisoners. Meanwhile, the panic continued 
 in Pennsylvania, and a proclamation was issued by Governor Curtin, calling 
 out thirty thousand militia. 
 
 The Kebels did not again cross the Potomac, but the experience of the 
 month of July led to the organization of an efficient army of defence for 
 that region, to be under a single commander, of which we shall have 
 more to say hereafter. 
 
 We return once more, and to describe a single movement, to the armies 
 around Petersburg. General Grant had, in the latter part of June, at the 
 suggestion of Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, of the forty-eighth Pennsyl- 
 vania regiment, who had been a mining engineer before the war, ordered 
 the running of a mine under one of the enemy's largest forts in front of 
 Petersburg. The mine had been commenced on the 25th of June. The 
 distance to be mined was about five hundred feet. The tunnel' rose as it 
 advanced, the fort being situated on high ground, and when it reached 
 the fort, was about twenty feet below its foundations. Here wings were 
 extended to right and left, so as to follow the outer walls of the fort. The 
 charge was about four tons of powder, connected by a fuse with the 
 exterior. It was completed about the 25th of July, and the attempts at 
 concealment had been so well managed that the enemy had no suspicion 
 of it, and only a small part of the Union troops were aware of it. General 
 Grant now ordered a demonstration in strong force to be made on the 
 north side of the James, to distract the attention of the Rebel commander, 
 and lead him to draw off a part of his troops from Petersburg. 
 
 The Union right extended to the north side of the James, and the ex- 
 treme right wing, consisting of Foster's division of the tenth corps, occu- 
 pied a strongly intrenched position at Deep Bottom, the valley of Deep 
 run or creek, a small tributary of the James. The Rebels held Malvern 
 Hill as the right of their forces, north of the James, but were prevented, 
 by the Union occupation of Deep Bottom, from making any efforts to 
 blockade the gunboats and transports by batteries on the river bank. 
 The Union position also furnished a good base for threatening Richmond 
 from the southeast, or making feints in that direction. Such a feint 
 General Grant now proposed to make, to call as large a proportion of the 
 troops in Petersburg to the north side of the James. 
 
 One pontoon bridge, protected by gunboats, already crossed the James 
 in the rear of General Poster's position ; but the proximity of the enemy 
 prevented the crossing of any considerable force over that bridge with- 
 out a battle. A second pontoon was thrown over at Strawberry plains, 
 a little lower down, on the 21st of July, and a brigade of the nineteenth corps 
 crossed to support General Foster; there was heavy skirmishing for 
 several days, and the enemy sent a division over to maintain their position. 
 On the 26th of July, a heavy cannonading of the Rebel lines was com- 
 menced, and continued through the day, the Union gunboats joining ia 
 
750 TIIK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it. Uiicler cover of this fire, the second and fifth corps were, with great 
 pretence of secrecy, marched across the bridges, which had been muffled 
 with grass. On the 27th and ,28th there was considerable fighting, and the 
 Rebel force were driven back more than a mile, and compelled to abandon 
 some strong positions. On the 29th of July, about four hundred empty- 
 wagons were driven across the lower pontoon, and the enemy, in great 
 alarm, hurried a large body of troops to the James, to cross and oppose 
 the Union force they supposed to be concentrating there. During the night, 
 the second corps and the cavalry were withdrawn, and before morning 
 had reached their old position in front of Petersburg, the fifth corps 
 following rapidly. 
 
 The early morning of the 3d of July was the time assigned for the ex- 
 plosion of the mine, which was to be followed immediately by an assault 
 by the ninth corps, supported by the eighteenth, and having the second 
 corps in reserve on the right, and the fifth on the left, the whole to be 
 closely massed. The fuse was lighted at half-past three o'clock A. M., but 
 owing to dampness, it went out, without exploding the mine. It was 
 lighted again after considerable delay, but did not explode till twenty 
 minutes of five, when, after a heaving and trembling of the earth, huge 
 masses of earth, and the fort, with all its contents, guns, caissons, and about 
 two hundred Rebel soldiers, were suddenly thrown into the air. A crater, 
 one hundred feet or more in length, fifty feet wide, and twenty feet deep, 
 yawned where the fort had stood. The Union artillery immediately 
 opened fire from a hundred guns; and the enemy, recovering from their 
 surprise, soon began to respond. The assaulting column, headed by 
 Marshall's brigade of Ledlie's division, ninth corps, now advanced, and 
 the supporting brigades spread out, enveloping the flanking rifle-pits, 
 and capturing about two hundred prisoners. Having gained the crater, the 
 troops began to reform for the assault, but committed the fatal mistake of 
 stopping to throw up intrenchments, and bringing two guns to bear upon 
 the enemy. The Rebels rallied during this delay, and poured a terrible 
 enfilading fire from all their adjacent forts and rifle-pits upon the assault- 
 ing column, and when it was ready to move, its onward progress was to 
 be made under a *'ront, fiank, and rear fire, which would speedily destroy 
 every man of the i.'cvoted band. The charge was checked on the side of 
 the crest: there was a halt, and finally the whole line, wavering under the 
 terrible fire, recoiled to the fort. The colored division of the corps, which 
 had been in reserve, was now, by the stupidity of some commander, 
 despatched to attempt what the other three divisions had failed of accom- 
 plishing. It rushed forward over the four hundred yards which had 
 separated it from the enemy, only to share the flite of its comrades, and 
 when once broken, plunged headlong into the crater, upon which the 
 enemy now concentrated their fire. Attempts were made by a division 
 of the eighteenth, and another of the tenth corps, to distract the attention 
 
UNION LOSSES BEFOEE PETERSBURG. 751 
 
 of the enemy, so as to enable the Union troops to save this ill-fated 
 division, but in vain ; the crater was a complete slaughter-pen, from which 
 all attempts to retreat were sure to result in death. After some hours, a 
 ^e\v succeeded, in a lull of the enemy's fire, in escaping; but the greater 
 part not slain were captured. The whole affair had been badly managed, 
 and the investigation of the Committee on the Conduct of the War indi- 
 cated that the blame was due to the disagreement of some of the com- 
 manding oflScers, and that General Meade was not altogether without 
 fault in the matter. The Union loss in this disaster was four thousand 
 and eight, of whom one thousand nine hundred and ten were missing, 
 mostly prisoners, four hundred and nineteen killed, and one thousand six 
 hundred and seventy-nine wounded. The losses in the previous battles 
 before Petersburg, and north of the James, from June 20th to July 30th, 
 had been five thousand three hundred and sixteen ; but there were gains 
 as well as losses to count in these, while this assault had accomplished 
 nothing. The enemy's loss was only about one thousand, of whom two 
 hundred were prisoners. 
 
763 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 BHKRMAn's ATLANTA CAMPAIGN — SHERMAN'S PREPARATIONS — THE FORCE UNDER HIS COM- 
 MAND, AND THE SEVERAL ARMIES COMPOSING IT — THE ARMY OF THE ENEMY — ITS POSITION 
 AND COMMANDER — SKETCH OF JOHNSTON — THE DEMONSTRATION ON ROCKY FACED RIDOK, 
 AND BATTLES THERE — FLANKING MOVEMENT THRODGH SNAKE CREEK GAP ON RESACA — 
 BATTLES AT RESACA — FLANKING MOVEMENT TOWARD KINGSTON — CAPTURE OF ROME — 
 CROSSING THE ETOWAH — MOVEMENT TOWARD DALLAS — BATTLES OF NEW HOPE CHURCH 
 
 AND DALLAS SHERMAN MOVES TO THE LEFT OCCUPATION OF ALLATOONA PASS, AND BIO 
 
 SHANTY — THE PASS MADE A SECONDARY BASE OF SUPPLIES — THE ENEMY DRIVEN FROM 
 PINK AND LOST MOUNTAINS — THE AFFAIR OF "THE KULP HOUSE" — ASSAULT ON THE 
 ENEMY ON KRNESAW MOUNTAIN — REPULSE — FLANKING AGAIN — THE REBELS COMPELLED 
 TO FALL BACK TO THE CHATTAHOOCHIE — OCCUPATION OF MARIETTA — THE UNION ARMY 
 CROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHIE — BURNING OF ROSWELL FACTORIES. 
 
 The general order of the War Department of the 12th of March, 
 1864, vesting in General Grant, as Lieutenant-Geiiei'al, the chief control of 
 the armies of the United States, also assigned to Major-General W. T. 
 Sherman the command of the division of the Mississippi, the position 
 previously held by Grant. This division, including the military Depart- 
 ments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and for a time, 
 Arkansas, comprised a force of over one hundred and fifty thousand 
 troops, commanded by such able lieutenants as Major-Generals Thomas, 
 McPherson, Schofield, Hooker, Logan, Uurlbut, and Howard, besides 
 many other corps and division commanders equally distinguished for skill 
 and bravery, such as Kilpatrick, Stoneman, Palmer, Wood, Davis, Rous- 
 seau, Newton, Williams, Geary, and Baird. Sherman at once started 
 upon a tour of inspection of the several armies and military posts within 
 his command in Tennessee and Alabama, holding interviews with his 
 generals, and arranging with them, in general terms, as to the lines of 
 communication to be guarded, the strength of the respective armies and 
 garrisons, etc., fixing upon the 1st of May as about the time when the 
 advance was to be made. Leaving to these officers the completion of the 
 details of organization and preparation, he returned to NasliviUe, and 
 bent all his energies to the work of collecting at Chattanooga the im- 
 mense quantities of supplies necessary to his proposed utidertaking. The 
 time which remained to him before the 1st of May, seemed all too brief for 
 the herculean task of concentrating at one point, arms, ammunition, and 
 provisions ; of uniting, and reorganizing the various and widely scattered 
 army ; corps of mounting his cavalry, and making all the preparations for 
 a gigantic campaign. Yet his remarkable energy and executive ability, 
 aided by that of his able subordinates, accomplished the work with such 
 celerity and success that, on the 6th of May, the grand army of the 
 
SKETCH OP GENERAL JOHNSTON. f53 
 
 Mississippi, fully organized, equipped and provisioned, was ready for its 
 share in the great movements which were to decide the fate of the Union. 
 It numbered ninety-eight thousand, seven hundred and ninety-sevea 
 effective men, and two hundred and fifty-four pieces of artillery, and was 
 divided as follows : ^ 
 
 The Army of the Cumberland, Major General Thomas commanding 
 — infantry, fifty-four thousand five hundred and sixty-eight; artillery, 
 two thousand three hundred and seventy-seven ; cavalry, three thousand 
 eight hundred and twenty-eight; total, sixty thousand seven hundred 
 and seventy-three, with one hundred and thirty guns. Army of the 
 Tennessee, Major-General McPherson commanding — infantry, twenty- 
 two thousand four hundred and thirty-seven ; artillery, one thousand four 
 hundred and four ; cavalry, six hundred and twenty-four ; total, twenty- 
 four thousand four hundred and sixty-five, with ninety-six guns. Army 
 of the Ohio, Major-General Schofield commanding — infantry, eleven 
 thousand one hundred and eighty-three ; artillery, six hundred and seventy- 
 nine ; cavalry, one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven; total, thirteen 
 thousand five hundred and fifty-nine, with twenty-eight guns. These 
 numbers continued relatively the same during the campaign, the losses in 
 battle and from sickness being about compensated by recruits, and returns 
 froni^ furlough and hospitals. The three Union armies on the 6th of 
 May, occupied the following positions : that of the Cumberland, at or 
 near Ringgold ; that of the Tennessee at Gordon's Mills, on the Chicka- 
 mauga ; and that of the Ohio near Eed Clay, on the Georgia line, north 
 of Dalton. In and about Dalton, lay the Eebel army, superior to the 
 Union army in cavalry, and comprising three corps of infantry and ar- 
 tillery, viz : Hardee's, Hood's, and Polk's, numbering in all about sixty 
 thousand men, the whole commanded by General J. E. Johnston.* 
 
 * General Joseph Eccleston Johnston, the able commander of the Eebel forces which 
 were opposed to General Sherman's army, was born in 1808, in Prince Edwards county, 
 Virginia. He graduated at West Point in 1829, ranking high, and was appointed on 
 the 1st of July of that year, brevet second lieutenant in the fourth artillery. In 1836 
 he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and made commissary of subsistence. In 1838 
 he was transferred to the corps of topographical engineers, with the rank of first 
 lieutenant, and served in that capacity in the Florida war, where he distinguished 
 himself for bravery and skill, and was brevetted captain. His regular promotion to a 
 captaincy came in September, 1846, and in February, 1847, he was brevetted lieuten- 
 ant-colonel of voltigeurs, and sailed for Mexico with General Scott's expedition. He 
 was severely wounded in a daring reconnoissance on the advance to Mexico, near 
 Cerro Gordo, but recovered sufficiently to take part in the concluding battles of the 
 war. He distinguished himself at Chapultepec and Molino del Rey, and in the latter 
 battle was again wounded. His regiment having been disbanded, he remained captain 
 of topographical engineers, with a brevet of lieutenant-colonel, till March 3, 1855, 
 when he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the first cavalry. In June, 1860, he was 
 appointed quartermaster-general of the United States, with the rank of brigadier- 
 general. This position he held at the outbreak of the war, and retained it, to the ad- 
 
754 THE CIYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Dalton was in itself a position of great strength, being completely cov- 
 ered by a ridge or spur of the Cbattoogata mountains, known as the 
 Eocky Faced Ridge, through which a high and narrow defile, called 
 Buzzard's Roost gap — traversed by the railroad and wagon-road — offered 
 the only approach to the town from the northwest. This narrow pass, 
 obstructed by abatis, flooded by water, caused by dams across MiU creek, 
 and commanded thoughout its whole length by batteries stationed on the 
 spurs on either side, efl'ectually barred any attempt which the Union 
 armies might make in that direction, and the town, on its northern aspect, 
 was well defended by strong lines of defence behind Mill creek. On their 
 left, however, General Sherman found in Snake Creek gap — a crooked 
 defile of the Chattoogata mountain — an opportunity to reach and disturb 
 the enemy's railroad communication at or near Resaca, eighteen miles 
 south of Dalton. The plan which he quickly conceived and promptly 
 put into e^cecution, was to send McPherson's column, via Ship's gap, Vil- 
 lanow, and Snake Creek gap, toward Resaca, or the railroad below 
 Dalton, with orders to break up the road as thoroughly as possible, after 
 which he was to fall back to some good defensive position on Snake creek, 
 and await his opportunity to strike the enemy's flank, in case he should 
 
 vantage of the Rebels, till April 22, 1861, when he resigned, and immediately went 
 over to the Rebel army, where he was commissioned major-gencrul, and placed ia com- 
 mand of their army of the Shenandoah, where he confronted General Patterson, and 
 eludiiipr him, marched to Manassas, which he reached at noon of July 2l)th. the day 
 before the battle of Bull Run. lie took part in that battle, though under conmiand 
 of General Beauregard. He remained in command of the army of Virginia through 
 the siege of Yorktown and the battle of Williamsburg, and at the battle of Seven 
 Pines was severely wounded, and for three or four months was unable to resume com- 
 mand. In November, 1862, he was put in command of the Western army east of 
 the Mississippi, having Bragg's, Kirby Smith's, and other armies, under his command. 
 His health was not fully recovered, and he therefore directed rather than commanded 
 in person. He commanded at Jackson, in the Vicksburg campaign, and it was owing 
 to Pembcrton's disobedience to his orders that he was shut up in Vicksburg, and 
 finally compelled to surrender. Sherman compelled him to retreat from Jackson in 
 July, 1863. Directing the movements of the Rebel troops in the West, he did not 
 take active command till General Bragg fell into disgrace after the battles of Chatta- 
 nooga. 
 
 In the Atlanta campaign he proved himself, as the narrative shows, a skilfid and 
 able strategist ; his retreats were performed with great skill and success, and w ithout 
 loss of supplies or material, and his removal and supersession by General Hood, was 
 regarded by General Sherman as a matter of congratulation. lie was subsequently 
 restored to command in the Carolina campaign, but the Rebel cause was past hope, 
 and though he exhibited his abilities in the two battles of Averysboro and Beuton- 
 ville, he promptly made overtures for surrender on learning of Lee's capitulation. Of 
 the conferences and propositions then submitted, we shall give a full account in the 
 proper place. After his surrender. General Johnston indicated his disposition to return 
 fully and heartily to liis allegiance, and has entered upon his duties in civil life, in a 
 spirit which does him credit 
 
OPERATIONS OF SHERMAN'S ARMY. 755 
 
 retreat. Meanwhile, the enemy's attention at Dalton was to be diverted 
 by a strong feint of attack in front from General Thomas' force, and the 
 approach of General Schofield's army from the north. 
 
 In accordance with this programme, General Thomas, on the 7th, oc- 
 cupied Tunnel Hill, opposite Buzzard Koost gap, with but slight opposi- 
 tion, the enemy's cavalry retreating well through the gap ; General 
 MePherson took possession of Snake Creek gap on the 8th, completely 
 surprising a Eebel cavalry brigade which was on its way thither 
 with similar intent ; while, on the 9th, General Schofield pushed down 
 close on Dalton from the north. Then Thomas renewed his demonstra- 
 tion against Buzzard Roost and Rocky Faced Ridge, pushing it almost 
 to a battle, in the course of which General Newton's division of the fourth 
 corps — General Howard's — carried the ridge, and turning south toward 
 Dalton, found the crest too narrow, and too well protected by rock epaul- 
 ments, to permit their approach to the pass ; while General Geary's 
 division (of Hooker's command) making a bold push for the summit, to 
 the south of the pass, found the road to strongly held by the enemy to be 
 carried. This action, which has received the name of the battle of 
 Rocky Faced Ridge, was fought with great gallantry, and was attended with 
 considerable loss, yet it was fully successful as a feint to cover the move- 
 ments of MePherson, who was thereby enabled to march within a mile of 
 Resaca, almost unopposed. Finding, however, that Resaca was too 
 strongly fortified to be carried by assault, and being unable to discover 
 any road passable for his artillery, by which he could reach and destroy 
 the railroad between Dalton and Resaca, he fell back to a strong position 
 near the west end of Snake Creek gap. 
 
 General Sherman, who, although appreciating the advantage gained, 
 was not satisfied with any result which did not fully accomplish his plan 
 of striking a decided blow upon the enemy's railroad communications, 
 then sent Hooker's and Palmer's corps, of General Thomas's division, and 
 the whole of General Schofield's command, through Snake Creek gap, to 
 the support of MePherson, leaving only Howard's corps to threaten Dalton 
 in front. On the 12th, the Union forces moved against Resaca ; and 
 Johnston, finding that he was outflanked, fell back to that place from 
 Dalton, over excellent roads which he had previously constructed, How- 
 ard following so closely on his heels, that he entered Dalton as the Rebels 
 left it. 
 
 Resaca, strong by nature, had been rendered so impregnable by the six 
 months' labor which the enemy had bestowed upon its fortifications, that 
 the main body of the Union army as they approached it saw that it was 
 useless to attempt its capture by assault. Sherman therefore threw a pon- 
 toon bridge across the Oostanaula, at Lay's ferry, near Calhoun, over 
 which he sent a division of the sixteenth corps to demonstrate against 
 the town. General Garrard's division was also moved from Villanow 
 
756 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 down to Rome, where, crossing the Oostanaula, they were instructed to 
 destroy the railroad below Calhoun and above Kingston, if possible, thus 
 compelling a farther retreat, in any event, while, with the main army, 
 Sherman pressed against Resaca at all points, his lines extending from 
 the Oostanaula below the town westward to Sugar valley, and then east- 
 ward in the form of a semcircle to the railroad — the ground thus occu- 
 pied being mostly a dense forest, intersected with two or three creeks with 
 deep and muddy bottoms. On the 13th, there was considerable fighting 
 along the lines, chiefly by Schofield's corps ; and again the next day, 
 when the fourth corps pushed the enemy vigorously toward Resaca. 
 
 During the afternoon and evening of the 15th, a heavy battle ensued, 
 in which General Hooker drove the enemy from several strong hills, and 
 captured four hundred prisoners and four guns. The most thrilling epi- 
 sode of the day occurred in the afternoon, when Stanley's brigade, of one 
 Ohio and two Indiana regiments, stationed on the extreme left, were 
 apprised that two divisions of the Rebels were approaching, with the 
 object of breaking their line. As they fell back from this superior force, 
 the Rebels dashed from the woods, across a flat and tolerably open space, 
 on the left of which were woods in which were concealed a large part of 
 Hooker's corps, just arrived, and Simonson's Indiana battery, of the fourth 
 army corps. As the Rebels emerged upon the open ground, this battery 
 opened rapidly upon them with grape and canister at short range ; and 
 before they could recover from their surprise, Hooker's men, from the 
 edge of the wood, poured in volley after volley of musketry, until, appalled 
 and staggered by the murderous fire to which they were exposed, the 
 Rebel column broke and ran for cover. Riding to the battery, and in- 
 quiring whose it was, General Hooker threw himself from his saddle, and 
 saying, " You are heroes, every one of you," shook each man warmly by 
 the hand. 
 
 That same night, Johnston, finding himself in danger of being again 
 flanked, evacuated Resaca, and escaped southward across the Oostanaula, 
 his retreating columns being treated to a pretty vigorous shelling by 
 McPherson. They left in Resaca a large amount of commissary supplies, 
 and a four-gun battery, and burned four spans of the railroad bridge, 
 besides making an unsuccessful attempt to burn the turnpike bridge over 
 the river. The Union loss in these three days' battles amounted to 
 nearly thirty-five hundred in killed, missing, and wounded, while the 
 Rebel loss was somewhat less, owing to the fact that, except in the battle 
 of the 15th, they fought behind intrenchments. As soon as Johnston's 
 retreat was discovered, the whole army started in pursuit, General 
 Thomas close upon his heels, General McPherson by Lay's ferry, while 
 General Schofield made a wide detour by obscure roads on the left, by 
 Fue's and Field's ferries, across the Connasauga and Coosawattee rivers. 
 About nightfall of the 17th, General Newton's division, in the advance, 
 
MOVEMENT TOWARD DALLAS. 757 
 
 overtook tlie Rebel rear-guard near Adairsville, and after a brisk action, 
 drove them from a temporary lodgement which they had made in a house 
 called " Oak Grove." 
 
 Eenewing the pursuit the next morning, they brought the Rebel army 
 to bay at a point four miles beyond Kingston, on ground comparatively 
 open and adapted to a general battle. Again declining battle, the enemy 
 moved southward to Gassville, six miles east from Kingston, where they 
 occupied intrenchments in a strong position. Upon being pressed, how- 
 ever, by our forces, they again retreated across the Etowah river, burning 
 the bridges near Cartersville, and leaving the whole valuable region north 
 of the Etowah in full possession of the Union army, which rested from 
 its labors for six days, during which time General Sherman brought for- 
 ward supplies, and strengthened the communications with his base, by 
 repairs of railroads, roads, etc. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Jefferson C. Davis, who had been sent by General 
 Thomas along the west side of the Oostanaula to take possession of 
 Rome, had met with most gratifying success, capturing its forts, with 
 eight or ten heavy guns, valuable mills, foundries, and various railroad 
 communications. Sherman then seized and held two bridges over the 
 Etowah, near Kingston, and having garrisoned that place, as well as 
 Rome, and supplied his wagons with twenty days' rations, he again set 
 his army in motion toward Dallas, nearly south from Kingston, and fifteen 
 miles west of Marietta. 
 
 This circuit to the right was made for the purpose of turning AUa- 
 toona pass, a gap in the mountains through which the railroad ran, and to 
 which Johnston had retreated, in complete confidence that its impregnable 
 position protected him perfectly from any attack in front. Crossing the 
 Etowah river, at Conasene creek, near Kingston, McPherson moved to his 
 position north of Dallas, via Van Wert ; Davis's division marched directly 
 from Rome to Dallas, via Van Wert ; General Thomas by Euharlee and 
 Burnt Hickory, and Schofield moved along other roads to the eastward, 
 designing to come well up on Thomas's left. The country was mountain- 
 ous, rugged, densely wooded, and with but few and obscure roads. Gen- 
 eral Thomas's advance, skirmishing with the enemy's cavalry near Burnt 
 Hickory, captured a courier with despatches from General Johnston, 
 showing that he understood the movements of the Union army, and was 
 prepared to meet them near Dallas. On the 25th, General Thomas, moving 
 on Dallas, his troops on three roads. General Hooker in the advance, as he 
 approached Pumpkin Vine creek, on the main road, met a considerable 
 body of Rebel cavalry at a bridge on his left. Pushing them rapidly across 
 the creek, and saving the bridge, which was already on fire, he drove them 
 about two miles eastward, where he found infantry, whose pickets he 
 pressed closely, until he met the enemy's line of battle, with which his 
 leading division, General Geary's, had a smart encounter. He immedi- 
 
•}58 TIIK CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 atcly called in General Hooker's other two divisions, which were on other 
 roads, and as soon as that whole corps were well in hand, about four 
 o'clock p. M., it was ordered to make a bold push for the possession of 
 "New Hope ehnrch," at the junction of the three roads from Ackworth, 
 Marietta, and Dallas. Here ensued a hard battle, in which the enemy 
 was driven back to the church, where they hastily intrenched themselves, 
 and a dark stormy night intervening, General Hooker found himself un- 
 able to dislodge them. The next morning they were well intrenched, 
 mainly across the road from Dallas to Marietta, and Hooker's corps being 
 inveigled into a narrow pass, whose sides were lined with concealed 
 batteries, was met with a terribly destructive enfilading fire, which told 
 heavily on them — especially on Geary's corps — their loss being not less 
 than four hundred and fifty. 
 
 This compelled the Union commanders to make more extensive dispo- 
 sitions of their forces. General McPherson, with Garrard's cavalr}', 
 moved up to Dallas, General Thomas looked after New Hope church, and 
 General Schofield, aided by Stoneman's cavalry, watched his opportunity 
 to tui-n the enemy's right, while General McCook guarded the rear. The 
 density of the forest, and the diflScult nature of the ground, was such that 
 several days were emploj'ed in deploying close to the enemy, and 
 Sherman determined to work gradually toward the left, and, at the proper 
 moment, make a push for the railroad east of Allatoona. While thus 
 slowly developing his plans, several sharp encounters occurred with the 
 enemy, and on the 28th, as the Union lines were working quietly to the 
 left, with the purpose of enveloping the enemy's right. General McPher- 
 son's men were suddenly attacked with great violence. Fortunately, 
 however, having good breastworks, they gave a warm reception to the 
 Kebels, who retired from the contest with a loss of over twenty-five 
 hundred men, their own loss being but two hundred and eighty-six in 
 killed, wounded, and missing. After a few days' delay, until things should 
 become somewhat quieted down, Sherman moved bis lines successfully 
 five miles farther to the left, and, by the 1st of June, they held all the 
 roads leading back to Allatoona and Ackworth. General Stoneman's 
 cavalry was now pushed rapidly into the ea.st end of Allatoona pass, while 
 General Garrard's cavalry were sent to its west end, and the original de- 
 sign of turning the pass was accomplished. 
 
 Still continuing to move his lines farther and farther to the left, 
 Sherman, by the 4th of June, had decided to leave Johnston in his in- 
 trenchmcnts at New Hope church, and occupy Ackworth, when suddenly 
 Johnston abandoned his position, and moved toward Kenesaw, Pine, and 
 Lost mountains. Sherman, therefore, moved to Ackworth, and taking 
 certain positions along the railroad, proceeded to satisfy himself, by personal 
 inspection, of the capabilities of Allatoona pass for the purposes of a 
 secondary base. Finding it all that he desired, the repairs on the railroad 
 
THE ENEMY DEIVEN FROM PINE MOUNTAIN. 759 
 
 were rapidly completed, and on the 8th, supplies were brought into camp 
 by rail. Oq the same day, also. General Blair arrived at Ackworth, with 
 two divisions of the seventeenth corps and a brigade of cavalry — a rein- 
 forcement which amply compensated for Sherman's losses in battle, and 
 the troops left in garrison at Resaca, Rome, Kingston, and Allatoona. On 
 the next day, the 9th, with well secured communications to the rear, and 
 with ample supplies for the advance, the entire army moved forward to 
 Big Shanty, the next station on the railroad. Here they found themselves 
 surrounded by scenery of peculiar and lofty beauty. They were on the 
 broad and uneven plateau which reaches from the base of the easternmost 
 hills of the Appalachain chain toward the Chattahoochee river. To their 
 left, and on the east of the railroad, were Sweat mountain and Black Jack, 
 while to the westward, and nearly in front of their position, rose Kenesaw, 
 the bold and striking Twin mountain. To the right was the smaller hill, 
 known as Pine mountain, and still more distantly to the right was Lost 
 mountain. All these mountains, though links in a continuous chain, had 
 sharp conical peaks, which rendered them peculiarly prominent in the 
 vast and roughly-moulded landscape which surrounded them. Here they 
 found the Rebel General Johnston holding a strongly fortified position on 
 the northern slopes of Pine, Kenesaw, and Lost mountains — the first 
 named forming the apex, and the two latter the base, of a triangle, com- 
 pletely commanding the town of Marietta, and the railroad as far as 
 the Chattahoochie. On each of these peaks the enemy had established 
 signal stations, wliile the summits were crowned with batteries, and the 
 spurs alive with men, busily engaged in felling trees, digging pits, and 
 preparing for the impending crisis of battle. General Sherman says, in 
 his official report: "The scene was enchanting; too beautiful to be dis- 
 turbed by the harsh clamors of war ; but the Chattahoochie lay beyond, 
 and I had to reach it." On a closer approach, he found that the enemy 
 was holding a line full two miles long, and one which he could not 
 properly maintain with the force at bis disposal. With a view, therefore, 
 to break this over-extended line at some weak point. General Sherman 
 ordered General McPherson to move toward Marietta, with his right on 
 the railroad. General Thomas on Kenesaw and Pine mountains, and Gen- 
 eral Schofield toward Lost mountain ; while General Garrard's cavalry 
 hovered on the left, General Stoneman's on the right, and General 
 McCook looked to the rear, and communications with the depot at Big 
 Shanty. 
 
 On the 11th of June, having closed his lines well up to the enemy's 
 position, Sherman prepared to break the line between Kenesaw and Pine 
 mountain — that point being apparently the weakest — and for a few daya 
 there was some very severe and protracted skirmishing. On the 14th, 
 Hooker's and Howard's corps opened a sharp cannonade upon the Rebels 
 on Pine mountain, in the course of which the Rebel Lieutenant-General 
 
760 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Polk was killed, and on the morning of the 15th, it was ascertained that 
 the enemy had abandoned their position at that point, and had fallen back 
 upon the line of rugged hills connecting Kenesaw and Lost mountains. 
 
 McPherson was now thrown forward, gaining substantial advantages 
 on the left, and constant pressure being firmly kept up on the enemy's 
 lines, an assault was ordered by Sherman on the 17th ; but the enemy had 
 abandoned, that very morning, both Lost mountain and the long line of 
 admirable breastworks which connected it with Kenesaw. Following 
 him closely, so as to keep up an uninterrupted pressure upon his lines ; 
 skirmishing amid dense forests and difficult ravines, the Union army 
 again came upon and found Johnston, strongly intrenched, with Kenesaw 
 as his salient, his right wing covering Marietta, and his left behind Nose's 
 creek, in position to protect the railroad as far as the Chattahoochie — his 
 lines being thus contracted and greatly strengthened. From his eyrie on 
 the twin summits of Kenesaw, he could look down upon the Union camp, 
 and watch every movement of the troops, whom he constantly cannonaded, 
 although with little effect, owing to the extreme elevation of his position. 
 
 Here, lying closely up against the mountain town, and under the 
 con.stant fire of the enemy's guns, Sherman's army passed three weeks, 
 during a season of heavy rains, which fairly flooded the whole surround- 
 ing country and rendered a general movement impossible. The men, 
 however, kept daily working their way closer to the intrenched foe, main- 
 taining an incessant picket fire, and embracing every opportunity of 
 advancing the general lines. Thus, slowly gaining, step by step, McPher- 
 son had reached within two miles of Marietta, Thomas had swung from 
 the left, where he joined McPherson, around to the west and southwest 
 of Kenesaw, and Schofield was steadily pressing southward and eastward 
 along the old Sandtown road. 
 
 Suddenly, on the 22d, the enemy, who were restive under this inter- 
 mitting pressure, rallied and attacked General Hooker, the blow falling 
 chiefly on General Williams's division and a brigade of Schofield's army. 
 The ground was quite open, and the enemy easily drove in the skirmish 
 lines — an advanced regiment purposely thrown forward by General Scho- 
 field as a temporary check to the assailants. Their point of attack was 
 evidently a wooded ridge running in a southeasterly direction, and 
 diagonally across the front of the Union lines, and which had been gained 
 by Butterfield's division that morning after some severe and very deter- 
 mined fighting. It was occupied, at the moment of the attack, by 
 Williams's division of the same corps, who had come upon it about noon, 
 but before they had time to fortify it the Rebels dashed out upon them 
 from the distant woods, moving at the quick-step, in three lines of battle. 
 The danger was imminent; but our batteries opened fiercely upon them, 
 and as they came within short range, Williams's men, who had hitherto 
 reserved their fire, delivered such rapid and deadly vollies that they fell 
 
ATTACK ON KENESAW MOUNTAIN. T61 
 
 back, their confusion greatly increased by a sudden enfilading fire, which 
 came from some batteries placed in position by General Geary, of the 
 same corps. 
 
 They rallied, and made repeated attempts especially to drive Whit- 
 taker's division of the army of the Ohio from its position of the morning, 
 but each attempt was repulsed with very heavy loss, and tliey finally 
 retired, leaving their dead and wounded in the hands of the Union troops. 
 This action is known as the battle of "Kulp's house." With the return 
 of fair weather, General Sherman determined to drive the foe from his 
 stronghold, either by assault or by flanking. 
 
 Either alternative presented its own diflBculties and dangers. If he 
 assaulted the Rebel lines at their weakest point, he might, by capturing 
 Marietta, divide and defeat the enemy's force in detail. But then, the 
 attempt to carry by arms a position so strong by nature, and so improved 
 by military science, would be attended with uncertainty of success, and, 
 in any event, with a heavy loss of life. If, however, he should, as the 
 enemy and his own officers evidently expected him to do, flank the po- 
 sition by a detour to the right, and seize the railroad near the crossing 
 of the Chattahoochie, he would commit his army to a single method of 
 offence, which would involve much loss of time, and would be attended 
 with peculiar hazards. The evident expectation of both friend and foe, 
 that he would renew the flanking policy which had hitherto characterized 
 his progress in this campaign, seems to have decided him to do just the 
 opposite. Believing, as he says, that " an army, to be efficient, must not 
 settle down to one single mode of offence, but must be prepared to exe- 
 cute any plan which promises success," he resolved to avail himself of 
 the moral effect which would result, to friend and foe alike, from a suc- 
 cessful assault upon the enemy behind his breastworks, and at that point 
 where success would yield the largest fruits of victory. This point, in 
 his opinion, was the Rebel left-centre, through which, if he could push a 
 strong column, it could reach the railroad below Marietta by a bold and 
 rapid march of two and a half miles, thus cutting off from their line of 
 retreat the enemy's right and centre, either of which could then be over- 
 whelmed and destroyed. 
 
 On the 2-4th of June, General Sherman ordered that two assaults should 
 be simultaneously made on the 27th, one by General McPherson's troops 
 near Little Kenesaw, and another by General Thomas's command, about 
 a mile further south. The assaults were made in the time and manner 
 prescribed, and both failed, in spite of the indomitable bravery and per- 
 severance of the troops engaged, with a loss of over three thousand 
 killed and wounded, including Generals Uarker and McCook. The 
 Rebels, fighting behind breastworks, suffered a comparatively slight loss. 
 Sherman, however, was not the man to allow his men to rest long under 
 the influence of a mistake or a failure, and he accordingly ordered General 
 
762 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Schofield to work farther along toward the Rebel left; and relieving General 
 McPherson in front of Kenesaw by General Garrard's cavalry, the former 
 quickly moved his whole command by the right, down to Nickajack creek, 
 which, as well as Turner's ferry, he threatened ; while Stoneman's cavalry 
 was also sent to the river near Turner's ferry. General McPherson com- 
 menced his movement on the night of the 2d of Jul}^, and the effect was 
 instantaneous. The next morning Kenesaw was abandoned by the Rebel 
 hosts, and at early dawn our skirmishers had occupied its summits. 
 
 General Thomas's whole line was immediately moved forward to the 
 railroad, and turned southward to the Ghattahoochie, in pursuit of the 
 Rebels, while General Sherman rode into Marietta at eight o'clock that 
 morning, just as the Rebel cavalry left it. The rear-guard of McPhcrson's 
 army, under Logan, was ordered back to Marietta, while McPherson and 
 Schofield were instructed to cross Nickajack creek, attacking the enemy in 
 flank and rear, and, if possible, to catch him in the confusion of crossing the 
 Ghattahoochie. Johnston, however, foreseeing this danger, had succeeded 
 in covering his movements well by establishing a strongly intrenched iete 
 da poni at the Ghattahoochie, and an advanced line of intrenchnicnts 
 across the road at the Smyrna camp-meeting ground, five miles from Mari- 
 etta. Here, with his front well protected by good parapets, and his flanks 
 behind the Nickajack and Rottenwood creeks, he was found by General 
 Logan's advance-guard. 
 
 Detailing a garrison for Marietta, and directing General Logan to rejoin 
 his own army, then near the outlet of the Nickajack, General Sherman 
 himself overtook General Thomas at Smyrna. On the 4ih of July they 
 pushed a strong skirmish line down the main road, capturing the entire 
 line of the enemy's rifle-pits, at the same time making strong demonstra- 
 tions against Turner's ferry, and along the Nickajack creek — and the next 
 morning the enemy had fled across the Ghattahoochie. The Union army, 
 therefore, moved down to the river, General Thomas's left resting on it near 
 Paice's ferry. General McPhcrson's right at the mouth of the Nickajack, 
 while General Schofield's command was held in reserve. Opposite to them 
 lay the enemy, behind an intrenched line of unusual strength, covering the 
 railroad and pontoon bridges, and beyond the Ghattahoochie ; and the 
 heavy skirmishing along the whole front during the 5th, clearly demon- 
 strated the strength of the position, which could only be turned by cross- 
 ing the river, a deep and rapid stream, only passable at that point by 
 bridges, and a few very difficult fords. Difficult as this was, however, 
 General Sherman wisely deemed it best to attempt it while the enemy 
 was still suffering from the partial demoralization incident to their rapid 
 retreat, and before they should have time to oppose further obstacles, in 
 the form of additional fortifications. Acting under his orders, General 
 Schofield's corps, on the 7th, successfully crossed the Ghattahoochie, near 
 the mouth of Soap creek, capturing one gun, surprising the guard, laying 
 
BURNING OF ROSWELL FACTORIES. 763 
 
 a good pontoon and a trestle bridge, and making a lodgement on the east 
 bank, on high and commanding ground, with good roads leading east- 
 ward. 
 
 While this was being done, General Garrard's cavalry captured Roswell, 
 and destroyed the factories, which, during the war, had supplied the 
 Eebel armies with cloths. Over one of these, the nominal owner had 
 hoisted the French flag, as a ruse for its protection, but the building met 
 the same fate as the others, General Sherman declining to recognize the 
 right of neutrals, any more than our own citizens, to make cloth for hostile 
 uses. A shallow ford near Roswell was then secured by Garrard, under 
 Sherman's orders, and held until relieved by General Newton's division 
 of Thomas's corps, who were shortly after relieved in turn by the whole of 
 General McPherson's army, which had been transferred from the extreme 
 right. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Howard's corps had built a bridge at Powers' ferry, 
 two miles below Schofield's, and crossing over, had taken position on that 
 general's right. This was effected on the 9th, and General Johnston find- 
 ing that the Union army had secured three good and safe crossings over 
 the Chattahoochie, had no other resource, on the 10th, than to abandon 
 his tete de pont, burn his bridges, and leave the country, north and west 
 of the river, to the undisputed control of the Federal forces. 
 
764 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 BOUSSEAU'S EXPEDITION TO OPELIKA, AND THE WEST POINT AND MONTGOMERY RAILROAD— 
 THE POSITION OF THE UNION ARMY — FIRST BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK, JULY 20Tn — 
 SECOND BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK, JULY 22d — DEATH OF MCPHERSON — BIOOKAPHICAL 
 SKETCH OF GENERAL MCPHERSON — OARRARd's EXPEDITION TO COVINGTON — STONEMAN 
 AND MCCOOK UNDERTAKE CAVALRY EXPEDITIONS — FAILURE OF STONEMAN — PARTIAL SUC- 
 CESS OF MCCOOK — BATTLE OP JULY 28th BEFORE ATLANTA — SIEGE OF ATLANTA — ITS 
 STRENGTH — TENACITY OP HOOD IN HOLDING THE RAILROAD LINES — SHERMAN EXTENDS HIS 
 LINE TO THE RIGHT, BUT HOOD HOLDS THE RAILROAD — BOMBARDMENT OF ATLANTA — 
 wheeler's RAID TO CUT SHERMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS — SHERMAN SENDS KILPATRICK TO 
 CUT THE RAILROAD BELOW ATLANTA — PARTIAL SUCCESS — SHERMAN RAISES THE SIEGE, 
 AND SENDS WILLIAMS BACK TO THE CHATTAHOOCHIE, WHILE THE MAIN ARMY MOVES 
 TOWARD JONESBORO — BATTLES NEAR JONESBORO — HARDEE DEFEATED AND DRIVEN SOUTH- 
 WARD — HOOD EVACUATES ATLANTA — THE UNION ARMY TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CITY — 
 REMOVAL OF THE CITIZENS FROM THE CITY — RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Atlanta, with its fortifications, its magazines, stores, arsenals, work- 
 shops, foundries, etc., and especially its railroads, which converged there 
 from the four cardinal points, was now only eight miles distant from the 
 Union army; but General Sherman foresaw that much heavy fighting 
 must ensue before he should be able to plant the flag of the Union upon 
 its spires. The men, also, had been hard worked, and needed rest after 
 their arduous labors ; so that he determined to give them a little breathing 
 spell while he repaired the railroad and brought up his supplies for the 
 final struggle of the campaign. Foreseeing this necessity of resting his 
 army awhile, General Sherman had previously determined to employ the 
 time in destroying the enemy's communications and supplies from Mont- 
 gomery, Ala., as well as from southern and central Alabama and Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 To this end he had collected at Decatur, Ala., a fine and well-equipped 
 force of cavalry, two thousand .strong, under command of General Lovell 
 H. Rousseau, whom he had directed, on receiving orders by telegraph, to 
 push rapidly south, cross the Coosa at the railroad bridge, or the Ten 
 Islands, and make his way by the most direct route to Opelika, on the 
 Montgomery, West Point, and Atlanta railroad, at its junction with the 
 Columbus and Southwestern road, from which point he was to destroy the 
 railroad in both directions. 
 
 Tills being the only finished railroad which connected the channels of 
 trade and travel between Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, its destruc- 
 tion would most efiectually cut off the supplies of the Rebel army from 
 that source. Rousseau received his orders on the 9th, and started on the 
 10th, fulfilling his instructions to the very letter, whipping the Rebel 
 
BATTLE OP PEACH TREE CKEEK. f65 
 
 General Clanton, en route, passing through Talladega, and reaching the 
 railroad on the 16th, about twenty-five miles west of Opelika. He broke 
 it up well at that place, also at a point three miles west of the branch to 
 Columbus, and at another two miles from West Pomt. 
 
 Having thus accomplished his object, he returned to Marietta, where he 
 arrived on the 22d, having, in the space of fifteen days, marched four 
 hundred and fifty miles, captured and paroled two thousand prisoners, 
 brought off eight hundred able-bodied negroes, and as many horses and 
 mules, having also rendered thirty one miles of railroad useless, burned 
 thirteen depots, a large number of cars, and two locomotives, and im 
 mense quantities of cotton, tobacco, quartermaster's and commissary stores, 
 all of which he had effected with a loss of less than thirty of his own 
 command, in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 
 All this time the main army was quietly encamped on the Chattahoochie, 
 while supplies were being collected at Allatoona, Marietta, and Vining's 
 station, piers, bridges, and roads improved, and railroad guards and 
 garrisons strengthened. General Stoneman's and McCook's cavalry were 
 sent on a scout down the river to a considerable distance, in order to 
 divert the attention of the Eebels in that direction ; and all things being 
 in readiness, Sherman issued his order for a general advance on the 17th 
 of July; Thomas, with the army of the Cumberland, crossing at Power's 
 and Paice's ferry bridges, and marching by Buckhead; Schofield's army 
 of the Ohio moving by Cross Keys ; and the army of the Tennessee, under 
 McPherson, proceeding from Eoswell directly against the Augusta road, 
 at some point east of Decatur, near Stone mountain. With this latter 
 division Garrard's cavalry acted in concert, while General Stoneman and 
 McCook w£Jtched the river and the roads below the railway. 
 
 Thus the evening of the 17th found the whole Union army in line along 
 the Old Peach Tree road. Continuing on a general right wheel, McPher- 
 son, on the 18th, reached the Augusta railroad, at a point seven miles 
 east of Decatur, and broke up a section of about four miles, while General 
 Schofield pushed forward and captured the town. On the 19th, General 
 McPherson entered the town by the railroad, while Schofield moved out by 
 the distillery road toward Atlanta, and General Thomas's command crossed 
 Peach Tree creek, by means of numerous pontoon bridges, and in the 
 face of the enemy's line of intrenchments. Along the whole line heavy 
 skirmishing at once commenced, strongly indicating a battle. 
 
 At this juncture, the Rebel General Johnston, whose conduct of the 
 campaign had not met with the approval of the Confederate authorities, 
 was relieved of his command, which was given to General John B. Hood. 
 This general possessed the reputation of being a bold leader, and desper- 
 ate fighter, but as events subsequently proved, he lacked the essential 
 qualities of skilfulness and caution which the peculiar circumstances of 
 the campaign demanded. He immediately inaugurated his assumption of 
 
7G6 THE CIVIL WAK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the command, by planning a surprise, by which he hoped to arrest per- 
 manently the steady advance of the Union army. 
 
 By this time (the 2ilth) all the Union armies had closed in, converging 
 toward Atlanta, McPherson on the extreme left, Schofield on his right, 
 both facing nearly to the west ; between Schofield's and Hooker's corps 
 of the army of the Cumberland, was an interval of three miles distance, 
 occupied only by pickets, and to the right of these the balance of the 
 army of the Cumberland facing to the south. This gap between the 
 army of the Cumberland and Schofield's, marked the position of the 
 Rebel lines on the previous day along the Peach Tree creek ; and 
 although apparently abandoned, was in reality occupied by them in 
 strong force. 
 
 Hoods plan, then, was, by making a feint on the left of the Union lines, 
 to compel Schofield and McPherson to close up, and to occupy this gap 
 in ambush with his main force. Then the army of the Cumberland was 
 to be allowed to push forward, its advance upon Atlanta, without much 
 opposition, and as soon as the two wings of the Union army were thus 
 separated, the Rebel force, arising from ambush, should be hurled upon 
 the flank of the left wing, cut off the bridges in its rear, and drive it 
 routed back to the Chattahoochie. The plan was a most excellent one, 
 and its progress at first was encouraging to the Rebel chief; his feint on 
 the left compelled the closing up of Schofield's upon McPherson's 
 column ; Thomas moved forward on Atlanta, picking up a few prisoners, 
 who gave information that there were but few Rebel troops in the imme- 
 diate vicinity, and satisfied that his plans were working favorably, Hood, 
 about four o'clock P. M., threw his army boldly and fiercely upon Newton's 
 ■division, which held the above mentioned three-mile gap, expecting to 
 roll it up and destroy it with ease. Much to his surprise, the Union line 
 met the assault like a rock of iron, for it so happened that a temporary 
 defence of rails and earth had been thrown up by the men ; and only twenty 
 minutes previous to the assault, ten pieces of artillery had been brought 
 over from the north side of the creek, which, together with two pieces 
 already on the ground, opened a terrific storm of grape and canister 
 upon the too confident Rebels. Their column, torn and shattered by the 
 deadly vollies, which opened great gaps through their ranks, halted 
 and fired wildly upon the batteries, with but little effect. Forming anew, 
 thev again advanced, but four guns of a Michigan battery united their 
 welcome to those previously in position, and again dismayed, they fled 
 from the field. Again and again, with desperate courage, they hurled 
 their force upon the Union lines, which now, reinforced, became each 
 moment stronger and firmer, until, at length abandoning all hope, the 
 Rebels re reated in confusion. While this was going on, General Hook- 
 er's corps were sustaining the impetuous attacks of other portions of the 
 Rebel army, and though fighting uncovered, and on very open ground, 
 
SECOND BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK. 767 
 
 not only repulsed the enemy, but drove him fairly back to his intrench- 
 ments. In this melee, Butterfield's division, under temporary command 
 of General Ward, met the Eebel force in a counter-charge on the crest of 
 a hill, from which they drove them flying, and with terrible slaughter, 
 while Williams' division, unprotected by breastworks, maintained a des- 
 perate fight for nearly four hours, without giving a foot. The enemy left 
 on the field over one thousand one hundred and thirteen dead, about one 
 thousand severely wounded, seven stands of colors, and a large number 
 of prisoners. His loss, probably, was not far from six thousand, while 
 the Union loss was one thousand seven hundred and fifty killed, wounded, 
 and missing, the larger part of which was sustained, in consequence of its 
 more exposed condition, by General Hooker's corps. 
 
 During the next day, July 21st, both armies seemed disposed to keep 
 tolerably quiet, the Union force having made a slight advance along 
 their lines, and the seventeenth corps, by some hard fighting, having occu- 
 pied a high hill southeast of the railroad, commanding the city. The 
 other corps also felt the enemy in his intrenchments, which crowned the 
 heights overlooking the valley of the Peach Tree creek. 
 
 On the 22d, General Sherman, to his surprise, found that the whole of 
 the enemy's line was abandoned, and that the Eebels were occupying 
 their first line of finished redoubts, about a mile and a half nearer to 
 Atlanta, and which covered all the roads leading to that city. These 
 redoubts the Eebels were then busy in connecting with curtains, strength- 
 ened by rifle-pits, abatis, and chevaux de frise. The Union army now 
 occupied a line in the general form of a circle of about two miles radius 
 around the city, and immediately proceeded to take possession of the 
 enemy's abandoned intrenchments ; which, as they faced outwardly, had to 
 be somewhat changed to render them available defences against the foe. 
 
 The contraction of the Union lines consequent on this advance, threw 
 out of line the sixteenth army corps, temporarily commanded by General 
 Dodge, who was ordered to move to the left, and take position on the flank 
 of the somewhat more exposed seventeenth corps, General Blair's. This 
 position would have taken him across and nearly two miles below the 
 Augusta railroad, and he was on his way thither, when, about eleven 
 o'clock A. M. of the 22d, the left flank was attacked with great energy 
 by the Eebel General Hardee. Had the blow fallen earlier, at daylight, 
 as Hood's orders specified, the consequences would probably have been 
 very disastrous. As it was, however, the delay was fatal to his hopes. 
 His plan of attack may be best understood by a reference to the position 
 of the Union forces at the time. McPherson, with the army of the Ten- 
 nessee, who, advancing along the railroad from Decatur to within two 
 miles of Atlanta, had, with some desperate fighting, gained a high hill to 
 the south and east of the railroad, which gave him a most commanding 
 position within easy view of the very heart of the city, and was preparing 
 
7G8 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to fortify and occupy it with batteries, this being the position to which 
 General Dodge was ordered. The sixteenth corps at this juncture was 
 north of the railroad and turnpike, the fifteenth on either side of, and the 
 seventeenth south of, the railroad, with its extreme left stretching some two 
 miles below. At the right of the sixteenth, although not close up, was 
 the twenty-third corps, and beyond, across the Western and Atlantic rail- 
 road, and with a southward curve to the Atlanta and Sandtown road, was 
 General Thomas's army of the Cumberland. 
 
 Hood's hope, therefore, was to repeat the manoeuvre of the 20th, by 
 massing his force on McPherson's left, which would naturally draw the 
 main part of Sherman's army to its support, and having turned this wing, 
 to face suddenly upon tlie weakened right wing, and demolish it. In pur- 
 suance of this plan, Ilardee's (Rebel) corps, about eleven o'clock a. m., 
 suddenly dashed out from the woods upon the seventeenth corps, who were 
 holding a slightly built line of defence in an open field, and rushed upon 
 them with the peculiar southern yell. 
 
 Under the sudden and overpowering pressure of the Rebel column, 
 massed in several lines, the Union troops, although bravely contesting 
 every inch of ground, were slowly pushed back, and the movement un- 
 covered the trains of the corps, upon which the Rebels rushed in great 
 fury. Fortunately, just at the moment when the rout of the entire 
 seventeenth corps seemed most imminent, the fourth division, and a bri- 
 gade of the second, sixteenth corps, came upon the field, and gave the first 
 decisive check to the enemy, and gave time also to the seventeenth to 
 throw up a slight line of defence in the rear, which they held during the 
 rest of the day. 
 
 It was at this time, and quite early in the action, that General McPher- 
 son was mortally wounded by a Rebel sharpshooter, as he was riding 
 from General Dodge's column to the left and rear of General Giles A. 
 Smith's position, being at the time accompanied only by an orderly, 
 having dispatched all his stafl' oflUcers on various errands to difl'ereiit 
 parts of the field. The last order which he had ever given was to hurry 
 Wangelin's brigade, fifteenth corps, across the railroad, to fill up a gap 
 which intervened between the head" of Dodge's column and General 
 Blair's line. It came on the double-quick, and checked the advance of 
 the foe in that direction. Hardee's attack in front was to have been ac- 
 companied with one by Stuart upon the Union front, but fortunately the 
 two attacks were not made simultaneously. Sweeping over the hill which 
 the Union troops were fortifying, and bearing down upon their left, the 
 enemy came upon General G. A. Smith's division of the seventeenth 
 corps, which was obliged to fight first from one side of the old rifie-para- 
 pet and then from the other, until, gradually withdrawing regiment by 
 regiment, it was enabled to form a flank to General Leggett's division, 
 which was holding the apex of the hill. Here, in this position, and aided 
 
SKETCH OF GENEEAL McPHERSON. 769 
 
 by the sixteenth corps, the Union forces stubbornly held their own for 
 nearly four hours, checking and repulsing six Rebel attacks, punishing 
 them so severely that by four p. M. they virtually gave up the attempt to 
 force that flank. 
 
 Meanwhile, taking advantage of the absence of General Garrard's 
 cavalry division, which had been despatched on a raid to Covington, 
 thirty-four miles east of Atlanta, the Rebel cavalry General Wheeler 
 made an attempt to cut off and capture the Union wagon trains at Decatur. 
 In this, however, he was foiled by the tact and coolness of Colonel (since 
 General) Sprague, who withdrew, and sent them to the rear of Generals 
 Thomas and Schoficld, with the loss of only three wagons, which had 
 been deserted by their drivers, and their horses cut loose. 
 
 To return to the battle. Up to four o'clock, the enemy had captured 
 eight guns ; and shortly after, breaking through the lines of the fifteenth 
 army corps, they captured twelve guns more, and drove back Lightburn's 
 brigade to a considerable distance. General Sherman immediately ordered 
 forward some batteries from General Schofield's corps to a commanding 
 position, from which such a constant fire was maintained upon the 
 enemy's left flank as most effectually prevented his reinforcement. General 
 Logan, who had succeeded the lamented McPherson in command of the 
 army of the Tennessee, was ordered to cause the fifteenth corps to regain 
 its old ground at any cost, which was promptly done, by the most des- 
 perate hand-to-hand fighting, in which, while Wood and Schofield swept 
 the enemy's parapet with grape and canister, the fifteenth corps, at the 
 point of the bayonet, regained its position, and all but two of the guns 
 which it had lost. With this fierce struggle the battle closed, and night 
 spread its sombre mantle over the retreating Rebel foe, leaving his dead 
 and wounded upon the field. Three thousand two hundred and forty dead, 
 and three thousand two hundred prisoners and wounded were left in the 
 hands of the Union army, indicating a loss which General Sherman 
 estimated as exceeding eight thousand, and General Thomas at over ten 
 thousand. Three thousand seven hundred and twenty-two killed, wounded, 
 and missing, was the Union loss ; and the loss of ten guns was offset in 
 some degree by the capture of eighteen battle-flags. The greatest loss, 
 however, which was entailed upon our arms by the second battle of Peach 
 Tree creek, was the death of the gallant and beloved General McPher.son. 
 
 James Birdseye McPherson, born in Sandusky county, Ohio, November 
 14th, 1828, was admitted, at the age of twenty-one years, to the military 
 academy at West Point, where his success was of the most flattering 
 character, ranking second in the fourth class of 1850, first in the third 
 class of 1851, first in the second class of 1852, and graduating, June, 1853, 
 at the head of his class. He immediately received the appointment of 
 brevet second lieutenant of engineers, and assistant instructor of practical 
 engineering at the academy, a compliment never before nor since awarded 
 49 
 
770 THE CIVIL WAR IN TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to so young an officer. In September, 1854, he was made assistant engi. 
 neer in the defences of New York harbor, and on the improvement of tho 
 navigation of the Hudson river, which duties he fulfilled until December, 
 185f), when he was commissioned full second lieutenant of engineers. In 
 1857, he had charge of the construction of Fort Delaware, and also of 
 fortifications on Alcatras Island, California, being also connected with the 
 Pacific coast survey ; and in December, 1858, became first lieutenant of 
 engineers. In August, he was ordered to the command of fortifications 
 of Boston harbor, and was advanced to the junior captaincy of his corps. 
 When, in November, 1861, General Halleck took command of the 
 Department of the West, Captain McPherson became his aide-de-camp, 
 with rank of lieutenant-colonel, and, until the beginning of 1862, was 
 chiefly engaged on engineer duty in Missouri. Ue was next assigned to 
 General Grant as chief engineer in the Forts Henry and Donelson expedi- 
 tions, in which his services recommended him to an appointment {dated 
 February 16th, 1862) as brevet major of engineers. After the battle of 
 Shiloh, he joined Halleck, who had assumed the command in the field, 
 and for his services in that conflict was nominated for brevet lieutenant- 
 colonel of engineers, and on may 1st, was made colonel on the staflf. At 
 the investment of Corinth, he had charge of the engineering department, 
 in which his abilities and skill resulted in driving the enemy from the 
 most valuable strategic point south of the Ohio, and west of the Tennessee 
 rivers. In May, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volun- 
 teers, and in June following was appointed by General Grant the general 
 superintcndeat of all the United States military railroads in the Depart- 
 ment of West Tennessee. At the battle of Corinth, his skill as a soldier 
 was displayed in successfully conveying reinforcements to the besieged 
 garrison, when the enemy was between him and the point to be reached, 
 and gallantly routing them from the vicinity in the attack of the next 
 day. For these and other services, he was nominated as major-general 
 of volunteers. Shortly after, in November, 1862, he drove the Eebels out 
 of Lagrange, and established his headquarters there; and on the 11th of 
 that month, making a strong reconnoissance, he met Price's Rebel army 
 at Lamar, fought and defeated them, and having accomplished his object, 
 returned safely to Lagrange. In this, the first battle in which he was the 
 only responsible commander, McPherson displayed that sagacity and 
 prudence, combined with impetuosity of attack, and indomitable tenacity 
 of purpose, which his after life developed upon a broader field ; and in 
 the advance which followed through central Mississippi, McPherson com- 
 manded the entire right wing of Grant's army, with the utmost ability, 
 always in the lead when advancing, and in the rear on the retreat. 
 When, in December, 1862, General Grant made a division of his army 
 into four corps, one of them, the "seventeenth," was awarded to McPher- 
 son, who, about the same time, was confirmed a major-general of volun- 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL McPHERSON. 771 
 
 teers. In the campaign and siege terminating with the fall of Vicksburg, 
 General McPherson filled a conspicuous part. At the battle of Port 
 Gibson, it was under his direction that the enemy was driven, late in the 
 afternoon, from a position which they had held all day against an obstinate 
 attack. His corps, the advance, always under his immediate eye, were the 
 pioneers in the movement from Port Gibson to Hawkinson's ferry. From 
 the north fork of the Bayou Pierre to the Black river, it was a constant 
 skirmish, the whole skilfully managed, the enemy being so closely pressed 
 as to be unable to destroy their boat-bridge after them. From Hawkinson's 
 ferry to Jackson, the seventeenth corps marched over roads not travelled 
 by other troops, fighting the entire battle of Raymond alone, and the bulk 
 of Johnston's army was fought by this corps, entirely under McPherson's 
 management. At Champion's hill, the battle was fought by McPherson's 
 corps, and a division of the thirteenth corps. In the assault of the 22d 
 of May on the fortifications of Vicksburg, and during the entire sie"e, 
 General McPherson and his command won unfading laurels ; and at the 
 conference wliich preceded the capitulation of that Rebel stronghold, 
 General McPherson was named by General Grant as one of the two, 
 besides himself, who were to represent the national army, and was subse- 
 quently recommended by that general for the rank of brigadier-general 
 in the regular army, which was awarded promptly by the Senate, in 
 December, 1863. The officers of his corps also awarded him a medal of 
 honor for the gallant manner in which he had commanded them during 
 the siege of Vicksburg. After the capitulation of Vicksburg, he attacked 
 and defeated the Rebels near Canton, Miss., with great loss of men and 
 stores. During the winter of 1863-4, he had command of all the region 
 bordering on the Mississippi, from Helena, Ark., to the mouth of the Red 
 river, with headquarters at Vicksburg. In February, 1864, the general 
 again entered the field at the head of his old corps, participatino- in 
 Sherman's great raid to Meridian, Miss., bearing in this campaign, as in 
 all others, the brunt of labors and fighting. 
 
 In March following, Grant becoming Lieutenant-General, Sherman 
 was raised to the command of the military division of the Mississippi, and 
 General McPherson succeeded him in the command of the army of the 
 Tennessee, which embraced the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth corps, 
 (with one exception) all the veteran corps of Grant's old army of the Mis- 
 sissippi. Postponing his intended marriage, the general hastened to his 
 new command, which, though widely scattered, was concentrated and 
 organized in an incredibly short time, and occupied its place on the right 
 of Sherman's army. 
 
 Of his services in the campaign which followed, the reader has been 
 informed in the preceding pages. Until his death on the battle-field of 
 Peach Tree creek, he was the pride of the army, the right-hand of Sher- 
 man, the idol of his men. Lieutenant-General Grant, when he heard of 
 
772 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his death, exclaimed, " The country has lost one of its best soldiers, and 
 I have lost my best friend," and retiring to his tent, gave way to those 
 tears which only a soldier can shed. 
 
 General Sherman says of him in his official report of the Atlanta cam- 
 paign, " lie was a noble youth, of striking personal appearance, of the 
 highest professional capacity, and with a heart abounding in kindness, 
 which drew toward him the affections of all men." As a soldier, he was 
 brave, almost to a fault, with tireless industry, and indefatigable energy, 
 devotion of purpose, and quickness of perception. As a man he was 
 affable, corteous, warm in his friendships, and forgiving toward his 
 enemies. In short, he possessed all the virtues, and very few of the faults, 
 of a gentleman and an officer. 
 
 In the same battle the Rebels lost Major-General W. H. T. Walker, 
 and Brigadier-General George M. Stevens. 
 
 On the day succeeding the battle (the 23d) General Garrard returned from 
 Covington, where he had destroyed the railroad bridges over the Ulcofau- 
 hatchee and Yellow rivers (one of which was five hundred and the other 
 one hundred feet long), besides burning a train of cars, two thousand 
 bales of cotton, the depots and stores of Covington and Conyer's station, 
 and bringing in two hundred prisoners, and a considerable number of 
 horses, losing in all but two men, one of whom was killed by accident. 
 The Augusta, and the West Point and Montgomery roads, being thus 
 effectually crippled, General Sherman next turned his attention to the 
 destruction of the Macon road, which now formed the only source of sup- 
 ply to the Rebel army at Atlanta. Feeling that Schofield and Thomas 
 were perfectly competent to hold the enemy behind his inner line of 
 intrenchments at the north of Atlanta, he shifted the army of the Tennes- 
 see again to the right wing, and ordered Schofield to extend up to the 
 Augusta road. Shifting General Stoneman's division of cavalry to the 
 left flank, he made good his place at the river near Sandtown, by General 
 Rousseau's two thousand cavalry, which had just returned, somewhat jaded, 
 from Opelika. Stoneman's command was then increased to an effective 
 force of five thousand men, by the addition of Garrard's cavalry, and 
 General McCook received the command, in addition to his own, of some 
 new cavalry brought on by Rousseau, and commanded by Colonel Harri- 
 son of the eighth Indiana cavalry, making in all about four thousand. 
 To these two well mounted and appointed bodies was assigned the task 
 of cutting the Macon railroad, on a designated night, the 28th of July, at 
 or near Lovejoy's station. At the moment of starting. General Stoneman 
 requested and received permission, after destroying the road and defeating 
 Wheeler's (Rebel) cavalry, to push on with his own command to Macon 
 and Andersonville, and there release the Union prisoners of war confined 
 at those places. Both bodies of cavalry started at the same time. Stone- 
 man moving by the left around Atlanta to McDonough, and McCook by 
 
EXPEDITIONS OF STONEMAN AND McCOOK. IIS 
 
 the right on Fayetteville. " The expedition was only a partial success, 
 owing to the strange divergence of General Stoneman from his proposed 
 route ; for, sending General Garrard to Flat Rock to cover his own move- 
 ment on McDonoiigh, he immediately went to Covington, thence to Clin- 
 ton, sending off detachments to the east, which heavily damaged the ene- 
 my's railroad lines, by burning the bridges of the Walnut creek and 
 Oconee, and destroying a large number of cars and locomotives, and 
 appeared in force before Macon, from which the Union prisoners had 
 been previously removed. He did not succeed in crossing theOcmulgee 
 at that point ; nor did he, for some reasons, attempt to go to Andersonville, 
 but finding himself surrounded and harrassed by Rebel cavalry, under 
 General Iverson, he proposed to a council of officers to surrender to the 
 foe. This proposition not meeting with their approbation, he consented 
 that two thirds of his force should escape, if they could, while he with a 
 remainder of seven hundred men and a section of light artillery, would 
 hold the enemy in check. This strange plan was carried into efiect, one 
 brigade escaping almost intact, another surprised, scattered, and pretty 
 well broken up in the retreat, while the general, after a sharp conflict, 
 surrendered his small command, and was held as a prisoner by the Rebels 
 until November, 1864. McCook, meanwhile, carried out his part of the 
 programme, by tearing up a portion of the West Point road at Palmetto 
 station; then moving rapidly to Fayetteville, he found and burned five 
 hundred wagons, and killed eight hundred mules belonging to the Rebels, 
 besides taking others along, and capturing two hundred and fifty prison- 
 ers, and pushing on to Lovejoy's station, reached it at the appointed 
 time. 
 
 Here he vigorously plied the work of destruction until compelled to 
 desist by the accumulating numbers of the enemy ; and hearing nothing 
 of General Stoneman, he moved south and west, to Newnan, on the West 
 Point road, where he fell in with a large infantry force, whose progress 
 from Mississippi to Atlanta had been stopped by his destruction of the 
 railroad at Palmetto station. Finding himself hemmed in, he accepted 
 the wager of battle, and dropping his prisoners and captures, managed to 
 fight his way out of the position, with a loss, however, of five hundred 
 officers and men, and reaching the Chattahoochie, crossed and reached 
 Marietta without further loss. The raid, though General McCook's part 
 was well carried out, was yet, owing to Stoneman's failure, only a partial 
 success ; for the breaks made in the enemy's communications were so 
 slight that they were soon repaired, while the slender advantages gained 
 were more than counterbalanced by the heavy losses in men and horses 
 sustained by the Union troops. 
 
 In accordance with Sherman's general plan of operations, the army 
 of the Tennessee, leaving its position near the Decatur road during the 
 night of the 26th of July, moved the next day along the rear of the main 
 
tT4 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 army to Proctor's creek, and prolonged its line due south, facing to the 
 east. This movement, which was under the command of its new com- 
 mander General Howard, was made en echelon, the sixteenth corps. Gen- 
 eral Dodge, being on the left, nearest the enemy, the .seventeenth. General 
 Blair's, next on its right, reaching an old meeting-house known as Ezra 
 church, near some large open fields near the Poor-house, on the Bell's 
 ferry or Lickskillot road. Here the fifteenth corps. General Logan's, 
 joined in, along a well wooded ridge, partially commanding the same 
 ^fields. By ten o'clock on the morning of the 28lh, the army of the 
 Tennessee was fully in position, and was busily engaged in rapidly 
 throwing up a log barricade, and a temporary fortification. About cloven 
 o'clock the Union lines in the vicinity of Ezra church were somewhat 
 vigorously .shelled by the Rebel batterie.s, and about twelve o'clock their 
 right was assailed by a heavy column of Rebels, who, coming out of At- 
 lanta by the Bell's ferry road, advanced in magnificent style directly 
 against the fifteenth corps, confidently expecting to take that flank " in 
 air." They were, however, most bitterly and speedily undeceived. 
 
 Coolly and steadily the Union troops delivered their fire, and swept 
 their ranks with deadly missiles until, despite the entreaties and threats 
 of their officers, the Rebels broke and fled. Six times they rallied to the 
 attack, and six times were hurled back by the same resistless line of fire, 
 the few who did reach the Union barricade alive, being hauled over the 
 rails as prisoners. At length, about four P. M., the enemy disappeared, 
 leaving his dead and wounded upon the field, tlieir loss being over five 
 thousand, besides prisoners, while that of the Union army, all told, was 
 less than six hundred. 
 
 Expecting that the enemy would try to repeat his game of the 22d, 
 General Sherman had ordered General Davis's division of Palmer's corps, 
 to move by Turner's ferry and Whitehall or East Point, and come in on 
 the flank of General Howard's new line, so that, in case of an attack, it 
 would catch the attacking Rebel force in flank or rear, in an unexpected 
 moment. This excellent plan was rendered abortive by the sickness of 
 General Davis, and the mistake of roads made by Brigadier-General 
 Morgan, who assumed the command temporarily, by which his arrival at 
 the point designated was delayed from noon until night. Ilad the division 
 arrived in time, the terrible repulse which the enemy received would 
 have become, in all probability, a crushing rout of the Rebel army. 
 
 After the battle of Ezra church, Sherman found the enemy quite indis- 
 posed to interfere with his attempts to extend by the flank, which move- 
 ments were thereafter conducted with comparative ease; although he met 
 our extensions to the south by well though hastily constructed rifle-pits 
 and forts, reaching to East Point, remaining, however, entirely on the 
 defensive. Subsequent movements of General Sherman to extend his 
 lines southward, by bringing Schofield's army of the Ohio, and Palmer's 
 
OPERATIONS BEFORE ATLANTA. TfS 
 
 fourteenth corps, of the army of the Cumberland, further to the right, 
 which were effected by the 1st of August, elicited no opposition from the 
 enemy, who contented himself with a corresponding extension of his own 
 lines and fortifications. 
 
 About this time also, several changes of important commands took 
 place, such as the promotion of General Howard to the command of the 
 army of the Tennessee, as McPherson's successor, the appointment of 
 General Slocum to the command resigned by General Hooker, of the 
 twentieth army corps ; the appointment of General Jefferson C. Davis 
 to the command of the fourteenth corps, vice General Palmer, resigned ; 
 and the succession of General Stanley to the place of General Howard, at 
 the head of the fourth corps. 
 
 From the 2d to the 5th of August, Sherman continued the extension 
 of his lines to the right, demonstrating strongly on the left, and along 
 the entire line, and on the last named day, General Reilley's brigade of 
 Cox's division, Schofield's corps, made an unsuccessful attempt to pierce 
 the enemy's line about a mile below Utoy creek, which cost them about 
 four hundred men. 
 
 The next day, however. General Hascall turned the position, and Scho- 
 field advanced his line closely to that of the enemy along the creek, 
 although without gaining the desired foothold upon either the West Point 
 or Macon railroads. These roads Hood had hitherto been able to con- 
 trol by means of a large force of State militia, and though his line from 
 Decatur to East Point was nearly fifteen miles long, yet his position was 
 so masked by the natural advantages of the ground, as to conceal its weak 
 points. So long as he could hold these roads, he felt confident that Sher- 
 man could not flank Atlanta, but Sherman had made up his mind with 
 equal confidence that he must and would break them up in the most 
 effectual and thorough manner. Satisfied that in order to do this he 
 would have to move his whole army, he resolved, before beginning, to 
 try the effect of four four-and-a-half inch rifled guns, which he ordered 
 down from Chattanooga, in bombarding the city. These arrived on the 
 10th, and were served night and day, producing considerable annoyance 
 to the enemy in the city, causing frequent fires and constant alarms. 
 
 On the 16th of August, Sherman issued his orders for a grand move- 
 ment by the right flank, which was to begin on the 18th. This movement 
 contemplated the withdrawal southward of the whole army, except the 
 twentieth corps. General Williams, who was to occupy the intrenched 
 position at the Chattahoochie bridge; but it was postponed, in conse- 
 quence of the receipt of information that the Eebel cavalry leader 
 Wheeler, with a force variously estimated at from six thousand to ten 
 thousand men, had struck the Union lines of communication near Adairs- 
 ville, breaking the road at Calhoun, and capturing nine hundred of their 
 beef cattle. Pleased at such a movement, which left the enemv deficient 
 
YTG THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in cavalry, while he was in a position to dispense with railroad commuDi- 
 cation with Chattanooga for several weeks without injury, he suspended 
 his orders for a general advance for the time being, and despatched Gen- 
 eral Kilpatrick with a force of five thousand cavalry, on the 18th, to the 
 West Point road, with orders to break it thoroughly near Fairborn, then 
 cross to and tear up the Macon road, avoiding as far as possible any con- 
 flict with the enemy's infantry, but attacking the Rebel cavalry whenever 
 the opportunity afforded. 
 
 Kilpatrick started, and broke the West Point road; then reaching 
 the Macon road near Jonesboro, whipped Ross's cavalry, and held the 
 road for five -hours, during which he did considerable damage. The ' 
 
 sudden interference of a Rebel brigade of infantry obliged him to desist, } 
 
 and making a detour eastward, he again struck the railroad near Love- | 
 
 joy's station, where, being again annoyed by the enemy, he boldly charged 
 upon their cavalry, capturing seventy prisoners, and a four gun battery, 
 which he destroyed with the exception of one gun, which he brought ' 
 
 safely in, and returning by a circuit north and east, reached Decatur on i 
 
 the 22d. I 
 
 Sherman, however, convinced that the damage done by this gallant 
 officer, was not sufficient to produce the desired results, renewed his orders \ 
 
 for the movement of tlie entire army. A train of three thousand wagons j 
 
 with supplies for fifteen days, and one thousand ambulances were in readi- ', 
 
 ne.ss ; all surplus wagons and effects, with the sick and wounded, were i 
 
 sent back to a secure position at the Chattahoochie, under a force ample 
 for their protection ; and on the night of the 25th, the movement com- 
 menced by ihe withdrawal of General Williams's corps to the Chattahoo- 
 chie, and the advance of General Stanley's fourth corps from their position 
 on the extreme left to a point below Proctor's creek. 
 
 On the night of the 26th, the second movement was made by the army 
 of the Tennessee drawing out from their lines, and moving rapidly in a 
 circuitous route toward Sandtown and across Camp creek, the army of the 
 Cumberland, General Schofield, below Utoy creek, remaining in position. 
 The third movement brought the army of the Tennessee to the West 
 Point railroad above Fairborn, the army of the Cumberland well up to 
 Red Oak, and General Schofield to Digs and Mins. 
 
 All this was accomplished with the loss of only one man. One day's 
 labor was then devoted to the destruction of the West Point road, result- 
 ing in the tearing up of twelve and a half miles, the ties being burned, 
 and the rails heated and twisted into all conceivable shapes, with all the 
 ingenuity which could be devised by old hands at the work ; while cuts 
 in the road were filled up with trunks of trees, logs, rock, and earth in 
 which loaded shells prepared as torpedoes, threatened explosion to any 
 one who should attempt their removal, all of which was done under Gen* j 
 
 eral Sherman's personal supervision, and to his entire satisfaction. ! 
 
BATTLE OF JONESBORO. nt 
 
 On the following day, the array moved eastward on several roads; 
 General Howard on the right toward Jonesboro ; Thomas, in the centre, 
 by Shoal creek church to Couch's, along the Decatur and Fayetteville 
 road, and General Schofield about Morrow's mills, on the left. The 
 possession of these points gave to General Sherman the advantage of 
 shorter and interior lines, owing to the peculiar course followed by the 
 railroad from Atlanta to Macon, along the ridge dividing the Flint and 
 Ocmulgee rivers, and making a wide bend eastwardly between East Point 
 and Jonesboro. 
 
 General Sherman was by no means slow to improve the advantage 
 which he had thus obtained, and on the 29th, the columns of his army 
 moved forward punctually. General Thomas, in the centre, reached 
 Couch's early in the afternoon, having met with but little opposition, 
 except such as arose from the narrowness of the roads ; Schofield nearer 
 to the enemy, who were close to East Point, moved cautiously on a small 
 circle around that place, coming into position at Eough-and-Ready. Gen- 
 eral Howard, having the outer circle, and consequently a greater distance 
 to travel, met cavalry which he drove to Shoal creek crossing, where the 
 enemy had artillery. Here, after some skirmi.shing, he pushed them on 
 before him, and passing Renfro on the Decatur road, the position indicated 
 for him in the orders of the day, wisely pressed on toward Jonesboro, 
 saved the Flint river bridge, and halted only at nightfall, within half a 
 mile of Jonesboro. 
 
 The next morning, he found the enemy in front of him, in large force, 
 and deploying the fifteenth corps, with the sixteenth and seventeenth on 
 its flanks, he threw up temporary fortifications, and prepared to act 
 offensively or defensively as the emergency might require. Sherman 
 immediately sent to Renfro, a division of Davis's corps, and Stanley's and 
 Schofield's corps marched toward Rough-and Ready, with orders to recon- 
 noitre and strike the railroad near that place. Meanwhile, Hood, who 
 until the 29th of August had serenely imagined that Sherman was in full 
 retreat across the Chattahoochie, suddenly had his eyes opened to his own 
 real danger by the news of the Union operations on the West Point 
 railroad. 
 
 He found himself again flanked, and all efforts to delay Sherman's 
 advance rendered futile, inasmuch as that general, having the interior 
 lines, could easily keep ahead of any force which might be sent upon his 
 track. Consternation reigned in Atlanta when the position of affairs 
 besame known, and catching, with the desperation of a drowning man, at 
 the last hope. Hood resolved to push forward Lee's and Hardee's corps to 
 Jonesboro, to hurl them upon the Union forces before they should have 
 time to intrench, or to damage the railroad line irretrievably. 
 
 Accordingly, on the morning of the 31st of August, Howard, who, as 
 we have before seen, had reached Jonesboro the night before, found him- 
 
7Y8 THE CIVIL WAR IN TTTE UNITED STATES. 
 
 self suddenly attacked by these two Rebel corps. He was, however, ad- 
 mirably prepared for the onset, and after a stubborn contest of over two 
 hours, the foe retired, leaving over four hundred dead on the field, with 
 some two thousand five hundred wounded, three hundred of whom were 
 left in Joiiesboro. 
 
 While this was being done by Howard, the left and centre were vigor- 
 ously pushed forward, and before four o'clock p. M. Sherman had the satis- 
 faction of hearing that Howard had thoroughly defeated the Rebels at 
 Jonesboro; Schofield had reached within a mile of Rougb-and-Ready, 
 breaking up the railroad as he advanced ; that Stanley, of Thomas's army, 
 was destroying the same road to the south of Schofield's position, and 
 that General Baird, of Davis's corps, was playing havoc on the same line 
 of communication, still lower down, within four miles of Jonesboro. 
 
 The whole army was immediatelv concentrated on Jonesboro; General 
 Howard keeping the enemy busy while Thomas came down from the 
 north, with Schofield to his left, destroying the road as they went, 
 Garrard's cavalry watched the road in the rear, on the north ; Kilpatrick 
 went south, along the west bank of the Flint river, menacing the railroad 
 below Jonesboro, and the whole army was expected to close upon that 
 town by noon of the 1st of September. 
 
 The programme was promptly carried out ; General Davis, having a 
 shorter line to travel, came in on time, and deployed, facing south, his 
 right connecting with Howard, and his left on the railroad ; Stanley and 
 Schofield were steadily doing their work of destruction as they advanced 
 along the Rough-and-Ready road and the railroad. 
 
 General Blair's corps, thrown into reserve by the connection of Davis's 
 line with Howard's, was sent to the right, below Jonesboro, acting against 
 the flank with Kilpatrick's cavalry. At four p. M., General Davis assaulted 
 the enemy's lines handsomely across an open field, and carried them, 
 capturing Govan's brigade, with its commander, and two four gun batteries. 
 Stanley and Schofield, however, owing to the difficult nature of the 
 roads, and the absence of roads, failed to get in position before nightfall ; 
 and the next morning the enemy had disappeared, having retreated 
 southward. 
 
 About two o'clock that night, the Union army heard the sounds of 
 heavy explosions in the direction of Atlanta, twenty miles distant, followed 
 by a series of minor explosions, and by what seemed rapid vollies of 
 cannon and musketry, continuing for nearly an hour. About four o'clock 
 A. M., there occurred another series of similar detonations, apparently 
 nearer. 
 
 At daybreak, finding the enemy's lines at Jonesboro abandoned, a 
 general pursuit oouthward was ordered. General Thomas taking the left, 
 and General Howard the right of the railroad, while Schofield kept off 
 about two miles to the east. At Lovejoy's station, the enemy was over- 
 
RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN. 779 
 
 taken, occupying a strongly intrenched position on "Walnut creek, with 
 the evident purpose of covering his communication with the McDonough 
 and Fayetteville road. 
 
 News arriving at this juncture that Atlanta had been abandoned on the 
 night of September 1st; that Hood had blown up his ammunition trains; 
 that Stewart's corps had retreated toward McDonough, and the militia 
 toward Covington, Sherman ordered the destruction of the railroad to 
 cease, and held his army in hand for any movement which the news from 
 Atlanta might warrant. 
 
 He was not long in suspense. On the night of September 4th, a courier 
 from General Slocum announced that he had entered Atlanta at eleven 
 A. M. of the 2d, the enemy having evacuated it the night previous, retreat- 
 ing toward McDonough, having destroyed his stores, and burned and ex- 
 ploded seven trains of cars loaded with ammunition. His object being 
 now fully attained, and deeming it idle to pursue the enemy in that 
 wooded region of country, Sherman, on the 4th, ordered the army to 
 move slowly back to Atlanta, and on the 8th the several corps reached 
 the positions assigned them, the army of the Cumberland going into camp 
 near Atlanta, the army of the Tennessee at East Point, and the army of 
 the Ohio at Decatur. In this expedition, which formed the last grand 
 move of the campaign, he had lost less than one thousand five hundred 
 killed, wounded, and taken prisoners ; while the Rebel loss was fully 
 double ; and the Union army had captured more than three thousand 
 prisoners, and twenty-seven guns. 
 
 Having decided to make Atlanta a strictly military post. General Sher- 
 man issued an order, on the 14th of September, requiring the immediate 
 removal from it of all families which had male representatives in the 
 Rebel armies, to be sent within the Rebel lines, and for all non-combat- 
 ants to go North, and to expedite such removal, he entered into a ten 
 days truce with General Hood, with whom he made arrangements for for- 
 warding the said citizens beyond the Federal lines. 
 
 AVheeler's raid, which, as we have seen, was planned against Sherman's 
 lines of communications about the middle of August, was practically 
 abortive, and after a futile attempt to carry Dalton by assault, he was 
 routed by General Stoneman, and fled to East Tennessee, but being hard 
 pushed by several Federal generals, from point to point, finally passed 
 southward, through Alabama. Other expeditions under Forrest, Morgan, 
 and others were also planned, but all failed in the attainment of their ob- 
 ject, which was to force Sherman to loosen his grasp upon Atlanta ; while, 
 on the contrary, several expeditions undertaken by Union forces against 
 the Rebels, as an offset to their raids, were almost uniformly successful. 
 
 Thus closed the Atlanta campaign, which, although it did not end the 
 war, was at least "the beginning of the end," severing for a second time, 
 the already divided Rebel Confederacy, so that henceforth neither frag- 
 
780 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ment could long maintain the pressure of the Union arms. Starting from 
 Cliattanooga, a secondary base was held by force of arms in the heart of 
 an enemy's country, and itself three hundred and thirty-six miles distant 
 from Louisville, the real primary base ; dependent for supplies almost 
 entirely upon a single line of railroad, General Sherman pushed his way one 
 hundred and twenty-eight miles farther into the enemy's territory, whose 
 topographical difficulties was sufficient to intimidate a less courageous 
 commander, and with which his antagonist was perfectly acquainted, 
 and forced that antagonist to evacuate successively six almost impregna- 
 ble positions, by flank movements, which in boldness of conception, and 
 successful execution, have never been surpassed in the history of any 
 wars. Yet amid such herculean labors and difficulties, such was his fore- 
 sight, tact, and care for his soldiers, that his entire losses during the cam- 
 paign in killed, wounded, and prisoners, were only, killed, five thousand 
 two hundred and eighty-four ; wounded, twenty -six thousand one hundred 
 and twenty-nine; missing, five thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, 
 making a total of thirty-seven thousand one hundred and ninety-nine, and 
 very many of the wounded returned to our lines before the close of the 
 campaign ; while the Rebels lost during the last days of July alone, 
 over thirty thousand, and during the entire campaign, over fifty thou- 
 sand men, of whom about thirteen thousand were prisoners, the Rebel 
 army, according to the admission of the Rebel authorities, having been 
 entirely changed within thut time, the losses of veterans being made up 
 by conscripts and militia. Atlanta, thus gained, was a most serious loss 
 to the Confederate Government, and when it fell, they felt the walls of 
 their temple reel and totter around them. From this point the doom of 
 the Rebellion was sealed, and from this city Sherman commenced upon 
 other campaigns, which, as he pithily expressed it, " crushed through the 
 Confederacy, as through an egg-shell." 
 
THE DEPARTMENT OP NORTH CAROLINA. 781 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 THE DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA — CAPTURE OF THE UNDER- 
 WRITER — ATTACK ON NEWBERN — ATTACK ON PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA — DESPERATE 
 
 FIGHTING BY THE GARRISON OF THE FORT CAPTURE OP PLYMOUTH THE ALBEMARLE's 
 
 FIRST APPEARANCE SHE DRIVES THE UNION GUNBOATS FROM THE RIVER THE BATTLE 
 
 BETWEEN THE ALBEMARLE AND THE SASSACUS — DARING CONDUCT OF COMMANDER ROE 
 — THE ALBEMARLE CRIPPLED — EXPLOSION OF THE BOILER OF THE SASSACUS — THE HERO- 
 ISM OF THE CREW — THE SASSACUS DISABLED — RETREAT OP THE ALBEMARLE — HER SUBSE- 
 QUENT FATE — DARING EXPLOIT OP LIEUTENANT CUSHING MORGAN'S LAST RAID INTO 
 
 KENTUCKY— CAPTURE OF CYNTHIANA, AND SURRENDER OP GENERAL HOBSOn's TROOPS — 
 DEFEAT OF MORGAN BY GENERAL BURBRIDGE — THE GUNBOAT DISASTER — THE REBEL TRAP 
 
 RETREAT OF STURGIS THE TRAIN IN A SLOUGH — COMPLETE ROUT AND DISORDER, AND 
 
 LOSS OF TRAIN AND GUNS — BRAVERY OF THE NEGRO TROOPS — FORREST'S RAID ON MEM- 
 PHIS — THE FORTS AT THE ENTRANCE OF MOBILE BAY — FARRAGUT's ANXIETY FOR THEIR 
 CAPTURE — THE ATTACK ON THE FORTS — THE BATTLE WITH THE RAM TENNESSEE-^HER 
 SURRENDER — RESULTS OF THE BATTLE — SURRENDER OF THE FORTS — SKETCH OF COMMAN- 
 DER CRAVEN — SKETCH OF FARRAGUT. 
 
 In passing in rapid review the great events of the battle summer of 
 1864, we have necessarily omitted reference to several Union opera- 
 tions, intended to be subordinate, on the one side or the other, to the 
 main campaigns, but occuring at a distance from them. We will now 
 gather up these broken threads, before proceeding to a continuation of 
 the general narrative. 
 
 The Department of North Carolina and southeast Virginia had been 
 subject, before the commencement of the May campaign, to occasional 
 disturbances from the vigilant Eebels, ever on the alert for the opportu- 
 nity to do the Union troops, garrisons, or gunboats, a mischief Thus 
 they had on the ith of February, 1864, captured the Union gunboat 
 Underwriter, in the Neuse river, near Newbern, North Carolina, by a 
 sudden surprise, and had intended with her to capture the other Union 
 gunboats, and transports in the Neuse, but she grounded opposite Fort 
 Stevenson, and the commandant of that fort, ascertaining that she was in 
 Rebel hands, opened upon her with shell, and soon set her on fire, and the 
 Rebels escaped in great haste, leaving some prisoners. They had durino- 
 the two or three preceding days, made an attack in strong force on New- 
 bern, but though they captured some of the outposts, and took two or 
 three guns, they were, on their approach to the city, effectually repulsed, 
 and though they tried to erect an earthwork about a mile west of Fort 
 Roman, they were speedily driven off, by the shells from the steel guns 
 of the monitor iron-clad car, which ran out toward them, and made terri- 
 ble havoc in their ranks. 
 
 On the 17th of April, Hoke's Rebel division, about ten thousand strong, 
 
783 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 approached Plymouth, N. C, and at first attacked Fort Gray, on the 
 Roanoke, about two miles above the town, but were repulsed with con- 
 siderable loss, though they sunk a small Union gunboat in the river by 
 their artillery fire. On Monday, the 19th, they fired all day at Fort Wea- 
 sels, a small earthwork one mile from the town, having a garrison of 
 sixty men and four thirty-two pounders, and on Monday night carried it 
 by assault, after a most desperate fight, in which the little garrison killed 
 more than their own number of the assailants. They next attacked Fort 
 Williams, in which General Wessels had his headquarters, but were met 
 by a fierce and determined resistance, one of the gunboats joining in the 
 fight. After more than two hours of desperate fighting, they retired to 
 the woods, having suffered very heavy losses. At about four o'clock the 
 next morning, the Eebel iron-clad ram Albemarle came down and drove 
 the gunboats down the river, and lying in front of Plymouth, kept up a 
 fire on the town during the day. Early the following morning five brig- 
 ades of the Rebels, under command of General Ransom, assaulted Cornfer 
 redoubt, on the left of the town, garrisoned by two hundred men and 
 four thirty-two pounders, and after a long and desperate fight carried it, and 
 soon after entered the town. Wessels still held out with his garrison of 
 two hundred men in Fort Williams, but finding further resistance useless, 
 surrendered on Wednesilay evening, April 21st, at ten o'clock p. m. The 
 entire Union force in Plymouth was not over two thousand. Of these 
 one hundred and fifty were killed, about the same number wounded, and 
 one thousand seven hundred surrendered. The Rebel force was full ten 
 thousand, and their loss in killed and wounded was over one thousand 
 five hundred. The Rebels shot many of the colored soldiers after the 
 surrender. 
 
 The Rebel iron-clad Albemarle now reigned supreme on the Roanoke, 
 having driven the small Union gunboats into the sound, but her triumph 
 was destined to be short. On the afternoon of the 5th of May, the Mat- 
 tabesett, Sassacus, and Wyalnsing, three of the double-ender side-wheel 
 gunboats which had been commissioned to encounter and if possible 
 destroy the Albemarle, cast anchor in Albemarle Sound, twenty miles 
 south of Plymouth, and sent four or five of the small gunboats with the 
 Miami to decoy the Rebel ram from under the protecting batteries of 
 Plymouth into the open waters of the sound. They were successful in 
 this, and soon after three p. M., the Mattabesett signaled to get under way, 
 and the three doubleenders proceeded up the sound in the order already 
 named. The Albemarle was accompanied by two other Rebel gunboats 
 not iron-clad, the Bombshell and the Cotton-Plant. As the Union gun- 
 boats approached, stripped for action, and under full steam, the Cotton- 
 Plant was sent back to Plymouth. As she left, the other gunboat, the 
 Bombshell, closed up on the ram's quarters, in position for the impending 
 action. As the Mattabesett approached the enemy, she hauled up to allow 
 
BATTLE BETWEEN THE ALBEMARLE AND SASSACUS. ^83 
 
 her to come up, followed by the Sassacus and "Wyalusing in line, when 
 the Miami, which was some distance astern, fired over, making a very 
 good shot, which struck the Albemarle, and to which she quickly re- 
 sponded. When abreast of the ram the Mattabesett delivered her broad- 
 side, and passing around the stern, ran by the Bombshell as that vessel 
 lay on the port-quarter of the ram. The Sassacus now approached ; and 
 as she cajjne up, the ram, having failed to get near the Mattabesett, turned 
 her bow for her ; but the Sassacus, measuring the distance, sheered 
 slightly, and passed about one hundred and fifty yards ahead of the mon- 
 ster, delivering as she went a whole broadside of solid shot, which 
 bounded off from the iron armor of the foe without penetrating. Sweep- 
 ing around the stern of the Albemarle, she then poured into the hull of 
 the Bombshell a full broadside, which brought its Eebel ensign down, and 
 sent the white flag up. Orders were given for the vanquished steamer 
 to drop out of fire and anchor, which was promptly done, and the Sassacus 
 moved on. 
 
 Meantime, the Mattabesett had again passed the ram, delivering a well- 
 directed fire ; and the Wyalusing, which had previously passed, serving 
 its guns with a skill equal to that of its consorts, had now come up astern 
 of the Sassacus, diverting the attention of the Albemarle from the latter, 
 to which her whole side presented a fair mark. The ram was steaming 
 slowly, as if awaiting events, but using her guns rapidly all the time, 
 throwing shot and shell with spirit and energy. Fortune seemed pro- 
 pitious, and the intrepid commander of the Sassacus, determined to close 
 with his antagonist, seized the opportunity without hesitation. Ordering 
 ,the pre-arranged signal, "four bells," to be again and again repeated, the 
 ship was headed straight for the weakest part of the ram, the point where 
 her casemate or house joined the hull. With throttle wide open, under 
 a pressure of thirty pounds of steam, the Sassacus dashed at her grim 
 adversary, and with a speed of nine or ten knots, struck]her a fair, perfect, 
 right-angled blow, without glance or slide. At the moment of the col- 
 lision, the Albemarle drove a hundred pound Brooke shot through and 
 through her antagonist, from starboard-bow to port side. But the stern 
 of the Union vessel was forced into the side of the ram, and as the Sas- 
 sacus kept up her headway, the Albemarle was careened down, and pushed 
 forward, like an inert mass — while in profound silence the gunners of 
 the Sassacus were training their heavy ordnance to bear on the astonished 
 enemy. The ram now protruded a black muzzle from its open port, and 
 the loaders of the Sassacus's Parrott rifle, standing on the slide, served the 
 gun within fifteen feet of that yawning cannon-mouth. 
 
 Still the Sassacus pushed her adversary, broadside to, before her, press- 
 ing her bow deeper and deeper into her side, and still she gave way. The 
 other vessels dared not fire, lest their shot should injure the Sassacus, and 
 the interval which elapsed was too brief, though to her anxious crew 
 
T84 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 seeming an age, to permit them to traverse the space which intervened 
 between them and the ram. There was not a sound — not a movement — 
 not a gun. All was quiet as the grave throughout the fleet. It was a 
 grapple for life — a silent but fearful struggle for the mastery — relieved 
 only by the sharp scattering volleys of mu.sketry, the whizzing of leaden 
 bullet.s, and the deep muffled explosions of hand-grenades, which the 
 brave fellow in the foretop of the Sassacus was flinging into the enemy's 
 hatch, driving back their sharpshooters, and creating consternation and 
 dismay among the closely packed crew of the iron-clad. As yet, no one 
 on board the Sassacus had fallen. Presently a movement was felt in the 
 two ships. A crashing of timber was heard, as at the moment of col- 
 lision. The ram was swinging under the starboard bow of her antagonist, 
 and the Sassacus trembled with the shock as her hundred pounder rifle 
 and that of the enemy thundered at each other with a simultaneous roar. 
 Then came another sound, more appalling than bursting shells or the roar 
 of cannon — the terrible sound of unloosed, unmanageable steam, rushing 
 in tremendous volumes, seething and hissing as it spread, till both com- 
 batants were hidden and enveloped in a dense, suffocating cloud of stifling 
 vapor. The shot of the ram had pierced the boiler of the Sassacus, and 
 all was lost. No, not lost yet 1 the sharp false stern which had cut deeply 
 into the side of the ram, had given way, and the two vessels swung side 
 by side. 
 
 Then came the fierce duel for life. The guns were served and fired 
 muzzle to muzzle, the powder from those of the Albemarle blackening 
 the bows and side of the Sassacus, as they passed within ten feet of each 
 other. A solid shot from the hundred pounder Parrott struck the port sill 
 of the Albemarle, and crumbling into fragments, one piece rebounded to 
 the deck from which it had been fired, while the rest flew into that threat- 
 ening port-hole and silenced the enemy's gun. A nine-inch solid shot 
 and a twenty pounder shell followed through the same opening in rapid 
 succession, as the ram drifted clear of its adversary ; while the starboard 
 wheel of the Sassacus crushed and wrenched its iron braces in srrindins 
 over the quarter of the ram, smashing the launches she was towing into 
 a shapeless mass of drift-wood, and grating over the sharp iron plates 
 with a most dismal sound. As the Albemarle passed the wheel of her 
 adversary, the crew of the after-guns of the latter, watching their moment, 
 drove their solid shot into her ports. 
 
 All this cool gunnery and precise artillery practice transpired while the 
 ship, from fire-room to hurricane deck, was shrouded in one dense cloud 
 of fiery steam. The situation was appalling. The shrieks of the scalded 
 and dying, as they rushed up frantically from below, with their shrivelled 
 flesh hanging in shreds upon their tortured limbs; the engine, beyond 
 control, surging and revolving without guide or check, abandoned by 
 all save one, who, scalded, blackened, sightless, still stood like a hero at 
 
DARING EXPLOIT OP LIEUTENANT GUSHING. 785 
 
 his post, alone, amid the mass of escaping steam and uncontrollable 
 machinery, the chief-engineer df the Sassacus remained, calling to his 
 men to return with him into the fire-room, and drag the fires from beneath 
 the uninjured boiler, which was now in imminent danger of explosion. 
 His calls were effectual, and the fires were removed in season to save two 
 hundred lives from destruction. 
 
 All this time the other vessels of the fleet, looking toward the two 
 vessels in their deadly contest, could discern only a thick white cloud, 
 lighted up incessantly by the flashes of the rapidly served guns of the 
 Sassacus, as she rose gloriously above the storm of disaster that sur- 
 rounded her, and challenged the admiration of her anxious comrades by 
 the stubborn thundering of her battery. The ship still moved, working 
 slowly ahead, on a vacuum alone. The cloud of steam at last lifted, and 
 revealed the grim enemy of the Sassacus gladly escaping from that em- 
 brace of death in which she had been held for nearly a quarter of an 
 hour, and retreating, discomfited and demoralized, toward the port from 
 which she had sallied so defiantly only a few hours before. The broad 
 ensign which had waved so proudly over her casemate, now lay draggled 
 and torn, with its shattered flag-staflf on her deck. The Sassacus turned 
 around, and again passed by her antagonist. The divisions still stood at 
 their guns, and her brave commander, the gallant Roe, firmly enunciating 
 his instructions and orders, and guiding every movement of his ship with 
 a coolness, precision, and relentless audacity that have found no parallel 
 since the days of Decatur and Bainbridge, kept his guns at work on the 
 retiring foe as long as they could be brought to bear, till the Sassacus was 
 carried by her disabled engine slowly, gracefully, and defiantly, out of 
 range. 
 
 The contest was manifestly a most unequal one. The Sassacus, a 
 delicate river steamer, built rather for speed than strength, had assailed 
 one of the most formidable iron-clads the Rebels had yet constructed, and 
 exposed her slight wooden walls against the mailed and impenetrable 
 sides of her antagonist, while, muzzle to muzzle, they had fought a battle 
 hardly rivalled since that famous one of Paul Jones in the waters of the 
 Texel; yet, as a result, the Albemarle was compelled to retreat, her guns 
 disabled, her hull shaken, and her frame so racked that she leaked so 
 badly as to be kept afloat with difficulty, and never ventured out again 
 from her moorings. But, though unable to patrol the sound, or even the 
 Roanoke river, she served to hold Plymouth in the possession of the 
 Rebels. This the Union naval officers felt to be a reproach, and Lieu- 
 tenant W. B. Gushing, a young officer of decided genius and daring, 
 volunteered to go in a picket boat and sink her with a torpedo, as she 
 lay at her wharf. The attempt was one of great hazard, but it was 
 accomplished successfully on the night of the 28th of October. Lieutenant 
 Gushing and one of the crew of the picket boat escaped, though not 
 50 
 
786 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 witlioul severe exposure and terrible suffering; one was drowned, and 
 tea taken prisoners. 
 
 Not long after, as a military necessity, the garrison being insufficient 
 to hold it, and no troops being available for a sufficient reinforcement, 
 Washington, N. C, was abandoned as a military post, and almost imme- 
 diately visited and plundered by Rebel guerrillas. In June, General 
 Palmer, in command of the department, sent an expedition toward 
 Kiiiston, which was partially successful, capturing some prisoners and 
 several guns. 
 
 During Sherman's Atlanta campaign, already described, the Rebel 
 commander. General Johnston, who controlled the entire Rebel armies of 
 the Mississippi valley, ordered several expeditions to be undertaken in 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, with the intention of breaking 
 Sherman's line of communications, or otherwise distracting his attention, 
 and then compelling him to relinquish his campaign. These were all 
 unsuccessful in effecting that object, but some of them were affairs of con- 
 siderable importance. 
 
 One of these was a raid by Morgan, the notorious partizan chief, into 
 the Blue Grass region, in Kentucky, as well as a number of the northern 
 and central counties of the State, not usually reckoned as belonging to 
 that region. In each successive summer during the war, Kentucky was 
 visited by these prowling bands of rough raiders, and sometimes also by 
 the better organized bands of the Rebel army. The object principally in 
 view was plunder, and the horses, mules, and grain of the Slate were 
 transported southward in large quantities. On the 12th of June, Morgan, 
 at the head of about three thousand of his cavalry, attacked two Ohio 
 regiments, under command of General Hobson, at C^-nthiana, Harrison 
 county, Ky., and, after a severe engagement, compelled him to surrender, 
 on condition that his men should be immediately exchanged. About 
 twenty houses in the village were burned by the Rebels. Ho'oson's loss 
 in killed and wounded was fifty-five, and the number surrendered some- 
 what more than twelve hundred. The following morning, General Bur- 
 bridge came up with a large Union force, and attacked Morgan at 
 Cynthiana; after an hour's hard fighting, he completely routed the Rebel 
 force, killing three hundred, wounding nearly as many, and taking four 
 hundred prisoners, besides liberating one hundred of General Ilobson's 
 command, lie also captured over one thousand horses. Burbridge's loss 
 in killed and wounded was about one hundred and fifty. Morgan's band 
 was completely demoralized and broken up. 
 
 A serious disaster occurred to a body of Union troops under General 
 Sturgis, which, on the 1st of June, had left Memphis on an expedition 
 against the Mobile and Ohio railroad, in retaliation for the numerous 
 raids of Forrest, Wheeler, Rhoddy, and S. D. Lee. The Union force com- 
 prised two brigades of infantry, two of cavalry, two regiments of colored 
 
DISASTER AT GUNTOWN, MISSISSIPPI. Y8Y 
 
 infantry, and a company of light artillery, numbering in all about three 
 thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry. They had with them also 
 a train of more than two hundred wagons, heavily laden with supplies, 
 and eighteen pieces of artillery. Having advanced as far as Salem, a 
 detachment of three hundred men was sent on a raid through Ripley, 
 Eiga, and Danville. The main body remained at Salem for three days ; 
 and, on the 9th of June, moved through Ripley in a southwest direction, 
 camping for the night eight miles from Oldtown creek. The cavalry, 
 under General B. H. Grierson, which was several miles in advance of the 
 main body, crossed the creek on the following morning, and soon after 
 became engaged with a small force of Rebel cavalry, which Forrest had 
 put forward as a decoy, and which fell back after delivering a volley, 
 closely pursued by Grierson. The Union infantry were thus left about 
 five miles in the rear, but Grierson pushed forward for about two miles, 
 near the little hamlet of Guntown, Miss., when he suddenly found him- 
 self in a trap, a strong Rebel force confronting him, and their flanks ex- 
 tending through the woods on both sides, so as to be able to pour front 
 and enfilading fires into his lines. Unaware at first of their flank move 
 ment, he pushed on boldly, and charged the force in front, but the cross 
 fires soon threw his command into some confusion, and he gave the order 
 to fall back. He succeeded in extricating himself from the difficult 
 position, and retreated across Oldtown creek in tolerable order, though 
 pursued closely by the Rebels, who somewhat outnumbered the entire 
 Union force. He had hardly reached the western side of the creek when 
 the Rebels appeared in full force on the eastern side. Grierson immedi- 
 ately formed in line of battle, and the infantry began to come up and 
 take their places. The Rebel position was an admirable one, their troops 
 being protected in a great degree by the heavy timber, while the position 
 of the Union troops was open, and though otherwise desirable, afforded 
 no such protection. Finding that in consequence of this the Rebels were 
 making sad havoc with his lines, General Sturgis ordered a retreat; but 
 his large train was in the way. He ordered this faced about, and when it 
 was well under way, the retreat commenced ; but the enemy pursued 
 rapidly, and heavy skirmishing was kept up for ten miles, when the 
 retreating column came upon the train floundering in a swamp, through 
 which the road led. Forming his line again, General Sturgis attempted 
 to hold the enemy at bay, until the teams could emerge from the swamp ; 
 but the Rebels charged upon them with such fury that they gave way, 
 centre and flanks. Then commenced a fearful rout ; the two negro regi- 
 ments alone retained their organization, and fought like madmen, till they 
 were literally pushed along by the surge of the indiscriminately mingled 
 mass of pursuers and pursued. The animals were cut loose from the trains, 
 and the wagons burned, the artillery spiked and abandoned, and the 
 remainder of the column once more started in retreat, the accumulated 
 
788 THE CrVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 mass of burning wagons and artilleiy delaying the Rebels for an hour or 
 more; but nearly a thousand killed and wounded were left on the field, 
 and twelve or thirteen hundred more were prisoners. The retreating 
 troops fled on, and still on ; all organization lost, and all thoughts, save 
 that of self preservation, banished. They only halted when, twenty-five 
 miles distant from the first battle-field, they were too much exhausted to 
 go further, and flung themselves upon the ground for sleep. In August, 
 Forrest made a raid upon Memphis, and took a few prisoners and some 
 plunder. 
 
 In August, 1864, one of the most remarkable naval battles of the war 
 was fought at the entrance to Mobile bay. The map shows the position 
 of Mobile, at the head of the bay, about thirty miles from the Gulf of 
 Mexico. The bay, a broad but not deep expanse of water, is almost en- 
 tirely land-locked by a sandy spit stretching westward from the eastern 
 shore of the bay, and by Dauphin island, a similar sandy barrier, extending 
 almost to its western shore. The strait between this island and the sandy 
 cape we have already named, is the only one having sufficient water for 
 large vessels. On the western extremity of this cape is Fort Morgan, and 
 one of the largest, strongest, and best equipped forts in the United States, 
 and which was held by the Rebels with a large garrison, ample supplies 
 and ammunition. It mounted sixty guns. Opposite to Fort Morgan, and 
 about four miles distant, on the point of Dauphin island, is Fort Gaines, 
 a strong work mounting twenty-six guns, and well equipped. A mile or 
 more above Fort Gaines is Fort Powell, also a strong work, mounting 
 eighteen guns, and connected with its sister fort by a water battery and 
 some earthworks. 
 
 Fort Morgan commands the ship channel which passes clo.se to the point 
 on which it is situated. A space of fifteen hundred yards of this channel 
 had been left open, swept as it was in every foot of its distance by the 
 guns of the fort, the remainder of the distance to Dauphin island being 
 obstructed by piles, chains, and torpedoes. Inside the bay, and keeping 
 still further guard over this entrance, were four Rebel war vessels, three 
 of them— the Gaines, Selma, and Morgan— being gunboats of large size, 
 and one — the Tennessee — one of the most formidable iron-clad rams built 
 by the Rebels. 
 
 Rear-Admiral Farragut, tbe able commander of the West Gulf block- 
 ading squadron, had long felt annoyed and dissatisfied at the holding of 
 these forts by the Rebels. Mobile was one of the two ports entered most 
 frequently by the blockade-runners, and notwithstanding the utmost vigi- 
 lance of the admiral, such was the protection afforded by the forts to the 
 blockade-runners, that they would often slip into the pass or strait, where 
 they were beyond his reach. If the forts were once captured, the port of 
 Mobile would be hermetically sealed against blockade-running, and thua 
 a grand step would be taken toward crushing the Rebellion. Fully im- 
 
ATTACK UPON THE DEFENCES OP MOBILE BAY 789 
 
 pressed with the necessity of this, Eear-Admiral Farragut had repeatedly 
 urged upon the Government the importance of attacking and carrying 
 the forts by storm, as soon as possible. Partial preparations for such an 
 attack had been made at different times, but the pressure of other emer- 
 gencies had caused them to be abandoned. In February, 1864, the admi- 
 ral had bombarded the forts for five or six days, but they were held by 
 such strong garrisons, that he became convinced that a co-operative land 
 force would be necessary for their reduction. He was promised this in 
 April, but the demands of the Red river expedition were considered para- 
 mount, and he was doomed to further disappointment. At length, General 
 Cauby, commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, promised him the 
 necessary assistance, and on the 4th of August five thousand troops under 
 command of General Gordon Granger, were landed on Dauphin island. 
 The enemy thereupon threw a considerable number of additional troops 
 into Fort Gaines, all of whom were captured a few days later. The 
 early morning of the 5th of August was the time selected for the assault, 
 and in anticipation of the severe fighting which would occur. Admiral 
 Farragut had issued his orders for the protection of the wooden vessels by 
 such means as former experience had proved desirable, and for rendering 
 such assistance as might be needed to any vessel which should be disabled. 
 It was his intention to lead the assault in his flag-ship, the Hartford, but 
 the officers of the other gunboats, who valued the life of their noble com- 
 mander higher than he did, unanimously protested against his taking the 
 risks of the torpedo strewn passage, and the commander of the Brooklyn 
 claiming for that vessel the post of honor, the sturdy old viking, with 
 great reluctance, yielded the point. The squadron consisted of fourteen 
 gunboats and sloops of war, and four iron-clad monitors. By Admiral 
 Farragut's order they were arranged as follows, the gunboats being lashed 
 together two and two : the Brooklyn and Octorara, the Brooklyn being 
 on the starboard side, or that nearest Fort Morgan ; the Hartford — the 
 flag-ship — and the Metacomet ; the Richmond and Port Royal; the Lack- 
 awanna and Seminole ; the Monougahela and Kennebec ; the Ossipee and 
 Itasca, and the Oneida and Galena; the first named of each pair being ou 
 the side nearest to Fort Morgan. Still nearer to the fort, and in single 
 line, parallel to the double line of gunboats, moved the monitors, the Te- 
 cumseh, Commander T. A. M. Craven, taking the lead, followed by the 
 Manhattan, Commander Nicholson, the Winnebago, Commander Storms, 
 and the Chickasaw, Lieutenant-Commander Perkins. 
 
 The Rebel squadron, the Tennessee, the Selma, Morgan, and Gaines, 
 were drawn up in battle array, just beyond Fort Gaines. The Union fleet 
 steamed steadily up the channel, the Tecumseh firing the first gun, at 
 thirteen minutes before seven A. M. Fort Morgan replied at six minutes 
 past seven, and the Brooklyn answered its fire, after which the action 
 became general. 
 
790 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Brooklyn soon checked her speed, for the monitor Tecnmseh, near 
 her, had struck a torpedo, and its explo-ion perforated her bottom, and 
 caused her to careen and sink almost instantly. Sending boats from his 
 consort, the Metacomet, to rescue the survivors of the ill-fated vessel (of 
 whom all but twenty-three were drowned or killed by the explosion) 
 Admiral Farragut, now crowding steam on the Hartford, took the lead, 
 though the bay was thickly sown with torpedoes ; " yet," he says in his 
 report, "believing that from having been some time in the water they 
 were probably innocuous, I determined to take the chance of their explo- 
 sion." The admiral had mounted the rigging, and lashed himself near the 
 maintop, a position of great danger, but one which enabled him the better 
 to witness the conflict, and there he remained throughout the fight. Turn- 
 ing to the northwestward to clear the middle ground, the fleet were ena- 
 bled to maintain such heavy and well directed broadsides upon Fort 
 Morgan, that its fire did them little injury. Just after they had passed 
 the fort, however, about ten minutes before eight o'clock, the ram Ten- 
 nessee came down at full speed, intending to strike the flag-ship Hartford^ 
 but her pilot skilfully eluded the blow, and the fleet-captain gave her a 
 full broadside as she passed, the admiral signaling at the same time to 
 the iron-clads and gunboats to attack her. He also detached his consort, 
 the Metacomet, to go in pursuit of the Selma, and ordered the Octorara, 
 the Brooklyn's consort, to pursue one of the others. The Selma was 
 captured, and the Gaines and Morgan driven up the bay, though the 
 former was so much injured that her crew were compelled to run her 
 ashore and destroy her. The combat which followed, and which re- 
 sulted in the capture of the Tennessee, is best told in the Admiral's own 
 words : 
 
 " Having passed the forts and dispersed the enemy's gunboats, I had 
 ordered most of the vessels to anchor, when I perceived the ram Tennessee 
 standing up for this ship. This was at forty-five minutes past eight. I 
 was not long in comprehending his intentions to be the destruction of the 
 flag-ship. The monitors and such of the wooden vessels as I thought best 
 adapted for the purpose, were immediately ordered to attack the ram, 
 not only with their guns, but bows on, at full speed; and then began one 
 of the fiercest naval combats on record. 
 
 "The Monongahela, Commander Strong, was the first vessel that struck 
 her, and in doing so, carried away his own iron prow, together with tlie 
 cutwater, without apparently doing his adversary much injury. The 
 Lackawanna, Captain Marchand, was the next vessel to strike her, which 
 she did at full speed ; but though her stern was cut and crushed to the 
 plank ends for the distance of three feet above the water's edge to five feet 
 below, the only perceptible effect on the ram was to give her a heavy lift. 
 
 " The Hartford was the third vessel that struck her ; but as the Ten- 
 nessee quickly shifted her helm, the blow was a glancing one, and as sho 
 
CAPTURE OF THE REBEL RAM TENNESSEE. t91 
 
 rasped along our side, we poured our whole broadside of nine-inch solid 
 shot within ten feet of her casement. 
 
 " The monitors worked slowly, but delivered their fire as opportunity 
 offered. The Chickasaw succeeded in getting under her stern, and a fif- 
 teen-inch shot from the Manhattan broke through her iron plating and 
 heavy wooden backing, though the missile itself did not enter the vessel. 
 
 "Immediately after the collision with the flag-ship, I directed Captain 
 Drayton to bear down for the ram again. He was doing so at full speed, 
 when, unfortunately, the Lackawanna ran into the Hartford, just forward 
 of the mizzen-mast, and cut her down to within two feet of the water's 
 edge. We soon got clear again, however, and were fast approaching our 
 adversary, when she struck her colors and ran up the white flag. 
 
 "She was at this time sore beset ; the Chickasaw was pounding away 
 at her stern, the Ossipee was approaching her at full speed, and the 
 Monougahela, Lackawanna, and this ship, were bearing down upon her, 
 determined upon her destruction. Her smoke-stack had been shot away, 
 her steering chains were gone, compelling a resort to her relieving tackles, 
 and several of her port-shutters were jammed. Indeed, from the time the 
 Hartford struck her, until her surrender, she never fired a gun. As the 
 Ossipee, Commander Le Roy, was about to strike her, she hoisted the 
 white flag, and that vessel immediately stopped her engine, but not in 
 time to avoid a glancing blow. 
 
 "During this contest with the Rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee, 
 and which terminated by her surrender at ten o'clock, we lost many more 
 men than from the fire of Fort Morgan." 
 
 The Hartford, though seriously injured by the blow from the Lacka- 
 wanna, was not, as was at first feared, in a sinking condition. It is said 
 that at the moment after the collision, when the men, supposing her sink- 
 ing inevitable, were calling out to each other to save the Admiral, even 
 if all the rest went to the bottom. Rear- Admiral Farragut from his perch, 
 satisfied that she would float long enough for the work he desired to 
 accomplish, and thinking of that only, signalled to the chief engineer, 
 " Go on with speed! Ram her again." 
 
 The Tennessee proved a valuable prize. She was built with great 
 strength and powers of resistance, though with little regard to the comfort 
 of her officers and crew. Though disabled, her injuries were such as could 
 be speedily repaired. Her commander. Admiral Buchanan, was severely 
 wounded, and subsequently lost a leg by amputation. A considerable 
 number of the crew of the Rebel vessel were killed and wounded. On 
 learning Admiral Buchanan's condition, Admiral Farragut, as gentle and 
 humane as he was gallant in fight, ordered that he should have the best 
 attention, and finding that his case required the care and quiet which 
 could only be obtained at a general hospital, he addressed a note to Briga- 
 dier-General Page, the commander of Fort Morgan, asking permission to 
 
792 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 send the Rebel admiral and other wounded Rebel officers, with his own 
 wounded, by ship, under flag of truce, to the general hospital at Pensa- 
 cola, where they could be properly cared for. The request was granted, 
 and the Metacomet was despatched at once on the errand of mercy. 
 
 The Union losses in this engagement were about one hundred and 
 twenty killed, (eighty of them on the Tecumseh, including the lamented 
 Commander Craven,*) and eighty-eight wounded. The immediate results 
 were the capture and destruction of the Rebel fleet, e.Kcept the gunboat 
 Morgan, including among the captures, the armored ram Tennessee, and 
 the gunboat Selma, with two hundred and eighty officers and men. On 
 the next day, Fort Powell, with eighteen guns, was abandoned ; on the 8th 
 of August, Fort Gaines surrendered with fifty-six officers, eight hundred 
 
 * Commander Tunis A. M. Craven, of the monitor Tecumseh, was a native of New 
 Hampshire, but received liis appointment to the navy wliile a resident of the State 
 of New York, in February, 1829. Since that time he had seen about twenty-two years 
 of sea service, while much the larger portion of the remaining years of his life in the 
 navy was spent in active duty on shore. He served in 18:!0 in the sloop-of-war | 
 
 Boston, of the Mediterranean squadron, and in 1834 joined the sloop-of-war St I-ouis, ' 
 
 in West India waters. The following year he received his warrant as a passed mid. 
 sliipman, and in 183G was for a short time engaged at the National Observatory, but 
 soon asked to be relieved, and was, at his own request, placed on the coast survey, 
 for whose duties he immediately displayed rare aptitude. In 1841 he was promoted to 
 a licutcnantcy and was attached to the sloop-of-war Falmouth till 1843, when he was 
 transferred to the receiving-ship North Carolina, at New York. A short time after 
 he was on the storeship Lexington, and from 1844 to 1847 was on furlough. In the 
 latter year he was on the cruise made by Dale, of the Pacific squadron. From 1850 
 to 1858 he was employed on the coast survey, visited on official business the Isthmus 
 of Darien, and leaving the coast survey in 1859, was appointed to the command of 
 the steamer Mohawk, of the home squadron, stationed off the coast of Cuba to inter- 
 cept slavers. While in the coast survey he won an enviable reputation as a hydro- 
 grapher, and did the country constant and valuable service. 
 
 When the Rebellion broke out Lieutenant Commander Craven was placed in 
 command of the Cru-^uder, and had an important share in preserving for the Union 
 the fortress of Key West. The Board of Underwriters of New York, presented his 
 wife with a service of plate, and sent to him a complimentary letter, in appreciation 
 of the desire he had always evinced to render such assistance to the commerce of our 
 country, as could properly be e.xtended in the performance of duly, and for rendering 
 on several occasions, important services to American vessels in distress, in the 
 vicinity of Key West, Florida. 
 
 He received liis commission as commander April 24, 1861, and in September, 1861, 
 left the Crusader, and took command of the new screw sloop Tuscarora, which was 
 despatched across tlie Atlantic to cruise for the Rebel pirates. Though his failure to 
 take the Alabama caused him much annoyance, he did good service in blockading the 
 Smntcr at Giliraltar. and compelling the Rebels to abandon that vessel. He returned 
 in July, 18C3. Early this year he was ordered to the command of the Tecumseh, and 
 sailed in her for Hampton Roads, to join Acting Rear-Admiral Lee's James river flotilla. 
 He was among the first to reach City Point, and, after a somewhat lengthened stay 
 in the James river, liis vessel was ordered to join Rear-Admiral Farragut's squadron, 
 and here she met the fatal torpedo. 
 
SKETCH OP VICB-ADMIEAL FAREAGUT. 79? 
 
 and eighteen men, and twenty -six guns; on the 23d of August, Fort 
 Morgan, after a farther bombardment of twenty-four hours, capitulated, 
 giving up sixty guns and six hundred prisoners. To have captured 
 Mobile at this juncture, would have been of little service to the Union 
 cause, as it would have required a large garrison to hold it, whose ser- 
 vices would have been of more value elsewhere ; but the capture of these 
 forts put an effectual end to blockade-running, and diminished to a single 
 port the opportunity of obtaining, by illicit means, the supplies the 
 Rebels so much needed from abroad. It gave too, a new impulse to the 
 nation, then somewhat disheartened by repeated repulses and disasters, 
 and was justly regarded as the precursor of other and greater victories. 
 Vice-Admiral David Glascow Farragut, the commander in this admira- 
 bly managed naval battle, and the hero of many gallant fights, was 
 born July 5th, 1801, at Campbell's station, near Knoxville, Tennessee. 
 His father had been a naval ofiQcer, and his predilections for the service 
 were early manifested. He received a midshipman's warrant, December 
 17th, 1810. He doubled Cape Horn with Commodore Porter in 1813 ; was 
 in the fight in the harbor of Valparaiso, March 28th, 1814, and was 
 wounded, and was soon after transferred to the Independence, seventy -four 
 gun ship. For some years he was in the Mediterranean squadron, and 
 was instructed by Rev. Charles Folsoni, then chaplain of the flag-ship. In 
 1821, he was commissioned lieutenant, and ordered to the West India 
 station. In 182-4, he was assigned to duty on the receiving ship at Nor- 
 folk, Virginia. Here he married a lady of Norfolk, of excellent family. 
 In 1828, he was ordered to the sloop-of-war Vandalia, then in the Brazil 
 squadron. In 1830, he returned to Norfolk, where he remained till 1833. 
 The death of his wife (to whom he was most tenderly attached), from pro- 
 tracted illness, accompanied with terrible suffering, plunged him in deep 
 grief. In 1833, he was assigned to a command in the Brazil, and subse- 
 quently in the West India squadron, in which he remained till 1841, in 
 which year lie was commissioned commander, and assigned to the Decatur, 
 then in the Brazil squadron. He returned to Norfolk in 1842, and was 
 on leave of absence until 1845, when he was ordered to the Norfolk navy- 
 yard, where he remained till 1847. Meantime, he had again married a 
 Norfolk lady of excellent family, and who proved worthy of the name 
 she bore, that of " Virginia Loyall." In 1847, he was put in command 
 of the Saratoga, on the home squadron, and took part in the naval engage- 
 ments growing out of the Mexican war. In 1851, he was assistant 
 inspector of ordnance at the navy-yard. In 1854, he was made command- 
 ant of the new navy-yard on Mare's island, California, and remained 
 there till 1853, having, in the meantime, been promoted to the rank of 
 captain in the navy. In 1858, he was placed in command of the steam 
 sloop-of-war Brooklyn, then on the home squadron, from which he was 
 relieved in 1860. In April, 1861, when Norfolk sympathized with seces- 
 
794 THE ClYIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sion, and traitors seized the navy-yard, he was outspoken in his loyalty, 
 and was compelled to leave the city at two hours notice, in consequence 
 of his earnest devotion to the Union. He brought his family to Hastings, 
 on the Hudson, New York, and asked the Government to employ him in 
 its service in restoring the revolted portion of the country to its allegi- 
 ance. It was sometime before any position commensurate with his known 
 ability could be assigned him, but in the autumn of 1861 he was order- 
 en to organize a squadron for the capture of New Orleans. After long 
 delays, from the want of suitable vessels, supplies, ammunition, &c., he 
 reached Pass L'Outre, at the rnouth of the Mississippi, in April 1862, 
 bombarded Forts Jackson and St. Philip for six days ; ran past the forts, 
 destroying the Rebel fleet, after a most desperate engagement, April 24tli, 
 and captured New Orleans on the 26th of June. On the 27th of that 
 month, he attacked, but did not capture, Vicksburg. He was put in com- 
 mand of the West Gulf blockading squadron, immediately after this en- 
 gagement, and on the 11th of July, 1862, was promoted to the rank of 
 Rear-Admiral. In November, 1862, he captured Galveston, Texas. On 
 the 1-lth of March, 1863, he passed the batteries of Port Hudson, after a 
 most desperate engagement, losing the Mississippi, steamship of the line, 
 and leaving the Kineo, Richmond, and Monongahela, disabled below, but 
 effecting the passage with the Hartford and Albatross. He rendered 
 efficient service in other naval operations in the Department of the Gulf, 
 beside maintaining throughout the very difficult cruising ground of his 
 squadron, as complete a blockade as possible. The daring and gallant 
 action which we have described in the present chapter, added new laurels 
 to his already high reputation as a naval commander. In the autumn of 
 1864, he was called to Washington, to give his advice to the Government, 
 in regard to some naval movements, and in November, 1864, resigned his 
 command of the West Gulf squadron. On the 1st of January, 1865, the 
 rank of Vice-Admiral, corresponding in the navy, to that of Lieutenant- 
 General in the army, was created, and he was promoted to it. Since that 
 time, he has been, under tlie President, commander-in-chief of the navy of 
 the United States. Confessedly the ablest naval commander of the 
 century, and knowing no fear in the performance of his duty, he is as 
 modest as he is brave, and shrinks from notoriety or public applause for 
 his great achievements. 
 
OBGANIZATION OP THE MIDDLK MILITARY DIVISION. 795 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 THK MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION ORGANIZED, AND OKNEKAL SHERIDAN APPOINTED ITS COM- 
 MANDER — ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW ARMT OF THE SHENANDOAH — SHERIDAN CONCEN- 
 TRATES HIS TROOPS ON THE LINE OF THE POTOMAC — ADVANCINO AND KETREATINO 
 
 " harper's weekly" — EARLY's MISCONCEPTION OF SHERIDAN's CHARACTER — HIS MOVE- 
 MENT TO BERRYVILLE — THE CAVALRY FIGHT AT DAKKESVILLE — THE BATTLE OF OPEQUAN 
 
 CREEK, OR WINCHESTER EARLY " SENT WHIRLING" UP THE VALLEY BATTLE OF FISHEr'S 
 
 HILL — EARLY AGAIN DEFEATED AND ROOTED — "SETTLING A NEW CAVALRY GENERAL" — • 
 EOSSEr's defeat — EARLY DEFEATED AGAIN AT LITTLE NORTH MOUNTAIN, ON THE 12tH OF 
 OCTOBER — SHERIDAN VISITS WASHINGTON — EARLY CREEPS UP ON THE LEFT FLANK OF THE 
 UNION ARMY — THE UNION TROOPS DEFEATED BADLY, AND DRIVEN TO MIDDLF.TOWN — SHERI- 
 DAN COMBS UP, MAKES THE FUGITIVES "FACE THE OTHER WAY," REORGANIZES THE ARMY, 
 ATTACKS, DEFEATS, AND ROUTS EARLY, AND SENDS HIM ONCE MORE " WHIRLING" OP THK 
 VALLEY, WITH THE LOSS OF HIS ARTILLERY, WAGONS, ETC. — SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS IN 
 
 THE VALLEY, IN TEE AUTUMN DESOLATING THE VALLEY TO REPRESS THE GUERRILLAS 
 
 EARLY SENDS A PART OF HIS FORCE TO LEE, AND SHERIDAN RETURNS THE SIXTH CORPS 
 TO THE AR.MY OF THE POTOMAC — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SHERIDAN. 
 
 In the account given in a previous chapter of the expedition of tlie 
 Rebel General Early into Maryland and Pennsylvania, it was noticeable 
 that there was a want of harmony and consentaneous action on the part 
 of the Union troops, strangely in contrast with their united and vigorous 
 movements in Virginia. They were numerous enough at any time after 
 the battle of Mouocacy, to have driven the Rebels out of Maryland so 
 hastily that they could not have taken a wagon-load of their plunder with 
 them, yet they did nothing of the sort ; they pursued the enemy in squads 
 and small bodies of troops, and when they came up with them, more than 
 once were borne back by the overwhelming numbers of the foe, who 
 always took good care to have his troops massed. 
 
 This want of concentration and efficiency resulted mainly from the con- 
 flicting commands, or departments, into which the territory in question 
 was divided. Western Virginia, toward the Ohio, constituted one small 
 department ; the Shenandoah valley, and the route of the Baltimore and 
 Ohio railroad, another ; Washington and its vicinity was a department by 
 itself, and the Department of Annapolis covered Baltimore and part of 
 northern Maryland; while Pennsylvania was divided into the Departments 
 of the Susquehanna and the Monongahela. The commanders of these 
 several military districts did not co-operate harmoniously with each other, 
 and being co-equal in authority, there was no end of jealousies and dis- 
 cords on questions of rank and precedence. General Grant had observed 
 this difficulty and the disasters it had occasioned, and determined to rem- 
 edy it. He therefore suggested to the Government the organization of a 
 
196 I'HE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Middle Military Division, analogous in character to the Military Division 
 of the Mississippi, wliich should include all these departments, and have 
 control over military afi'airs in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
 West Virginia. This suggestion being adopted, he nominated for the 
 command of that division, Major-General Philip II. Sheridan, the chief of 
 his cavalry corps, whose skill, caution, and daring, he had already tested 
 in the West, and in his well conducted expeditions in Virginia in May 
 and June. The new position required military genius of a high order; 
 but though Sheridan was the junior in years of nearly every major-general 
 in his new division, General Grant was satisfied of his capacity for the 
 command. 
 
 Oil the 7th of August, General Sheridan received his appointment, and 
 on the same day established his headquarters at Ilarper's Ferry. Ilis 
 first work was to concentrate his troops as rapidly as possible along the 
 Potomac, in the immediate vicinity of the Shenandoah valley, whither 
 General Early had withdrawn with his troops and his plunder. The force 
 assigned permanently to Sheridan was, the army of West Virginia, 
 Crook's corps, including the remainder of Hunter's troops (Hunter hiin- 
 Belf being relieved), and Averell's cavalry; the nineteenth — Emory's — 
 corps, and the sixth — Wright's — corps, together with two divisions of 
 cavalry from the army of the Potomac. These were the forces in the 
 field. Beside these, the garrisons of Washington, Baltimore, Annapolis, 
 Frederick, and other points in Maryland and Pennsylvania were subject 
 to his control. General Ord, lately in command in Maryland, was sent 
 back to the array of the James, and put in command of a corps there. 
 When General Sheridan took command, his troops were widely scattered. 
 Crook, and a part of his corps, were in Virginia, threatening the enemy 
 at Snicker's and Ashby's gaps; Wright's corps was at Washington, and 
 along the Potomac, toward Ilarper's Ferry; and Emory's was still in 
 Maryland. The cavalry from the army of the Potomac had not yet ar- 
 rived. It was to be commanded by General Torbert, a young cavalry 
 ofiicer, who had already achieved some reputation in soutliern Virginia. 
 
 While awaiting the complete concentration of his troops along the line 
 of the Potomac, General Sheridan gradually pressed the Rebels bac^k from 
 the important positions of Martinsburg, Williamsport, &c., garrisoning 
 these as fast as they were relinquished, and establishing complete and 
 ready communications between his headquarters and his advanced posts. 
 He then began to make feints of an advance, in order to test the enemy's 
 strength and fighting qualities. Early, suspecting that Sheridan meditated 
 the invasion of the Shenandoah valley, and desiring to entrap him, fell 
 back gradually, for the purpose of luring him on ; but Sheridan was more 
 than a match for Early in astuteness, and understood too fully Early's 
 plots, and the objects to be accomplished, to be hurried into any prema- 
 ture movement. As Early retired, however, without appearing to 
 
THE CAVALRY FIGHT AT DARKESYILLB. 797 
 
 pursue bim, he gradually occupied and secured every important position, 
 seizing Winchester on the 12th of August, and throwing out a cavalry 
 detachment to Front Royal, where it encountered and defeated, after a 
 sharp battle, the Rebel cavalry. This accomplished, he fell back in turn, 
 abandoning "Winchester, and receiving and distributing from Harper's 
 Ferry, his now rapidly increasing forces. As he expected, this brought 
 Early and his troops northward again, and several sharp skirmishes took 
 place, Sheridan's cavalry, meantime, reconnoitering thoroughly the enemy's 
 position, and taking note of all his movements. Finding that there was 
 some danger of their moving southward to join General Lee, a measure 
 seriously contemplated by Early about this time, under the renewed 
 pressure brought to bear upon Lee by General Grant, and being deter- 
 mined to prevent this at all hazards, Sheridan again advanced, as if to 
 give Early battle, and thus arrested his progress : and then again with- 
 drew toward Charlestown, to attract him nearer to the Potomac. Early, 
 supposing that he had excited Sheridan's fears, indulged the hope that by 
 skilful management he might flank him, and, entering Maryland again, 
 reap another harvest of plunder. Accordingly, he moved east to Berry- 
 ville, and issued a long general order to his troops, forbidding straggling 
 and depredations upon the inhabitants of the Shenandoah valley. 
 
 The Rebel press, meanwhile, made itself exceedingly merry over these 
 advances and retreats of Sheridan, whose object they could not compre- 
 hend. Some wag, who deemed himself extremely witty, bestowed the 
 sobriquet of " Harper's Weekly " upon Sheridan, in consequence of his 
 frequent movements to and from Harper's Ferry. It proved a sorry joke 
 ere long, and when it was too late, the Rebels found that Sheridan's move- 
 ments were only intended as manoeuvres for a favorable position to strike 
 a telling and decisive blow. 
 
 Early's movement to Berryville was made on the 16th of September, 
 and Sheridan was completely prepared to move upon him when it occurred. 
 Lee was too fully occupied by the heavy and repeated blows Grant was 
 inflicting, to be able to send Early any reinforcements, and Sheridan's 
 force was more than a match for him. A part of Early's cavalry were 
 west of Opequan creek, near Darkesville, about three miles south of 
 Martinsburg, and upon these, Merritt's and Averell's cavalry divisions 
 were hurled on the morning of the 18th, while the infantry attacking 
 Early's main column at Berryville, in flank and rear, pushed it westward 
 over the Opequan toward Winchester. The cavalry attack at Darkes- 
 ville was a mere skirmish, the Rebel cavalry retreating like a flock of 
 sheep toward Winchester. The main column of the Rebels at Berry- 
 ville, finding itself attacked in rear and flank, moved off skirmishing, but 
 not forming in line of battle till it had crossed the Opequan. Here it 
 took up a strong position, and made evident preparations for a deter- 
 mined struggle the next day. Sheridan had now accomplished the object 
 
798 Till-: CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 for which he had been manceuvering so long. He had pushed Early west 
 of Opcquan creek, and lay with his force directly between the Rebel army 
 and their line of retreat toward Richmond. It remained now only to de- 
 feat them in this new position, and drive them into the Shenandoah valley, 
 and into the rough and precipitous region which formed the western 
 boundary of that valley, in order completely to demoralize and destroy 
 them. This was the task which Sheridan undertook the next day. The 
 attack was ordered at daybreak of the 19th of September, and was com- 
 menced by the cavalry soon after that time, but the infantry were detained, 
 waiting for the nineteentli corps, and the delay had nearly been produc- 
 tive of serious disa.ster, for though falling back at first, yet finding them- 
 selves pressed by an inferior force, the Rebels turned and drove back the 
 Union troops for some distance, but the infantry coming up at about 
 noon, after about three hours of sharp and determined fighting, the Rebel 
 left flank was turned, and they began to fall back toward Winchester, at 
 first in good order, and stopping frequently to fight, but aa they were 
 pressed more and more closely, their retreat degenerated, after a time, 
 into a rout, and they were driven into and tlirough Winchester, or as 
 Sheridan expressed it in his despatch " sent whirling through Winchester," 
 and pursued relentlessly till, abandoning guns and knapsacks, cannon 
 and trains, in their mad frenzy of flight, they reached their fortified posi- 
 tion on Fisher's Hill, thirty miles below Winchester, where they succeeded 
 in rallying and making a stand. In this disastrous battle and retreat 
 three of their ablest generals, Major-General Rhodes, and Brigadier-Gen- 
 erals Godwin and York were killed, and Brigadier-General Ilumphreys 
 had fallen the previous day at Berryville. Three others, among them 
 Fitzhugh Lee, since Stuart's death the commander of the Rebel cavalry 
 corps of the army of Virginia, were seriously wounded. About three 
 thousand of their killed and wounded were left on the battle-field, and the 
 Union troops captured twenty-two hundred uninjured prisoners, five 
 thousand stand of arms, five pieces of artillery, aud fifteen battle-flags. 
 
 With the celerity which has always marked his movements Sheridan 
 marched at once to assault and dislodge the Rebels from their strong 
 position on Fisher's Hill. To most generals this would have seemed 
 an impossible task ; there are few points stronger by nature, or better 
 fortified by art, than this, where Early, regarding himself as perfectly 
 secure, was resting and re-forming his wearied and demoralized troops. 
 His right rested upon the north fork of the Slienandoah river, just where 
 the Massanutten mountain terminates in a precipitous bluff on its eastern 
 shore; his left rested upon the equally precipitous, and as he believed 
 impas.sable brow of the North mountain, and the slope of Fisher's Hill, 
 steep, and covered with a heavy undergrowth, and swept at every point by 
 his cannon, forbade approach in that direction. To Sheridan, however, 
 these obstacles were only sufficient to give a zest to his enterprise of 
 
DESTRUCTION OP SUPPLIES IN THE SHENANDOAH. 799 
 
 dispossessing his foe of his stronghold. On the morning of the 21st, his 
 army was in position to assail the enemy. The front was too formidable 
 to be carried by a direct attack alone, and therefore he determined while 
 demonstrating on that with his sixth corps, to send the eighth — Crook's — 
 corps far to the right, to sweep around Early's left, and flanking him 
 attack him in rear, and drive him out of his intrenchments, and the nine- 
 teenth — Emory's — corps to assail him on his right flank, while Averell 
 skirted along the southern base of the mountain. Confused and disorgan- 
 ized by attacks at so many difierent points, and disheartened at finding 
 that Crook had already flanked them, and was pouring a destructive fire 
 upon their rear, the enemy broke at the centre, and the sixth corps sepa- 
 rating their two wings, they fled in complete disorder toward Woodstock. 
 Artillery, horses, wagons, rifles, knapsacks, and canteens were abandoned, 
 and strewn along the road. Eleven hundred prisoners and sixteen pieces 
 of artillery were captured. The pursuit was continued until the 25th of 
 September, and terminated only when the enemy had been driven beyond 
 Port Republic, and large numbers of them, sick of the conflict, and de- 
 termined to abandon it, had scattered in the mountains. The loss of the 
 Rebels from the 19th to the 25th of September, in killed, wounded, miss 
 ing, and prisoners, was certainly not less than ten thousand. 
 
 The President commissioned Sheridan as brigadier-general in the regu- 
 lar army, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the lamented 
 McPherson, for his gallantry and skill displayed in these battles. Pausing 
 for a few days at Port Republic, and making his headquarters there. 
 General Sheridan sent his cavalry forward under General Torbert to 
 Staunton. They succeeded in capturing the town, and destroyed all the 
 storehouses, machine shops, and other buildings owned and occupied by 
 the Rebel Government, and also the saddles, small arms, hard bread, and 
 other military stores found in the place. They then proceeded to Wiiynes- 
 boro, a town on the Virginia Central railroad, tore up seven miles of the 
 railroad track, destroyed the depot, the iron bridge over the Shenandoah, 
 a government tannery, and other stores. General Sheridan also improved 
 his time, while holding possession of the upper Shenandoah valley, to 
 destroy all the grain, hay, and forage to be found there, excepting what 
 was necessary for the subsistence of his own army. He thus effectually 
 crippled both Early's and Lee's armies, as each had depended upon this 
 fertile valley for the greater part of their stores of grain and forage. The 
 whole valley being thus rendered untenable by the Rebel army, and the 
 guerrilla movements, which had been encouraged by the inhabitants who 
 had harbored them, sternly repressed. General Sheridan moved leisurely 
 northward, and on the 6th of October made his headquarters at Wood- 
 stock. South of this point, over two thousand barns, filled with wheat 
 and hay, and over seventy mills, stocked with wheat and flour, had been 
 destroyed ; and a vast herd of stock, and more than three thousand sheep, 
 
800 TDK CIVIL WAR ly THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 had been reserved for the supply of the army. The Luray valley, as well 
 as the Little Fort valley, were subjected to the same devastation, the in- 
 habitants of both, like those of the Shenandoah, having, while professedly 
 loyal, engaged in guerrilla operations, and the murder of Union soldiers. 
 On the 8th of October, the Eebel General Rosser, a cavalry officer of 
 considerable ability, who had just been promoted to the rank of major- 
 general, thinking that he had found an opportunity to achieve a reputa- 
 tion, began to harass Sheridan's rear. He did succeed in achieving a 
 reputation by the movement, but it was not an enviable one, for Sheridan, 
 facing about, offered battle, and finding him unwilling to accept it, 
 ordered his cavalry to attack by daylight on the morning of the 9th, one 
 division charging along the Strasburg turnpike, while another, moving 
 by a back road, took the enemy in flank. Rosser, after a short resistance, 
 found himself severely beaten, and lost eleven pieces of artillery, several 
 caissons, a battery forge, forty-seven wagons, and over three hundred pris- 
 oners. The Rebel cavalry fled in great terror at the charge of Sheridan's 
 troopers, and were pursued "on the jump" for twenty-si.x miles, the pur- 
 suit being continued beyond Mount Jackson and across the south fork of 
 the Shenandoah. It would have seemed that Early had received sufBcient 
 punishment to dispose him to remain quiet for the rest of the season; but 
 he evidently hoped for better fortune in making further attacks on his 
 adversary, and on the 12th of October, having crept up quietly under 
 cover of the forest on Little North mountain, he appeared in force on the 
 wooded slope south of Cedar creek, fronting Snyder's gap, and com- 
 menced a heavy and rapid artillery fire on Sheridan's lines, the Union 
 army having encamped on the banks of the creek. He had not, however, 
 approached so stealthily that General Sheridan was unaware of his move- 
 ments, and with a promptness which showed that he was not surprised, 
 he returned the artillery fire, shot for shot, and then ordering forward 
 bis troops, sprang upon the foe, and after a sharp action of three hours, 
 terminating in a cavalry charge, drove Early once more in confusion up 
 the valley. Having thus once more " settled" General Early, General Sheri- 
 dan made a flying visit of inspection to his various outposts, and employed 
 a part of his cavalry meantime in making a thorough devastation of 
 Luray valley, from Front Royal to Sperryville, the inhabitants of that 
 valley having harbored and aided the guerrillas and bushwhackers who 
 were murdering the operatives along the Manassas Gap railroad, which 
 General Sheridan was putting in repair. In this expedition sixty-five 
 hundred head of cattle and five hundred horses were captured, and thirty- 
 two large flouring mills, thirty distilleries, four blast furnaces, and over 
 fifty barns were destroyed. By holding Front Royal, and repairing 
 the Manassas Gap railroad, General Sheridan could open a direct com- 
 munication with Washington, and thus transport his supplies and troops 
 more expeditiously than he could do by way of Harper's Ferry. This 
 
EARLY'S ATTEMPT TO FLANK THE UNION ARMY. 801 
 
 railroad was opened on the 15th of October, and General Sheridan passed 
 over it to Washington. 
 
 While he was thus absent, Early, still unsatisfied with his past expe- 
 rience in fighting the Union troops, planned another expedition against 
 them, which had well nigh proved successful, and which was in all respects 
 one of the most remarkable battles of the war. 
 
 After the battle of October 12th, Early had fallen back to his strong- 
 hold on Fisher's Hill, where the dense forest screened his movements 
 from the view of the Union troops ; and here, on the 18th of October, 
 he had been reinforced by about twelve thousand fresh troops, gathered 
 from southwestern Virginia and Carolina. Eight thousand of these were 
 without arms, but they were organized and officered, and trusted to their 
 good fortune for obtaining arms from the spoils of the battle-field. This,' 
 with previous reinforcements, brought his army up to twenty-seven thou- 
 sand, of whom nineteen thousand were already armed. He had learned 
 of Sheridan's visit to Washington, and believed that the sixth army corps 
 were gone also, and were on their way with Sheridan to join Grant's army. 
 With this impression, he regarded the occasion as an auspicious one to 
 make one more attack, and effectually avenge himself on the army which 
 had thrice defeated him, and twice driven his legions southward in wild 
 confusion almost to the sources of the Shenandoah. 
 
 In point of fact, the sixth corps was still a part of the army of the Shenan- 
 doah, and in camp with the remainder of that army, in the vicinity of Cedar 
 creek, and General Sheridan was returning from Washington, and on the 
 night of the 18th of October had reached Winchester. Had Early been 
 aware of this, it is very doubtful whether he would have attempted the 
 daring enterprise in which he so nearly succeeded, only to fail most signally. 
 
 The Union position was an echelon of three lines, posted on three 
 separate crests of moderate height, on the south side of Cedar creek, in 
 the vicinity of the point where the creek crosses the Strasburg and Win- 
 chester turnpike, three miles or more northeast of Strasburg. The army 
 of Western Virginia — the eighth corps — occupied the left, or most ad- 
 vanced crest toward the east, the nineteenth corps came next on a crest 
 half a mile in rear, and the sixth corps occupied the right, still farther in 
 rear. The fronts and flanks in front of the army of Western Virginia 
 and the nineteenth corps, were protected by breastworks of logs and earth, 
 with batteries in position, while the right was guarded by Torbert's 
 cavalry. The following diagram gives perhaps a more distinct idea of 
 their relative position, it being understood that the advanced position of 
 the army of Western Virginia was also farthest south. 
 
 TORBERT'S CAVALRY. 
 
 SIXTH CORPS. 
 NINBTEENTH CORPS. 
 ARUY 07 WKSTBRN VIRGINIA. 
 
 51 
 
802 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 In front this position was impregnable, except by a surprise, aud to turn 
 either flank was an enterprise so rash and dangerous that it was con- 
 sidered impossible by most of the officers. In Sheridan's absence the 
 command devolved on General Wright, of the sixth corps, as senior 
 corps commander. 
 
 The event proved that it was not safe to rely upon Early's timidity, or 
 the difficulty and danger of a flank movement, as a safeguard against it. 
 With a rashness that could only have been inspired by desperation, since 
 at every point of his progress except the last, discovery would have been 
 inevitable ruin. Early resolved to attempt, by a nocturnal movement, to 
 turn the left flank of the Union army. To do this it was necessary to 
 descend into the gorge at the base of the Massanutten mountain, ford the 
 north fork of the Shenandoah, and skirt Crook's position for miles, pass- 
 ing in some places within four hundred yards of his pickets. Three 
 days previous the movement would have been impossible, as a brigade of 
 Union cavalry then "held the road along which the Kebels now crept with- 
 out opposition. As it was, Early's enterprise was hazardous almost 
 beyond parallel. Had the Union troops caught him in the mid.st of it 
 they would have ruined him; their infantry would have cut his in two, 
 while their cavalry would have prevented his retreat to Fisher's Hill ; he 
 would have lost half his army, and they could not have lost a thousand 
 men. 
 
 Before midnight of the 18th of October, Early's entire army was in 
 motion. His cavalry and artillery had orders to advance upon the Union 
 riglit, so as to occupy the attention of Torbert and the sixth corps. II is 
 infantry marched in five columns, in which Gordon's, Ramseur's, and Pe- 
 gram.'s, were to place themselves, by daybreak of the 19th, on the left rear 
 of the whole Union position, while Kershaw's and Wharton's should, at 
 the same hour, be close to the intrenched crest held by the army of 
 Western Virginia. The management of his troops was admirable; the 
 canteens of the advance had been left in camp, lest they should reveal 
 their approach, by clattering against the shanks of the bayonets, and the 
 men, comprehending the necessity of quietness and secrecy, moved so 
 noiselessly that the march was accomplished with an almost miraculous 
 success. 
 
 There was a moment, indeed, when the audacious column trod on the 
 brink of destruction. About two o'clock in the morning the pickets of the 
 filth New York heavy artillery, serving as infantry in Kitchings provi- 
 sional division, which was attached to the army of Western V^irginia, heard 
 a rustling of underbrush, and a muffled multitudinous trampling. Two 
 ])osls were relieved and sent into camp with the information. General 
 Crook ordered his command to be upon the alert, and most of the front 
 line wont into the trenches. But there was not a private in the army, and 
 hardly an officer, who believed that the often defeated Early would venture 
 
EEPULSE OF THE FEDERAL AEMY. 803 
 
 an attack. No reconnoissance was sent out to see if the alarm was well 
 founded ; the gaps in the front line caused by the detachment of regiments 
 on picket, were not filled up from the reserves, and when the assault 
 took place, it found many muskets unloaded. An hour before daybreak 
 the Rebel infantry, shivering with cold, but formed and ready for battle, 
 lay within six hundred yards of the Union camps, which were either 
 sleeping or only half awake with suspicion. On the extreme right was 
 Gordon, diagonally in rear of the nineteenth corps ; on the left of Crook, 
 facing Kitching's provisional division, which had been placed at right 
 angles with Crook's main army to prevent any flanking movement, lay 
 Ramseur, supported by Pegram ; in front of Crook was Kershaw, sup- 
 ported by Wharton. The second division of the nineteenth corps were 
 under orders to move at daybreak for a reconnoissance of Fisher's Hill, 
 ' but just as they were formed for the march, a terrific rattle of musketry 
 burst forth with amazing suddenness, far away on their left, followed by 
 scream on scream of the well known Rebel battle yell, revealing in an 
 instant that Early in great force was assaulting the position of the army 
 of Western Virginia. The men of that division were instantly ordered 
 to move into the trenches. The enemy, with that terrible battle cry, had 
 flung themselves upon the flank and rear of the army of Western Vir- 
 ginia with such fury that they had taken them entirely by surprise, and 
 in fifteen minutes that veteran corps, the heroes of so many bloody battles, 
 were rushing back, a mass of fugitives, upon the centre, where the nine- 
 teenth corps, forewarned, had sprung into the trenches, but found them- 
 selves almost immediately attacked in flank and rear, while the Rebel 
 General Gordon had seized a position whi(^h completely commanded their 
 camp. For an hour and more of desperate and determined fighting, that 
 corps held its position, the sixth corps, meanwhile, being unable to come to 
 its help, since they could not at that early hour, and in the dim light, ascer- 
 tain what was the strength of the force (Early's cavalry and artillery) which 
 had engaged them. At length Gordon's men, reaching onward along and 
 beyond the flank of the nineteenth corps, turned it and fell upon its rear, 
 and in its turn, it was compelled to abandon its position and retreat to- 
 ward Winchester, or rather toward Middletown, on the Winchester road. 
 The sixth corps had by this time found what was the force in its front, 
 and had turned them over to Torbert's cavalry, who were amply sufficient 
 to take care of them, while it came up to the support of the nineteenth 
 corps ; but after hard fighting, it too was flanked by Gordon's interminable 
 column, and though it moved back slowly and in good order, it was 
 compelled to retreat to a position where it could fight to better advantage. 
 The train had been, by skilful management, removed out of harm's way, 
 and sent by by-roads toward Winchester ; but the army had been driven 
 off' the Strasburg and Winchester turnpike, and it was necessary for it to 
 fall back until it could regain a position upon it, and thus secure its com- 
 
804 THE CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 munications. The enemy were in possession of all its camps, and at the 
 expiration of five hours from the commencement of the attack, there was 
 a lull in the fighting, the Ilebel troops being engaged in plundering the 
 camps, and those who were unarmed in the morning were procuring from 
 the killed, wounded, and prisoners, the arms they needed. At this time, 
 about ten o'clock A. M., the army of the Shenandoah was for the first 
 time defeated ; not routed, but badly beaten. The Rebels had all the camps 
 and fortified positions ; they had retreated full three miles, and their 
 stragglers, a multitudinous host, had reached Winchester, a dozen miles 
 farther. They had lost twenty-four guns, and twelve hundred prisoners, 
 while all that three miles of their retreat was strewn thick with the killed 
 and wounded who had fallen in the desperate struggle. 
 
 It was just at this time that Sheridan, who had learned at Winchester 
 of the disaster, came up the pike at full speed, his noble horse completely 
 flecked with foam, swinging his cap, and shouting to the stragglers, 
 " Face the other way, boys. We are going back to our camps. We are 
 going to lick them out of their boots." The effect was magical. The 
 wounded by the roadside raised their hoarse voices to shout; the fugitives, 
 but now hurrying forward toward Winchester, turned about at sight of 
 him who had always led them to victory, and followed him back to 
 the battle-ground, as hounds follow their master. Still riding rapidly, he 
 reached the main army, ordered it to face about, form line, and advance 
 to the position it had last quitted. They obeyed without hesitation, and 
 for two hours he rode along the line, .studying the ground, and encouraging 
 the men. " Boys," he said, in his earnest, animated way, " if I had been 
 here, this never should have happened. I tell you it never .should have 
 happened. And now we are going back to our camps. We are going 
 to get a twist on them. We are going to lick them out of their boots." 
 The sixth corps now held the turnpike and its vicinity. On its right the 
 nineteenth corps was formed in double line, under cover of a dense wood, 
 the first division on the right, the second on the left. The rearmost line 
 threw up a rude breastwork of stones, rails, and trees, covered by the 
 advanced line standing to arms, and by a strong force of skirmishers, 
 stationed two hundred yards to the front, but still within the forest. For 
 two hours all was silence, preparation, reorganization, and suspense. 
 Then came a message from Sheridan to General Emory, that the enemy, 
 in column, were advancing against the nineteenth corps. They came, and 
 were received with so deadly a fire of artillery and musketry that they 
 awaited no second fire, but fell back at once out of sight. Emory imme- 
 diately sent word to the commanding general that he had repulsed the 
 enemy. The deliglit of General Sheridan at this intelligence was evident. 
 It assured him that his army had recovered its old courage and tone, and 
 that he could now use it to defeat and rout the foe who had so sadly 
 defeated them in the morning. Sending the message to Emory, that if 
 
fe 
 
DEFEAT AND ROUT OP THE REBEL ARMY. 805 
 
 they renewed the attack, he must meet them by a counter attack, drive 
 them back, and follow them up, he watched the position of affairs, and at 
 half-past three issued this order : " The entire line will advance. The 
 nineteenth corps will move in connection with the sixth corps. The 
 right of the nineteenth will swing toward the left, so as to drive the 
 enemy upon the pike." The enemy's left was now his strong position, 
 being supported by successive wooded crests, while his right ran out to 
 the pike, across undulating, open fields, which offered no natural line 
 of resistance. Sheridan's plan was to push them off these crests by this 
 swinging movement of his right, and then, when they were doubled up on 
 the pike, to hurl his cavalry at them across the Middletown meadows. 
 The Union infantry rose at once from the position where it had been 
 lying, and advanced through the forest into the open ground beyond. 
 "There was a brief silence of suspense ; then came a screaming, cracking, 
 humming rush of shell; then a prolonged roar of musketry, mingled with 
 the long-drawn yell of the Union charge ; then the artillery ceased, the 
 musketry died into spattering bursts ; and over all the yell rose triumphant. 
 Every thing on the first Rebel line, the stone walls, the advanced crest, 
 the tangled wood, the half-finished breastworks, had been carried." The 
 first body of Rebel troops to break and fly was Gordon's division, the 
 same which had so perseveringly flanked the Union army in the morning, 
 and was now flanked in turn by the first division of the nineteenth corps. 
 Desperate fighting now ensued, and the Rebels held their position with 
 great tenacity ; while the Union soldiers, who had neither eaten nor drank 
 any thing since the evening of the previous day, and had been fighting 
 since five in the morning, were greatly exhausted ; but they forgot their 
 hunger, their thirst, and their weariness — forgot every thing, but that 
 they were Sheridan's soldiers, and that they must drive the enemy back. 
 Again they charged on the Rebel second line, over stone walls, over steep 
 hill-sides, and through thickets ; Sheridan himself dashing along the front, 
 cheering them with his confident smile, and his emphatic assurances of 
 success, and giving his orders in person to brigade, division, and corps 
 commanders. The result could not be doubtful ; the second charge 
 carried the enemy's second line with the same rush, and with greater ease 
 than the first; and the cavalry swept on in magnificent line, and pushed 
 the routed foe into more hopeless confusion and speedier flight than in 
 the battle of the 19th of September. Desperate were the efforts of the 
 Rebel officers to rally their men, and make another stand; but they were 
 utterly in vain, and Early's army was again "sent whirling" up the 
 valley. The fighting soon swept far ahead of the tired infantry, who re- 
 sumed their position in their old camps, and hungry, thirsty, and weary, 
 lay down amid the desolation, and the numerous dead bodies of their 
 comrades and their foes, and slept quietly and peacefully. The cavalry, 
 meantime, pushed Early's jaded legions on, and still on, through Stras- 
 
806 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 burg, past Fisher's Hill, where, after a brief rest, they remounted, and 
 drove them to Woodstock, sixteen miles from the scene of the morning 
 battle. In their terror and flight, the Rebels abandoned every thing; 
 cannon, small arms, knapsacks, great coats, baggage wagons, caissons, 
 ammunition wagons and ambulances, were all thrown away, as impeding 
 their retreat. The twenty-four cannon which they had taken from the 
 army of the Shenandoah in the morning, were all recaptured, and twenty- 
 seven more of Early's own were also brought in. Beside these, there 
 were fifty wagons, sixty-five ambulances, sixteen hundred small arms, 
 several battle flags, and fifteen hundred prisoners. Two thousand of the 
 Rebel killed and wounded were left upon the field. The Union losses in 
 the morning had been very heavy; they amounted in all to about three 
 thousand killed and wounded, and twelve hundred taken prisoners, in- 
 cluding about four hundred of the wounded. In all the records of modern 
 history, there is no more remarkable instance of a battle retrieved than 
 this. Marengo, Shiloh, and Stone river have been compared to it, but in 
 the two former there were reinforcements brought up to change the 
 fortunes of the day, while the first defeat was not so complete or over- 
 whelming, and in the latter, there was an interval of two days' rest, to 
 reinspire the troops with courage. Here the delay was but for three or 
 four hours, and the only reinforcement brought up or needed was one 
 man — Sheridan. 
 
 On hearing the particulars of this victory, Lieutenant-General Grant 
 telegraphed to Secretary Stanton, on the evening of the 20th of October, 
 as follows: 
 
 " IIoN. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : 
 
 "■ 1 had a salute of one hundred guns fired from each of the armies here, 
 in honor of Sheridan's last victory. Turning what bid fair to be a disas- 
 ter into a glorious victory, stamps Sheridan, what I have always thought 
 him, one of the ablest of generals. 
 
 " U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General." 
 
 This magnificent victory led to General Sheridan's appointment to the 
 rank of major-general in the regular army, to fill the vacancy occasioned 
 by the resignation of Major-General McClellan, and to an autograph letter 
 of thanks from the President. 
 
 For six weeks after the battle, there were occasional skirmishes of greater 
 or less severity, between one or more divisions of Torbert's cavalry, and 
 the Rebel cavalry officers Rosser and Lomax ; but Early, though moving 
 uneasily up and down the valley from Mount Jackson or New Market to 
 Fisher's Hill, carefully avoided every thing like a general engagement, and 
 in December, sent a part of his forces to strengthen General Lee. Mean- 
 time, the guerrilla warfare continued with all its vexatious annoyances and 
 stealthy murders, and General Sheridan found it necessary to desolate the 
 
SKETCH OF MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN SOT 
 
 valley of the Blue Ridge by his cavalry, as he had done the valleys west 
 of it. In two expeditions undertaken for this purpose, property to the 
 amount of nearly seven and a half millions of dollars was either destroyed 
 or captured, vast herds of cattle, sheep, and swine, and large numbers of 
 horses and mules were brought in. Driven from this region, the guerrilla 
 bands subsequently concentrated near the upper waters of the Potomac, 
 and in the vicinity of Piedmont, New Creek, and other points, did some 
 mischief, but their power for evil was greatly crippled by the stern 
 and thorough measures adopted by General Sheridan. In December, the 
 sixth corps was returned to the army of the Potomac, and the army of 
 the Shenandoah for nearly two months acted principally as a corps of 
 observation. 
 
 Philip Henry Sheridan, the brilliant and able commander whose skilful 
 management and decided strategic ability were so fully exhibited in this 
 campaign of the Shenandoah valley, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 
 1831. His parents were of Irish origin. He had the advantages of a 
 good common school education, and was appointed to a cadetship at "West 
 Point in 1848. and graduated in 1853, very low in his class, his belligerent 
 disposition reducing his standing in his studies, which was otherwise 
 above mediocrity. He was attached to the first United States infantry 
 as brevet second lieutenant, and ordered to Fort Duncan, Texas. In the 
 spring of 1855, he was exchanged into the fourth infantry as full second 
 lieutenant, and ordered to San Francisco via New York. In the latter city, 
 he was for two months in command of Fort Wood. For six years he 
 remained on the Pacific coast, and among the Indian tribes, whose confi- 
 dence he had won, and whom he could manage better than any other 
 army officer. He was promoted to a first lieutenantcy in the winter of 
 1861, and when the war broke out to a captaincy in the thirteenth infan- 
 try. United States army, and ordered to join his regiment at Jefferson 
 barracks, near St. Louis. He was first made acting quartermaster under 
 General Curtis, but succeeded indifferently. During the Pea Ridge cam- 
 paign, he was ordered by General Blunt to impress a large amount of 
 provender from the citizens of Arkansas, and refusing, was put under 
 arrest, and ordered to report to General Halleck, who relieved him from 
 arrest, made him his own chief quartermaster, but perceiving that 
 he had a decided vocation for the cavalry, allowed him soon after to 
 accept a commission as colonel of a Michigan cavalry regiment. On the 
 14th of July, 1862, with his regiment, he fought and defeated a Rebel 
 brigade of cavalry, and for this was made brigadier-general of volun- 
 teers, his commission dating from July 1st, 1862 ; but his command was 
 infantry, not cavalry, to which he was best adapted. He did well, how- 
 ever, in his new field of activity, exhibiting that combination of caution 
 and daring, and that quick perception of the right course to pursue in an 
 emergency, which made him a favorite, both with his superiors and his 
 
808 1'HE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 own command. At Perryville, October 8th, 1862, he held the key of 
 the Union position, and saved the Union army from defeat. In the 
 battle of Stone river, his division fought with the utmost desperation on 
 the first day, and aided greatly in staying the rout which the giving way of 
 the right wing had caused ; all the brigade commanders were either 
 killed or severely wounded, and seventy officers and half the men of the 
 division fell on that bloody field ; but Sheridan finally brought off the 
 remnant in good order, and re-forming it, did gallant service during the 
 remainder of the battle. For his meritorious service here he was made 
 major-general of volunteers. At Chickamauga, on the first day, he pre- 
 vented a serious disaster to Wood's corps ; and on the second day, though 
 borne ofl" the field by the sudden assault of the enemy upon the gap in 
 the Union lines, he fought his way out, and re-forming his men, brought 
 his division into the lines again before midnight. At Chattanooga, his 
 bravery and daring were conspucious in the charge up Mission Ridge 
 upon Fort Bragg; his horse was shot under him, and his men were 
 ready under liis leadership to dare and do any thing, however arduous or 
 seemingly impossible. He was next with Sherman in the severe and ar- 
 dous march to Knoxville, to raise the siege of that city. 
 
 When General Grant became Lieulcnant-General, he called Sheridan 
 to the congenial post of chief of the cavalry corps of the army of the 
 Potomac, and we have recorded in a previous chapter, the skill and abil- 
 ity, the courage and genius, with which he conducted the two expeditions 
 around the rear of the Rebel army. Promoted on General Grant's 
 nomination to the command of the army of the Shenandoah, the present 
 cho.pter shows how he won new laurels, and exhibited that most extraor- 
 dinary proof of good generalship, the turning defeat into victory. For 
 the ability displayed in this field he was made first brigadier, and then 
 major-general in the regular army. His subsequent career, as we shall 
 see hereafter, was worthy of his previous brilliant record. In March, 
 1865, he ascended the Shenandoah valley to Staunton and Waynesboro, 
 routed Early once more, and destroyed the railroads, canals, and other 
 property of the Rebels, to the value of over fifty millions of dollars. 
 Marching by way of White House, he joined General Grant on the 27th 
 of March, and after two days' rest, was ordered to the field in the closing 
 campaign, where the capture of Five Forks, and the persistent pursuit, 
 and eventual surrender of Lee, were due in a large measure, to his perse- 
 verance, bravery, and strategic skill. After the war on the Atlantic coast 
 was over, he was sent in command of an army of about eighty thousand 
 men to Texas; and the Rebel General, E. Kirby Smith, having surren- 
 dered, he was allowed, after a few weeks guarding of the border, to reduce 
 his army. On the 27th of June, he was appointed commander of the 
 Military Division of the Gulf, comprising the Departments of Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, with headquarters at New Orleans. 
 
INFLUENCE OP POLITICAL PARTIES DURING THE WAR. 809 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 POLITICAL PARTIES, AND THEIR INFLDENCB DtJRINO THE WAR — "THE ERA OP GOOD FEELING" 
 
 ITS SPEEDY TERMINATION FERNANDO WOOd's SOMERSAULTS THE PROFESSIONS OF THE 
 
 PRO-SLAVERY DEMOCRATIC LEADERS THEIR DESIRE FOR A "MORE VIGOROUS PROSECUTION 
 
 OF THE war" — " THE GREAT UNREADY" — OPPOSITION TO EMANCIPATION NOMINALLY RE- 
 LINQUISHED — THE SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT, AND ARBITRARY ARRESTS 
 
 THE CONSCRIPTION — THEIR OBJECTIONS TO IT — THEIR HOSTILITY TO THE FINANCIAL POLICY 
 OF THE GOVERNMENT — SECRET ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSED TO THE GOVERNMENT — THE PEACE 
 
 PARTY AND ITS LEADER SKETCH OF VALLANDIGHAM — HIS TREASONABLE ADDRESS AND HIS 
 
 ARREST JUDGE LEAVITT's REFUSAL TO GRANT A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, AND HIS OPINION 
 
 OF TREASONABLE UTTERANCES VALLANDIGHAM's TRIAL AND SENTENCE — ^THE PRESIDENT 
 
 COMMUTES IT TO TRANSPORTATION BEYOND THE UNION LINES — PROTEST OF THE ALBANY 
 COMMITTEE — THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY — PROTEST OF THE COLUMBUS COMMITTEE — THE PRESI- 
 DENT'S PROPOSITIONS — THE OBJECT OF THESE DEMONSTRATIONS — VALLANDIGHAM NOMINA- 
 TED FOR GOVERNOR AND DEFEATED HIS ESCAPE TO CANADA AND RETURN TO OHIO — - 
 
 CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF HIS ASSOCIATES IN CANADA HE ATTENDS THE CHICAGO 
 
 CONVENTION THE PROCEEDINGS OF THIS CONVENTION ITS PLATFORM ITS NOMINEES 
 
 GENERAL MCCLELLAN's LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE HE ACCEPTS THE NOMINATION BUT RE- 
 PUDIATES THE PLATFORM, WHILE MR. PENDLETON ACCEPTS BOTH — UTTER DEFEAT OF THE 
 PEACE PARTY AT THE NOVEMBER ELECTION — EFFORTS AT NEGOTIATIONS FOE PEACE — THE 
 JACQUES AND GILMORE MISSION — A. H. STEPHENS' APPLICATION TO GO TO WASHINGTON 
 IN A REBEL WAR STEAMER — THE GREELEY AND SANDERS CORRESPONDENCE — " TO WHOM 
 IT MAY concern" — THE PRETENDED INDIGNATION OF CLAY AND HOLCOMBE — SUBSEQUENT 
 REVELATIONS OP THEIR CHARACTER AND PURPOSES — LBE's ANNOUNCEMENT TO JEFF. 
 
 DAVIS — F. P. Blair's mission — rebel commissioners appointed — me. seward and 
 
 MR. LINCOLN MEET THEM — THE CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON EOADS THE DEMANDS OP 
 
 DAVIS — IMPOSSIBILITY OF CONCEDING THEM — FAILURE OF THE CONFERENCE. 
 
 At the commencement of the war, the great masses of iDoth political 
 parties, those who had deprecated the war, and denounced every move- 
 ment of the Government looking toward the repossession of the seceded 
 territory, as well as those who had been most earnest in their support of 
 the administration, united most cordially in volunteering for service in 
 the army, and in voting appropriations for arming, equipping, and main- 
 taining the volunteer troops and their families. There were, indeed, a few 
 whose hostility to the war and sympathy with the Rebellion was, from 
 the first, outspoken and bitter ; but these were the comparatively rai-e ex- 
 ceptions. As a general rule, party lines seemed obliterated, and those 
 who, sixty days before, had declared that in the event of war they would 
 fight on the side of the South, now seemed most anxious to efface such a 
 record by their zeal for the war. 
 
 As might have been expected, this "era of good feeling" did not last. 
 The conversion of the pro-slavery Democratic leaders, who had for years 
 relied upon the South to maintain them in power, was too sudden to be 
 genuine ; and it was no matter for surprise that Fernando Wood, one of 
 
810 THE CIVIL WAK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the most unscrupulous of the Democratic politicians, should lead the pro 
 slavery Democrats in opposing the war. Mr. Wood had, in the winter 
 of 1860-1, when mayor of New York, apologized to Mr. Toombs of Geor- 
 gia, for the seizure by the city police, under the orders of Government, 
 of arms about to be shipped for the State of Georgia, assuring him that 
 " if he had the power he should summarily punish the authors of this ille- 
 gal and unjustifiable seizure of private property;" and though he had three 
 months later pledged his honor, his fortune, and his life, to the national 
 cause, yet it was perfectly in keeping with his character that he should 
 endeavor by every means in his power to obstruct the action of the Gov- 
 ernment, to thwart its plans, and to give what indirect aid and comfort he 
 could, to its enemies. Tiie pro-slavery Democratic leaders had, however, 
 the art to veil their real sympathy with the Rebellion under the guise of 
 anxiety for the preservation of the Constitution and the Union as it was; 
 they deprecated any agitation of the stains of the slaves, and insisted that 
 they should be remanded to the care of their Rebel masters, if they escaped 
 into the Union lines, -and that in no case should they be set free. Under 
 these limitations they had the impudence to clamor for "a more vigorous 
 prosecution of the war," pretending that the President and Cabinet were 
 responsible for the inactivity of General McClellan, and on this plea suc- 
 ceeded, in New York, in the autumn of 1862, in carrying the election of 
 one of their most artful politicians, Horatio Seymour, to the office of 
 Governor of New York. They had taken full possession of General 
 McClellan, and flattering him with the hope of the Presidency in 1864, 
 led him to maintain, in defiance of the remonstrances of the President and 
 his Cabinet, that masterly inactivity which led to his receiving the title 
 of tlie "Great Unready." His removal from command in November, 1862, 
 was a severe and unexpected stroke to their policy, and the Emancipation 
 Proclamation which succeeded it on the first of January, 1863, was another 
 crushing blow to their plans, and one which AVood artfully attempted to 
 prevent. 
 
 But though baffled in some of their schemes, they were not disheartened. 
 Thev were fertile in resources, and unburdened by any conscientious scru- 
 ples, they no sooner found one scheme fail them than they resorted to 
 another equally fallacious, but perhaps quite as specious, to enable them 
 to maintain their attitude of hostility to the Government. Their opposi- 
 tion to emancipation had lost them many adherents, especially among 
 those of the party who had activel}'' participated in the war; these saw in 
 the measure a military necessity which could not be foregone; the leaders, 
 therefore, professed to acquiesce in thi.s, not very cordially, but as a meas- 
 ure which they could not prevent, and turned their attention to other acts 
 of the Government. They had, from a very early period of the war, com- 
 plained of the suspension of the habeas corpus act, and very naturally, 
 since, with that suspended, they could never be sure that the discovery 
 
ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSED TO THE GOVERNMENT. 811 
 
 of their treasonable schemes might not be followed by arrest, imprison- 
 ment, and even execution. This now became one of their chief grievances; 
 another was the conscription, which could not be so arranged as to suit 
 them. Before it was ordered, they had been strongly in favor of it, from 
 the belief that it would bring odium on the Government ; after it was 
 ordered, it was all wrong, first, for exempting so many ; when this was 
 modified, then it exempted too few. The provision for commutation, by 
 the payment of three hundred dollars, was grossly unjust, as it discrimi- 
 nated against the poor and in favor of the rich. "When this provision was 
 repealed, and the price of substitutes rose to a thousand or twelve hundred 
 dollars, the Government was roundly abused for not retaining it. We 
 have already shown how riots occurred in New York and elsewhere to 
 prevent the draft. The finances were another grievance with these dema- 
 gogues. Whatever Secretary Chase, who was then Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury, did, was wrong, of course. The first issue of Treasury demand notes 
 were pronounced worthless, and some of the banks would only receive 
 them on deposit after a written agreement from the depositors to receive 
 their money in those notes only, an agreement which, when those notes 
 rose to forty or fifty per cent, premium, the banks were very anxious to 
 cancel. The legal tender notes, Democratic orators and brokers made 
 every attempt to depreciate ; assuring the ignorant classes, and those of 
 foreign birth especially, that they would soon become utterly worthless, 
 and exhorting them to get rid of them, or they would fall upon their 
 hands. The Government loans were systematically decried, and the price of 
 gold forced up, by combinations, in which foreign speculators, in the in- 
 terest of the Rebels participated, and every means which could be adopted 
 to ruin the national credit, was resorted to by these unscrupulous dema- 
 gogues without hesitation. 
 
 There had been, even before the war, secret organizations in most of 
 the States, pledged to extend and perpetuate slavery, even at the expense 
 of the Union, known as " Knights of the Golden Circle." To these most 
 of these leaders of the opposition belonged, but finding them in bad 
 odor, they reorganized them under the names of " Sons of Liberty," 
 " The Order of American Knights," &c., and drew into their secret circle.s, 
 large numbers of those who, perhaps without any evil intent, were yet 
 enamored of secret societies, and who soon found themselves pledged to 
 treasonable measures. They also organized openly, a wing of the Demo- 
 cratic party, known distinctively as the Peace party ^ and though their num- 
 bers were small in Congress, they continued to delay action and occasion 
 great annoyance to the loyal members of that body. Their leader in the 
 House of Representatives in the Thirty-seventh Congress, was Clement L. 
 Vallandighara,* a Representative from southern Ohio. His principal sup- 
 
 * Clement L. Vallandigham was born in New Lisbon, Columbia county, Ohio, in 
 1822. He is of Huguenot stock, and hi3 father was a Presbyterian clergyman. He 
 
812 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 porters were Daniel S. Voorhees, of Indiana ; George H. Pendleton, of 
 Ohio ; William A. Richardson, of Illinois ; Benjamin Wood, and James E 
 Kerrigan, of New York ; Sydenham E. Ancona, and Jessie Lazear, of 
 Pennsylvania, and Henry May, of Maryland ; while Messrs. Cox, Allen, 
 and Noble, of Ohio; Knapp, Robinson, Fouke, and Allen, of Illinois; 
 Holman, Cravens, and Law, of Indiana, and Corning, Steele, and Vib- 
 bard, of New York, were occasionally found advocating and sympathizing 
 with his views. The Senate had a few members of the peace party, but 
 none of tliem men of high abilities. Messrs. Powell, Saulsbury, Bayard, 
 Pearce, McDougall, and Nesmitb, were the most prominent. 
 
 The efforts of Vallandigham and his associates to obstruct the action 
 of Congress were so far successful as to cause some delay in the passage 
 of important measures, but they were powerless to accomplish any con- 
 siderable harm. At tlie close of the second regular session of the Thirty- 
 seventh Congress, Vallandigham returned to Ohio, and made a political 
 canvass of his district, in the course of which he gave utterance to trea- 
 sonable doctrines. General Burnside, who was then in command of the 
 Department of the Ohio, issued an order (No. 38) on the 13th of April, 
 1863, in which, after announcing that "hereafter all persons found within 
 our lines who committed acts for the benefit of the enemies of our 
 country, will be tried as spies or traitors, and if convicted, will suffer 
 death," he added, " the habit of declaring sympatliy for the enemy will 
 not be -allowed in this department. Persons committing such offences 
 will be at once arrested, with a view to being tried, as above stated, or be 
 sent beyond our lines into the lines of their friends. It must be distinctly 
 
 received a good academic education; spent one year in Jefferson College, Ohio, and 
 two years as principal of an academy at Snow Hill, Maryland. He returned to Ohio 
 in 1840 ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1842 ; was elected to the State 
 Legislature in 184.') and 1846 ; was editor of the Dayton Enquirer from 1847 to 1849, 
 and for some years devoted his attention to his profession and to politics. In 18.')6, he 
 •was a member of the National Democratic Convention held in Cincinnati ; was Dem- 
 ocratic candidate for a seat in the Thirty-fifth Congress, against L. D. Campbell, 
 whose seat he successfully contested ; was re-elected to the Thirty-si.xth Congress, 
 and catechised John Brown just before his execution at Charlcstown, Virginia, in liope 
 of making capital for liis party. In the Thirty-sixth Congress he attempted by every 
 means in his power to aid the Rebels, and to obstruct the action of Congress and the 
 Government, and during his term of service in the Thirty-seventh Congress, to which 
 he was re-elected, he continually insisted on peace at any price. He was not re-elected 
 to the next (Thirty-eighth) Congress, having been arrested on the fifth of May, 1863, 
 by order of General Burnside, and tried and convicted of using treasonable language, 
 and by order of the President sent into the Rebel lines, from whence lie escaped soon 
 after to Canada. His party procured his nomination as Democratic candidate for 
 Governor of Ohio, but he was defeated by John Brough by one hundred thousand 
 majority. After residing some time in Canada, he escaped, and returned to Ohio, in 
 defiance of the United States authorities, and again made treasonable speeches. He 
 ■was one of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, in Sep- 
 tember, 1864, but has not been prominent since. 
 
AEREST OF MR. VALLANDIGHAM. 813 
 
 understood that treason, expressed or.implied, -will not be tolerated in this 
 department." On the 1st of May, Vallandigham delivered an address 
 at Mount Vernon, Ohio, in the course of which he denounced the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, as aiming, in its conduct of the war, not to re- 
 store the Union, but to crush out liberty, and to establish a despotism ; he 
 declared that the war was waged for the freedom of the blacks and the 
 enslaving of the whites ; that the Government could have had peace long 
 before if it had really desired it; that the mediation of France should 
 have been accepted, and that the Government had deliberately rejected 
 propositions by which the Southern States could have been brought back 
 into the Union. He also denounced General Burnside's order No. 38, 
 and proclaimed his intention of disobeying it, and appealed to his hearers 
 to resist and defeat its execution. 
 
 For this speech, Mr. Vallandigham was arrested at Dayton, on the 
 4th of May, by order of General Burnside, and brought to Cincinnati for 
 trial before a court-martial. On the 5th of May, he applied, through his 
 counsel, to Judgfe Leavitt of the Circuit Court of the United States at Cin- 
 cinnati, for a writ of habeas corpus, to which General Burnside responded 
 with a letter detailing the case and justifying his arrest. The application 
 was argued at length, and was refused by the judge, who though a 
 member of the Democratic party, was thoroughly loyal, and had no 
 affinities with the peace party. In giving his decision, Judge Leavitt 
 said that the legality of the arrest depended upon the extent of the neces- 
 sity for making it, and that was to be determined by the military com- 
 mander. He added : " Men should know and lay the truth to heart, that 
 there is a course of conduct not involving overt treason, and not therefore 
 subject to punishment as such, which, nevertheless, implies moral guilt, 
 and a gross offence against the country. Those who live under the pro- 
 tection and enjoy the blessings of our benignant Government must learn 
 that they cannot stab its vitals with impunity. If they cherish hatred 
 and hostility to it, and desire its subversion, let them withdraw from its 
 jurisdiction, and seek the fellowship and protection of those with whom 
 they are in sympathy. If they remain with us while they are not of us, 
 they must be subject to such a course of dealing as the great law of self- 
 preservation prescribes and will enforce. And let them not complain if 
 the stringent doctrine of military necessity should find them to be the 
 legitimate subjects of its action. I have no fear that the recognition of this 
 doctrine will lead to an arbitrary invasion of the personal security or per- 
 sonal liberty of the citizens. It is rare indeed that a charge of disloyalty 
 will be made on insufficient ground. But if there should be an occasional 
 mistake, such an occurrence is not to be put in competition with the pre- 
 servation of the nation ; and I confess I am but little moved by the elo- 
 quent appeals of those who, while they indignantly denounce violation 
 of personal liberty, look with no horror upon a despotism as unmitigated 
 
814 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 as the world has ever witnessed." Jhe trial before the military court 
 then proceeded, and full liberty of introducing evidence being granted 
 to his counsel, the trial occupied about ten days. The evidence having 
 been heard, the court — Brigadier-General E. B. Potter presiding — found 
 him guilty of the charge, and not guilty as to part and guilty as to part 
 of the specification. He was therefore sentenced to be placed in close 
 confinement in some fortress of the United States, to be designated by the 
 commanding officer of the department, there to be kept during the con- 
 tinuance of the war. General Burnside designated Fort Warren, Boston 
 harbor. The case having been laid before the President, he changed the 
 punishment by the following order : 
 
 "Washington, May 19, 1863. 
 " To Major-General Burnside, Commanding Department of the Ohio. 
 
 "Sir: — The President directs that without delay you send C. L. Val- 
 landigham, under secure guard, to the headquarters of General Rosecrans, 
 to be put by him beyond our military lines, and in case of his return 
 within our lines, he be arrested and kept in close custody for the term 
 specified in his sentence. 
 
 " By order of the President : 
 
 "E. R. S. Canby, Brigadier- General and A. A. G." 
 
 This order was executed, and created great excitement among the mem- 
 bers of the peace party and their friends. These opponents of the admin- 
 istration professed to regard Vallandigham as a martyr, and they called 
 public meetings, in which the action of the Government was denounced as 
 tyrannical, and dangerous to the public liberties. One of these demonstra- 
 tions was held at Albany, on the 16th of May, the very day on wliich 
 the finding of the court was announced, and Governor Seymour ad- 
 dressed a letter to the meeting, in which, referring to the arrest of Val- 
 landigham, he said : " If this proceeding is approved by the Govern- 
 ment, and sanctioned by the people, it is not merely a step toward rev- 
 olution — it is revolution. It will not only lead to military despotism 
 — it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it must be accepted, 
 or in this aspect rejected. * * * The people of this country now 
 wait with the deepest anxiety the decision of the Administration upon 
 these acts. Having given it a generous support in the conduct of the 
 war, we pause to see what kind of a Government it is for which we are 
 asked to pour out our blood and our treasure. The action of the Admin- 
 istration will determine in the minds of more than one half the people of 
 the loyal States, whether this war is waged to put down Rebellion at the 
 South, or destroy free institutions at the North." The meeting, which was 
 engineered by the peace party, and thus stimulated to treasonable utterances 
 by Horatio Seymour, adopted a series of resolutions, which, while pledg- 
 ing the Democratic party of the State to the preservation of the Union, 
 
THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSITIONS. 815 
 
 denounced in the strongest terras, the arrest of Vallandigham, and the 
 whole sj'stem of arbitrary arrests, as well as the suspension of the writ 
 of habeas corpus, and ordered the resolutions sent to President Lincoln. 
 
 The President replied in a clear, logical and forcible letter, in which he 
 overthrew all the sophistries of their resolutions, and did it in such a 
 kindly and courteous spirit, as to leave them no ground of complaint. 
 Governor Seymour had proved a false prophet in his predictions. The 
 action of the military court was approved by the Government and sanc- 
 tioned by the people, yet there were no evidences of a revolution, no 
 traces of any military despotism, and more than one-half of the people 
 of the loyal States declared, at the first fitting opportunity, their convic- 
 tions that the arrest and punishment of the abettors of treason did 
 not determine that the war was waged to put down free institutions in the 
 North. But the " Peace party" had not yet exhausted their efforts to make 
 political capital out of the arrest and punishment of Mr. Vallandigham. 
 On the 11th of June, at their State convention at Columbus, they nominated 
 him for Governor of Ohio, and addressed to the President, through a com- 
 mittee, a letter inclosing their resolutions, and demanding peremptorily that 
 the sentence against their candidate should be revoked, and he returned to 
 Ohio. There was no use in reasoning with such people, and the President 
 did not attempt it. He explained to them, however, that Mr. Vallan- 
 digham was not within his power ; that he had gone to the society of his 
 friends ; but proposed that if the committee, which was composed of the 
 most prominent opponents of the Administration in each congressional dis- 
 trict, would on their part sign certain propositions, which he inclosed, he 
 would interpose no objections to Mr. Vallandigham's return. The propo- 
 sitions were as follows : 
 
 1. "That there is now a Rebellion in the United States, the object and 
 tendency of which is to destroy the national Union: and that, in your 
 opinion, an army and navy are constitutional means for suppressing that 
 Rebellion. 
 
 2. ''That no one of you will do anything which, in his own judgment, 
 will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the decrease, or lessen the effi- 
 ciency of the army and navy, while engaged in the effort to suppress that 
 Rebellion ; and 
 
 3. " That each of you will, in his sphere, do all he can to have the 
 officers, soldiers, and seamen, of the army and navy, while engaged in 
 the effort to suppress the Rebellion, paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well pro- 
 vided for and supported." 
 
 To have signed these propositions would have been equivalent to avow- 
 ing their repentance for their past treasonable conduct, and promising to 
 do justly hereafter, and as the committee had no desire to do this, and had 
 no idea of becoming bondsmen for Vallandigham's future good conduct, 
 inasmuch as they did not really wish his release, but sought to make po- 
 
816 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 litical capital out of his arrest and punishment, they were greatly annoyed 
 at the President's propositions, and sent a rejoinder so impertinent and 
 discourteous, that self-respect forbade any reply on his part. 
 
 The canvass for Governor of Ohio was very animated, and the " Peace 
 party" used every possible means to carry the State, and boasted confi- 
 dently, that they should do so, but on the day of the election the op- 
 posing candidate, John Brough, had a majority of one hundred thousand 
 votes over the treason-loving Vallandigbam, and the advocates of peace-at- 
 any-price were for the time paralyzed by their defeat. Vallandigbam him- 
 self, after spending a short time among the Rebels, and having interviews 
 with Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, escaped to Canada, via Nassau, on a 
 blockade-runner, and after some months' residence, in Canada, where he 
 was on terms of the closest intimacy with Sanders, Jacob Thompson, Bev- 
 erly Tucker, and other prominent southern leaders who were plotting for 
 the injury of the Union, he escaped to Ohio on the 15th of June. Dur- 
 ing the period of his residence in Canada, as well as subsequently, his 
 chosen friends and associates were employing their willing agents to 
 make raids upon the towns and villages of the border, to murder and 
 rob, to seize and burn steamers, to set on fire the largest buildings of 
 New York and Philadelphia, to set at liberty the Rebel prisoners at 
 Chicago, Indianapolis, and elsewhere, and arming them and their com- 
 rades, the Order of American Knights, to sack, plunder, and burn Chi- 
 cago, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati, planning the poisoning of the Croton 
 water, which supplies New York city, and sending through Dr. Black- 
 burn, their packages of clothing carefully infected with yellow fever and 
 small-pox, to be sold in the principal cities, to destroy by the pestilence 
 those who had escaped from the flames and poisons, they had prepared for 
 them. That Mr. Vallandigbam was privy to and an actor in .some of these 
 schemes of fiendish wickedness, there can be no doubt, and there is pre- 
 sumptive evidence that he was cognizant of the others. 
 
 On his return to Ohio, he made two or three public speeches, breathing 
 a spirit of defiance toward the President and the Government, and boast- 
 ing of the number and strength of those who were associated with him, 
 and of the terrible things they would do if they were meddled with. His 
 prestige was gone, however, and thenceforward he remained quiet, until 
 the meeting of the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, when he 
 participated actively in the debates, and made several speeches outside of 
 the convention ; but the response of its nominee for the Presidency not 
 being sufficiently hostile to the war or the Government to please him, he 
 took but little part in the canvass, and sunk almost immediately into 
 merited obscurity. 
 
 The peace party were not yet satisfied of their powerlessness. Through 
 the campaigns of the battle-summer of 1864, every Union victory de- 
 pressed them, but every defeat or repulse of the national armies was 
 
PLATFORM OP THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 817 
 
 bailed by them with rejoicing ; and when, as for a time in July and the 
 latter part of August, there seemed to be but little progress made in sub- 
 duing the Eebels, and occasionally disasters occurred, like the defeat of 
 Wallace at Monocacy, the repulse of Sherman's assault on Kenesaw, or 
 the mismanagement of the Petersburg mine explosion, their orators at 
 once proclaimed that the war was a failure, and that the Government must 
 be driven into making offers of peace to the Eebels such as they would 
 be willing to accept. They boasted that they would control the coming 
 convention at Chicago, and that their nominee there would be carried into 
 the Presidency by acclamation. 
 
 The convention met on the 29th of August, 1864. Governor Seymour, 
 of New York, was chosen its president, and in his opening address he in- 
 dicated his complete sympathy with the peace party. The platform 
 adopted by the convention, as reported by Mr. Guthrie, of Kentucky, 
 gave evidence also that the peace men were exerting a controlling influ- 
 ence in its councils. It was as follows: 
 
 " Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with un- 
 swerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution as the only solid 
 foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people, and as a 
 framework of government equally conducive to tlie welfare and prosperity 
 of all the States, both northern and southern. 
 
 ^'Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of 
 the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union 
 by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military 
 necessity or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution 
 itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private 
 right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country 
 essentially impaired — -justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare, 
 demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with 
 a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other peaceable means, 
 to the end that at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored 
 on the basis of the Federal Union of the States. 
 
 "Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authorities of the 
 United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Mis- 
 souri, and Delaware,* was a shameful violation of the Constitution ; and 
 e repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revo 
 lutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control. 
 
 "Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve 
 the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired ; and they 
 hereby declare that they consider that the administrative usurpation of 
 
 * Thi8 referred to the stationing of the military near the polls in these States, at 
 their congresssional elections, to prevent open and avowed Rebels from voting, or in- 
 terfering with loyal voters. No violence, and no influence for or against any candi 
 date, was attempted or permitted 
 62 
 
'818 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 extraordinary and dangerons powers not granted by the Constitution; 
 the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection ; 
 the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of Ameri- 
 can citizens in States where civil law exists in full force ; the suppression 
 of freedom of speech and of the press ; the denial of the right of asylum ; 
 the open and avowed disregard of State rights ; the employment of un- 
 usual test oaths ; and the interference with and denial of the right of the 
 people to bear arms in their defence,* is calculated to prevent a restora- 
 tion of the Union, and the perpetuation of a government deriving its just 
 powers from the consent of the governed. 
 
 "Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the Administration to its duty 
 in respect to our fellow citizens who now are, and long have been, prison- 
 ers of war in a suffering condition, deserves the severest reprobation, on 
 the score alike of public policy and common humanity. 
 
 "Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and 
 earnestly extended to the soldiers of our army and the sailors of our navy, 
 who are, and have been, in the field and on the sea, under the flag of their 
 country, and in the event of its attaining power, they will receive all the 
 care, prelection, and regard, that the brave soldiers and sailors of the Re- 
 public have so nobly earned." 
 
 This platform adopted, as the deliberate expression of their views and 
 position with reference to the Government and the Rebellion, they nomi- 
 nated General George B. McClellan for President, and George H. Pendle- 
 ton, of Ohio, the friend and supporter of Vallandigham, for Vice President. 
 It was the first instance in the history of the nation, in which one of the 
 two great parties composing its voting population, had avowed its hostili- 
 ty in such bitter terms, not only to the existing administration, but to the 
 conflict in which it was engaged for the maintenance of the nation's life ; 
 and had the party gone before the people with this platform, pure and 
 simple, as the only issue between them and the party of the Union, they 
 would have been buried so deep in the scorn and contempt of the nation, 
 that they would never have found a resurrection ; but they had, with sin- 
 ister purpose, while repudiating the war and calling it a failure, nomina- 
 ted for the Presidency a general who had once possessed a large degree of 
 popularity, a little of which yet clung to him, in spite of his affiliations with 
 the " Peace party ;" and he, fallen as he was from his former high estate, 
 could not so entirely forget his old record as to put himself squarely upon 
 such a platform ; eight days later, he addressed a letter to the committee 
 of this convention, in which, while accepting the nomination, he, though 
 in somewhat ambiguous language, repudiated the resolutions of the con- 
 
 * In one or two disloyal districts in the border States, on conclusive evidence that 
 they were engaged in bushwhacking, or furnishing arms, Ac, to bushwhackers and 
 guerrillas, the bouses of known sympathizers with the Rebels had beeu searched, aud 
 their arms taken fron them. 
 
EFFORTS AT NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 819 
 
 vention, and especially those which demanded the immediate cessation of 
 hostilities, and the ofl'er of peace to the States in rebellion. Mr. Pendleton, 
 of course, accepted the platform as it stood. Yet, while General McClel- 
 lan's position in relation to the platform, and his former personal popu- 
 larity, served to complicate the issue, and gained many thousand more 
 votes for the ticket than it would otherwise have received, the party were 
 most thoroughly and terribly defeated at the polls, in November, 1864. 
 The entire vote polled was 4,000,850, of which Mr. Lincoln had 2,203,831, 
 and General McClellan 1,797,019 ; Mr. Lincoln's majority being 406,812 
 on the popular vote. In the Electoral College, McClellan's defeat was 
 still more marked. Of the two hundred and thirty-four electoral votes, 
 he received but twenty-one ; Kentucky, New Jersey, and Delaware alone 
 choosing Democratic electors. Thus decisively did the people indicate 
 their disapprobation of the peace party and its principles. 
 
 It should be acknowledged that the capture of Atlanta by Sherman, 
 the successful battle of Chaffin's Farm, near Richmond, and Sheridan's re- 
 peated defeats of Early in the Shenandoah valley, all of which occurred 
 within a very few weeks after the adoption of the Chicago platform, and 
 practically demonstrated its falsity, infused new courage into the hearts of 
 the friends of the Government, and depressed, in a corresponding degree, 
 the leaders of the peace party, but even without these, the popular heart 
 was on the side of the Government and the hearty prosecution of the 
 war. 
 
 There is one topic in connection with the resolutions of the Chicago 
 Convention, which merits further elucidation. We refer to the matter of 
 negotiations looking toward peace between the United States Government 
 and the States in rebellion. While maintaining firmly the position that 
 there could be no peace, except through the submission of the leaders of 
 the Rebellion and the relinquishment of all hostile purposes on their part, 
 President Lincoln had always shown himself ready to enter into negotia- 
 tions with any parties duly accredited, and bearing propositions which 
 embraced such terms as he could rightfully consider. Three efforts, nei- 
 ther of them successful, were made to bring about such negotiations in 
 the summer of 1864. The first in point of time, though the three were 
 almost simultaneous, was a private mission on the part of Colonel Jaques 
 of Illinois, and Mr. J. R. Gilmore of Boston, a litterateur of some note, who 
 sought and obtained a safe conduct to Richmond, to endeavor to induce 
 Jefferson Davis to propose negotiations with the Government, looking 
 toward peace and a restoration of the Union. Davis declined, insisting 
 that the recognition of southern independence was a necessary prelimi- 
 nary to any negotiations, and that Mr. Lincoln would not grant this. On 
 the 4th of July, 1864, Alexander H. Stephens, then Vice President of the 
 so-called Confederacy, sent to the admiral of the north Atlantic squadron 
 a message, requesting permission to go Washington in the Rebel war 
 
820 THK CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 steamer Torpedo, to deliver a communication from Jefferson Davis. This 
 request was denied, very properly, as the presence of the Rebel war 
 steamer in the Potomac river at the national capital was objectionable, 
 and in no respect neces.sary, the ordinary channels of communication being 
 ample for the purpose desired. 
 
 But the most noted of these attempts at opening negotiations, was that 
 through Hon. Horace Greeley, of the New York Tribune, about the mid- 
 dle of July, 1864. Mr. Greeley, who, from principle as well as from his 
 natural constitution, entertained a strong aversion to war, had repeatedly 
 sought to arrest the conflict, at almost any cost, except that of relinquishing 
 the emancipation of the slaves. While at Niagara Fall.s, early in July, he had 
 fallen in with an adventurer by the name of William Cornell Jewett, who 
 had made repeated efforts to render himself conspicuous in connection 
 with the war. Jewett persuaded Mr. Greeley that Clement C. Clay, Jr., 
 of Alabama, Professor James P. Ilolcomb of Virginia, and George N. San- 
 ders, a notorious southern adventurer, who were at the Clifton House, on 
 the Canada side of Niagara Falls, were duly accredited from Richmond, 
 as bearers of propositions looking to the establi.shinent of peace ; and, 
 without waiting to ascertain the facts from them, Mr. Greeley wrote to 
 Washington, asking to be authorized to grant them safe-conduct, should 
 such be the case. To this the President consented, and having received 
 a letter from Sanders, announcing the willingness of himself and compan- 
 ions to go to Washington, under complete and unqualified protection, 
 Mr. Greeley addressed a letter to Messrs. Clay and Holcomb, including 
 also Jacob Thompson, who, as it afterward appeared, was not with them 
 at the time, in which he stated that he was informed that they were duly 
 accredited as the bearers of propositions, &c., and that if so, he was 
 authorized to tender them safe conduct, and to accompany them. 
 
 Messrs. Clay and Holcomb replied that they had not been accredited 
 for any such purpose, but as they were in the confidential employment of 
 their Government, thoy did not doubt that upon making known the cir- 
 cumstances disclosed by his correspondence at Richmond, they would be 
 invested witk the necessary authority, or other gentlemen, clothed with 
 full powers, would be sent immediately to Washington to enter upon the 
 negotiations. Mr. Greeley felt it necessary to report to Washington, 
 before granting a safe conduct to men not accredited by their Government; 
 and the President, not exactly satisfied with the way in which Mr. Greeley 
 had managed the matter, despatched his private secretary. Major Hay, at 
 once to Niagara Falls, with the following qualified safe-conduct, which 
 he was authorized to deliver to Mr. Holcomb, in Mr. Greeley's presence: 
 
 " ExKCCTiYE Mansion, AVashixqton, Jtdy 18, 1864. 
 " To whom it may concern : 
 
 "Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integ- 
 rity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which 
 
REBEL PEACE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. 821 
 
 comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war 
 against the United States, will be received and considered by the Execu- 
 tive Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms 
 on other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof 
 shall have safe conduct both ways. 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 This conditional aafe-conduct brought the pretensions of the soi-disant 
 Confederate commissioners to the test, and as they well knew that they 
 were not accredited with any authority, even to discuss these questions, 
 and did not desire it, their object being to visit the capital, and while 
 amusing the President with some pretended propositions, avail themselves 
 of the opportunity to confer with their fellow conspirators there, they 
 replied, with well feigned indignation, to the President's statement of the 
 necessary qualilluations for peace commissioners. They professed to think 
 that it would bean indignity to Jefferson Davis to transmit to him these 
 terms, and that it would bring down upon them the well-merited scorn of 
 their countrymen. In the light of subsequent revelations of the character, 
 designs, and purposes of these men, their virtuous indignation, though a 
 very pretty piece of acting, seems to have been somewhat overdone. 
 They were implicated in the most nefarious schemes against the govern- 
 ment and people of the United States?, ever concocted by human do 
 pravity; intended plans for burning, sacking, and plundering Chicago, 
 Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, and New York city ; the robberies and 
 murders at St. Albans, Vermont; the seizure and piracy of the steamer 
 Chesapeake ; the distribution of the yellow fever and small-pox infection 
 in Newbern, Washington, New York, and Philadelphia, and finally the 
 assassination of the President, and the attempts upon the lives of the 
 Vice President and Cabinet, were among the projects in which these 
 amiable and virtuous gentlemen were engaged, either as principals or 
 accessories. Time brings changes in opinions, as well as in persons. 
 The propositions these men so indignantly repudiated, were, almost word 
 for word, those which nine months later, the Rebel General Johnston, with 
 the advice and approval of John C. Breckinridge, then Rebel Secretary 
 of War, offered to General Sherman, at Durham station. 
 
 The President of the United States was sincerely desirous of peace, if 
 it could be obtained on terms which would not dishonor the nation. The 
 nation was pledged to the unity of the States, and could not permit for a 
 moment the recognition of the South, as a separate and independent gov- 
 ernment ; it was pledged also most solemnly to the emancipation of the 
 slaves and the abandonment of slavery, and it could not yield this point. 
 All else was, in Mr. Lincoln's mind, of comparatively slight moment; the 
 amnesty of individuals, the restoration of power and authority to the 
 South ; all else, indeed, except these two vital points, he was at this time 
 
SHIi THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 willing to allow the party in rebellion to make almost their own terms 
 for, but in relation to the two vital points, he was as immovable as the 
 Kocky mountains. 
 
 But there were other overtures for peace made by the Rebel Govern- 
 ment a few months later, when the consciousness of its speedy decadence 
 had somewhat mollified the bitterness of its hostility to the North, the 
 history of which may properly be given at this time. In the latter part 
 of December, 1864, General Lee had informed Mr. Davis and his cabinet 
 that unless extraordinary measures were adopted, or there should be some 
 unexpected change in the condition of their affairs, it would be impos- 
 sible for the Confederacy to last six months longer ; and it is said that he 
 privately urged upon Mr. Davis to make the best terms possible with the 
 United States Government while they were in a condition to do so. Davis 
 himself, opinionated, self-willed, and stubborn, was not much inclined to 
 treat this advice with respect, but the Vice President (Mr. Stephens), 
 Judge Campbell, and some of the members of the Cabinet, were deeply 
 impres.sed by it. Intimations were sent to Francis P. Blair, senior, who 
 had formerly been a personal friend of some of the magnates of Rich- 
 mond, requesting him to visit that city with reference to some nego- 
 tiations on the subject of peace. On Mr. Blair's application to President 
 Lincoln for permission to go to Richmond and return, he was furnished 
 with a pass for that purpose, but with the special stipulation that he 
 should in no way treat with the Rebels in behalf of the Government. 
 On his return, Mr. Blair brought a letter from Mr. Davis, dated Jan- 
 uary 12th, 1865, in which he stated that he was willing to enter into 
 negotiations for the restoration of peace, that he would appoint a com- 
 missioner, "and renew the effort to enter into a conference, with a view to 
 secure peace to (he two countries." The intent of this artfully worded 
 letter was, evidently, to entrap Mr. Lincoln, should he respond by the 
 appointment of a commissioner, into the acknowledgment of the assumed 
 independence of the rebellious Confederacy. The attempt failed. Mr. Lin- 
 coln's reply was as follows : 
 
 " Washinqton, January Wh, 1865. 
 "F. P. Blair, Esq. — Sir: You having shown me Mr. Davis's letter to 
 you of the 12th instant, you may say to him that I have constantly been, 
 am now, and shall continue, ready to receive any agent whom he or any 
 other influential person now resisting the national authority may in- 
 formally send me, with a view of securing peace to the people of our com- 
 mon country. Yours, etc., A. Lincoln." 
 
 Mr. Blaii returned to Richmond with this letter, and Mr. A. H. Ste- 
 phens, then Vice President of the Rebel Government, being consulted 
 upon the subject, most earnestly advised a conference, but thought the 
 parties to it should be Mr. Davis and President Lincoln, and that the 
 
THE CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON E0AD3. 823 
 
 utmost secrecy should be maintained, Generals Grant and Lee alone 
 being cognizant of the interview. This advice was not followed, but 
 Davis appointed Stephens, E. M. T. Hunter, senator in the Rebel Con- 
 gress, and a former member of Davis's cabinet, and Judge Campbell, then 
 Assistant Secretary of War in the Eebel war department, as commissioners. 
 Stephens and Campbell were known to be in favor of peace and conces- 
 sion, and Davis was desirous of throwing the odium of any failure on 
 them ; while Hunter sympathized fully with Davis, and would make no 
 concessions. The commissioners, however, decided to go, and applied 
 through General Grant to the national Government for permission to 
 enter the Union lines as quasi commissioners from the Rebel Government 
 to confer informally with the President at Washington, in order to ascer- 
 tain upon what terms the war could be terminated honorably. Permission 
 was granted, with the understanding that the parties named were not to 
 be allowed to land, a fact which caused much annoyance to the Rebel com- 
 missioners, who were very desirous of visiting Washington. They were 
 furnished quarters on board a steamer anchored in Hampton Roads, off 
 Fortress Monroe, and the Secretary of State was sent by the President to 
 meet them, with the following instructions : 
 
 " Executive Mansion, Washington, January 3d, 186.5. 
 
 " HoK . William H. Sew abb, Secretary of State. 
 
 "You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and infor- 
 mally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis 
 of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq. of January 18th, 1865, a copy of which 
 you have. You will make known to them that three things are indispen- 
 sable, to wit : 
 
 " First. The restoration of the National authority throughout all the States ; 
 
 ' Second. No receding ly the Executive of the United States on the slavery 
 question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual message to Con- 
 gress, and in the preceding documents ; 
 
 " Third. No cessation of hostilities short of the end of the war, and the disband, 
 ing of all the forces hostile to the Government. 
 
 " You will inform them that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent 
 with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere 
 liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say and repeat it to me. 
 You will not assume definitely to consummate any thiug. 
 
 " Yours, etc., A. Lincoln." 
 
 The next morning, February 1st, in order to prevent any attempt at 
 trickery by the Rebels, the President sent a cipher despatch to General 
 Grant, informing him that nothing then transpiring was to " change, hinder 
 or delay" any of his military movements or plans. In reply, General 
 Grant intimated to Secretary Stanton, that it might be as well if the Presi- 
 dent oould be personally present at the conference, as he believed that the 
 
824 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 commissioners were sincerely desirous to restore peace and union. Mr. 
 Lincoln hereupon telegraphed to Secretary Seward : " Induced by a despatch 
 from General Grant, I join you at Fortress Monroe as soon as I can come," 
 and to General Grant : '• Say to the gentlemen, that I will meet them per- 
 sonally at Fortress Monroe, as soon as I can get there." 
 
 The conference, however, accomplished nothing. The commissioners, 
 though, as we have intimated, two of them were personally desirous of 
 peace with such concessions as might have effected it, were bound by their 
 instructions from Davis, and at the outset and throughout the conference, 
 declared their entire lack of authority to make, receive, or consider any 
 propositions whatever looking toward a close of the war, except on the 
 basis of a recognition of the independence of the Confederate States as a 
 preliminary condition. The President presented the subject to them in 
 every conceivable form, suggesting the most liberal and considerate modi- 
 fications of whatever, in the existing legislation of the United States 
 Government, might be regarded as specially hostile to the rights and 
 interests, or wounding to ihe pride of the southern people, — even going 
 so far as to intimate that by a concession at that time, they might secure 
 a fair compensation from the Government for the emancipated slaves; but 
 the commissioners plead that their instructions were peremptory, that 
 they could not swerve a hair's breadth from their demand for recognition. 
 There could of course under the circumstances be no negotiation, for the 
 recognition of their independence could not be thought of for a moment 
 by the President, and the parties separated, distinctly understanding that 
 the attitude of each Government was not in the slightest degree affected 
 or changed by the conference. 
 
 Davis, in a special message to his Congress, attempted to make capital out 
 of the failure of this conference, whose discussions he misrepresented, but the 
 attempt proved futile. The questions. at issue were now left to the stern 
 arbitrament of war, and were quickly decided. 
 
THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES. 835 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 ini! NAVT OF THK UNITBD 8TATBS AT THE COMMKNCEMKNT OF THK WAR — ITS INADEQUACY 
 FOR THE WORK TO BE DONE — THE DUTY REQUIRED OF THK NAVY — THE PURCHASE AND 
 CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS FOR THE NAVY — THE NUMBER, CHARACTER, AND ARMAMENT OF 
 THE VESSELS OF THE NAVY DURINO THE WAR AND AT ITS CLOSE — THE IRON-CLADS — PREF- 
 ERENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT FOR THE MONITORS — THEIR EFFICIENCY IN NAVAL BATTLES 
 — THE RIVER IRON-CLADS, TURTLE-BACKS AND TIN-CLADS — WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY 
 THE RIVER SQUADRONS — THE WORK OF THE BLOCKADERS OF THK ATLANTIC COAST — THE 
 REBEL NAVY — STOLEN VESSELS — THEIR PRIVATEERS — THEIR IBON-CLADS — FATE OF THEIR 
 VESSELS — THE ANGLO-REBEL PRIVATEERS — THEIR NAMES AND CHARACTER- — THE ATTEMPTS 
 TO BUILD ARMED SHIPS FOR THE REBELS IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE — THEIR FAILURE — THE 
 HISTORY OF THE ALABAMA — HER PERFIDIOUS ATTACK ON THE HATTERAS — SHE ENTERS THE 
 PORT OF CHERBOURG, AND FINDING ESCAPE WITHOUT A FIGHT IMPOSSIBLE, HER COM- 
 MANDER CHALLENGES THE KEARSARGE TO A BATTLE — THK COMPARATIVE SIZE, ARMAMENT 
 AND CREW OF THE TWO VESSELS, AND THEIR MEANS OF RESISTANCE — CAPTAIN SEMMES' 
 " preparations" — THE DEERBOCND — THE BATTLE — DESPICABLE CONDUCT OF THE OWNER 
 OF THE DEERHOUND — SEMMES RECEIVES OVATIONS — RAGE OF THE ENGLISH AT THE SINK- 
 ING OF THE ALABAMA — CAUSES OF IT — THE CAPTURE OF THE GEORGIA — HISTORY OF THE 
 FLORIDA — HER CAPTURE — COMMANDER COLLINS CENSURABLE FOR SEIZING HER IN A NEU- 
 TRAL PORT — ACTION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT — BRAZIL SATISFIED — LIEU- 
 TENANT reed's adventures as a PIRATE — CAPTURING FISHING SMACKS AND COASTERS — 
 CUTTING OUT THE CUSHINO — CAPTURE OF THE LIEUTENANT AND HIS CREW — THE SKIZUR8 
 OF THE CHESAPEAKE — HER RE-CAPTURE — CAREER OF THE TALLAHASSEE, THE OLUSTEE AND 
 THE CHICKAMAUGA — THE SHENANDOAH AND HER PIRACIES — SHE COMES TO LIVERPOOL AND 
 DELIVERS HERSELF UP TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT — COURSE ADOPTED BY THAT GOVERN- 
 MENT — THE CAREER OF THE STONEWALL OR OLINDE — HER SURRENDER TO THE SPANISH 
 GOVERNMENT AND FINAL TRANSFER TO THE UNITED STATES — LOSSES OF THE MERCANTILB 
 JIABINE BY THE REBEL CRUISERS. 
 
 When the war commenced, the United States navy was almost power- 
 less to aid in the conflict. It had been for nearly fifty years on a peace 
 footing, and was far below that of other commercial powers in the number 
 and armament of its ships. Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Navy, sym- 
 pathizing fully with the Rebels in their schemes of secession, had sent all 
 the best vessels to the Pacific or Indian oceans, on one errand or another, 
 and of those that remained, several were destroyed at the burning of the 
 Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia ; and others were out of commission, 
 and required extensive repairs. Only forty -two vessels of all sizes and 
 qualities were found to be in a serviceable condition, or capable of being 
 made so, and only sixty-nine were in existence, including ships upon the 
 stocks, receiving ships, tenders, school ships, &c. After deducting those 
 which must be kept on foreign stations, and the receiving ships, tenders, 
 store ships, &c., there remained but little more thtin a dozen, and some of 
 them of small size and armament, for all the service which would be 
 
83fi THE CIVIL WAK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 required of them. There was a blockade to be maintained along four 
 thousand miles of coast ; forts were to be attacked ; naval battles fought 
 with such ships as the Rebels might be able to purchase or build ; and 
 the Atlantic, PaciSc, and Indian oceans to be cruised over, in pursuit of 
 the privateers which bore the Rebel commission, though they never had 
 entered a Rebel port. Of course, more vessels, many more, were needed, 
 and needed at once. The blockade, once proclaimed, must be enforced 
 with pigor, or it would not be recognized; the national flag must be 
 maintained in foreign seas, even 'if not with a full squadron, at least with 
 one or two ships ; and the cruisers of the Union must be constantly on 
 the alert. Then, too, England and France had their iron-clads ; and the 
 Rebels were known to be exerting their energies to build armed ships for 
 their own warfare, and the United States Government could not afford to 
 be behind other nations in such provision for offensive and defensive 
 naval warfare. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy, while ordering as much force as possible to 
 be employed in building and fitting out war vessels in the government 
 Navy Yjird, and contracting with responsible private builders for iron- 
 clads and other war vessels, found it necessary to purchase, for blockading 
 purposes, as many steam ships and sailing vessels as could be found 
 adapted to his purpose ; and fitting them up as rapidly as possible, put 
 them at once in commission. The greater part of the vessels thus pur- 
 chased, (one hundred and thirty-seven were bought during the year 1861,) 
 proved to be staunch and eflBcient vessels ; some of them, at the close of 
 the war, bringing more than their original cost, at auction ; a few were 
 bad bargains, not generally from the negligence or connivance of the pur- 
 chasing agents, but from the fraudulent misrepresentations of the sellers. 
 Beside the one hundred and thirty-seven purchased, fifty-two steamers, 
 three of them iron-clads, were built during the year 1861, at a cost exceed- 
 ing ten millions of dollars. At the close of 1862, there were, including 
 the river fleets, four hundred and twenty-seven vessels in commission. 
 At the clo.se of 1863, the number was five hundred and eighty-eight, of 
 which forty-six were iron-clads for sea service; twenty-nine, iron-clads for 
 lake and river service ; two hundred and three, side-wheel steamers ; one 
 hundred and ninety-eight, screw steamers ; and one hundred and twelve, 
 sailing vessels. On the 10th of March, 1865, the number of vessels in 
 commission was six hundred and eighty-three ; of these, seventy-one were 
 iron-clads, four of them of the first class, or over thirty-three hundred tons ; 
 six, including the Puritan and Dictator, of the second class, or from two 
 thousand to thirty-three hundred tons; six, third rates, from twelve hun- 
 dred to two thousand tons ; and fifty-five, fourth rates, or under twelve 
 hundred tons. Beside the iron-clads, one hundred and seventy-seven 
 steam vessels had been built for the navy, and three hundred and twenty- 
 three steamers, and a considerable number of sailing vessels, had been 
 
THE DUTY REQUIRED OP THE NAVY. 82t 
 
 purchased or captured. This formidable navy carried four thousand 
 seven hundred guns, a large proportion of them eleven and fifteen inch 
 smooth bores and one hundred and two hundred pound rifles, making 
 the weight of metal on their armament greater than that of any other 
 navy in the world. This navy had cost for its construction and pur(!hase 
 over two hundred millions of dollars. After the close of the war most of 
 the purchased vessels, and some others, were sold, those already built and 
 building being sufficient for its service. The Secretary of the Navy had 
 early perceived the necessity of constructing armored ships for the new 
 exigencies of naval warfare, and though Congress, at first, was reluctant to 
 appropriate money for this purpose, he succeeded in obtaining the means 
 for building three during the first session of Congress, after the inception 
 of the war. Of these, one, the first monitor, built on a plan entirely origi- 
 nal, and differing in all respects from any war vessel afloat, yet proved 
 of the greatest possible service. Sent to Fortress Monroe on its first trip, 
 it arrived just in time to defeat and drive back the monster Eebel iron- 
 clad, Virginia or Merrimac, and save the steamship Minnesota from the 
 fate which had befallen the Congress and Cumberland the day before. 
 The Galena, another of the three, proved less serviceable, her armor being 
 less complete ; while the third, the New Ironsides, a ship of the line, pro- 
 tected by armor amidships, and firing its heavy armament in broadside, 
 was not completed till several months later ; but performed valuable ser- 
 vice in the South Atlantic Gulf Squadron, and the bombardment of the 
 forts in Charleston Harbor. There was no subsequent difficulty in ob- 
 taining appropriations for iron-clad ships, and the department ordered the 
 construction of large numbers, and of various designs, giving the prefer- 
 ence to the monitors with such modifications as experience suggested ; 
 though ordering some broadside ships. Of the latter, the Dunderberg 
 was the largest and most costly, but was not completed till the close of 
 the war. The Puritan and Dictator were gigantic monitors with two 
 turrets, defended by iron plate bearing an aggregate thickness of twelve 
 inches, and possessing excellent sea-going qualities. Other of the monitors, 
 as for example, the Monadnock, possessed buoyancy and speed even in a 
 rough sea ; but some of them failed in these particulars. In the earlier 
 vessels there was defective ventilation, especially for hot climates, and 
 other errors of construction, which were remedied when discovered. A 
 class of light draught monitors, ordered in the latter part of the war, 
 proved nearly worthless. Several of the older officers were prejudiced 
 against the monitors from their novelty of structure, and could not be 
 fully convinced of their good qualities. i , ; 
 
 The earlier naval battles of the war were mostly fought with wooden 
 vessels, as for instance, that of Roanoke Island, the capture of Port Royal 
 and the Rebel forts, and the siege and passing of the forts on the Mississippi 
 below New Orleans ; though, in the latter case, the Union fleet encountered 
 
838 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Rebel armored ships and destroyed them. But in the attack on Fort 
 McAllister, the repeated bombardment of the forts in Charleston Harbor, 
 and the naval battle at the entrance of Mobile Bay, the monitors and other 
 ironclads took an active part, and in most cases with excellent eftect. 
 
 The armored vessels on the great western rivers were not, with one or 
 two exceptions, monitors, but, as they were generally called, turtle-backs 
 having a casemate heavily plated with iron, extending amidships, and 
 protecting their machinery, as well as their guns. Those first built were 
 not plated with more tiian two and a half or three inches of iron, and 
 their armor was occasionally ])enetrated. Those built subsequently were 
 generally better protected, though the light draft iron-clads, intended for 
 the smaller rivers, were only covered with a liglit armor, sufficient to 
 protect tliem from rifle balls, and the lightest artillery, and were popularly 
 distinguished as tinclads. The armored river steamers were very efficient, 
 and jiroved of great service throughout the war. Fort Henry was cap- 
 tured by them ; tiiey rendered essential aid in the reduction of Fort Donel- 
 son, and contributed to the fall of Nashville, and the restoration of the 
 towns along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to Union authority. 
 Island Number Ten was reduced, partly through their eftbrts, and Mem- 
 pliis was captured by them alone ; at Shiioh, their bombardment of the 
 enemy turned the scale from defeat to victory ; at Vicksburg and Grand 
 Gulf, at Port Hudson and Baton Kouge, though not immediately success- 
 ful, they contributed largely to the success of the land forces. At Arkan- 
 sas Post, their bombardment aided materially in compelling a surrender, 
 Tiie Red river, the Arkansas, the Atchafulaya, and the other navigable 
 waters of Louisiana, were frequent witnesses of their prowess; at Helena, 
 at Milliken's Bend, and at Donaldsonville, they gained decisive victories 
 ov,T the Rebel land forces. At Nashville, in December 1864, and on the 
 Teanessee, during the preceding spring and summer, they prevented the 
 passage of the enemy, and silenced his batteries. 
 
 On the Atlantic coast and its bays and rivers, the blockading squadron, 
 except at Charleston, had been for the most part wooden vessels, and 
 these had, at one point or another of the extended coast line, been almost 
 constantly engaged in conflict, and won a high reputation for daring and 
 skill, in both offensive and defensive warfare. 
 
 The Rebels had comparatively few war vessels built or fitted up by 
 themselves. At the commencement of the war they seized several revenue 
 cutters and ocean and river steamers, which they converted into war 
 vessels. Most of these were not well adapted to privateering, and nearly 
 all of them were soon destroyed. The Lewis Cass, Dana, and Dodge, small 
 coast survey or revenue steamers, did not go to sea, and were captured or 
 blown up by the enemy. The Star of the West, originally an ocean 
 steamer on the New York and New Orleans route, was seized, but used 
 mainly as a blockade runner. The Sumter, originally a Mexican war 
 
THE REBEL NAVY. 829 
 
 steamer, under the name of the Marquis de Habana, belonging to the 
 Mexican General Miramon, and captured by the United States vessels, was 
 seized by the Rebels at NewOrleans, and converted into a steam sloop-of- war. 
 This was the most successful and formidable of any of their vessels which 
 sailed from an American port, making many captures of merchant vessels, 
 but avoiding carefully all the Union cruisers. She attempted, on the 31st 
 of August, 1863, after a career of two years, to run into Charleston, but 
 was sunk in the harbor. The Jefferson Davis, a small ocean steamer, 
 which, in a short career of two months, had done considerable mischief, 
 was wrecked on St. Augustine bar, Florida. Tbe Nashville, after a brief 
 experience as a privateer, became a blockade runner. The Petrel, the 
 Judith, and the Beauregard, all small river steamers, were captured or 
 destroyed in the summer and autumn of 1861. The gunboats and iron- 
 clads built or fitted up on the western rivers, or on the eastern river 
 ports, had invariably a very brief career, and no one of them ever succeeded 
 in getting out to sea, though many attempted it. The Louisiana and 
 Manassas, two iron rams built on the Mississippi, were destroyed in Admiral 
 Farragut's great naval battle, near Fort Jackson. The Merrimac or 
 Virginia, was blown up in Hampton Roads, and her consorts, the Rich- 
 mond and Jamestown, were never able to accomplish any mischief, but 
 were destroyed, when Richmond surrendered, as was another iron-clad 
 which had been long in preparation ; the Rebel squadron at Port Royal 
 was destroyed when the forts were taken, and that at Charleston, only 
 sufficed for an occasional fright to the wooden vessels of the blockading 
 squadron. The Fingal or Atlanta, was captured below Savannah after an 
 action of fifteen minutes, and two iron-clad rams and three gunboats blown 
 up or sunk when Savannah was taken. The Tennessee was captured at 
 the naval battle at the entrance of Mobile Bay, as well as one of tbe gun- 
 boats, and of the others, one was destroyed and the other escaped to Mobile, 
 where that and six or eight more were surrendered, when the city was 
 captured. The Arkansas was blown up and sunk by Commodore Porter's 
 shells, and of the fifteen or twenty more on the waters of the Yazoo, 
 Mississippi, Red, Atchafiilaya and Teche rivers, every one came to grief. 
 The Albemarle, after a single foray on the Union fleet in Albemarle sound, 
 ■was so much crippled by the Sassacus, that she never ventured out again, 
 and in October, 1864, was blown up by Lieutenant Cushing. 
 
 Finding that they were not making much headway against the formid- 
 able Union navy, and appreciating the necessity of preying upon the 
 commerce of the Union, as an effectual means of impairing the national 
 strength, the Rebel President issued, at an early day, letters of marque 
 and reprisal, commissioning privateers from the ships of other nations to 
 assail the commerce of the United States. This measure, at the best only 
 a legalized piracy, had been abolished by the principal nations of Europe 
 •o far as their wars with each other might extend, from a conviction of 
 
830 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 its piratical character ; but it was specially piratical in an insurgent party 
 where there were no ports accessible, into which its prizes could be taken, 
 and no court before which they could be condemned and adjudicated. 
 
 But notwithstanding these disabilities, the British Government had 
 made haste to recognize them as belligerents, and among the large ship- 
 builders of Liverpool, they found no difficulty in procuring the construc- 
 tion of steamers, swift, easily handled, and capable of carrying a formidable 
 armament, which they might arm and equip for cruising the ocean as 
 privateers without their having ever entered a port of the insurgent 
 territory. The Alabama was the first of these private ships, built and 
 fitted out in an English port, by Laird &; Sons, English shipbuilders, 
 armed with British guns, manned with British seamen, and supplied with 
 stores and ammunition by British subjects. The British Government was 
 warned, by the American minister and consul, of the character of this 
 vessel, and her purpose, but the British laws prohibiting the building and 
 equipping a war vessel against a friendly power were too imperfect, or 
 the administration of them too lax, to prevent her from slipping out of 
 the port of Liverpool, on her errand of rapine and plunder, without any 
 efibrt on the part of the British Government to arrest her. 
 
 The United States Government repeatedly remonstrated with that of 
 Great Britain for its disregard or neglect of the rights of a friendly nation 
 and its prompt assistance to the insurgents, whom, with unbecoming haste, 
 and in violation of national etiquette and good faith, it had elevated to the 
 rank of belligerents, and apprized that government in temperate lan- 
 guage that it should, at the proper time, press its claims for remuneration 
 for the damages done to its commerce by the Alabama, and the other 
 vessels which had been fitted out in British ports for these piratical pur- 
 poses. At first this demand was treated with contempt, then with threats 
 of defiance, and finally, as its justice became too evident for denial, with 
 a somewhat sullen consideration, but without any promise of re<lress ; but 
 the end has not yet come, and it will eventually, probably be submitted to 
 arbitration and the award be accepted, though reluctantly, by the British 
 Government. The Alabama, being successful in her purpose, was followed 
 by several other British built vessels, constructed as gunboats, with the 
 design of driving from the seas the American mercantile marine. The 
 Florida or Oreto, the Rappahannock, the Tallahassee, and the Shenandoah, 
 as well as the Georgia, originally a British blockade runner, were also 
 products of British skill. Laird & Sons, the Liverpool shipwrights, elated 
 by their success, undertook to build another gunboat on the model of the 
 Alabama, and two iron-clad rams of great power for the Rebels, which 
 they hoped might be able to enter and destroy some of the American 
 seaports. The British Government thought this was going a little too far, 
 and finding that the navigation laws of the realm were capable of easy 
 evasion the rams were seized, and though a decision was made against 
 
THE REBEL STEAMER ALABAMA. 831 
 
 the Government on technical grounds, the matter was finally settled by 
 the purchase of the rams for the British navy. The French Government, 
 at the same time, interposed to prevent the furnishing to the Eebels of two 
 iron-clad rams, building for them by Armand, a French ship builder. 
 These Armand ships were subsequently sold to the Danish Government, 
 but one of them, proving unfit for their use, was returned upon the 
 builder and, by some trickery, came into the possession of the Eebels, 
 though too late to be of service to them. 
 
 Let us now trace, briefly, the history of the English built, or as we might 
 appropriately name them, the Anglo-Rebel privateers. The Alabama left 
 Liverpool on the 29th of July, 1862, and though occasionally calling in 
 at British colonial ports for supplies and coal, or to land its prisoners, was 
 kept afloat most of the time for two years. During this period it com- 
 mitted serious havoc with the American commerce, having captured, 
 plundered, and boarded or burned more than sixty merchant ships, 
 destroying or stealing property to the amount of nearly seven millions of 
 dollars. She carefully avoided, and by her great speed, succeeded in 
 escaping from collisions with American war vessels, preferring to plunder 
 the weak and defenceless, rather than to fight a vessel which was her 
 match in size, crew, and armament. She had, indeed, attacked the gun- 
 boat Hatteras off Galveston, a vessel decidedly her inferior, but it was done 
 with a perfidy in keeping with her entire career ; she hoisted English 
 colors, and on being hailed, professed to be her majesty's ship Petrel, and 
 invited an approach ; the Hatteras, unsuspicious of the deception, came 
 nearer, and when she was sufficiently near and in position to be raked by 
 it, the Alabama poured in a full broadside without warning, which sunk 
 her almost immediately. 
 
 The United States cruisers had sought for this piratical craft in every 
 sea, and more than once had drawn so near to her in some of the foreign 
 ports, that but for the provision which kept them from pursuing her for 
 twenty -four hours after she left the port, they would have ended her career. 
 A time finally came when she could no longer escape their pursuit. 
 Early in June, 1864, the Alabama put into the port of Cherbourg, France, 
 asking the privilege of refitting there. The Kearsarge, an American steam 
 sloop of war, ranking as a third rate, built in the first year of the war, 
 and very nearly a match for the Alabama, though slightly inferior in 
 size, tonnage, and the number of her guns, had been following the Ala- 
 bama for nearly a year most persistently, her commmander. Captain (now 
 Commodore) John A. Winslow, being determined if possible to bring the 
 pirate to bay. On learning that the Alabama was at Cherbourg, Captain 
 Winslow sailed at once for that port, and arrived there on the 14th of 
 June. 
 
 The commander of the Alabama, Captain Eaphael Semmes, found him 
 self cornered, and believing that a fight was inevitable, and that by adding 
 
832 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to his crew he would be an overmatch for the Kearsarge, resolved to put 
 a bold face upon the matter, and accordingly sent a request to Captain 
 Winslow "that he would not leave the port, as he would in a day or two, 
 as soon as he could make the necessary preparations, come out of the 
 harbor and fight him." Captain Winslow had no intention of leaving the 
 port so long as the Alabama remained there, so he quietly waited for "the 
 preparations" to be completed. These, which occupied five days, con- 
 sisted mainly in sending onshore his valuables, including upward of sixty 
 chronometers, taken from American merchant ships, and in receiving 
 from England trained gunners from her majesty's ship Excellent, officers 
 and men, to serve his guns. The Deerhound, a steel vessel belonging to 
 the royal yacht squadron, the property of a Mr. John Lancaster, arrived 
 during this time, and acted as a tender to the Alabama, both before and 
 after the engagement. The Alabama had been put in good repair during 
 her stay at Cherbourg, and had taken in her supply of coal, three hundred 
 and fifty tons, and her coal bunkers being between the frame and the ma- 
 chinery of the ship, protected the engines, boilers, and steam chest ; to this 
 also the weight of the coal, which brought her low down in the water, 
 contributed. The Kearsarge being light, stopped her chain cables up and 
 down her sides, amid.ship, to partially protect her engines and boilers from 
 the enemy's shot. The two vessels as we have said were nearly matched, 
 though the Alabama had a slight advantage; her dimensions were, length 
 over all, two hundred and twenty feet; lengthon the water line, two hun- 
 dred and ten feet; breadth of beam, thirty-two feet; depth, seventeen feet; 
 she had two engines of three hundred horse-power each ; her tonnage was 
 one thousand one hundred and fifty tons, she carried eight guns, one one 
 hundred and ten pounder Blakely rifle, and one sixty-eight pounder 
 English navy gun, which the British admiralty had not long before 
 pronounced the best gun in existence for naval warfare, and six thirty- 
 two pounders. The crew of the Alabama, including their additions just 
 before the engagement, must have numbered about one hundred and sixty. 
 
 The dimensions of the Kearsarge were, length over all, two hundred and 
 fourteen and a quarter feet ; length on water line, one hundred and ninety- 
 eight and a half feet ; breadth of beam, thirty-three feet ; depth sixteen feet ; 
 horse-power, two engines of one thousand horse power each ; tonnage, one 
 thousand and thirty-one tons. The armament of the Kearsarge was two 
 eleven inch smooth bore guns, (Dahlgren) ; one thirty pounder rifle ; four 
 thirty-two pounders. Her crew numbered one hundred and sixty-two 
 men. 
 
 Early in the morning of Sunday, June 19, 1864, the Alabama was ob- 
 served making preparations to cast loose from her moorings, with the 
 evident design of putting out to sea. Hereupon, the Deerhound steamed 
 up and left Cherbourg at nine A. M. An hour and a half later, the Ala- 
 bama followed, and the French iron-clad Couronn^ moved out and took a 
 
THE KEAESARGE AND ALABAMA. 833 
 
 position three miles from shore, to prevent fighting in neutral waters. 
 Captain Winslow, perceiving these movements, headed the Kearsarge 
 seaward, and steamed out till he had attained a point about seven miles 
 from the shore, the Alabama following in his wake, at a distance of about 
 a mile and a half. 
 
 The head of the Kearsarge was now turned short around, and the ship 
 steered directly for the Alabama, Captain Winslow's purpose being to run 
 her down, or, if circumstances should not warrant it, to close in with her. 
 
 "We can hardly do better than to allow the gallant captain of the Kear- 
 sarge to relate the story of the engagement in his own graphic words, every 
 point being abundantly verified by the testimony of eye witnesses : 
 
 " Hardly had the Kearsarge come round before the Alabama sheered, . 
 presented* her starboard battery, and slowed her engines. On approach- 
 ing her at long range of about a mile, she opened her fall broadside, the 
 shot cutting some of our rigging and going over and alongside of us. 
 
 "Immediately I ordered more speed; but in two minutes the Alabama 
 had loaded and again fired another broadside, and following it with a 
 third, without damaging us except in rigging. 
 
 " We had now arrived within about nine hundred yards of her, and I 
 was apprehensive that another broadside — nearly raking as it was — would 
 prove disastrous. Accordingly, I ordered the Kearsarge sheered, and 
 opened on the Alabama. The position of the vessels was now broadside 
 and broadside ; but it was soon apparent that Captain Semmes did not 
 seek close action. I became then fearful, lest after some fighting, he 
 would again make for the shore. To defeat this, I determined to keep 
 full speed on, and with a port helm to run under the stern of the Alabama 
 and rake her, if he did not prevent it by sheering and keeping his broad- 
 side to us. He adopted this mode as a preventive, and, as a consequence, 
 the Alabama was forced with a full head of steam into a circular track 
 during the engagement. 
 
 The effect of this manoeuvre was such that, at the last of the action, 
 when the Alabama would have made off, she was near five miles from the 
 shore; and had the action continued from the first in parallel lines, with 
 her head in shore, the line of jurisdiction would no doubt have been 
 reached. The firing of the Alabama at the first was rapid and wild ; 
 toward the close of the action her firing became better. Our men, who 
 had been cautioned against rapid firing without direct aim, were much 
 more deliberate ; and the instructions given to point the heavy guns 
 below rather than above the water-line, and clear the deck with the lighter 
 ones, was fully observed. 
 
 " I had endeavored, with a port helm, to close in with the Alabama ; 
 
 but it was not until just before the close of the action, that we were in 
 
 position to use grape. This was avoided, however, by her surrender. 
 
 The effect of the training of our men Avas evident ; nearly every shot from 
 
 53 
 
834 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 our guns was telling fearfully on the Alabama, and on the seventh rota- 
 tion on tlie circular track she winded, setting foretrysail and two jibs, with 
 head in shore. Her' speed was now retarded, and by winding, her port 
 broadside was presented to us, with only two guns bearing, not having 
 been able, as I learned afterward, to shift over but one. I saw now that 
 she was at our mercy, and a few more guns well directed brought down 
 her flag. I was unable to ascertain whether it had been hauled down or 
 shot away ; but a white flag having been displayed over the stern, our 
 fire was reserved. Two minutes had not more than elapsed before she 
 again opened on us with the two guns on the port side. This drew our 
 lire again, and the Kearsarge was immediately steamed ahe.id and laid 
 across her bows for raking. The white flag was still flying, and our Are 
 was again reserved. Shortly after this, her boats were seen to be lowering, 
 and an officer, in one of them, came alongside, and informed us the ship 
 had surrendered, and was fast sinking. In twenty minutes from this time 
 tlie Alabama went down, her mainmast, which had been shot, breaking 
 near the head as she sunk, and her bow rising high out of the water as 
 her stern rapidly settled. 
 
 '• The fire of the Alabama, although it is stated she discharged three 
 hundred and seventy or more shell and shot, was not of serious damage 
 to the Kearsarge. 
 
 " Some thirteen or fourteen of these had taken effect in and about the 
 hull, and sixteen or seventeen about the masts and rigging. The casual- 
 ties were small, only three persons having been wounded ; yet it is a 
 matter of surprise that so few were injured, considering the number of 
 projectiles that came abroad. Two shot passed through the ports in which 
 the thirty-twos were placed, with men thickly stationed around them, one 
 taking eft'eet in the hammock netting, and the other going through the port 
 on the opposite side, yet no one was hit, the captain of one of the guns 
 being only knocked down by the wind of the shot, as supposed. 
 
 " The fire of the Kearsarge, although only one hundred and seventy- 
 three projectiles had been discharged, according to the prisoners' accounts, 
 was terrific. One shot alone had killed and wounded eighteen men and 
 disabled a gun. Another had entered the coal-bunkers, exploding, and 
 completely blocking up the engine-room ; and Captain Semmes states 
 that shot and shell had taken eflbct in the sides of his vessel, tearing large 
 holes by explosion, and his men were everywhere knocked down." 
 
 The boats of the Kearsarge were at once lowered to endeavor to save 
 the crew of the Alabama from drowning, and the Deerhound coming up, 
 Captain Winslow, supposing her to be a neutral, requested her to aid in 
 picking up the drowning men. Her owner complied with the request, 
 picking up forty-one men, and Semmes among them ; but having rescued 
 them, lie bore off" at once for the English shore, where he landed them, 
 and where Semmes was received with the honors due to a conqueror ; 
 
THE REBEL SBMMES RECEIVES OVATIONS. 835 
 
 ovations being tendered to him, and sympathy for his misfortune, all of 
 which he accepted with great complacency. Such was the neutrality of 
 Great Britain ! Onptain Winslow, having rescued seventy of the crew of 
 the Alabama, three of whom died of their wounds, returned to Cherbourg, 
 where the wounded were placed in hospital, and the uninjured paroled, 
 as he had no place in which he could confine them. Semines soon after 
 returned, on a blockade runner, to the South, where he was put in com- 
 mand of a naval brigade, and was connected with Johnston's army at the 
 time of the surrender. 
 
 . The casualties on the Alabama were probably about forty-eight killed 
 or drowned, and fifteen wounded, who were saved by Captain Winslow. 
 
 Great efforts were made by sympathizers with the Eebels in Great 
 Britain to excite sympathy for the Alabama and its commander and crew 
 by the grossest misrepresentations in regard to the size, armament, crew 
 and management of the Kearsarge, but these were very thoroughly and 
 completely refuted by Mr. Frederick Milnes Edge, who *tnvestigated with 
 great care all the circumstances of the engagement, taking the testimony 
 of the crews of both vessels and the statements of those who were spectators 
 of the fight, and published the result of his examination in a pamphlet, 
 which was extensively circulated. 
 
 The loss of the Alabama was a serious blow to the Eebel cause, for 
 though perhaps the ships she had captured gave up no portion of their 
 sjioil to the Eebel Government, yet it was much, that the}- had been able to 
 drive a large proportion of the mercantile marine of the United States to 
 seek protection under a foreign register and flag. But the blow was felt 
 still more severely in Great Britain, where a large section of the nobility 
 the greater part of the. army and navy officers, and most of the commercial 
 class, were sympathizers with the Eebellion. The Alabama, as an Eno-lish 
 built ship, armed and equipped in England, and having an almost exclu- 
 sively British crew, was, they felt, their representative in the cause of the 
 Eebellion, and their rage knew no bounds, when, after an hour's fight, the 
 Kearsarge, her inferior in every respect, except in the weight of metal 
 and admirable service of her large guris, sent her to the bottom of the channel, 
 herself receiving such slight injuries as to be ready for further naval battles 
 the next day. 
 
 The rejoicing in the United States over the destruction of the Alabama 
 was not over when news came that tTae Georgia or Japan, (most of these 
 Anglo-Eebel privateers had an alias,) had been captured by Commander 
 T. T. Craven of the United States steamer Niagara. This steamer, after a 
 not remarkably successful career, as a privateer, had been nominally 
 (perhaps reall}') sold to English parties, as a merchant vessel, but as she 
 was, under international law, open to capture and condemnation as lawful 
 prize of war, she was pursued by the Niagara, and captured off the coast 
 
836 THE OIVIL WAR IN THE UNITKD STATES. 
 
 of Portugal. The officers and crew then on board, not being implicated 
 in privateering, were set at liberty. 
 
 The Florida or Oreto, another of the Rebel privatoprs, built, manned, 
 and equipped in Great Britain, had succeeded once in running the blockade 
 of Mobile harbor and entered that port, from which she soon after made 
 her escape, to enter upon a course of piracy, more marked, though perhajis 
 not quite a."* destructive, as that of the Alabama. Her commander, Capt. 
 J. N. Maffitt, had been an officer of the United States navy, but had failed 
 to acquire there that high sense of honor, wliich should and generally does 
 characterize the officers of the navy. His career during the two years i n 
 which he was in command of the Florida, was one of falsehood, petty 
 tyranny and theft. In the summer of 18(34, he left the vessel in Europe," 
 and a Captain Morris was put in command of her ; a large part of her 
 depredations had consisted in seizing, plundering, and burning small 
 fishing vessels oft" the eastern coast of the United States, a class of vessels 
 always previously- left untouched by privateers, or the legitimate navy of 
 contending powers, as being engaged in a calling which did not minister 
 to the maintenance of war. After a few more seizures of this kind, the 
 Florida, under her new captain, sailed for the South American coast, 
 probably with the intention of effecting the destruction of the seal fishing 
 and whaling fleet. On the 5th of October, 186-i, she put into the Brazilian 
 port of Bahia for some repair.?, and at first lay in the offing, the Wachusett, 
 a United States sloop-of-war, being at the time in the harbor. The Bra- 
 zilian local authorities were very cordial to the Rebel ship, and invited 
 her to coine up to the harbor, though the United States'Consul, Mr. Wilson 
 protested against it. Early in the morning of the 7th of October, the 
 Wachusett) shipped her cables, and ran down upon the Florida under 
 full force of steam, with the intention of crushing in her side and sinking 
 her. She failed, however, to strike her amidships, but hit her in the stern, 
 and carried away her mizzen mast and mainyard. About one half of the 
 Rebel crew were on shore, and the remainder were entirely unprepared 
 for such an attack. There was, after the collision, some pistol shooting, 
 but without effect, and Commander Collins called out to the lieutenant in 
 command of the Florida, '• Surrender, or I will blow you out of water." 
 The lieutenant replied, "Under the circumstances, I surrender." The 
 Wachusett's crew immediately boarded the Rebel steamer, made her fast 
 to their own vessel, with a hawser," and turning their course seaward, 
 towed her out of the harbor at full speed, passing between the Brazilian 
 war vessels in their passage. These challenged the two vessels, but 
 received no reply, and opened upon them with the guns of the fort, but 
 without effect; the Brazilian naval commander immediately sent out two 
 ve.ssels of his fleet in pursuit, but they could not overtake the fleet Wachu- 
 sett, and she brought her prize in safety to Hampton Roads, where, how- 
 ever, it soon sank, from a leak which was said to have been increased by 
 
■■LIEUTENANT BBBD'S ADVENTURE AS A PIRATE. 83T 
 
 an accidental collision with a war transport. The conduct of Commander 
 Collins in this matter, though prompted by patriotic motives, was liable 
 to censure, for though the Florida was entitled to no consideration in the 
 matter, yet respect was due to Brazil as a neutral power. The Govern- 
 ment of the United States, when the matter was brought to their cogni- 
 zance by the Brazilian minister, promptly suspended Commander Collins, 
 and tried him before a court-martial, (which however, did not pass a very 
 severe sentence upon him), and removed the Consul, who, it appeared, had 
 counselled the attack. They also offered to salute the Brazilian flag and 
 let the captured crew of the Florida at liberty in a foreign port ; at the 
 same time the Secretary of State administered to the Brazilian Government 
 a sharp reproof for her recognition of the Rebels as belligerents, and for 
 the partiality manifested to them on this and other occasions. The Em- 
 peror of Brazil was fully satisfied with the amende offered by the United 
 States, though the prominent English newspapers in the interest of the 
 Eebels officiously endeavored to incite the Brazilian Government to 
 greater and unreasonable demands. It had been the habit of Captain 
 Maffitt, when in command of the Florida, to fit out some of the vessels 
 which he captured as privateers to prey upon the coast and fishing vessels. 
 One of these, the Clarence, captured in May, 1863, was supplied with a 
 crew and armament, and put under the command of Lieutenant Charles 
 "W. Reed, formerly a midshipman in the United States navy. After 
 taking and burning several coasters, Lieutenant Reed, on the 12th of June, 
 captured the bark Taeony, off' the capes of Virginia, and transferring his 
 armament to her, abandoned the Clarence, and captured during the next 
 twelve days a large number of coasting and fishing vessels. Learning 
 that the United States cruisers were on his track. Lieutenant Reed burned 
 the Taeony, transferring his armament to the schooner Archer, one of 
 his latest captures, and sailed for Portland, Maine, with the intention of 
 burning two gunboats building there, and cutting out the revenue cutter 
 Cushing, then lying in Portland harbor. He did not succeed in burning 
 the gunboats, but boarded and captured the cutter and started for sea 
 immediately. 
 
 With commmendable promptness the collector of the port organized a 
 volunteer force and sent them in pursuit on two ocean steamers, the Ches- 
 apeake and the Forest City, then in port. They overhauled the Cushing 
 a short distance from the harbor, and as they had no heavy guns, made 
 preparations to run her down and board her, when the Rebels set the 
 cutter on fire and took to their boats. She blew up before the Union 
 vessels could reach her, but they captured the Archer and the boats and 
 put the Rebel of&cers and crew in confinement. The Rebels entertained 
 a bitter hostility to the Chesapeake, an ocean steamer plying between 
 Portland and New York, for the part which she had taken in this affair, 
 and threats were freely made in regard to her, but they were not heeded. 
 
838 THE CIVIL WAR IN 'I'HE UNITED STATES. 
 
 On the 6th of December, 1863, a party of sixteen Rebels, some of them 
 bearing commissions from the Rebel Grovernment at Richmond, who had 
 shipped as passengers on the Chesapeake at New York, rose upon the 
 officers of the ship, seized it, put the Captain in irons, killed the first mate 
 and one of the passengers, and threw the body of the latter overboard. 
 They retained the remainder of the ovcw and a part of the passengers on 
 board for awhile, but finally sent them ashore in a boat, and sailed to the 
 eastward. On the receipt of intelligence of her capture, a fleet of war 
 vessels were immediately sent in pursuit of her, and on the 17th of De- 
 cember slic was captured by the Ella and Anna, in Sambro harbor, and 
 with a portion of her crew, carried to Halifax and delivered up to the 
 provincial authorities. A mob gathered at once (Halifax being largely 
 interested in blockade running,) and rescued and liberated the prisoners. 
 The provincial court, on the demand of the owners, gave up the vessel 
 to them. Several other attempts were made soon after in the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and on the lakes, to seize steamers in the same way and transform 
 them into Rebel privateers, but none of them met with much success. In 
 August, 1864:, another of a new fleet of privateers built for the Rebels in 
 Great Britain by their sympathizing friends, the Tallahassee, made her 
 appearance on the coast of New England and the Middle States, and in 
 ten days destroyed thirty-three vessels, mostly coasting and fishing vessels. 
 Pursued by numerous cruisers, she finally managed to slip into Wilming- 
 ton, North Carolina, from whence she never came out again. In Novem- 
 ber, two others of the .same fleet, the Olu.stee and Chickamauga, both iron 
 vessels, built in the Clyde, and of great speed, appeared on the coast and 
 did some mischief. The Chickamauga was soon compelled to take refuge 
 in Wilmington, and the Olustec disappeared mysteriously. When Fort 
 Fisher was taken, in January, 1865, both the Chickamauga and Tallahassee 
 were blown up by the Rebels. The Shenandoah, or'Sea King, which had 
 been built at Glasgow in October, 1863, and on the 20th of September, 
 1864, transferred to a Rebel sympathizer in London, who authorized the 
 captain of the vessel to sell her for fifteen thousand pounds, at any port 
 out of the United Kingdom. She was then entered and cleared as a 
 merchant vessel in ballast, for Bombay. Meantime, her armament and 
 crew had been sent out in another vessel, the Laurel, and by agreement, 
 the two vessels met at Madeira, where the armament and crew were put 
 on board the Sea King and her name changed to the Shenandoah, and she 
 started on a pirjitical cruise around the world. Her armament consisted 
 of six guns, four of them sixty-eight pounders, and two thirty-two 
 pounders. Her crew were all British sailors. She cruised first in the 
 South-Atlantic, and then in the Bay of Bengal, and in February, 1865, 
 entered the port of Melbourne, Australia, where, in accordance with 
 British ideas of neutrality, she was coaled, provisioned, and received a 
 reinforcement of men. After sometime spent there, and in that vicinity, 
 
THE CAREER OF THE STONEWALL OR OLINDE. 839 
 
 she sailed foi* the northwest coast and commenced making terrible Imvoc 
 among the American whale ships. The President of the United States had 
 made jDroclamation in April against her as a pirate, but the British Gov- 
 ernment delayed making any proclamation until June, and then gave a 
 month's grace after she received the proclamation before she was to be 
 considered as a pirate. Meantime, she destroyed twenty-five, and bonded 
 four whaling vessels, from the beginning of April to the last of June, 
 1865, and several others subsequently. In the latter part of August, her 
 captain, who had been repeatedly informed by the crews of the ships he 
 had taken, that the Confederacy had ceased to exist, but refused to believe 
 it until he had been so informed by British authority, left the Arctic 
 ocean, and on the 6th of November, arrived in the Mersey, and delivered 
 himself and his vessel up to a British man-of-war, lying in Liverpool 
 harbor. The British Government, actuated probably by the same neutral 
 spirit which had influenced them through the war, set the captain and 
 crew at liberty, but decided that the vessel must be given up to the 
 American consul. 
 
 With the history of one other ship of war furnished to the Rebels by 
 European neutrality, we close this record of the Rebel navy. The 
 Olinde or Stonewall was one of the two iron-clad rams built by Armand, 
 a French ship builder, for the Rebels, which the French Government com- 
 pelled him to sell to the Danish Government. She did not prove satisfac- 
 tory to that government, and was returned upon the hands of the builder. 
 By some trickery, not creditable to Armand or others concerned in it, she 
 was finally transferred to the Rebels, and on the 28th of January, 1865, 
 sailed from Nantes, France. On the ith of February, she put into the port 
 of Ferrol, Spain, where the Niagara blockaded her for some time. On 
 the 21st of March she came out, but the Niagara pursuing her she re- 
 turned, evidently fearing her formidable antagonist. On the 27th of 
 March she escaped to Lisbon, but was ordered away from that port by the 
 Portuguese authorities, and the Niagara and Sacramento, which had fol- 
 lowed her thither, were fired upon by the Portuguese forts, on the suppo- 
 sition that they intended following her before twenty-four hours after her 
 departure had elapsed. Having thus escaped from her pursuers, she sailed 
 for the Gulf of Mexico, taking Bermuda in her way, but finding the 
 Niagara and Sacramento still in her wake, she put into Havana, and be- 
 coming convinced that there was no hope of her escape, and that the 
 Rebel Confederacy had exploded, her captain surrendered her to the 
 Captain-General of Cuba, who received her on deposit, and awaited in- 
 structions from the Spanish Government as to the future disposition to be 
 made of her ; that Government ordered her to be given up to the United 
 States, but requested the payment of indebtedness incurred by the Rebel 
 commander in her behalf. This was granted, and the vessel transferred to 
 the navy of the United States. 
 
840 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The number of merchant vessels destroyed by these Rebel cruisers 
 during the war was more than three hundred, and the value of the ships 
 and cargoes not far from thirty millions of dollars ; but this was by no 
 means the only injury inflicted upon American commerce thereby ; the 
 war risk for insurance was very greatly enhanced ; seven hundred and 
 fifteen American vessels, with a total capacity of four hundred and eighty 
 thousand eight hundred and eighty-two tons were, during the war, trans- 
 ferred to the British or other foreign flags, to avoid capture by these 
 cruisers, and the carrying trade, under the American flag, fell oft' two 
 thirds in amount, while that under foreign flags increased in a like ratio. 
 
DISTURBANCES IN MISSOURI. 841 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 DISTURBANCES IN MISSOURI — THE SMALL NUMBER OF TROOPS IX THE DEPARTMENT — GENERAL 
 ROSEORANS IN COMMAND THERE — PRICE THINKS THE OPPORTUNITY FAVORABLE FOR AN- 
 OTHER INVASION OP MISSOURI — MARMADUKE SENT TO TEST ITS FEASIBILITY — HE IS 
 
 REPULSED AND DRIVEN BACK TOWARD ARKANSAS PRICK's EXPEDITION IN SEPTEMBER 
 
 THE NUMBER OP HIS TROOPS— THE UNION FORCE COLLECTED TO OPPOSE HIM — THE BATTLE 
 OF PILOT KNOB — FIGHT AT HARRISOn's_ STATION — SKILFUL MANAGEMENT OF GENERAL 
 KWINO — ROLLA SECURELY GARRISONED — GENERAL PLEASONTON TAKES COMMAND OF THE 
 CAVALRY — CONDITION OF ST. LOUIS AND JEFFERSON CITY — PRICE MAKES A FATAL DELAY — 
 HE THREATENS JEFFERSON CITY, BUT FINDING IT TOO STRONGLY DEFENDED, TURNS ASIDE 
 TO BOONEVILLE — SANBORN FOLLOWS AND HARASSES HIM — PLEASONTON JOINS IN THE 
 PURSUIT — THE BATTLES OF THE BIG BLUE — LITTLE OSAGE CROSSING, AND MARAIS DES 
 CYGNES — PRICE COMPLETELY ROUTED — HE IS DEFEATED ONCE MORE AT NEWTONIA — RE- 
 SULTS — INDIAN TROUBLES ON THE FRONTIER — THE LEAGUE AMONG THE TRIBES OF THE 
 SIOUX NATION— GENERAL POPE's IDEAS OF THE BEST METHOD OF BREAKING THEIR POWER 
 — GENERAL SULLY SENT WITH A LARGE CAVALRY FORCE TO ATTACK THEM, AND POSTS 
 ESTABLISHED ALONG THE FRONTIER — HIS CAMPAIGN — THE BATTLE NEAR THE LITTLE MIS- 
 SOURI — THE DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF THE INDIANS — SULLY FALLS BACK TO HIS TRAINS 
 And PURSUES them to the " bad lands" — description of the " BAD lands" — HE 
 ATTACKS AND DEFEATS THE INDIANS AGAIN — THEY ARE COMPLETELY SCATTERED AND 
 BROKEN — GENERAL POPE'S PLANS FOR PEACE WITH THEM IN FUTURE— THE MASSACRE OF THE 
 CHEYENNES BY COLONEL CHIVINGTON — DETAILS OF THE SURPRISE AND SLAUGHTER — INVESTI- 
 GATION BY THF, COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR — CHIVINGTON ORDERED ARRESTED — 
 REBEL PLOTS AGAINST THE CITIZENS OF THE NORTHERN STATES — THE SCHEME FOR THE 
 RELEASE OP THE JOHNSOn's ISLAND PRISONERS, AND THE BURNING OF BUFFALO, CLEVE- 
 LAND, ETC. — HOW BAFFLED — BLACKBURN'S PLAN FOR DISSEMINATING YELLOW FEVER AND 
 SMALL-POX — JOHN T. BEALL's RAID UPON LAKE STEAMERS — HIS CAPTURE, TRIAL, AND 
 EXECUTION — THE RAID ON ST. ALBANS — ARREST AND DISCHARGE OF THE ROBBERS — THE 
 PLOT FOR RELEASING THE PRISONERS AND DESTROYING CHICAGO — HOW DISCOVERED — 
 ATTEMPT TO BURN THE HOTELS IN NEW YORK — ARREST TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF KENNEDY. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 1864, there were considerable dis- 
 turbances from the Rebels in Missouri. On the 30th of January, 1864, 
 General Rosecrans had been assigned to the command of the Department 
 of Missouri, relieving General Schofield, who was transferred to the Depart- 
 ment of the Ohio. The necessity of raising a large force for Sherman's 
 Meridian expedition, and after that general became commander of the 
 Military Division of the Mississippi, the gathering of the larger part of his 
 troops for the campaign in Georgia, compelled the reduction of the force 
 ill Missouri to the lowest number which would suffice for holding the 
 position. The old Missouri State militia, a part of which had proved un- 
 reliable, bad been disbanded, and but few of the enrolled Missouri militia, 
 a more loyal and efficient organization, were now in the service. In June, 
 General Rosecrans' entire effective force consisted of six thousand five 
 iiundred mounted men for field duty, scattered over a country four bun- 
 
842 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 dred miles long and three hundred broad, and a few partially organized 
 new infantry regiments, and dismounted men. This was the entire force 
 for the protection of the great depots at St. Louis, Jefferson city, St. Joseph, 
 Macon, Springfield, Rolla, and Pilot Knob. 
 
 The same force were also required to guard the railroad lines and 
 bridges against invasion, and to protect, as far as possible, the lives and 
 property of citizens from the guerrillas, who swarmed over the whole 
 country bordering on the Missouri river. As the preservation of St. Louis 
 and its vicinity from Kebel attack was of the first importance, General 
 Rosecrans felt it necessary to concentrate the larger part of his force, in 
 the neighborhood of that city, and along the line of the principal railroads 
 radiating from it. The country south of the Maramec was thus left a 
 prey to anarchy. 
 
 This state of things was speedily known to the Rebel General Sterling 
 Price, and though he had been so often repulsed, he thought he now saw 
 before him the opportunity of invading Missouri with success, and of 
 accomplishing what had long been his highest ambition, the subjugation 
 of St. Louis, his own former residence. His long experience of the supe- 
 riority of the Union troops to his own, in pluck, endurance, and resolute 
 courage, had made him cautious, and he accordingly sent Marmaduke 
 forward with a mixed force, partly bushwhackers, of about six thousand 
 infantry and cavalry and three batteries, about the llrst of June, 186i, to 
 penetrate into southern Missouri, and, if possible, reach the Missouri river 
 and interrupt its navigation. Marmaduke pushed forward, and occupied 
 Lake Village, from whence he began to annoy the boats on the Missouri, 
 but his operations were speedily cut short. General A. J. Smith, (with 
 portions of the sixteenth and seventeenth corps,) who was on his way from 
 the disastrous Red river ex])edition, to join Sherman's army, was ordered 
 to ascend the Mississippi and Missouri, and put an end to Marmaduke's 
 foray. On the 5th of June, this force, consisting of Mower's division of 
 the sixteenth corp.s, and one brigade of the seventeenth, diseml)arked at 
 Sunnyside, and marched rapidly upon Marmaduke, attacked, defeated, and 
 drove him back toward Arkansas, and on the 7th of June re-embarked for 
 Memphis. During the summer, Price remained tolerably quiet, but in 
 September, attracted by the offers and promises of the Knights of the 
 Golden Circle and other disloyalists in Missouri and Illinois, who pledged 
 their co-operation and aid in killing off the Union citizens, and preventing 
 the ballot for President, which was to take place on the 8tli of November, 
 he again made preparations to enter Missouri. 
 
 He crossed the Arkansas river on the 21st of September, with two 
 divisions of cavalry, and three batteries of artillery; and at Batesville, Arkan- 
 sas, was joined by the Rebel General Shelby, who had* previously been 
 confronting General Steele. The combined Rebel force was about fifteen 
 thousand men, the greater part cavalry. Their first movement norlliwanl. 
 
PRICE'S EXPEDITION IN SEPTEMBER. 843 
 
 was a feint toward Springfield, Missouri, but after proceeding a short dis- 
 tance in that direction, they turned off toward Pilot Knob. St. Louis 
 was, as we have said. Price's objective in this expedition. No sooner had 
 Price commenced his march, than Steele followed, having been reinforced 
 by Mower's division of the sixteenth corps, and Winslow's cavalry, which 
 had been sent from Memphis by General Washburne. General A. J. 
 Smith, who was on his way from western Arkansas to join Sherman's 
 army, with a force of four thousand five hundred men, crossed to Browns- 
 ville, Arkansas, and thence by a severe march of three hundred and twelve 
 miles, occupying nineteen days, reached Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and 
 embarking his men on transports was conveyed to Jefferson City, Missouri. 
 On the 23d of September, Price's advance, under Shelby, occupied 
 Bloomfield, which had been evacuated by the Union troops two days 
 before. Price now pushed on for Pilot Knob, which was occupied by 
 the Union General Ewing, with two regiments of volunteers, and detach- 
 ments from three militia regiments. General Ewing had sent off his 
 stores to St. Louis, which was now strongly garrisoned, having nearly 
 ten thousand troops, the greater part of them militia and hundred days' 
 men, guarding it. But though he had secured his stores from danger, 
 Ewing was too brave an officer to abandon his post, while there was a 
 possibility of holding it. The Rebel advance was repulsed promptly, 
 and then as their main body came up, he took his position in the fort, a 
 strong one, mounting fourteen guns, but unfortunately, commanded by 
 Shepherd's Mountain, an eminence near by. The Rebels assaulted the 
 fort without delay, but the terrible fii'e of his artillery and musketry, re- 
 served till they came within short range, drove them back with heavy 
 loss, and greatly enraged at their repulse, they presently moved off and 
 occupied Shepherd's Mountain, and Ewing finding that he would be com- 
 pelled to evacuate the fort, spiked his guns, blew up his magaziue, and 
 fell back to Harrison station, on the southwest branch railroad, where 
 were some breastworks previously occupied by militia. His retreat to 
 this point was a running fight for the whole distance, and the enemy 
 were only kept at bay by the skilful and constant use of his artillery. 
 At Harrison, he made a brave stand and fought the enemy for a long time, 
 but they had cut the railroad on both sides of him, and were about sur- 
 rounding his little force, when Colonel Beveridge came up with a rein- ■ 
 forcement of five hundred men, which the Rebels supposed to be the 
 advance-guard of a large body of troops, and hesitated to attack. Avail- 
 ing himself of this hesitation, General Ewing marched rapidly for Rolla, 
 where he arrived next morning. In this two days' fight, the Rebels had 
 lost over one thousand in killed and wounded, and had been delayed, at 
 a time when every moment was of great value to the Union commanders 
 at St. Louis and Jefferson City, in hurrying forward their troops. Rolla, 
 to which point General Ewing had retreated, was now strongly garrisoned ; 
 
844 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 General Sanborn, who was stationed at Springfield, having ascertained 
 that the enemy had no intentions on that place, had brought the greater 
 part of his garrison to Eolla, to reinforce General McNeil. At St. Louis, 
 General Pleasonton, one of the best cavalry officers in the army, had 
 relieved General Frank P. Blair in command of the cavalry, and Senator 
 B. Gratz Brown had been put in command of the militia, by General Rose- 
 crans. St. Louis was by this time so strongly fortified and defended, that 
 Price durst not assail it. At Jefferson City, the enrolled militia were gath- 
 ered under command of General E. B. Brown, and General Clinton !&. Fisk 
 had drawn thither all the available troops from northern Missouri. These, 
 with General A. J. Smith's veterans, forty-five hundred in number, made 
 the State capital so strong that its capture would require more and better 
 troops than Price had at command, while McNeil and Sanborn at Rolla 
 were within reasonable supporting distance. Price committed the mis- 
 take of remaining for two or three days at Richwood, near Pilot Knob, 
 and threatening St. Louis, while he issued a proclamation to the people 
 of Missouri, in which he stated that he had come into the state with the 
 intention of remaining; that he desired to make friends, and not enemies, 
 and that the depredations which he had committed were a military neces- 
 sity. About the 5th of October, he moved toward Jefter.son City, and 
 Generals McNeil and Sanborn, apprized promptly of his movements, 
 moved at once with all their available cavalry, and making forced 
 marches, reached the capital a few hours before him, and finding himself 
 confronted by so formidable a force. Price turned aside toward Boone- 
 ville. General Pleasonton, who had taken command at Jefferson City, 
 sent a cavalry force under General Sanborn in pursuit of him, and he, 
 hanging upon Price's rear, harrassed him, driving in his rear-guard, and 
 gleaning many prisoners. On the 17tli of October, General Pleasonton, 
 who had followed with the main body of his army, moved from Sedalia 
 with the determination of bringing Price to an engagement. On the 19th 
 of October, he formed a junction with "Winslow's cavalry, which had 
 followed Price from Arkansas, and now came up with his troops. This 
 addition gave him sixty-five hundred mounted troops, beside a consid- 
 erable infantry force. 
 
 On the 22d of October, Pleasonton overtook Price at the Little Blue 
 river, and drove him thence to the Big Blue, at Independence, where he 
 attacked his rear-guard, and captured two guns. Price's advance had 
 met, on the 21st, General Blunt, with a small force, near the Big Blue, 
 and had repulsed him, causing him to fall back to his reserves, which 
 were under command of General Curtis, and had come from Kansas to 
 attack Price. 
 
 On the 28d, Curtis, who held Westport, was attacked by Shelby, who 
 commanded Price's advance, and compelled to fall back, when Pleasonton 
 came up and defeated Price's forces, and compelled them to retreat south- 
 
*»M\'^r,>^^. ^>x-r-.<v 
 
PRICE COMPLETELY ROUTED. 845 
 
 ward on the Fort Scott road. Pleasonton and Curtis, having joined forces, 
 pursued briskly, and at daylight on the morning of the 25th, struck the 
 foe and routed them, capturing their camp equipage, one cannon, twenty 
 wagons full of plunder, and fifteen hundred head of cattle. Still following 
 them, they attacked them again at the Little Osage crossing, after a 
 march of sixty miles, where two advanced brigades, under the command 
 of Colonels Benteen and Phillips, charged two Eebel divisions, routed 
 them after a brief action, and captured eight guns, fifteen hundred stand 
 of arms, one thousand prisoners, including Generals Marmaduke and 
 Cabell, and six colonels. The pursuit was resumed, and the enemy were 
 overtaken on the Marais des Cygnes. A sharp, brief battle ensued, and 
 Price was again routed, and compelled to burn over two hundred wagons, 
 and to explode all his artillery ammunition. His flight from this time 
 forward was disorderly, and his troops abandoned most of their plunder, 
 and every thing which could impede their progress. The Kansas troops 
 now took the lead in the pursuit, together with Benteen's brigade, while 
 Sanborn followed in a march more rapid than any other on record, mak- 
 ing one hundred and four miles in thirty-six hours. At Newtonia, near 
 the southwestern border of Missouri, Price once more made a stand 
 against the Kansas troops, which were getting worsted, when Sanborn 
 came up and drove them, with the loss of their remaining guns, and 
 nearly all their train, a demoralized mob, into Arkansas. Price, in a 
 subsequent general order, endeavored to make the best of his expedition, 
 claiming that he had been reinforced to an amount fully equal to his 
 losses, by citizens of Missouri. It is possible that some of the Rebel 
 bushwhackers of that State, finding it uncomfortable to reside there after 
 the numerous outrages they had committed, did accompany him to 
 Arkansas ; but the loyal citizens of Missouri would willingly have spared 
 a much larger number of them if they would have promised never to 
 return. But Price's losses, irrespective of such doubtful reinforcements 
 as these, had been two thousand prisoners, nine hundred killed, and 
 twenty-eight hundred wounded, ten guns (all he had), his entire ammuni- 
 tion train, and most of his wagons and plunder, and over four thousand 
 stand of arms. The Union loss was but little more than one thousand. 
 This expedition ended the Rebel attempts to conquer Missouri, and the 
 State thenceforth enjoyed a greater tranquillity than it had known since 
 the commencement of the war. 
 
 The Indians in the Department of the Northwest, not satisfied with the 
 punishment they had received in the two preceding years, were still 
 sullen and revengeful, and bent on mischief. The half breeds and traders 
 of the Selkirk and Red river settlements, in British Columbia, fostered 
 this hostile feeling for the sake of winning their trade, and furnished them 
 with arms and ammunition to continue their warfare during the summer 
 of 186-i. 
 
846 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 During tbe winter and spring of that year, the principal chiefs of the 
 Yanktonnais, Unkpapas, and other tribes of the Sioux nation, wliich had 
 been most active in their previous hostility to the whites, visited the other 
 tribes, aiid by great exertions succeeded in uniting almost tlie entire 
 nation in a league to fight and destroy the whites on the frontier ; and, 
 with a forethought and self-denial remark-able in the Indian race, accumu- 
 lated a large stock of provisions, and assembled their warriors, to the 
 number of about six thousand, in the vicinity of the upper Missouri. 
 
 General Pope, the commander of the Department of the Northwest, had 
 had early information of the extent of this conspiracy, and made no attempt 
 to thwart it, from the conviction that if tiiey concentrated their forces, 
 and staked the result on one or more great battles, their power would bo 
 so thorouglily broi^en that they would never again be able to rally and 
 .seriou.sly annoy the settlers on the frontier. He therefore made thorough 
 preparations for an early campaign with a large force into their territory. 
 His plan of operations, as determined in February, 1864, was to put iftto 
 the field an active column of about twenty-five hundred men, entirely 
 cavalry, under the command of Brigailicr-General Alfred Sully, to 
 advance against the Indians wherever they could be found, and deliver 
 battle again.st them. At the same time he determined to follow iip the 
 movements of this column with a force of infantry sufficiently large to 
 establish strong posts in the Indian country. 
 
 These posts were to be so located as to cover the frontier lines of Iowa 
 and Minnesota, and the frontier settlements of Dakota Territory at a long 
 distance ; to interpose between the dift'erent tribes, so as to prevent con- 
 certed action between them ; to command the hunting-grounds of the 
 Indians, so that they would be constantly under the supervision and in 
 the power of the military forces, which, by concerted action, could easily 
 and promptly march a heavy cavalry force upon any portion of the region 
 in which the Indians are obliged to hunt for subsistence ; to command 
 the Indian trails toward the frontier settlements, so as to detect the pas- 
 sage of even the smallest parties attempting to make raids upon the 
 settlers, and to follow them up; and so far as military necessities would 
 allow, to protect an emigrant route from the upper Mississippi river to 
 the Territories of Idaho and Montana. For the garrison duties, and for a 
 part of his mounted force. General Pope received, though not until late 
 in the summer, a considerable body (about two thousand in all) of men 
 who had been Rebel prisoners of war, but who had taken the oath of 
 allegiance, and been mustered into the United States service. As it was 
 manifestly not desirable that they should be confronted with the Rebel 
 armies to which they had formerly belonged, they were assigned to duty 
 in the northwest, greatly to their satisfaction. 
 
 General Sully collected the forces under his command from the various 
 posts and stations in his district, early in the spring, and commenced to 
 
INDIAN TROUBLES ON THE FRONTIER. 84T 
 
 move up the Missouri river, leaving only such detachments as were neces- 
 sary to cover the frontier from small Indian raids during his absence. 
 He was reinforced by about fifteen hundred mounted men from Minne- 
 sota, leaving General Sibley with about seven hundred effective men to 
 protect the frontier settlements of Minnesota during the summer. The 
 mouth of Burdache creek, on the upper Missouri, was selected as the 
 point where the Minnesota troops should join the forces of General Sully 
 moving up the Missouri, and the junction of these forces was made on 
 the 30th of June. The spring rise in the Missouri river did not come 
 down until very late in the season, and Sully only reached the mouth of 
 Cannon Ball river, at which point he was to establish a strong post, 
 which was to be his depot of supplies, on the 7th of July. He estab- • 
 lished Fort Rice at that point, distant from Sioux City four hundred and 
 fifty miles, and garrisoned it with five companies of the thirtieth Wis- 
 consin volunteers. The Indians, who had been concentrated on and near 
 the Missouri river about fifty miles above this post, had meantime crossed 
 to the southwest side of the river, and occupied a strong position in a 
 very difiicult country near the Little Missouri river, due west and about 
 two hundred miles from Fort Rice. 
 
 On the 26th of July, General Sully marched upon these Indians, with 
 the following forces: tlie eighth Minnesota volunteers (mounted), and six 
 companies of the second Minnesota cavalry, with four light guns, under 
 command of Colonel M. T. Thomas, eiglith Minnesota volunteers; eleven 
 companies sixth Iowa cavalry, three companies seventh Iowa cavalry, 
 two companies Dakota cavalry, four companies Brackett's battalion 
 cavalry, one small company of scouts, and four mountain-howitzers, the 
 whole force numbering twenty-two hundred men. A small emigrant 
 train for Idaho, which had accompanied the Minnesota troops from that 
 State, followed Sally's forces. At the head of Heart river he corralled his 
 trains, and leaving a sufficient guard with them, marched rapidly to the 
 northwest, where the combined forces of the Indians were assembled. 
 On the morning of July 28th he came upon them, between five and six 
 thousand warriors, strongly posted in a wooded country very much cut up 
 with high rugged hills, and deep impassable ravines. He had an hour's 
 talk with some of the Indian chiefs, who were very defiant and impudent, 
 after which he moved rapidly forward against their strong position. 
 
 The action for a time was sharp and severe ; but the artillery and long- 
 range small arms of the Union troops (many of whom were armed with 
 repeating rifles) were very destructive, and the Indians began to give way 
 on all sides. They were so closely pressed by Sully's forces that they 
 abandoned their extensive camps, leaving all their robes, lodges, colts, 
 and utensils of every description, and all the winter supply of provisions 
 they had been so long collecting. The action resulted in a running fight 
 of nine miles, ihe Indians finally scattering completely, and escaping with 
 
848 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 nothing except their wounded, which, according to Indian custom, they 
 carried off, together with as many of their killed as they could. One 
 hundred and twenty-five dead warriors were left on the field. An im- 
 mense quantity of Indian goods and supplies were captured by General 
 Sully in their deserted camps, and as he had no means of transi^ortation 
 for them they were destroyed. 
 
 Finding the country almost impracticable, and having only a small 
 supply of provisions, or means to carry them, and ascertaining that the 
 retreat of the mass of the Indians was toward the southwest, General 
 Sully returned to his train at the head of Heart river, and resumed his 
 march westward through an unknown and unexplored region toward the 
 Yellowstone, which he expected to reach near Fort Alexander, at which 
 point it had been proposed to establish a military post. On the 5th of 
 August he came in sight of the Bad Lands {Mauvaises Terres) which 
 border the little Missouri on both sides. The country was exceedingly 
 rugged and difficult, and so cut u]) with deep perpendicular ravines that 
 it was with the utmost labor, and considerable loss of time, that a narrow 
 winding way between the ravines, in places barely ten feet wide, was 
 made for his wagons. The country was most remarkable in its character, 
 and is thus depicted by General Sully : 
 
 "I have not sufficient power of language to describe the country in 
 front of us. It was grand, dismal, and majestic. You can imagine a 
 deep basin, six hundred feet deep, and twenty-five miles in width, filled 
 with cones, and oven-shaped knolls of all sizes, from twenty-five to 
 several hundred feet in height, sometimes by themselves, sometimes piled 
 up into large heaps, on top of each other, in all conceivable shapes and 
 confusion. Most of these hills were of a gray clay, but many of a light 
 brick color (of burnt clay), and with little or no vegetation. Some of 
 the sides of the hills, however, were covered with a few scrub cedars. 
 Viewed in the distance at sunset, it looked exactly like the ruins of an 
 ancient city. It was covered with pieces of petrified wood, and on the 
 tops of some of the hills we found petrified stumps of trees, the remains 
 of a great forest. In some cases these trees were from sixteen to eighteen 
 feet in diameter. Large quantities of iron ore, lava, and impressions in 
 the rocks of leaves of a size and shape not known to any of us, were 
 also found throughout this region.'' 
 
 General Sully found it necessary to dig down the hills and make a road 
 for his wagons, on the west as well as on the cast side of the Little Mis- 
 souri ; and here, on the 6th of August, he found that a part of the Indians 
 whom he had defeated on the 28lh of July, were congregated. Carefully 
 guarding his flanks and rear against surprise, he moved forward on the 
 7th of August, and attacking them, defeated tliem again, leaving over one 
 hundred of them dead on the field, beside large numbers whom they car- 
 ried away. After this hopeless battle, in wliich tliey maMil'ested none of 
 
GENERAL POPE'S POLICY. 849 
 
 the spirit or audacity which characterized the fight of the 28th of July, 
 the Indians scattered and broke up their combination entirely. The 
 Tetons, separated into small fragments, fled toward the southwest; the 
 Yanktonnais, one of the most warlike and troublesome tribes of the Sioux 
 nation, with other confederated tribes from the north and east of the 
 Missouri, crossed that river and retreated rapidly into the British posses- 
 sions by way of Moose river. General Sully followed them nearly to the 
 British line later in the season. 
 
 Finding the country west of Fort Rice, in the direction of the Yellow- 
 stone, impracticable for wagon roads, the general decided not to establisli 
 a post so high up on that river, but placed a garrison at the mouth of the 
 Yellowstone, and another at the trading post of Fort Berthold, lower down 
 on the Missouri, and returned slowly, by way of the Missouri river valley, 
 to Fort Rice, and leaving that post well garrisoned and in good condition, 
 descended the river to Sioux City. The chiefs of the combined Sioux 
 tribes west of the Missouri, which he had defeated, soon began to come in 
 to the forts along the Missouri river and ask for peace, acknowledging 
 that they could not fight against the whites, and that they had lost every 
 thing, and would be in a starving condition. They were informed by the 
 commanding officers of these posts that the only conditions of peace re- 
 quired from them were, that they would behave themselves, and not molest 
 the wliites. Surprised and gratified at such easy terms, they immediately 
 returned to their tribes, to bring in the principal chiefs to meet General 
 Sully at Fort Randall. Peace was made with the tribes west of the 
 Missouri on this basis ; but with the Yanktonnais and other tribes of Sioux, 
 north and east of the Missouri, there was more difficulty. They had gone, 
 as we have already said, into British Columbia; and it suited the purposes 
 of the half-breeds and traders there, who were desirous of securing their 
 trade, to inflame their hatred of the people of the United States, and 
 furnish them with arms and ammunition to aid them in carrying on the 
 war. There were, however, no further troubles with them in' either 
 Dakota or Minnesota, the frontier being carefully guarded by General 
 Sibley's force. 
 
 It was the policy of General Pope, by frank and honest dealing with the 
 Indians, treating them fairly and honorably, and requiring them to act in 
 the same way toward the whites, to maintain peace and good order with 
 them. The system of annuities and presents he regarded as entirely 
 wrong in principle, and calculated to impress them with the belief that the 
 whites desired to bu}' their favor. He was in favor of compelling the 
 traders to locate themselves only at the military stations, in order that the 
 Indians might make their homes so near the garrisons as to be constantly 
 under their supervision and control. 
 
 But while the commanding general of the department was seeking to 
 establish these beneficent measures, looking to the complete pacification 
 54 
 
850 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and future welfare of the Indian tribes, a subordinate officer, Colonel 
 ChivingtoD, of Colorado, commanding at Fort Lyon, in the southeastern 
 part of Colorado territory, on the reservation of the Cheyennes and 
 Arapahoes, was guilty of a most inhuman massacre of a body of friendly 
 and innocent Indians, the greater part of them women and children. A 
 part of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes had been hostile to the whites; but 
 one band of the Cheyennes, under the command of Black Kettle, their 
 head chief, and a part of the Arapahoes, under Little Kaven and Left 
 Hand, their first and second chiefs, had been uniformly friendly, and could 
 not be seduced into any measures of hostility against the Union garrisons. 
 
 There had been some massacres and captures of whites in the territory, 
 and these friendly chiefs succeeded in securing the prisoners, and came to 
 Fort Lyon and oflered to give them up. They were given up. to Major 
 Wynkoop soon after, and, at his suggestion, several of the chiefs and prin- 
 cipal men of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes went to Denver, and had an 
 interview with Governor Evans and Colonel Chivington, and desired 
 peace for their tribes. Governor Evans told them, Colonel Chivington 
 assenting to it, that if they desired peace, they must bring in their families 
 and seek the protection of the military posts on the reservations, as the 
 whites could not discriminate between Indians on the plains. lie further 
 told them, that their going upon the military reservations would be the 
 best evidence of their friendly feeling toward the whites. Accordingly, 
 the friendly chiefs, with their followers and families, to the number of 
 four or five hundred, came to the reservation at Fort Lyon. Major 
 Wynkoop treated them cordially, and allowed them some provision, as 
 they were destitute of food ; and they, in return, warned him of any 
 sunemes of the hostile Indians for his injury. Major Wynkoop was soon 
 after removed, and Major Anthony sent to the fort in his place. This 
 officer told the Indians that he could not issue any provisions to them, as 
 his orders forbade it, but expressed himself as friendly to them, and 
 advised them to remove to Sand creek, about forty miles from the fort, 
 where they would be able to hunt buffaloes for their subsistence. He 
 promised them tliat their families should not be disturbed, and that he 
 would represent their feelings to the higher authorities, who, he doubted 
 not, would renew kindly intercourse with them. The Indian village, thus 
 located at Sand creek, numbered about one hundred lodges, or five hun- 
 dred persons, of whom fully two thirds were women and children. 
 
 On the 28th of November, Colonel Chivington reached Fort Lyon with 
 somewhat more than seven hundred men of the first and third regiments 
 Colorado cavalry, and ordering Major Anthony to join him with one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five men and two pieces of artillery, made a forced march 
 that day and night to Sand creek, and early in the morning of the 29th 
 of November, surprised the Indian village, and though the Indians made 
 some resistance, butchered the women and children, and as many men as 
 
PLOTS OF THE REBELS IN CANADA. 851 
 
 he could reach. About seventy or eighty of the Indians, mostly women 
 and children, were murdered, and their bodies mutilated as shamefully as 
 the Indians in Minnesota had mutilated the bodies of those they murdered 
 in 1862. Colonel Chivington had been repeatedly informed that these 
 were friendly Indians, but paid no attention to it, and took every precau- 
 tion to prevent intelligence from reaching them of his intended attack. 
 The result of this unrighteous and shameful massacre has been to create 
 a feeling of bitterness and distrust in the minds of the Indian tribes 
 throughout Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, which has led to abun- 
 dant murders and outrages. Colonel Cbivington's commission had ex- 
 pired at the time of his committing this outrage, and he had no legitimate 
 authority to engage in any military movement. The Congressional Com- 
 mittee on the Conduct of the War investigated this case very thoroughly, 
 and presented their evidence to the public without comment; but the 
 bare recital of the circumstances was sufficient to render the name of its 
 perpetrator forever infamous. Congress made such restitution' as was in 
 its power, and the Government ordered the arrest of Chivington. 
 
 The Rebels who had domiciled themselves in Canada, were, as we have 
 already seen, active and zealous in their efforts to do injury to the Gov- 
 ernment and people of the United States. If they could not benefit the 
 Rebel cause directly, they reasoned that they were benefiting it indirectly 
 by every injury they inflicted, or caused to be inflicted upon the citizens 
 of the loyal States. Halifax, St. Johns, Monti-eal, Quebec, and Toronto, 
 were so many centres of Eebel activity, §o many nests in which treason- 
 able and wicked schemes were hatched. 
 
 In the autumn of 1863, these vile plotters set on foot a plan, under in- 
 structions from the Rebel Government at Richmond, to release twenty- 
 five hundred Rebel officers who were imprisoned on Johnson's island, in 
 Lake Erie, and then these, in conjunction with a body of Rebels in Canada, 
 were to attack and destroy Buffalo, Cleveland, and other lake cities. The 
 American Consul-General at Montreal, having received timely notice of 
 this plot, laid the details before the Governor-General of Canada, by whom 
 they were communicated, on the 4th of November, to the United States 
 Government. 
 
 The prompt measures taken by the latter to guai'd against the danger, 
 prevented the plot from being carried into execution. The British Gov- 
 ernment, however, seems to have taken no measures to arrest and punish 
 the participators in this scheme. But, though baffled in this attempt, the 
 Rebels in Canada did not relax their efforts for an instant to harass and 
 injure the citizens of the Union. A Doctor Blackburn, one of their tools, 
 visited the Bermudas, where yellow fever prevailed, and secured large 
 quantities of clothing infected with the virus of the disease, and sent it to 
 his agents in Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk, and Newbern, to be sold at 
 auction, in order to disseminate the disease in those localities. He was sue- 
 
852 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cessful in communicating it in Newbern, and it was very fatal there. He 
 also infected large quantities of clothing with the small-pox virus, and 
 effected its distribution in tlie northern cities, and thus contributed un- 
 doubtedly to the spread of that loathsome and fatal di-sease in those cities. 
 
 In September, 1864:, John Y. Beall, an officer in the Rebel army, well- 
 connected, both in Virginia and in England, organized a force in Canada 
 to make a raid upon the lakes, and succeeded in capturing and destroying 
 two steamboats owned by citizens of the United States. In the following 
 December he crossed the Niagara river, and attempted to throw a passen- 
 ger railroad train from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, oft' the track, but was 
 arrested in the act. He claimed to have perpetrated this act by virtue of 
 his commission from the Rebel Government. For this, and his previous 
 crime against the Government, iu the destruction of the steamers, he was 
 tried and executed as a pirate, spy, and murderer, on Governor's island, 
 New York, February 2-4th, 1865. 
 
 On the afternoon of October 19th, 1864, a body of forty well armed 
 men, headed by one Young, suddenly attacked the village of St. Albans, 
 Vermont, fifteen miles from the Canadian frontier, and after robbing the 
 banks of over two hundred thousand dollars, and firing upon the defence- 
 less and thoroughly astonished inhabitaiit.s, one of whom was mortally 
 wounded, they rode off" to Canada, where nearly the whole gang was sub- 
 sequently arrested. They were brought before the court of Quarter Ses- 
 sions at Montreal, and discharged by Justice Coursol on the ground of a 
 want of jurisdiction. Subsequently, on being re-arrested and tried before 
 the Superior Court of Lower Canada, they were all discharged. The St. 
 Albans banks recovered a part of the money stolen from them, but no 
 reparation was made to the United States for this incursion upon their 
 territory from a friendly State. 
 
 There h;id been for some months a plot concocted for releasing the 
 Rebel prisoners at Camp Douglas, Chicago, about eight thousand in num- 
 ber, and then, with the aid of the Rebel sympathizers in Chicago, sacking 
 and plundering the city, securing arms from its arsenals, and proceeding in 
 a grand foray upon Indianapolis, setting at liberty the Rebels imprisoned 
 there, and marching thence to Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, burning 
 and plundering everywhere. At first, the time set for the consummation 
 of this fiendish plan was the day of the commencement of the session of 
 the Democratic national convention at Chicago, in August, 1864, when it 
 was thought there would be an unusually large number of Rebel sympa- 
 thizers there ; but whether owing to the fact that the superintendent of 
 the Rebel prisoners there had received warning and had made such prepa- 
 rations as to render it impossible for the conspirators to carry out their 
 schemes, or whether the more cautious of the Democratic leaders were 
 opposed to such a movement as too perilous to their cause, is not now 
 known. At all events, it was postponed to a more fitting opportunity, 
 
ATTEMPT TO BUEN THE HOTELS IN NEW YORK. 853 
 
 but not relinquished. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, and 
 other of the Rebel refugees in Canada, were implicated in this plot, and it 
 •was strongly suspected and generally believed that Mr. Vallandigham was 
 also cognizant of it. The time finally fixed upon was the day of the presi- 
 dential election, Tuesday, November 8th, 1864. All their preparations 
 had been made, and the villains were rejoicing in the expectation that be- 
 fore evening of that day the fair Queen City of the lakes would be sacked, 
 plundered, and burned, and their legion of ruffians well on their way 
 southward, when, on the evening before the election, the ringleaders were 
 arrested, parks of artillery drawn up around the prison, the guards in- 
 creased, and such precautions taken as showed conclusively that the whole 
 conspiracy hs.d been revealed. It was communicated to the superinten- 
 dent of the prison seventy hours before the time set for its consummation, 
 by one of the prisoners, who, though a Eebel, had too much manhood to 
 be willing to participate in so diabolical a scheme. Some of the parties 
 were tried and condemned to death, but their punishment was subse- 
 quently commuted to a life-long imprisonment. 
 
 Another of the schemes of this nest of conspirators was that of firing 
 the principal hotels and theatres of New York city. This was attempted 
 on the night of November 25th, and had the attempt proved successful, 
 might have resulted in a frightful sacrifice of property and life ; but the 
 wretches selected to perpetrate the crime were either timid or unskilful, 
 and the fires which they kindled were soon extinguished. One of them, 
 a Captain Robert C. Kennedy, of the Rebel service, was subsequently 
 arrested in Detroit, and his complicity in this plot being proved, he was 
 tried and executed at Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor, March 24, 
 1865. 
 
 These are but specimens of the schemes which were hatched in the 
 fertile brains of these conspirators, but very few of their plans reached 
 fruition. The good providence of God, watchful over the Republic, turned, 
 in many instances, their counsels to foolishness, and thwarted their most 
 skilfully devised plans. We shall see, by and by, that another of their 
 plots, more fiendish, if possible, than any which had preceded it, was per- 
 mitted by the wise Arbiter of human affairs to attain a partial consumma- 
 tion, and plunge the nation in gloom and sorrow; but even in this their 
 purposes were not accomplished, and they only brought added infamy 
 upon themselves by their connection with it. 
 
854 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIL 
 
 HOOD ATTEMPTS TO CUT SDERMAn's LINE OP COMjrtrNICATIOIf, AND, MOTINO rROM MACOIf, 
 FIRST GOES TO DALLAS, AND THEN FALLS BACK UPON THS RAILROAD AT BIO SHANTT — 
 SEBRMAN FOLLOWS, AND WITNESSES, AND DIRECTS THE BATTLE AT ALLATOONA PASS, 
 WHERE THE REBEL TROOPS ARE DEFEATED BY GENERAL CORSE — DESCRIPTION OF BATTLE 
 OP ALLATOONA — HOOD CAPTURES DALTON, BUT IS COMPELLED TO ABANDON IT, AND RETREATS 
 BEFORE SHERMAN TO GADSDEN, ALABAMA — SHERMAN PURSUES TO OAVLESTILLE, AND THEN 
 DETACHING THOMAS TO NASHVILLE, AND SENDING HIM TWO CORPS, RETURNS TO KINGSTON 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE RAILROAD RETURN TO ATLANTA — ITS DESTRUCTION — SBERMAN'S 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCH-^IIIS GENERAL ORDERS TO HIS ARMY — THE MARCH — THE ENEMY 
 DECEIVED AND CONFUSED — THE REORGANIZATION OP HIS ARMY — SKETCHES OF THE LEADERS 
 OF THE TWO WINGS, GENERALS HOWARD AND SLOCUM — DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS — 
 FORAGING — THE ROUTE OF THE TROOPS VEILED BY THE CAVALRY — UNION OF THE COLUMNS 
 AT MILLEDOEVILLE — REST AND COLLECTION OP SUPPLIES — SKIRMISHING AND FIGHTING AT 
 BUCKHEAD CREEK AND WAYNESBORO — THE ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE UNION PRISONERS AI 
 MILLBN — IT IS FOILED BY THEIR KBMOTAL — APPROACH TO SAVANNAH — THE POSITION Or 
 THE TROOPS — ASSAULT AND CAPTURE OF FORT MCALLISTER BY HAZEn's DIVISION — COM- 
 MUNICATION OPENED WITH THE FLEET — SHERMAN SUMMONS HARDEE TO SURRENDER, BUT 
 HE DECLINES— PREPARATIONS FOR A SIEGE OF THE CITY — HARDEE EVACUATES IT AND 
 ESCAPES TO CHARLESTON — SAVANNAH OCCUPIED AND GOVERNED BY GENERAL GEARY — 
 THE QUIET AND GOOD ORDER OF THE CITY — SHERMAn's CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENT — Sherman's encomiums on his generals and troops — the results of the 
 
 CAPTURE of savannah, AND OF THE CAMPAIGN — SHERMAN'S GENERAL ORDERS — HIS 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE LEADING MEN OF THE COLORED PEOPLE — THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE 
 SEA ISLANDS TO THE NEGROES DURING THE WAR. 
 
 While General Sherman's army, now encamped in and aronnd Atlanta, 
 were resting from the fatigues of the late campaign, the active mind of 
 their commander was already occupied with new plans for annoying the 
 enemy, and of strengthening his own position. Numerous changes 
 occurred in the composition of the armies under his command, owing to 
 the expiration of the time of service of many of the regiments; but the 
 opportunity was speedily embraced to consolidate the fragments, reclothe 
 and equip the men, strengthen garrisons, and perfect lines of communica- 
 tion in the rear, construct new lines of fortification at Atlanta, and make 
 other preparations for the future campaign. Hood's first movement was 
 to Macon, which seemed to be threatened by the Union forces, and from 
 thence, September 26th, to Powder Springs, near Dallas, Ga., which he 
 reached about the 1st of October. As soon as he became convinced, Septem- 
 ber 28th, that the enemy intended to assume the offensive, Sherman sent 
 General Thomas, who was his second in command, as well as commander 
 of the army of the Cumberland, to Nashville, for the purpose of organiz- 
 ing the new troops expected at that point. Then, on the 3d, having rein- 
 forced the garrisons along the line of the railroad between Atlanta and 
 
THE BATTLE AT ALLATOONA PASS. 855 
 
 Chattanooga, he started in pursuit of the Eebel force, whose cavalry by 
 this time had cut the telegraph wires and railroad at Big Shanty, and 
 with French's division of infantry, were moving against Allatoona. At 
 this point were stored over a million of rations, the redoubts being garri- 
 soned by three small regiments, under the command of Colonel Tourtel- 
 lotte, of the fourth Minnesota. In anticipation of this movement, how- 
 ever. General Corse had been signalled and telegraphed to reinforce this 
 post from Rome, and reached Allatoona at the head of a brigade, during 
 the night of the 4th, just in time to meet the attack by French's division 
 on the morning of the 5th. The battle had commenced before Sherman's 
 arrival at Kenesaw, eighteen miles distant, about ten A. M. of that day, 
 and signalling to General Corse the fact of his presence in that vicinity, 
 he ordered the twenty-third corps, Brigadier-General Cox in command, 
 to move rapidly due west from the base of Kenesaw, with a view to reach 
 the road from Allatoona to Dallas in the rear of the Eebel forces engaged 
 in the attack on Allatoona. These consisted of French's division, supported 
 by two other divisions in reserve, and to the summons for surrender, "to 
 avoid a useless effasion of blood," which the Rebel general sent in to the 
 garrison, with five minutes' opportunity for an answer, the reply of General 
 Corse was prompt and defiant. The attack which followed lasted five 
 hours, and ended in the complete discomfiture of the Rebels, who left over 
 two hundred dead and four hundred prisoners upon the field, and in the 
 hands of the garrison. The retreat was- also greatly accelerated by the 
 approach of General Cox's division, which, as we have seen, had been 
 despatched by General Sherman to fall upon their rear. This battle, 
 although it has not been so prominently noticed as other battles of smaller 
 consequence, was indeed a contest of no small importance. The post 
 itself, aside from the vast stores of supplies which it held, was a vital 
 link in the Union communications. And the tenacity with which the 
 brave Union band of fifteen hundred only, fought not less than six thou- 
 sand Rebels from dawn until noon, is worthy of enduring remembrance. 
 It was a hard, desperate fight, foot to foot and hand to hand, where the 
 Union soldiers were driven, by desperate and overwhelming numbers of 
 assailants, from their intrenchments to the hill, and from the hill to the 
 fort, where, with half their number killed and wounded, and their brave 
 leader bleeding, and at times insensible, they fought on with indomitable 
 courage, until victory rested upon their banners. Well did that gallant 
 leader deserve the words uttered by Sherman that morning, as he looked 
 anxiously from a distance upon the conflict : " I know Corse ; so long as 
 he lives, the Allatoona pass is safe." 
 
 Crossing the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers by forced marches. Hood 
 hastily attacked Dalton, which was foolishly surrendered by its cowardly 
 commandant, but which the rapid approach of Sherman did not permit 
 him to retain long enough to effect much damage. Next, suddenly ap- 
 
856 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pearing before Resaca, Hood, in person, demanded its surrender; but the 
 place having already been reinforced from the army of the Tennessee, he 
 was repulsed, although he succeeded in breaking the railroad between 
 that place and Dalton. Sherman arrived at llesaca on the evening of the 
 14th, and determined to strike Hood's flank, or force him to battle ; but 
 the enemy had fled. Impeding the advance of his pursuer as much as 
 possible by obstructing Snake Creek gap, the most available pass tiirough 
 Rocky Face Ridge, Ilood next moved through Ship's gap, in Pigeon 
 mountain, and toward Lafayette, and avoiding the appeal to arras, which 
 was several times offered him by the Union commander, encumbered 
 with few trains, and marching with great activity, he retreated to the 
 neighborhood of Gadsden, Ala., where he strongly intrenched himself in 
 the Wells Creek gap of the Lookout range. Sherman, who fully compre- 
 hended the enemy's designs, followed him as far as Gaylesville, in the 
 rich valley of the Chattooga, abounding in corn and meat, where he 
 paused to watch his movements, and enjoy the excellent supplies gathered 
 ad Uhilum by the numerous foraging parties which scoured the surround- 
 ing country. In all these movements, Hood's desire had been to cut 
 Sherman's communications with his base, and then pushing forward into 
 Tennessee, wrest it from the Union power, which had held it securely 
 for two years, and thus compel Sherman to leave Georgia, under the 
 penalty of losing Tennessee. Sherman, on the contrary, seeing that Hood's 
 army, while it was sufficient to endanger his communications, was unable 
 to meet him in open fight, was too wary to be thus decoyed away from 
 Georgia by a foe whom there was little prospect of overtaking or defeating. 
 As, however, it would have been 'bad policy to have kept his large and 
 splendid army merely on the defensive, he resolved to carry out a design 
 which he had previously submitted to the commander-in-chief, and which 
 he again renewed from Gaylesville, although with certain modifications, 
 suggested by more recent events. This plan involved substantially, (1), 
 the destruction of Atlanta, which, being a railroad centre, had, since the 
 demolition of the railroads, workshops, foundries, etc., lost all its strategic 
 value ; (2) the destruction of the railroad back to Chattanooga, and, (3), the 
 march of a great army from Atlanta through the very heart of Georgia, 
 to capture one or more of the principal Atlantic seaports. By November 
 1st, Hood's army had moved from Gadsden, making a feint on Decatur, 
 and had laid a pontoon bridge opposite Florence. Sherman then began 
 his preparations for the march through Georgia, which had received 
 the sanction of the commander-in-chief. His forces having been largely 
 augmented by the levy of September, 1864, he found himself perfectly 
 able to spare thirty thousand of his best veteran soldiers, which he placed 
 under command of General Thomas, at Kingston, to attend to Hood in 
 case he should attempt to carry into effect Lis threatened invasion of 
 Tennessee and Kentucky. 
 
SHERMAN RE-ORGANIZES HIS ARMY. 857 
 
 The Rebel force, at that time, was estimated at about forty-five thousand, 
 of whom tea thousand were cavalry. Thomas was instructed to draw 
 Hood on, as far as possible, into middle Tennessee, so that at a distance 
 from his base, he might be more effectually overwhelmed, when the 
 moment arrived to strike him a heavy blow. Witli the balance of his 
 army, comprising the fifteenth and seventeenth corps, known as the 
 army of the Tennessee, and the fourteenth and twentieth, now designated 
 as the army of Georgia, numbering in all about sixty thousand men, he 
 repaired to Kingston on the 2d of November. From that point, all sur- 
 plus baggage and artillery, the sick and wounded, refugees, etc., were sent 
 back to Chattanooga ; the Rebel barracks, guns, cotton, mills, warehouses, 
 bridges, and supplies of every description captured at Rome were burned ; 
 the railroads in and about Atlanta, and between the Etowah and Chatta- 
 hoochie, were utterly demolished ; the garrisons from Kingston northward 
 were ordered back to Chattanooga, carrying with them all public property 
 and railroad stock from Resaca back, and leaving untouched only the rail- 
 road between the Etowah and Oostanaula, which, it was possible, might 
 be again needed. Thus by the 12th of November, his army stood detached 
 and cut off from all communication with the rear, and by the llth moved 
 rapidly and grouped around Atlanta. It consisted of four corps, the 
 fifteenth and seventeenth forming the right wing, under Major-General 
 Howard ; the fourteenth and twentieth, the left wing, under Major-General 
 Slocuin. The cavalry division, five thousand five hundred strong, was 
 under command of General Kilpatrick, who received his orders directly from 
 the commander-in-chief All the troops were provided with good wagon- 
 trains, loaded with ammunition and supplies, approximating twenty days' 
 bread, forty days' sugar and cofiee, a double allowance of salt for twenty 
 days, and beef cattle for forty days' supplies, besides three days' forage in 
 grain, to each wagon. While soldiers were strictly prohibited from all 
 unnecessary trespass, a judicious system of foraging was to be maintained, 
 in order that the army might live chiefly upon the country, which was 
 known to abound in corn, sweet potatoes, and meats. Guerrilla depreda- 
 tions on the part of the enemy, were to be met with swift and severe retal- 
 iatory measures, although the inoffensive citizens of the country, and 
 their property, were to be respected as much as, under the circumstances, 
 was possible. Horses, mules and wagons, were to be taken, when needed, 
 and able-bodied negroes were to be allowed to join the army, and employed 
 in pioneer and other work. Each wing of the army had its own pontoon 
 bridge. Sherman, on the 4th of November, had telegraphed to the Gov- 
 ernment, " Hood has crossed the Tennessee, Thomas will take care of him 
 and Nashville, while Schofield will not let him into Chattanooga or Knox- 
 ville. Georgia and South Carolina are at my mercy, and I shall strike. 
 Do not be anxious about me. I am all right." On the 12th the right 
 wing, under General Howard, moved out from Atlanta, followed, on the 
 
858 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 14th, by the left wing, under General Slocum. On the same day, the 
 torch was applied to the public buildings, fortifications, depots, &c., of 
 Atlanta, and turning his back upon its smouldering ruins, General Sher- 
 man and staff, in company with the fourteenth corps — General Davis's — 
 took the road to Macon, and the "great march to the sea " had commenced. 
 Compact, self-reliant and cheerful, the well appointed host, guided by a 
 master-mind and led by able generals, moved grandly forward to the ful- 
 filment of its high mission. As it moved, the last message which flashed 
 across the telegraph wire to General Thomas, ere communication was 
 severed with the north, was "All is well ;" and the last music which 
 echoed along the burning streets of Atlanta was the noble anthem of 
 "John Brown's soul goes marching on," played by the fine band of a 
 Massachusetts colored regiment. 
 
 We intermit, for a moment, the cour.se of our narrative, to present our 
 readers with brief sketches of Sherman's two able lieutenants, Generals 
 Slocum and Howard, to whom so much of the success of this campaign 
 was due. 
 
 Major-General Henry W. Slocum, born in Delphi, New York, Septem- 
 ber 24, 1827, entered West Point in the year 1848, and graduated in 
 June 1852, with the rank of seventh in his class. Entering the United 
 States army as a brevet second lieutenant of the first artillery, he had, by 
 the 3d of March, 1855, gained the rank of first lieutenant, but not alto- 
 gether satisfied with the prospects of further promotion, he resigned in 
 October, 1856, retired from military service and engaged in business in 
 Syracuse, New York. When the Eebellion broke out, however, he 
 responded to his country's need, and was appointed Colonel of the 
 twenty-seventh New York volunteers, May 21, 1861, with whom he 
 participated in the battle of Bull Eun. In August, 1861, he was made a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers, and occupied a position on the extreme 
 left of General McClellan's army, beyond Alexandria, where he remained 
 during the winter of 1861-62. AVhen the army of the Potomac began 
 to move in March, 1862, he held command of the third brig.ide of the first 
 division of McDowell's corps, but this division being detached in April 
 following, he became its acting major-general. During the advance up 
 the Peninsula, in 1862, he moved up to West Point, Virginia, taking 
 part in the affair at Brick House; and then moved on to White House 
 on the Pamunkey, where he helped to hold the railroad between West 
 Point and Richmond. Afterward holding the advance of McClellan's 
 extreme right wing, about the middle of June, he occupied the Virginia 
 Central railroad bridge across the Chickahominy ; and took part in the 
 early portion of the seven days' fight, more especially at Gaines' Mills. 
 His division, also, was in the battles under Pope, in the latter part of 
 August; and in the Maryland campaign he had command of the first 
 division of Franklin's wing, and was engaged at Antietam, September 
 
SKETCH OF MAJOE GENERAL HOWARD. 859 
 
 17tli, 1862. Subsequently, a new corps of raw troops, called the 12th, 
 having been created, General Slocum was made a major-general of volun- 
 teers, commission dating from July ith, 1862, and organized and led it to 
 the field. At the battle of Fredericksburg it formed half of Sigel's re.serve 
 grand division, and when this was broken up, Slocum still retained the 
 command of his corps. In Hooker's advance upon Chancellorsville, 
 April, 1863, General Slocum commanded the three corps composing the 
 right wing, and consisting of nearly sixty thousand men ; but when 
 Hooker arrived at the front, Slocum resumed the command of his own 
 corps, and during the battle days of Chancellorsville, from May 1st to 4th, 
 fought with skill and bravery. At Gettysburg, he commanded on the 
 right wing, and repulsed the furious and persistent assaults of Ewell's 
 corps, with a courage and resolution not surpassed in that terrible conflict. 
 In September his corps, as well as the eleventh, was ordered to Chatta- 
 nooga, but he was detached from it and soon after placed in command of 
 the important post of Vicksburg, where he remained till August 1864, 
 when General Sherman called him to Georgia, to take command of the 
 twentieth corps^ formed by the consolidation of the eleventh and twelfth. 
 He arrived in season to receive 'the surrender of Atlanta, after its evac- 
 uation by Hood, and his corps were the first to enter it. In the Savan- 
 nah campaign, General Sherman placed him in command of the left wing 
 of his army, the fourteenth and twentieth corps, under the name of the 
 army of Georgia, which command he also retained in the campaign of 
 the Carolinas, in which he distinguished himself for bravery and skilful 
 generalship. After the war was over, he was assigned to the command 
 of the Department of the Mississippi, with headquarters ^t Vicksburg, 
 but resigned his commission in the army, in September, 1865, to accept 
 the nomination of the Democratic party in the State of New York to the 
 ofiice of Secretary of State. At the election in November, 1865, he was 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 Major-General Oliver Otis Howard, was born in Kennebec county, 
 Maine, November, 8th 1830, and, with his brothers, was educated at Bowdoin 
 college, where he became first in his class, and in his. senior year (1850), 
 was admitted to West Point, graduating there in June, 1854, with the 
 fourth rank in his class, he received the brevet of a second Ueutenant of 
 ordnance. He served for some time in Texas and Florida, then at the 
 United States arsenal in Augusta, Georgia, and afterward in that in 
 Maine. Promoted to a first lieutenancy, July 1st, 1857, he also received 
 the appointment of acting assistant professor of mathematics at the mili- 
 tary academy, which position he held until the breaking out of the 
 Eebellion. Resigning his position in the regular army, he accepted the 
 colonelcy of the third Maine volunteers, and led them into the battle of 
 Bull Eun, July 21st, 1861. In September of the same year he was pro- 
 moted to a brigadier-generalship of volunteers, and ordered to McClellan's 
 
860 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 army, where he served oa the Peninsula, and at Fair- Oaks, May 31st, 
 1862, received a wound which caused the amputation of an arm. After 
 his recovery he returned to his brigade, then ia French's division, and 
 which formed a part of Sumner's wing in the battle of Antietam, Septem- 
 ber 17th, 1862. We next find him in command of the first division of 
 Couch's — second — army corps, and leading his men at Fredericksburg, 
 December 13th, 1862, his brigade losing nearly one thousand men. In 
 tht ensuing spring he was made a major-general of volunteers, his com- 
 mission dating from November 29th, 1862, and was placed in command 
 of the second division of the second corps of the army of the Potomac. 
 Holding this position until April, 1863, he relieved General Sigel in the 
 command of the eleventh army corps. His corps took part in the battle 
 of Chancellorsville, May 1st to 4th, 1863, where a part of them broke 
 and nearly caused a panic in the whole army ; but at Gettysburg, July 
 1st to 3d, 1863, they covered themselves with honor. In July, 1863, Gen- 
 eral Howard was placed in command of the second corps, whose leader. 
 General Hancock, had been severely wounded at Gettysburg. In Septem- 
 ber, 1863, he was ordered with his corps to Cliattanooga, Tennessee, to re- 
 inforce General Rosecrans, and arrived at Bridgeport, in company with the 
 twelfth corps, in October. He took part in the battle of Wauhatchie, 
 October 28th, and sent a part of his troops to aid Hooker in his famous 
 battle on Lookout mountain, but was himself engaged with two divisions 
 of his corps in Sherman's movement on Fort Buckner on the 25th of 
 November. He also accompanied Sherman in his expedition to raise the 
 siege of Knoxville. He took part in nearly every battle of the Atlanta 
 campaign, cpmmanding the fourth corps till the death of McPherson, 
 when he was appointed, at General Sherman's instance, commander of the 
 army of the Tennessee. In the final movements around Jonesboro, he 
 displayed great energy and courage and skilful generalship. General 
 Sherman, a capital judge of men, prized him very highly and on the cam- 
 paign described in this chapter, as well as in that through the Carol inas, 
 placed him in command of the right wing of his army. In the latter 
 campaign he distinguished himself in the battles of Averysborough and 
 Bentonville. After the close of the war, he was appointed by the Presi- 
 dent commissioner of the bureau of freedmen, refugees, and abandoned 
 lands. A man of strong religious convictions and of most exemplary 
 life, General Howard has never hesitated to avow his principles, and his 
 consistent piety has won the respect even of the irreligious. 
 
 Sherm.an's real destination was known only to himself, to the Lieuten- 
 ant-General, and the War Department. Rebels, and the people of the 
 North, were alike mystified as to whether Savannah or Charleston was his 
 "objective," while the idea of an army thus cutting boldly loose from its 
 base, on a march of three hundred miles, through the very heart of a 
 hostile country, fairly staggered their comprehension, and challenged their 
 
SHERMAN'S ARMY AT MILLEDGEVILLE. 861 
 
 credulity. The mystery of his movements was still further obscured by 
 the adroitness with which he used his large cavalry force to scour the 
 country for a wide distance on either side of his line of march, thus veil- 
 ing the route of his infantry. His first object was, of course, to place his 
 army in the very heart of Georgia, between Macon and Augusta, thus 
 obliging the enemy to divide his forces in the defence of those points, as 
 well as Millen, Savannah, and Charleston, and the event justified his ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 Marching his army in three columns, with cavalry on his extreme 
 right, upon eccentric lines, he diverted the enemy's attention so that they 
 concentrated their forces upon the widely separated cities of Macon and 
 Augusta, leaving the country open to the advance of the central column. 
 Slocum and the twentieth corps arrived at Milledgeville on the twenty- 
 second, preceding Davis, with the fourteenth corps, by one day. At the 
 same time, Kilpatrick's cavalry reached the Macon and Western road, 
 destroying the Walnut creek bridge, and the day following, Howard, 
 with the fifteenth and seventeenth corps, arrived at Gordon, and began to 
 tear up the Georgia Central railroad. While this was going on, Novem- 
 ber 22d, General Walcott, with a cavalry force and an infantry brigade, 
 was sent forward to demonstrate near Griswoldville, and while occupying 
 temporary breastworks, with a section of battery in position, he was sud- 
 denly attacked by a Rebel force of about five thousand from Macon, which 
 attacked him furiously, but were coolly received with grape shot and 
 musketry, at point blank range, and finally fled the field, with a loss of 
 over twenty-five hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners, among them 
 General Anderson. The Union loss was about forty killed and wounded. 
 Meantime, Howard and the right wing had moved to Milledgeville, the 
 State capital, via Jackson, Monticello, and Hillsboro. Here he was joined, 
 on the twenty-third, by the left wing, under General Slocum, which had 
 destroyed the great railroad bridge over the Oconee, fifteen hundred feet 
 in length, as well as many miles of railroad, shops, mills, stores, and cot- 
 ton, beside the line of railroad to Greensboro. At Milledgeville, whence 
 the Governor, Legislature, and most of the white population had fled, 
 General Sherman's army rested for a few days, during which no unneces- 
 sary destruction of property was allowed, but the time was occupied in 
 securing large supplies of food and forage from the rich surrounding 
 country ; and Thanksgiving day was kept by the soldiers in the midst of 
 a profusion of good fare, and even delicacies. On the 24th, the left wing, 
 under General Slocum, left Milledgeville, marching by two roads on 
 Sandersville, where, on the 25th, he met and routed Wheeler's cavalry 
 in a brief but sharp fight, and on the 28th struck the Georgia railroad at 
 Tennille, breaking up every thing as they advanced to the Ogeechee. 
 Kilpatrick, moving eastwardly from Milledgeville, was busily engaged in 
 tearing up the railroad from Milieu to Augusta, with the purpose of there 
 
862 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 making an attempt to rescue our prisoners confined at the former place, 
 the latter town being at the same time threatened b_y Davis's — fourteenth 
 — corps. The right wing, also, had moved down the Georgia railroad from 
 Gordon, crossed the Oconee river at Oconee, and skirmished briskly with 
 the Rebel cavalry under Wheeler and Wagner. The possession of 
 Waynesboro, after Millen the chief station on the Savannah and Augusta 
 railroad, and tlie destruction of Walker's bridge, over Brier's creek, a tribu- 
 tary of the Savannah river, were now matters of importance to the Union 
 commander, and Kilpatrick accordingly advanced from Louisville, skir- 
 mishing heavily with Wheeler's cavalry during the 27th, 28th, and 29th; 
 then falling back, he again advanced, December 1st, supported by an in- 
 fantry division, and after a sharp encounter with the enemy, succeeded in 
 destroying the railroad south of the town. Having finally accomplished 
 their designs against the bridge and railroad on the third, they returned 
 to Millen, where the whole army again concentrated, except Osterhaus's 
 command, of the right wing, which was yet south of the Ogeechee. In 
 the period of eight days, between their leaving Milledgeville (November 
 2-ltli) and reaching Millen (December 2d), they had secured an ample 
 supply of forage and provisions for forty days, a large amount of available 
 ammunition, with horses, mules, and wagons quite sufficient for all the 
 wants of army tjan.sportation. They failed only in one cherished plan, 
 viz, the liberation of their comrades imprisoned at Millen, owing to 
 their removal from that place some time previous; the officers being sent 
 to Columbia, South Caroling, and the privates further south. 
 
 The Union army now commenced the third stage of its progress sea- 
 ward, from Millen to Savannah, and, pivoted upon the former place, 
 swung slowly around from its eastern course, until, by December 3d, it 
 was in full motion southward, in six columns, upon parallel roads — 
 General Davis following the Savannah river road ; General Slocum on 
 the middle road, via Springfield ; General Blair along the railroad, de- 
 stroying the track as he went; and General Howard still south and west 
 of the Ogeechee. Up to this time the enemy appears to have been com- 
 pletely deceived, and expecting an attack on Macon and Augusta, had 
 concentrated at those points, and found themselves shut closely up there 
 by the general destruction of railroads, bridges, and roads, caused by 
 Sherman on his march. Suddenly they discovered that Siierman was 
 marching straight upon Savannah, and that they were helpless to prevent 
 him, or to do more than feebly harass his progress. As the Union army 
 approached Savannah, the country became more marshy and difficult, and 
 they came more frequently upon obstructions, in the shape of felled trees 
 at the crossings of roads, swamps, or narrow causeways, which, however, 
 were removed in an incredibly short time by the efficient pioneer corps. 
 Without meeting any considerable opposition from the enemy, the heads 
 of the several columns arrived within fifteen miles of Savannah, at which 
 
ASSAULT AND CAPTURE OP PORT McALLISTER. 863 
 
 point all the roads leading to the city were found to be obstructed by 
 felled timber, with earthworks and artillery. These, however, were easily 
 turned, and by the 10th of December the enemy was fairly driven within 
 his lines, which substantially followed the course of a swampy creek 
 emptying into the Savannah river some three miles above the city, and 
 across to the head of another stream emptying into the Little Ogeechee. 
 Both of these streams afforded the enemy a peculiarly favorable cover, 
 as they were very marshy, and bordered by rice-fields flooded either by 
 the tide-water or by inland ponds, the gates to which were controlled by 
 heavy artillery. The only approaches to the city were five narrow cause- 
 ways, viz : two railroads, and the Augusta, Louisville, and Ogeechee 
 roads, all commanded by heavy ordnance. Deeming it unwise to assault 
 an enemy of unknown strength at such disadvantage, with an army which 
 he had successfully brought, almost unscathed, for so great a distance. 
 and knowing that he could surely attain the desired result by the opera- 
 tion of time, Sherman contented himself by establishing a complete 
 investiture of the city from north to west, while he awaited the opening 
 and establishing of communication with Admiral Dahlgren's fleet, which 
 he knew to be waiting for him in Tybee, Wassau, and Ossabaw sounds. 
 
 In approaching Savannah, the left wing, under General Slocum, had 
 struck the Charleston railroad near the bridge, and occupying the river 
 bank had captured two Eebel river-boats, and cut off two gunboats from 
 communication with the city. The right wing, General Howard, had 
 broken the Gulf railroad at Fleming's, occupying the line of the road, so 
 that no supplies could reach Savannah, by any of the accustomed channels. 
 The Union army, however, while thus cutting off supplies from the enemy, 
 rejoiced in large herds of cattle, gathered on their march, while their 
 wagons were loaded with ample quantities of bread-stuffs and other pro- 
 visions, and the fine rice-crops which bordered the Savannah and Ogeechee 
 rivers yielded quantities of rice and rice-straw. In addition to this, they 
 controlled the country west and south of the Ogeechee, as foraging ground. 
 Although thus conveniently and advantageously situated, Sherman realized 
 the vital importance of a communication with the fleet, from which he 
 wished to obtain siege guns for the reduction of Savannah ; and the Ogeechee 
 river, a navigable stream, close to the rear of his camps, was the proper 
 avenue for this purpose — but this was controlled by Fort McAllister, a 
 strong enclosed redoubt, on the west side of the river, opposite to Savannah, 
 and six miles above Ossabaw sound, manned by some two hundred troops, 
 and mounting twenty-three guns en harletie, and one mortar. This fort, 
 nearly two years before, had successfully withstood a lengthy bombard- 
 ment by three monitors, and its reduction now, was the next step to be 
 taken in the operations against Savannah. Sherman decided that it must 
 be carried by assault, and this undertaking he committed to the second, — 
 Hazen's — division of the fifteenth corps, which he had himself commanded 
 
864 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 at Vicksburg. Crossing to the west bank of the river, on the 13th of 
 December, Hazen reached the vicinity of the fort about one o'clock p. m., 
 deployed his division with both flanks resting upon the river, posted his 
 skirmishers judiciously behind the trunks of trees, whose branches had 
 been used by the Rebels for ahatlis, and made all his dispositions for the 
 desperate attempt in the most skillful manner. "While this was going on, 
 the signal officers who for two days had been anxiously watching for the 
 appearance of the fleet, about the middle of the afternoon descried the 
 smoke and the spars of a steamer creeping along over the salt marshes 
 and rice fields, in the direction of Ossabaw sound ; and signals were speed- 
 ily and joyfully exchanged between the army and the vessels. About 
 five, p. M., as the sun was sinking slowly behind the tree-tops, General 
 Sherman signalled to Hazen to assault at once, if possible. As the little 
 flag fluttered back the reply, " I am ready, and will assault at once," a 
 long line of blue coats and bright bayonets emerged from the woods sur- 
 rounding the fort, moving to the attack in three columns. Through the 
 thick abattis, over the deep ditch, wrenching away the palisades with 
 which its bottom was planted, Hazen's gallant troops rushed at the double- 
 quick — and though the Rebels gallantly defended their position, yet such 
 was the dash and splendid daring of the Union troops, fighting as they 
 well knew under the very eye of their great commander, that in less than 
 thirty minutes from the start, the stars and stripes, floated victoriously 
 from the ramparts of McAllister. With a loss of less than a hundred 
 men they had won this strong earthwork fortification, capturing its garrison, 
 its full complement of heavy guns, large stores of subsistence and ordnance 
 together with all its camp and garrison equipage. As soon as Sherman 
 saw the attacking party mount the parapet, he ordered his boat and started 
 for the fort, where he briefly congratulated the successful General Hazen, 
 and then pursued his way to the fleet. 
 
 Meeting with General Foster's vessel on the Ogeechee, the two officers 
 proceeded down to AVassau sound, where, about noon of the following 
 day, they met Admiral Dahlgren, with whom Sherman enjoyed a full 
 and free conference, and then returned, on the loth, to Fort McAllister, 
 and the lines in the rear of Savannah. On the 17th, having received a 
 number of thirty-pound Parrott guns from Port Royal, Sherman des- 
 patched, by flag of truce, a formal demand for the surrender of Savannah, 
 to which, on the day following, he received a refusal from General Hardee. 
 Further reconnoissances from the left, satisfied General Sherman that it 
 would be both impracticable and unwise to push any large force across 
 the Savannah river, inasmuch as it would be isolated by the enemy's iron- 
 clad gunboats, which held the river opposite to the city, and could destroy 
 any pontoons which bis men might throw across from Hutchinson's island 
 to the South Carolina shore. He therefore ordered his siege guns to be 
 placed in position, made arrangements for an assault, and opened a water 
 
EESULTS OF THl'', CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH. 865 
 
 basp at King's bridge, on tlie Ogeechee, from which point his lines 
 stretclied across to the Savannah, his left being about three miles above 
 the cit}', thus cutting off all the railroad supplies by which the Eebel citi- 
 zens and soldiery were to be subsisted. The Rebel force thus locked up 
 in Savannah, amounted to about fifteen thousand men, mostly militia, 
 and although General Gustavus W. Smith, with a force of eight thousand 
 Confederate troops, approached the Ogeechee, he was easily kept from 
 coming any nearer to the beleaguered city, by Sherman's possession of 
 Fort McAllister, and the Union gunboats in the river. Such was the atti- 
 tude of affairs, when, on the morning of the 20th of December, it was dis- 
 covered that Savannah had been evacuated by Hardee and his army on 
 the previous night, under cover of a heavy fire which had been opened 
 upon our lines, and soon its streets echoed to the tread of the veterans of 
 General Blair's — seventeenth — corps. The sudden collapse of the Rebel 
 defence of this important city and port, seems to have been due mainly to 
 two causes : 1st, the moral influence produced on the enemy by the cap- 
 ture of Fort McAllister, by direct assault, which demoralized both citizens 
 and soldiers to an extent which could not have been produced simply by 
 a regular investiture of the city ; 2dly, their knowledge of a flank move- 
 ment, operating in connection with General Foster, by way of Black river, 
 which, in two days, would have shut them up beyond all hope of escape. 
 Hardee, therefore, wisely concluded to withdraw while opportunity re- 
 mained, and did so through swamps hitherto considered impassable. The 
 prize which the Union army had thus obtained was a magnificent one — 
 the city, with- its valuable harbor and river; the forts and heavy ordnance 
 in its vicinity; eight hundred prisoners; one hundred and fifty-two guns; 
 thirteen locomotives and one hundred and ninety cars, in good order; 
 immense supplies of ammunition and materials of war; three steamers, 
 and over thirty-eight thousand bales of cotton, and other supplies. On 
 the morning of the 21st, General Sherman received the formal surrender 
 of the city from its Mayor and municipal authorities, and immediately 
 telegraphed to the President of the United States, oftering him "as a 
 Christmas gift, the city of Savannah," with all its contents. General 
 Geary, commanding a division in the 20th corps, was made military gov- 
 ernor of the city ; and, under his judicious management, order, protection, 
 and improved sanitary condition, and a general sense of comfort and 
 security, delighted the citizens, and caused them to honor the Union 
 name. The army, flushed with its triumph, well received by the inhab- 
 itants — who yielded gracefully and gladly to the restoration of the National 
 authority — and enjoying superb quarters, fish, oysters and other good 
 things, relished exceedingly the position of affairs, and plumed its wings 
 afresh for other and no less glorious flights. 
 
 The campaign through Georgia, which we have thus briefly sketched 
 has no precedent in a military point of view, for the history of war 
 55 
 
8C6 rilK CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATKS. 
 
 records no similar conditions. Its success was due not so much to any 
 lack of force on the part of the enemy opposed to the Union army as to 
 the masterly plan of operations, as developed in the direction of columns, 
 the disposition uf troops, and the selection of lines of travel, by which 
 Sherman confused and deceived that enemy, so that concentration and 
 effective resistance was only made when it was too late. In twenty-seven 
 days, sixty thousand men swept across the State of Georgia, for a distance 
 of three hundred miles, and in a track fifty miles wide, devastating and 
 scarring all they touched. Railroads in every direction ; factories which had 
 supjilied the Rebel Government with arms, ammunition, railroad stock, 
 clothing, &c., were utterly destroyed. Fifteen thousand cattle, and five 
 thousand horses and mules, besides hogs, sheep, and poultry, were 
 captured ; corn and fodder along the entire length of the route was con- 
 sumed, while at Savannah the enemy was obliged to destroy his iron- 
 clads, navy yards, ordnance and stores. Freedom was given to over 
 twenty thousand negroes, who followed their deliverers to Savannah ; and 
 Sherman, with good reason, estimated the damage done to the State of 
 Georgia and its military resources at one hundred million dollars, of 
 which eighty million was " waste and destruction," the balance having 
 enured to the advantage of the army. And the army which had done 
 this lived mainly on the enemy's country, and its entire loss in killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners, did not exceed one thousand six hundred ! Of 
 the officers who commanded, their general, in his ofiicial report, speaks 
 kindly and enthusiastically; while of the "rank and file," he says, "they 
 seem so full of confidence in themselves that I doubt if they want a com- 
 pliment from me; but I must do them the justice to say that, whether 
 called on to fight, to march, to wade streams, to make roads, clear out 
 obstructions, build bridges, make 'corduroy,' or tear up railroads, they 
 have done it with an alacrity and a degree of cheerfulness unsurpassed. 
 A little loose in foraging, they 'did some things they ought not to have 
 done,' yet, on the whole, they have supplied the wants of the army with 
 as little violence as could be expected, and as little loss as I calculated. 
 Some of these foraging parties had encounters with the enemy which 
 would, in ordinary times, rank as respectable battles. The behavior of 
 our troops in Savannah has been so manly, so quiet, so perfect, that I 
 take it as the best evidence of discipline and true courage. Never was a 
 hostile city, filled with women and children, occupied by a large army 
 with less disorder, or more system, order, and good government." Four 
 co-operative movements of the Union forces, which took place during this 
 campaign, are worthy of our notice, of which, however, only two had 
 much practical importance; (1) General Foster's demonstration upon the 
 Charleston and Savannah railroad ; and (2) a cavalry expedition from the 
 Mississippi river to Seliua, Ala., both unsuccessful ; (3) Stoneman's cavalry 
 raid up the Tennessee valley, admirable and successful in its execution 
 
SHERMAN'S GENERAL ORDERS. 867 
 
 and destructive results ; and (4) Thomas's management of Hood, which, in 
 reality, assumed the dignity of a separate campaign. It will be recollected 
 that when Sherman conceived the plan of his "march to the sea," he pro- 
 ceeded, in direct violation of that universally accepted axiom in the art 
 of war, forbidding the division of forces in the face of an enemy, to detach 
 a portion of his army to General Thomas, with orders to lure Hood into 
 Tennessee. This Thomas successfully accomplished, and turning on him 
 at the proper moment crushed him. All these operations formed separate 
 links in the great chain of strategy, by which Lee, in the Kebel stronghold 
 of Richmond, was bound hand and foot, and delivered into the hands of 
 the national authority. 
 
 On the 8th of January, 1865, General Sherman issued a congratulatory 
 order to his troops, in which he reviewed their services during the two 
 months previous, both in this campaign and in that under General Thomas, 
 at Nashville (the troops in which, it will be remembered, belonged also to 
 his military division of the Mississippi), and authorized the regiments in 
 both armies to inscribe at their pleasure "Savannah" or "Nashville" on 
 their colors, thus as was just, dividing the honors of the two great victories 
 equally. 
 
 On the 14th of January, he published another general order directing 
 the adoption of measures for putting down guerillas, and providing for 
 the protection and liberty of trade of farmers and others who were loyally 
 inclined. This order met with very general approval by the citizens. 
 But his most important action, while in Savannah, was that in reference to 
 the freedmen. Though not technically an abolitionist, and indeed before 
 the war regarded as pro-slavery in his views, General Sherman had been 
 greatly impressed with the loyalty and fidelity of the negroes, whether 
 slave or free, to the Union. He had found them, in his two Georgia 
 campaigns, as well as in Mississippi, the warm and confiding friends of the 
 Union army, and they manifested a most touching and implicit faith in 
 him and his army. 
 
 Secretary Stanton of the War Department visited Savannah while 
 General Sherman was there, and taking advantage of his presence, the 
 General assembled the leading men among the negroes — men in whose 
 integrity, intelligence and character, they themselves had perfect confidence, 
 and in whom they were willing to recognize as their representatives, and had 
 a free conference with them, as to their views concerning the future con- 
 dition and social position of these people, the Secretary taking part in the 
 interview. It was found that they were uniformly desirous of colonizing 
 the islands along the South Carolina and Georgia coast, and cultivating 
 cotton, rice, and other crops for themselves. As a result of this interview, 
 and for the purpose of responding to their views, the general issued, on 
 the 18th of January, 1865, the following general order: 
 
 & 
 
S68 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "Head-Quarters Mimtakv Division of thk Mississippi, in the. Field Savannah, Ga. 
 
 January IG//1, 1865. 
 
 "I. The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice-fields along 
 the river, for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering 
 the St. Johns river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement 
 of the negroes now made free by the acts of war and the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 "II. At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, St. Augustine 
 and Jacksonville, the blacks may remain in their chosen or accustomed 
 avocations; but on the islands and in the settlements hereafter to be estab- 
 lished, no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers, 
 detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive 
 management of aSairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject 
 only to the United States military authority and the acts of Congress. 
 By the laws of war, and orders of the President of the United Stales, the 
 negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. He cannot be subjected to 
 con.scription or forced military service, save by the written orders of the 
 highest military authority of the department, under such regulations as the 
 President or Congress may prescribe. Domestic servants, blacksmith.s, 
 carpenters, and other mechanics, will be free to select their own work and 
 residence; but the young and able-bodied negroes must be encouraged to 
 enlist as soldiers in the service of the United States, to contribute their 
 share toward maintaining their own freedom, and securing their rights as 
 citizens of the United States. Negroes so enlisted will be organized into 
 companies, battalions and regiments, under the order of the United States 
 military authorities, and will be paid, fed and clothed, according to law. 
 The bounties paid on enlistment may, with consent of the recruit, go to 
 assist his family and settlement, in procuring agricultural implements, 
 seeds, tools, boats, clothing, and other articles necessary for their liveli- 
 hood. 
 
 " III. Whenever three respecta.ble negroes, heads of families, shall desire 
 to settle on land, and shall have selected, for that purpose, an island or a 
 locality clearly defined within the limits above designated, the Inspector 
 of Settlements and Plantations will himself, or by such subordinate 
 officer as he may appoint, give them a license to settle such island or 
 district, and alford them such assistance as he can, to enable them to 
 establish a peaceable agricultural settlement. The three parties named 
 will subdivide the land, under the supervision of the Inspector, among 
 themselves, and such others as may choose to settle near them, so that 
 each family shall have a plot of not more than forty acres of tillable 
 ground, and when it borders on some water channel, with not more than 
 eight hundred feet front, in the possession of which land the military 
 authorities will afford them protection until such time as they can protect 
 themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title. The quartermaster 
 
DESTITUTION OF THE WHITES AT SATANNAH. 869 
 
 may, on the requisition of the Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, 
 place at the disposal of the Inspector one or more of the captured steam- 
 ers, to ply between the settlements and one or more of the commercial 
 points heretofore named in orders, to afford the settlers the opportunity to 
 supply their necessary wants, and to sell the products of their land and 
 labor. 
 
 " IV. When a negro has enlisted in the military service of the United 
 States, he may locate his family in any of the settlements, at pleasure, and 
 acquire a homestead, and all otl>er rights and privileges of a settler, as 
 though present in person. In like manner, negroes may settle their fami- 
 lies, and engage on board the gunboats, or in fishing, or in the navigation 
 of the inland waters, without losing any claim to land, or other advan- 
 tages derived from this system. Bat none, except an actual settler, as 
 above defined, or unless absent on government service, will be entitled to 
 claim any right to land or property in any settlement by virtue of these 
 orders. 
 
 " V. In order to carry out this system of settlement, a general officer 
 will be detailed as Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, whose duty 
 it shall be to visit the settlements, to regulate their police and general 
 management, and who will furnish, personally, to each head of a family, 
 subject to the approval of the President of the United States, a possessory 
 title in writing, giving, as near as possible, the description of boundaries, 
 and who may adjust all claims or conflicts that may arise under the same, 
 subject to the like approval, treating such titles as altogether possessory. 
 The same general officer will also be charged with the enlistment and 
 organization of the negro recruits, and protecting their interests while so 
 absent from their settlements, and will be governed by the rules and regu- 
 lations prescribed by the War Department for such purpose. 
 
 '• VI. Brigadier-General R. Saxton is hereby appointed Inspector of 
 Settlements and Plantations, and will at once enter on the performance of 
 his duties. No change is intended or desired in the settlement now on 
 Beaufort Island, nor will any right to jiroperty, heretofore acquired, be 
 affected hereby. 
 
 " By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman." 
 
 Soon after the promulgation of this order, an " Educational Associa- 
 tion" was formed among the freedmen, for the purpose of establishing 
 schools for the education of their children. The first evening these poor 
 people subscribed, in sums of three dollars each, more than seven hun- 
 dred dollars, and in a few days five hundred colored children were assem- 
 bled in their schools. 
 
 There was found to be great destitution among the whites in Savannah, 
 rice being almost the only article of food which was to be had in any 
 considerable quantities. General Sherman gave of this twenty thousand 
 bushels from his stores, and permitted a former officer of his army to visit 
 
870 THE CIVIL WAR IX TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 New York to exchange it for other articles of food. On his arrival the 
 generous citizens of New York allowed it to be sold and the pro- 
 ceeds invested in food, but they added to the cargo of the government 
 vessel which bore those supplies back, fifty thousand dollars' worth of 
 provisions for the suffering poor of Savannah. Generous contributions 
 to the same object were also forwarded from Boston, Massachusetts, and 
 other cities. 
 
 1 
 
THE NASHVILLE CAMPAIGN. STl 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII. 
 
 THE NASHVILLE CAMPAIGN — SHERMAN's KESOLTE — DAVIs's BOAST — HOOD TRIES TO PUI.FII. IT 
 
 THE OFFER TO GIVE HOOD HIS RATIONS MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL THOMAS'S COMMAND 
 
 THE FOURTH AND TWENTY-THIRD CORPS ASSIGNED TO GENERAL THOMAS — SHERMAN'S ORDER 
 
 HIS INSTRUCTIONS A PART OF HOOD's FORCE CROSSES THE TENNESSEE THE NUMBER 
 
 OP hood's TROOPS — EFFECTIVE FORCE OF THOMAS — CHEATHAM's CORPS CROSSES THE TEN- 
 NESSEE—FORREST'S RAID ON JOHNSONVILLE — SCHOPIELD PASSES THROUGH JOHNSONVILLE 
 TO PULASKI — HOOD ADVANCES ON PULASKI — SCHOFIELD's AND THOMAs's MEASURES — FALL- 
 ING BACK TO COLUMBIA — CALLING IN THE GARRISONS — THE CROSSING OF DUCK RIVER — • 
 
 HOOD ATTF.MPTS TO FLANK SCIIOFIELD AT SPRING HILL BUT FAILS TO DO SO CAUSES OF 
 
 THE FAILURE THE RACE FOR FRANKLIN SCHOFIELD WINS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 
 
 BTAKE — SCHOFIELD KEEPS THE REBELS AT BAY TILL HIS MEN HAVE THROWN UP TEMPORARY 
 DEFENCES — HOOd's ADDRESS TO HIS TROOPS — HIS PLAN — ITS PARTIAL SUCCESS — HEROISM 
 OF GENERAL STANLEY — RESULTS OF THE BATTLE — SKETCH OP GENERAL STANLEY — SCHO- 
 FIELD PALLS BACK TO NASHVILLE, AND MILROY TO MURFREESBORO — THOMAS'S REINFORCE- 
 MENTS COME UP — POSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES — HOOd's BLUNDER — THE EXPEDITION 
 
 AGAINST MUKFREESBORO' ITS FAILURE — THOMAS PREPARES TO ATTACK HOOd's LEFT, AT 
 
 THE SAME TIME DEMONSTRATING UPON HIS RIGHT THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE — FIRST DAY 
 
 — RESULTS — hood's CONDITION AND HOPES — SECOND DAY — DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS 
 ■ — CAVALRY ATTACK ON THE REAR — THE GENERAL ADVANCE — THE ASSAULT — REPULSE^ 
 ADVANCING AGAIN — THE ENEMY'S LINES BROKEN, AND HE COMPELLED TO FLY IN THE 
 
 UTMOST DISORDER THE RETREAT THE PURSUIT ITS RELENTLESS CHARACTER — RESULTS 
 
 — GALLANT CONDUCT OF COLONEL PALMER — LVON's DEFEAT AND CAPTURE — SKETCH 
 
 OF GENERAL SCHOFIELD SKETCH OF HOOD THE CAMPAIGN OF GILLEM, EURBRIDGK, AND 
 
 STONEMAN, IN EAST TENNESSEE AND WESTERN VIRGINIA BATTLES OF KINGSPORT, ABINGTON, 
 
 AND MARION CAPTURE OF WYTHEVILLE AND SALTVILLE BURBRIDGK's RETURN TO KEN- 
 TUCKY. 
 
 Our narrative of Sherman's campaign from Atlanta to the sea, left Hood 
 at Gadsden, Alabama, whither he liad retreated from Sherman's pursuit, 
 and where, behind strong fortifications, he awaited Sherman's attack. It 
 was at this point, in accordance with his previously matured purpose, that 
 Sherman determined not to be drawn out of Georgia, nor to suffer his 
 communications to be longer at Hood's mercy. He had become satisfied 
 that Hood liad a force sufficient to trouble his communications, but not to 
 meet and cope with him in battle. Jefferson Davis had boasted at Macon, 
 that the soil wrested from the Rebels in Tennessee should be regained, 
 and Hood was about to attempt the fulfilment of that boast, by an expe- 
 dition thither. The sailors have a proverb that "a stern chase is a long 
 chase," and Sherman was well aware that if he attempted, with his large 
 army, to pursue Hood, the chase would be a long and wearisome one, and 
 Hood would be able to do a great deal of mischief before he could over- 
 take him. If, on the contrary, he detached the skilful and resolute Thomas 
 
8T2 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to hold Tennessee with a sufficient force, to draw him on, till he was away 
 from his base of supplies, and finally to grapple with and destroy his army, 
 while Sherman himself, with the remainder of his army, cut loose from 
 his base, and marched through Georgia to the sea, he would accomplish 
 far more for the overthrow of the Rebel power than he could do by re- 
 maining on the defensive. He had communicated his views and plans 
 to the Lieutenant-General, who gave them his full approval. " If," said 
 Sherman to his generals, at this stage of the contest, "Hood will go into 
 Tennessee, I will give him his rations." To his comprehensive and astute 
 intellect, it was already evident that, in this move of Hood's, prompted by 
 the Rebel President, he had thrown away his last hope of success, his last 
 chance even of prolonging the war, and that for this phantom of an invasion, 
 he had relinquished the great and controlling advantage of interior lines of 
 movement. 
 
 Early in October, 1864, General Thomas, then commanding the army 
 of the Cumberland, had disposed his forces in such a way as to oppose 
 the g^reatest resistance in his power to Hood's contemplated forward move- 
 ment from Gadsden, either upon Bridgeport or Chattanooga, both which 
 were thought to be threatened. Decatur, Huntsville, Stevenson, and the 
 rest of northern Alabama were left to the care of their ordinary garrisons, 
 but General Thomas caused Rousseau to recall his mounted troops from 
 their pursuit of Forrest, who was at his favorite work of making raids on 
 the Union lines of communications, and concentrate them at Athens; 
 Croxton's brigade of cavalry was ordered to observe and protect the cross- 
 ings of the Tennessee river, from Decatur to Eastport; Morgan's division 
 of Jefferson C. Davis's — fourteenth — corps, to move by rail to Chattanooga, 
 where were already Morgan's and Newton's divisions of the fourth — 
 Stanley's — corps, and Steediiian; as ordered to follow Morgan to Bridge- 
 port. On the 14th of October, Morgan reached his designated position, 
 and Steedman's destination was also changed to Chattanooga. Hood, how- 
 ever, did not move for some time, and, on the 2Uth of October, General 
 Sherman detached the fourth corps, under Major-Geaeral Stanley, and 
 ordered him to proceed to Chattanooga and report to General Thomas, at 
 Nashville. On the 30th of October he also detached the twenlythird corps, 
 Major-General Schofield, with the same destination. On the 28th of 
 October he had delegated to General Thomas full power over the fourth 
 and twenty-third corps, the two divisions of the sixteenth corps under 
 command of General A. J. Smith, then in Missouri, but on their way to 
 Tennessee, and all the garrisons in Tennessee, as well as all the cavalry 
 of the military division of the Mississippi, except Kilpatrick's division. 
 His special field order for this purpose was as follows : 
 
 " In the event of military movements or the accidents of war separating 
 the general in command from his military division, Major-General George 
 [I. Thomas, commanding the Department of the Cumberland, will exercise 
 
EFFECTIVE FORCE OF GENERAL THOMAS. 8T3 
 
 command over all the troops and garrisons not absolutely in the presence 
 of the General-in-Chief." 
 
 Brevet Major-General Wilson had been ordered from the army of the 
 Potomac to report to General Thomas, and take command of the cavalry 
 of his army, and he was sent back to Nashville with all dismounted de- 
 tachments, and with orders to collect as rapidly as possible the cavalry 
 serving in Kentucky and Tennessee, to mount, organize and equip them, 
 and report for duty at the earliest moment. These forces General Sherman 
 believed sufficient to enable General Thomas to defend the railway from 
 Chattanooga to Nashville, and Decatur, and to give him an army, capable 
 of coping successfully with Hood, should he cross the Tennessee north- 
 ward. General Slierman also informed General Thomas of his entire 
 plans for the campaign, and instructed him that he was expected to defend 
 the line of the Tennessee river, to hold Tennessee in any event, and to 
 pursue Hood should he follow Sherman. 
 
 On the 26th of October, the enemy appeared in some force before 
 Decatur, but, after skirmishing for three days, withdrew. On the 81st, in 
 spite of all the efforts of Croxton's cavalry, which was, as we have said, 
 guarding the river from Decatur to Eastport, the enemy succeeded in 
 effecting a lodgment on the north bank of the Tennessee, about three 
 miles above Florence. Only a small portion of Hood's army crossed at 
 this time, the greater part remaining in Florence, perhaps because their 
 commander was perplexed by the movements of Sherman, or, more prob- 
 ably, was engaged in making preparations for the advance into Tennessee, 
 on which he was fully determined. Hood had caused the Mobile and 
 Ohio railroad to be repaired, and he now occupied Corinth, so that his 
 supplies could be brought by rail from Selma and Montgomery to that 
 point, and thence by way of the Memphis and Charleston railroad to 
 Cherokee station. His force now consisted of the remnant of his three 
 old corps under Lee, Stuart, and Cheatham, estimated at from thirty to 
 thirty-five thousand men, and Forrest's cavalry, supposed to number 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 General Thomas's effective force (A. J. Smith, with his two divisions, 
 not having yet arrived, and only a small part of Wilson's cavalry being 
 remounted) numbered twenty -two thousand infantry, and seven thousand 
 seven hundred cavalry, exclusive of numerous detachments, garrisoning 
 Murfreesboro', Stevenson, Bridgeport, Huntsville, Decatur, and Chatta- 
 nooga, and distributed along the railways to guard them. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 12th of November, the last telegraphic despatch 
 was received from General Sherman, and all railway and telegraphic com- 
 munication with his army thenceforth ceased. From that day until the 
 17th of November, was an anxious period for General Thomas, for he 
 was uncertain whether he should be under the necessity of pursuing 
 Hood, as would be the case if he followed Sherman, or whether he should 
 
S74 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 have to defend Tennessee against invasion ; but, on the 17th, Cheatham's 
 corps crossed to the north side of the Tennessee, and suspense was at an 
 end. The Rebel general could not now follow Sherman if he were dis- 
 posed to do so, for he was already three days' march beyond Atlanta, on 
 his way to the sea. 
 
 On the 28th of October, Forrest had come from Corinth, with seven- 
 teen regiments of cavalry, and nine pieces of artillery, and having cap- 
 tured a gunboat and two transports, on the Tennes.see rivei', and burned 
 a third transport at Fort Ilciman, seventy-five miles above Paducah, 
 planted batteries above and below Johnsonville, which was an extensive 
 d6p6t of Union stores, and connected by railroad with Na.shville. He had 
 been compelled to destroy the gunboats he had captured, and one of the 
 tran.-jports was recaptured. By the position of his batteries, he was able 
 to isolate tiiree gunboats, eight transports, and about a dozen barges. 
 On the 4th of November, he opened with his artillery on the gunboats 
 and transports, as well as upon the town, and the gunboats, which were 
 wooden vessels, having become disabled, their officers, fearing they would 
 full into Forrest's hands, unwisely fired them and the transports, and the 
 flames commiinicating to the government storehouses on the levee, which 
 were filled with cornmissar\- and quartermaster's stores, those also were 
 burned, involving a loss of about one and a half millions of dollars. The 
 garrison of Johnsonville, however, showed no disposition to yield to 
 Forrest, whose previous exploits at Fort Pillow and elsewhere, had caused 
 his name to be greatly loathed, and after a somewhat protracted bombard- 
 ment of the town, he withdrew, and ci;ossing the river just above the town, 
 hastened southward. 
 
 General Schofield with the twenty-third corps, arrived at Johnsonville 
 from Nashville, the night after Forrest's withdrawal, and leaving a rein- 
 forcement to the garrison at Nashville, went on to Pulaski, to join the 
 fourth corps there. On the 19th of November, Hood began his advance 
 northward, on parallel roads from Florence to Waynesboro'. General 
 Schofield, who had command of the two corps at Pulaski, had orders to 
 obstruct and delay Hood's progress as much as possible, without bringing 
 on a "-eneral engagement, in order to afford more time for the arrival of 
 Smith's two divisions fiom Missouri, and to enable Wilson to remount 
 and equip more completely his cavalry. Finding that Hood was 
 approaching Pulaski, General Schofield removed the public property from 
 that town, and sent back his trains to Columbia, preparatory to falling 
 back thither with his troops. 
 
 Two divisions of the fourt'u — Stanley's — corps had already been de- 
 tailed to proceed as far as Lynnville, fifteen miles north of Pulaski, to 
 cover the passage of the wagons, and protect the railway. Capron's 
 brigadeof cavalry was at Mount Pleasant, covering the approach to Colum- 
 bia from that direction; and in addition to the regular garrison, there was, 
 
HOOD ADVANCES ON PULASKI. 
 
 8t5 
 
 at Columbia, a brigade of Euger's division of the twenty-third curps. The 
 two remaining brigades of Euger's division, then at Johnsonville, were 
 ordered to move, one by railway around through Nashville to Columbia, 
 the other by turnpike by way of Waverly to Centreville, to occupy the 
 crossings of Duck river near Columbia, Williamsport, Gordon's ferry and 
 Centreville. About five thousand men, belonging to Sherman's column, 
 bad collected at Chattanooga, comprising convalescents and furloughed 
 men returning to their regiments. These men had been organized into 
 brigades, to be made available at such points as as they might be needed. 
 General Thomas had also been reinforced by twenty new one year 
 regiments, most of which, however, were absorbed in replacing old 
 regiments, whose term of service had expired. 
 
 On the 23d of November, General R. S. Granger, commander of the 
 garrisons along the line of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, in 
 accordance with instructions previously given him, commenced withdraw- 
 ing the garrisons from Athens, Decatur, and Huntsville, Alabama, and 
 moved off toward Stevenson, sending five new regiments of this force to 
 Murfreesboro, and retaining at Stevenson, the original troops of his 
 command. This movement was made by rail with great rapidity, and 
 without any opposition on the part of the enemy. 
 
 General Schofield evacuated Pulaski, on the evening of the 23d of 
 November, and reached Columbia on the 24th. The commanding officer 
 at Johnsonville was directed to evacuate that post and retire to Clarks- 
 ville. During the 24th and 25th, the enemy skirmished with General 
 Schofield's troops at Columbia, and on the morning of the 26th his infantry 
 came up and pressed Schofield's line strongly, during that day and the 
 27th, but without assaulting. As the enemy's movements showed an un- 
 doubted intention to cross Duck river. General Schofield withdrew to the 
 north bank of that river, during the night of the 27th. Two divisions of 
 the twenty-third corps were placed in line in front of Columbia, holding 
 all the crossings in its vicinity ; while the fourth — Stanley's — corps, posted 
 in reserve on the Franklin turnpike, was held in readiness to repel any 
 vigorous attempt the enemy should make to force a passage ; and the 
 cavalry, under Wilson, held the crossings above those guarded by their 
 infantry. About two A. M., on the 29th, the enemy succeeded in pressing 
 back General Wilson's cavalfy, and effected a crossing on the Lewisburg 
 turnpike; at a later hour, part of his infantry crossed at Huey's mills, six 
 miles above Columbia, convinced that it was Hood's intention to attempt 
 to flank him at Spring Hill. General Schofield now made preparations 
 to fall back to Franklin, where his position would be much stronger. 
 He sent General Stanley promptly in the early morning to Spring Hill 
 fifteen miles distant, with one division of the fourth corps, to cover the 
 trains, and hold the road open for the passage of the main force ; and dis- 
 
S1G THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 positions were made preparatory to a withdrawal, to meet any attack coming 
 from the direction of Huey's mills. 
 
 Hood had despatched Forrest, with the greater part of his cavalry, 
 across Duck river, a few miles above Columbia, on the evening of the 
 28th, and on the morning of the 29th he followed with Stewart's and 
 Cheatham's corps, and Johnson's division of Lee's, in light marching order, 
 with only one battery to each corps, leaving the other divisions of Lee's 
 corps in front of Schofield's troops at Columbia. His object was, of course 
 to throw his force, or the greater part of it, upon the trains of the Union 
 army, and cut it off, as well as the troops which guarded it, from the 
 remainder of Schofield's force, which he hoped to hold at Columbia till 
 this was accomplished. The plan was well conceived, and came near 
 proving successful. General Stanley reached Spring Hill just in time to 
 drive off Forrests' cavalry, and save the trains ; but he found, in the after- 
 noon, that Cheatham's corps had come up, and renewing the attack in con- 
 nection with Forrest, they had at onetime nearly succeeded in dislodging 
 him from his position. General Stanley, was, however, just tlie man for 
 this emergency, firm and unyielding as well as daring, he withstood the 
 fearful odds, and kept the roads open for the passage of the long train, 
 notwithstanding the terrible pressure of the Rebel force. Hood, indeed, 
 blamed Cheatham severely for his failure to crush Stanley at this time, and 
 speaks of his attack as but feeble and paitial ; but the failure was probably 
 due to Stanley's splendid fighting powers, rather then to any lack of 
 energy or zeal on the part of Cheatham. 
 
 The divisions which Hood left in Schofield's front at Columbia, fought all 
 day, attempting to cross Duck river, but were repulsed many times, and 
 suffered severe loss : giving directions for the withdrawal of the troops 
 from Columbia, so soon as the darkness would cover the movement. 
 General Schofield started, late in the afternoon, with Ruger's division of 
 the twenty-third corps to the relief of General Stanley, at Spring Hill, and 
 when near that place came upon a body of Rebel cavalry, bivouacking within 
 eight hundred yards of the road, but easily drove them off. Posting a 
 brigade to hold the road at this point, against the coming up of the re- 
 mainder of his troops, General Schofield, with Ruger's division, pushed on 
 to Thompson's station, three miles beyond, where he found the enemy's 
 camp fires still burning, a cavalry force haviilg occupied the place till dark^ 
 when they were removed. General Hood states that, at dark, he furnished 
 Lieutenant-General Stewart with a guide, and ordered him to move his 
 corps beyond (or to the left) of Cheatham's and place it across the road 
 beyond Spring Hill. Shortly after this, General Cheatham came to his 
 headquarters, and when Hood informed him of Stewart's movement, he 
 said that Stewart ought to form on his right ; Hood asked if that would 
 throw Stewart across the turnpike. Cheatham answered that it would, and 
 a mile beyond. Accordingly one of Cheatham's staff officers was sent to 
 
SCHOFIBLD KEEPS THE REBELS AT BAY. 8fT 
 
 show Stewart where his right rested. In the darkness and confusioa, 
 Stewart did not succeed in getting the position desired, and about eleven 
 P. M. went into bivouac. About twelve p. St., General Hood, ascertaining 
 that the Union troops were moving past in great confusion (such are his 
 words) — artillery, wagons and troops intermixed — sent instructions td 
 General Cheatham to advance a heavy line of skirmishers against them, 
 and still further impede and confuse their march. For some reason, 
 Cheatham did not attempt this, and the column which left Columbia after 
 nightfall on the evening of the 29th, passed Spring Hill about midnight, 
 Generals Stanley and Schofield, with the divisions they commanded in 
 person, having preceded them, and though within hearing of Hood's army 
 nearly all night, were unmolested. The night march of twenty-five miles 
 was made in safety, and the whole command were in position at Franklin, 
 at an early hour on the morning of the 30th, the cavalry moving on the 
 Lewisburg turnpike on the right of the infantry. Finding that Hood was 
 pursuing him rather closely, General Schofield made a feint of an intention 
 of giving battle on the hills four miles south of Franklin, but when the 
 Rebels had paused and begun to deploy their troops for the attack, he 
 fell back slowly to Franklin. This had been a race for the possession of 
 Tennessee, of whose importance and moment both commanders were fully 
 aware. Franklin once reached by Schofield and his troops put in order 
 of battle there, the odds were strongly against Hood. The Union general 
 was near his base — Nashville — and could without serious difficulty reach 
 it, while his adversary was moving constantly farther from his base, and 
 in the topography of the country, as well as in the large force which 
 would then oppose him, his chances of success would be greatly dimin- 
 ished. If on the contrary, he had been successful in dividing and 
 defeating Schofield's army at Spring Hill, it would have been difficult and 
 perhaps impossible to prevent him from overrunning Middle Tennessee 
 and Kentucky, and though, in the end, this triumph might not have 
 greatly prolonged the war, it would have caused immense losses in troops 
 and property to have repelled the invasion. 
 
 Franklin, which place General Schofield had reached with his troops 
 without serious loss, is situated on the Nashville and Decatur railroad, 
 eighteen miles south of Nashville, in a bend of the Big Harpeth river, 
 an affluent of the Cumberland. The river encircles the town on three 
 sides, and General Schofield stretched his army across the bend, and 
 hastened the crossing of his trains over the bridge on the north side of 
 the town, toward Nashville. In the position which he had selected for 
 his line of battle, there were already some fortifications and rifle-pits, and 
 General Schofield kept his skirmishers engaged in pushing back the 
 advance-guard of Hood's army, while the troops were completing a line 
 of temporary defences. By their skilful manceuvring, the enemy were 
 
878 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 kept at bay until four P. M., when Hood having massed his troops in front 
 of Schofield's position, battle could be no lojiger delayed. 
 
 Riding along his lines, Hood encouraged his troops to make a desper- 
 ate attack, telling them that the Union force in their front was greatly in- 
 ferior to their own, and that if they once succeeded in breaking it, they 
 could drive the Yankees out of Tennessee. His plan of battle was to 
 hurl his force, massed as it was, upon the Union centre, break it, seize 
 upon the trains, and if possible destroy the Union army before it could 
 cross the Harpeth river. But Schofield's position was an admirable one, 
 and though his force was greatly inferior to Hood's, it could and did repel 
 his attacks, with terrible loss. At four p. M., Hood appeared with hi.< 
 troops, advancing out of the woods into the plain in front of the Union 
 position, Schofield's skirmishers meantime foiling back slowly toward the 
 main army, and maintaining a sharp musketry fire as they retreated. 
 
 As the Kebels advanced, the Union troops opened a heavy and destruc- 
 tive cannonade upon them, and as they came nearer, in dense lines, four 
 deep, the deadly grape and canister, and the severe musketry fire at short 
 range made fearful havoc with them. But though the deadly missiles cut 
 wide swaths in their advancing columns, they struggled on, and at last 
 Maury's division of Cheatham's corps reached the Union outworks, held 
 by Wagner's division, and after a fierce struggle, drove it back upon the 
 second and stronger line, held by Cox's and Ruger's divisions of the 
 twenty-third corps. Withdrawing a short distance, and reforming their 
 lines, the Rebel troops flung themselves with great fury upon this second 
 line, and after a desperate and terrible contest, forced their way inside of 
 it also, and captured two guns. At this critical moment, when the tide 
 of battle seemed turned against the Union forces, General David S. Stan- 
 ley, the commander of the fourth corps, put himself at the head of 
 Opdyke's brigade, with Conrad's in support, and rushing with intense 
 energy upon the enemy, after a fierce hand to hand encounter, with 
 bayonets and clubbed muskets, succeeded in driving them out of the 
 works, though not until he had himself been severely wounded. Infuri- 
 ated at this discomfiture, just at the moment of success, Hood and his 
 corps commanders urged on their troops to renewed attacks, and for more 
 than five hours they surged up, again and again, against the Union lines, 
 but in vain. The Union soldiers stood like a wall of adamaut, and their 
 artillery, served with the utmost precision, and at short range, dealt de- 
 struction to the foe at each advance. At length, at ten o'clock at night, 
 finding that he was only sacrificing his men to no purpose, the Rebel com- 
 mander desisted, and fell back out of range. The Union trains were by 
 this time well on their way to Nashville, and a part of them already 
 arrived there, and at midnight, Schofield withdrew with his army in per- 
 iect order, and marching swiftly over the excellent roads reached Nash- 
 ville on the morning of December 1st. 
 
HEROISM OF GENERAL STANLEY. 879 
 
 The battle of Franklin had been one of the severest actions for the 
 time it occupied and the number of troops engaged, in the annals of the 
 war. Hood reported it as a victoiy on his part, on the ground probably 
 of Schofield's retreat to Nashville during the night, but it was a victory 
 dearly bought and almost ruinous in its losses. His killed numbered, 
 according to his official report, seventeen hundred and fifty, his wounded, 
 three thousand eight hundred, and seven hundred and two of his officers 
 and men were captured by the Union troops, making his total casualties 
 six thousand two hundred and fifty-two. Among the killed, were Major- 
 General Patrick E. Cleburne, one of his best division officers, and five 
 brigadier-generals, viz: Williams, J. Adams, Gist, Strahl, and Granbury. 
 Major-General Brown, and Brigadier-Generals Carter, Mauigault, Quarles, 
 Cockerell, and Scott, were wounded; and Brigadier-General Gordon cap- 
 tured. The Union losses were one hundred and eighty-nine killed, one 
 thousand and thirty-three wounded, and one thousand one hundred and 
 four missing, making an aggregate of two thousand three hundred and 
 twenty-six. The Union troops captured thirty-three stands of colors, and 
 seven hundred and two prisoners. Major-General Stanley* was the only 
 Union general officer wounded. The Union army were compelled to 
 leave their slain and severely wounded upon the field, but they were cared 
 for by the people of Franklin. 
 
 On the evacuation of Columbia, General Thomas sent orders to General 
 
 * Major-tieneral David S. Stanley, was born in Cedar "Valley, Wayne county, Ohio. 
 June 1st, 1828 ; he received a good english education, and commenced the study ot 
 medicine in 1847, but entered' West Point the ne.xt year, and graduated in 1852, 
 eighth in his class. He was appointed, July 18.52, brevet second lieutenant of the 
 second dragoons ; received his commission as full second lieutenant, in 1853 ; was 
 promoted to. be first lieutenant of the first cavalry, in March 1850; was assigned to 
 duty on the frontier in New Mexico, Te.xfls, Missouri (now Dakotah) territory, &c.. 
 and had several engagements with the Indians, from 1853 to 1861. On the 16th of 
 March, 1861, he was promoted to be captain of the fourth cavalry, and removed the 
 United States garrisons in Texas, to Leavenworth, Kansas. He took part in the 
 battles of Dug Spring and Wilson's creek, Missouri, in August 1861; was commis- 
 sioned brigadier-general of volunteers, September 28, 1861 ; commanded a brigade and 
 ere long a division, and distinguished himself in the sieges of New Madrid, Island 
 Number Ten, and Corinth ; and in the battles of luka, Septemljcr 19, 1862. and Corinth, 
 October 3d and 4th, 1862 ; was appointed by General Rosecrans his chief of cavalry, 
 and won distinction in several minor engagements, and in the battle of Stone river. 
 December 31st, 1862, to January 3d, 1863 ; was commissioned major-general of volun- 
 teers, dating from November 29th, 1862; participated in the pm-suit of Bragg in 
 June, 1863; in the battles of Chickamauga, September 19th, and 20th, 1863; Mission 
 Ridge, November 25th. 18C3, and Knoxville, December 4th, 1863. He continued to 
 command a division in the fourth corps till August, 1864, when he succeeded (General 
 Howard as commander of that corps. He took part in all the battles of the Atlanta 
 campaign, and, as we have seen, returned to Tennessee in November, and was severely 
 wounded in this battle. He resumed the command of his corps late in the winter, but 
 was unable to engage in active service. 
 
880 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Milroy at TuUahoma to abandon that point and retire to Murfreesboro, 
 joining forces with General Rousseau at the latter place, but to maintain 
 the garrison at the block house at Elk river bridge. 
 
 Nashville was placed in a state of defence, and the fortifications man- 
 ned by the garrison, reinforced by volunteers from the employees of the 
 quartermaster's and commissary departments, who had previously been 
 organized into a division, under brevet Brigadier-General J. L. Donaldson. 
 This force, aided by railway employees, the whole under the direction of 
 Brigadier-General Tower, worked dilligently in constructing addititional 
 defences. Major-General Steedman, with the five thousand men isolated 
 from General Sherman's column and a brigade of colored troops, started 
 from Chattanooga by rail, on the 29th of November, and reached Cowan 
 on the morning of the 30th, when orders were sent to him to proceed 
 directly to Nashville. At an early hour on the morning of the 80th, the 
 advance of Major-General A. J. Smith's command arrived at Nashville, 
 on transports from St. Louis. Thus General Thomas had, witli Schofield's 
 army, an infantry force superior in numbers to that of Hood, though one 
 fourth of them or more were new troops, while Hood's were all veterans ; 
 the Rebel cavalry was, as yet, more numerous than that of the Union 
 army, but Wilson was fast remounting his troops, having received an 
 order from the War Department to impress horses in Kentucky and Ten- 
 nessee for the purpose, and in a few days he would be able to match 
 Forrest both in numbers and efficiency. 
 
 On the 1st of December, 1864, Schofield's army was drawn up in line 
 of battle on the heights south of Nashville, connecting with the rest of 
 the army under General Thomas's command ; A. J. Smith's corps occu- 
 pied the right, on the Cumberland river below the city ; the fourth corps 
 temporarily commanded by Brigadier-General Thomas J. Wood, in con 
 sequence of General Stanley's wound, the centre ; and Schofield's — 
 twenty -third — corps, the left, extending to the Nolensville turnpike. The 
 cavalry, under General Wilson, took post on the left of Schofield, thus 
 securing the interval between that flank and the river, above the city. 
 Nashville, it .should be said, is situated in a bend of the Cumberland 
 much as Franklin is in that of the Harpeth. General Steedman's troops 
 reached Nashville on the evening of the 1st of December, and on the 3d, 
 when the cavalry was moved to the north side of the river, to watch and 
 protect the railroad against the Rebel cavalry, occupied the space on the 
 left of the line which it had vacated. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th, after skirmishing during the two preceding 
 days. Hood succeeded in gaining a position, on a line of hills south of tiic 
 Union lines, with his salient on the summit of Montgomery hill, within 
 six hundred yards of the Union centre, his main line occupying the high 
 ground on the southeast side of Brown's creek, and extending from the 
 Nolensville turnpike, on which his extreme right rested, across the 
 
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST MUEPEEESBORO. 881 
 
 Franklin and Granny White roads, in a westerly direction to tlie hills 
 south and southwest of Richland creek, and down that creek to the Ilills- 
 boro' road, with cavalry extending from both flanks to the river. Hood 
 bad hitherto been notable for his reckless daring, and the fury of his sud- 
 den attacks upon an enemy, and had won a renown which such hardihood 
 and daring deserves ; but in this campaign he seemed anxious to imitate 
 Sherman, but without possessing Sherman's clear head and magnificent 
 strategic ability. He might, had he flung his troops against Nashville, 
 when he first came up, before Steedman's division had arrived, and while 
 Schofield's two corps were worn out with fighting by day and marching 
 by night, have had some chance of success in breaking through Thomas's ■ 
 lines, and pushing him to and across the Cumberland. The outlook was 
 but an indifi'erent one, even then, but when he neglected his opportunity, 
 and sat down to besiege Nashville, with its river and railroad communi- 
 cations yet perfect, he forfeited all prospects of success, and was as really I 
 though not as tangibly defeated as when, a fortnight later, he commenced 
 his winter flight toward the Tennessee. i 
 
 Between the 4th and 7th of December, Hood sent one division each 
 from Cheatham's and Lee's corps, and two thousand five hundred of ! 
 
 Forrest's cavalry, to attempt the capture of the blockhouse at the railway | 
 
 crossing of Overall's creek, and Fort Eosecrans, at Murfreesboro, but they 
 were repulsed at both points by Generals Milroy and Rousseau, who 
 commanded the garrisons. The Rebel loss here was thirty killed, one 
 hundred and seventy -five wounded, two hundred and seven prisoners and ! 
 
 two guns. Buford's Rebel cavalry entered Murfreesboro, but was speed- i 
 
 ily driven out by a regiment of infantry and a section of artillery, and on | 
 
 retiring moved northward to Lebanon, and along the south bank of the I 
 
 Cumberland, threatening to cross to the north side of the river, and inter- ] 
 
 cept the railway communications with Louisville, which was at that time 
 the only source of supplies for Thomas's army, the river below Nashville j 
 
 being blockaded for transports, by Rebel batteries along the shore. The 
 Union gunboats, under Lieutenant-Commander Le Roy Fitch, patrolled the 
 Cumberland, above and below Nashville, and prevented the enemy from 
 crossing. General Wilson also sent a cavalry force to Gallatin, to guard I 
 
 the country in that vicinity. j 
 
 General Thomas had been waiting impatiently for an opportunity to j 
 
 attack Hood and punish him for bis temerity ; but the intense cold, which | 
 
 had covered the hills around Nashville with ice, prevented any military i 
 
 movements on either side. On the 14th of December, there being indi- 
 cations of a thaw and of milder weather, General Thomas called together \ 
 his corps commanders, announced his intention of attacking on the mor- 
 row, should the weather prove propitious, and explained his plan of opera- 
 tions. A. J. Smith, holding the right, was to form on the Harding road, 
 and make a vigorous attack on the enemy's left, supported by three divi- 
 
 56 • 1 
 
882 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sions of Wilson's cavalry, ready to assail the enemy as occasion might 
 serve. Wood, with the fourth corps, leaving a strong skirmish line on 
 Laurens' hill, was to form on the Ilillsboro' road, supporting Smith's left, 
 and act against the left and rear of the enemy's advanced post on Mont- 
 gomery hill. Schofield was to be in reserve, covering Wood's left. 
 Steedman's troops from Chattanooga, the regular garrison of Nashville, 
 under Brigadier-General Miller, and the quartermaster's, commissary's, 
 and railway employees, under brevet Brigadier-General Donaldson, were 
 to hold the interior line, constituting the immediate defences of the city, 
 the whole under the command of Major-General Steedman. 
 
 Hood's right was known to be his strongest point, and General Tliomas's 
 plan was to demonstrate so vigorously on this, as to lead him to bring 
 still more of his troops to that wing ; and then, massing the Union forces 
 upon the enemy's weakened left, overwhelm it, break his line, and roll it 
 back upon the centre, and if possible crush that also. This was the work 
 he had assigned to the first day of the battle ; for the second day, he pro- 
 posed to break down Hood's right, and either envelope and capture his 
 army, or if that could not be done, shatter it so thoroughly, that he 
 would fly with his routed and demoralized troops south of the Tennessee 
 river. 
 
 On the 15th of December, every thing being favorable, the army took 
 its position, and was ready at an early hour to carry out this programme. 
 The formation of the troops was partially concealed from the enemy, by 
 the broken nature of the ground, as well as by a dense fog, which only 
 lifted toward nopn. For some reasons Hood seemed to have been entirely 
 unaware of Thomas's intention of attacking him and especially of his 
 design upon his left wing. Before dawn, Steedman deployed with a 
 heavy line of skirmishers, mostly colored troops, and thoroughl)' trained, 
 and made a fierce demonstration against the Rebel right, east of the 
 Nolensville turnpike, and soon after daylight, he pushed his line up to 
 and across this turnpike. The enemy's picket line resisted stoutly, but 
 being strongly pressed fell back, and Steedman pursued, until ho came 
 within short range of a battery planted on the other side of a deep rocky 
 cut of the Chattanooga railroad, which his troops could neither flank nor 
 cross. After a sharp and somewhat obstinate action, having accomplished 
 his object of impressing the enemy with the belief that the principal 
 attack was to be made at that point, and inducing him to di-aw rein- 
 forcements thither from his centre and left, General Steedman withdrew. 
 
 As soon as Steedman had completed this movement, General A. J. 
 Smith's corps and Wilson's cavalry moved out along the Harding turn- 
 pike, and commenced the great movement of the day, by wheeling to the 
 left, and advancing against the enemy's i)osition across the Harding and 
 Hillsboro road. Johnson's division of cavalry was sent, at the same 
 time, to look after a Rebel battery on the Cumberland road, at Bell's 
 
THE BATTLE OP NASHVILLE. 883 
 
 landing, eight miles below Nashville, which had been preventing the pas- 
 sage of transports up the river to Nashville. The remainder of Wilson's 
 cavalry, Hatch's division leading and Knipe in reserve, moving on 
 the right of A. J. Smith, first struck the enemy along Eichland creek, 
 near Harding's house, and rapidly drove him back, capturing a number 
 of prisoners ; and continuing to advance, while slightly swinging to the 
 left, came upon a redoubt containing four guns, which was splendidly 
 carried by assault, at one p. m., by a portion of Hatch's division, who 
 fought dismounted, and the captured guns were turned upon the enemy. 
 A second redoubt, stronger than the first, was next assailed and carried 
 by the same troops that captured the first, and four more guns and about 
 three hundred prisoners taken. In both these assaults, McArthur's 
 division, of A. J. Smith's corps, participated with the cavalry, and reached 
 the position about the same time. 
 
 Finding that General Smith had not lapped so far upon Hood's right 
 as he expected, though he had broken his right wing, General Thomas 
 now directed General Schofield to move his — twenty-third — corps, which 
 had thus far been in reserve, to the right of General Smith, and thus 
 enable the cavalry to operate more freely upon the enemy's rear. This 
 was rapidly accomplished by General Schofield, and his troops participa- 
 ted in the closing operations of the day. 
 
 The fourth corps (Woods) formed on the left of A. J. Smith's corps, and 
 as soon as the latter had struck the enemy's flank, assaulted and carried 
 Montgomery hill, Hood's most advanced position at one P. M., capturing 
 a considerable number of prisoners, connecting with Garrard's division, 
 which formed Smith's left. The fourth corps continued to advance, car- 
 ried the enemy's entire line in its front by assault, and captured several 
 pieces of artillery, about five hundred prisoners, and several stands of 
 colors. By these movements, Hood was crowded out of his original line 
 of works, and compelled to take a new position along the base of the 
 Harpeth hills, still, however, retaining his line of retreat to Franklin by 
 the main turnpike through Brentwood and by the Granny White road. — 
 During the day, sixteen pieces of artillery and twelve hundred prisoners 
 had been captured from the enemy, and he had been forced back at all 
 points with heavy loss, his strongest positions taken, and his right wing 
 crushed. The Union casualties had been unusually light, and the 
 behavior of General Thomas's troops was remarkable for steadiness and 
 alacrity in every movement. Still, though the Union army was full of 
 enthusiasm and confident that the next day would witness the destruction 
 of the invading army, it was not to be denied that his new position, 
 on the Overton hills, was a strong one. He had straightened and short- 
 ened his line by nearly one half, and the line of intrenchments which he 
 occupied, had been previously constructed and fortified by him. He still 
 held the two turnpikes, by which his retreat could be effected should he 
 
884 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 be compelled to retreat. His position was very similar to that of Eose- 
 crans at the close of the first day at Stone river ; and if, like that able 
 commander, he should be able to turn his previous defeat into victory, and 
 repulse with heavy loss the Union army, which had come out of Nash- 
 ville to attack him, there was still hope that his expedition into Tennes- 
 see might not prove wholly a failure. If, on the other hand, the disasters 
 of that day were but the precursors of a thorough and overwhelming 
 defeat on the morrow, his campaign would not only prove a failure, but 
 there would remain for him only a rapid and ignominious flight, in 
 which he could not hope to save his trains, or even the greater part of 
 his army, and the cause on which he had staked every thing would be 
 seriously perilled, if not lost. Gloomy as was the prospect, it served to 
 nerve the Rebel commander to the energy of despair, and he attempted to 
 infuse his own fiery spirit into his troops. 
 
 General Thomas, on the other hand, was calm, quiet and self-possessed. 
 Notwithstanding Hood's strong position, and the advantage which he still 
 possessed, the Union commander felt that victory was in his hands, and 
 that the evening of the next day would witness Hood's army flying, in 
 haste and disorder, southward. His plans, deliberately formed, and slowly 
 carried out, admitted no loophole for failure, no possibility of defeat. 
 Hood's army was to be crushed — that much, at least, he had settled. 
 
 The Union army bivouacked in line of battle, during the night, on the 
 ground occupied at dark, and preparations were made to renew the battle 
 at an early hour next morning. 
 
 At six A. M., on the 16th of December, Wood's corps pressed back the 
 enemy's skirmishers across the Franklin road, to the eastward of it, and 
 then, swinging a little to the right, advanced due south from Nashville, 
 driving the Rebels before them until they came upon a new main line of 
 works, constructed during the night on Overton's hill, about five miles 
 south of the city and cast of the Franklin road. General Stcedman moved 
 out from Nashville by the Nolensville turnpike, and formed his provisional 
 corps on the left of General Wood, effectually protecting his flank, and 
 made preparations to co-operate with him in the movements of the day. 
 A. J. Smith's corps marched on the right of the fourth corps, and estab- 
 lishing connection with it, completed the new line of battle. Schofield's 
 corps remained in ilie position which they had taken at dark the day 
 before, facing eastward and toward Hood's left flank, the line of the corps 
 running perpendicular to that of Smith's corps. 
 
 General Wilson's cavalry, which had rested for the night at the si.x 
 mile post on the Hillsboro road was dismounted and formed on the right 
 of Schofield's command, and, by noon of the 16th, had succeeded in gaining 
 the enemy's rear, and stretched across the Granny White pike, one of the 
 two roads leading toward Franklin. 
 
 As soon as these dispositions were completed, having visited the 
 
DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS. 885 
 
 different commands, General Thomas gave directions that the movement 
 against the enemy's left flank should be continued. Smith and Schofield, 
 who had been listening for the welcome sound of Wilson's cannon against 
 the Rebel rear, had already heard it and were moving, when the order 
 came. The troops were brought up at all points, to within six hundred 
 yards of the Eebel lines. Here they halted, to await the result of an 
 assault ordered at three p. M. The assaulting column was composed of 
 Post's brigade of Wood's corps, supported by Streight's brigade, and 
 Morgan's colored brigade of Steedman's provisional corps. The ground 
 on which this column formed, being opened and exposed to the view of 
 the enemy, he was enabled to draw reinforcements from his left and centre 
 to the threatened points. The Union troops moved steadily forward up 
 the hill, being met from the moment of starting by a severe fire of grape, 
 canister, and musketry, and as they neared the crest, the enemy's reserves 
 rose, and suddenly poured into the assaulting column a terribly destruc- 
 tive fire, causing it first to waver, and then to fall back, leaving dead and 
 wounded, black and white, mingled indiscriminately in the dense and 
 almost impenetrable abatis. General Wood at once reformed his command 
 in the position it had previously occupied, preparatory to a renewal of 
 the assault. Immediately following this effort of Post's and Morgan's 
 brigades. General Smith's and Schofield's corps moved against the enemy's 
 works in their respective fronts, carrying all before them, breaking his 
 lines in a dozen places, and capturing all his artillery, and thousands^of 
 prisoners, including four general officers. The Union loss was very light. 
 All of the enemy that did escape were pursued over the top of Brentwood 
 and Harpeth hills. General Wilson had dismounted his cavalry, and at- 
 tacked the enemy in rear simultaneously with the attack of Smith and 
 Schofield in front, and gaining full possession of the Granny White turn- 
 pike, cut off his retreat by that route. Wood's and Steedman's troops, 
 hearing the shouts of victory coming from the right, rushed impetuously 
 forward for another assault on Overton's hill, and although the resistance 
 was stern and the Rebel fire heavy, their onset was irresistible, and the 
 enemy's artillery and troops fell into their hands. The Rebel army, hope- 
 lessly shattered, .fled in confusion through the Brentwood pass, the fourth 
 corps pursuing closely for several miles, when darkness closed the 
 scene and the wearied troops rested from their chase. 
 
 As the fourth corps pursued the enemy along the Franklin turnpike. 
 General Wilson hastily mounted Knipe's and Hatch's divisions, and 
 directed them to move rapidly on the Granny White road, and endeavor 
 to reach Franklin in advance of the Rebel army. After proceeding 
 about a mile, they came upon the enemy's cavalry under General 
 Chalmers, posted across the road and behind barricades. The twelfth 
 Tennessee cavalry, Colonel Spalding, charged upon and carried the 
 position, scattering the Rebel troops in all directions, and capturing 
 
88€ THE CIVIL WAB IN THE UXITED STATES. 
 
 a ooDsiderable number of prisoners, among them Brigadier-General £. W. 
 Backer. 
 
 The porsoit vas resamed the next morning, bj Johnson s and Knipe's 
 dirision of the caTalrr. and Wood's corps, and these were followed, in 
 slower marches, bj Smith's and Schofield's oorpe^ and die Bebel army 
 were hunted down relentlessly, f<»- the next fortnight, amid Bevere storms 
 impracticable roads, and intense cold. At Hollow Tree gap. four miles 
 from Franklin, the caTalry overUx^ th^ rear-gvaid on the 17th. and 
 carried their position, taking four hundred and thirteen |Miaoners. The 
 Bebels fled to Franklin, and attempted in rain to defaid the (sossings of 
 the Harpeth iiTer. but were again defeated and driven from Uie town, 
 leaving &eir hospitals, containing over two thousand wounded, of whom 
 two hundred were Union men. captured at the battle of Franklin. About 
 &Te miles south of Franklin, the cavalrj pressed thesa eo cloeelr, that 
 they were compelled to make a stand again, but it was only to fly widi 
 still gTeater*rapidity, when Wilson's cavalry charged upon them again. 
 At this point, they abandoned nearly all their remaining aitillery. Hood 
 had iormed a powerful rear-guard from the few r^imoits which retained 
 their organization, and as much of Forrest's caTalry as was available ; 
 and this lear^guard, consisting <^ seven or eight thooaand men, half of 
 than mounted troops, defended die flying army with eooaidendde 
 resolution ; the remainder of Hood's fine army of neariy fifty dioaaand 
 tioops, which, at the b^inning of Deoemb^, had udertakeii so confi- 
 dently the siege of Nashville, had become a didwaitaaed and disorgan- 
 ized rabble of half armed or unanned and barefoot men, who sought 
 every opportunity to iall out by the wayside and desert their cause, to 
 put an end to their soferings. The few cannon whidi they had 1^ were 
 either captured by their porsaers. or thrown into the river, from which 
 they were afterwards recovered, and their supply train was almost wholly 
 o^Kured and destroyed. General Thomas sent General Steedman by way 
 (^ Mnrfreesboro to Decatur, to re-occupy those points in Alabama which 
 had been evacuated in November, and to threatem the Bebd railroad 
 communications, weet<^ Flafaiee, and at General ThcMnas's request Bear- 
 Admiral S. P. Lee sent gunboats to FloroMse, to patrol the river and 
 prevent Hood &<Mn croesii]^ at oi below that point. The ELAel oom- 
 maader succeeded h o wev er in bringing the shattered debrii of his army 
 across the Tennessee in safety, on the 27th <^ December, at Bainbridge, a 
 shttft distance above Florence. 
 
 The results of this victory were ; vhe capture by the Union army of 
 thirteen thousand <»ie hundred and eighty-nine (msoneis of war. indading 
 seven generals and nearly me thousand staff and line t^eas, eighty 
 sarioeable cannon, many thousand small arms and several scores of battle 
 flags. Besides these, two thousand two hundred and seven deserters from 
 the Bebd army came in and took the oath of alkgianoe. The number of 
 
GALLANT CONDUCT OF COLONEL PALMER. 887 
 
 Rebels killed and wounded canaot probably be ascertained with exactness, 
 but from the best data to be obtained was estimated as exceeding eighteen 
 thousand. General Thomas reported his own loss in killed, wounded and 
 missing as not exceeding ten thousand. 
 
 On the 29th of December, General Thomas ordered the pursuit discon- 
 tinued, and assigned to the different corps of his army their winter quarters, 
 but on the following day Lieutenant-General Grant telegraphed his dis- 
 approval of the army's going into winter quarters, and General Thomas 
 at once issued orders to Generals Schofield, Smith, and "Wilson to concen- 
 trate their commands at Eastport, Mississippi, and to General Wood, to 
 hold his corps in readiness at Huntsville, for a renewal of the campaign 
 against the enemy, in Mississippi and Alabama. 
 
 The gallantry and daring of Colonel W. J. Palmer, a young cavalry officer 
 who continued the pursuit of Hood's retreating forces, after the other 
 officers had given it up, deserves to be recorded in this connection. 
 Colonel Palmer left Decatur on the 30th of December, with a force of six 
 hundred mounted men, and followed the route of Hood, skirmishing with 
 Rhoddy's cavalry and pressing it back toward the mountains, until he as- 
 certained the direction taken by Hood. Then avoiding theEebel cavalry, 
 and moving rapidly by way of La Grange and Russellville. he overtook 
 and destroyed the enemy's pontoon train, consisting of two hundred wagons 
 and seventy -eight pontoon boats, ten miles beyond Russellville. He learned 
 there that a large supply train was on its way to Tuscaloosa, for the 
 Rebel army, and started at once in pursuit. He overtook it on the 1st 
 of January, near Aberdeen, Mississippi, and burned the wagons, one hun- 
 dred and ten in number and killed the mules which drew it. The Rebel 
 cavalry now pursued him in large numbers, and near Russellville, Rhoddv, 
 Riffles. Russell and Armstrong attempted to surround him, but he evaded 
 them in the darkness, and when twelve miles from Moulton came upon 
 Russell unexpectedly, attacked and routed him, capturing a number of 
 prisoners and burning five of his wagons. He then returned to Decatur, 
 which place he reached in safety on the 6th of January, having marched 
 over two hundred and fifty miles, captured one hundred and fifty prisoners, 
 and destroyed nearly one thousand stand of arms, three hundred and 
 fifteen wagons., and seventy-eight pontoon boats. His loss was one killed 
 and two wounded. A Brigadier-General Lyon, whom Hood had sent into 
 Kentucky, while he was before Nashville, with about eight hundred 
 cavalry and two guns to operate against the Union railroad communica- 
 tions with Louisville, succeeded in capturing Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 
 about the middle of December. General Thomas had sent, on the 14th 
 of December, McCook's division of cavalry to Bowling Green to protect 
 the road. La Grange's brigade of this division met Lyon near Greens- 
 burg, Kentucky, and, after a sharp fight, defeated him, capturing one of 
 his guns, several prisoners, and a part of his wagon train ; but the Rebel 
 
888 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 commander succeeded, by making a wide detour, in reaching the Cumber- 
 land river, and crossing at Burksville, from whence he proceeded by way 
 of McMinnville and Winchester, Tennessee, to Larkinsville, Alabama. 
 On the 10th of January he attacked the little Union garrison at Scotts- 
 boro, but was again repulsed, and his command scattered. He finally 
 succeeded, however, in escaping across the Tennessee river with about 
 two hundred of his men and his remaining gun. Colonel Palmer now 
 heard of his movements, and immediately set out in pursuit of him with 
 the fifteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, and on the l-ith of January overtook 
 him near Eed Hill, surprised, and captured him and about one hundred 
 of his men, with their horses, and his gun. Put under guard, he treach- 
 erously murdered his guard and made his escape. We have already 
 [Chap. LIII.] given a sketch of General Thomas, the able commander of 
 this campaign. It remains to give a brief portraiture of his accomplished 
 and skilful lieutenant, to whose adroit and careful management the success 
 of the earlier battles of the campaign is due, and who lured Hood to his 
 destruction. 
 
 Major-General John McAllister Schofield is the son of a clergyman, 
 Eev. James Schofield, residing in Chautauqua county. New York, and 
 was born in that county on the 29th of Sci)tember, 1831. In 18-43 his 
 father removed to Bristol, Illinois, andjin 1845 to Freeport, in the same 
 State, where his youth was passed. At the age of eighteen he entered the 
 military academy at West Point, and graduated in 1853, ranking seventh 
 in his class. He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant, and attached 
 to the second regiment of artillery. On the 30th of August, the same 
 year, he was advanced to the rank of full second lieutenant in the first 
 artillery ; and on the 1st of March, 1855, promoted to be first lieutenant 
 in the same regiment. After serving for two years with his company 
 in South Carolina and Florida, he was ordered to West Point, in the 
 autumn of 1855, as Assistant Professor of Natural and Experimental 
 Philosophy. He held this position till June, 1860, when he obtained 
 leave of absence for twelve months, to accept the chair of Physics in 
 Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, intending to quit the army 
 at the end of the leave. At the opening of the war, however, his views 
 changed, and waiving the remainder of his leave, he reported at once for 
 orders, and was assigned to duty as mustering officer at St. Louis. Shortly 
 afterward, by permission of the War Department, he accepted the position 
 of major of the first regiment of Missouri volunteers, and in that capacity 
 participated with his regiment in the capture and dispersion of the nest 
 of secessionists at Camp Jackson, on the 10th of May, under Captain, 
 afterward Brigadier-General, Nathaniel Lyon. On the lith of May, 1861, 
 Lieutenant Schofield was advanced to the rank of captain in the regular 
 army, and soon after became General Lyon's principal staff officer and 
 served with that gallant commander throughout the campaign, which 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL SCHOFIELD. 889 
 
 * 
 
 ended with his death. After this event he returned to his volunteer 
 regiment, which had now been converted into one of heavy artillery, and 
 with that regiment participated in the defeat of JeS". Thompson at Frederick- 
 town, Missouri. On the 20th of November Major Schofield was appointed, 
 by the President, brigadier-general of volunteers, and at the same time 
 received, from the Governor of Missouri, a corresponding commission in the 
 Missouri militia, with orders to organize, equip, and command a force of 
 ten thousand militia to be called into the service of the United States, 
 within the limits of Missouri during the war. His success in this under- 
 taking led Major-General Ilalleck to appoint him, in the spring of 1862, 
 commander of the district of Missouri. In the autumn of that year he 
 organized and took personal command of the army of the frontier, serv- 
 ing in the southwestern part of the State, and suppressed with great vigor 
 the guerrilla warfare then raging in Missouri. On the 29th of November, 
 
 1862, the President appointed him major-general of volunteers, but some 
 of the Missouri politicians, who were dissatisfied with his management, 
 prevented the confirmation of the appointment by the Senate, and his com- 
 mission consequently expired by its own limitation on the 3d of March, 
 
 1863. Having been immediately relieved, at his own request, from duty 
 in Missouri, he was now ordered to report to General Eosecrans, com- 
 manding the army of the Cumberland, and was by him assigned to the 
 command of Thomas's old division of the fourteenth corps. In April, 
 President Lincoln re-appointed liim major-general of volunteers, and sent 
 him back to St. Louis to relieve General Curtis as commander of the 
 Department of Missouri. Here he rendered very efficient service to Gen- 
 eral Grant in the siege and capture of Vicksburg, sending him Herron's 
 large and fine division of the army of the frontier, and as many other 
 troops as could possibly be spared from Missouri. After the capture of 
 Vicksburg, General Grant reinforced Schofield with Steele's division, 
 formerly of Sherman's corps, and with this and his own troops, Schofield 
 planned and carried into successful execution the Arkansas campaign, 
 which drove the Eebels out of that State. 
 
 In January, 186i, he was engaged in concerting a plan with General 
 Banks, for a joint occupation of Shreveport, Louisiana, and the line of 
 the Red river, when the President, wearied with the constant clamor of 
 the Missouri politicians for Schofield's removal, sent General Eosecrans 
 to relieve him from command, but on the 9lh of February, at General 
 Grant's request, appointed him to the command of the Department of the 
 Ohio. Here, with his headquarters at Knoxville, he was engaged for 
 some time in observing Longstreet's army, but with the opening of the 
 spring made active preparations to join Sherman in his Atlanta campaign. 
 In that campaign he commanded the army of the Ohio, a single large 
 corps — the twenty-third — and distinguished himself throughout the cam- 
 paign by liis steady courage, his remarkable efficiency, and his thoroughly 
 
890 THE Cn^L WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 practical cbaracter. In November, 18(34, he was, as we have seen, detached 
 to reinforce General Thomas in this campaign of Nashville, and won yet 
 higher fame as a commander. In January, 1865, he was sent eastward 
 with his corps, and took part in the capture of Wilmington, and in the 
 battle of Kinston, and joining his old chief, Sherman, at Goldsboro, was 
 with him in the closing movements of the campaign and the war, and at 
 its close was placed, permanently, in command of the Department of North 
 Carolina; in the autumn of 1865, obtaining leave of absence, he went to 
 Europe for a year. 
 
 The Rebel commander, whose defeat and rout we have chronicled, is 
 also deserving of a brief notice. Lieutenant-General John B. Hood was 
 born at Owensville, Bath county, Kentucky, June 29,1831. lie was 
 educated at Mount Sterling, entered West Point in 1849, in the same class 
 with Schofield, and graduated in 1853, without distinction. He was 
 appointed brevet second lieutenant of the fourth regiment of infantry, in 
 July 1853, and after serving for two years in California, was transferred to 
 the second cavalry. He did duty with his regiment on the Texas fron- 
 tier, for several years, and, in 1856, was wounded in a fight with the 
 Indians. He was ordered, we believe in 1858, to West Point, as instructor 
 of cavalry, but was soon after, at his own request, allowed to return to his 
 regiment at San Antouia, Texas. He resigned his commission in the 
 army of the United States,. April 16, 1861, and immediately entered the 
 Rebel army with the rank of first lieutenant. He was soon after appointed 
 captain of cavalry, and sent to Magruder, on the Peninsula. On the 30th 
 of September, 1861, he was promoted to the colonelcy of an infantry 
 regiment. On the 3d of March, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general 
 to succeed Wigfall, who was a Senator in the Rebel Congress. He took 
 part in the battle of West Point, May 7th, 1862, in the battle of Gaines' 
 Mill, June 27th, 1862, where he distinguished himself in a charge upon 
 the Union troops, and was promoted to the rank of major-general for his 
 gallantry. He also took an active part in the battles of Yorktown and 
 (second) Bull Run, August 29th and 30th, 1862, at Boouesboro or South 
 Mountain, at Fredericksburg, and at Gettysburg, where he was severely 
 wounded in the arm. lie took part in the battle of Cbickamauga, and 
 on the second day was again desperately wounded, and lost a leg. He 
 was soon after made lieutenant-general, but was unable to take the field 
 until the spring of 1864, when he commanded one corps of Johnston's 
 army. After Sherman's army crossed the Chattahoochie, Johnston was 
 removed froni command by the Rebel President, and Hood appointed his 
 successor. Of his subsequent career, our pages have given a sufficient 
 account. After the Na.shville campaign, he was relieved of his command, 
 on the 23d of January, 1865, but made great exertions to bring his troops 
 forward to attack Sherman in his campaign through the Carolinas, but, 
 we believe was not in any engagements in that campaign. 
 
CAPTUEE OP WYTHEVILLE AND SALTVILLB. 891 
 
 Pending the struggle between Hood and Thomas, another campaign had 
 been conducted in East Tennessee, with good results, though without so 
 overwhelming a defeat of the Eebel forces. It had commenced indeed 
 with a disaster. The Union troops in East Tennessee, aside from the garri- 
 son at Knoxville, were under the command of Generals Gillem and Am- 
 men, the former having charge of the cavalry, the latter of the infantry. 
 For some time it was not understood that these troops wei'e under General 
 Thomas's command, and hence there was no cordial co-operation between 
 them and the Kentucky troops which belonged to his army proper. 
 Against these East Tennessee troops, the Eebel Generals J. C. Breckin- 
 ridge, Basil Duke, and Vaughn, were operating. On the 13th of Novem- 
 ber, Breckinridge attacked General Gillem, near Morristown, Tennessee, 
 at midnight, routed him, and captured his artillery and several hundred 
 prisoners. Breckinridge's force was estimated at three thousand, while 
 Gillem's was one thousand five hundred, all Tennesseeans, with six guns. 
 After this defeat, Gillem escaped, with the remainder of his force, about 
 one thousand in number, to Strawberry plains, and thence to Knoxville. 
 Breckinridge followed, passing through Strawberry plains to the immedi- 
 ate vicinity of Knoxville ; but, on the 18th, he withdrew, as rapidly as 
 he had advanced, having heard intelligence which alarmed him. General 
 Ammen, having received a reinforcement of one thousand five hundred 
 men from Chattanooga, commenced pursuing him. Major-General Stone- 
 man had started a few days before, from Louisville for Knoxville, to take 
 the general charge of affairs in that section, having previously ordered 
 General Burbridge to march, with all his available force in Kentucky, 
 by way of Cumberland gap, to General Gillem's relief. When General 
 Stoneman passed through Nashville, General Thomas instructed him to 
 concentrate as large a force as possible, in Bast Tennessee, move against 
 Breckinridge, and either capture and cut to pieces his force, or drive it 
 into Virginia, and, if possible, destroy the salt works at Saltville, and the 
 railroad from the Tennessee line as far into Virginia as he could go, 
 without endangering his command. 
 
 Finding himself pursued by so large a force, Breckinridge, about the 
 6tli of December, fell back toward the Virginia line. General Stoneman, 
 having concentrated his troops at Bean station, moved on Bristol, on the 
 12th, his advance, under General Gillem, striking a body of the enemy 
 under Basil Duke, at Kingsport, and killing, capturing or dispersing the 
 whole command. General Stoneman then sent General Burbridge to 
 Bristol, where Vaughn had a considerable Eebel force, with which he 
 skirmished till Gillem came up, when Vaughn retreated toward Marion, 
 and Burbridge pushed on to Abingdon, having orders to cut the railroad 
 at some point between Saltville and Wytheville, in order to prevent the 
 Eebels from receiving reinforcements from Lynchburg. Gillem pushed 
 on through Abingdon, on the 15th of December, in pursuit of Vaughn, 
 
892 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 who still retreated, and overtook him the next day, routed him and pur 
 sued him to WytheviUe, capturing all his artillery and trains and one 
 hundred and ninety-eight prisoners. WytheviUe, with its stores and 
 supplies, was destroyed, together with the extensive lead- works near the 
 town, and the railroad bridges over Reedy creek. General Stoneman then 
 turned his attention toward Saltville, and its important salt-works, which 
 had supplied the Rebel armies and commissary department largely with 
 salt. At this place, also, were large quantities of supplies for the Rebel 
 army of Virginia. The garrison of Saltville had been reinforced, by 
 Giltner's, Crosby's, and Witcher's commands, and all that remained of 
 Duke's, and was under the command of Breckinridge in person. This 
 force had followed Stoneman as he moved on WytheviUe, and, on return- 
 ing, General Stoneman met them at Marion, where he made preparations 
 to give Breckinridge battle, and disposed his command to assault him in 
 the morning; but, during the night, the Rebel commander retreated, and 
 was pursued by the Union cavalry into North Carolina, where some of his 
 wagons and caissons were captured. Moving now on Saltville. with his 
 entire command, General Stoneman captured, at that place, eight pieces 
 of artillery, and a large amount of ammunition of all kinds, two locomo- 
 tives, and a considerable number of horses and mules. The extensive 
 salt-works were destroyed, by breaking the kettles, filling the wells with 
 rubbish, and burning the buildings. This work accomplished, General 
 Stoneman returned to Knoxville, accompanied by General Gillcm's troops, 
 General Burbridge's proceeding to Kentucky, by way of Cumberland 
 gap. The route through which they passed was laid desolate, to prevent 
 its being used again by the enemy. 
 
GRANT MAKES A FEINT AGAINST THE EEBELS. 893 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 THE ARMY OP THE POTOMAC AND THE ARMY OP THE JAMES — GRANT MAKES A FEINT AGAINST 
 THE REBEL FORCES NORTH OF THE JAMES, AND STRIKES THE WELDON RAILROAD — SHARP 
 FIGHTING — THE ENEMY HANDSOMELY REPULSED — AFTER A DESPERATE ENGAGEMENT 
 KEAMS'S STATION FALLS INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY — FORT, OR BATTERY HARRISON 
 CAPTURED FROM THE ENEMY, AND HELD — THE REBELS MAKE STRENUOUS EXERTIONS TO 
 RECAPTURE IT — BATTLE OF CHAFFIn's FARM — THE MOVEMENT ON POPLAR SPRING CHURCH 
 ON THE LEFT — CAPTURE OF FORT MCRAE — BATTLE OF PEEBLES' FARM, REPULSE OF UNION 
 TROOPS, FORT m'cRAE HELD — KAUTZ's CAVALRY DEFEATED — ATTEMPT TO TURN THE RIGHT 
 FLANK OF THE UNION ARMY — IT FAILS — RECONNOISSANCE TOWARD RICHMOND AND YORK 
 RIVER — REPULSE OF THE UNION TROOPS — THE ATTEMPT TO REACH THE SOUTHSIDE BAIL- 
 ROAD ON THE 27tH of OCTOBER — THE BATTLE OF HATCHER's RUN — MAHONE INTERPOSES 
 BETWEEN THE SECOND AND FIFTH CORPS — REPULSE OF THE UNION FORCES — FAILURE OF 
 THE ENTIRE MOVEMENT — SKIRMISHING — THE FIRST EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER — 
 GENERAL BUTLER'S MANAGEMENT — THE POWDER-BOAT — THE REBELS HAVE KO IDEA WHY 
 IT WAS EXPLODED — GENERAL BUTLEr's DEBARKATION, RECONNOISSANCE AND RE-EMBARK- 
 ATION — HE IS RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND — THE SECOND EXPEDITION, UNDER COMMAND OP 
 GENERAL TERRY — HIS PLAN OF ATTACK — FURIOUS BOMBARDMENT — DESPERATE FIGHTING — 
 SAILORS REPULSED — THE FORT CARRIED — SKETCH OF GENERAL TERRY — SKETCH OP 
 ADMIRAL PORTER. 
 
 We resume the narrative of the operations of the Union armies below 
 Richmond, which we had suspended to bring up the history of the move- 
 ments which were taking place in other parts of the field. After the 
 Petersburg mine disaster, the Rebels had sent, as we have seen, a very 
 considerable body of troops down the Shenandoah valley under Early 
 to create a diversion in Maryland and Pennsylvania, in the hope of com- 
 pelling Grant to relax his grip upon Lee's army. General Grant prepared 
 to take advantage of this weakening of their force, by movements against 
 their lines of communication. 
 
 It was reported by spies and deserters from the Rebel lines that, early 
 in August, three divisions had been sent from Petersburg to reinforce 
 Early in his raid on Maryland ; and partly to ascertain whether their 
 strength had been so greatly reduced, and partly to draw a larger force to 
 the north side of the James, and thus weaken the Rebel right while he 
 should operate upon the railroads, General Grant ordered a strong de- 
 monstration to be made on the Rebel lines north of the James, on the 
 night of the 13th of August, having previously made a feint of sending 
 the second corps down the river in transports in the day time, but bringing 
 them back at night. The tenth and second corps wei'e both posted north 
 of the James, and moved out upon Strawberry plains and encountered 
 the enemy's skirmishers on the morning of Sunday, August 14th. They 
 drove them back, and gained a considerable advance toward Richmond ; 
 
894 TnE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 compelling the enemy to send over a great number of troops to repel their 
 attacks; but the Union force captured six pieces of artillery and several 
 hundred prisoners, and ascertained that but one division of Eebels 
 had yet departed northward, but that others were under orders to march 
 soon. 
 
 This demonstration, however, was only preliminary to a struggle on the 
 enemy's right for the possession of the Weldon railroad. At four o'clock 
 A. M., on the 18th of August, the fifth corps moved from its camp with four 
 days rations, and marched toward Reams's station, driving in easily the 
 enemy's skirmishers, of whom a part were captured. GrifBn's division 
 reached the Weldon railroad and began to destroy it, five or six miles from 
 Petersburg, while the other three divisions proceeded toward Petersburg, 
 completing the work of destruction. At Yellow tavern, they encountered 
 the Eebcl cavalry under General Bearing, who fell back to Davis's farm, 
 two miles and a half from Petersburg. Ilere the Rebel General A. P. 
 Hill advanced upon them, with the divisions of Mahone and Heth ; the 
 former being east of the railroad and the latter west of it. The Union 
 line was formed and halted in an open field; Crawford's division confront- 
 ing Mahone, and Ayres' opposing Heth, while Cutler's was in reserve. 
 Ayres was attacked with great vehemence, and driven back about a mile 
 to his intrenchments ; but being supported by Cutler, held the main line, 
 which was greatly strengthened during the night, and against which the 
 Eebels surged in vain. 
 
 On Friday, August 19th, the Union troops occupied an intrenched line; 
 their left being on the Boydtown plank-road, and their right, across the 
 railroad, held the Jerusalem road, which it was necessary to connect with 
 the main line at Petersburg. This was accomplished by sending AVilcox's 
 division of the ninth corps to fill the gap. Between Ayres' and Crawford's 
 divisions ran the railroad, and between the right of the fifth corps, Craw- 
 ford's and Wilcox's divisions, the Jerusalem road, where there was still a 
 dangerous gap. At four o'clock p. M., in the midst of a heavy rain storm. 
 Hill assailed the Union troops with great fury ; Mahone's division pressing 
 through the gap separating Wilcox and Crawford, and getting upon 
 Crawford's flank and capturing nearly one thousand of his men. On the 
 left, Heth's impetuous attack carried the intrenchments, drove back the 
 line, forced its way between Crawford and Ayres, and enveloped Hayes' 
 regular brigade. The first and second divisions of the ninth corps now 
 came up, after a severe forced march, to reinforce the fifth corps, and form- 
 ing, quickly chargetl, capturing several hundred prisoners. This charge 
 enabled Warren's hard pressed troops to rally; and the Rebels being in 
 turn overlapped, were driven back with loss, and the disaster of the after- 
 noon retrieved. 
 
 The darkness put an end to the conflict. The Union loss was about 
 fifteen hundred killed and wounded, and about two thousand prisoners. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE WELDON RAILROAD. 895 
 
 That of the Rebels could not have been less in killed and wounded. The 
 enemy held possession of the Weldoa road as far as the Yellow Tavern, 
 while Warren and the divisions of the ninth corps still held the section 
 below. 
 
 There was no fighting of importance on the 20th, but on the 21st 
 the Rebels renewed the effort to drive the Union troops from the 
 Weldon railroad. The Union lines remained very much as on Friday, 
 and at four A. M. the Rebels opened a heavy artillery fire, first upon 
 the left, then all along the line as far as the Appomattox river. About 
 seven o'clock they made a slight feint against the ninth corps, but it was 
 not until nine o'clock that the grand attack began. The Rebel columns 
 emerged from the woods in fine style, and dashed across the open space 
 intervening between the woods and breastworks. At the same moment, 
 a heavy artillery fire burst from all their batteries, which was promptly 
 answered by the Union troops. The Rebel flanking column on the left 
 of the railroad fell upon the right of Ayres' and the left of Cutler's 
 division. The Union skirmishers were speedily driven in, and their pits 
 taken ; but as the Rebels swept across the opening they were received 
 with a staggering fire of musketry. Again and again they pressed for- 
 ward, but were as often repulsed, with fearful slaughter. On the right, 
 they did not succeed in reaching the main works. On the left, the cohimn 
 which came down the Vaughan road was caught with a cross-fire, and a 
 part of one brigade threw down their arms and surrendered, those who 
 attempted to escape suffering great loss. The repulse of this brigade 
 decided the battle in that direction ; and the Rebels hastily withdrew 
 under a withering fire. An effort to flank the Union position was foiled 
 with equal promptness. The battle was over in about two hoiirs, but the 
 fighting was very severe while it lasted, and the victory was as decided 
 as the contest was desperate. The Rebel loss in killed and wounded ex- 
 ceeded twelve hundred, and the Union troops captured eight hundred 
 prisoners. The entire Union loss did not exceed six hundred. Early on 
 Monday morning, the 22d of August, it was found that the enemy had 
 retired from the front of the fifth and ninth corps, and were intrenching 
 themselves about three miles from Petersburg. The Union skirmishers 
 were pushed forward, and both parties labored assiduously in erecting 
 works, the picket lines frequently skirmishing ; but there was no general 
 engagement. 
 
 Meantime, on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the second corps, and part 
 of the tenth, had recrossed the James, and were marching down upon the 
 vicinity of the contest, covered by Gregg's cavalry ; and on Monday, 
 Miles's, formerly Barlow's division of the second corps, was occupied in 
 breaking up the Weldon railroad, as far as Reams's station, and was joined 
 on Monday night by Gibbon's division of the same corps, who finished the 
 work to a point two miles beyond Reams's station, a distance in all of 
 
896 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 about eleven miles. Gregg's cavalry, which had, during the whole of 
 this work of destruction, interposed between the enemy and the infantry 
 who were engaged in it, had several sharp skirmishes with the Eebels, 
 but beat them off with loss. 
 
 On Thursday morning, August 25th, Gibbon's division of Hancock's 
 corps moved down from Eeams's station to prosecute the destruction of 
 the railroad still further. They had not gone far when they encountered 
 the enemy's skirmishers, and soon after the Eebel force in mass. Con- 
 siderable skirmishing ensued, but the enemy seemed reluctant to engage 
 in a close battle. This was, in fact, only a demonstration on the part of 
 the Kebel General A. P. Hill, to conceal his attack on Barlow's (now 
 Miles's) division, which was still at Eeams's station, and occupying the 
 old intrenchnrents around the station. The enemy appeared soon after 
 noon in front of this division, and General Hancock immediately ordered 
 Gibbon to fall back and form a junction with Miles's left, in order to pro- 
 tect that flank. The cavalry followed, and covered the left flank and rear. 
 At two o'clock the Eebel skirmish line advanced, sweeping forward with 
 the usual frantic yells of the southern soldiers. It was received with a 
 combined fire of musketry and artillery, and fell back in confusion, 
 having suffered far more loss than it inflicted. Sharp skirmishing now 
 began on both sides, under cover of which the contending forces arranged 
 their lines and fortified them. At half past three o'clock, the Eebel column 
 emerged from the woods in a heavy and close line of battle, and with 
 fixed bayonets rushed upon the Union works. A galling fire from the 
 infantry, and from four batteries withered their ranks, and, though they 
 advanced to within twenty paces of the works, it was only to recoil 
 broken to their cover after fearful loss. The Union troops suffered mainly 
 from a musketry fire on the left, very destructive to men and horses in the bat- 
 teries. In front, the Eebels scarcely fired a shot during the charge. An hour 
 later, a third assault was tried, and again the enemy was driven back with 
 severe loss. A lull ensued, and the axe-strokes of the Eebels were plainly 
 audible, felling trees for planting batteries, and the Union artillery threw 
 shells in the direction of the sound. At length, all being ready, the 
 Eebel batteries opened a terrible concentric fire upon the Union troops, 
 pouring shell and solid shot with fearful profusion, and without a mo- 
 ment's cessation, into their circular intrenchments. For twenty minutes 
 this furious shelling was kept up, with very serious effect upon the Union 
 lines. At the first pause in the fire, the hideous yells of the Eebels an- 
 nounced a fourth a.ssault. The Eebel column rushed forward, overwhelm- 
 ing in numbers, solidly massed, and with a fierce impetuosity. Artillery 
 and infantry greeted it with a hot and galling fire ; but in spite of the 
 most determined resistance, the Eebels gained the breastworks after a 
 bloody hand-to-hand contest, and broke the Union lines. The centre 
 having given way, tlie entire line at this point was quickly routed, though 
 
THE BATTLE AT REAMS'S STATION. 89T 
 
 some regiments remained fighting, with a determination almost unparal- 
 leled in the war. 
 
 On this last attack against Miles, a part of Gibbon's division were hur- 
 ried across the circle, under heavy fire, to his support, a distance of more 
 than a mile. The movement was gallantly executed. They succeeded in 
 repulsing the enemy, though at a fearful cost of officers and men, while 
 ia the very moment of his triumph. General Miles, meanwhile, skilfully 
 rallied his division, and the lines were partially restored. But at this 
 juncture the Rebel commander hurled his force on the Union left, weak- 
 ened by the withdrawal of some of Gibbon's brigades, with the same 
 reckless fury with which he had attacked the centre. Gibbon's troops 
 were hurried back across the fatal open space, and hurled exhausted 
 against the enemy. Overcome by its severe exertions, the gallant division 
 was borne back by the sheer weight of the enemy, whose advance, how- 
 ever, was resisted to desperation by some unconquerable regiments which 
 were cut to pieces on the ground they occupied. General Gregg, how- 
 ever, brought his dismounted cavalry to the assistance of the wearied and 
 jaded infantry, and the enemy's farther progress was stayed. Soon after 
 dark, Hancock withdrew, leaving Reams's station in the hands of the 
 Rebels. This battle was one of the most desperate and obstinately fought 
 in which the army of the Potomac had been engaged. The Rebel force 
 brought into action undoubtedly outnumbered that of the Unionists. They 
 had three divisions in their assaulting column, and another in support, 
 while the Union force engaged consisted only of Miles's and Gibbon's 
 divisions, and these had previously lost heavily. The casualties on the 
 side of the Union forces were, in killed and wounded about one thousand, 
 in prisoners two thousand and thirty, including eighty officers. They also 
 lost seven stands of colors and five cannon. The Rebel loss was about 
 fifteen hundred, killed and wounded. The Weldon railroad was however 
 hopelessly destroyed for so long a distance, that the Rebels could not hope 
 again to resume the use of its entire length, and indeed a considerabl«5 
 portion of it was thenceforth in possession of the Union army. On the 
 12th of September a branch railroad was completed from City Point to 
 the Weldon road, bringing supplies directly to the army in their camps. 
 
 The position of the Union army on the Weldon railroad, though dearly 
 won, was firmly held; and, as General Grant had foreseen, it required so 
 great an extension of the enemy's line to maintain their connection with 
 it below Reams's station, that they were compelled to withdraw a very 
 considerable portion of the troops hitherto stationed north of the James 
 to man it. No sooner was it evident that this had been done, and that 
 they could not readily bring back their troops to the north side of the 
 James, than General Grant threw a large body of troops across the river 
 to dash upon the Rebel lines and gain a position nearer Richmond. 
 General Ord, commanding the eighteenth corps, moved with his troops to 
 67 
 
898 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Jones's Neck on the night of the 28th of September, crossed the river 
 and the next morning advanced on the Rebel intrenchments at ChafTrn's 
 or Chapin's farm. These consisted of a strong earthwork known as Fort 
 Harrison, and a long intrenched line extending westerly to the river. The 
 fort mounted sixteen pieces of artillery, two of them one hundred pound- 
 ers, and one sixty-four pounder. These works did not form part of the 
 defences proper of Richmond, but were covered by the fire of Rebel 
 fortifications on the other side of the James, and by the Rebel gunboats 
 in the river. Tlie advanced line, composed of the brigades of Stannard, 
 Burnham, Roberts, and Hickman, moved steadily forward under the ter- 
 rible artillery fire of the fort, and though losing about eight hundred in 
 killed, wounded, and missing, swept over the parapet and drove out the 
 garrison, capturing fifteen guns and all the intrenchments, as well as 
 about one hundred and fifty prisoners. 
 
 Simultaneously with this, the tenth — Birney's — corps, which had 
 crossed the James at Deep Bottom, moved toward New Market, carried 
 the Rebel fortifications on New Market heights, the Rebels losing five 
 hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and advanced upon their 
 strong works on Laurel hill, at the junction of the Varina and New Market 
 roads, six miles from Richmond. This position, called by them Fort 
 Gillmore, was promptly assaulted, but proved too powerful to be carried 
 with the limited force which Birney commanded, and at night he with- 
 drew his troops, after having suffered a loss of three hundred and tliirty- 
 six men, and occupied his intrenchments a little distance south of the 
 fort, where he was soon after joined by the eighteenth corps, and both 
 busied themselves in strengthefcing their position. Kautz's cavalry, which 
 had taken part in the fighting of the previous afternoon, was also encamped 
 here. At about two A. M., on the 30th of September, the Rebels, who had 
 been reinforced by Hoke's division from Richmond, fell with great fury 
 upon Stannard"s brigade. The Rebels deployed in three strong columns 
 at the edge of the wood, and the Rebel irou-clads in the river, and their 
 batteries on the opposite side, having commenced a heavy artillery fire 
 on the Union line to cover their approach, they charged with great prompt- 
 itude. As they advanced, a well directed rolling musketry fire sent them 
 reeling back into the \vood. Their officers rallied and reformed them 
 again and again, and they charged upon the Union works twice with gnjat 
 resolution. But though they approached quite near, it was only to be 
 repulsed with great slaughter. The Union troops had been instructed to 
 lower their pieces as they fired, and as a considerable portion of t'jem 
 were armed with the Spencer repeating rifle, their fire was both incessant 
 and murderous. They finally broke and fled, and the Union commander 
 succeeded in capturing two hundred prisoners, including twenty oflioers. 
 The entire loss of the Rebels in this battle was over one thousand, while 
 that of the Uaion forces was less than two hundred. Fort Harrison and 
 
THE BATTLP: of PEEBLES' FARM. 899 
 
 the other positions captured, threatened Richmond so strongly that Gen- 
 eral Grant determined to hold them, and did so, although the Rebels 
 made several desperate eft'orts to dislodge him, for all which they paid 
 dearly. 
 
 On the morning of the 30th of September, General Meade sent Gregg's 
 cavalry, with two infantry brigades, on a reconnoissance toward Poplar 
 Spring church, on the right of the enemy, which he had reason to sup- 
 pose was weakened in the effort to hurry support to the left, and followed 
 it by two divisions and a brigade of the fifth, and two divisions of the 
 ninth corps. 
 
 The cavalry encountered Hampton's cavalry, and received and repelled 
 successfully his repeated charges, compelling him to retire discomfited and 
 with heavy loss. Meantime, the four divisions n'kraed had marched 
 toward the Southside railroad, and at Peebles' farm, about three miles south 
 of that road, encountered a considerable body of the enemy in a strong 
 redoubt and intrenchments, known as Fort McRae, which they carried by 
 assault, capturing one gun and about sixty prisoners. The Rebels fell 
 back about half a mile to stronger works on the Squirrel Level road, 
 where they were largely reinforced, and Porter's division (ninth corps), 
 attempting to carry this by assault, were repulsed, and the Rebels charging 
 them in turn, forced their way between the fifth and ninth corps and cap- 
 tured about nine hundred prisoners. The Union troops, however, retained 
 possession of Fort McRae, and defeated the eflForts of the Rebels to 
 regain it. On Saturday, October 1st, the Rebels repeated'their efforts to 
 recapture this fort, but were repulsed with heavy loss at each charge. On 
 the 8th of October, the fifth and ninth corps pushed a reconnoissance up 
 to the vicinity of the railroad, with but trifling loss, and then returned to 
 their intrenchments. 
 
 We return to the Union right, north of the James. On the 1st of Oc- 
 tober, Generals Terry and Kaut? made a reconnoissance toward Richrflond 
 with two brigades of infantry, a considerable cavalry force, and six pieces 
 of artillery, and penetrated to within two miles of the city, meeting with 
 but slight resistance. The Rebels jwere maddened at this, but at the 
 moment all the troops they could possibly spare were at the right, fighting 
 the fifth and ninth corps. As soon as they could withdraw a portion of 
 them, they hurried back to the north side of the James, and on the 7th 
 of October made a vigorous and partially successful effort to turn the 
 right flank of the army of the James. The Union line was formed with 
 the eighteenth corps on the left, the tenth on the centre and right, and. 
 Kautz's cstvalry on the extreme right on the Darbytown road. The left 
 was intrenched at Battery or Fort Harrison, about ten miles from Rich- 
 mond, and the right of the infantry was on the Charles' City road, 
 about five miles in a straight line from the Rebel capital. At early dawn 
 on the 7th, the Rebel General Anderson, with one brigade of cavalry and 
 
900 THE CIVIL WAU IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Hoke's and Field's divisions of infantry, advanced down the Darbytown 
 and Charles' City roads, and attacked Kautz's cavalry with such sudden- 
 ness and fury that they broke and fled, losing their cannon — six pieces. 
 This disaster gave the enemy possession of the Darbytown road, and 
 pushing on in pursuit, they soon came upon the right-centre, Terry's 
 division of tlie tenth corps. This corps held a strongly intrenched posi- 
 tion, its right flank, Terry's division being refused, and covering the New 
 Market road. Terry's troops were in rifle-pits in heavy woods. The 
 ground on the left of the line was open, and where the artillery was 
 posted, four six gun batteries, which swept not only its own front, but 
 shelled the ground by which the right could be approached. Forewarned 
 of the danger by the stampede of the cavalry. General Terry made the 
 necessary disposition of his troops with great skill, and before the enemy 
 was t^n him, was ready for their coming. 
 
 As the enemy approached he was greeted with a heavy cross fire of 
 artillery from the left, in answer to which he got two batteries in position. 
 These, however, were soon overmatched. Meanwhile, Field's (Rebel) 
 division moved up in good order to assault Terry's position, dashing over 
 the open space at the double-quick, and succeeded in gaining the woods 
 at the Union right. But if the open was dangerous from being swept by 
 artillery over every foot of its space, the woods were not less so from the 
 extreme difficulty of penetrating them, half-felled as they were, and with 
 their thick boughs interlacing at every conceivable angle, and locking in 
 with the dens* undergrowth below. Tiie Union infantry remained quiet, 
 till their assailants were well entangled in this impromptu abatis, and 
 witliin very short range, when all four brigades, rising from their half- 
 ambush, poured into them a sudden, destructive, and incessant fire from 
 the deadly Spencer rifle. After struggling vainly against the overwhelm- 
 ing tide of death, for some time, the Rebels withdrew in great confusion 
 alortg the Central road,, and General Terry with his troops followed them 
 closely. They finally relinquished the Central road, and fled toward 
 Richmond on the Charles' City road. The Union loss during the day, in- 
 cluding that of Kautz's cavalry, wasjiot more than five hundred in killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners, while that of the Rebels considerably exceeded 
 one thousand. General Terry, who was now, in consequence of General 
 Birney's illness, in temporary command of the tenth corps, after a few 
 days of quiet had passed, undertook a reconnoissance in force toward 
 Richmond, to ascertain the condition of the enemy'.s lines. The move- 
 ment commenced on the evening of the 12th of Octcber, but owing to the 
 darkness of the night, the troops halted soon after moving out of camp. 
 At daybreak on the 13th, they again moved forward, keeping to the riglit 
 till they reached the Darbytown road. The cavalry, arriving at the 
 Charles' City road, dismounted and deployed as skirmishers. Brigadier- 
 General Birney's division took their position on the left of the Central 
 
ATTEMPT TO EEACH THE SOUTHSIDE RAILROAD. 901 
 
 road, and Brigadier-General Ames' on the right, while Kautz's cavalry 
 covered the extreme right, between the two roads. The Rebel videttes 
 were soon encountered on the Charles' City road, and driven baqk after a 
 protracted skirmish, until they reached the line of their intrenchments 
 two miles from the Union position. These works mounted two guns and 
 were connected by rifle-pits, while the whole was protected by a broad 
 slashing.' General Terry now advanced with his infantr}', but as soon as 
 they came into range, the Rebels opened upon them with a sharp fire, 
 which was promptly returned. The Union forces were halted, brought 
 into position, and opened upon the enemy a rapid musketry charge, which 
 was maintained for hours. 
 
 It being General Terry's object to discover the length and strength of 
 the enemy's line, brigades were pushed out, at different points, to recon- 
 noitre. They advanced to the slashings and then withdrew. Thus, the 
 whole line of intrenchments was felt, without bringing on serious demon- 
 strations. On the right, it was thought that the Union line overlapped 
 the enemy's works, and, accordingly. Pond's brigade was ordered forward 
 to turn the enemy's left. They moved promptly, but soon found that the 
 Rebel line extended far beyond them, and they were in a trap, where the 
 enfilading fire of the Rebel batteries was making fearful havoc in their 
 numbers. They withdrew as quickly as possible, but steadily and in good 
 order. Encouraged by this success, the Rebels sallied forth from their 
 breastworks, and made a spirited charge, with all their available force; 
 and for a short time the musketry fire was very sharp. At length, failing 
 to accomplish their purpose, the Union lines remaining unbroken, they 
 withdrew. The Rebel loss was two hundred men ; that of the Union 
 troops four hundred and fourteen. 
 
 Soon after Sheridan's victory of Middletown, and while Sherman was 
 pursuing Hood into northern Alabama, General Grant deemed the time 
 an auspicious one for another blow upon Lee's right; accompanying it, as 
 usual, with a demonstration upon his left. It was by such blows only 
 that he could hope to reach the vital point of his communications, the 
 Southside railroad, and reduce him to extremities, until the time when 
 Sherman and Sheridan, drawing their lines, the one on the south and 
 southwest, the other on the north and northwest, closely upon him, should 
 render escape impossible, and further fighting hopeless. 
 
 The preparations for this attack were more extensive and complete than 
 on any previous attempt. All the sick, baggage, and incumbrances, com- 
 missary stores, etc., were sent, with profound secrecy, to City Point, under 
 protection of the gunboats.- Three days' rations and forage were issued 
 to the cavalry, and four days' rations to the infantry. The long line of 
 intrenchments was only occupied by a sufficient rear-guard. The troops 
 north of the James were to make a demonstration, while those south of 
 that river were to undertake a combined movement upon Hatcher's run, 
 
902 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a small stream or tributary of Eowanty creek, which is itself an affluent 
 of Nottoway river. Along this run, and the Boydton plank road, and 
 other roads partly parallel and partly cro-ssing it, the Rebel lines of defence 
 ran ; by which they protected the Southside railroad from attacks by the 
 Union troops. That road was of vital importance to them, as their prin. 
 cipal means of communication with AVilmington, Danville, Lynchburg, 
 and their other sources of supply. Obtaining possession of bliat road. 
 General Grant could compel the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond 
 witliin forty-eiglit hours. As might be expected, the Rebel defences which 
 guarded it were of the strongest character. Whatever engineering .skill 
 could do, in a wooded and marsh}' country, to make the line impregnable, 
 bad been done; and the only weak point in the defence was, that Lee was 
 beginning to fail in men to maintain so long and strong a lino as Grant 
 was compelling him to keep up. It was on his knowledge of this weakness 
 that General Grant based his attack, at this time. The first movement, in 
 point of time, was the demonstration on the north of the James. It was 
 not successful. At dawn of day on Thursday, October 27th, the tenth 
 corps moved out on the Darbytown road, and extended their lines across 
 in the direction ofCharles' City road. On reaching the hamlet of Darby- 
 town, four and a half miles from Richmond, a skirmish line was tlirown 
 forward, and a sharp encounter with the enemy took place. The Union 
 skirmishers easily pushed the Rebels back; but at lengtli they came upon 
 ihe Rebel breastworks, and were checked by a galling fire. After a little 
 delay, at mid-day, all preparations having been made^an advance along 
 the whole line was ordered, and the Union soldiers dashed upon the foe, 
 driving them inside their intrenchments ; from whicli, however, tliey con- 
 tinued to keep up a bri.sk fire. The Union troops, with great stubborn- 
 ness, took and held a position well up to the enemy's lines, and maintained 
 a most persistent fusilade until nightfall. 
 
 Meanwhile, the eighteenth corp.s, accompanied by Kautz's cavalry, 
 which led the way, followed the tenth corps for some distance, and then 
 turning north, moved toward tlie old battle ground of "The Seven Pines?." 
 Thence a movement was made up the Williamsburg road, which was 
 commanded by the enemy's works. The Rebels had laid a trap for the 
 L^nion force. Ambushing both sides of the road, they placed a small force 
 in front, who made but feeble resistance to the advance of the Union 
 troops, and sufi'ered themselves to be pushed back till, at the given signal, 
 on approaching closely to their works, they opened a murderous cross- 
 fire, right and left, which made further progress impossible. The Union 
 troops stood firm for some time, but were at length completely broken. 
 Retreat was now hardly more practicable" tlian advance, for the Rebel 
 artillery and musketry swept the whole ground over which they must 
 pass. In this moment of indecision, the disaster was completed by the 
 fiebels sallving out of their intrenchments and capturing the greater part 
 
THE BATTLE OF HATCHER'S RUN. 903 
 
 of the two advance brigades. The battery was also obliged to withdraw, 
 mo.st of the guns being disabled. Having received such indubitable proof 
 that the Rebels were in sufficient strength there to repel any invading 
 force, the troops were called out of range, and the next morning ordered 
 by General Grant to withdraw to their camps. The entire Union loss 
 in this disaster was about fourteen hundred, a large number of them 
 prisoners. The Rebels lost no prisoners, and, as they claimed, less than 
 two hundred in killed and wounded. 
 
 The attack on the left was undertaken by the second — Hancock's — 
 corps, aided by Gregg's cavalry ; this force was to march round the 
 enemy's right flank, turn it, and seize the line of defences on Hatcher's 
 run, at the same time that the fifth and ninth corps approached and 
 attacked these works in front. The second corps, therefore, drawing out 
 of camp on Wednesday evening, October 26th, marched across to the 
 Church road ; and at three and a half A. M., on Thursday, reached the 
 Vaughan road, along which they moved to Hatcher's run, and came to 
 the crossing of that stream at seven and a half A. M. The crossing was 
 disputed by a small force, which they dispersed, and the corps proceeded 
 on the west side of the run to the Boydton plank road, which they reached 
 at eleven and a quarter A. M. Here Gregg's cavalry came up and joined 
 them on the left, while Generals Grant and Meade came upon the field 
 about the same time. Egan's division was then deployed on the right of 
 the Boydton plank road, facing toward the bridge over Hatcher's run, 
 and Mott's on the left of the road. De Trobriand's brigade connected with 
 Gregg's cavalry, which held the extreme left. One brigade was left to 
 look after any Rebel troops which might be in the rear. Rugg's brigade 
 formed the advance of Egan's division; and his skirmishers, at the word 
 of command, rushed forward to Hatcher's run, seized the bridge, and 
 crossed the creek The next movement was to carry the enemy's works 
 beyond Hatcher's run. Egan's division was accordingly despatched, with 
 Rugg's brigade oh the left, Price in the centre, and Smyth on the right ; 
 with Beck's battery co-operating. McAllister's brigade of Mott's division 
 was in support of Egan. The fifth corps was now heard rapidly firing 
 on the right, and it was expected that they would sweep round and effect 
 a junction with the second corps; but owing to the uncertainty of the 
 roads, which in that vicinity form a complete labyrinth, and the very per- 
 plexing character of the country, they were unable to do this, and the 
 Rebels were prompt to see and seize their advantage. About four o'clock 
 p. M., as the second corps were preparing to advance, Mahone's division of 
 Hill's corps broke in with great fury upon Hancock's right flank, sweeping 
 off one section of Beck's battery ; and, crossing the Boydton plank road, 
 bore down upon Egan's division. With commendable energy and prompt- 
 ness, Egan changed front with his own brigades and McAllister's, and with 
 the aid of Beck's, Roder's, and Sleeper's batteries (the last commanded by 
 
904 
 
 THE CIVIL WAi 
 
 TIIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 Granger), succeeded, after a prolonged and desperate figbt, in rej ulsing 
 the enemy. In the fury of Muli'Mie's first onset upon Smyth's brigade, it 
 was driven Vjack, several hundruij prisoners captured, and the Union line 
 so chsordered that the enemy ohiaiued partial possession of the plank 
 road. A part of these prisoners wrere recaptured, by being conducted, by 
 mistake, into the lines of the fil'ili corps. Hancock's prompt and skilful 
 management, and the firmness of Egan's troops, soon arrested the disaster 
 which was threatened. Egan now fell, in turn, upon Mahone's flank, and 
 drove him back; Smyth's and McAllister's brigades distinguishhig them- 
 selves by their bravery; while Mott promptly co-operated with De 
 Trobriand's brigade. The enemy abandoned the guns he had captured, 
 and began to retreat; leaving behind him three flags and five or six hun- 
 dred prisoners, who had crossed the plank road. The loss of the second 
 corps and the cavalry, in this alVair, was about nine hundred killed and 
 wounded, and four hundred prLsoners. This repulse placed these troops 
 in a precarious position, as tiio ammunition and rations were growing 
 scarce; though orders had been given to serve out a supply for four days. 
 The rain fell in torrents, and the second corps and the cavalry retraced 
 their weary steps to their cam|), leaving some of their wounded on the 
 field. 
 
 The operations of the fifth and ninth corps, during this time, may be 
 briefly summed up. They left camp at daylight on the 27th, and during 
 the forenoon got into position, with the ninth on the right and the fifth on 
 the left, confronting the enemy's works at Hatcher's run. Ilere they made 
 demonstrations, and skirmished sharply during the day ; returning to their 
 camps at night. Their loss was about four hundred. The Rebel losses 
 during the day had probably been not far from one thousand. The whole 
 movement, on both sides of the James, which had promised so fairly, had 
 proved a failure, and had cost the Union army about three thousand men, 
 while it had effected nothing. From this time forward there was, for three 
 months, only petty skirmishes and occasional small encounters along the 
 lines of the army of the Potomac and the army of the James. 
 
 The sixth corps having returned from the valley of the Shenandoah 
 to the army of the Potomac, and his losses in the other corps being more 
 than made good by the large numbers of new or re-enlisted troops which 
 were pouring in. General Grant telt strong enough to undertake an enter- 
 prise on which he had ^ong set his heart, viz : the reduction of the Rebel 
 forts at the entrance of Wilmington harbor and the sealing up of that port 
 against bluokade running; and, should circumstances prove favorable, he 
 hoped to capture also the city itself, which had long been the chief mart 
 for supplying the Rebel government and army with those goods which 
 neutral England was so ready to furnish to the conspirators against our 
 national life. Cannon, small arms, fixed ammunition, powder, shot, 
 shell, clothing, shoes, artillery harness, army saddles, accoutrements for 
 
FIRST EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER. 905 
 
 cavalry, artillery, and infantry, whatever could aid or encourage the Eebela 
 in keeping up their warfare, was sent in the greatest abundance in these 
 blockade runners to "Wilmington, and cotton taken out in return. True 
 nearly three out of every five of these vessels were captured or sunk, but 
 the profits of the trafSc were so enormous that even with these losses it was 
 lucrative. The harbor, thirty-four miles in length, to the city of Wilming- 
 ton, is formed by the estuary of the Cape Fear river, which here spreads out 
 into a broad bay, nearly land-locked at its entrance by Smith's island, a 
 huge sand barrier which extends across its mouth, and leaves but two 
 comparatively narrow channels, nearly thirty miles apart, into the river. 
 The sand bars all along the coast, and the distance between these two 
 entrances, rendered the work of blockading the port one of great difficulty, 
 and made a complete blockade impossible. The navy department had 
 long been desirous of the capture of the forts which guarded the entrance? 
 into the harbor, but it was a work which could hardly be accomplished 
 by the navy alone. A land force was necessary to attack when the 
 vigorous bombardment of the naval squadron had weakened the defences 
 of the forts and demoralized their garrisons. About the first of Novem- 
 ber, General Grant agreed to furnish the required troops for the expedition, 
 and Rear-Admiral D. D. Porter, in command of the North Atlantic squad- 
 ron, began to assemble at Fortress Monroe an armada, the most powerful 
 perhaps, ever concentrated for the attack of a single fortress or port. As this 
 attracted the attention of the enemy, and reports in relation to the plan of ope- 
 rations, etc., were circulated through the newspapers, it was deemed best to 
 postpone the expedition for a while ; but General Grant having learned, on 
 the 30th of November, that General Bragg had gone to Georgia, taking with 
 him most of the troops about Wilmington, deemed it desirable that the 
 attack should be made before his return, and went with General Butler 
 to Fortress Monroe to consult with Rear-Admiral Porter in regard to the 
 number of troops which would be needed. It was decided that six 
 thousand five hundred would be sufficient, and that they should be taken 
 from the army of the James, and General Weitzel was assigned to the 
 command. General Butler, whose attention had been directed to the 
 terrible effects then recently produced by the explosion of a powder 
 magazine in the Erith marsbes near London, in the shaking down of 
 buildings shattering glass, etc., at a long distance, desired to have a strong 
 vessel, heavily charged with powder, exploded as near to Fort Fisher as 
 possible, in the belief that it would shake down the walls of the fort and 
 greatly demoralize its garrison; and he was allowed to try the experiment 
 On the 6th of December, General Grant addressed to General Butler the 
 following letter of instructions : 
 
 " CiTT Point, Va., Dec. Uh, 1864. 
 " General : — The first object of the expedition under General Weitzel 
 is to close to the enemy the port of, Wilmington. If successful in this 
 
906 
 
 THE CIVIL WAU IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the second will be to capture Wilmington itself. There are reasonable 
 grounds to tope for success, if advantage can be taken of the absence of 
 the greater part of the enemy's forces now looking after Sherman in 
 Georgia. The directions you have given for the numbers and equipment 
 of the expedition are all right, except in the unimportant matter of where 
 they embark and the amount of intrenching tools to be taken. The object 
 of the expedition will be gained by effecting a landing on the main land 
 between Cape Fear river and the Atlantic, north of the north entrance 
 to the river. Should such landing be effected while the enemy still holds 
 Fort Fisher and the batteries guarding the entrance to the river, then the 
 troops should intrench themselves, and, by co-operating with the navy, 
 efl'ect the reduction and capture of those places. These in our hands, the 
 navy could enter the harbor, and the port of Wilmington would be sealed. 
 Should Fort Fisher and the point of land on which it is built fall into the 
 hands of our troops immediately on landing, then it will be worth the 
 attempt to capture Wilmington by a forced march and surprise. If time 
 is consumed in gaining the first object of the expedition, the second will 
 become a matter of after consideration. 
 
 "The details for execution are intrusted to you and the officer immedi- 
 ately in command of the troops. 
 
 " Should the troops under General WeitJiel fail to effect a landing at or 
 near Fort Fisher, they will be returned to the armies operating against 
 Richmond without delay. / 
 
 "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 "MaJOR-GeNEBAL B. F. BUTLKB." 
 
 The expedition was detained for several days at Hampton roads awaiting 
 the loading of the powder-boat. It was distinctly understood by General 
 Grant that General Weitzel was to command the expedition, and he was 
 not aware that General Butler intended to go until the evening before its 
 departure, and he then supposed that he went rather to witness the effects 
 of the explosion of the puvvder-boat than any thing else. Once under way, 
 however. General Butlsr assumed the command of the expedition. 
 
 The expedition finally got off on the 13th of December, and arrived at 
 the place of rendezvous, off' New Inlet, near Fort Fisher, on the evening 
 of the 15th. Admiral Porter arrived on the evening of the 18th ; having 
 put in at Beaufort to get ammunition for the monitors. The sea becoming 
 rou'^h, making it difficult to land troops, and the supply of water and 
 coal being about exhausted, the transport fleet put back to Beaufort to 
 replenish. This, with the state of the weather, delayed the return to the 
 place of rendezvous until the 24th. The powder-boat was exploded on 
 the morning of the 2-ith, before the return of General Butler from Beaufort ; 
 but it would seem from the notice taken of it in the Southern newspapers, 
 
BOMBARDMENT OP FORT FISHER. 
 
 90T 
 
 that the enemy were never enlightened as to the object of the explosion 
 until they were informed by the northern press. 
 
 At daylight of the 2-ith the fleet stood in, in line of battle, and shortly 
 before noon took up their positions according to Admiral Porter's orders, 
 the iron-clads, of which there were four, the New Ironsides being one, 
 forming the 6rst.line, three fourths of a mile from the fort, each having 
 a gunboat as a tender within supporting distance. A quarter of a mile 
 behind the iron-clads was a line of heavy frigates, comprising the Minne- 
 sota, Colorado, Wabash, and other vessels of that class, and behind these 
 still another line of vessels, composed of the larger gunboats, the double- 
 enders, etc. Each anchored intermediate between the vessels of the first 
 line. Another division, consisting chiefly of gunboats, took positions to 
 the south and southwest of the forts and to the left of the frigates, and 
 still another was posted to the northward and eastward of the iron-clads 
 for the purpose of enfilading the fort. 
 
 About one o'clock p. M. the New Ironsides opened fire against Fort 
 Fisher, followed almost immediately by the monitors ; and within half an 
 hour the Minnesota, followed soon after by her consorts in the second 
 line, obtained the range and commenced a steady bombardment, in which, 
 a little later, the third line joined, and all maintained a rapid, accurate, 
 and terrible fire upon the fort. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 25th (the bombardment having been continued 
 through this day also), the transports arrived from Beaufort, and three 
 thousand of the troops were landed, under cover of the fire of the fleet, 
 five miles east of the fort. A reconnoissance was ordered at once, under 
 Brevet Brigadier-General Curtis, General Weitzel accompanying it in 
 person. It was pushed nearly up to the fort. General Weitzel reported 
 that the fort was not seriously injured, as a defensive work, by the bom- 
 bardment, and that it was so strong that, under the circumstances, it would 
 be butchery to order an assault. Other officers in the reconnoissance 
 entertained a different opinion ; but General Weitzel was an able officer 
 of engineers, of known bravery and daring, and his view, which coincided 
 with that of General Butler, prevailed, and the men were ordered to re- 
 embark, without making any eflbrt to capture the fort. Eear- Admiral 
 Porter was, naturally enough, greatly chagrined at this failure, and ex- 
 pressed himself in somewhat strong terms in regard to General Butler's 
 management. Nor was General Grant any better satisfied. He claimed 
 that General Butler should not have gone on the expedition, and that 
 having, in opposition to his views, taken command of it, he violated his 
 express instructions in ordering the hasty re-embarkation. For these 
 reasons he requested the War Department to relieve General Butler from 
 the command of the Army of the James, and to assign General E. O. C. 
 Ord to that command, and his request was complied with. 
 
 General Butler justified himself by claiming that it would have been a 
 
908 
 
 TUE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 useless slaughter of his troops to have led them against the fort at that 
 time, and adduced the testimony of the Eebel General Whiting, then in 
 command of tlie fort, but afterward a prisoner, and mortally wounded, 
 who stated, in the strongest terms, that at that time, and with the force 
 General Butler had at command, the capture of the fort would have been 
 impossible, and that the assailing force would have been wholly cut to 
 pieces had they attempted it. The question was one admitting of doubt, and 
 its discussion occasioned much unpleasant and bitter feeling. The com- 
 mander of the North Atlantic blockading squadron. Rear- Admiral Porter, 
 was not, however, disposed to relinquish the struggle. He maintained the 
 bombardment for some time longer, and sent a despatch to General Grant, 
 informing him that he was still off Fort Fisher, and expressing the belief 
 that, under a proper leader, it could yet be taken. General Grant an- 
 swered, asking the Admiral to hold on and he would send a force, and 
 make another attempt to take the place. This time he selected brevet 
 Major-Gcneral (now Major-General) Alfred H. Terry, who, as we have 
 seen, had been much of the time during the autumn in command of the 
 tenth corps, to command the expedition. The troops composing the 
 expedition were the same that had gone with General Butler, not having 
 disembarked after their arrival at Fortress Monroe, with the addition of a 
 small brigade, numbering about fifteen hundred men, and a small siege 
 train. General Grant communicated to General Terry the following 
 instructions : 
 
 "City Poi.nt, Va., January .3, 1865. 
 
 " General : — The expeditron intrusted to your command has been fitted 
 out to renew the attempt to capture Fort Fisher, N. C, and Wilmington, 
 ultimately, if the fort falls. You will then proceed, with as little delay as 
 possible, to the naval fleet, lying off Cape Fear river, and report the 
 arrival of yourself and command to Admiral D. D. Porter, commanding 
 North Atlantic blockading squadron. 
 
 "It is exceedingly desirable that the most complete understanding 
 should exist between yourself and the naval commander. I suggest, 
 tlierefore, that ypju consult with Admiral Porter freely, and get from him 
 the part to be performed by each branch of the public service, so that 
 there may be unity of action. It would be well to have the whole pro- 
 gramme laid down in writing. I have served with Admiral Porter, and 
 know that you can rely on his judgment and his nerve to undertake what 
 he proposes. I would, therefore, defer to him as much as is consistent 
 with your own responsibilities. The first object to be attained is to get a 
 firm position on the sp^tof land on which Fort Fisher is built, from which 
 you can operate against that fort. You want to look to the practicability 
 of receiving your supplies, and to defending yourself against superior 
 forces sent against you by an}' of the avenues left open to the enemy. K 
 such a position can be obtained, the siege of Fort Fisher will not be aban 
 
THE SECOND EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER. 909 
 
 doned until its reductiou is accomplished, or another plan of campaign is 
 ordered from these headquarters. 
 
 " My own views are, that, if you effect a landing, the navy ought to run 
 a portion of their fleet into Cape Fear river, while the balance of it oper- 
 ates on the outside. Land forces cannot invest Fort Fisher, or cut it off 
 from supplies or reinforcements, while the river is in possession of the 
 enemy. 
 
 "A siege train will be loaded on vessels and sent to Fortress Monroe, in 
 readiness to be sent to you, if required. All other supplies can be drawn 
 from Beaufort as you need them. 
 
 "Keep the fleet of vessels with you until your position is assured. 
 When you find they can be spared, order them oack, or such of them as 
 you can spare, to Fortress Monroe, to report for orders. 
 
 "In case of failure to effect a landing, bring your command back to 
 Beaufort, and report to these headquarters for further orders. You will 
 not debark at Beaufort until so directed. 
 
 • " General Sheridan has been ordered to send a division, of troops to 
 Baltimore, and place them on sea-going vessels. These troops will be 
 brought to Fortress Monroe and kept there on the vessels until you are 
 heard from. Should you require them, they will be sent to you. 
 
 "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 "Brevet Major-General A. H. Terry." 
 
 Fort Fisher, the strong earthwork against which this second attack was 
 about to be made, was one of the most formidable fortifications on the 
 coast. It had two faces, one, landward, across the Federal Point, four 
 hundred and eighty yards in length, twenty-five feet thick, an average of 
 twenty feet in height, with twelve or fifteen traverses rising ten feet above 
 the parapet and running back thirty or forty feet from the interior crest ; 
 the other front seaward, running at right angles with the first, and of equal 
 thickness and height with it, thirteen hundred yards in length, and par- 
 allel with the lee shore of the peninsula. This front was a succession of 
 strong batteries, from the frowning bastion at the angle to the' mound bat- 
 tery at its lower extremity, and all the batteries were connected by cur- 
 tains and strong infantry parapets. A deep ditch encircled the fort, and 
 on the landward side, rows of palisades ; while lines of torpedoes, each 
 containing a hundred pounds or more of powder, were sown thickly all 
 along the two fronts and the approaches, and were connected with the fort 
 by electric wires. It mounted on each front twenty-four heavy guns, five 
 or six of which had been disabled in Admiral Porter's first bombardment. 
 Above it, on the north, were Flag Pond and Half Moon batteries, each 
 mounting two guns. 
 
 The expedition under General Terry sailed from Fortress Monroe on 
 the morning of the 6th of January, 1865, arriving on the rendezvous off 
 
910 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Beaufort, on the 8th where, owing to the difficulties of the weather, it lay 
 until the morning of the 12th, when it got under way and reached its des- 
 tination that evening. Under cover of the fleet, the discmbarliation of the 
 tnwps commenced on the morning of the 13th, and by three o'clock p.m. 
 was completed without loss. On the 14th, a reconnoissance was pushed to 
 within five hundred j'ards of Fort Fisher, and a small advance work taken 
 jiossession of and turned into a defensive line against any attempt that 
 might be made from the fort. This reconnoissance disclosed the fact that 
 the front of the work had been seriously injured by the navy fire, wliich 
 had been maintained with great fury on the 13th and 14th, and was kept 
 'ip with increased vigor on the loth, from eleven A. M. to half-past three 
 P. M. 
 
 General Terry finding that a considerable Eebel force under General 
 Iloke had left Wilmington, and were intending to attack him in rear, 
 established a strong intrenched line across the peninsula, about two miles 
 from the fort, strengthened it as much as possible, and planted his siege 
 cannon upon it to defend his troops from any assault in that direction, am^ 
 manned it with Abbott's brigade. Then turning his attention to tlie fort, 
 he came to the decision that it was better to assault at once, while tlie 
 garrison were suffering from the effects of the terrible bombardment of 
 tlie navy, than to attempt a siege in this inclement sea.son. The guns of 
 the fort had been silenced for the time, and a considerable number dis- 
 mounted or disabled by the fire of the fleet, and the electric wires con- 
 necting the torpedoes with the fort had also been broken, though the 
 assailants were not aware of this at the time. 
 
 Under cover of the fire from the ships, sixteen hundred sailors, armed « 
 with cutlasses, revolvers and carbines, and four hundred marines, the 
 whole commanded by Fleet Captain K. R. Breese, were landed on the 
 beach, and by digging zig-zags and rifle-pits, worked their way up to 
 witliin two hundred yards of the fort. Tiie attention of the garrison was 
 occupied by these, and they were preparing to beat off this assault, whiclj 
 they believed to be the main one, while tlie land forces were creeping up 
 in their rear, on the landward front of tlie fort. At hall-past tliree tlie 
 signal was made to the fleet to change the direction of the fire, that tlie 
 troops might assault, and at the word of command the sailors rushed furi- 
 ously toward the parapet of the fort, which was soon manned with Rebel 
 soldiers, who met thera with a murderous fire of musketry. The marines, 
 fur some cause, failed to perform their duly of covering the assaulting 
 party, and the sailors, after a gallant struggle, were forced back and 
 retreated to the shore. But though unsuccessful in their direct a.ssault, 
 they had contributed largely to the success of the land forces. The Rebels, 
 glowing with triumpli at having beaten off their invailers, turned about 
 to find the parapet already surmounted by the land furccs, who were 
 Steadily pushing them back from one traverse to another. The fighting 
 
SKETCH OP GENERAL TERRY. 91 ; 
 
 which followed was desperate in the extreme, and much of it hand to 
 hand. No artillery could be used, and, indeed, the Kebel guns were mostly 
 dismounted. An hour and a half of this terrible conflict had passed 
 and nine of the traverses had been carried by hard fighting, but the brig- 
 adier-generals in command were all wounded, and the men were becoming 
 sorely wearied, when General Terry, having obtained from Admiral Porter 
 permission to use the sailors and marines, who were still on the shore, to 
 man his rear defensive line, brought up Abbott's brigade of fresh troops 
 to reinforce the assaulting column. With their aid the fight was renewed 
 with unceasing fury, and at about ten P. M. the Rebels were driven from 
 their last traverse, and falling back to Federal Point, surrendered about 
 midnight unconditionally. The garrison numbered originally about two 
 thousand three hundred men. Of these, two thousand and eighty-three, 
 .including one hundred and twelve officers, surrendered, tlie remainder 
 were killed or severely wounded. The Union loss was, in the army, 
 one hundred and ten killed, and five hundred and thirty-six wounded; 
 and in the navy, three hundred and nine killed and wounded. The next 
 morning, by an explosion of one of the magazines of Fort Fisher, about 
 one hundred and eighty soldiers and sailors were killed or severely 
 wounded. On the 16th and ]7th the enemy abandoned and blew up 
 Fort Caldwell, and the vorks on Smith's island, which were immediately 
 occupied by the Union troops. This gave the Union authorities the entire 
 control of the mouth of Cape Fear river, and a considerable number of 
 blockade-runners, unaware of the change of owners of the fort, ran in and 
 were made prizes. Thus was secured, by the combined efiforts of the 
 array and navy, one of the most important successes of the war. 
 
 Major-General Alfred Howe Terry, the successful leader of the land 
 forces in this expedition, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November 
 10th, 1827. , He graduated at ^ale College, studied law, and was admitted 
 to the New Haven bar in 1848. He speedily took a high position in his 
 profession, though manifesting a strong taste for military studies, and had, 
 during the Crimean and Italian campaigns, made himself master of the 
 theory of military movements. In 1854, he had been chosen colonel of 
 the second Connecticut regular militia. In April, 1861, at the outbreak 
 of the war, he was commissioned, by Governor Buckingham, colonel of the 
 second regiment Connecticut volunteers. His regiment took paj't in the 
 battle of Bull Eun, but was one of the few which did not run. Return- 
 ing home after the three months' campaign, he was commissioned colonel 
 of the seventh Connecticut volunteers; took part in the reduction of Port 
 Royal and the capture of Fort Pulaski ; was made brigadier-general of 
 volunteers April 25, 1862. He was in the battle of Pocotaligo, in June, 
 1863 ; took part in the siege of Wagner and Sumter, July, August, and 
 September, 1863, and by a feint on James island, on July 10th, drew the 
 attention of the Rebels from Morris island. In May, 1864, be joined the 
 
912 THE OrVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 army of the James ; fought, as we have seen, in the battles of Deep Run, 
 Richmond Central railroad, etc. He was twice for several months in 
 command of the tenth army corps, and after its consolidation with the 
 eighteenth, as the twenty-fourth corps, commanded the first division. He 
 was brevetted major-general in July, 1864, and, as we have seen, was 
 selected by General Grant to lead the second assault on Fort Fisher. He 
 subsequently, reinforced by Schofield, moved upon Wilmington, which 
 was captured February 22d, 1865. Thence he marched to Goldsboro to 
 join Sherman. After the close of the war he was appointed to command 
 the Department of Virginia, having been promoted to be major-general 
 of volunteers for his gallantry at Fort Fisher, and soon after made briga- 
 dier-general, and brevet major-general, in the regular army. 
 
 Rear- Admiral David D. Porter, whose management of his squadron and 
 protracted bombardment of Fort Fislier contributed so largely to its over-, 
 throw, was born in Philadelphia about 1814; he was instructed at the 
 naval school at Annapolis; entered the navy as a midshipman February 
 2d, 1829; cruised in the Mediterranean for several years; was rated as 
 passed-midshipman July 3d, 1835 ; and was for some years connected with 
 the coast survey. Promoted to be lieutenant, February 27th, 1841, he was 
 ordered to the Mediterranean, and afterward to the Brazil squadron. He 
 was assigned to duty at the Washington Observatory in 1845; took part 
 in the capture of Vera Cruz in 1847; was next ordered to the naval 
 rendezvous at New Orleans; and thence again to the coast survey. From 
 1847 to 1853, he commanded the United States mail steamers Panama 
 and Georgia; in 1855 he was made lieutenant;Commander, and was 6rst 
 in command of the storeship Supply, and afterward on duty at Ports- 
 mouth navy yard. In 1861 he became commander, and was assigned to 
 the Powhatan, on the West Gulf blockading squadron. In April, 1862, he 
 commanded the mortar fleet below New Orleans. He was made acting rear- 
 admiral, and placed in command of the upper Mississippi squadron, Octo- 
 ber 22d, 1862. He co-operated in the siege of Vicksburg, sending portions 
 of his squadron up the rivers tributary to the Mississippi, attacking and 
 running past the Vicksburg batteries, bombarding Grand Gulf, Haines's 
 bluff", etc. He was commissioned rear-admiral July 4th, 1863. For some 
 months following the fall of Vicksburg he patroled the Mississippi with his 
 fleet, and in May, 1864, took part in the disastrous Red river expedition. On 
 the 1st of November, 1864, he was transferred to the North Atlantic 
 squadron, where he planned and executed the naval portion of the two 
 attacks on Fort Fisher, and subsequently aided in the reduction of Wil- 
 mington. After the close of the war, be was appointed superintendent of 
 the naval academy at Annapolis. 
 
SHERMAN'S GRAND MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS. 913 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 THE GOLD3BOKO CAMPAIGN' — SHERMAN DETERMINES TO MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS 
 — THE DIFFICULTIES TO BE EN'COUNTERED — MOVEMENT OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SEVEN- 
 TEENTH CORPS TO HILTON UEAD-^CAPTUEE OF POCOTALIQO BRIDGE, AND THE CHARLES- 
 TON AND SAVANNAH RAILROAD — MOVEMENT OF THE L^FT WING TO PUREYSBURG AND 
 sister's ferry — DELAYED BY FLOODS — GROVEr's DIVISION GARRISONS SAVANNAH — 
 GENERAL SHERMAn's ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUPPLIES TO BE SENT TO GOLDSBORO — 
 SAVANNAH AND ITS DEFENCpS TRANSFERRED TO MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER — THE REBELS 
 ADOPT THE SALKAHATCHIB A3 THEIR DEFENSIVE LINE — SHERMAN, BY A FEINT ON 
 COMEAHEE FERRY, KEEPS THEM FROM INTERFERING WITH HIS ROUTE — MOVEMENTS OF 
 
 THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE — SLOW PROGRESS OF THE LEFT WING CROSSING THE 
 
 SALKAIIATCHIE — THE DEMONSTRATION AGAINST AUGUSTA — THE ADVANCE UPON ORANGE- 
 BURG — APPROACHING THE TOWN — EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON — THE APPROACH TO 
 COLUMBIA — SURRENDER OF THE CITY — DESTRUCTIVE PIKE — THE ADVANCE TO WINN8- 
 BORO — DESTRUCTION OF THE RAILROAD — KILPATRICK's MOVEMENTS — THE SPECULATIONS 
 OF THE REBELS AS TO SHERMAN'S OBJECTIVE — THEY COMPEL DAVIS TO GIVE JOHNSTON 
 THE COMMAND OF THEIR ARMIES IN KORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA — CHARLOTTE OR 
 GOLDSBORO? WHICH? — CROSSING THE WATEREE — THE APPROACH TO, AND CAPTURE OF, 
 CHERAW — ADVANCE ON FAYETTEVILLE, N. C. — HARDEE ABANDONS IT — CAVALRY MOVE- 
 MENTS — THE BATTLE OF SGLOMOn's GROVE — EILPATRIOK SURPRISED, BUT RALLIES AND 
 DEFEATS THE ENEMY — SHERMAn's MESSAGES TO WILMINGTON AND NEWBERN — SHERMAN'S 
 LETTER TO THE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL — HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH WHEELER AND WADE 
 HAMPTON — PUSILLANIMITY AND COWARDICE OP SOUTH CAROLINA — THE HORRORS OF WAK 
 DEALT OUT TO HER IN FULL MEASURE — NORTH CAROLINA SPARED — THE LAST STAGE OF 
 THE CAMPAIGN — CROSSING THE CAPE FEAR RIVER— THE CONCENTRATION OF THE REBEL 
 
 FORCES — Hardee's attack on the left wing at avervsboro — its object — the 
 
 BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO — ADVANCE TOWARD GOLDSBORO — THE BATTLE OF BENTONVILLE 
 — THE ADVANCE TO GOLDSBORO — MOVEMENTS OF SCHOFIFXD AND TERRY — MOWER's 
 
 daring flank movement — goldsboro reached, and the army resting and receiv- 
 ing supplies — general. sherman visits general grant's headquarters — general 
 Sherman's summing up of results. 
 
 Geiveral Shermatst bad scarcely takea possession of Savannah, before 
 his active mind was again employed in planning another important move- 
 ment of the most vital importance to the national cause. Hood's army 
 being now completely broken up, Tennessee and Kentucky fully con- 
 trolled by the Federal authority, and no considerable Eebel force — except 
 Lee's army in Virginia — remaining in the southern Atlantic States, the 
 field of operations was virtually reduced to three States. In his own 
 mind, therefore, General Sherman had decided — and the plan met with 
 General Grant's approval — to sweep, with his powerful army, through the 
 two Carolinas, without halting or seeking a base, from Savannah to Golds- 
 boro, and at that point to open communication with the sea by the New- 
 bern railroad. Thus, crippling and rendering useless the coast seaports, 
 58 
 
9U 
 
 THE CrVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 by the destruction of interior lines of railroads, he aimed to reach the 
 theatre of war in Virginia by the time the season would admit of active 
 operations in that quarter. If successful in this, he knew that the con- 
 centration of his own army with that of General Grant, before the Rebel 
 capital, would speedily compel the capitulation of Lee's forces, and, con- 
 sequently, the entire collapse of the Rebellion. The plan was a masterly 
 one, yet attended with risks not disproportionate to the prize which it 
 oflered. He would be obliged again to cut loose from his base, and enter 
 upon a march of nearly fi,ve hundred miles, through a country intersected 
 by numerous wide rivers, whose sedgy, oozy banks were lined for miles 
 with dismal and impassable swamps, over which roads and causeways must 
 be built ; his troops, in many cases, dislodging and fighting the enemy as 
 they moved. The Rebel forces, although scattered, were stronger, both in 
 numbers and condition, than the Georgia militia whom they had encoun- 
 tered in the previous campaign ; and, under the command of General 
 Johnston, who it was understood was again to be put in command, would 
 be able to concentrate rapidly, and throw serious obstacles in the way of 
 Sherman's advance, as his men toiled tediously through the morasses. 
 But the conqueror of Atlanta, and the leader of the "march to the sea," 
 was not the man to be easily deterred from the execution of any plan 
 which promised destruction to the Rebellion — especially if it gave him the 
 opportunity to be " in at the death." So his preparations went rapidly, 
 yet quietly forward. His first movement was to send the right wing of 
 his army, commanded by General Howard, and comprising Logan's 
 — fifteenth — corps, and Blair's — seventeenth — Corps, by transports to 
 Beaufort, near Hilton Head, S. C. The object of this movement wa.s to 
 secure the important railroad bridge on the Savannah and Charleston 
 railroad, at Pocotaligo, about forty-nine miles from the former, and fifty- 
 five miles from the latter city. This bridge, which, with the trestle-work 
 in the swamp, was a mile in length, was a most important point in 
 the communication between the two cities, which the Union commanders, 
 of operations in that department had frequently endeavored to destroy, but 
 without success. On the 13th of January, General Hatch's division moved 
 out from Beaufort,^nd took position near the bridge, with their cannon 
 commanding the railroad ; and the seventeenth corps, crossing on pontoons 
 at Port Royal ferry, rapidly approached the railroad, and scattered the 
 Rebel pickets. On the 15th, the seventeenth corps and General Hatch's 
 division advanced, and gained the railroad a little south of the bridge, 
 driving off the enemy's skirmishers, who were supported by light artillery. 
 The bridge thus gained, as well as the earthwork defences at its further 
 end, was promptly carried by the seventeenth corps, with a rapidity which 
 defeated the enemy's attempt to set it on fire, and with a loss of only fifty 
 men. The rebel force were completely driven off, and the gallant seven- 
 teenth occupied the railroad from Coosawhatchie to the Tallahatchie ; a 
 
THE DIFFICULTIES TO BE ENCOUNTERED. 915 
 
 depot of supplies being established near tbe mouth of Pocotaligo creek, 
 with convenient communication, by wa,ter, to Hilton Head. 
 
 Simultaneously with this movement, the left wing, under General 
 Slocum, and General Kilpatrick's cavalry, received orders to rendezvous 
 near Robertsville and Coosawhatchie, S. C, and establish a depot of sup- 
 plies at Pureysburg, or Sister's ferry, on the Savannah river. In order to 
 carry out these orders, Slocum repaired and "corduroyed" the "Union 
 causeway" leading through the low rice fields opposite Savannah, and 
 also constructed a good pontoon bridge opposite the city. But before the 
 time appointed for him to march, the January rains had swollen the river, 
 broken up the pontoon bridge, and, overflowing the whole " bottom," so 
 that the causeway was four feet under water, compelled him to seek a pas- 
 sage over the Savannah at some point higher up. He, therefore, moved 
 up to Sister's ferry ; but even there, the river, with its overflowed bottoms, 
 was nearly three miles wide ; so that he did not succeed in getting his 
 whole army across until the first week in February. 
 
 Meanwhile, Savannah was garrisoned by Grover's division of the nine- 
 teenth corps, from Sheridan's army of the Potomac, and the troops 
 previously serving in the Department of the South were placed undej' 
 command of Major-General Foster — thus leaving to Sherman, for his ex- 
 pedition, the entire army with which he had made the Georgia campaign. 
 The twenty-third corps, Major-General Schofield commanding, was, as we 
 have seen, also transferred from Tennessee to the reinforcement of Generals 
 Terry and Palmer, then operating on the North Carolina coast, to prepare 
 the way for General Sherman's advance. That general, in order that no 
 time might be lost in opening communication with the sea, on hie arrival 
 at Goldsboro, had also ordered Colonel W. W. Wright, superintendent 
 of military railroads, to proceed to Newborn, North Carolina, in advance, 
 and be fully prepared to extend the railroad from that place to Goldsboro 
 by the 15th of March. At the same time, the chief quartermaster, 
 and the commissary were directed to fill the dep6ts of supplies at Sister's 
 ferry and Pocotaligo, and follow his movements coastwise, with a view 
 of forwarding supplies to him at Goldsboro, by March 15th, via More- 
 head City, North Carolina. 
 
 All these preparations having been made, and the different movements 
 in successful progress, General Sherman, on the 18th of January, trans- 
 ferred the city of Savannah and its defences to Major-General Foster, 
 commanding the Department of the South, at the same time imparting to 
 him his plans of the campaign, with instructions to follow the inland 
 movements of the army, by such demonstrations as should secure to the 
 Union arms the possession of Charleston and other points of military 
 value along the seacoast. The capture, by the combined naval and land 
 forces under Admiral Porter and General Terry, of Fort Fisher and the 
 Eebel defences at the mouth of the Cape Fear river only four days before. 
 
916 THE CiriL "WAR IN' THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 gave an additional feeling ot security to General Sherman aa, on the 
 19th, he gave the final order for a general advance. The campaign was 
 now fairly opened, and Sherman, on the the 22d, embarked for Hilton 
 Head, where he held a conference with Admiral Dahlgren, U. S. N., 
 and Major-General Foster, and tlience proceeded to Beaufort, from whence, 
 on the 2-±th, he rode out to Pocotaligo, to the encampment of Blair's 
 seventeenth corps. The fifteenth corps was somewhat scattered ; two 
 divisions being at Beaufort; another on the march, coastwise, from 
 Savannah ; and a fouith still at that cit}', storm and freshet bound. The 
 enemy evidently supposed Charleston to be the objective at which the 
 Union army was aiming, and under this impression had adopted the 
 Salkahatchie as a defensive line. Shermati personally reconnoitercd the 
 line, and saw, that in consequence of the heavy rains, the river had become 
 so swollen that the swamj)s, for a breadth of over a mile, were under water 
 to a depth of from one to twenty feet. As he had not the slightest inten- 
 tion of approaching Charleston, he contented himself with making a 
 demonstration against the Combahee ferry and railroad bridge across the 
 river ; and by the exhibition of a comparatively small force, in seeming 
 preparations to cross over, he kept in his front a large force of the 
 Eebels disposed to contest his advance on the city. On the 27th, General 
 Hatch's division, on the Tullaflnney and Coosawhatchie river.s, broke 
 up camp and moved to Pocotaligo, with the purpose of keeping up the 
 feints already began, so that the riglit wing could move higher up and 
 cross the Salkahatchie near Rivers' or Braxton's bridge. By the 
 29th, the subsidence of the flood permitted General Slocum to put his 
 wing in motion, and as he approached Sister's ferry, the gunboat Pontiac 
 was sent up to cover the crossing. In the meantime, three divisions of 
 the fifteenth corps had closed up at Pocotaligo, and the right wing was 
 in readiness for the advance. General Howard, with the seventeenth 
 corps, now (February 1st) moved up the Salkahatchie to Rivers' bridge, 
 while the fifteenth corps marched by Hickory hill, Loper's cro.ss-roads, 
 Anglesey post office, and Beaufort bridge, leaving General Hatch's divi- 
 sion still at Pocotaligo, demonstrating against the Salkahatchie railroad 
 bridge and ferry, until the movement of the Union army should turn the 
 enemy's position and force him to fall behind the Edisto. The road 
 northward, on which Sherman was now moving his army, had been held 
 for several weelca previously, by Wheeler's cavalry, who had diligently 
 improved tlie time to fell trees, burn bridges, and prepare all possible 
 obstructions to impede the progress of our troops. But so well organized 
 was Sherman's pioneer corp.s — enlarged, before leaving Savannah, by the 
 addition of some thousands of intelligent and able-bodied negroes — that 
 under the direction of the efficient engineer-in-chief, bridges were rebuilt 
 and obstructions removed with a rapidity which scarcely delayed the advance 
 of the army a single day. Meanwhile, General Slocum, still harassed 
 
-CROSSING THE SALKAHATCHIE. 917 
 
 by the bigh water in the Savannah river, had only crossed two divisions 
 of the twentieth corps — General Williams — and Kilpatrick's cavalry, 
 over to the east bank. Williams was. sent, by Sherman's order, to Beau- 
 fort bridge via Lawtonville and AUandale ; and Kilpatrick to Blaokville 
 via Barnwell. General Slocum was urged to hasten his crossing as fast 
 as possible, and overtake the right vring on the South Carolina railroad. 
 General Howard, with the right wing, was also ordered to cross the 
 Salkahatchie, and strike the same road near Midway. The line of the 
 Salkahatchie was held by the enemy in force, their infantry and artillery 
 being intrenched at Eivers' and Beaufort bridges. The former position 
 was carried, on the 3d of February, by Mower's and Giles A. Smith's 
 divisions of the seventeenth corps. The swamp here was nearly three 
 miles wide, with water ranging from knee to shoulder deep, and the 
 weather was bitterly cold. Disregarding, however, these circumstances, 
 Generals Mower and Smith gallantly led their divisions in person, on foot, 
 waded the swamp under a heavy fire, effected a lodgment below the bridge 
 and drove the Eebel brigade wiuch guarded it in confusion toward 
 Branchville, with a loss of only one ofl&cer and seventeen men killed, and 
 seventy wounded. Beaufort bridge, strong both in its natural position 
 and artificial defences, was evacuated by the enemy immediately upon the 
 successful crossing of the Union troops at Rivers' bridge ; and the line of 
 the Salkahatchie being thus broken the enemy at once retreated behind 
 the Edisto, at Branchville. The Union army now held the peninsula 
 formed by the Salkahatchie and Edisto rivers, and had the choice of 
 moving on Augusta, Branchville and Charleston. Sherman, however, at 
 once pushed the whole army to the South Carolina railroad at Midway, 
 Bamberg (or Lowry's station), and Graham's station. The enemy, fright- 
 ened by a demonstration made by the seventeenth corps against Branch- 
 ville, burned the railroad bridge, and Walker's bridge across the Edisto ; 
 and from the 7th to the 10th of February, the seventeenth corps de- 
 voted its whole energies to the destruction of the railroad track from the 
 Edisto up to Bamberg; the fifteenth corps attending to that portion 
 between Bamberg and Blackville. General Kilpatrick, by this time, had 
 brought up his cavalry to Blackville, and turning toward Aiken, demon- 
 strated against Augusta, skilfully avoiding any regular battle," although 
 he skirmished heavily with Wheeler's cavalry at Blackville, Williston, 
 and Aiken. On the 8th, two di\ isions of Williams — twentieth — corps, 
 reached Graham's station on the South Carolina railroad, and General 
 Slocum arrived at Blackville on the 10th ; while the destruction of the 
 railroad was continued from that point up to Windsor. By the 11th, 
 the entire army occupied the railroad from Midway to Johnson's station, 
 thus dividing the enemy's forces, part of "which were at Branchville and 
 Charleston on the one side, and part at Aiken and Augusta on the other. 
 The army was marching north and cast, demonstrating upon Charleston 
 
918 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and Augusta, but really aiming at Columbia, tbe capital of tLe truculent 
 State of South Carolina. Meanwhile, the citizens of the two former cities 
 were in an agony of fear and suspense ; their newspapers filled with frantic 
 appeals for resistance to the invader, and their minds and hands occupied 
 with every possible plan and preparation for defence. The first step in 
 the campaign was now an accomplished fact. It had been accomplished 
 with little use of cavalry, and with less than half our infantry ; and, better 
 than all, with but slight loss of life. 
 
 Now commenced the movement on Orangeburg, a town of some three 
 thousand inhabitants, situated upon the north bank of the Edisto river, 
 thirteen miles from Branchvillc. At this point the state road, between 
 Charleston and Columbia, intersects with the railroad between that place 
 and Branchville ; and Orangeburg, from its position upon the ridge of 
 high lands on which the railroad runs, really possessed more importance 
 than Branchville, which the enemy had most carefully fortified. 
 
 Sherman marched with the right wing, the seventeenth corps crossing 
 the south fork of the Edisto at Binnaker's bridge, and moving directly on 
 Orangeburg ; while the fifteenth crossed at Holman's, and proceeded to 
 Poplar, Springs, to act as a support. The left wing and cavalry, still 
 engaged on the railroad, had orders to cross the same stream at New and 
 Guignard's bridges, and take position on the Orangeburg and Edgefield 
 road, in readiness to support the right wing. On the 12th of February, 
 the seventeenth corps skirmished heavily with the enemy, who were found 
 intrenched in force in front of the Orangeburg- bridge, on the north fork 
 of the Edisto, and finally swept them away by a dash, pressing them 
 across the bridge, which was partially burned. Behind the bridge was a 
 battery in position, covered by a cotton and earth parapet, with wings as 
 far as could be seen. General Blair now pressed Giles A. Smith's division 
 closely up to the Edisto, at the same time moving the other two divisions 
 to a point about two miles below, where he crossed Force's division by a 
 pontoon bndge, holding Mower's in support. As Force's column emerged 
 from the swamp, the enemy fell back, and Smith's division gained and 
 crossed the bridge, and held the parapet. The bridge was speedily 
 repaired, and by four o'clock of that afternoon, the whole corps was in 
 Orangeburg, and had commenced to destroy the railroad. This was 
 effected as far as Lewisville, and the enemy being pushed across the 
 Congaree, were obliged, on the 14th, to burn the bridges. Up to this 
 point, the enemy had been mystified as to the real destination of the Union 
 army ; but now perceiving clearly, for the first time, what was Sherman's 
 objective, the Rebel General Hardee evacuated Charlj--ton, retreating on 
 Florence, parallel to Sherman's recent line of march, and General Gill- 
 more's troops entered and occupied that city on the 18th. The different 
 columns of the Union army were now all en route to Columbia, fifty-one 
 miles distant from Orangeburg ; the seventeenth corps on the state road. 
 
SUEEENDER OF THE CITY OF COLUMBIA. 919 
 
 ■ and the fifteenth marching from Poplar Springs on a country road, which 
 entered the state road at Zeigler's. The twentieth corps moved north, on 
 a line west of the fifteenth, diverging toward Columbia ; the fourteenth 
 moving on a parallel line still further west, with the cavalry on their left 
 flank. On the 15th, the fifteenth corps discovered the enemy strongly 
 posted at Little Congaree bridge, across Congaree creek, with a ifte-du-jJoyil 
 on the south side, and a well built fortification on the north, commanding 
 the bridge with artillery. The ground in front was level and clear, but 
 covered with a deep and fresh deposit of mud from a recent overflow. 
 General 0. E. Woods, commanding the leading division, turned the flank 
 of the iete-du-pont, by sending a brigade through a cypress swamp to the 
 left, and, pushing the retreating enemy, soon carried and held the bridge 
 and fort beyond. As it was necessary to repair the bridge before it could 
 be used for the passage of the artillery, it was night before the head of the 
 column reached the bridge across the Congaree, in front of Columbia. 
 During the night, the Union camps were shelled by the enemy's battery 
 on the east side of the Congaree, above Granby. Early the following 
 morning, February 16th, the advance reached the bank of the Congaree 
 opposite Columbia, although too late to save the fine bridge which spanned 
 the river at that point, and which the enemy had fired. While they 
 waited for the pontoons, they could easily see into the streets of Columbia, 
 where the citizens were moving about in evident excitement ; and occa- 
 sionally small bodies of cavalry were seen, but no masses of troops. No 
 white flag, or other token of surrender was visible ; and General Sherman 
 limited the operations of his artillery to the firing of a single gun, aimed 
 at the railroad depot, for the purpose of scattering the people who were 
 seen carrying away sacks of corn and flour, which his army needed. 
 While waiting, and within an hour after his arrival at the river, the head 
 of column of the left wing, under General Slocum, also appeared ; where- 
 upon General Howard, with the right wing, moved three miles up the 
 river to Saluda factory, and crossed on the 16th, skirmishing with the 
 Eebel cavalry. The same night he constructed a flying bridge across 
 Broad river, three miles above Columbia, and threw across a brigade of 
 the fifteenth corps, under cover of which a pontoon bridge was laid on 
 the morning of the 17th, thus approaching Columbia on the north. 
 
 General Sherman, in his ofBcial report, thus describes the entrance to 
 Columbia: "I was in person at the pontoon bridge (on the 17th), and at 
 11 A. M. learned that the mayor of Columbia had come out in a carriage, 
 and made a formal surrender of the city to Colonel Stone, 25th Iowa 
 infantry, commanding third brigade, first division, fifteenth corps. About 
 the same time, a small party of the seventeenth corps had crossed the 
 Congaree in a skiff, and entered Columbia from a point immediately west. 
 In anticipation of the occupation of the city, I had given written orders 
 to General Howard touching the conduct of the troops. These were to 
 
920 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN TUB UNITED STATES. 
 
 destroy absolutely all arsenals and public property not needed for our 
 own use, as well as all railroads, depots, and machinery useful in war to 
 an enemy; but to spare all dwellings, colleges, schools, asylums, and 
 harmless private property. I was the fir.st to cross the pontoon bridge, 
 and in company with General Iloward, rode into the city. The day was 
 clear, but a perfect tempest of wind was raging. The brigade of Colonel 
 Stone was already in the city, and was properly posted. Citizens and 
 soldiers were on the streets, and general good order prevailed. General 
 Wade Hampton, who commanded the Confederate rear-guard of cavalry, 
 had, in anticipation of our capture of Columbia, ordered that all cotton, 
 public and private, should be moved into the streets and fired, to prevent 
 our making use of it. Bales were piled everywhere, the rope and bagging 
 cut, and tufts of cotton were blown about in the wind, lodged in the trees 
 and against the houses, so as to resemble a snow-storm. Some of these 
 piles of cotton were burning, especially one in the very heart of the city, 
 near the court house ; but the fire was partially subdued by the labors of 
 our soldiers. During the day the fifteenth corps passed through Columbia, 
 and out ou the Camden road. The seventeenth did not enter the town at 
 all ; and, as I have before stated, the left wing and the cavalry did not 
 come within two miles of the town. 
 
 " Before one single public building had been fired by order, the 
 smouldering fires set by Hampton's order were rekindled by the wind, 
 and communicated to the buildings around. About dark they began to 
 spread, and got beyond the control of the brigade on duty within the city. 
 The whole of Wood's division was brought in, but it was found impossible 
 to check the flames, which, by midnight, had become unmanageable, and 
 raged until about 4 A. M., when, the wind subsiding, they were got under 
 control. I was up nearly all night, and saw Generals Howard, Logan, 
 Woods,''and others, laboring to save houses, and protect families thus 
 suddenly deprived of shelter and of bedding and wearing apparel. I 
 disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this fire, but, on the con- 
 trary, claim that we saved what of Columbia remains unconsumed. And, 
 without hesitation, I charge General Wade Hampton with having burned 
 his own city of Columbia, not with a malicious intent, or as the manifesta- 
 tion of a silly Roman stoicism, but from folly and want of sense in filling 
 it with lint cotton and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well 
 to extinguish the flames ; but others, not on duty, including the oflicers 
 who had long been imprisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in 
 spreading the fire after it had once begun, and may have indulged in 
 concealed joy to see the ruin of the capital of South Carolina. During 
 the 18th and 19th, the arsenal, railroad depots, machine shops, foundries, 
 and other buildings, were properly destroyed by detailed working parties, 
 and the railroad track torn up and destroyed to Kingville and the 
 Wateree bridge, and up in the direction of Winnsboro." 
 
THE ADVANCE TO WINNSBORO. . 921 
 
 On the 16tli, immediately on Slocum's arrival at Columbia, he had 
 been ordered to march by the left directly on Winnsboro. Crossing the 
 Saluda, at Hart's ferry, and marching by Oakville and Rockville, he 
 reached Broad river, near Alston, on the 17th; and, on the 19th, crossed 
 the river, entered Alston, and began to break up the railroads in the 
 vicinity. Having thoroughly destroyed the Spartausburg railroad for 
 fourteen miles north of Alston, including the bridge over the Broad river, 
 Slocum, on the 20th, crossed the Little river, and reached "Winnsboro on 
 the following day. Meanwhile, Sherman and the right wing, having de- 
 stroyed all in Columbia that could be of use for military purposes, marched, 
 on the 20th, directly on Winnsboro; the fifteenth corps destroying the 
 railroad as they went, and the seventeenth moving on a parallel road; 
 Howard reaching Winnsboro on the 21st. 
 
 While the main army was thus engaged, the cavalry, under Kilpatrick, 
 had been acting separately on the extreme left flank ; concealing, as well 
 as covering the movements of the infantry. Following the march of the 
 infantry, Kilpatrick's troops reached Robertville on the 3d, Lawtonville 
 on the 4th, Allandale on the 5th, and, on the 6th, demonstrated strongly 
 against Augusta, driving before them a Rebel cavalry brigade. Then 
 turning shortly to the right, he crossed the Salkahatchie just below Barn- 
 well, in face of the enemy, about three hundred strong, who occupied a 
 well chosen position behind earthworks on the opposite side of the stream, 
 commanding the bridge, which was then on fire. But Colonel Hamilton's 
 ninth Ohio cavalry, and Lieutenant Colonel Van Buskirk, with the ninety- 
 second Illinois mounted infantry, dashed through the swamp, wading up 
 to the men's armpits, crossed the stream on trees felled by the pioneer 
 corps, and, disregarding the terrible fire to which they were exposed, 
 drove the enemy, routed, back to Barnwell. The bridge was partially 
 saved, and having been repaired, the Union troops entered Barnwell at 
 four o'clock, p. M. The next day, the 7th, the energetic Kilpatrick was at 
 work destroying track on the Charleston and Atlanta railroad, at Black- 
 ville, from which town he drove a brigade of Wheeler's cavalry. On the 
 evening of the 8th, having moved up to Williston station. Colonel Spencer's 
 brigade, while holding the Augusta road, Avas sharply attacked by 
 Wheeler's cavalry, and a spirite'd fight ensued, in which the enemy were 
 completely routed, with a loss of one officer and many men killed, a large 
 number wounded, and several prisoners and five battle-flags captured. 
 The routed enemy were so closely pursued by Colonel Spencer, for several 
 miles, that they were finally compelled to scatter and take to the woods 
 for safety. The next day, our troops moved along the railroad to Wind- 
 sor, and thence to Johnson's, tearing up track as they went. The move- 
 ments and manoeuvres of the cavalry from Blackville had been so skilfully 
 planned by Kilpatrick, as to impress the Rebels with the idea that his 
 progress was simply the advance of the main army towa,rd Augusta. 
 
922 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Under this impression, Wheeler left the Edisto unguarded and Columbia 
 uncovered, and, by marching day and night, reached Aiken at daylight 
 of the morning of the 11th, with his whole command. A carefully man- 
 aged reconnoissance revealed to Kilpatrick the certainty that his enemy 
 had fairly got into the trap ; and, at eleven A. M. the same day, a mounted 
 charge by Wheeler's entire oommand was received and handsomely re- 
 pulsed by the Union troops, with a loss to the Rebels of thirty-one killed, 
 one hundred and sixty wounded, and sixty taken prisoners. Disgusted 
 with this unexpectedly warm reception, Wheeler fell back to his former 
 position at Aiken, without any further attempt at attack. At Johnson's, 
 Kilpatrick remained, busily engaged in the demolition of the railroad, 
 until the 12th, when he crossed the south fork of the Edisto, at Guig- 
 nard's, and encamped four miles higher up the stream, throwing out 
 pickets as far as Pine Log bridge. On the 15th, he crossed the north fork 
 of the Edisto, and marching parallel with the left of the fourteenth corps, 
 struck the Lexington and Augusta road, nine miles north of the former 
 place. By this movement he intercepted Wheeler's cavalry, fifteen hun- 
 dred of whom had just passed over the road m route for Columbia — 
 Cheatham's infantry corps being similarly intercepted by our infantry. 
 On the evening of the 18th, he reached Alston's, on Broad river; having 
 destroyed a portion of the track, the depots, and several bridges between 
 that place and Pomaria station. On the 19th, he crossed the river, and 
 the next day reached Monticello, and found that Wheeler was in advance 
 of him, moving on Chesterfield. 
 
 Winnsboro is situated on the Charlotte (N. C.) and South Carolina 
 railroad, seventy miles south of the former place, and thirty-nine miles 
 north of Columbia ; Monticello being nearly opposite between Winnsboro 
 and Broad river. The movements of Sherman's forces up to this date, 
 and the massing of his infantry at Winnsboro, deluded the enemy with 
 the idea that the Union army was aiming for Virginia by the inland route, 
 via Charlotte. In the alarm caused by their new apparent danger, the 
 Rebel authorities had forced from Jefferson Davis the re-appointment of 
 General Johnston to the chief command of all the Rebel forces west of the 
 Chattahoochie river, and south of Virginia ; and he had concentrated at 
 Charlotte, N. C, the forces with which Beauregard had evacuated Colum- 
 bia, the local garrisons and militia of Georgia, and some reinforcements 
 from Lee's army. The remnants of Cheatham's Rebel corps, however, 
 had been cut off from reaching Johnston by Sherman's march and the 
 burning of the bridges over the Saluda. The turning point of the cam- 
 paign had been the abandonment of Columbia ; and Johnston, with a 
 dispirited and deficient army, found himself sadly puzzled whether to 
 choose Charlotte or Goldsboro as his next defensive point. They were 
 apparently equally threatened by Sherman, but were too far distant, the 
 one from the other, to warrant an attempt to defend both. K he decided 
 
DESTRUCTION OP THE EAILEOAD. 923 
 
 to hold Goldsboro, he must seriously expose his flank and rear to a move- 
 ment from Newbern or the Roanoke, while Sherman would quietly " walk 
 over the course" through Charlotte to the James. If, on the contrary, he 
 attempted to hold Charlotte, Goldsboro and the seaboard would be left to 
 chance. In fact, the campaiga was already lost, before Mr. Davis took 
 any proper steps to restore it, and Sherman was not slow to push his ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 On the 22d of February, General Slocum left Winnsboro for Charlotte; 
 destroying the railroad as far as Blackstake's station, fifty -iive miles from 
 Charlotte, and then turning to the right, reached the Catawba or Wateree 
 river that night, at the point called Rocky Mount. During the night, the 
 twentieth corps came up, and laid a pontoon bridge, over which they 
 passed during the 23d ; followed, in the night, by Kilpatrick's cavalry, in 
 the midst of a terrible rain. This cavalry was directed to move toward 
 Lancaster, as part of the feint of a- general movement on Charlotte, N. C, 
 where General Beauregard, with a large force of cavalry, was stationed. 
 From the 23d to the 26th, the roads and stream's were well-nigh impassa- 
 ble from heavy rains ; but by the latter date, the twentieth corps had 
 reached Hanging Rock, and waited for the fourteenth to get across the 
 Catawba. When, in spite of the swollen streams, which broke the pon- 
 toon bridge, the fourteenth had crossed and closed up, the left wing was 
 again put in motion toward Cheraw. The right wing, meantime, had 
 crossed the Catawba at Peay's ferry, before the heavy rains set in, and 
 was also moving on Cheraw ; the seventeenth corps, via Young's bridge, 
 and the fifteenth by Tiller's and Kelley's bridges. Detachments from this 
 latter corps burned the bridge over the Wateree at Camden, together with 
 the depot, stores, etc. ; and a small force of mounted men was sent out to 
 break up the railroad from Charleston to Florence; but, after a night 
 skirmish with some Rebel cavalry at Mount Clio, was compelled to return 
 without accomplishing their intent. Bad roads at Lynch's creek delayed 
 the right wing about as long as the streams had delayed the left wing at 
 the Catawba. On the 2d of March, the twentieth corps entered Chester- 
 field, skirmishing with Rebel cavalry ; and about noon of the day following, 
 the seventeenth occupied Cheraw, the enemy retreating over the Great 
 Pedee, and burning the bridge there. At Cheraw, our forces destroyed 
 twenty-five guns and much ammunition, conveyed there by the Rebels in 
 tlfeir retreat from Charleston ; also, the railroad trestles and bridges as far 
 as Darlington. An unsuccessful expedition of mounted infantry was also 
 made in the direction of Florence. 
 
 Once more the columns were put in motion, directed on Fayetteville, N. 
 C. ; the right wing crossing the Great Pedee at Cheraw, the left wing and 
 cavalry at Sneedsboro. The seventeenth corps led the right wing, and 
 Davis's corps taking the right of the left wing, while Kilpatrick's cavalry 
 kept well out on the left flank. Heavy rains prevailed, and the numerous 
 
934 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 small streams along the line of march were swollen and difficult to pass ; 
 while the roads, worked into quicksands of unknown depth by the travel 
 of so many men and animals, became almost impassable. Yet Davis's 
 fourteenth cOrps reached and crossed Love's bridge, over the Lumber 
 river, on the 7th of March ; marched to within twenty miles of Fayette- 
 viUe on the 9th, and on the 11th reached and occupied the town. The 
 seventeenth corps, marching via Laurel Hill and Gilchrist's bridge over 
 the Lumber river on the ninth, came into Fayetteville on the 12th. Be- 
 fore their advance, Hardee retired beyond the river, without offering 
 serious opposition, and burned the bridge after him. 
 
 Kilpatrick, meanwhile, on the left flank of the army, crossed the 
 Lumber river at Love's bridge, and coming, at Solomon's Grove, upon the 
 rear of Hardee's retreating force, determined to intercept Wade Hampton, 
 whose cavalry was covering the Eebel rear. Hampton was moving on 
 two roads, the Morgantown road and one parallel with it and three miles 
 to the north. South and east from Solomon's Grove, Kilpatrick posted, 
 on each of these roads, a brigade of cavalry ; and then, by a rapid night 
 march, he placed Colonel Spencer's brigade, increased by four hundred 
 dismounted men and a section of artillery, on a road still further north, 
 on which it was possible the enemy's troops might move. But Hampton 
 had managed, by eleven o'clock that evening, to flank Atkins's division, 
 and was encamped within three miles of Colonel Spencer ; and Kilpatrick 
 actually rode into and through one division of the Rebel cavalry, luckily 
 escaping with his staft^ while his escort of fifteen men and one officer 
 were captured. At 2 A. Ji. Hampton, with his entire command, suddenly 
 and furiously charged upon the camp of Spencer's brigade, and the house 
 in which General Kilpatrick and Colonel Spencer had their quarters. In 
 an instant the artillery was captured, and the Union troops were in full 
 flight ; Colonel Spencer and a large portion of the general's staff being 
 taken prisoners. Kilpatrick, however, escaped on foot, rallied his men, 
 also on foot, in a neighboring swamp, and turned upon the enemy, who 
 were eagerly pillaging the captured camps. Inspired by the gallantry of 
 their leader, the brave boys charged upon the foe, retook the artillery, 
 turned it upon the enemy at scarcely twenty paces distance, and drove 
 them headlong from the camp; regaining horses, equipage, and every 
 thing except some prisoners whom the enemy carried oflj leaving their 
 dead and wounded behind. Kilpatrick at once re-established his lines, ai^ 
 fur an hour and a half successfully foiled Hampton's attempts to retake 
 them ; receiving no reinforcements until the battle was over. In this 
 " surprise," the Union forces lost four officers, and fifteen men killed, sixty- 
 one wounded, and one hundred and three, of all ranks, taken prisoners. 
 On the 11th of March, the cavalry reached Fayetteville, in advance of the 
 fourteenth corps ; and, by the 12th, the whole army was massed at that 
 place ; where the two succeeding days were spent in thoroughly demolish- 
 
MESSAGE FROM GENERAL SHERMAN TO AVILMINGTON. 925 
 
 ing the Eebel (formerly United States) arsenal, together with all the 
 machinery appertaining thereto. 
 
 From Laurel Hill, on the 8th of March, Sherman had despatched a brief 
 message, by two trusty scouts, whose route lay directly through the 
 enemy's country, down the Cape Fear river to "Wilmington, to notify the 
 Union commander in North Carolina of his safe progress. Those 
 despatches, which simply said, "We are all well, and have done finely. 
 Details are, for obvious reasons, omitted," reached "Wilmington on the 
 1-ith, and were the first tidings which had been received from the army 
 since it left Savannah and Beaufort. On the 12th, an army tug-boat 
 reached Fayetteville from "Wilmington, bringing full intelligence of events 
 which had been transpiring in the outer world from which Sherman and 
 his brave men had been so long shut out. On the same day, this boat 
 carried back to General Terry at "Wilmington, and to General Schofield 
 at Newberu, full accounts of the movements and condition of Sherman's 
 army ; together with an announcement of his intention to march on Golds- 
 boro, feigning on Ealeigh, with instructions to them to move directly on the 
 same place, which he expected to reach on the 20th. The arrival of the 
 gunboat Eolus, the same day, enabled him to keep up communication with 
 "Wilmington up to the very day of his actual departure. To the Lieutenant- 
 General, Sherman wrote as follows : — " The army is in splendid health, 
 condition, and spirits, although we have had foul weather, and roads that I 
 
 would have stopped travel to almost any other body of men I ever heard I 
 
 of. Our march was substantially what I designed I could leave ' 
 
 here to-morrow, but want to clear my columns of the vast crowd of j 
 
 refugees and negroes that encumber me I hope you have not been i 
 
 uneasy about us, and that the fruits of this march will be appreciated." { 
 
 The country through which the army had passed was, for the most ' 
 
 part, rich in forage and supplies, and the soldiers revelled in an abundance 
 of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, nicely cured hams, potatoes, honey, and 
 other luxuries which are not found among the usual "army rations." 
 Plenty of corn and fodder, also, was found upon the plantations ; which, 
 together with the comparatively short marches made each day, put the 
 horses, mules, and beef cattle in the best possible condition. Not only 
 was this delightful to the troops, but it saved millions of dollars to the 
 Government ; a fact to which the Quartermaster-General bore emphatic 
 testimony in a general order of his department; and it also enabled 
 Sherman to provide' for the wants of the twenty-five thousand refugees 
 and contrabands who clung to the skirts of his army, and tremblingly 
 yet joyfully marched, under his protection, to liberty and safety. 
 
 During this march. General Howard received, from the Rebel General } 
 
 "Wheeler, the following communication relative to the destruction of houses | 
 
 and cotton by our troops : ! 
 
926 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " Grahams, S. C, February llh, 1865. 
 
 "General: — I have the honor to propose that if the troops of your 
 army be required to discontinue burning the houses of our citizens I will 
 discontinue burning cotton. 
 
 "As an earnest of the good faith in which my proposition is tendered, 
 I leave at this place about three hundred bales of cotton unharmed, worth 
 in New York over a quarter million, and in our currency one and a half 
 millions. I trust my having commenced will cause you to use your in- 
 fluence to insure the acceptance of the proposition by your whole army. 
 
 " T trust that you will not deem it improper for me to ask that you will 
 require the troops under your command to discontinue the wanton destruc- 
 tion of property not necessary for their sustenance. 
 
 "Respectfully, general, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. Wheeler, Major- General C. S. A 
 
 "Major-General 0. 0. Howard, U. S. Army, Commanding, dc." 
 
 General Sherman returned the following pithy and characteristic reply : 
 
 " Headquarters Military Division of tub Mississippi, in the Field, 
 
 " February Bth, 186.i. 
 
 'General : — Yours, addressed to General Howard, is received by me. 
 
 I hope you will burn all the cotton, and save us the trouble. We don't 
 
 want it, and it has proven a curse to our country. All you don't burn 
 
 I will. 
 
 "As to private houses, occupied by peaceful families, my orders are not 
 to molest or disturb them, and I tliink my orders are obeyed. Vacant 
 houses, being of no use to anybody, I care little about, as the owners have 
 thought them of no use to themselves. I don't want them destroyed, but 
 do not take much care to preserve them. 
 
 " I am, with respect, yours truly, 
 
 " W. T. Sherman, Major-Oeneral Commanding. 
 " Major-Genebal J. Wheeler, Commanding Cavalry Corps, C. S. A." 
 
 Again, after a somewhat sharp correspondence between the two rival 
 cavalry leaders, Kilpatrick and Wheeler, in regard to the murder of Union 
 prisoners and foragers, Sherman addressed the following note to General 
 Wade Hampton : 
 
 "General:— It is otricially reported to me that our foraging parties 
 are murdered, after being captured, and labelled, ' Death to all foragers.' 
 One instance is that of a lieutenant and seven men near Chester, and 
 another of twenty, near a ravine, eighty rods from the main road, and 
 three miles from Easterville. I have ordered a similar number of prison- 
 ers in our hands to be disposed of in like manner. I hold about one 
 thousand prisoners, captured in various ways, and can stand it as long as 
 you can ; but I hardly think these murders are*committed with your 
 
SHERMAN'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH GEN. HAMPTON. 92T 
 
 knowledge, and would suggest tbat you give notice to your people at 
 large that every life taken by them simply results in the death of one of 
 your confederates. 
 
 "Of course, you cannot question my right to forage in an enemy's 
 country. It is a war right, as old aa history. The manner of exercising 
 it varies with circumstances, and if the country will supply my requisi- 
 tions, I will forbid all foraging ; but I find no civil authorities who can 
 respond to calls for forage or provisions, and therefore must collect 
 directly of the people. 
 
 " I have no doubt this is the occasion of much misbehavior on the part 
 of our men, but I cannot permit an enemy to judge or punish with whole- 
 sale murder. Personally, I regret the bitter feelings engendered by this 
 war, but they were to be expected, and I simply allege that those who 
 struck the first blow, and made war inevitable, ought not, in fairness, to 
 reproach, us for the natural consequences. I merely assert our war right 
 to forage, and my resolve to protect my foragers to the extent of life for 
 
 life 
 
 " I am, with respect, your obedient servant," &o. 
 
 To this, General Hampton replied at considerable length, and with 
 some acrimony ; denying that any such murders were committed within 
 his knowledge, and — without ofiering to investigate the circumstances — 
 declared his intention of executing two Federal prisoners, preferably 
 commissioned officers, for every one put to death by Sherman. 
 
 In this campaign. South Carolina suffered all the penalties of war, at 
 the hands of the Union troops. Looking upon her as the " original 
 cradle of secession," and her people as the life-long enemies of the Union, 
 the soldiers deemed it to be their duty to make the " Palmetto State " feel, 
 to its utmost extent, the horrors, inconveniences and penalties of war. 
 Consequently, from the moment they entered her borders, they exercised 
 scarcely any restraint, and plundered and destroyed the property of the 
 inhabitants without stint or remorse. The " bummers " who hung on the 
 flanks, picked, their fill of the choicest necessaries and luxuries of life ; 
 while wide -spreading columns of smoke, and the flames of burning 
 houses, marked the progress of the Union army. The justice of war, 
 more stern than poetic, was meted out in full measure to the people who 
 had dragged the other States into this causeless and wicked rebellion ; 
 and who now, for the first time, began themselves to taste the poisoned 
 and bitter chalice which they had forced to the lips of others. And, in 
 the hour of trial, the conduct of the South Carolinians was as abject and 
 cowardly as could well be imagined. Forgetful of oft-repeated threats 
 that they would make their final stand " in the last ditch," they offered 
 scarcely any resistance to the invader, but abandoned one after another of 
 the strong natural positions with which their State abounded, and exhib- 
 ited to the world a spectacle of pusillanimity in remarkable contrast to 
 
928 'I'HE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 their previous boastfulness. In fact, they had, from the first, cunningly 
 used Virginia and the other Southern States as battle-grounds, during 
 the war ; and had fondly calculated that their own " sacred soil " would 
 be entirely free from the invader's footsteps. But, when the war was 
 brought suddenly home to their own doors, they showed a cringing 
 helplessness and an agony of fear, which was in strong contrast to the 
 conduct of Georgia, and which was duly appreciated by the brave heroes 
 of the Union army, as they swept through the State with resistless force. 
 Yet it is creditable to the character of the army, that from the moment 
 of entering North Carolina, the whole demeanor of the Union soldiers 
 changed; and the very troops, whose disposition to plunder and avenge 
 had been almost beyond the control of their officers; promptly and 
 cheerfully yielded -to the customary restraints of discipline. 
 
 Sherman now entered upon the third and last stage of his progress to 
 Goldsboro. Up to this period he had successfully interposed his largely 
 superior army between the scattered fragments of the hostile force op- 
 posed to him ; but he now became aware that the fragments withdrawn 
 from Columbia by Beauregard, had been reinforced by Cheatham's corps 
 from the west, and the Augusta garrison, and that they had had sufficient 
 time to move around upon his front and flank near Ealeigh. Hardee, 
 moreover, had crossed Cape Fear river, being thus enabled to make a 
 connection with the forces under Johnston and Hoke in North Carolina. 
 And the combined rebel forces, under the leadership of Genera! Johnston, 
 constituted an army undoubtedly superior to Sherman's in cavalry, and 
 sufficiently formidable in artillery and infantry to justify him in exer- 
 cising extreme caution in this last stage of the campaign, which had 
 hitherto resulted so successfully. General Schofield, as we have already 
 seen, had been ordered to move directly from Wilmington on Goldsboro, 
 where Sherman proposed to meet him on the 20th ; and while the de- 
 struction of the arsenal was going on at Fayctteville, two pontoon bridges 
 had been laid across the Cape Fear river, one opposite to, and the other 
 some three miles below the town. 
 
 General Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plank road to and 
 beyond Avcrysboro, and was followed by four divisions of the left wing. 
 General Slocum commanding, with as few wagons as possible ; while the 
 rest of the train, escorted by the two remaining divisions, took a shorter 
 and more direct road to Goldsboro. The right wing, General Howard's 
 command, also despatched its trains, under escort, well to the right, 
 toward Faison's depot and Goldsboro, holding four divisions in light 
 marching order, in readiness to go to the aid of the left wing in case it 
 should be attacked. By this movement the Goldsboro and Wilmington 
 railroad was threatened, and Goldsboro and Raleigh equally menaced. 
 The weather was execrable, and the roads speedily became quagmires, 
 almost every foot having to be corduroyed for the passage of the wheeled 
 
THE ADVANCE TO GOLDSBORO. 929 
 
 vebicles. Still, time was most important, and the marcli was commenced 
 with promptness. General Sherman accompanied the left wing, which, 
 preceded by Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved up along the river or plank-road 
 that day to Kyle's landing, the cavalry being constantly engaged in skir- 
 mishing heavily with the enemy's rear-guard ; and at Kilpatrick's request 
 a brigade of infantry was sent forward to hold a line of barricades near 
 Taylor's Creek Hole. Next morning, the 16th, the column advancing in 
 the same order, discovered the enemy strongly posted, with artillery, 
 infantry, and cavalry, in front of the point where the road branches off 
 toward Goldsboro via Bentonville. It proved to be a force of some 
 twenty thousand, under Hardee, who, in retreating from Fayetteville, 
 had taken a stand in the narrow and swampy neck between the Gape Fear 
 and South rivers, near Averysboro, with a view of saving time for John- 
 ston's armies to concentrate at some point in his rear, say Raleigh, Golds- 
 boro, or Smithfield. Although the enemj' was much stronger than had 
 been anticipated, it was imperatively necessary to dislodge him, in order 
 that the Union army might have the use of the Goldsboro road, in order 
 to keep up the feint on Raleigh as long as possible. To the left wing, 
 therefore, fell the duty of forcing the position, difficult more especially 
 from the nature of the ground, which was so soft that horses sank every- 
 where, and even the men could scarcely make their way over the common 
 pine barren. The first infantry troops engaged were two divisions of 
 General Williams's twentieth corps, who dashed in, amid heavy showers 
 of rain and fierce gusts of wind, to support the cavalry, which had come 
 upon the Rebels strongly intrenched U2:ion the brow of a hill skirted by 
 a ravine and creek. Three or four hours of sharp fighting ensiled, during 
 which the Union artillery, at a distance of four hundred yards, silenced 
 the enemy's guns. A brigade crossed their front by a circuit which 
 turned their left flank, and by a vigorous charge broke their line, and 
 they rapidly fell back to a stronger line of defence. Ward's division now 
 moved on the new position, and the Rebels were completely routed ; and 
 as Ward advanced, he developed the existence of still another and stronger 
 line of defence, stretching from Black creek to the Cape Fear river, which 
 at this point makes a bend to the east, and discovered that the rebel force 
 opposed to him was composed of three divisions, commanded respectively 
 by Butler, Rhett, and McLaws — in addition to which, Hampton's and 
 Wheeler's cavalry were posted on the extreme right of the Union troops, 
 covering the enemy's left flank. The fourteenth corps, therefore, as soon 
 as it came up, about noon, was put well forward on the left toward Cape 
 Fear river, while Jackson's division was sent up to the right of Ward's 
 command, and Kilpatrick drew back his cavalry and massed it on the 
 right, connecting with Jackson. He then sent a brigade forward as a 
 " feeler" on the Goldsboro road, when it was attacked furiously by 
 McLaws' Rebel division, and although fighting bravely, was obliged to 
 59 
 
930 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fall back. Later in the afternoon the whole Union line advanced, drove 
 the enemy within his intrenched line, and pres.sed him so closely that he 
 was obliged to retreat, during the stormy night, over the worst of roads, 
 with a loss of three guns and two hundred and seventeen prisoners, sixty- 
 eight of whom were wounded, and left in a house near by in charge of 
 an officer and- four men, and with five days' rations. One hundred and 
 eight Rebel dead were buried by the Union troops upoTi the field ; while 
 the Federal loss was only twelve officers and sixty-five men killed, and 
 four hundred and seventy-seven wounded. 
 
 Pursuit, on the morrow, by Ward's division, revealed the fact that 
 Hardee had retreated, not on Raleigh, but on Smithfield ; and whUe that 
 division kept up the show of pursuit, Slocum's column (the left wing) 
 turned to the right, taking the Goldsboro road ; while Kilpatrick crossed 
 to the north, toward Elevation, with orders to move eastward and watch 
 that flank. Meanwhile, Howard's column (the right wing), with the wagon 
 trains, wallowed along the miry roads toward Bentonville and Goldsboro; 
 the enemy's infantry retreating across the Union front in the same direc- 
 tion, and burning the bridges across Mill creek. The right wing, how- 
 ever, if troubled by bad roads, was fortunate in passing through a 
 well-cultivated country, with rich farm lands skirting the roadside. The 
 houses were well built, and the granaries full of oats and corn, and more 
 forage than the troops could use, which proved quite acceptable to their 
 animals, who for several days previous had been on rather short rations. 
 
 Slocum's left wing, still accompanied by Sherman, encamped, on the 
 night of the 18th, on the Goldsboro road, twenty-seven miles from that 
 place, and five miles from Bentonville, at the junction of the road with the 
 Clinton and Smithfield road. Two miles south of this point, at Lee's 
 store, was Howard, with the right wing ; the pickets of both columns being 
 thrown forward to the point where the two roads unite and become 
 common to Goldsboro. Judging, from appearances, that he had nothing 
 further to fear from the enemy, either in the way of opposition to his pro- 
 gress or a flank attack. General Sherman now directed Howard to set the 
 right wing in motion, over the new Goldsboro road, by ^v;ay of Falling 
 Creek Church. He also joined that wing in person, with a view to open 
 communication with General Schofield, coming up from Newbern, and 
 General Terry, from Wilmington. He came up with the advance of 
 Howard's column, which was well strung out in consequence of the bad 
 roads, as it reached Falling Creek Church. At about six miles' distance 
 from General Slocum, ho heard artillery in that direction ; but it was, for 
 the moment, satisfactorily explained by the arrival of a staff officer, with 
 word that Slocum's leading division had met and was handsomely driving 
 a division of Rebel cavalry. Soon after, however, word was received that 
 Slocum had developed the whole of the Rebel army, under General John- 
 ston himself, near Bentonville. Sherman immediately ordered Slocum to 
 
MOVEMENTS OF GENERALS SCHOPIELD AND TERRY. 931 
 
 hurry up the two divisions guarding his wagon trains, as well as Hazen's 
 division of the fifteenth corps, still back at Lee's store, and with them to 
 make a defensive fight until, with Blair's corps, then near Mount Olive 
 station, and the remaining three divisions of the fifteenth corps, Sherman 
 himself could fall upon Johnston's right from the direction of Cox's 
 bridge. At the same time, the general received couriers from both Gen- 
 erals Schofield and Terry ; the former in possession of Kinston, and with 
 a fair probability of reaching Goldsboro on the 21st, and the latter at or 
 near Faison's depot. Schofield was immediately ordered to push for 
 Goldsboro, and cross Little river toward Smithfield as far as Millard; 
 Terry was directed to move to Cox's bridge, and establish a pontoon 
 crossing there ; while Blair was to make a forced night march to Falling 
 Creek Church, and as daylight dawned, Howard, with the right wing, 
 minus the necessary wagon guard, was in full motion on Bentonville. 
 
 Meanwhile, the first attack of the enemy on Slocum had resulted in a 
 temporary advantage to them ; three guns and caissons falling into their 
 hands, and the two leading brigades being driven back on the main army. 
 So soon, however, as General Slocum realized that he had the whole Con- 
 federate army in his front, he deployed two divisions of Davis's — fourteenth 
 — corps, and on their left he placed two divisions of the twentieth corps — 
 General "Williams' — in whose front a line of barricades were hastily 
 thrown up. General Kilpatrick, also, responding to the sound of guns, 
 came up and massed his cavalry on the left. In this position, the Union 
 forces received six distinct assaults by the combined forces of Hoke, 
 Hardee, and Cheatham, under the immediate supervision of General 
 Johnston himself, without giving an inch of ground, and doing excellent 
 execution on the enemy's ranks, especially with the artillery, of which 
 the enemy had but little. In fact, Johnston, availing himself of a new 
 road unknown to our commanders, had moved, by night, from Smithfield, 
 without unnecessary wheels, and with the utmost rapidity ; hoping to 
 catch Sherman's left wing " in air," and ruin it, before it could be relieved 
 by its co-operating columns. But Sherman, all the way from Fayette- 
 ville, had been aware of the possibility of just such an attack, and the 
 well conceived manoeuvre of the wily Rebel chief resulted only in his 
 complete discomfiture. The arrival, on the night of the 19th, of the wagon 
 trains and the two divisions which guarded it, and a division of the 
 fifteenth corps, enabled Slocum to make his position quite impregnable. 
 The right wing — seventeenth and fifteenth corps — leaving their trains to 
 General Terry, who was advancing from Wilmington, arrived at Cox's 
 bridge in the rear of the two other divisions of the fifteenth ; and the 
 column, by early dawn, was upon the road from Cox's bridge to the cross- 
 road where Johnston first struck the left wing — this being the road by 
 which Slocum was to have passed to join the right wing — intending to 
 cover the left flank until it reached the Neuse river. The advance, there- 
 
932 
 
 TUK CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fore, of the seventeenth and fifteenth corps, took Johnston in the rear; and the 
 troops moved briskly forward, though many of them had marched twenty- 
 five miles with empty stomachs. During the advance, the head of the 
 column skirmished heavily all the way with the Rebel cavalry, until they 
 arrived within half a mile of the cross-road, where they found the enemy 
 in strong position behind temporary breastworks ; but quickly dislodged 
 them, and secured the intersection of the road. General Losjan, on moving 
 forward the fifteenth corps, found that the enemy's left was thrown baclo 
 and that they had constructed a line of parapet, connecting with that 
 toward General Slocum, in the form of a bastion; its salient on the main 
 Goldsboro road, and interposed between Slocum on the west and Iloward 
 on the east; its flanks resting on Mill creek, and covering the Smithfield 
 road. General Howard, acting under orders, proceeded with caution, 
 imtil he had firmly completed his connection, on the left, with General 
 Slocum ; so that, by four p. M. of the 20th, the Union line of battle con- 
 fronted the enemy in his intrenched position. Thus, Johnston, in.stead of 
 catching Sherman's army " in air," as he had hoped, was himself placed 
 on the defensive, with Mill creek and only a single bridge at his rear. As 
 no object was to be obtained by a battle, Sherman contented himself with 
 the free use of artillery upon the wooded space held by the enemy ; 
 pressing him steadily with skirmishers, and strongly feeling his flanks, 
 which were covered by the endless swarnps in the neighborhood. He 
 also grouped the {wpedwienta of the army near the Neuse, south of Golds- 
 boro, sent the empty wagons to Kinston for supplies, and held bis army 
 well in hand, close up to the enemy, whom he was prepared to fight, if he 
 should venture outside of his works. Such was the position of affairs 
 around Bentonville on the 21st of March. On the same day. General 
 Schofield entered Goldsboro, with little or no opposition, and General 
 Terry had obtained possession of the Neuse river at Cox's bridge, with a 
 pontoon bridge laid, and a brigade thrown across ; so that the three armies 
 were actually in connection, and the great object of the campaign was 
 accomplished. 
 
 During the 21st it rained steadily, and General Mower's division of the 
 seventeenth corps, on the extreme right, succeeded in working well to the 
 right, around the enemy's flank, and nearly reached the bridge across 
 Mill creek, which, as we have before said, formed the enemy's only line 
 of retreat. Fearing, however, that the Rebels would overwhelm Mower 
 with all his reserves, Sherman at once ordered a general attack along the 
 whole skirmish line ; and during the noisy battle which ensued, Mower 
 regained his connection with his ov/n corps, by moving to his left rear, 
 with a loss of about a hundred men killed and wounded. His advance, 
 however, caused quite a commotion in the Rebel ranks, and developed a 
 weakness in the enemy's position, of which advantage would have been 
 taken by Sherman on the following day. In this reconnoisance, Mower 
 
GEN. SHERMAN'S SUMMING UP OP EESULTS. 933 
 
 pusbed further than was expected; had the movement been intended to 
 bring on a general battle, he would have been supported by the other 
 divisions of his corps ; and had the gallant seventeenth intrenched them- 
 selves on Johnston's line of retreat, an attack by the Union troops in front 
 of the Rebel lines would have resulted in the total destruction of John- 
 ston's army. As it was, the movement carried consternation into the 
 Rebel ranks, and Johnston, only too thankful at his narrow escape, 
 retreated on Smithfield that very night, leaving his pickets to fall into the 
 hands of the Union army, his dead unburied, and his wounded abandoned 
 in the field hospitals. Pursuit was made, on the following day, for two 
 miles beyond Mill creek, but was checked by General Sherman, who 
 remained in full possession of the battle field. 
 
 The losses of the left wing — General Slocum — at the battle of Benton- 
 ville, were nine officers and one hundred and forty-five men killed, fifty- 
 one officers and eight hundred and sixteen men wounded, and three officers 
 and two hundred and twenty-three men missing, taken prisoners; total, 
 one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. 
 
 The right wing — General Howard — lost two officers and thirty-five 
 men killed, twelve officers and two hundred and thirty-nine men wounded, 
 and one officer and sixty men missing ; total, three hundred and ninety- 
 nine. 
 
 Kil Patrick's cavalry, held in reserve, lost but few, if any. The aggre- 
 gate Union loss was one thousand six hundred and forty-three. 
 
 Of the Confederates, two hundred and sixty-seven were buried on the 
 field, and one thousand six hundred and twenty-five made prisoners by 
 our troops. 
 
 Leaving General Howard and the right wing, with Kilpatrick's cavalry, 
 at Bentonville, during the 22d, to bury the dead and attend to the 
 wounded, Sherman ordered all the armies to move, on the following day, 
 into the camps assigned to them in the vicinity of Goldsboro, there to 
 receive the clothing and supplies of which they stood in need, and to gain 
 the repose which they had so nobly earned. He himself, on the 2c)d, 
 went to Cox's bridge to meet General Terry, whom he then saw for the 
 first time, and on the next day rode into Goldsboro to see General Scho- 
 field and his army. The left wing followed him during the same day, and 
 the next morning ; the right wing arrived on the 24th, and the cavalry 
 moved to Mount Olive station, and General Terry back to Faison's. On 
 the 25th, the Newbern railroad was completed, and supplies began to come 
 in from Morehead City, where they had been accumulated by the foresight 
 of GelSeral Grant. 
 
 Leaving General Schofield in chief command. General Sherman pro- 
 ceeded by rail to Morehead City, and thence by steamer to City Point, 
 reaching General Grant's headquarters on the evening of the 27th of 
 March. Here, he had the good fortune to meet General Grant, the Presi- 
 
934 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 dent, Generals Meade, Ord, and others of the army of the Potomac, and 
 fronn them learned the general state of the military world, from which he 
 had been so long cut off. Eeturning, by steamer, via Ilatteras inlet and 
 Newbern, he regained his headquarters at Goldsboro on the night of 
 the 30th, and found all things in a satisfactory condition. In his official 
 report, he thus sums up the result of the campaign : 
 
 " I cannot even, with any degree of precision, recapitulate the vast 
 amount of injury done to the enemy, or the quantity of guns and materials 
 of war captured and destroyed. In general terms, we have traversed the 
 country from Savannah to Goldsboro, with an average breadth of forty 
 miles, consuming all the forage, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, cured meat, 
 corn-meal, etc. The public enemy, instead of drawing supplies from that 
 region to feed his armie-s, will be compelled to send provisions from other 
 
 quarters to feed its inhabitants Of course, the abandonment to us 
 
 by the enemy of the whole sea-coast, from Savannah to Newbern, North 
 Carolina, with its forts, dock -yards, gunboats, etc., was a necessary inci- 
 dent to our occupation and destruction of the inland routes of travel and 
 supply. But the real object of this march was to place this army in a 
 position easy of supply, whence it could take an apppropriate part in 
 
 the spring and summer campaign of 1865 In conclusion, I beg to 
 
 express in the most emphatic manner my entire satisfaction with the tone and 
 temper of the whole army. Nothing seems to dampen their energy, zeal, 
 or cheerfulness. It is impossible to conceive a march involving more 
 labor and exposure, yet I cannot recall an instance of bad temper by the 
 way, or hearing an expression of doubt as to our perfect success in the 
 end. I believe that this cheerfulness and harmony of action reflects upon 
 all concerned quite as much real honor and fame as " battles gained " or 
 " cities won," and I therefore commend all, generals, staff-officers, and 
 men, for those high qualities, in addition to the more soldierly ones of 
 obedience to orders and the alacrity they have always manifested when 
 danger summoned them " to the front." 
 
SURRENDER OF REBEL FORTIFICATIONS. 9S6 
 
 CHAPTER LXXI. 
 
 SDRRENDER OF REBEL FORTIFICATIONS AT THE ENTRANCE TO WILMINGTON HARBOR — 0UN8 
 CAPTURED — THE TWENTY-THIRD CORPS SENT EAST TO AID IN THE REDUCTION OF WILMING- 
 TON, AND TO REINFORCE SHERMAN — GENERAL SOIIOFIELD PUT IN COMMAND OF THE 
 DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA — HIS INSTRUCTIONS THE ADVANCE UPON FORT ANDER- 
 SON DIFFICULTIES THE REBELS ABANDON THE FORT, AND RETREAT OVER TOWN CREEK 
 
 — THE OPERATIONS OF THE FLEET — GENERAL COX CROSSES TOWN CREEK, BOMBARDS 
 EAGLE ISLAND — CROSSES BRUNSWICK RIVER, AND DRIVES THE ENEMY OUT OF WILMINGTON 
 — RESULTS^THE MOVEMENT ON KINSTON AND OOLDSBORO — CAUSES OF DELAY — BATTLE 
 AT SOUTHWEST CREEK — CAPTURE OF UNION TROOPS — FIGHTING NEAR KINSTON — KINSTON 
 EVACUATED, AND OCCUPIED BY SCUOFIELD — ADVANCE TOWARD GOLDSEORO, AND ARRIVAL 
 THERE — GENERAL TERRY MOVES FROM WILMINGTON TO OOLDSBORO — GENERAL GRANT 
 DETERMINES TO CUT LEE's COMMUNICATIONS ON THE NORTHWEST — SHERIDAN's RAID 
 ON LYNCHBURG, &C — HE REACHES THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — GENERAL GRANt's 
 INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERALS MEADE, ORD, AND SHERIDAN — GORDON'S ATTACK UPON FORT 
 STEDMAN — THE REASONS PROMPTING THE MOVEMENT— HE CAPTURES THE FORT, BUT IT IS 
 RETAKEN, AND THE REBELS DEFEATED WITH HEAVY LOSS, BOTH ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT 
 
 GENERAL MEADE's CONGRATULATORY ORDER — THE GENERAL ADVANCE UPON LEE's 
 
 LINES — GENERAL GRANT'S INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL SHERIDAN — GENERAL WARREn's 
 REPULSE — HIS CORPS PUT UNDER SHERIDAn's COMMAND — SHBRIDAN's BATTLE AT DIN- 
 WIDDIE COURT HOUSE — THE BATTLE OP FIVE FORKS — ATTACK ON THE FORTIFICATIONS OP 
 PETERSBURG BY THE SIXTH, NINTH, AND TWENTY-FOURTH CORPS — PETERSBURG AND RICH- 
 MOND EVACUATED — PURSUIT OF LEE — BATTLES OF JETERSVILLE, FABMVILLE, HIGH BRIDGE, 
 DEATONSVILLE, AND APPOMATTOX STATION — CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GRANT AND LEB 
 — SURRENDER OF LEE — SKETCH OF GENERAL LEE. 
 
 The surrender or evacuation of the Eebel works on Smith's island and 
 at Sinithville, the gateways of the two entrances to Wilmington harbor, was 
 completed on the 17th, and by it, eight additional batteries and fortifica- 
 tions, mounting, in all, eighty-three guns, nearly half of them of large 
 calibre, came into the possessioa of the Union troops. The Rebels had 
 fallen back to Fort Anderson and Wilmington, as the Union forces accu- 
 mulated in their front, and those points, under the command of Gener.ii 
 Bragg, were held with great resolution. Foreseeing the probability that 
 further forces would be needed for the reduction of Wilmington, and for 
 other operations on the coast, while the large force under General Thomas's 
 command was not required on the line of the Tennessee, now that Hood 
 was so thoroughly discomfitted and routed, General Grant had, on the 7th 
 of January, directed General Thomas to send Schofield and the twenty- 
 third corps eastward. The advance of the corps arrived in Washino-ton 
 on the 23d of January, from whence it was sent at once to Fort 
 Fisher and Newbern. The State of North Carolina was now consti- 
 tuted into a department, and General Schofield placed in command of^it, 
 
na 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 under the orders of General Sherman. The following instruetions were 
 given him : 
 
 "City Point, Virginia, January 31st, 1865. 
 
 "General: * * * Your movements are intended as co-operative with 
 Sherman's through the States of South and North Carolina. Tlie first 
 point to be attained is to secure Wilmington. Goldsboro will then be 
 your objective point, moving either from Wilmington or Newbern, or 
 both, as you deem best. Should you not be able to reach Goldsboro, yoa 
 will advance on the line or lines of railway connecting that place with 
 the sea-coast— as near to it as you can, building the road behind you. The 
 enterprise under you has two objects; the first is, to give Geneial Sher- 
 man material aid, if needed in his march north ; the second, to open a 
 base of supplies for him on his line of march. As soon, therefore, as you 
 can determine which of the two points, Wilmington or Newbern, you can 
 best use for throwing supplies from to the interior, you will commence 
 the accumulation of twenty days' rations and forage for sixty thousand 
 men and twenty thousand animals. You will get of these as many as3'ou 
 can house and protect to such point in the interior as you may be able to 
 occupy. I believe General Palmer has received some instructions direct 
 from General Sherman on the subject of securing supplies for his ai'my. 
 You can learn what steps he has taken, and be governed in your requisi- 
 tions accordingly. A supply of ordnance stores will also be necessary. 
 
 " Make all requisitions upon the chiefs of their respective departments 
 in the field with me at City Point. Communicate with me by every 
 opportuiiitv, and should you deem it necessary at any time, send a special 
 boat to Fortress Monroe, from which point you can communicate by 
 telegraph. 
 
 '' The supplies referred to in these instructions are exclusive of those 
 required for your own command. 
 
 "The movements of the enemy may justify, or even make it your im- 
 perative duty, to cut loose from your base and strike for the interior to 
 aid Sherman. In such case, you will act on your own judgment, without 
 waiting for instructions. You will report, liowever, what you purpose 
 doing. The details for carrying out these instructions are necessarily left 
 to you. I would urge, however, if I did not know that you are already 
 fully alive to the importance of it, prompt action. Sherman may be 
 looked for in the neighborhood of Goldsboro any time from the 22d to 
 the 28th of February; this limits your time very materially. 
 
 "If rolling stock is not secured in the capture of Wilmington, it can 
 be supplied from Washington. A large force of railroad men have 
 already been sent to Beaufort, and other mechanics will go to Fort Fisher 
 in a day or two. On this point I have informed you by telegraph. 
 
 " U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 '"Majok-Genekal J. M. Schofield." 
 
THE ADVANCE UPON FORT ANDERSON. 937 
 
 Previous to giving these instructions, General Grant had visited Fort 
 Fisher, in company with General Schofield, and had conferred with Gen- 
 eral Terry and Rear-Admiral Porter as to the best measures to be adopted. 
 Schofield's corps numbered, at this time, about twenty-one thousand men ; 
 while General Terry had about eight thousand at Fort Fisher, and Gen- 
 eral Palmer about four thousand more at Newbern. On the 9th of Feb- 
 ruary, General Schofield landed the third division of his corps, commanded 
 by General Cox, at the mouth of Cape Fear river, near Fort Fisher, 
 followed soon after by Couch's division. At this time. General Terry 
 held a line across the Peninsula, formed by the ocean and Cape Fear river, 
 occupying also Smithville Fort Caswell, and with his flanks covered by 
 the fleet, under Admiral Porter. The Eebels occupied Fort Anderson, on 
 the west bank of the river, a strong earthwork, with a collateral line, 
 strongly fortified, running to a large swamp about three fourths of a mile 
 distant, and also a line on the Peninsula, north of Terry's position, extend- 
 ing from Cape Fear river to Masonboro or Myrtle sound. Their position 
 was impregnable to a direct attack, and could only be turned by crossing 
 Myrtle sound above his left wing, or passing around the swamp which 
 covered his right. On the 11th of February, General Schofield pushed 
 forward Terry's line, supported by Cox's division, drove in the enemy's 
 pickets, and intrenched in a new position, so near to the enemy's lines as 
 to compel him to employ his entire f )rce in holding his lines. February 
 is emphatically a month of storms on this coast, and the peril of attempt- 
 ing to turn the Rebel left wing by a boat expedition was from this cause 
 so great, that General Schofield preferred to attack on their right, and 
 thus encounter only the difficulties incident to the land. Accoi'dingly, 
 Cox's and Ames's divisions were crossed over to Smithville, where they 
 were joined by Moore's brigade, of Couch's division, which had just 
 landed, and advanced along the main Wilmington road, until they 
 encountered the enemy at Fort Anderson and its adjacent works. Ilere 
 two brigades were intrenched, to occupy the enemy, while Cox, with the 
 other two brigades of his division and Ames's division, moved around the 
 swamp which covered the enemy's right, in order to strike the Wilming- 
 ton road in rear, and north of the fort. The distance to be marched was 
 about fifteen miles. The enemy, finding himself in danger of being 
 flanked, his cavalry having discovered Cox's movement, hastily aban- 
 doned his works on both sides of the river, during the night of February 
 19th, and fell back behind Town creek on the west, and behind a line of 
 swamps in a corresponding position on the east. Fort Anderson and its 
 adjacent defences, with ten pieces of artillery, and a large amount of am- 
 munition, thus fell into the hands of the Union troops without a conflict, 
 and the approaches to Wilmington were greatly weakened. 
 
 On the following day. General Cox pursued the enemy to Town creek, 
 behind which he was found intrenched, having destroyed the only bridge. 
 
933 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Terry, who was on the east side of Cape Fear river, also found the enemy 
 in strong force in his new position, and Ames's division was brought over 
 to the east bank to reinforce him on the night of the 19th of February. 
 On the 20th, Cox crossed Town creek, below the Rebel position, and 
 reaching their Bank and rear, attacked and routed them, capturing two 
 pieces of artillery, and three hundred and seventy-five prisoners. The 
 next morning, he pushed on toward Wilmington without opposition. On 
 the east side, Terry could not make as rapid progress ; but he held all 
 of Hoke's force in his front, and prevented them from reinforcing the 
 Rebel troops, wiiicli Cox was driving before him. The fleet, meantime, 
 had been proceeding cautiously up the river, removing the torpedoes 
 wliicli were planted thickly along tlie shores, and in the main channel, by 
 means of yawls connected to each other by drag-ropes. Tiiese being 
 taken up or expk)ded, the squadron approached to a line of piles extend- 
 ing nearly across the river, tlie only opening left being protected by tor- 
 pedoes, and subjected to tiie concentrated fire from Fort French, a 
 formidable work, clad with T railroad iron, a line of water batteries, a 
 high shore battery on the east side, and Fort St. Philip, on Eagle island. 
 Having hauled oft' the Montauk monitor, which had grounded, and 
 buoyed out the ciiannel. Admiral Porter continued up the river, and on 
 the 20lh of February commenced bombarding the forts. During the 
 night, the enemy sent down two hundred floating torpedoes, but fore- 
 warned of their approach, the admiral caused them to be caught with 
 nets and ropes, and disoliarged in such a way as to do no material injury. 
 On tlie afternoon of the 21st of February, General Cox reached Bruns- 
 wick river, as the arm of the Cape Fear flowing west of Eagle island is 
 called, and opening fire upon the enemy on Eagle island, caused them to 
 burn the railway bridge which crossed Brunswick river, and cut adrift 
 the pontoon bridge, setting it on fire at the same time. Securing a few of 
 the pontoons, General Cox promptly crossed to Eagle i.sland, skirmishing 
 and establisiiing outposts on the causeway over the swamp, and within 
 musket range of the city wharves. The Rebels opened upon them with 
 two Whitworth guns, but Cox's troops soon brouglit up their artillery; and 
 threw several shells into the city. The enemy continued to menace 
 Terry's position during the afternoon and evening of the 21st, but during 
 the night he set fire to the property of the Rebel Government in and 
 about the city, consisting of one thousand bales of cotton, fifteen thou- 
 sand barrels of rosin, extensive cotton slie<ls and presses, and unfinished 
 iron-clads, three large turpentine distilleries, and the adjacent wharves, 
 the railroad and pontoon bridges, &c., and abandoned the city, and 
 retreated toward GoULsboro. Fifty pieces of heavy ordnance, fifteen light 
 pieces, and a large amount of ammunition, fell into the hands of the Union 
 troops. The Union loss from February 11th to the 22d (the day Wil- 
 mington was occupied), was not over two hundred officers and men in 
 
THE MOVEMENT ON KINSTON AND GOLDSBOEO. 939 
 
 killed and wounded, while that of the Rebels in killed, wounded, and 
 prisoners, was not less than one thousand. 
 
 Meantime, General Palmer's force, at Newbern, about four thousand 
 men, was under orders to move on Kinston, and thence march toward 
 Goldsboro, at which point he would tap the main line of railroad between 
 Richmond and the South. Goldsboro was, as we have seen from General 
 Grant's instructions to General Schofield, as truly Schofield's objective as 
 Slierman's, and all his energies were directed to obtaining possession of it 
 at as early a date as possible, and now that he could, as should seem most 
 advisable, make either Wilmington or Newbern his base of supplies for 
 furnishing both Sherman's army and his own, he was doubly anxious to 
 press forward. Having no rolling stock at Wilmington, and very little 
 wagon transportation, he was compelled to operate from Newbern, mainly, 
 for the capture of Goldsboro ; the efficient superintendent of military rail- 
 roads for General Sherman's army being left in charge, with the assurance 
 that he would, at the earliest possible date, have the railroad from Wil- 
 mington to Goldsboro so repaired and equipped as to be capable of doing 
 the necessary business. To Newbern, therefore, General Sobofleld sent, in 
 all haste, Ruger's division of the twenty-third corps, which had just ar- 
 rived at Fort Fisher, and urged upon General Palmer to move, with as 
 little delay as possible, and with all his available force, upon Kinston, to 
 protect the workmen who were repairing the railway. Couch's division 
 was also ordered to remove, and a part of General Cox's. On the 25th, 
 finding that General Palmer, instead of moving promptly, had come to 
 Wilmington to consult in regard to details and difficulties, General Sco- 
 field ordered General Cox to take command at Newbern, and push forward 
 at once. The lack of wagons proved a serious hindrance, and it was not 
 until the 6th of March that enough became available to move the two 
 divisions (Coucli's and Cox's) from Wilmington to Kinston. These two 
 divisions then marched, by way of Onslow and Richlands, for Kinston, 
 direct, instead of going, as had been at first intended, by way of Newbern. 
 On the same day. General Schofield went by sea to Morehead City, and, on 
 the 8th, joined General Cox beyond Newbern. The force in front of Gen- 
 eral Cox (who had advanced to Wise's forks, about one and a half miles 
 below Southwest creek, and was there awaiting the progress of the rail- 
 road) was supposed to consist of Hoke's division and a small body of 
 reserves. They had fallen back behind Southwest creek, and General Cox 
 had sent two regiments, under Colonel Upham, to secure the crossing of 
 the creek on the Dover road. The enemy, having been reinforced by a 
 portion of the old Confederate army of Tennessee, recrossed the creek some 
 distance above the Dover road, came down in rear of Colonel Upham's 
 position, and surprised and captured nearly his entire command, number- 
 ing about seven hundred men. The enemy then advanced, and endea- 
 vored to penetrate between Carter's and Palmer's divisions, respectively 
 
?40 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 occupying the Dover road and the railway, but was checked by Ruger's 
 division of the Twenty-third corps, which was just arriving upon the field. 
 There was no further engagement during the day, beyond light skirmish- 
 ing, and the loss on either side, with the exception of the prisoners cap- 
 tured with Colonel Upham, was insignificant. It being evident that the 
 enemy's force was at least equal to that of General Co.k, and that rein- 
 forcements were reaching them as rapidly as they could be brought by 
 rail, General Sohofield directed General Cox to put his troops in po.sition, 
 intrench tliem securely, and await the arrival of General Couch. On the 
 9th of March, the Rebels pressed Schofield's line strongly, and sought 
 opportunity to flank it. Ileavy skirmishing was kept up during the day, 
 but no assault was made. On the 10th, the enemy having been largely 
 reinforced, and probably having learned of the approach of General 
 Couch's column, made a heavy attack upon General Cox's left and centre, 
 but were decisively repulsed, and with heavy loss. Both attacks were 
 met; mainly, by Ruger's division of the twenty-third corps, a portion of 
 which had been rapidly' transferred from the centre to the left, to meet the 
 attack there, and then returned to the centre in time to repel the attempt 
 on that portion of the line. The enemy retreated in confusion, leaving 
 his killed and wounded, as well as the greater part of his arms and 
 intrenching tools, and, during the night, fell back across the Neuse and 
 burned the bridge which spanned it. The loss of the Union army in this 
 engagement was about three hundred in killed and wounded; that of the 
 Rebels, about fifteen hundred in killed, wounded and missing. General 
 Couch arrived, with his two divisions of the twenty-third corps, on the 
 lllh, and effected a junction with General Cox. 
 
 Having no pontoon train, General Schofield was unable to cross the 
 Neuse until the bridge could be repaired, or the pontoons, which had just 
 arrived from the north, could be brought by railway from Morehead City. 
 The crossing was effected, without opposition, on the 14th, the Rebels 
 having abandoned Kinston and moved rapidly toward Smithfield, to join 
 the force under Johnston, who was then actively engaged in concentrating 
 all his available force to oppose Sherman's advance from Fayetteville. 
 
 Immediately upon the occupation of Kinston, General Schofield put a 
 lai'ge force of troops to work upon the railroad, in aid of the construction 
 corps, under Colonel Wriglit, rebuilt the wagon bridge over the Neuse, 
 and brought forward supplies, preparatory to a further advance. He 
 moved from Kinston on the morning of the 20th, and entered Goldsboro, 
 with but slight opposition, on the evening of the 21st. The portion of 
 his command which had remained at Washington, under General Terry, 
 moved from that point on the loth of March, reached Faison's depot on 
 the 20th, and, as we have said, these were, in accordance with Sherman's 
 orders, moved from that point to Cox's bridge, and secured a crossing of 
 
GENERAL GRANT'S INSTRUCTIONS TO SHERIDAN. 941 
 
 tbe Nense on the 22d. The subsequent history of these armies is com- 
 mingled with that of Sherman's grand army. 
 
 General Grant now deemed it important, before making a general 
 movement with the armies operating against Eichmond, that all the com- 
 munications of the Eebel army in that city, with the region north of the 
 James and west of the Fredericksburg railroad, should be completely and 
 permanently severed. As the enemy had withdrawn the greater part of 
 his force from the Shenandoah valley, and sent it south, or used it to re- 
 place troops sent from Eichmond, and as it was desirable to reinforce 
 Sherman with cavalry, his force in that arm of the service at that time 
 being greatly inferior to Johnston, the Lieutenant-General determined to 
 make a move from the Shenandoah valley, which should cut the commu- 
 nications of the Eebels, and might also reinforce Sherman. He accord- 
 ingly telegraphed General Sheridan as follows : 
 
 " City Point, Va., February 20th. 1865—1 p. m. 
 
 "General: — As soon as it is possible to travel, I think you will have 
 no difficulty about reaching Lynchburg with a cavalry force alone. From 
 there you could destroy the railroad and canal in every direction, so as to 
 be of no further use to the Eebellion. Sufficient cavalry should be left 
 behind to look after Mosby's gang. From Lynchburg, if information 
 you might get there would justify it, you could strike south, heading the 
 streams in Virginia to the westward of Danville, and push on and join 
 General Sherman. This additional raid, with one now about starting 
 from East Tennessee, under Stoneman, numbering four or five thousand 
 cavalry, one from Vicksburg, numbering seven or eight thousand cavalry, 
 one from Eastport, Miss., ten thousand cavalry, Canby from Mobile bay, 
 with about thirty-eight thousand mixed troops; these three latter pushing 
 for Tuscaloosa, Selma, and Montgomery, and Sherman, with a large army, 
 eating out the vitals of South Carolina, is all that will be wanted to leave 
 nothing for the Eebellion to stand upon. I would advise you to over- 
 come great obstacles to accomplish this. Charleston was evacuated on 
 Tuesday last. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 " Major-General p. H. Sheridan." 
 
 On the 25th of February, General Sheridan telegraphed to General Grant 
 inquiring to what point Sherman was aiming, and what were the points 
 through which he would be likely to pass, after leaving Charlotte, N. C. 
 General Grant replied, indicating in general terms Sherman's proposed 
 route to Fayetteville and Goldsboro. Having thus ascertained the move- 
 ments of the great commander with whom he hoped to co-operate. General 
 Sheridan moved from Winchester on the 27th of February, with two 
 (Jivisions of cavalry, numbering about five thousand each. On the 1st of 
 March he secured the bridge, which the enemy attempted to destroy, 
 across the middle fork of the Shenandoah, at Mount Crawford, and 
 
942 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 entered Staunton on the 2d, the enemy linving retreated to Waynesboro. 
 Thence he pushed on to Waynesboro, where lie foun<l tlie enemy in force 
 in an intrenched position, under General Early. Without stopping to 
 maUe a reconnoissance, an immediate attack was made, the position was 
 carried, and one thousand six hundred prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery, 
 with horses and caissons complete, two hundred wagons and teams loaded 
 with subsistence, and seventeen battle-flags were captured. The prisoners, 
 under an escort of one thousand five hundred men, were sent back to Win- 
 che.ster. Thence he marched on Charlottesville, destroying eft'ectually the 
 railroad and bridges as he went, which place he reached on the 3d. 
 Here be remained two days, destroying the railroad toward Richmond 
 and Lynchburg, including the large iron bridges over the north and south 
 forks of the Rivanna river, and awaiting the arrival of his trains. This 
 necessary delay caused him to abandon the idea of capturing Lynchburg. 
 On the morning of the 6th, dividing his force into two columns, he sent 
 one to Scottsville, whence it marched up the James river canal to New 
 Market, destroying every lock, and in many places the bank of the canal. 
 From hero a force was pushed out fi'om this column to Duguidsville, to 
 obtain possession of the bridge across the James river at that place, but 
 failed. The enemy burned it on his approach. The enemy also burned 
 the bridge across the river at Hardwicksville. The other column moved 
 down the railroad toward Lynchburg, destroying it as far as Amherst 
 Court House, sixteen miles frotir Lynchburg; thence acro.ss the country, 
 uniting with the column at New Market. The river being very high, his 
 pontoons would not reach across it ; and the enemy having destroyed the 
 bridges by which he had hoped to cross the river and get on the South- 
 side railroad about Farmville, and destroy it to Appomattox Court 
 House, the only thing left for him was to return to Winchester or strike 
 a base at the White House. Fortunately, he chose the latter. From New 
 Market he took up his line of march, following the canal toward Rich- 
 mond, destroying every lock upon it, and cutting the banks wherever 
 practicable, to a point eight miles east of Goochland ; concentrating the 
 whole force at Columbia on the 10th. Here he rested one day, and sent 
 through, by scouts, information of his whereabouts and purposes, and a 
 request for supplies to meet him at White House, which reached General 
 Grant on the night of the 12th. An infantry force was immediately sent 
 to get possession of White House, and supplies were forwarded. Moving 
 from Columbia in a direction to threaten Richmond, to near Ashland 
 station, he crossed the Annas, and after having destroyed all the bridges 
 and many miles of the railroad, proceeded down the north bank of the 
 Pamunkey to White House, which place he reached on the 19th. 
 
 After the long march which Sheridan's cavalry had made over Vir- 
 ginia roads in winter, it was necessary for them to rest and refit at White 
 House. General Grant was at this time harassed by the fear that the 
 
INSTRUCTIONS TO MEADE, ORD, AND SHERIDAN. 943 
 
 enemy would leave his strong lines about Petersburg and Richmond, for 
 the purpose of uniting with Johnston, before he was driven from them by 
 battle, or the Union army was in a position to make effectual pursuit, 
 and he accordingly urged upon all his subordinates the necessity of prompt 
 concentration. Sheuidan responded to this wish of the Lieutenant General 
 at the earliest po.ssible moment, moving from White House on the 24lh 
 of March, crossed the James river at Jones's landing, and formed a junction 
 with the army of the Potomac in front of Petersburg on the 27th. 
 During this movement, General Ord, commanding the army of the 
 James, sent forces to cover his crossing of the Chicliahominy. 
 
 The time for a final move, which should finally overwhelm Lee's army 
 and compel its surrender, was rapidly drawing nigh. On the 24th of 
 March, Lieutenant-General Grant issued the following instructions to his 
 three army commanders. Generals Meade, Ord, and Sheridan: 
 
 " City Point, Va., March iitJi, 1865. 
 
 "GknerAL : — On the 29th instant the armies operating against Rich- 
 mond will be moved by our left, for the double purpose of turning the 
 enemy out of his present position around Petersburg, and to insure the 
 success of the cavalry under General Sheridan, which will start at the 
 same time, in its efforts to reach and destroy the Southside and Danville 
 railroads. Two corps of the army of the Potomac will be moved at first 
 in two columns, taking the two roads crossing Hatcher's run, nearest 
 where the present line held by us strikes that stream, both moving 
 toward Dinwiddle Court House. 
 
 "The cavalry under General Sheridan, joined by the division now 
 under General Davies, will move, at the same time, by the Weldon road 
 and the Jerusalem plank-road, turning west from the latter before cross- 
 ing the Nottoway, and west with the whole column before reaching 
 Stony creek. General Sheridan will then move independently, under 
 other instructions which will be given him. All dismounted cavalry 
 belonging to the army of the Potomac, and the dismounted cavalry from 
 the Middle Military Division not required for guarding property belong- 
 ing to their arm of service, will report to Brigadier-General Benham, to 
 be added to the defences of City Point. Major-General Parke will be left in 
 command of all the army left for holding the lines about Petersburg and 
 City Point ; subject, of course, to orders from the commander of the army 
 of the Potomac. The ninth army corps will be left intact to hold the 
 present line of works, so long as the whole line now occupied by us is held. 
 If, however, the troops to the left of the ninth corps are withdrawn, 
 then the left of the corps may be thrown back so as to occupy the position 
 held by the army prior to the capture of the Weldon road. All troops to 
 the left of the ninth corps will be held in readiness to move at the shortest 
 notice, by- such route as may be designated when the order is given. 
 
944 THE CIVIL WAR IN TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "General Ord will detach three divisions, two white and one colored, 
 or so much of them as he can and hold his present lines, and march for 
 the present left of the army of the Potomac. In the absence of further 
 orders, or until further orders are given, the white divisions will follow 
 the left column of the army of the Potomac, and the colored division the 
 right column. During the movement, Major-General Weitzel will be 
 left in command of all the forces remaining behind from the army of the 
 James. 
 
 " The movement of troops from the army of the James will commence 
 on the night of the 27th inst. General Ord will leave behind the minimum 
 number of cavalry necessary for picket duty, in the absence of the main 
 army. A cavalry expedition from General Ord's command will also be 
 started from Suftolk, to leave there on Saturday, the 1st of April, under 
 Colonel Sumner, for the purpose of cutting the railroad about Hicksford. 
 This, if accomplished, will have to be a surprise, and therefore from 
 three to five hundred men will be sufficient. They should, however, be 
 supported by all the infantry that can be spared from Norfolk and Ports- 
 mouth, as far out as to where the cavalry crosses the Blackwater. Tlie 
 crossing should probably be at Uniten. Should Colonel Sumner succeed 
 in reaching the Weldon road, he will be instructed to do all the damage 
 possible to the triangle of roads between Hicksford, Weldon and Gaston. 
 The railroad bridge at Weldon being fitted up for the passage of carriages, 
 it might be practicable to destroy any accumulation of supplies the enemy 
 mav have collected south of the Eoanoke. All the troops will move 
 with four days' rations in haversacks, and eight days' in wagons. To 
 avoid as much hauling as possible, and to give the army of the James 
 the same number of days' supply with the army of the Potomac, Gen- 
 eral Ord will direct his commissary and quartermaster to have sufifi- 
 cient supplies delivered at the terminus of the road, to fill up in passinor. 
 Sixt}' rounds of ammunition per man will be taken in wagons, and as 
 much grain as the transportation on hand will carry, after taking the 
 specified amount of other supplies. The densely wooded country in 
 which the army has to operate making the use of much artillery imprac- 
 ticable, the amount taken with the army will be reduced to six or ei"-l:t 
 guns to each divison, at the option of the army commander. 
 
 "All necessary preparations for carrying these directions into opera- 
 tion may be commenced at once. The reserves of the ninth corps should 
 be massed as much as possible. Whilst I would not now order an un- 
 conditional attack on the enemy's line by them, they should be ready, 
 and should make the attack if the enemy weakens his line in their front, 
 without waiting for orders. In case they carry the line, then the whole 
 of the ninth corps could follow up, so as to join or co-operate with the 
 balance of the army. To prepare for this, the ninth corps will have 
 rations issued to them, same as the balance of the army. • General 
 
GORDON'S ATTACK UPON FORT STEDMAN. 945 
 
 Weitzel will keep vigilant watch upou his front, and if found at all 
 practicable to break through at any point, he will do so. A success north 
 of the James should be followed up with great promptness. An attack will 
 not be feasible unless it is found that the enemy has detached largely. In 
 that case, it may be regarded as evident that the enemy are relying upon 
 their local reserves, principally, for the defence of Richmond. Preparations 
 may be made for abandoning all the line north of the James, except enclosed 
 works; only to be abandoned, however, after a break is made in the lines of 
 the enemy. 
 
 " By these instructions, a large part of the armies operating against 
 Richmond is left behind. The enemy, knowing this, may, as an only 
 chance, strip their lines to the merest skeleton, in the hope of advantage 
 not being taken of it, while they hurl every thing against the moving 
 column, and return. It cannot be impressed too strongly upon com- 
 manders of troops left in the trenches not to allow this to occur without 
 taking advantage of it. The very fact of the enemy coming out to attack, 
 if he does so, might be regarded as almost conclusive evidence of such a 
 weakening of his lines. I would have it particularly enjoined upon corps 
 commanders that, in case of an attack from the enemy, those not attacked 
 are not to wait for orders from the commanding officer of the army to 
 which they belong, but that they will move promptly, and notify the com- 
 mander of their action. I would also enjoin the same action on the part of 
 division commanders, when other parts of their corps are engaged. In like 
 manner, I would urge the importance of following up a repulse of the enemy. 
 
 "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 "Major-Generals Meade, Ord, and Sheridan." 
 
 While these preparations were making for a general crushing attack 
 on the Rebel strongholds, General Lee, in his desperation, essayed a coun- 
 ter attack, anticipating the movement of the Union armies by three days ; 
 and though success was hardly possible with such odds as he had to con- 
 tend with, yet the attack was well planned, and came near proving a 
 success. Had it done so, it must have materially retarded, and for a time 
 paralj'zed, the intended Union movement. The Union armies were, at 
 this time, holding a line of thirty miles in extent, and, large as their num- 
 bers were, they were at some points greatly attenuated. One of the 
 points where this attenuation was greater than it should have been, was 
 at Fort Stedman and its immediate vicinity. Fort Stedman was a square 
 fort, covering about an acre of ground, and mounting nine guns, and sup- 
 ported by two mortar batteries, & and 10, on its right, and two on its 
 left, numbered 11 and 12. It was the second regular fort in the line of 
 Union fortifications confronting Petersburg, reckoning from the Appo- 
 mattox river on the right — Fort McGilvray, three fourths of a mile dis- 
 tant, being the first ; while on its left, three eighths of a mile distant, was 
 60 
 
946 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fort Ilaskell. Against Fort Stedman, before break of day, March 25tb, 
 Gordon's Rebel corps, consisting of three divisions, was massed for a 
 charge, while, the remainder of Lee's army, or at least that portion of it 
 which lay in Petersburg, was arranged to co-operate in an attack on the 
 Union centre. Lee's objects in this attack were twofold. If possible, he 
 meant to break through the Union lines at Hare's hill, on which Fort 
 Stedman was situated, by a bold dash ; to turn the guns he should capture 
 upon the Union troops, wheel his troops to the right, and march down 
 the line, taking Forts Haskell, Morton, Meikle, &c., in reverse, stripping 
 off the guns and garrisons from the forts and batteries, and threatening 
 the whole line. While one column should accomplish this work, another 
 in its rear, crossing through the gap, would reach and destroy the military 
 railroad from City Point to Petersburg, and perhaps march to City Point, 
 and burn the Union depots and supplies at that place. Tliis seizure of 
 the Union base would effectually cut off the army of the James from that 
 of the Potomac, and if successful, might have broken up the entire cam- 
 paign, and thrown a new aspect on the war. If this should prove too 
 great a task to be accomplished with the force he had at command, he 
 might, in any event, by this move prevent pursuit, and give his army the 
 opportunity of evacuating Petersburg and Richmond, and marching un- 
 molested upon Danville or Lynchburg. 
 
 At daybreak, Gordon's troops rushed to the attack. Tlie space between 
 the opposing lines was only one hundred and fifty yards in wiiUh, and 
 having cleared their own abatis, the Rebel troops charged across the inter- 
 val and up the acclivity to Fort Stedman, worked their way through the 
 abatis in the front a little to the left, passed round a travelled road, and 
 captured the fort at once by charging from the rear through the regular 
 entrance. The Union line here was guarded by McLaughlin's brigade 
 of Wilcox's (first) division of the ninth corps. In the fort were the 
 fourteenth New York heavy artillery, and so skilfully, boldly, and rapidly 
 was this assault executed, that the garrison, numbering about five hun- 
 dred men, was captured with scarcely a show of resistance. The Rebels 
 at once turned the captured guns against the rest of the line, and speedily 
 occupied mortar batteries 9, 10, and 11, adjoining Fort Stedman. Their 
 onward progress was now checked, however, by Fort Haskell ; and the 
 other brigades of Wilcox's division having been rallied, a stubborn re- 
 sistance began to be offered to their further advance. At this juncture, 
 Uartranft's (third) division of the ninth corps came up to the support of 
 Wilcox, and the Union batteries from all quarters concentrated their fire 
 upon Fort Stedman, to which the Rebels replied as briskly as they could 
 from the guns they had captured. Under this terrific fire, Hartranft's 
 division pressed up toward the captured fort to retake it. The Rebels at 
 first resisted obstinately, and attempted to prevent Hartranft's advance, 
 directing their fire upon him with great intensity, and killing or wound- 
 
THE RBBET-R DEFEATED WITH HEAVY LOSS. 947 
 
 ing nearly two hundred men in his column. Soon, however, the destruc- 
 tive fire of the Union artillery, and Hartranft's determined advance, 
 disheartened them. They fell back from the mortar batteries into the 
 fort, and then beyond the fort, down the hill, abandoning all the guns 
 they had captured, and endeavoring only to regain their own lines. But 
 the Union guns maintained their fire upon them with such severity as to 
 prevent a large part of the retreating force from escaping from the fort, 
 and one thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight prisoners fell into the 
 hands of Hartranft's troops. Others were gleaned from the abatis and 
 the space between the lines, making the whole number a little more than 
 nineteen hundred. Their total loss in this engagement could not have 
 been less than two thousand five hundred, while the Union loss was only 
 sixty-eight killed, three hundred and thirty-seven wounded, and five hun- 
 dred and six missing, mostly prisoners. The Rebels, in this attack, did 
 not fight with their accustomed fierceness. Many of their soldiers were 
 only too glad to be captured, and a large number began at once to plun- 
 der the officers' quarters in the captured fort, and thus prevented such a 
 following up of their first success as was essential to a final victory. By 
 ten A. H. the fighting in front of Fort Stedman was over, but General 
 Meade at once ordered the other corps to advance and feel the enemy in 
 their respective fronts. Pushing forward, they captured and held the 
 enemy's strongly intrenched picket line in front of the second and sixth 
 corps, and took eight hundred and thirty-four prisoners. The Rebels made 
 desperate effiarts to retake this line, but without success. The Union 
 losses in this part of the field were fifty-two killed, eight hundred and 
 sixty-four wounded, and two hundred and seven missing. The Rebel loss 
 here was more than twenty-five hundred. During the day, ten battle-flags 
 were taken from them. Major-General Meade addressed, the next day, a 
 congratulatory order to his troops, in which, while he censured the repre- 
 hensible want of vigilance of the third brigade, first division, ninth corps, 
 he paid due honors to the gallantry, energy, and skill of Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Hartranft, and the good conduct of his division, and impressed upon 
 the troops these two important lessons : " That no fortified line, however 
 strong, will protect an army from an intrepid and audacious enemy, unless 
 vigilantly guarded ; and that no disaster or misfortune is irreparable, when 
 energy and bravery are displayed in the determination to recover what 
 is lost, and to promptly assume the offensive." 
 
 General Grant was fully impressed with the belief that it was Lee's 
 intention to abandon Petersburg and Richmond, and attempt to join 
 Johnston, as soon as General Sherman crossed the Roanoke; and determining 
 to prevent, or at least retard the consummation of his purpose, he resolved 
 to anticipate somewhat his own previously ordered movement, in order to 
 break up the Danville road, and thus cripple Lee's facilities for retreating. 
 
 The narrative of what followed cannot be given more clearly and 
 
948 THE CIVIL "WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 intelligibly than in the graphic language of the Lieutenant-General's own 
 report. 
 
 "On the night of the 27th, Major-General Orel, with two divisions of 
 the twenty-fourth corps, Major-General Gibbon commanding, and one 
 division of the twenty-fifth corps, Brigadier-General Birney commanding, 
 and McKenzie's cavalry, took up his line of march in pursuance of the 
 foregoing instructions, and reached the position assigned him, near Hatcher's 
 run, on the morning of the 29th. On the 28th, the following instructions 
 were given to General Sheridan : 
 
 '"City Point, Virginia JUarcli 2Bth, 1865. 
 " 'General : — The fifth army corps will move by the Vaughn road at 
 three A. M. to-morrow morning. The second moves at about nine A. M., 
 having but about three miles to march to reach the point designated for it to 
 take on the right of the fifth corps, after the latter reaching Dinwiddle 
 Court House. Move your cavalry at as early an hour as you can, and 
 without being confined to any particular road or roads. You may go 
 out by the nearest roads in rear of the fifth corps, pass by its left, and, 
 passing near to or through Dinwiddle, reach the right and rear of the 
 enemy as soon as you can. It is not the intention to attack the enemy in 
 his intrenched position, but to force him out, if possible. Should he come 
 out and attack us, or get himself where he can be attacked, move in with 
 your entire force, in your own way,'and with the full reliance that the 
 army will engage or follow, as circumstances will dictate. I shall be on 
 the field, and will probably be able to communicate with you. Should I 
 not do so, and you find that the enemy keeps within his main intrenched 
 line, you may cut loose, and push for the Danville road. If you find it 
 practicable, I would like you to cross the Southside road, between Peters- 
 burg and Burkesville, and destroy it to some extent. I would not advise 
 much detention, however, until you reach the Danville road, which I 
 would like you to strike as near to the Appomattox as possible. Make 
 your destruction on that road as complete as possible. You can then pass 
 on to the Southside road, west of Burkesville, and destroy that, in like 
 manner. 
 
 " ' After having accomplished the destruction of the two railroads, which 
 are now the only avenues of supply to Lee's army, you may return to 
 this army, selecting your road further south, or you may go on into North 
 Carolina and join General Sherman. Should you select the latter course, 
 get the information to me as early as possible, so that I may send orders 
 to meet you at Goldsboro. 
 
 "'U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- Qeneral. 
 
 " ' Majob-General p. H. Sheridan.' 
 
 " On the morning of the 29th the movement commenced. At night the 
 cavalry was at Dinwiddle Court House, and the left of our infantry line 
 
GRANT'S INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL SHERIDAN. 949 
 
 extended to the Quaker road, near its intersection with the Boydton plauk- 
 road. The position of the troops from left to right was as follows : Sheridan, 
 Warren, Humphreys, Ord, Wright, Parke. 
 
 " Every thing looked favorable to the defeat of the enemy and the capture 
 of Petersburg and Richmond, if the proper effort was made. I therefore 
 addressed the following communication to General Sheridan, having 
 previously instruct him, verbally, not to cut loose for the raid contem- 
 plated in his orders until he received notice from me to do so : 
 
 " ' Gravkllt Creek, March l^th 1865. 
 
 " ' General : — Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to Dinwid- 
 dle. We are all ready, however, to give up all, from the Jerusalem plank- 
 road to Hatcher's run, whenever the forces can be used advantageously. 
 After getting into line south of Hatcher's, we pushed forward to find the 
 enemy's position. General Griffin was attacked near where the Quaker 
 road intersects the Boydton road, but repulsed it easily, capturing about 
 one hundred men. Humphreys reached Dabney's mill, and was pushing 
 on when last heard from. 
 
 '"I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before 
 going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the 
 enemy's roads at present. In the morning, push around the enemy, if you 
 can, and get on to his right rear. The movements of the enemy's cavalry 
 may of course modify your action. We will act all together as one army 
 here until it is seen what can be done with the enemy. The signal officer 
 at Cobb's hill reported, at half past eleven o'clock A. M., that a cavalry 
 column had passed that point from Richmond toward Petersburg, taking 
 forty minutes to pass. 
 
 " ' U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 " ' Major-Genekal P. H. Sheridan.' 
 
 " From the night of the 29th to the morning of the 31st the rain fell in 
 such torrents as to make it impossible to move a wheeled vehicle, except 
 as corduroy roads were laid in front of them. During the 30th, Sheridan 
 advanced from Dinwiddle Court House toward Five Forks, where he found 
 the enemy in force. General Warren advanced and extended his line 
 across the Boydton plank-road to near the White Oak road, with a view 
 of getting across the latter ; but finding the enemy strong in his front, and 
 extending beyond his left, was directed to hold on where he was and 
 fortify. General Humphreys drove the enemy from his front into his 
 main line on the Hatcher, near Burgess's mills. Generals Ord, Wright, 
 and Parke made examinations in their fronts, to determine the feasibility 
 of an assault on the enemy's lines. The two latter reported favorably. 
 The enemy confronting us, as he did, at every point from Richmond to 
 our extreme left, I conceived his lines must be weakly held, and could 
 be penetrated, if my estimate of his forces was correct. I determined. 
 
950 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 therefore, to extend my line no further, but to reinforce General Sheridan 
 with a corps of infantry, and thus enable him to cut loose and turn the 
 enemy's right flank, and with the other corps assault the enemy's lines. The 
 result of the offensive effort of the enemy the week before, when he 
 assaulted Fort Stedman, particularly favored this. The enemy's in- 
 trenched picket line, captured by us at that time, threw the lines occupied 
 by the belligerents so close together, at some points, that it was but a 
 moment's run from one to the other. Preparations were at once made to 
 relieve General Humphrey's corps, to report to General Sheridan; but 
 the condition of the roads prevented immediate movement. On the 
 morning of the 31st, General Warren reported favorably to getting pos- 
 session of the White Oak road, and was directed to do so. To accomplish 
 this, he moved with one division, instead of bis whole corps, which was 
 attacked by the enemy in superior force, and driven back on the second 
 division before it had time to form, and it, in turn, forced back upon the 
 third division, when the enemy was checked. A division of the second 
 corps was immediately sent to his support, the enemy driven back with 
 heavy loss, and possession of White Oak road gained. Sheridan advanced, 
 and with a portion of his cavalry got possession of the Five Forks; but 
 the enemy, after the afi"air with the fifth corps, reinforced the Rebel cavalry, 
 defending that point with infantry, and forced him back toward Dinwiddle 
 Court llouse. Here General Sheridan displayed great generalship. In- 
 stead of retreating with his whole command on the main army, to tell the 
 story of superior forces encountered, he deployed his cavalry on foot, 
 leaving only mounted men enough to take charge of the horses. This 
 compelled the enemy to deploy over a vast extent of woods and 
 broken country, and make his progress slow. At this juncture, he des- 
 patched to me what had taken place, and that he was dropping back 
 slowly on Dinwiddle Court- House. General McKenzie's cavalry and one 
 division of the fifth corps were immediately ordered to his assistance. 
 "Soon after, receiving a report from General Meade that Humphreys could 
 hold our position on the Boydton road, and that the other two divisions 
 of the fifth corps could go to Sheridan, they were so ordered at once. 
 Thus the operations of the day necessitated the sending of Warren, because 
 of his accessibility, instead of Humphreys, as was intended, and precipi- 
 tated intended movements. On the morning of the 1st of April, General 
 Sheridan, reinforced by General Warren, drove the enemy back on Five 
 Forks, where, late in the evening, he assaulted and carried his strongly 
 fortified position, capturing all his artillery and between five and six 
 thousand prisoners. About the close of this battle, brevet Major-General 
 Charles GriCfm relieved Major-General Warren in command of the fifth 
 corps. The report of this reached me after nightfall. Some apprehension 
 filled my mind lest the enemy might desert his lines during the night, and, 
 by falling upon General Sheridan before assistance could reach him, drive 
 
PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND EVACUATED. 951 
 
 him from his position, and open the way for retreat. To guard against 
 this, General Miles's division of Humphrey's corps was sent to reinforce 
 him, and a bombardment was commenced and kept up until four o'clock 
 in the morning (April 2d), when an assault was ordered on the enemy's 
 lines. 
 
 " General Wright penetrated the lines with his whole corps, sweeping 
 every thing before him, and to his left, toward Hatcher's run, capturing 
 many guns and several thousand prisoners. He was closely followed by 
 two divisions of General Ord's command, until he met the other division 
 of General Ord's, that had succeeded in forcing the enemy's lines near 
 Hatcher's run. Generals Wright and Ord immediately swung to the 
 right, and closed all the enemy on that side of them in Petersburg, while 
 General Humphreys pushed forward with two divisions and joined Gen- 
 eral Wright on the left. General Parke succeeded in carrying the enemy's 
 main line, capturing guns and prisoners, but was unable to carry his inner 
 line. General Sheridan, being advised of the condition of afl'airs, returned 
 General Miles to his proper command. On reaching the enemy's lines 
 immediately surrounding Petersburg, a portion of General Gibbon's corps, 
 by a most gallant charge, captured two strong, inclosed works — the most 
 salient and commanding south of Petersburg — thus materially shortening 
 the line of investment necessary for taking the city. The enemy south of 
 Hatcher's run retreated westward to Sutherland's station, where they 
 were overtaken by Miles's division. A severe engagement ensued, and 
 lasted until both his right and left flanks were threatened by the approach 
 of General Sheridan, who was moving from Ford's station toward Peters- 
 burg, and a division sent by General Meade from the front of Petersburg, 
 when he broke in the utmost confusion, leaving in our hands his guns 
 and many prisoners. This force retreated by the main road along the 
 Appomattox river. 
 
 " During the night of the 2d, the enemy evacuated Petersburg and Rich- 
 mond, and retreated toward Danville. On the morning of the 3d, pursuit 
 was commenced. General Sheridan pushed for the Danville road, keep- 
 ing near the Appomattox, followed by General Meade, with the second 
 and sixth corps, while General Ord moved from Burkesville along the 
 Southside road ; the ninth corps stretched along that road behind him. 
 On the 4th, General Sheridan struck the Danville road near Jetersville, 
 where he learned that Lee was at Amelia Court House. He immediately 
 intrenched himself, and awaited the arrival of General Meade, who reached 
 there the next day. General Ord reached Burkesville on the evening of 
 the 5th. 
 
 "On the morning of the 5th, I addressed Major-General Sherman the 
 following communication : 
 
 " ' Wilson's Station, April 5(h, 1865. 
 "'General: — All indications now are that Lee will attempt to reach 
 
952 
 
 THE CIVIB'WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Danville witb the remnant of his force. Sheridan, who was up with him 
 last niglit, reports all that is left — horse, foot and dragoons — at twenty 
 thousand, much demoralized. We hope to reduce this number one half. 
 I shall push on to Burkesville, and if a stand is made at Danville, will, in 
 a very few days, go there. If you can possibly do so, push on from where 
 you are, and let us see if we cannot finish the job with Lee's and John- 
 ston's armies. Whether it will be better for you to strike for Greensboro 
 or nearer to Danville, you will be better able to judge when you receive 
 this. Eebel armies now are the only strategic points to strike at. 
 
 '"U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- Oeneral. 
 " • Major-General W. T. Sherman.' 
 
 " On the morning of the 6th, it was found that. General Lee was moving 
 west of Jetersville, toward Danville. General Sheridan moved with his 
 cavalry (the fifth corps having been returned to General Meade on his 
 reaching Jetersville) to strike his flank, followed by the sixth corps; 
 while the second and fifth corps pressed hard after, forcing him to aban- 
 don several hundred wagons and several pieces of artillery. General 
 Ord advanced from Burkesville toward Farmville, sending two regi- 
 ments of infantry and a squadron of cavalry, under brevet Brigadier- 
 General Theodore Read, to reach and destroy the bridges. This advance 
 met tiiehead of Lee's column near Farmville, which it heroically attacked 
 and detained, until General Read was killed and his small force over- 
 powered. This caused a delay in the enemy's movements, and enabled 
 General Ord to get well up with the remainder of his force, on meeting 
 which, the enemy immediately intrenched himself In the afternoon, 
 General Sheridan struck the enemy south of Sailor's creek, captured six- 
 teen pieces of artillery, and about four hundred wagons, and detained 
 him until the sixth corps got up, when a general attack of infantry and 
 cavalry was made, which resulted in the capture of six or seven thousand 
 prisoners, among whom were many general officers. The movements of 
 the second corps and General Ord's command contributed greatly to 
 the day's success. 
 
 " On the morning of the 7th, the pursuit was renewed, the cavalry, except 
 one division, and the fifth corps, moving by Prince Edward's Court House; 
 the sixth corps. General Ord's command, and one division of cavalry, on 
 Farmville, and the second corps by the High Bridge road. It was soon 
 found that the enemy had crossed to the north side of the Appomatox ; 
 but so close was the pursuit that the second corps got possession of the 
 common bridge at High Bridge before the enemy could destroy it, and 
 immediately crossed over. The sixth corps and a division of cavalry 
 crossed at Farmville to its support. 
 
 " Feeling now that General Lee's chance of escape was utterly hopeless, I 
 addressed him the following communication from Farmville : 
 
CORKESPONDENCB BETWEEN GRANT AND LEE. 953 
 
 " ' April 1th, 1865. 
 ' 'General: — The results of the last week must convince you of the 
 hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern 
 Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard .it as my duty 
 to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, 
 by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States 
 army, known as the army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 " 'U. S. Gr.\nt, Lieutenant- General. 
 " ' General R. E. Lee.' 
 
 " Early on the morning of the 8th, before leaving, I received, at Farm- 
 ville, the following : 
 
 "•April 1th, 1865. 
 
 " ' General : — I have received your note of this date. Though not 
 entertaining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resist- 
 ance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your 
 desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering 
 your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its 
 surrender. " ' E. E. Lee, General. 
 
 " ' Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant.' 
 
 *' To this I immediately replied : 
 
 " ' April 8th, 1865. 
 
 "'General: — Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same 
 date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the 
 army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply, I would say that 
 peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, 
 namely : That the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for 
 taking up arms against the Government of the United States until prop- 
 erly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any 
 officers yoa may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to 
 you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the 
 surrender of the array of Northern Virginia will be received. 
 
 " ' U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 " ' General R. E. Lee.' 
 
 " Early on the morning of tne 8th, the pursuit was resumed. General 
 Meade followed north of the Appomattox, and General Sheridan, with all 
 the cavalry, pushed straight for Appomattox station, followed by General 
 Ord's command and the fifth corps. During the day, General Meade's 
 advance had considerable fighting with the enemy's rear-guard, but was 
 unable to bring on a general engagement. Late in the evening, General 
 Sheridan struck the railroad at Appomattox station, drove the enemy 
 from there, and captured twenty-five pieces of artillery, a hospital train, 
 and four trains of cars, loaded with supplies for Lee's army. During the 
 
954 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 day, I accompanied General Meade's column, and atout midnight received 
 tbe following communication from General Lee: 
 
 •'• April 8th, IfiG^. 
 
 " ' Gkneral : — I received, at a late hour, your note of to-day. In mine 
 of yesterday I did not propose the surrender of the army of Northern 
 Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do 
 not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army ; 
 but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired 
 to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, there- 
 fore, meet you with a view to surrender the army of Northern Virginia ; 
 but as far as your proposal may affect the Confederate force under my 
 command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet 
 you, at 10 A. M. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between 
 the picket lines of the two armies. 
 
 " ' E. E. Lee, General 
 
 " ' Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant.' 
 
 " Early on the morning of the 9th, I returned him an answer, as follows, 
 and immediately started to join the column south of the Appomattox : 
 
 "'April Ml, 1865. 
 
 " ' General : — Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority 
 to treat on the subject of peace; the meeting proposed for 10 A. M. to-day 
 could lead to no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally 
 anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains the .same 
 feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. 
 By the South laying down their arms, they will hasten this most desirable 
 event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of pro- 
 perty not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping tliat all our difficulties may be 
 settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, &c., 
 
 '"U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 "'General E. E. Lee.' 
 
 " On the morning of the 9th, General Ord's command and the fifth corps 
 reached Appomattox .station just as the enemy was making a desperate 
 effort to break through our cavalry. The infantry was at once thrown in. 
 Soon after, a white flag was received, requesting a suspension of hostilities 
 pending negotiations for a surrender. 
 
 "Before reaching General Sheridan's headquarters, I received the follow- 
 ing from General Lee : 
 
 "'April Olh. ISfiS. 
 '"General: — I received your note of this morning on the picket line, 
 whither I had come to meet you, and ascertain definitely what terms were 
 embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender 
 
SUREENDER OF LEE— SKETCH OF HIS CAREER. 955 
 
 of this army. I now ask an interview, in accordance with the offer con- 
 tained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. 
 
 "'K. E. Lee, General. 
 " ' Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant.' 
 
 " The interview was held at Appomattox Court House, the result of 
 which is set forth in the following correspondence : 
 
 " ' Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9th, 1865. 
 
 " ' General : — In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of 
 the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the army of Northern 
 Virginia on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men 
 to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an ofl&cer to be desig- 
 nated by me, the pther to be retained by such ofiicer or officers as you may 
 designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up 
 arms against the Government of the United States until properly ex- 
 changed ; and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole 
 for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property 
 to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me 
 to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor 
 their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be 
 allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States 
 authorities so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force 
 where they may reside. 
 
 " ' U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 
 " ' General R. E. Lee.' 
 
 '"Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, Apnl dth, 1865. 
 '' ' General : — I received your letter of this date, containing the terms 
 of the surrender of Ihe army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. 
 As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 
 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper 
 officers to carry the stipulations into effect. 
 
 " ' E. E. Lee, General. 
 " ' Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant.' 
 
 " The command of Major-General Gibbon, the fifth army corps, under 
 Griffin, and McKenzie's cavalry, were designated to remain at Appomatox 
 Court House until the paroling of the surrendered army was completed, 
 and to take charge of the public property. The remainder of the army 
 immediately returned to the vicinity of Burkesville. 
 
 "General Lee's great influence throughout the whole South caused his 
 example to be followed, and to-day the result is that the armies lately 
 under his leadership are at than- homes, desiring peace and quiet, and their 
 arms are in the hands of our ordnance officers." 
 
 Our narrative of this series of battles, and the pursuit and surrender, 
 
956 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 would not, be complete without a brief sketch of the Rebel leader, whose 
 skilful generalship had protracted the war so long, and so often repulsed 
 the best-planned attacks of the Union armies. 
 
 Robert Edward Lee was born at his paternal estate of Stratford, Virginia, 
 in 1806. He was the son of General Ilenry Lee, better known as "Legion 
 Harry Lee," a friend of General Washington, and a member of his staff. 
 He entered West Point in 1825, and graduated in 1829, ranking second 
 in his class. He was immediately appointed brevet second lieutenant of 
 topographical engineers, and from that time until 1835, was principally 
 employed on the coast defences ; but that year was appointed assistant 
 astronomer, for the demarcation of the boundary line between the States 
 of Ohio and Michigan. In 1832, Lieutenant Lee married a daughter of 
 George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Mrs. ^Washington, and 
 thus eventually became, through his wife, the proprietor of the Arlington 
 estate, opposite the city of Washington, as well as of the White House, 
 on the Pamunkey, a noted place in the war just closed. He was pro- 
 moted to be first lieutenant in September, 1836, and in July, 1838, was 
 made captain. In 1844, he was appointed a member of the board of 
 visitors to the military academy ; and on the 8th of September, 1845, he 
 became a member of the board of engineers. In 1846, he was attached 
 to the central army of Mexico, as chief engineer, under General Wool, 
 and retained that post, as well as a position on his personal staff, under 
 General Scott. General Scott entertained a high opinion of his abilities 
 and judgment, mentioning him in the highest terms in every report during 
 the campaign, and at his instance he was brevetted successively major, 
 lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, for gallant and meritorious conduct at 
 Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. In the spring of 
 1852, he was ordered with his regiment to New Mexicp ; but in September 
 of that year was appointed Superintendent of the military academy at 
 West Point, and continued in charge of it till April 1st, 1855, when his 
 transfer to tlie cavalry service incaiiacitated him, by law, for remaining 
 in that position ; the superintendents being, by the organic law of the 
 institution, members of the engineer corps only. On his transfer to the 
 second cavalry, he was made its lieutenant colonel and served for three 
 or four years in Texas and on the frontier. In 1859, however, he was at 
 home on his estate of Arlington, and took part in the capture of John 
 Brown and his comrades, at Harper's Ferry. On the 16th of March, 1861, 
 he was promoted to be colonel of the first cavalry, having just previously 
 returned from Texas. On the 20th of April, 1861, he resigned his com- 
 mission, on the ground that he must go with his State, and was immediately 
 appointed by Governor Letcher, of Virginia, major-general in command of 
 all the military forces in Virginia. He at^uice set himself to the work of 
 organizing the Rebel troops of Virginia, and attempted, at first, the forti 
 fication of Arlington Heights; but finding that that position was likely 
 
Surrondcr of General Lee. 
 
SKETCH OF GENERAL LBB. 957 
 
 to be occupied by an overwhelming force of Union troops, he withdrew. 
 When Eichmond was made the Eebel capital, and the Rebel forces of the 
 State of Virginia made a part of the Rebel army, Lee's rank was fixed aa 
 a brigadier-general. After the death of General Garnett, in Western 
 Virginia, General Lee was appointed to succeed him ; and on the 12th of 
 September, 1861, was defeated by General John F. Reynolds, at Cheat 
 mountain, and compelled to retreat with heavy loss ; owing, it was said, to 
 the failure of one of his subordinate officers to carry out his plans. He 
 subsequently threatened Rosecrans' position at Big Sewell, Western Vir- 
 ginia, but did no more fighting there. In December, he was transferred 
 to South Carolina, and ordered to take charge of the coast defences of 
 South Carolina and Georgia. He put the coast defences in good condition, 
 and in March, 1862, was summoned to Richmond, and put in charge of 
 the defences of Richmond. lu the battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, 
 .General J. E. Johnston, then in command of the Rebel army, was wounded 
 severely, and General Lee was appointed to succeed him. In the subse- 
 quent battles of the seven days on the Peninsula, the Rebel army of 
 Northern Virginia was under his command, and he led it also in the 
 battles of Pope's campaign, crossed the Potomac, and commanded in 
 person at Aatietam ; and after the drawn battle there, retreated into Vir- 
 ginia, and took up his position on the Rappahannock, near Fredericks- 
 burg. All the subsequent battles of the war, in Northern Virginia, and 
 the battles of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, and Falling Waters, Mary- 
 land, were fought under his personal direction. At Fredericksburg and 
 Chancellorsville he displayed decided strategic ability ; while the expedi- 
 tion into Pennsylvania, in June and July, 1863, terminating with the 
 battles at Gettysburg, so disastrous to the Rebels, was perhaps less credit- 
 able to his military abilities, inasmuch as, with the full knowledge of the 
 condition of aflairs at Richmond, it was extremely hazardous on his part 
 to undertake it. In the subsequent operations of the autumn of 1863, on 
 the Rapidan, and north of it, he displayed much talent, though not always 
 successful. In the great campaign of 1861, he managed his army with 
 consummate skill, and though convinced that his cause was hopeless aa 
 early as December, 1864, he did not desist from the most strenuous 
 exertions to defend his position, and to maintain the war. Early in 
 January, 1865, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the entire military 
 forces of the Rebels, and accepted the position reluctantly, from a convic- 
 tion that their cause was past salvation. On the 3d of April, 1865, he 
 evacuated Richmond and Petersburg, and, on the 9th, surrendered to 
 General Grant. He is still (December, 1865) on parole, but has been for 
 some months President of Washington College, Virginia. 
 
958 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXII. 
 
 THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT- — THE CIRCUMSTANCES — ATTEMPT TO MURDER OTHER 
 HIGH OFFICERS OF GOVERNMENT — THE SORROW AND GLOOM OP THE NATION — ARREST AND 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE ASSASSINS — SKETCH OF LINCOLN— THE STABILITY OF THE OOVRKN- 
 MENT DEMONSTRATED — THE ADVANCE OF SHERMAN TO SMITIIFIKLD AND RALEIGH — HIS 
 ARMY RECEIVE THE INTELLIGENCE OF LEE's SURRENDER — DISPOSITIONS MADE TO COMPEL 
 
 Johnston's surrender — johnston asks an interview — his desire for terms embrac- 
 ing ALL THE REBEL ARMIES — SECOND CONFERENCE — THE " MEMORANDUM" DRAWN UP AND 
 SENT TO WASHINGTON — ITS TERMS — ITS REJECTION BY THE CABINET — GENERAL GRANT 
 BEARS THE NEWS, AND IS AUTHORIZED TO TAKE COMMAND — SHERMAn's PROMPT ACTION — 
 
 JOHNSTON SURRENDERS ON THE SAME TERMS AS LEE — SHERMAN's VISIT TO SAVANNAH 
 
 HIS FIELD ORDERS — HE MARCHES HIS ARMY TO RICHMOND AND WASHINGTON, AND TAKES 
 LEAVE OF IT — DISBANDING OF THE FORCES— STONEMAN's EXPEDITION — GENERAL OSBAND's 
 EXPEDITION FROM VICKSBURG — CANBt'S SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF MOBILE — 8DRRENDKR OF 
 THE REBEL FLEET — GENERAL DICK TATLOr's SURRENDER, AND THAT OF THE SUBORDINATE 
 OFFICERS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY — WILSON's CAVALRY EXPEDITION — ITS NUMBERS 
 AND ARMS THE MARCH CAPTURE OF MONTEVALLO AND RANDOLPH CROXTOn's SEPA- 
 RATE EXPEDITION THE BATTLE AND CAPTURE OF SELMA ITS GREAT STRENGTH CAPTURE 
 
 OF MONTGOMERY, WETUMPKA, ALA., AND COLUMBUS, OA. BATTLE AT WEST POINT, OA. 
 
 ITS CAPTURE — LA GRANGE, GRIFFIN, AND FORSYTH CAPTURED — SHERMAN'S ARMISTICE — 
 CAPTURE OF MACON — DETENTION AT MACON — CROXTOn'S RETURN TO THE MAIN ARMY — 
 HIS ACHIEVEMENTS — THE SURRENDER OF ALL THE REBEL TROOPS EAST OF THE CHATTA- 
 
 HOOCHIE — DISTRIBUTION OF TROOPS — PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS "THE 
 
 POOR OLD mother" AND HER BOOTS — DISPOSITION MADE OF THE PRISONER — RESULTS OF 
 
 Wilson's campaign — kirby smith's surrender — sheridan on the rio orande. 
 
 While Lee's surrender betokened to the minds of all the citizens of 
 the Republic the speedy return of peace, and the intelligence of each 
 hour brought new joy and hope that the four years' struggle was ended, 
 and that the beloved chief magistrate, twice cho.sen of the people, would 
 soon, as he had promised in his first inaugural, repossess the forts and 
 property of the nation, and rule over a united instead of a divided Re- 
 public, there fell upon the nation a terrible and cru.shing blow, like a 
 thunderbolt from a clear sky, and wrapped the continent in gloom. 
 
 President Lincoln, who had been at City Point during the last few 
 days of the campaign which ended in the evacuation of Richmond and 
 Petersburg and the surrender of Lee's army, and who had entered Rich- 
 mond and spent one day there, had returned to Washington, satisfied that 
 the last days of the Rebellion had come, and that both the nation and him- 
 self were about to experience those halcyon days of peace and quietness, 
 of which hitherto, during his administration, there had been no example. 
 Cheered with this prospect, and rejoicing that, on the 14th of April, the 
 national flag, which that day, four years before, had been lowered by 
 Rebel orders, would again float over what remained of the battlements of 
 
THE ASSASSINATION OP PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 959 
 
 Sumter, Mr. Lincoln, on the evening of that day (Good Friday), at the 
 earnest solicitation of friends, went to Ford's theatre with his wife, and 
 the daughter and stepson (Major Rathbone) of Senator Harris, of New 
 York, to witness the play of the " American Cousin." During the second 
 scene of the third act of the play, about ten o'clock, p. M., an assassin 
 suddenly entered Mr. Lincoln's box, and discharged a pistol at the 
 President, the ball taking effect in the back of his head, and passing 
 upward and forward through the posterior portion of the brain. Major 
 Rathbone attempted instantly to seize the desperado, and though severely 
 wounded in the arm, clung to him ; but as the assassin leaped from the 
 box upon the stage, his hold gave way. In this leap, the spur upon the 
 boot of the murderer caught in the flag, and he fell ; but springing up, he 
 flourished a bowie-knife, and shouting " Sic semper tyrannis" (the motto of 
 Virginia), rushed across the stage, and out by a rear passage, where he 
 had a horse in waiting, which he mounted, and on which he fled. The 
 moment it was ascertained that the President had been shot, the most 
 intense excitement prevailed. Mr. Lincoln was borne from the house, 
 insensible, to a dwelling near, where he lingered, without return of con- 
 sciousness, till twenty-two minutes past seven in the morning of the 15th, 
 when he expired. At the same hour, another assassin entered the resi- 
 dence of Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State — who was very ill 
 from injuries received from being thrown from his carriage a few days 
 before — and pretending to have been sent by his physician with some 
 medicine for him, forced his way into his chamber, though not without 
 great resistance, and having inflicted severe injuries upon three men, 
 Messrs. Robinson and Hansell, the attendants of Mr. Seward, and Mr. 
 Frederick W. Seward, son of the Secretary, attempted to cut Mr. Seward's 
 throat ; but owing to the dressing upon his face, which had been fractured 
 by his fall, he only succeeded in laying open the cheek and jaw. He 
 also fled. It was soon ascertained that it had been intended by the con- 
 spirators to murder not only Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, but Vice- 
 President Johnson, Secretary Stanton, General Grant, and Cliief Justice 
 Chase : and the desperate plot had partially failed, through unexpected 
 movements of some of the intended victims, and the cowardice of some 
 of the conspirators. The intelligence of the murder of the President sent 
 a thrill of horror through the entire nation, and overwhelmed it in the 
 deepest grief. 
 
 " When the sad day (April 18th) came, in which the body of the 
 Republic's most honored magistrate, martyred in its cause, was to be 
 borne to its final resting-place in the distant Prairie State, a scene was 
 witnessed such as had never before taken place in human history. The 
 whole nation mourned with a depth and intensity of grief unparalleled in 
 all the records of the past, the loss of its chosen head, its father and its 
 friend. 
 
 / 
 
960 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 'Amid the stirring April days, while springing grass and greening 
 boughs proclaimed that summer drew nigh, the procession left the capital, 
 which never before had been so shaken with pain, and grief, and righteous 
 rage. They took the same route which he had traversed when coming 
 in life to his high place, and bore him forever from the scene of his 
 eventful sway. And as they went, the great capitals of the land welcomed, 
 with such demonstrations of honor as no preceding experience had wit- 
 nessed, the shrunken, discolored, and pulseless frame. The city through 
 which he passed before in a sheltering privacy, now crowded tremulous, 
 in tearful affection, around his bier. The great metropolis, whose mob 
 then hated him, the leaders of whose fashion turned from him with con- 
 tempt, and whose authorities sought to insult him, now poured from every 
 street and lane to witness the sad procession of his mourners. Its whole 
 business was suspended; its houses were hung from base to roof with 
 funeral pomp ; its pavements were thronged with silent, patient, unmoving 
 crowds; its windows gleamed with pallid faces, as through the hushed, 
 expectant avenues wound, hour by hour, while bells were tolling, and 
 minute-guns, with measured boom, were counting the instants, that vast, 
 uncounted, unparalleled procession. Not capitals only, but States them- 
 selves, became his mourners. Churches put off their Easter emblems to 
 hide pillar and wall and arch in sable woe. Each railway was made a 
 via Dolorosa. The spontaneous homage of millions was oflered through 
 the uncovered head, the crape, the wreath, through all the sombre insignia 
 of grief, as the train, with its precious burden, sped on. The country 
 shrouded its weeping face, and all the blooms of spring around could 
 bring no flush to its changed countenance; the song and sparkle, and the 
 fresh impulse, of which the very air was full, could stir no pulse of glad- 
 ness or of hope while still that spectacle haunted its gaze. For over 
 every loyal heart there brooded a sorrow as if the most revered had fallen, 
 as if the shock of personal bereavement had smitten separately every 
 household." 
 
 While this sad procession was thus slowly drawing toward the final 
 resting-place of the martyred President, the Vice President — who had 
 taken the oath of office as President — and the Cabinet, were unwearied in 
 their efforts to ascertain and bring to justice the miscreants who had been 
 guilty of a deed so horrible. The murderer of the President was recog- 
 nized as one John Wilkes Booth, a profligate and desperate actor, who 
 had availed himself of his knowledge of the theatre and his free access to 
 it (having formerly performed there) to plan the details of his infamous 
 crime. But the fact that the attempt was made to murder all the leading 
 officers of the Government showed conclusively that the conspiracy was 
 an extensive one, and involved others than the immediate actors. Payne, 
 alias Powell, the attempted assassin of Mr. Seward, was arrested two days 
 after, at the residence of a Mrs. Surratt, toward whom suspicion pointed as 
 
ARREST AND PUNISHMENT OP THE ASSASSINS. 961 
 
 having been extremely intimate with Booth ; and both he and Mrs. 
 Surratt were at once placed in close confinement. Atzerot, a German, 
 who was to have murdered Vice-President Johnson ; Arnold, whose com- 
 plicity had been ascertained by correspondence found in Booth's trunk ; 
 O'Laughlin, also implicated; and Spang] er, an employee of the theatre, 
 who had aided Booth in escaping, were arrested, and the detectives were 
 engaged in tracking Booth and Harold, a youth who had been his con- 
 fidant and companion. On the 26th of April they were brought to bay 
 in a barn in Caroline county, Va., between Bowling Green and Port Royal, 
 on the Rappahannock, and Harold surrendered ; but Booth refusing to sur- 
 render, the barn was set on fire, and Booth, attempting to fight his way 
 out, was shot by Sergeant Boston Coi-bett, and died after three hours of 
 fearful sufiering. He had broken his leg in his leap upon the stage, and 
 a Dr. Mudd, who had been one of the conspirators, had set it, but it bad 
 had no opportunity to unite. Dr. Mudd was arrested and brought to 
 Washington for trial with the rest. The military court which was to try 
 these cases, found that John H. Surratt, a son of Mrs. Surratt, had also 
 been an active coadjutor in the conspiracy, but he had made his escape. 
 There was also ample evidence implicating Jeflierson Davis, the late Rebel 
 President ; Mr. Seddon, the late Rebel Secretary of War; Clement C. Clay; 
 Beverly Tucker; Jacob Thompson, formerly Secretary of the Interior; 
 George N. Sanders and others, as accessories before the fact in the assas- 
 sination, and as having furnished the money and rewards for it. The 
 parties already under arrest were tried by a military court, and with 
 every advantage of counsel. Payne or Powell, Atzerot, Harold, and Mrs. 
 Surratt were condemned to death, and were hung July 7th, 1865. Mudd 
 O'Laughlin and Arnold were imprisoned for life on the Dry Tortugas, and 
 Spangler for six years. 
 
 Let us, before proceeding farther, sketch briefly the remarkable career 
 of this noble man, who, coming to the chief magistracy in troublesome 
 times, by his wise conduct, his burning patriotism, and his unflinching 
 integrity, as well as his martyrdom for his country's sake, endeared him- 
 self, above all other men of his generation, to the hearts of the people of 
 the United States. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, February 
 12th, 1809. His ancestors were Quakers. In 1816, his father removed to 
 Spencer county, Indiana, and Abraham was thus early put to work with 
 an axe to clear away the forest. In the next ten years, he received about 
 one year's schooling in such schools as were taught in that new country. 
 At the age of nineteen years, he made a trip to New Orleans, as a hired 
 hand on a flat boat. In March, 1830, he removed with his father to 
 Decatur, Illinois, and aided in building a cabin, settling the family in their 
 new home, and providing for them during the ensuing winter. In 1831, 
 he again made a trip to New Orleans, and on his return, became a clerk in 
 61 
 
962 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a store at Sangamon, Illinois. In 1832, he voluntered in tbe Black 
 Hawk war, and was made captain of a company, but saw no fighting. On 
 his return from the campaign, he was a candidate for the Legislature, but 
 was unsuccessful. A store which he purchased, did not yield him an 
 adequate support ; and after a short terra of service as postma-ster of New 
 Salem, Illinois, studying at every leisure moment, he became a land-sur- 
 veyor, and won a good reputation for the accuracy of his surveys. In 
 1834, he was elected to the Legislature, and re-elected in 1836 and 1838. 
 Having devoted all his leisure time to the study of law, he was admitted 
 to the bar in 1836, and in 1837 removed to Springfield, Illinois, and 
 opened an office in partnership witli Hon. John T. Stuart. He soon rose 
 to eminence in his profession, but did not withdraw from politics. In 
 1814, he was nominated as a Whig presidential elector, and canvassed 
 the State for Henry Clay. In 1846, he was elected to Congress from the 
 central district of Illinois, and in Congress maintained the reputation of an 
 honest and able representative, acting generally with the more advanced 
 wing of the Whig party. In 1849, he was a candidate for United States 
 Senator, but the Legislature was Democratic and elected General Shields. 
 In 1854, the pa.ssage of the Nebraska bill, and the repeal of the Missouri 
 compromise, called him again into the field, and by his disinterested 
 labors, Judge Trumbull was elected to the United States Senate. In 1856, 
 at the Republican National Convention, he was urged for the Vice Presi- 
 dency, and received one hundred and ten votes. In 1858, he was nomi- 
 nated for United States Senator by the Republicans, and in company with 
 Judge Douglas, the Democratic candidate, canvassed the State, discussing 
 with his antagonist the great principles which distinguished the two 
 parties. Lincoln had a majority of the popular vote, but Douglas was 
 elected by the Legislature by eight majority. On the I8th of May, 1860 
 Mr. Lincoln was nominated by the Republican National Convention at 
 Chicago for the Presidency, and on the 6th of February following was 
 elected, receiving one hundred and eighty out of three hundred and three 
 electoral votes. It was the policy of those who where conspiring against 
 the Union to divide the opponents of Mr. Lincoln as far as possible, in 
 order that ho might succeed by the votes of Northern States alone, and 
 thus afford a pretext for secession, and therefore three other distinct Presi- 
 dential tickets were run, headed respectively by Messrs. Breckinridge, 
 Douglas, and Bell. As soon as his election was known, measures were 
 taken by political leaders in several of the Southern States to drag their 
 States into secession, and when Mr. Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois, on 
 the 11th of February, to go Washington for his inauguration, six States 
 had already seceded, and others were preparing to follow. A Southern 
 Confederacy had been formed, with Davis and Stephens for President and 
 Vice President. Nothwithstanding three or more attempts to assassinate 
 him, he reached Washington in safety, and though still threatened, was 
 
SKETCH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 963 
 
 inaugurated March 4tli, 1861. The condition of the Government through 
 the imbecility, fraud, and treason of the preceding administration and 
 cabinet, was deplorable — its credit nearly ruined ; its army deprived of 
 arms and paroled ; its navy sent to distant seas ; its arms removed to the 
 arsenals of the States in insurrection, or sold and broken up ; its forts, 
 vessels, custom-houses, and mints seized by the conspirators. Mr. Lincoln 
 set himself to remedy this, when, on the 14th of April, 1861, Fort Sumter 
 was captured, and the war commenced. He then called for seventy-five 
 thousand men for three months, proclaimed a blockade of the southern 
 ports, and summoned an extra session of Congress for Jul}'' 4th, ISfil. 
 Large armies were soon required, and in the executive responsibilities of 
 his position in a time of war — with a great army to be maintained, disci- 
 plined, and kept at work, finances to be managed, the disloyal govern- 
 ment of&cers, civil and military, to be weeded out, the schemes of seces- 
 sionists to be thwarted, and later in the year, the difficult case of the 
 seizure of Mason and Slidell to be adjusted — he had his full share of the 
 burdens of his official position. During 1862 these were rather increased 
 than diminished. Compelled by his convictions of dutj' to assume, iu 
 fact, his titular position of commander-in-chief of the army and navy, he 
 ordered an advance in February, 1862, which was made in March. The 
 indecisive or disastrous battles of the Peninsula and Pope's campaign 
 caused him great anxiet}', and the conviction having been forced upon 
 him by the course of events that the slaves in the Eebel States must be 
 emancipated as a military necessity, he issued, on the 22d of September, 
 soon after the more favorable battles of South Mountain and Antietam, 
 his preliminary proclamation, announcing his intention of declaring free 
 all slaves in Eebel States on the 1st of January, 1863. Several successes 
 in the West liad cheered him, and in 1863, with some disasters, there 
 were many and important victories east and west. Mr. Lincoln had 
 been very desirous that the border States should adopt some plan of more 
 or less gradual emancipation, and during the year West Virginia, Mary- 
 land, and Missouri, did so. In 1864, having called General Grant to the 
 Lieutenant-Generalship, Mr. Lincoln divided with him a part of his burdens, 
 which had become too oppressive to be borne. A great outcry had* been 
 made against him for the arrest of Vallandigham and other promoters of 
 rebellion, but in two very able letters addressed to the New York and 
 Ohio committees, he fully justified his course. The victories of Sherman, 
 Thomas, Farragut, Terry, and Sheridan, and the persistency and resolu- 
 tion of Grant, had, at length, in the spring of 1865, prepared the way for 
 the downfall of the Rebellion, and after a brief but desperate struggle, 
 Petersburg and Richmond fell, and Lee surrendered his army. In the 
 progress of these events, Mr. Lincoln, whose anxiety had been most 
 insupportable, was at the front, and the day after the occupation of Rich- 
 mond by the Union troops he entered that city, not with the pomp of a 
 
984 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 conqueror, but quietly and without displa}-, and after spending one day 
 there returned to City Point and thence to Washington. The war was to 
 all intents and purposes closed, and with his mind intent on the great 
 problem of pacification, his brow cleared, and he appeared in better spirits 
 than usual. This was the time seized upon by the conspirators for his 
 assassination, and on the 15th of April, just four years from the date of 
 his proclamation calling the people to arms, he died by the hand of a 
 wretched murderer. The circumstances of his assassination, and the 
 distress and sorrow of the nation at his death we have already described. 
 His character as a man and a chief magistrate, may be summed up in a 
 few words. He was honest in the best sense of that word, patient, fore- 
 bearing, and forgiving ; slow in arriving at conclusions, but when once 
 settled in them, firm almost to obstinacy ; endowed with a wisdom and 
 tact not acquired in the schools, but which guided him in administration, 
 sustained him in despondency, and rendered him calm and self possessed 
 in the hour of success ; he was, in short, a self-taught, large-hearted, clear- 
 headed, and thoroughly upright man. 
 
 Never was a free government called before to undergo such an ordeal, 
 and never did one demonstrate so fully, the strength of free institutions. 
 In almost any one of the governments of Europe, the assassination of the 
 ruler and his prime minister, would have been followed by an instant 
 revolution, and it would be much, if blood did not flow like water, and 
 those who were highest in station most speedily meet with a violent death; 
 but here, though the heart of the nation was wrung with anguish, the 
 forms of government did not lapse for an instant, nor its wheels stay their 
 motion. President Lincoln died at twenty-two minutes past seven in the 
 morning ; at noon of the same day, Andrew Johnson was sworn into 
 office as President, and proceeded at once in the exercise of his high 
 functions. The chief clerk of the Secretary of State, a man of large 
 experience and decided ability, became, in the absence and serious wound- 
 ing of both the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of State, Secretary ad 
 interim. Every measure for the prosecution of the war to its final close, 
 was adopted as promptly, and carried out as efficiently, as if there had 
 been uo change of rulers. A remarkable instance of this occurred in 
 relation to the negotiations of the Rebel General Johnston with General 
 Sherman in regard to terms of surrender. 
 
 After General Sherman's army had encamped at Goldsboro, it required 
 a period of nearly three weeks to refit and equip his troops, who, from 
 their long and severe march from Savannah, were greatly in need of new 
 uniforms and shoes. It was necessary also to accumulate supplies for 
 another expedition into the interior in pursuit of Johnston's army. 
 Promptly, at daybreak, on the 10th of April, General Sherman moved 
 out of Goldsboro and marched upon Smithfield — Major-General Slocum 
 taking the two direct roads for that town ; Major-General Howard making 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE TO SMITHFIELD AND RALEIGH. 965 
 
 a circuit by the riglit, and feigning up tlie Weldon road, to disconcert the 
 enemj^'s cavalry ; and Generals Terry and Kilpatrick moving on the west 
 side of the ISTeuse river, aiming to reach the rear of the enemy between 
 Smithfield and Raleigh. General Schofield followed General Slocum in 
 support. All the columns met more or less cavalry within six miles of 
 Goldsboro, behind the usual barricades, which were swept before them, 
 and b}' ten A. M. of the 11th of April, Davis's (fourteenth) corps entered 
 Smithfield, closely followed by the twentieth corps, now under command 
 of General Mower. 
 
 Johnston had retreated rapidly across the Neuse river, and having the 
 railway to lighten up his trains, he could fall back faster than Sherman 
 could pursue. The rains had also set in, making the resort to corduroy 
 roads necessary even for ambulances. The enemy had burned the bridge 
 at Smithfield, but, as soon as possible. General Slocum brought up his 
 pontoons and sent over a division of the fourteentli corps. " Then," says 
 General Sherman in his report, " we heard of the surrender of Lee's army 
 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, which was announced to the armies 
 in orders, and created universal joy. Not one ofl&cer or soldier of my 
 army but expressed a pride and satisfaction that it fell to the lot of the 
 armies of the Potomac and James, so gloriously to overwhelm and capture 
 the entire army that had held them in check so long ; and their success 
 gave us a new impulse to finish up our task." 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation, Sherman gave orders to drop all trains, 
 and the army marched rapidly in pursuit to and through Raleigh, reach- 
 ing that place at half past seven A. M. on the 13th, in a heavy rain. The 
 next day, the cavalry pushed on through the rain to Durham's station, 
 Logan's (fifteenth) corps following as far as Morrisville station, and Blair's 
 (seventeenth) corps to John's station. On the supposition that Johnston 
 would be compelled to adhere to the railway as a line of retreat, by Hills- 
 boro, Greensboro, Salisbury, and Charlotte, General Sherman had turned 
 the other columns across the bend in that road toward Ashboro. Kil- 
 patrick was ordered to keep up a show of pursuit toward the company's 
 shops in Alamance county ; Howard, to turn the left, by Hackney's cross- 
 roads, Pittsburg, St. Lawrence, and Ashboro ; and Slocum to cross Cape 
 Fear river at Avon's ferry, and move rapidly by Carthage, Caledonia, and 
 Cox's mills ; while Schofield was to hold Raleigh, and the road back, with 
 spare force to follow by an intermediate route. 
 
 By the 15th of April, though the rains were incessant and the roads 
 almost impracticajble, Major-General Slocum had Davis's (fourteenth) corps 
 near Martha^s Vineyard, with a pontoon bridge laid across Cape Fear 
 river at Avon's ferry, and Mower's (twentieth) corps in support ; and 
 Major-General Howard had Logan's (fifteenth) and Blair's (seventeenth) 
 corps stretched out on the roads toward Pittsboro ; while General Kil- 
 patrick held Durham's station and Chapel Hill University. Johnston's 
 
966 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IX THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 army was retreating rapidly ou tlie roads from Hillsboro to Greensboro, 
 he himself being at Greensboro. 
 
 On the 14th of April, after all these dispositions for an advance had 
 been completed, General Sherman received a communication from Gen- 
 eral Johnston, by a flag of truce, requesting an armistice, and a statement 
 of the best terms on which he could be permitted to surrender the army 
 under his command. General Sherman replied, saying that he was fully 
 empowered to arrange with him any terms for the suspension of hostili- 
 ties, as between the armies commanded by General Johnston and himself, 
 and was willing to confer with him to that end. lie continued : " That 
 a basis of action may be had, I undertake to abide by the same terms and 
 conditions entered into by Generals Grant and Lee, at Appomattox Court 
 House, Virginia, on the 9th instant." 
 
 While this communication made it probable that the intended advance 
 of the army would not be necessary. General Sherman deemed it best to 
 retain the troops in the attitude of readiness to move, in case the negotia- 
 tion should prove fruitless. At the same time, he wrote to General Grant, 
 inclosing copies of his correspondence with Johnston, and informing him 
 that he had invited Governor Vance to return to Ealeigli, with the civil 
 officers of the State. 
 
 Owing to delay in the transmission of General Sherman's letter. Gen 
 eral Johnston did not receive it until the morning of the 16th, when he 
 replied immediately, asking an interview at Durham's station, to arrange 
 terms of capitulation. Sherman accorded the interview desired, naming 
 twelve o'clock M. of the 17th of April, as the time. At this meeting, 
 General Johnston acknowledged that the terms offered by General Sher- 
 man (the same accorded by General Grant to General Lee) were both 
 fair and liberal, but asked the consideration of additional facts. lie sug- 
 gested that the treaty between Generals Grant and Lee had reference to 
 a part only of the Confederate forces, whereas he proposed to conclude 
 an agreement which should comprise all the remaining armies of the 
 Confederacy, and that thus the war should be ended. He admitted, 
 frankly and candidly, that there was no longer any ground for hope of 
 success on the part of the Confederacy ; that the cause was lost ; and that 
 this admission included slavery, state rights, and every other claim for 
 which the war had been inaugurated. And now, he desired the frag- 
 ments of the Confederate armies to preserve their company and regimental 
 organizations, and that they should be marched to the States where they 
 belonged in such order, that they might not be broken up into predatory 
 bands, to overrun the country, and vex the inhabitants ; and he argued 
 that this was a favorable occasion to inaugurate the beginning of a period 
 of peace and good will between all the people destined to live under the 
 same government. General Sherman, while recognizing the honorable 
 motives of General Johnston, raised two questions in regard to any such 
 
DISPOSITIONS TO COMPEL JOHNSTON TO SURRENDER. 96t 
 
 agreement — one, of doubt, whether General Johnston had the power to 
 make a treaty which would be acknowledged as binding by the other 
 commanders of Rebel armies ; the other, in regard to his own power to 
 bind the Government of the United States to such terms. General John- 
 ston, in reply, offered to satisfy General Sherman in regard to his own 
 powers in the matter in question, and quoted President Lincoln's repeated 
 oft'ers to negotiate a peace with any person or persons who could control 
 the Rebel armies. Finally, the convention was adjourned to the next day 
 at twelve o'clock, at the same place. 
 
 Meanwhile, the intelligence of the assassination of President Lincoln 
 had been received at Sherman's headquarters, and was announced to the 
 troops, in whose minds it produced the most intense distress and bitter- 
 ness. Still, General Sherman felt that this sad event only rendered the 
 surrender of the Rebel armies and the entire cessation of hostilities more 
 necessary and desirable, and in this view his army commanders coincided. 
 The interview which he had had with the President about three weeks 
 previous, and the earnestness with which he had urged the cessation of 
 hostilities, at the earliest moment when the Rebels should be prepared to 
 lay down their arms, had deeply impressed the general. He knew that 
 President Lincoln had sanctioned an order recalling the Virginia legisla- 
 ture to Richmond, but had not learned that that order was subsequently 
 revoked. 
 
 On the 18th of April, the negotiations were renewed ; the Rebel Gene- 
 ral Breckinridge, who had been latterly Secretary of War in the Rebel 
 Government, while it lasted, was present, by consent, and approved of the 
 propositions drawn up by the two parties. These propositions, which 
 were only to be binding on the approval of the principals on either side, 
 were as follows : 
 
 " Memorandum, or basis of agreement, made this, the 18th day of April, 
 A. D. 1865, near Durham's station, in the State of North Carolina, by and 
 between General Joseph E.Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, 
 and Major-General William T. Sherman, commanding the Army of the 
 United States, both present. 
 
 " I. The contending armies now in the field to maintain the status quo 
 until notice is given by the commanding general of either one to his 
 opponent, and reasonable time, say forty-eight hours, allowed. 
 
 "II. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded, and 
 conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms and 
 public property in the State Arsenal ; and each officer and man to execute 
 and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and to abide the action of 
 both §tate and Federal authorities. The number of arms and munitions 
 of war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at Washington City, sub- 
 ject to the future action of the Congress of the United States, and in the 
 
968 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 meantime to be used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders 
 of the States respectively. 
 
 "III. The recognition, by the Executive of the United States, of the 
 several State governments, on their officers and legislatures taking the 
 oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States; and where 
 conflicting State governments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy 
 of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 " IV. The re-establishment of all Federal courts in the several States, 
 with powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Congress. 
 
 " V. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as 
 the Executive can, their political rights and franchise, as well as their 
 rights of person and property, as defined by the Constitution of the United 
 States, and of the States respectively. 
 
 " VI. The Executive authority of the Government of the United States 
 not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they 
 live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey laws 
 in existence at the place of tlieir residence. 
 
 " VII. In general terms, it is announced that war is to cease ; a general 
 amnesty, so far as the Executive of the United States can command, on 
 condition of the disbandment of the Confederate armies, the distribution 
 of arms, and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by officers and men 
 hitherto composing the said armies. 
 
 " Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these 
 terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain 
 authority, and will endeavor to carry out the above programme. 
 
 "W. T. Sherman, Major- General, 
 "Commanding the Arviy of the United States in North Carolina. 
 
 "J. E. Johnston, General, 
 ^'Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina." 
 
 The same evening. Major Hitchcock, of General Sherman's staft", started 
 for Washington with despatches to the President, submitting the above 
 terms to his consideration. They were received at a cabinet meeting held 
 on the evening of the 21st of April, General Grant being present, and 
 were at once repudiated ; the feeling of the Government, as well as of the 
 higher army officers, being, at that time, wholly adverse to the making of 
 any concessions to the Kebels while the nation was thus racked with 
 anguish at the loss of the President. At any other time, they might have 
 been received with greater favor ; for though they were drawn too 
 loosely, and placed too much dependence upon the good faith of the Rebel 
 officers, comparatively few of whom were worthy of confidence, while they, 
 rather by accident than design, left the subject of slavery untouched, they 
 were not amenable to the severe animadversions bestowed upon tliem by 
 Secretary Stanton in his published reasons for disregarding the truce. 
 
JOHNSTON SURRENDERS ON SAME TERMS AS LEE. 9G9 
 
 General Grant volunteered to go to Ealeigh, bearing the despatch com- 
 iHunicating their rejection, which was as follows: 
 
 " War Department, Washington Citv, April 2lst, 1865. 
 
 " General : — The memorandum or basis agreed upon between 
 General Sherman and General Johnston having been submitted to the 
 President, is disapproved. You will give notice of the disapproval to 
 General Sherman, and direct him to resume hostilities at the earliest 
 moment. 
 
 " The instructions given to you by the late President, Abraham Lin- 
 coln, on the 3d of March, by my telegram, of that date, addressed to you, 
 express substantially the views of President Andrew Johnson, and will be 
 observed by General Sherman. A copy is herewith appended. 
 
 "The President desires that you proceed immediately to the headquar- 
 ters of General Sherman, and direct operations against the enemy. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
 " To Lieutenant-Geneeal Grant." 
 
 General Sherman — by Avhose dictation, or with whose assent, they had 
 been framed, in accordance with a presumed purpose of the lately mur- 
 dered President — received the order of disapproval with commendable 
 good grace. There was no hesitancy, no murmuring, nor any expression 
 of dissatisfaction. 
 
 The despatches of Secretary Stanton were received on the morning of 
 the 24th of April, General Grant having sent them on in advance of his 
 own arrival. General Sherman instantly gave notice to General Johnston, 
 as follows : 
 
 " You will take notice that the truce or suspension of hostilities agreed 
 to between us, on the 18th inst., will close in forty-eight hours after this 
 is received at your lines." 
 
 At the same time, he wrote to General Johnston : 
 
 "I have replies from Washington to my communications of the 18th. 
 I am instructed to limit my operations to your immediate command, and 
 not attempt civil negotiations. I therefore demand the surrender of your 
 army, on the same terms as were given to General Lee, at Appomattox, 
 Virginia, on the 9th April instant, purely and simply." 
 
 Within an hour after the reception of General Grant's despatch, a 
 courier was riding with all haste toward Durham's station, with this 
 notice and demand for General Johnston. Immediately on the return of 
 the messenger, General Sherman issued orders to his troops terminatino- 
 the truce on the 26th, at twelve o'clock, m., and ordered all to be in readi- 
 ness to march at that time, on routes previously prescribed, in his special 
 field orders of April 14th. These dispositions were already made wheu 
 
9T0 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 General Grant arrived at Raleigh. He then informed General Sherman 
 that he had orders from the President to direct all military movements, 
 and General Sherman explained to him the exact position of the troops. 
 General Grant was so well satisfied with his arrangements that he decided 
 at once not to interfere with them, but to leave their execution in the 
 hands of General Sherman. 
 
 As for General Johnston, he was powerless; in his rear and on his 
 right flank was Stoneman, with a cavalry force, who had destroyed tlie 
 railroad betwen his position and Charlotte, and in front was Sherman's 
 army. He could neither fight nor retreat; and it is but fair to say, that 
 whatever of sinister intent there may have been on the part of Breckin- 
 ridge, in the suggestion of the pliraseology of the "memorandum," Gene- 
 ral Johnston stands full}' exonerated from any intention of a wrong or 
 dishonorable purpose ; and in the whole matter of surrender, as well as 
 subsequently, he showed himself an upright and honorable man. By the 
 rejection of the " memorandum," he was placed in a position in which he 
 must either disperse his army, or surrender it on the terms proposed. On 
 the 2uth of April, he invited General Sherman to another conference with 
 a view to surrender. It was now the province of General Grant to take 
 the lead in the negotiations, but he preferred that the entire business 
 should be consummated by General Sherman. At his suggestion, General 
 Sherman accorded General Johnston another interview at twelve M. on the 
 26tli, the time designated for the termination of the truce. At this con- 
 ference, final terms were soon concluded, and the second great army of 
 the Rebels was surrendered to the power of the United States upon the 
 following terms : 
 
 " Terms of a military convention entered into this twenty-sixth day of 
 April, 1865, at Bennett's house, near Durham's station, North Carolina, 
 between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate army, 
 and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States army 
 in North Carolina. 
 
 " All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's 
 command, to cease from this date. All arms and public property to be 
 deposited at Greensboro, and delivered to an ordnance officer of the 
 United States army. Rolls of all officers and men to be made in duplicate, 
 one copy to be retainetl by the commander of the troops, and the other to 
 be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer 
 and man to give his individual obligation, in writing, not to take up arms 
 against the Government of the United States until properly released from 
 this obligation. The side-arms of officers and their private horses and 
 baggage to be retained by them. 
 
 " This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return 
 to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so 
 
GENERAL STONEMAN'S EXPEDITION. 9T1 
 
 long as they observe their obligations and the laws ia force where they 
 may reside. 
 
 " W. T. Sherman, Major- General, 
 " Commanding the Army of the United Stales in North Carolina. 
 
 " J. E. Johnston, General, 
 " Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina. 
 "Approved. U. S. Guaj^t, Lieutenant- General. 
 " Raleigh, N. C, Ajyril 26, 1865." 
 
 While the paroling of the Rebel troops was going on. General Sherman, 
 leaving the command of the Union army in the hands of General Scho- 
 field, made a flying visit- to Hilton Head and Savannah, to direct matters 
 iu tlie interior of South Carolina and Georgia. While at Savannah, he 
 sent supplies to Augusta for General Wilson's cavalry force and perma- 
 nent garrisons to that place and Orangeburg, South Carolina. About 
 twenty millions of dollars' worth of property was surrendered to the 
 Union forces at Augusta. 
 
 Before leaving Raleigh, he had issued his special field orders pro- 
 viding for the future disposition of the vast army under his command. 
 The tenth and twenty-third corps were to remain in North Carolina, and 
 Kilpatrick's cavalry division also ; while the two brigades of Grover's 
 division were to be sent back to the department of the South. General 
 Stoneman's cavalry were to return to East Tennessee, and Wilson's, then 
 in Georgia, to the Tennessee river, in the vicinity of Decatur, Alabama. 
 General Howard's army of the Tennessee was to march for Richmond by 
 way of Lewisburg, and Warrenton, North Carolina, and Petersburg. 
 General Slocum's ami}'' of Georgia, to the same point, by way of Oxford, 
 Boydton, and Nottoway Court House. From Richmond, after General 
 Sherman's return from the South, these two armies marched to Washing- 
 ton, where they were reviewed on the 24th of May, and on the 30th of 
 May, General Sherman took leave of his army in a very touching fare- 
 well order, and it was soon after disbanded, except a few brigades. 
 
 We turn now to the movements of the other troops in General 
 Sherman's military division of the Mississippi, not under his immediate 
 command. • 
 
 The expedition under General Stoneman, from East Tennessee, which 
 General Grant had directed General Thomas to send out, in his order of 
 January 31st, did not get off until the 20th of March, moving by way of 
 Boone, North Carolina, and struck the railroad at Wytheville, Chambers- 
 burg, and Big Lick. The force striking it at Big Lick, pushed on to 
 within a few miles of Lynchburg, destroying the important bridges, while 
 with the main force he effectually destroyed it between New river and 
 Big Lick, and then turned for Greensboro on the North Carolina rail- 
 road ; struck that road and destroyed the bridges between Danville and 
 
972 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Greensboro and between Greensboro and tbe Yadkin, together with the 
 depots and supplies along it, and captured four hundred prisoners. At 
 Salisbury he attacked and defeated a force of the enemy under General 
 Gardiner, capturing fourteen pieces of artillery and one thousand three 
 hundred and sixty-four prisoners, and burned large amounts of army 
 stores. At this place he destroyed fifteen miles of railroad and the 
 bridges toward Charlotte. Thence he moved toward Slatersville, and 
 after Johnston's surrender returned, by General Sherman's order, to East 
 Tennessee. 
 
 Soon after General Sherman commenced his march from Atlanta, two 
 expeditions, one from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and one from Vicksburg, 
 Mississippi, were started by General Canby, to^cut the enemy's line of 
 communication with Mobile and detain troops in that field. The expedi- 
 tion from Vicksburg, under command of brevet Brigadier-General E. D. 
 Osband (Colonel Third United States colored cavalry), captured, on the 
 27th of November, and destroyed the Mis.sissippi Central Railroad bridge 
 and trestle-work over Big Black river, near Canton, thirty miles of the 
 road and two locomotives, besides large amounts of stores. The expedi- 
 tion from Baton Rouge was without favorable results. 
 
 General Canby, who had been directed, in January, 1865, to make 
 preparations for a movement from Mobile bay against Mobile and the 
 interior of Alabama, commenced his movement on the 20th of March, 
 1865. The sixteenth corps, Major-Genoral A. J. Smith commanding, 
 moved from Fort Gaines by water to Fish river ; the thirteenth corps, 
 under Major-Gcneral Gordon Granger, moved from Fort Morgan and 
 joined the sixteenth corps on Fish river, both moving thence on Spanish 
 Fort and investing it on the 27th ; while Major-General Steele's command 
 moved from Pensacola, cut the railroad leading from Tensas to Mont- 
 gomery, effected a junction with them, and partialh'^ invested Fort 
 Blakely. After a severe bombardment of Spanish Fort, a part of its line 
 was carried on the 8th of April. During tlie night the eneni}' evacuated 
 the fort. Fort Blakely was carried by assault on the 9th, and over three 
 thousand prisoners captured ; the Union loss was nearly one thousand. 
 These successes practically opened to them the Alabama river, and 
 enabled them to approach Mobile from the north. On the night of the 
 11th the city was evacuated, and was taken possession of by the Union 
 forces on the morning of the 12th of April. 
 
 The entire loss of the Rebels in this siege was over two thousand in 
 killed and wounded, and four thousand prisoners, about one hundred and 
 eighty guns, numerous battle-flags, and large quantities of ammunition 
 and supplies, most of which, however, were destroyed soon after by an 
 incendiary fire which reduced one third of the city to ruins. The Union 
 loss was about twenty-five hundred in killed and wounded ; and the tor- 
 pedoes in the bay caused the destruction of eight vessels in all, two of 
 
WILSON'S CAVALEY EXPEDITION. 913 
 
 them iron-clads, one a light armored vessel, called at the West, a "tio- 
 clad," and the remainder tugs and transports. The Rebel iron-clads and 
 gunboats fled up the Tombigbee river, pursued bj the Octorara and 
 Winnebago, and those of them not previously destroyed were surrendered, 
 together with the rest of the Rebel navy in the waters of Alabama, to the 
 Union squadron under Admiral Thatcher, at Nanna Hubba Bluff, on the 
 Tombigbee, on the 9th of May. 
 
 On the 19th of April, an officer of the Eebel Genei'al Richard Taylor, 
 who commanded the Rebel troops between the Chattahoochie a«d the 
 Mississippi, arrived at General Canby's headquarters, with a flag of truce, 
 to arrange for the surrender of his army. The negotiations were pro 
 tracted, for some cause, until the ith of May, when the surrender took 
 place at Gitronelle, Alabama. About twenty thousand troops were sur- 
 rendered and paroled by this capitulation. Forrest's, Jeff". Thompson's, 
 Sam Jones's, and all the other regular and irregular Rebel commands, 
 east of the Mississippi, came in, and were paroled within a few days from 
 this time. 
 
 The cavalry expedition of brevet Major-General Wilson, which, at 
 General Grant's direction. General Thomas had sent southward, into Ala- 
 bama and Georgia, played an important part in the closing scenes of the 
 war. Among the many brilliant exploits of that arm of the service, there 
 is none more remarkable for daring, skill, or admirable management, than 
 this. For the first time in modern history, a cavalry force unaccompanied 
 by infantry, and with only light artillery, attacked and carried strongly 
 fortified towns, defended by large garrisons. 
 
 The narrative of General Wilson is so full of interest, that we give 
 portions of it, as describing more clearly and hajjpily than can be done 
 otherwise, some of the incidents of this remarkable expedition. The force 
 with which he began the march, it should be remarked, was about thirteen 
 thousand five hundred men, of whom fifteen hundred were dismounted, 
 and a part of the others but indifferently mounted ; though all, except a 
 few hundred, were armed with the formidable Spencer carbine, and had a 
 supply of the fixed metallic cartridges. A light, canvas pontoon train, 
 of thirty boats, with fixtures complete, accompanied the expedition, and 
 the entire train numbered about two hundred and fifty wagons. 
 
 " At daylight, on the 22d of March, all the preliminary arrangements 
 having been perfected, and the order of march having been designated, 
 the movement began. 
 
 " The entire valley of the Tennessee, having been devastated by two 
 years of warfare, was quite as destitute of army supplies as the hill coun- 
 try south of it. In all directions, for one hundred and twenty miles, there 
 was almost absolute destitution. It was therefore necessary to scatter the 
 troops over a wide extent of country, and march as rapidly as circum- 
 stances would permit. This was rendered safe by the fact that Forrest's 
 
974 THE Cn^IL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 forces were, at that time, near West Point, Mississippi, one hundred and 
 fifty miles southwest of Eastport, while Roddy's occupied Montevallo, on 
 the Alabama and Tennessee river railroad, nearly the same distance to the 
 southeast. By starting on diverging roads, the enemy was left in doubt 
 as to our real object, and compelled to watch equally Columbus, Tusca- 
 loosa, and Selma. 
 
 " Upton's division, followed by his train, marched rapidly by the most 
 easterly route, passing by Barton's station, Tbrogmorton's mills, Eussell- 
 ville, Mount Hope, and Jasper, to Sanders's ferry, on the west fork of -the 
 Black Warrior river. 
 
 " Long's division marched by the way of Cherokee station and Frank- 
 fort ; but being encumbered by the pontoon train, and having mistaken 
 the road by which it should have ascended the mountain, was considerably 
 delayed in reaching Russellville. From this place, it marched directly 
 south, by the Tuscaloosa road, till it crossed Upper Bear creek; thence 
 turned to the eastward by the head of Buttahatchie creek, crossed Byler's 
 road near Thorn hill, and struck Blackwater creek, about twenty-five 
 miles from Jasper. The crossing of the last mentioned stream, and the 
 road for six miles beyond; were as bad as could be, but, by industry, 
 every thing was forced through to Jasper, and the lord on the Warrior, 
 with but little loss of time. 
 
 " M'Cook's division pursued the same route to Bear creek on the Tusca- 
 loosa road, but instead of turning to the eastward at that place, continued 
 the march toward Tuscaloosa as far as Eldridge, and thence east to 
 Jasper. 
 
 " In this order, the diflerent divisions arrived at and crossed the two 
 forks of the Black Warrior river. 
 
 " The ford on the west branch was extremely difficult of approach, as 
 well as of passage. The country on both sides, very rugged and six or 
 seven hundred feet above the bed of the stream, was entirely destitute of 
 forage ; the stream itself was at the time likely to become entirely im- 
 passable by the rain which threatened to occur at any moment. I had 
 also heard at Jasper, on the 27th, that a part of Forrest's force, under 
 Clialmers, was marching by the way of Bridgeville toward Tuscaloosa, and 
 knew that if the true direction of our movement had been discovered, it 
 would be but a short time till the balance of the Rebel cavalry would 
 push in the same direction. I therefore directed my division commanders 
 to replenish the haversacks, see that the pack animals were fully laden, to 
 leave all the wagons except the artillery, and march with the greatest 
 pos.sible rapidity, via Elyton, to Montevallo. I felt confident that the 
 enemy would not relinqui-sh his efforts to check the movement of the troops 
 in the hope of destroying our supply train. I therefore left it between 
 the two streams, with instructions to push on as far as Elyton, where it 
 would receive further orders. By great energy on the part of command- 
 
CAPTtJRE OP MONTEVALLO AND RANDOLPH. 975 
 
 ing officers the two branches of the Warrior were crossed, each division 
 losing a few horses but no men. 
 
 " At Eljton, on the evening of the 30th, I directed General McCook 
 to detach Croxton's brigade, with orders to move on Tuscaloosa as rapidly 
 as possible, burn the public stores, military school, bridges, foundries and 
 factories at that place, return toward the main column by the way of the 
 Centreville road, and rejoin it at or in the vicinity of Selnia. Beside 
 covering our trains and inflicting a heavy blow upon the enemy, I hoped 
 by this detachment to develop any movement on his part intended to in- 
 tercept my main column. 
 
 "General Upton's division encountered a few Rebel cavalry at Ely ton, 
 but pushed them rapidly across the Cahawba river to Montevallo. The 
 Rebels having felled trees into the ford and otherwise obstructed it, the 
 railroad bridge near Hillsboro was floored over by General Winslow. 
 General Upton crossed his division and pushed on rapidly to Montevallo, 
 where he arrived late on the evening of the 30th. Long and McCook 
 marched by the same route. In this region General Upton's division 
 destroyed the Red Mountain, Central, Bibb and Columbiana iron works, 
 Cahawba rolling mill, five collieries, ami much valuable property. All 
 of these establishments were of great extent and in full operation. I 
 arrived at Montevallo on the afternoon of March 31st, where I found 
 Upton's division ready to resume the march. Directly after, the enemy 
 made his appearance on the Selma road. By my direction General Upton 
 moved his division out at once, General Alexander's brigade in advance. 
 After a sharp fight and a handsome charge. General Alexander drove the 
 Rebel cavalry, a part of Crossland's Kentucky brigade and Roddy's 
 division, rapidly and in great confusion toward Randolph. The enemy 
 endeavoring to make a stand at a creek foi;r or five miles south of Mon- 
 tevallo, General Upton placed in position and opened fire, Rodney's bat- 
 tery I, fourth United States artillery, and pushing Winslow's brigade to 
 the front, they again beat a hasty retreat, closely pursued and repeatedly 
 charged by Winslow's advance. About fifty prisoners were taken, 
 with their arms and accoutrements, and much other loose materials were 
 abandoned. The gallantry of men and officers had been most conspicuous 
 throughout the day, and had resulted already in the establishment of a 
 moral supremacy for the corps. 
 
 " Upton's division bivouacked fourteen miles south of Montevallo, and 
 at dawn of the next day, April 1st, pushed forward to Randolph. At 
 this point, in pursuance of the order of march for the day, General tFpton 
 turned to the east for the purpose of going by the way of old Maplesville, 
 and thepce by the old Selma road, while General Long was instructed to 
 push forward on the new road. 
 
 "At Randolph, General Upton captured a Rebel courier just from Cen- 
 treville, and from his person took two despatches,^ one from Brigadier- 
 
976 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 General W. H. Jackson, commanding one of Forrest's divisions, and one 
 from Major Anderson, Forrest's chief of stafl'. From tbe first, I learned 
 that Forrest, with a part of his command, was in my front ; this had also 
 been obtained from prisoners ; that Jackson, with his division, and all tlie 
 wagons and artillery of the Rebel cavalry, marching from Tuscaloosa, via 
 Trion, toward Centreville, bad encamped the night before at Hill's plan- 
 tation, three miles beyond Scottsboro; that Croxton, with the brigade 
 detached at Elytown, had struck Jackson's rear-guard at Trion, and inter- 
 posed himself between it and the train; that Jackson had discovered this, 
 and intended to attack Croxton at daylight, Aj)ril 1st. I learned from the 
 other despatch that Chalmers had also arrived at Marion, Alabama, and 
 had been ordered to cross to the east side of the Cahawba, near that place, 
 for the purpose of joining Forrest in my front, or in the works at Selma. 
 I also learned that a force of dismounted men were stationed at Centre- 
 ville, with orders to hold the bridge over the Cahawba, at that place, as 
 long as possible, and in no event let it fall into our hands. 
 
 '•■ Shortlj'' after the interception of these despatches, I received a despatch 
 froua Croxton, written from Trion the night before, informing me that he 
 had struck Jackson's rear, and instead of pushing on toward Tuscaloosa, 
 as he was ordered, he would follow, and endeavor to bring him to an en- 
 gagement, hoping thereby to prevent his junction with Forrest. 
 
 " With this information in my possession, I directed McCook to strengthen 
 the battalion previously ordered to Centreville by a regiment, and to fol- 
 low at once with La Grange's entire brigade, leaving all pac^k trains and 
 wagons with the main column, so that he could march with the utmost 
 possible celerity ; and after seizing the Centreville bridge, and leaving it 
 under protection of a sufficient guard, to cross the Cahawba, and continue 
 his march, by the Scottsboro road, toward Trion. Ilis orders were to 
 attack and break up Jackson's forces, form a junction with Croxton, if 
 practicable, and rejoin the corps, with his entire division, by the Centre- 
 ville road to Selma. Although he did not leave Randolph till near eleven 
 o'clock A. M., and the distance to Scottsville was nearly- forty miles, I 
 hoped, by this movement, to do more than secure the Centreville bridge, 
 and prevent Jackson from joining the force in front of tlie main column. 
 
 "Having thus taken care of the right flank, and anticipated Forrest in 
 his intention to play his old game of getting upon the rear of his opjionent, 
 I gave directions to Long and Upton to allow him no rest, but push him 
 toward Selma with the utmost spirit and rapidity. These officers compre- 
 hended tlie situation, pressed forward and with admirable Zealand activity 
 upon the roads which have previously been indicated. The advance of 
 both divisions encountered small parties of the enemy, but drove them 
 back to tiieir main force at Ebenezer church, six miles north of Planters- 
 ville. Forrest had chosen a position on the north bank of Bogler's creek, 
 and disposed of his force for battle, his right resting on Mulberry creek, 
 
CROXTON'S SEPARATE EXPEDITION. 9Tt 
 
 and his left on a liigh wooded ridge, with four pieces of artillery to sweep 
 the Eandolph road, upon which Long's division was advancing, and two 
 on the Maplesville road. He had under his command, in line, Armstrong's 
 brigade of Chalmers's division, Roddy's division, Crossland's Kentucky 
 brigade, and a battalion of three hundred infantry, just arrived from Selma, 
 in all about five thousand men. Part of his front was covered by a slash- 
 ing of pine trees and rail barricades. 
 
 "As soon as General Long discovered the enemy in'strength close upon 
 the main body, he reinforced his advance-guard (a battalion of the seventy- 
 second Indiana mounted infantry) by the balance of the regiment, dis- 
 mounted, and formed it on the left of the road. Pushing it forward, the 
 enemy was broken and driven back. At this juncture he ordered for- 
 ward four companies of the seventeenth Indiana mounted infantry, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Frank White commanding. With drawn sabres this 
 gallant battalion drove the enemy in confusion into the main line, dashed 
 against that, broke through it, rode over the Eebel guns, crushing the 
 wheels of one piece, and finally turned to the left, and cut its way out, 
 leaving one officer and sixteen men in the enemy's hands, either killed or 
 wounded. In this charge. Captain Taylor, seventeenth Indiana, lost his 
 life, after having led his men into the very midst of the enemy, and en- 
 gaged in a running fight of two hundred 3^ards with Forrest in person. 
 
 " General Alexander's brigade had the advance of Upton's division, and 
 when within three miles of Ebenezer church, heard the firing and cheers 
 of Long's men on the right, pushed forward at the trot, and soon came 
 upon the enemy. General Alexander hastily deployed his brigade, mostly 
 on the right of the road, with the intention of connecting with Long's left, 
 and as soon as every thing was in readiness, pushed forward his line, dis- 
 mounted. In less than an hour, although the resistance was determined,' 
 the position was carried by a gallant charge, and the enemy completely 
 - routed. Alexander's brigade captured two guns and about two hundred 
 prisoners, while one gun fell into the hands of General Long's division. 
 
 " Winslow's brigade immediately passed to the front and took up the ■ 
 pursuit, but could not again bring the Rebels to.a stand. 
 
 "The whole corps bivouacked at sundown about Plantersville, nineteen 
 miles from Selma. With almost constant fighting, the enemy had been 
 driven since morning twenty-four miles. 
 
 " At daylight of the 2d, Long's division took the advance, closely fol- 
 lowed by Upton's. Having obtained a well-drawn sketch and complete 
 description of the defences of Selma, I directed General Long, marching 
 by the flanks of brigades, to approach the city, and cross to the Summers- 
 ville road, without exposing his men, and to develop his line as soon as 
 he should arrive in front of the works. General Upton was directed to 
 move on the Range Line road, sending a squadron on the Burnsville road. 
 Lieutenant Rendelbrook, with a battalion of the fourth United States 
 62 
 
978 'I'HK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cavalry, was instructed to move down the railroad, burning stations, 
 bridges, and trestle works, as far as Burnsville. By rapid marching, 
 without opposition, the troops were all in. sight of the town, and mostly 
 in position, by four p. m. 
 
 " As I approached the city, I perceived that my information was gene- 
 rally correct ; 1 therefore made a reconnoissance of the works, from left 
 to right, for the purpose of satisfying myself entirely as to the true point 
 of attack, and the probable chances of success. I directed General Long 
 to assault the enemy's works by moving diagonally across the road upon 
 which his troops were posted, while General Upton, at his own request, 
 with a picked force of three hundred men, was directed to penetrate the 
 swamps upon his left, break through the line covered by it, and turn the 
 enemy's right, the balance of his division to conform to the movement. 
 The signal for the advance was to be the discharge of a single gun from 
 Bodney's battery, to be given as soon as Upton's turning movement had 
 developed itself. 
 
 " Before this plan could be put into execution, and while waiting for the 
 signal to advance. General Long was informed that a strong force of Eebel 
 cavalry had begun skirmishing with his rear, and threatened a general 
 attack upon his pack train and led horses. He had left a force of six 
 companies, well posted, at the creek, in anticipation of this movement, 
 afterward ascertained to have been made by Chalmers, in obedience to the 
 instructions of Forrest. This force was at Marion the day before, and 
 was expected on the road from that place. Fearing that tliis affair might 
 compromise our assault upon the main position. General Long (having 
 already strengthened the rear by another regiment), with admirable judg- 
 ment, determined to make the assault at once ; and, without waiting for 
 the signal, gave the order to advance. The troops dismounted, sprang 
 forward with confident alacrity, and in less than fifteen minutes, without 
 ever stopping, wavering, or faltering, had swept over the works, and driven 
 the Rebels in confusion toward the city. I arrived on that part of the 
 field just after the works were carried, at once notified General Upton of 
 the success, and ordered him to push on as rapidly as possible, directing 
 Colonel Minty (now in command of the second division) to gather his men 
 for a new advance ; ordered Colonel Vail, commanding the seventeenth 
 Indiana, to place his own regiment, and the fourth United States cavalry, 
 Lieutenant O'Connel, and the Board of Trade battery. Captain Robinson 
 commanding, and renewed the attack. The Rebels had occupied a new 
 line, but partially finished, on the edge of the city. A most gallant 
 charge, by the fourth United States cavalry, was repulsed, but rapidly 
 reformed on the left. It was now quite dark. Upton's division advanc- 
 ing at the same- time, a new charge was made by the fourth Ohio, seven- 
 teenth Indiana, and fourth cavalry, dismounted. The troops, inspired by 
 the wildest enthusiasm, swept every thing before them, and penetrated 
 
THE BATTLE AND CAPTURE OF SELMA. / 979 
 
 the city in all directions. During the first part of the action, the Chicago 
 Board of Trade battery had occupied a commanding position, and steadily 
 replied to the enemy's guns. 
 
 " I regard the capture of Selma as the most remarkable achievement in 
 the history of modern cavalry, and one admirably illustrative of its new 
 powers and tendencies. That it may be fully understood, particular 
 attention is invited to the following facts : 
 
 " The fortifications assaulted and carried, consist of a bastioned line, on 
 a radius of nearly three miles, extending from the Alabama river below 
 to the same above the citj'-. The part west of the city is covered by a 
 miry, deep, and almost impassable creek; that on the east side, by a 
 swamp, extending from the river almost to the Summerville road, and 
 entirely impracticable for mounted men at all times. General Upton 
 ascertained, by a personal reconnoissance, that dismounted men might, with 
 great difficulty, work through it on the left of the Eange Line road. The 
 profile of that part of the line assaulted is as follows : height of parapet, 
 six to eight feet ; thickness, eight feet ; depth of ditch, five feet ; widtli 
 from ten to fifteen feet ; height of stockade on the glacis, five feet ; svink 
 into the earth, four feet. The ground over which the troops advanced is 
 an open field, generally level, sloping slightly toward the works, but 
 intersected by one ravine, and marshy soil, which both the right and left 
 of Long's line experienced some difficulty in crossing. The distance 
 which the troops charged, exposed to the enemy's fire of artillery and 
 musketry, was six hundred yards. Particular attention is invited to that 
 part of General Long's report which describes the assault. He states that 
 the number engaged in the charge was one thousand five hundred and 
 fifty officers and men. The portion of the line assaulted was manned by 
 Armstrong's brigade, regarded as the best in Forrest's corps, and reported, 
 by him at more than one thousand five hundred men. The loss from 
 Long's division was forty killed, two hundred wounded, and seven miss- 
 ing. General Long was wounded in the head, Colonels Miller and 
 McCormick in the leg, and Colonel Briggs in the breast. 
 
 " The immediate fruits of our victory were thirty -one field guns and 
 one thirty pounder Parrott, which had been used against us ; two thou- 
 sand seven hundred prisoners, including one hundred and fifty officers ; 
 a number of colors, and immense quantities of stores of every kind. 
 Generals Forrest, Armstrong, Rodd}' and Adams escaped, with a number 
 of men, under cover of darkness, either by the Burnsville and river road, 
 or by swimming the Alabama river. A portion of Upton's division 
 pursued on the Burnsville road until long after midnight, capturing four 
 guns and many prisoners. I estimate the entire garrison, including the 
 militia of the city and surrounding country, at seven thousand men. The 
 entire force under my command, engaged and in supporting distance, was 
 nine thousand men and eight guns. 
 
980 
 
 TIfK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "As soon as the troops could be assembled and got into camp, I assigned 
 brevet Brigadier-General Winslow to the command of the city, with 
 orders to destroy every thing that could possibly benefit the Rebel cause. 
 I directed General Upton to march at daylight, with his division, for the 
 purpose of driving Chalmers to the west side of the Cahawba, to open 
 communication with McCook, expected from Centreville, and, in conjunc- 
 tion with the latter, bring in the train. 
 
 " The capture of Selma having put us in possession of the enemy's 
 greatest depot in the southwest, was a vital blow to their cause, and 
 secured to us tlie certainty of going in whatever direction might be found 
 most advantageous. I gave directions to Lieutenant Heywood, fourth 
 Michigan cavalry, engineer oflScer on my staft; to employ all the resources 
 of the shops in the city in the construction of pontoons, with the intention 
 of laying a bridge, and cro.s.sing to the south side of the Alabama river, 
 as soon as I could satisfy myself in regard to General Canby's success in 
 the operations against Mobile. On April 5th, Upton and McCook arrived 
 with the train, but nothing definite had been heard of Croxton. McCook 
 had been entirely successful in his operations against Centreville, but on 
 reaching Scottsboro, he found Jackson well posted, with a force he thought 
 too strong to attack. After a sharp skirmish he retired to Centreville, 
 burned the Scottsboro cotton factory and Cahawba bridge, and returned 
 toward Selma, satisfied that Croxton had taken care of himself and gone 
 in a new direction. 
 
 " On tlie 6th of April, having ordered Major Hubbard to lay a bridge 
 over the Alabama with the utmost despatch, I went to Cahawba to see 
 General Forrest, who had agreed to meet me there, under a flag of truce, 
 for the purpose of arranging an exchange of prisoners. I was not long 
 in discovering that I need not expect liberality in this matter, and that 
 Forrest hoped to recapture the men of his command in m}-- pos.session. 
 During our conversation, he informed me that Croxton had had an en- 
 gagement with Wirt Adams, near Bridgeville, forty miles southwest of 
 Tuscaloosa, two days before. Thus assured of Croxton's success and 
 safety, I determined to lose no further time in crossing to the south side 
 of the Alabama. I had also satisfied myself, in the meantime, that 
 Canby had an ample force to take Mobile and march to central Alabama. 
 I therefore returned to Selma, and urged every one to the utmost exer- 
 tions. The river was quite full and rising, the weather unsettled and 
 rainy ; but by the greatest exertion, night and day, on the part of Major 
 Hubbard and his battalion. General Upton, General Alexander, and my 
 own stafl) the bridge, eight hundred and seventy feet long, was constructed, 
 and the command all crossed by daylight of the 10th. So swift and deep 
 was the river, that the bridge was swept away three times. General 
 Alexander narrowly escaped with his life, boats were capsized, and men 
 precipitated into the stream ; but the operations were finally determined 
 
BATTLE AT WEST POINT, GEORGIA. 981 
 
 by complete success. Before leaving tlie city, General Winslow destroyed 
 the arsenals, foundries, arms, stores, and military munitions of every kind. 
 The enemy had previously burned twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. 
 
 " Having the entire corps, except Croxton's brigade, on the south side 
 of the river, and being satisfied that the Eebels could receive no advan- 
 tage by attempting to again occ\ipy Selma, so thoroughly had every thing 
 in it been destroyed, I determined to move by the way of Montgomery 
 into Georgia, and after breaking up railroads and destroying stores and 
 army supplies in that State, to march thence as rapidly as possible to the 
 theatre of operations in North Carolina and Virginia. 
 
 " Enough horses were secured at Selma, and on the march to that place, 
 to mount all our dismounted men. In order to disencumber the column 
 of every unnecessary impediment, I ordered the surplus wagons to be 
 destroyed, and all of tlie bridge train except enough for twelve boats. 
 The main object for which the latter was brought had been secured by 
 our passage of the Alabama. 
 
 "I also directed the column to be cleared of all contraband negroes, 
 and such of the able-bodied ones as were able to enlist to be organized 
 into regiments — one to each division. Efficient officers were assigned to 
 these commands, and great pains taken to prevent their becoming bur- 
 densome. How well they succeeded can be understood from the fact that, 
 in addition to subsisting themselves upon the country, they marched 
 (upon one occasion) forty -five miles, and frequently as much as thirty- 
 five in one day. 
 
 " In the march from Selma, La Grange's brigade, of McCook's division, 
 was given the advance. The recent rains had rendered the roads quite 
 muddy, and a small body of Eebel calvary, in falling back before La 
 Grange, destroyed several bridges, so that our progress was necessarily 
 slow. 
 
 "At seven A. M., April 12th, the advance-guard reached Montgomery, and 
 received the surrender of the city from the Mayor and Council. General 
 Adams, with a small force, after falling back before us to the city, burned 
 ninety thousand bales of cotton stored there, and continued his retreat to 
 Mount Meigs, on the Columbus road. Five guns and large quantities of 
 small arms, stores, &c., were left in our hands and destroyed. 
 
 " General McCook assigned Colonel Cooper, fourth Kentucky cavalry, 
 to the command of the city, and immediately began the destruction of the 
 public stores. Major Weston, of the fourth Kentucky, with a small de- 
 tachment of his regiment, made a rapid march toward Wetumpka, swam 
 the Coosa and Tullapoosa rivers, and captured five steamboats and their 
 cargoes, which were taken to Montgomery apd destroyed. Early on the 
 14th the march was resumed. I instructed brevet Major-General Upton 
 to move with his own division directly upon Columbus, and to order La 
 Grange, with his brigade, to make a rapid movement upon West Point, 
 
982 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 destroying the railroad bridges along the line of his march. I hoped to 
 secure a crossing of the Chattahoochie at one or the other of these places. 
 
 "Minty followed Upton by the way of Tuskegee. McCook, with a 
 part of his division, remained a few hours at Montgomery, to complete 
 the destruction of public stores. Shortly after leaving his camp near 
 Montgomery, La Grange struck a force of Rebels under Buford and 
 Clanton, but drove them in confusion, capturing about one hundred and 
 fifty prisoners. 
 
 "About two p. SI. of the 16th, General Upton's advance — a part of Alex- 
 ander's brigade — struck the enemy's pickets on the road, and drove them 
 rapidly through Girard to the lower bridge over the Chattahoochie at 
 Columbus. The Rebels hastily set fire to it, and thereby prevented its 
 capture. After securing a position on the lower Montgomery road, General 
 Upton detached a force to push around to the bridge at the factory, three 
 miles above the city. He then made a reconnoissance in person, and 
 found the enemy strongly posted in a line of works covering all the 
 bridges, with a large number of gun.= in position on both sides of the 
 river. He had already determined to move Winslow's brigade to the 
 Opelika of Summerville road, and assault the works on that side without 
 waiting for the arrival of the second division. 
 
 "I reached the head of Winslow's brigade of the fourth division at 
 four o'clock, and found the troops marching to tlie position assigned them 
 by General Upton. Through an accident, Winslow did not arrive at his 
 position till after dark ; but General Upton prepared to make the assault 
 in the night, and coinciding with him in judgment, I ordered the attack. 
 
 "Three hundred men of the third Iowa cavalry. Colonel Noble com- 
 manding, were dismounted ; and after a slight skirmish, moved forward, 
 and formed across the road, under a heavy fire of artillery. The fourth 
 Iowa and tenth Missouri were held in readiness to support the assaulting 
 party. At half past eight p. M., just as the troops were ready, the enemy, 
 at a short distance, opened a heavy fire of musketry, and with a four gun 
 battery began throwing canister and grape. Generals Upton and Winslow 
 in person directed the movement, the troops dashed forward, opened a 
 withering fire from their Spencers, pushed thrjjugh a slashing abatis, 
 and pressed the Rebel line back to their works, supposed, at first, to be the 
 main line. During all this time the Rebel guns threw out a perfect storm 
 of canister and grape, but without avail. 
 
 " General Upton sent two companies of the tenth Missouri, Captain 
 Glassen commanding, to follow up the success of the dismounted men and 
 get possession of the bridge. They passed through the inner line of 
 works, and under cover o£ darkness, before the Rebels knew it, "had 
 reached the bridge leading into Columbus. 
 
 " As soon as every thing could be got up to the position occupied by 
 the dismounted men. General Upton pressed forward again, swept away 
 
LA GRANGE, GRIFFIN, AND FORSYTH CAPTURED. 983 
 
 all opposition, took possession of the fort and railroad bridges, and 
 stationed guards throughout the city. 
 
 " Twelve hundred prisoners, fifty -two field guns in position for use 
 against us, and large quantities of arms and stores, fell into our hands. Our 
 loss was only twenty-five killed and wounded. Colonel C. A. L. Lamar 
 of General Cobb's stafl^ formerly owner of the " Wanderer" (slave-trader)^ 
 was killed. 
 
 "The splendid gallantry and steadiness of General Upton, brevet 
 Brigadier-General Winslow, and all the officers and men engaged in the 
 first attack is worthy of the highest commendation. The Eebel force 
 was over three thousand men. They could not believe they had been 
 dislodged from their strong fortifications by an attack of three hundred 
 men. 
 
 " After much sharp skirmishing and hard marching, which resulted in 
 the capture of fourteen wagons and a number of prisoners, La Grange's 
 advance reached the vicinity of West Point at ten A. M., April 16th, with 
 Beck's eighteenth Indiana battery, and the second and fourth Indiana cavalry. 
 The enemy were kept occupied till the arrival of the balance of the brigade. 
 Having thoroughly reconnoitered the ground, detachments of the first 
 Wisconsin, second Indiana, and seventh Kentucky cavalry dismounted, 
 and prepared to assault Fort Tyler, covering the bridge. Colonel La 
 Grange describes it as a remarkably strong bastioned earthwork, thirty- 
 five yards square, surrounded by a ditch twelve feet wide and ten feet 
 deep, situated on a commanding eminence, protected by an imperfect 
 abatis, and mounting two thirty-two pounders, and two field guns. 
 
 " At one P. M. the chai-ge was sounded, and the brave detachment on 
 the three sides of the work rushed forward to the assault, drove the Rebel 
 skirmishers into the fort, and followed, under a withering fire of musketry 
 and grape, to the edge of the ditch. This was found impassable, but with- 
 out falling back, Colonel La Grange posted sharpshooters to keep down 
 the enemy, and organized parties to gather material for the bridges. As 
 soon as this had been done he sounded the charge again ; the detach- 
 ments sprang forward, laid the bridges, and rushed over the parapet into 
 the work, capturing the entire garrison — in all, two hundred and sixty- 
 five men. General Tyler, its commanding officer, with eighteen men and 
 officers, were killed, and twenty-eight severely wounded. Simultaneously 
 with the advance upon the fort, the fourth Indiana dashed through the 
 town, secured both bridges over the Chattahoochie, scattering a superior 
 force of cavalry which had just arrived, and burned five engines and 
 trains. Coloi^l La Grange highly commends the accuracy and steadiness 
 of Captain Beck, in the use of his artillery. 
 
 " Colonel La Grange destroyed at this place two bridges, nineteen 
 locomotives, and two hundred and forty-five cars loaded with quartermaster's, 
 commissary, and ordnance stores. Before leaving he established a hospital ; 
 
984 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR IN THi! UNITED STATES. 
 
 for the wounded of both sides, and left with the major an ample supply 
 of stores to provide for all their wants. 
 
 "Early on the morning of the 17th, he resumed his march toward 
 Macon, passing through La Grange, Griffin, and Forsyth, and breaking 
 the railroads at those places. He would have reached his destination by 
 noon of the 20th, but for delay caused by an order to wait for the fourth 
 Kentucky cavalry, which had gone through Columbus. 
 
 "The afternoon of the 17th, I directed Colonel Minty to resume his 
 march with his division on the Thomaston road toward Macon, and to 
 send a detachment forward that night, to seize the double bridges over 
 Flint river. Captain Van Atwerp, of my staff, accompanied this party. 
 He speaks in the highest terms of the dash with which Captain Hudson, 
 fourth Michigan cavalry, discharged the duties assigned him. By seven 
 A. M. the next day, he had reached the bridges, fifty miles from Columbus, 
 scattered the party defending them, and took forty prisoners. 
 
 "Before leaving Columbu.s, General Winslow destroyed the Rebel ram 
 Jackson, nearly ready for sea, mounting six seven inch guns, burned 
 fifteen locomotives, two hundred and fifty cars, the railroad bridge and 
 foot bridges, one hundred and fifteen thousand bales of cotton, four cotton 
 factories, the navy yard, foundry, armory, sword and pistol factory, ac- 
 coutrement shops, three paper mills, over a hundred thousand rounds of 
 artillery ammunition, beside immense stores, of which no account could 
 be taken. The Eebels abandoned and burned the gunboat Chattahoochie, 
 twelve miles below Columbus. On the morning of the 18th, the whole 
 command resumed the march on the route pursued by the second division. 
 On the evening of the 20th, when within twenty miles of Macon, the 
 advanced guard, comppsed of the seventeenth Indiana mounted infantry, 
 Colonel White commanding, encountered about two hundred Eebel 
 cavalry on the road, but drove them rapidly back toward the city, and 
 saved the Echconnes and Tobesapkc bridges." 
 
 On the 20th of April, Colonel White, commanding General Wilson's 
 advance, was met, about thirteen miles from Macon, Georgia, by a flag of 
 truce, bearing a despatch from the Rebel General Howell Cobb, covering 
 one from General Beauregard, announcing that an armistice had been 
 concluded between General Johnston and General Sherman, and that hos- 
 tilities were to cease between the contending j)arties during the armistice. 
 This despatch was sent at once to General Wilson. Although General 
 W'ilson did not give full credence to this report, he proceeded at once, as 
 rapidly as possible, to the front ; intending to halt his forces at the defences 
 of the city, while he had an interview in person with General Cobb. But 
 before he could reach Macon, his advance column had dashed into the 
 city and received its surrender, after a slight show of resistance on the 
 part of the garrison. General Cobb protested against this attack, which 
 he professed to regard as a violation of the armistice ; but as General 
 
CROXTON'S OPERATIONS. 985 
 
 Wilson had not been able to communicate with his subordinate officers, 
 and had, meantime, no evidence that this was any thing more than a ruse 
 of the enemy, there had been clearly no violation of the armistice. He 
 telegraphed, after an interview with General Cobb, to General Sherman, 
 in cypher, holding, meantime, the city and Rebel forces there as prisoners. 
 He received no reply to his despatch, but the next day, April 21st, a des- 
 patch came to hand, professing to be a copy of General Sherman's telegram 
 to him, communicated through Generals Johnston and Cobb, desiring him 
 to desist from farther acts of war and devastation for a few days, as an 
 armistice had beeu agreed upon. "Being satisfied that this was substan- 
 tially authentic, General Wilson suspended operations until he should 
 receive orders to renew them, holding Macon, meantime. General Cobb 
 furnished him with forage and supplies, in order to prevent the necessity 
 of foraging. On the 30th of April, he received notice of the final capitula- 
 tion of all the armies east of the Chattahoochie, and the next day, by the 
 hands of Colonel Woodhull, the order of the Secretary of War, annulling 
 the first armistice, directing the resumption of hostilities and the capture 
 of the Rebel chiefs. 
 
 On the 30th of April, General Croxton, with his brigade, of whom 
 General Wilson had last heard through Forrest, arrived at Forsyth, 
 Georgia, and the next day reached Macon. 
 
 After having sliirmished with Jackson's force, estimated correctly at 
 twenty-six hundred men, near Trion, on the morning of April 2d, he 
 determined to effect by strategy what he could not expect to do by fight- 
 ing, having with him only eleven hundred men. He therefore marched 
 rapidly toward Johnston's ferry, on the Black Warrior river, forty miles 
 above Tuscaloosa, threw Jackson completely off his guard by a simulated 
 flight, crossed his brigade to the west side of the river, and turned toward 
 Northport, where he arrived at nine P. M., April 4th. About midnight; 
 learning that his presence must become known, he surprised the force 
 stationed on the bridge, and crossed into Tuscaloosa. He captured three 
 guns, one hundred and fifty prisoners, and, after daylight, scattered the 
 militia and State cadets, destroyed the military school, the stores, and 
 public works. He remained at that place until the 5th, trying to commu- 
 nicate with General McCook, or to hear from General Wilson, but without 
 success. Knowing that Jackson and Chalmers were both on the west 
 side of the Cahawba, he thought it too hazardous to attempt a march by 
 the way of Centreville, and therefore decided to move toward Eutaw, in 
 the hope of crossing the Warrior lower down, and breaking the railroad 
 between Selma and Demopolis. Accordingly he abandoned Tuscaloosa, 
 burned the bridge across the Black Warrior, and struck off to the south- 
 east. When within seven miles of Eutaw, he heard of the arrival at that 
 place of Wirt Adams's division of cavalry, numbering twenty-six hundred 
 men. Fearing to risk an engagement with a superior force, backed by 
 
986 THE CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 the militia, he coiintermarched, and moved again in the direction of 
 Tuscaloosa ; leaving it to the right, passed on through Jasper, recrossed 
 the west fork of the Warrior river at Hadley's mill, marched nearly due 
 east by the way of Mount Penson and Trussville, crossed the Coosa at 
 True's and Collin's ferries, and marched to Talladega. Near this place he 
 met and scattered a force of Rebels, under General Hill ; capturing one 
 hundred and fifty prisoners and one gun, and moved on toward Blue 
 mountain, the terminus of the Alabama and Tennessee railroad. After 
 destroying all the iron works and factories left by us in northern 
 Alabama and Georgia, he continued his march by Carrolton, Newnan and 
 Forsyth, to Macon. He had no knowledge of General Wilson's move- 
 ments, except what he got from rumor, but fully expected to form a 
 junction with him at Macon, or at Augusta. 
 
 General Wilson, having distributed his troops so as to garrison the 
 important points captured, and receive the surrender of the Rebel forces, 
 now devoted his entire energies to capturing the Rebel President Jeff 
 Davis and his attendants. Mr. Davis had left Richmond on the 2d of 
 April, and reached Danville the next morning, where he had endeavored 
 to cheer the sinking spirits of the Rebels, by assuring them that the 
 evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg was only an act of military 
 strategy, and that now General Lee could act more vigorously than 
 before, not having a large city to protect. The news of Lee's surrender 
 reached him on the evening of April 9th, and, at daylight the following 
 morning, he left in a private conveyance for Greensboro, N. C, where he 
 lingered for several days, in the hope of securing an amnesty through the 
 negotiations of Johnston and Sherman. While here, he organized an 
 escort of three thousand cavalry, under Generals Wade Hampton and 
 Dibbrel, and moved southward with this escort and his family and staff, 
 and a considerable amount of gold, hoping to escape from the Florida 
 coast to Cuba. The cavalry, however, soon tired of escorting him, and 
 demanding their pay from the gold he had with him, deserted almost as 
 soon as they received it. On the 2d of May, he was traced a short 
 distance from Augusta, Georgia, and three days later at Powellton. 
 
 General Wilson's cavalry were soon on his trail, and two regiments, 
 moving by difterent routes, hunted him down at Irwinsville, Georgia, and 
 on the morning of May 11th, Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard, of the fourth 
 Michigan cavalry, surprised and captured Davis, his wife, and her sister 
 and brother ; the late Rebel Po.stmaster-General, Mr. Reagan ; Davis's 
 private secretary. Colonel Harrison, and other members of his staff, with a 
 train of five wagons and three ambulances. Lieutenant-Colonel Harden, 
 commanding the fir.st Wisconsin cavalry, came up just before the capture, 
 and supposing the fourth Michigan to be Davis's escort, commenced firing 
 upon them, and near fifteen minutes elap.scd before the mistake was dis- 
 covered. Meantime, Pritchard had efiected the capture. He reports that 
 
\ 
 
 EESULTS OF WILSON'S CAMPAIGN. 98T 
 
 Davis was brought to the door of his tent by his •wife, clad in a loose 
 dressing-gown, with his wife's water-proof cloak buckled around him, a 
 shawl over his head, and a bucket on his arm, and Mrs. Davis requested 
 the guard " to allow her poor old mother to go to the spring and get some 
 water ;" the guard, however, having caught a glimpse of his boots, instantly 
 suspected his sex, and arrested him, though not without some resistance 
 on his part. He brandished a bowie knife, and showed fight, but yielded 
 when the guard presented a revolver. He subsequently expressed great 
 indignation at the energy with which he was pursued, and said he " had 
 believed the United States Government was too magnanimous to hunt 
 down women and children." He was brought under strong guard to 
 Macon, and thence sent to Hilton Head, where he was put on board a 
 government war steamer, and on arriving at Hampton roads, transferred 
 to a strong casemate in Fortress Monroe, in which fortress he still remains 
 (December 1865), and though strictly guarded, is treated with a humanity 
 which affords a striking contrast to the atrocious cruelties inflicted by his 
 sanction on the Union soldiers, officers and civilians, who were so unfor- 
 tunate as to be captured and imprisoned while he was in power. Alex- 
 ander H. Stephens, the Rebel Vice President, Mr. Mallory, the Rebel 
 Secretary of the Navy, and B. H. Hill, Rebel Senator from Georgia, were 
 also arrested by General Upton's division, of General Wilson's command, 
 and sent north in accordance with the instructions of the Secretary of 
 War. 
 
 General Wilson then sums up the achievements of his troops in this 
 great expedition : 
 
 "Since leaving the Tennessee river, the troops under my command 
 have marched an average of five hundred and twenty-five miles in twenty- 
 eight days, captured five fortified cities, twenty-two stands of colors, two 
 hundred and eighty-eight pieces of artillery, and six thousand eight hun- 
 dred and twenty prisoners, including five arsenals; have captured and 
 destroyed two gunboats, ninety-nine thousand stands of small arms, seven 
 iron works, seven foundries, seven machine shops, two rolling mills, five 
 collieries, thirteen factories, four nitre works, one military university, 
 three Rebel arsenals and contents, one navy yard and contents, one powder 
 magazine and contents, one naval armory and contents, five steamboats, 
 thirty-five locomotives, five hundred and sixty-five cars, three railroad 
 bridges, two hundred and thirty-five thousand bales of cotton, and im- 
 mense quantities of quartermaster and commissary and ordnance stores, 
 of which no account could be taken, and have paroled fifty-nine thousand 
 eight hundred and seventy-eight prisoners, including six thousand one 
 hundred and thirty-four commissioned ofiicers. Our total loss was thirteen 
 officers and eighty-six men killed, thirty officers and five hundred.and fifty- 
 nine men wounded, and seven officers and twenty-one men missing." 
 
 He adds that, when he left the Tennessee river, fifteen hundred of his 
 
988 THE CIVIL AVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 men were not mounted, and many others but indift'erently so, but that on 
 arriving at Macon, every man was well mounted, and the command sup- 
 plied with all the surplus animals that could be desired ; having, as he says 
 elsewhere, twenty-two thousand horses and mules to be supplied with 
 forage on reaching that city. 
 
 There now remained only the Trans-Mississippi Rebel army, under 
 General E. Kirby Smith, yet in arms against the United States; all the 
 others had surrendered. As Smith, in a proclamation dated April 
 21st, 1865, had defied the United States Government, and manifested a 
 determination to continue hostilities, General Sheridan was sent at once 
 with a sufficient force to Texas, to subdue this last remnant of a Rebel 
 army ; but before his arrival there. General Smith, finding his army de- 
 serting him, changed his views, and on the 26th of May, sent Generals 
 Buckner, Brent and Carter to surrender his entire force to General Canby 
 at New Orleans, and subsequently ratified the surrender with his own sig- 
 nature at Galveston. He was guilty of bad faith, however, in disbanding 
 most of his army, and permitting an indiscriminate plunder of public 
 property, pending his surrender ; and he and General Magruder escaped 
 into Mexico. Sheridan's force was retained on the Rio Grande in con- 
 sequence of the disturbed condition of affairs there, and the escape of 
 many of the late Rebel soldiers and officers into Mexico, carrying with 
 them arms and other property rightfully belonging to the United States ; 
 but after some months the greater part of it was withdrawn. 
 
 Thus closed the struggle of four years, and the Government of the 
 United States again held sway over its entire territory, and had repos- 
 sessed itself of all the property, the forts and places belonging to the 
 nation. 
 
FINANCES OP THK -WAR. 989 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIII. 
 
 FINANCES OF THE WAR — BANKRUPTCY OP THE GOVERNMENT AT THE BEOINNINO OE THE 
 WAR — UNPROMISING STATE OP AFFAIRS WHEN MR. CHASE BECAME SECRETARY OF THE 
 TREASURY — HIS MEASURES — ^THE CONFIDENCE OP CAPITALISTS AND THE PEOPLE SECURED — 
 THE FIRST SEVEN-THIRTIES — THE FIVE-TWENTY BONDS — LARGE AMOUNT ABSORBED — BONDS 
 OF 1881— COMPOUND INTEREST NOTES — TEN-FORTIES — THE SEVEN-THIRTIES OF 1864 AND 
 1865 — THEIR IMMENSE SALE— THE EARLY GOLD DEMAND NOTES — THE LEGAL TENDER NOTES 
 — FRACTIONAL CURRENCY — CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS — NO PORTION OF THE DEBT NE- 
 GOTIATED, OR ITS PRINCIPAL OR INTEREST MADE PAYABLE ABROAD, YET FIVE HUNDRED 
 MILLIONS HELD AS AN INVESTMENT IN EUROPE — STATISTICAL TABLE OP THE DEBT — 
 TAXATION — CUSTOMS — INTERNAL REVENUE — INCOME TAX — WILLINGNESS OF THE PEOPLE TO 
 BE TAXED — AMOUNT OF REVENUE COLLECTED — NECESSITY THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD 
 CONTROL THE ISSUE OP PAPER MONEY — THE NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM — NUMBER OF NA- 
 TIONAL BANKS AT DIFFERENT DATES — SUSPENSION OP SPECIE PAYMENT AND RISE OP GOLD 
 — ITS FLUCTUATIONS IN THREE YEARS — COMPARISON OF OUR NATIONAL DEBT AND THAT OF 
 GREAT BRITAIN IN 1815 — PROBABLE TIME OP PAYMENT OF THE DEBT — THE REBEL DEBT — 
 REBEL LOSSES OF SLAVE PROPERTY — LOSSES BY CAVALRY EXPEDITIONS AND RAIDS — UNION 
 LOSSES BY RAIDS AND BY REBEL PRIVATEERS — GRANTS MADE BY THE STATE LEGISLATURES, 
 
 COUNTIES, TOWNS, CITIES, AND WARDS, FOR BOUNTIES AND AID OF SOLDIERS* FAMILIES 
 
 INDIVIDUAL GIFTS FOR THESE AND KINDRED PURPOSES — THE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE 
 SICK AND WOUNDED — THE UNITED STATES' SANITARY COMMISSION — THE WESTERN SANITARY 
 COMMISSION — THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION — THE FREEDMEN's AID COMMISSION — -THE UNION 
 COMMISSION — OTHER DONATIONS — THE EFFECT OP THIS LIBERALITY ON THE NATION. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Buchanan had been as complete a failure in 
 its financial management, as in every other department of its policy. 
 Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, during the greater part of his 
 term, and subsequently, as we have seen, a Rebel general, had entered 
 upon his position in a time of higli financial prosperity in the country — a 
 period of peace. The small debt of the natioa was quoted at sixteen or 
 seventeen per cent, above par, and at that price he bought up a portion 
 of it before it was due; but so miserable was his management, either from 
 utter incapacity to comprehend financial matters, or from a determination 
 to cripple the government he intended to betray, that, at the end of three 
 and a half years, he had increased the national debt by forty millions of 
 dollars, and had succeeded in so depreciating the national credit, that 
 when he resigned, in order to join the Rebels, his successor. General John 
 A. Dix, one of the ablest financiers of the nation, could not obtain an 
 offer of more than eighty-eight cents on the dollar for a loan of twelve 
 millions, and could not dispose of the whole even at that price. 
 
 When Salmon P. Chase entered upon his duties as Secretary of the 
 Treasury, in Zvlarch 1861, the prospect before him was one from which 
 most men would have shrunk in utter dismay. The treasury was bank- 
 rupt ; the nati®nal credit sunk so low that any prominent merchant or 
 
990 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 banker could borrow oa far better terms than the government. A war 
 was pending, which must consume a vast amount of money. American 
 bankers and capitalists were shy of government securities, and the English 
 capitalists notified him in advance that it would be useless for him to 
 apply to them for money, for they could not lend. 
 
 Money must be had, however, and in the interim of the session of 
 Congress, which alone could levy taxes, he was compelled to resort to a 
 loan on the best terms which he could obtain. On the 2d of April, 1861, 
 he offered in the New York market a loan of ten millions of dollars, 
 twenty year bonds, with six per cent, interest. Bids were received for 
 only three millions ninety-nine thousand dollars, at an average discount 
 of 5.98 per cent. On the 25th lof May, forty days after the proclamation 
 of war, he was compelled to dispose of the remainder of this loan at an 
 average discount of 14.65 per cent. On the 17th of July, he disposed of 
 a further twenty-year loan of fifty millions, also six per cent, bonds, at 
 a discount of 10.67 per cent. 
 
 By this time, however, the capitalists and bankers had begun to respect 
 the ability and resolute management of Mr. Chase, as a financier, and 
 when, in the latter part of the summer, he came into the market with his 
 first issue of three years' treasury notes, bearing 7 iV per cent, interest, 
 and convertible at the end of that time into twenty years six per cent, 
 bonds, he disposed of one hundred and forty millions of them, at an average 
 discount of less than three per cent. From this time forward, there was 
 no discount beyond a simple broker's commission, varying from one half 
 to three fourths of one per cent., paid on the placing of government securi- 
 ties. A loan of five hundred and eleven millions, at six per cent, interest, 
 in bonds redeemable after five, and payable in twenty years, known as 
 five-twenty bonds, was disposed of in a little more than a year, at par, by 
 Messrs. Jay Cooke & Co., of Philadelphia, by an extensive system of 
 agencies and advertising. The people of the country, not the capitalists, 
 purchased these bonds, as they did, subsequently, other government loans 
 of still larger amounts. Seventy-five millions of twenty years six per 
 cent, bonds were next offered and taken, at a premium of about four per 
 cent., and five percent, loans, in the shape of compound interest treasury 
 notes of one and two years, and simjiie interest bonds, redeemable in ten, 
 and payable after forty years, were issued at par, to the extent of some- 
 what more than two hundred and fifty millions, and six per cent, com- 
 pound interest notes at six per cent., due at the end of three years, to the 
 extent of over seventeen millions. All these loans were gold-bearing, 
 i. e., the interest was payable in gold. As gold had risen in price to one 
 hundred, one hundred and fifty, and even, for a single day, one hundred 
 and eighty-five per cent, premium, the interest became very large on the 
 bond.s, and they were regarded as a very desirable investment, and rose 
 to a premium of from fourteen to seventeen per cent. The Secretary of 
 
MR. CHASE'S MEASURES. 991 
 
 the Treasury next put upon the market (the demands of the war being 
 still very heavy, far beyond the amount which could be raised by taxa- 
 tion) a new description of three-year treasury notes, paying sevenandtliree 
 tenths interest in legal tender, and redeemable at the end of three years in 
 five-twenty six per cent, bonds. Of these three series, bearing date at dif- 
 ferent times, and amounting in all to eight hundred and thirty millions of 
 dollars, have been issued, almost exclusively to citizens of the United 
 States. • Certificates of indebtedness issued for one year and bearing 
 interest at six per cent., were also paid to the government creditors in 
 considerable amounts. In 1864, about one hundred and sixty millions of 
 those were outstanding, but they have been rapidly reduced from the 
 avails of the treasury notes, and on the 31st of October, 1865, somewhat 
 less than fifty-six millions of dollars, payable in 1866, were all that were 
 yet unpaid. 
 
 At the beginning of the war, sixty millions of demand notes, redeem- 
 able in coin, without interest, were issued by the Government ; but as 
 these were receivable for custom duties, they were all called in and can- 
 celled before the close of 1864. By the act of February, 1862, and sub- 
 sequent acts, the issue of legal tender demand notes was authorized, and 
 about four hundred and fifty millions were issued of all denominations. 
 Of these, on the 31st of October, 1865, a little more than four hundred ■ 
 and twenty-eight millions were still outstanding. There have been in all 
 nearly fifty millions of fractional currency issued, though never much more 
 than half of that amount in circulation at one time. The amount of this 
 in circulation now is somewhat larger than a year ago, being, October 
 31st, 1865, a trifle over twenty -six millibns. 
 
 No portion of this immense debt, amounting, on the 81st of October, 
 1865, to twenty-eight hundred and eight millions five hundred and forty- 
 nine thousand four hundred and thirty-eight dollars has been issued as a 
 foreign loan, or the principal or interest made payable abroad. The 
 several Secretaries of the Treasury have been authorized to negotiate 
 portions of it abroad ; but they have always refrained, and wisely, from 
 seeking foreign creditors, believing that it would tend far more to the 
 permanence and stability of free institutions to have it distributed among 
 the people of the United States. The twenty-year bonds, the five-twenties, 
 and the later seven-thirties, have, however, been largely purchased by 
 foreign capitalists for investment, and are regularly called at the stock 
 boards of London, Paris, Frankfort, Hamburg, Berlin, and Vienna. It 
 is believed that more than five hundred millions of these loans are held 
 in Europe. The accompanying table shows the character of the debt, the 
 interest it carries, and the amount at different periods. (See next page.) 
 
 The value of these loans and the facility with which they could be 
 placed, depended very much upon the willingness of the people to bear 
 severe taxation, by which the interest could be paid, and the ordinary 
 

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THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE COLLECTED. 993 
 
 expenses of the Government borne. In this respect, the disposition of 
 the nation has been such as to astonish the world. During the existence 
 of the nation, with the exception of a moderate direct tax for a few years 
 after the war of 1812, there had been no direct taxiUion by the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, and never any income tax ; but directly after 
 the commencement of the war, and from that time to the present, the 
 people have been far more willing to be taxed than their representatives 
 in Congress were to tax them. Tlie tariff was changed so as to make the 
 duties on almost every article of import as heavy as could be borne, and 
 the internal revenue bills taxed every article of manufacture and every 
 luxury; demanded a license for almost every employment, and laid a tax 
 upon the income of every citizen of five per cent, upon all incomes of 
 over six hundred dollars, seven and a half per cent, on all above five 
 thousand, and ten per cent, on all income exceeding ten thousand dollars 
 per annum. This taxation, after several modifications, has been so regu- 
 lated that the revenue from the business of 1861 will, probably, with the 
 customs, amount to about three hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and 
 that for the year 1865, to a considerably larger sum. This not only 
 defrays the current expenditure of the year and the interest of the debt, 
 but will leave seventy-five to a hundred millions to be applied as a sinking 
 fund for the liquidation of the principal of the debt. 
 
 It soon became evident that the circulation of paper money must be 
 controlled by the Government. The demand and legal tender notes did, 
 indeed, for the time, furnish the greater part of the circulating medium of 
 the nation, though local banks and bankers, not under the control of the 
 national government, sought to push their own notes into circulation as 
 far as possible ; but these treasury notes were, from their nature, liable to 
 the objection of being too abundant when their plentifulness only served 
 to inflate prices, and insufficient when, as in the case of a reduction of the 
 national debt, a large amount of currency was needed. If the currency 
 were to be left, aside from this fluctuating amount, to the mercy of specu- 
 lators and bankers wholly irresponsible to the national government, the 
 national credit would suffer, the prices of every article- required would be 
 enormously and indefinitely enhanced, while the ruin which would in- 
 evitably follow from the overthrow of a system so monstrous, and reared 
 on so uncertain a basis, would prove frightfully destructive to the national 
 prosperity. 
 
 The only means of controlling and overcoming this difficulty seemed 
 to Secretary Chase to be, the organization of a national banking system, 
 which should be based on the government securities, and should embody 
 the best features of the New York free banking system, together with 
 others which should render it more safe to the bill holder, while they pro- 
 tected, at the same time, the rights of the depositor ; and the establishment 
 of these banks to be speedily followed by such measures of taxation and 
 63 
 
994 THB CIVIL. ^AR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 repression of the circulation of the local banks as should compel them 
 either to come into the national system, or to cease to be banks of circu- 
 lation. 
 
 The success of this system has surpassed even the largest anticipations 
 of its friends. Though vehemently opposed at first by the local banks 
 and their friends, it has triumphed over all opposition, and is to-day the 
 prevalent system of banking in the United States. Ere long the banks 
 chartered under State authority must all come into this system, or cease 
 to be banks of issue. The rapidity of the organization or conversion of 
 these banks is best illustrated by the following table : 
 
 Date. No. of banks. Aggregate capital. 
 
 Dec. 11, 1868 152 $18,000,000 
 
 Nov. 25, 1864, . . . '. 584 108,964,000 
 
 June 24, 1865 1,334 820,924,601 
 
 Oct. 31, 1865 1,601 425,000,000 
 
 Of these sixteen hundred and one banks, six hundred and seventy-nine 
 •were original organizations, and nine hundred and twenty-two conversions 
 from State institutions. It is worthy of remark, that the number of State 
 banks and banking associations in the United States, in January, 1861, 
 just before the outbreak of the Rebellion, was sixteen hundred and one, 
 precisely the number of national banks on the 31st of October, 1365, and 
 their capital was four hundred and twenty-nine million five hundred and 
 ninety-three thousand dollars, differing very slightly from that of the 
 national banks. 
 
 The banks throughout the northern States suspended specie payments 
 nbout the first of January, 1862. As a consequence of this suspension, 
 and the increased amount of currency in circulation, the currency soon 
 aegan to depreciate, or, as it was generally said, gold was enhanced in 
 value. The increase of the national debt, as the war progressed, the 
 occurrence of disasters to the national cause, unfortunate experiments in 
 financial legislation* the existence of cliques commanding large amounts 
 of capital, and sometimes connected with foreign banking houses in the 
 Rebel interest, and the resort to all means, legitimate and illegitimate, to 
 raise di.strust in regard to the national solvency, all served to enhance the 
 price of gold, and to produce those extraordinary fluctuations in its market 
 value, which greatly deranged prices, and brought ruin to thousands, 
 while they made the fortunes of hundreds. 
 
 The expansions and contractions of the currency, to which, for a long 
 ti-me, these fluctuations in the price of gold were attributed, had, it is now 
 conceded, little or nothing to do with it. 
 
 A brief sketch of these fluctuations may be interesting. On the 2d of 
 January, 1862, gold was two per cent, premium. During the year 1862, 
 
SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. 99f 
 
 it gradually advanced to about thirty -two, rising once to thirty-seven, and, 
 subsequently, falling to twenty-nine. January 2, 1863, it was thirty-five, 
 in February it was seventy-one, in April, it fell back to forty-six, and 
 during the next two months, it ranged from forty-four to fifty ; in June, it 
 fell to forty, and in August, to twenty-two ; slowly increasing again, it 
 touched fifty-seven in October, and ranged in the neighborhood of fifty 
 for the remaining months of the year. January 2, 1864, it stood at fifty- 
 two ; but advanced to sixty on the 18th, where it stood, with little varia- 
 tion, for two months, when it began a rapid advance, reaching eighty- 
 three in the latter part of April ; and, after a slight fall, rose to ninety -four 
 on the 30th of May; to ninety-nine on the 10th of June; to one hundred 
 and thirty on the 22d ; and to one hundred and eighty on the 1st of July. 
 On the 11th of July, it touched one hundred and eighty-five premium. 
 From this point it receded to about one hundred and fifty-seven, at which 
 point it remained throughout most of August, but fell on the 80th of that 
 month to one hundred and thirty-one ; on the 27th of September to ninety- 
 four ; and on the 1st of October to eighty-nine — a reduction of nearly one 
 hundred per cent, in eighty days. During October, it commenced rising 
 again, and, on the 1st of November, stood at one hundred and thirty-seven ; 
 and on the 9th, at one hundred and fifty-four. For the remainder of the 
 ^ear, its fluctuations were very violent, often r ising or falling ten or 
 fifteen per cent, in a single day. On the 81st of December, 1864, it stood 
 at one hundred and twenty-seven, and varied very little from that point 
 for several weeks, but Sherman's victories in March, caused it to fall with j 
 
 great rapidity. On the 21st of March, it stood at fifty-three ; .and on the 1 
 
 5th of April, after the evacuation of Richmond, it fell to forty-six. From ! 
 
 this point it declined steadily, till it was below thirty, and then rallied ■ 
 
 again; on the first of August, 1865, it was forty-five, and ranged from 
 'orty-three to forty-eight from that time to the close of the year. 
 
 The national debt, large and burdensome as it is, compares favorably, • 
 
 m every respect, with that of Great Britain in 1815, at the close of the 
 Napoleonic wars. At that time her debt was four thousand one hundred 
 and eighty-three millions of dollars, or nearly two hundred and thirty- 
 three dollars per head to her population of eighteen millions, while her 
 valuation in 1821, six years later, was but ten thousand six hundred and i 
 
 ninety-eight millions, six hundred thousand dollars. The property of the I 
 
 United States in 1860, deducting the valuation of the slaves, was reported 
 in the census (though this estimate has since been demonstrated to have 
 been far below the truth) as fourteen thousand one hundred and twenty- 
 six millions five hundred and twenty-three thousand six hundred and 
 eeventy-six dollars, and the debt was but eighty-one dollars and forty- 
 three cents per head. Yet the debt of Great Britain, far from crushing her 
 energies, has only stimulated her people to greater enterprise, and now, with 
 her debt reduced only two or three hundred millions of dollars, she has a 
 
 i 
 
99t; THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 valnation of about eighty-five thousand millions of dollars, or more than 
 eight times the amount of fortj years ago. She has, it is true, immense 
 resources in her commerce, manufactures, and mines of coal, copper, iron, 
 and tin ; but in none of these respects has she greater advantages, either 
 present or prospective, than the Uaited States; while the vast mineral 
 wealth of this coiAtry in gold, silver, quicksilver, petroleum, and other 
 products, far surpasses that of Great Britain or any other country in the 
 world ; and her agricultural staples of grain, maize, butter, cheese, beef, 
 cotton, and wool, open to her the markets of all nations. The com- 
 merce of the United States, which suffered severely during the war from 
 the devastations of the Anglo-Rebel privateers, is fast recovering from its 
 depression, and will soon greatly exceed its former status, and it will nol 
 be long ere no sea on the globe shall rest unvexed by American keels ; 
 no waters but shall be whitened by its sails. With its abundant ports oa 
 both the Atlantic and Pacific shores, it cannot fail to become the leading 
 commercial nation of the globe, the common carrier for all nations. If 
 there should be no foreign wars to derange its finances, and increase its 
 indebtedness, the year of our Lord 1900 will undoubtedly see the nation 
 free from its burden of debt. 
 
 The destruction of property by the war, and the expenditures of the 
 Rebel government during its four years' struggle, should, in justice, be 
 reckoned as a part of the losses of property by the nation, or at least by 
 a section of it. The Rebel debt, according to their own statement, in 
 January, 1865, was one thousand five hundred and fifty millions of dol- 
 lars, and this after it had been reduced by a scaling process, which had 
 cut down the value of their notes aud bonds more than one half. Besides 
 this, they had two foreign loans, amounting to about fifteen millions in 
 gold, which were partially secured by cotton already shipped. This debt, 
 incurred mostly to their own citizens, is justly and rightfully repudiated 
 by their complete defeat and surrender, and constitutes an actual destruc 
 tiiHi to nearly the full amount, of the property of southern citizens, the 
 result of their mad attempt to overthrow the government of tht. United 
 States. Add to this, the slave property emancipated in consequence of 
 the war, and which in 1860, was valued by the marshals at one thousand 
 nine hundred and seventy-six millions, four hundred thousand five 
 hundred dollars; and add, still further, the property destroyed by the 
 Union armies and cavalry expeditions in the insurgent States, including 
 vessels, houses, public buildings, manufactures, arms and munitions of 
 war, wagons, cattle, horses, mules, sheep, hogs and poultry, clothing, cot 
 ton, tobacco, breadstufis, forage, etc., and the vast quantities destroyed 
 by tlie Rebels themselves to prevent its falling into Union hands, and 
 you have a sum exceeding one tliousand millions more, the destruc- 
 tion of the last eight months of the war being more than five hundred 
 millions. 
 
UNION LOSSES BY RAIDS. 997 
 
 Large amounts of property, thougli little as compared with this, was de- 
 stroyed or carried away by the Rebels, in their incursions into Kentucky, 
 Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and Penn- 
 sylvania, and, as we have shown elsewhere, the losses inflicted by the 
 AngloRebelprivateers were of very considerable magnitude. 
 
 Taking the whole amount of these various losses, together with the 
 national debt, and the aggregate destruction of values (of which, how- 
 ever, a very considerable portion was expended in the maintenance of 
 the more than two millions of men placed in the field by both sides), was 
 not far from eight thousand millions of dollars. 
 
 There was a class of expenditures made in consequence of the war, 
 upon which, however, we can look with far greater complacency than 
 upon the sad and ruinous waste of war, since it was for the most part the 
 free gift of patriotic and loyal citizens. When the several calls were 
 made for troops by the General Government, the State legislatures voted, 
 almost unanimously, liberal bounties, in addition to those offered by the 
 national authorities, and, in many instances, further stimulated enlistments 
 by providing for the families of volunteers. Counties, and often cities, 
 towns, and wards, also aided in this work to a vast amount in the aggre- 
 gate. Municipalities, also, in many instances, granted large sums for 
 hand-money, for raising and equipping regiments, and, in some instances, 
 for local or harbor defences. The aggregate of these appropriations is 
 known to have considerably exceeded two hundred millions. 
 
 The sums contributed by individuals for the same or similar objects, 
 are less easily ascertained. In the case of the Union Defence fund in New 
 York, or the great contribution in Philadelphia, they reached the amount 
 of five or six hundred thousand dollars, and in single instances they 
 amounted to from ten to fifty thousand dollars. In addition to bounties, 
 and aid for soldiers' families, one citizen gave to his country a vessel for 
 a war steamer, then valued at eight hundred thousand dollars. Others 
 gave their commissions, or salaries for services rendered the Government, 
 to the amount of many thousand dollars. The heirs of one man of 
 wealth, following out the wishes of their deceased relative, gave one million 
 of dollars to found a Home for disabled soldiers, and others contributed 
 tlieir tens and hundreds of thousands to found homes for the children of 
 deceased or disabled soldiers, or scholarships where young soldiers, or the 
 children of the older ones, might obtain a collegiate education. 
 
 Still more remarkable was the beneficence flowing from thousands and 
 tens of thousands of small rills, which in the aggregate made up the over- 
 flowing stream of charity for the brave men who had fought the nation's 
 battles, and who smitten by malaria in the pestilential swamps of the 
 South, or wounded in the deadly strife, needed tender nursing, and the 
 abundant delicacies to tempt the fickle appetite or administer to the 
 enfeebled body strength and healing The Government, through ito 
 
90S THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Medical Bureau, endeavored to provide me<licines and plain food for the 
 flick; but it was not always possible, especially on a rapid march, or ia 
 the event of an unexpected battle, to provide even these; and there was still 
 need of articles not provided by the diet tables of the Bureau, as well as 
 of hospital furniture and clothing, beyond what the Department could 
 furnish. 
 
 The scurvy, too, was to be provided against, and that direful evil which 
 has more than ouce wrought such destruction in large armies, presented 
 once and again its fearful symptoms, in the Union armies, only to be beaten 
 back by the free use of vegetable food, and sub-acids, furnished by the 
 watchful care of the selfconstituted guardians of the soldier's welfare. 
 The discharged soldier who had left the hospital faint, weak, and unfit 
 for travel, yet homeless and shelterless, was also to be cared for and pro- 
 tected from the harpies, who would prey upon the unwary ; the wages, 
 bounty, back pay, and pensions of the weak and disabled, to be collected ; 
 and the watching, waiting, and suffering ones, who, at home, looked anx- 
 iously for intelligence of the condition of the sick or wounded husband, 
 father, or brother, to be cheered by tidings of bis convalescence; or, alas, 
 sometimes saddened by the intelligence of his death. 
 
 This work was undertaken spontaneously in all parts of the country, 
 by individuals and associations whose hearts prompted them to these 
 noble deeds; but with so many irresponsible parties, many of them unex- 
 perienced, there was some clashing of interests and of labors; and while 
 the intentions of all parties were pure and praiseworthy, the zeal with 
 which their duties were performed, was not always according to knowl- 
 edge. Yet a vast amount of good was accomplished by these earnest 
 laborers. The hospitals were visited constantly and with untiring inter- 
 est, and the sick and wounded received the ministrations of fair, highly 
 educated and delicately reared womea, who, moved to heroic deeds by 
 their sympathy for the brave souls who bad hazarded all for their country, 
 gave themselves wholly to the work of caring for them ; and following in 
 the wake of the armies, brought food and cordials and medicine to tlie 
 wounded and dying on the battle-field, as well as those gentle ministrations 
 which so often aided powerfully in their recovery. The scorching sun 
 of a semi-tropical clime, and the icy cold of the winters in the mountain- 
 ous regions of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, were alike 
 braved by these noble women, who, in numerous instances, sacrificed their 
 own lives in the effort to save those of their brave defenders. 
 
 But as the war progressed, the necessity of gathering these diverse and 
 somewhat intermittent efforts, into one common organization, grew more 
 and more evident, and the Sanitary Cummission,organized at the beginning 
 of the war, for the systematic accomplishment of these and other measures of 
 benefit to the soldiers and sailors, gradually drew the smaller associations, 
 as well as many of the individual workers, into its own more oompreheosiva 
 
THE SANITARY COMMISSION. 999 
 
 organization. Operating upon the loyal masses through its branches, and 
 the twelve thousand auxiliary Ladies' Aid or Soldiers' Aid Societies 
 scattered through every county and town of the loyal North, it reached 
 the soldier in the camp, in the field, or in the hospital, ascertained his con- 
 dition and needs, and the attention he received, supplemented with a liberal 
 though not too lavish hand, the supplies allowed him by the Government, 
 received him, when discharged from the hospital, into its " Homes," until 
 his health was so fully restored, as to enable him to return to his home* 
 collected for him, without charge, arrears of pay and bounties, and pro- 
 tected him from being fleeced by sharpers. Its agents and directors 
 marched with the armies in the field, and ministered to the wounded on 
 the battle-ground, and to the sick in the field hospitals. Its Hospital 
 Directory recorded the names of every one of the sick and wounded sol- 
 diers in the general, post, and field hospitals, and gave a brief history of 
 the progress and termination of each case, so far as possible, and this 
 information was freely at the service of any friend, who would inquire for 
 it, either in person or by letter. They also furnished, so far as practicable, 
 employment to the soldiers after the war, and procured, without charge, 
 pensions for the families of those who had fallen in battle. In these 
 various ways, the United States Sanitary Commission disbursed in money 
 and supplies, about seventeen millions of dollars. 
 
 The Western Sanitary Commission, a smaller, but exceedingly efficient 
 organization, having its headquarters at St. Louis, operated mainly on 
 the Mississippi river and its tributaries, and rendered most efficient aid 
 to the sufi'ering soldiers in the "West. It also took under its care the 
 freedmen of the Mississippi valley, and for many mouths gave aid and 
 shelter, and help also, to the white refugees from the South. It expended, 
 in money and supplies, between three and four millions of dollars. 
 
 There was a necessity also, for attention to the moral and intellectual 
 welfare of the soldiers, and this, together with liberal supplies of physical 
 comforts, was provided for by the United States Christian Commission, 
 an organization having its headquarters in Philadelphia, but with 
 branches and auxiliaries in all parts of the country. It sought to supply 
 the religious and intellectual wants of the soldiers, by its chapels and 
 chapel-tents, in which preaching and other religious services were held ; 
 by its supplies of bibles, testaments, hymn-books, libraries newspapers, 
 and magazines, in field, camp, post, and hospital ; and also ministered to 
 the sick and wounded, aiding in all enterprises to promote their comfort 
 and welfare. About four and a half millions of dollars have been expended 
 by this Commission. 
 
 The wants of the freedmen, many of whom came into the Union lines 
 in a condition of great destitution, and who were in pressing need of 
 clothing, instruction, and the necessary implements for obtaining a liveli- 
 hood, attracted the attention of the charitable, and numerous Freedmen's 
 
1000 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Aid Societies were organized throughout the country, to furnish them 
 with teachers and with whatever else they needed. Near the close of the 
 war, these several societies were consolidated into one organization, the 
 Freedmen's Aid Conamission, co-operating with the Freedmen's Bureau 
 of the Government; and in December, 1865, this organization fused with 
 the American Union Commission, and the two henceforth form a single 
 Commission, having for its object the promotion of the interest of both 
 the freedmen and the white refugees. 
 
 The American Union Commission had, previous to this consolidation, 
 been actively engaged in the work of aiding, instructing, and endeavor- 
 ing to elevate the moral and intellectual nature of the whites who had 
 fled from the South, and who were in great destitution and suflering. 
 
 The love for the brave defenders of the Union, and the spirit of 
 patriotism and loyalty which the war evoked, has led to great efforts to 
 hallow and beautify the places where the sons of the nation, dead on the 
 field of battle, are laid. At Gettysburg, at Antietam, at Ball's BluS) at 
 Chattanooga, at Perry ville, and at Stone river, cemeteries of considerable 
 extent have been laid out, and the dead heroes have been laid there with 
 all tenderness and love. The several States have borne their respective 
 sliares of the expense of these hallowed spots. But most sacred of all, his 
 been that spot where, amid the horrors of cold, of nakedness, and of starva- 
 tion, worse crowded than were the victims of the Black Hole of Calcutta, 
 the brave but hapless sons of the Union who had the misfortune to fall into 
 Eebel hands, fourteen thousand in number, welcomed death as the release 
 from the brutal inhumanity of their jailors. At Andersonville, so soon 
 as access could be obtained to that vile lazar-house, a cemetery was laid 
 out, and the graves, so far as could be ascertained, each received its head- 
 board, with the name of the quiet sleeper below. In this work of love 
 and reverence, woman's hands assisted, and she* who had been the 
 soldiers' tenderest and most thoughtful friend in life, wept over the graves 
 of those whose fate had been so cruel and inhuman. 
 
 The philanthropy evoked by the war in other directions, has been 
 noble and large-handed. The famine-stricken operatives of Lancashire, 
 of Ireland, and of the manufacturing districts of France, have received 
 from the citizens of the United States food to the value of half a million 
 of dollars ; colleges have been founded or endowetl with nearly ten 
 millions of dollars, on the principle that a general diffusion of intelli- 
 gence is the best safeguard against anarchy and rebellion ; libraries, 
 museums and scientific institutions have had their funds largely increased ; 
 twelve millions of dollars have been expended in relieving churches 
 from debt, or erecting new church edifices; orphan asylums and homes 
 for disabled and infirm soldiers have been established and supplied with 
 
 • Miss Clara H. Barton, of Washington. 
 
EFFECTS OF ITS LIBERALITY. 1001 
 
 ample endowments, and the treasuries of every organization of Christian 
 benevolence have been kept full to the overflowing, although they have 
 greatly enlarged their operations. The nation had become daring the 
 long years of peace, like Great Britain, a nation of shopkeepers, but the 
 rough hand of war has stripped the covering of selfishness from it, and 
 has elevated and sublimated the motives and temper of the people in such 
 a way as a century of peace could never have done. 
 
1002 THE CIVIL WAB IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIV. 
 
 REVIEW OF THE WAR. 
 
 The narrative of the progress of the war given in the preceding pages 
 has necessarily confined itself to its battles and minor engagements ; 
 describing incidentally the tactics of particular battles or campaigns, but 
 devoting less attention to the strategctic plans which prompted and 
 guided its leading movements. It may be well to notice the principal 
 campaigns of the war, and show how far they were the developments of a 
 predetermined plan or plans of operations, having in view, as their grand 
 purpose, the overthrow of the Rebellion. 
 
 In the movements of the summer and early autumn of 1861, it would 
 be difficult to discover any well defined plan of strategy. With the 
 exception of the short, and, as compared with the late war, inconsiderable 
 campaigns of the Mexican war, the country had been at peace for nearly 
 fifty years, and its citizens, devoted to the arts of peace, were wholly un- 
 skilled in the exercises and discipline of the camp or battle-field. 
 Assembling from motives of the highest patriotism, at the President's call, 
 they reached the heights around Washington with the fewest possible 
 ideas of military life and its duties, and required, to fit them for efficient 
 service, a training of some months, a longer period than that for which 
 they had enlisted. The venerable Lieutenant-General, bending under the 
 weight of three score and fifteen years, and infirm with the wounds of his 
 earlier victories, found himself called upon to plan the campaigns of a war 
 vastly exceeding, in extent and the number of its troops, any conflict 
 with which he had been familiar in his more vigorous days, and this 
 almost wholly with raw and undisciplined troops, and surrounded by 
 spies, who communicated his plans to the enemy as fast as they were 
 formed. Some weeks were, of course, consumed in reducing the chaotic 
 mass to order, in arranging in regiments, brigades, and divisions, the 
 brave but unorganized troops which poured, day after day, into the 
 Capital, and the other principal points of rendezvous. Commanders were 
 to be selected for the brigades and divisions ; a delicate task, when hardly 
 one of those who were placed in command had ever led any thing more 
 than a company, or at most, a battalion, into battle. The Quartermaster- 
 General's, Commissary-General's, and Surgeon-General's bureaus were to 
 be reorganized and fitted for their greatly increased spheres of action. 
 While this work was going on, and before the organization of the army 
 was any thing like complete ; when not one man in fifty knew his brigade 
 commander by sight, and not one in five hundred his division commander, 
 
REVIEW OF THE WAR. 1003 
 
 a popular clamor of " On to Eichmond " was raised, which became, with 
 each succeeding day, louder and more persistent. General Scott had at 
 first devised other plans for a campaign, rightly deeming Eichmond not 
 the first objective in the war. But his plans were constantly exposed to 
 the enemy, and at last he consented to a movement for which the troops 
 were in no respect prepared. Two battles had been fought in Western 
 Virginia, and both had been successful, the second resulting in the sur- 
 render of the Confederate force to General McClellan, who commanded 
 the Union troops. These two actions, of no great magnitude, had given 
 to the Union troops in the vicinity of Washington, who were, as yet, 
 wholly without experience, an overweening confidence in their ability to 
 defeat the Confederates without di.Ticult}', and they were eager for the 
 advance. On the 21st of July, the battle of Bull Eun was fought, and 
 though the Union troops did better than raw troops could be expected to 
 do, and up to the middle of the afternoon possessed the advantage, which 
 they would have maintained, had not a large reinforcement from 
 Johnston's force, under command of General E. Kirby Smith, come up at 
 the critical moment ; yet the disgraceful panic and rout which followed 
 was evidence enough of the lack of discipline and training among them. 
 
 Most of the other fighting of the year 1861 was desultory in its charac- 
 ter; and though some of it was creditable to the troops engaged, and 
 gave evidence of minor strategic plans, still the commanding ofl&cers had 
 not, as yet, any well considered or comprehensive plan for the manage- 
 ment of the war. The movements in Missouri, before and after the 
 appointment of General Fremont to the command of the Western Depart- 
 ment, indicated a purpose to drive the Confederates out of the State, but 
 hardly any thing beyond. The occupation of Cairo, urged, by western 
 men because it was a point of importance ; the subsequent seizure of 
 Paducah and Smithland by General Grant, and the attack on Belmont, 
 were hardly more than isolated operations having reference to a possible 
 future movement, but one not, as yet, fully digested. Nor was the 
 miserable disaster at Ball's Bluff, nor the affair at Drauesville, of much 
 greater moment in a strategic point of view. 
 
 After the battle of Bull Eun, General McClellan, became the active — as 
 lie was, after November 1st, the actual — general-inchief of tlie army. 
 lie possessed rare talent for organizing and disuipUuing an army, and 
 for several months his attention was bestowed almost exclusively upon 
 this necessary work. In the autumn, the general plan of operations 
 known, subsequently, as the "Anaconda System," was broached. It was 
 said to have originated with General Scott, but met the approval of 
 General McClellan. The features of the plan were the encircling the 
 entire insurgent States by a cordon of posts and armies, those on the coast 
 to be wrenched from their possession by joint laud and naval expeditions, 
 and the interior ones by a forward movement and intrenchments by the 
 
1004 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 armies of the Union. This cordon was to be contracted gradually, till the 
 Rebellion was completely crushed by it, and the insurgent armies com- 
 pelled, by the cutting off of their supplies, to yield to avoid starvation. 
 So vast was the territory to be thus encircled, that it was impossible to 
 raise armies large enough to accomplish the work effectively. Yet upon 
 this theory hinged all the operations of the sueceeditig two or three years. 
 
 The first fruits of this system, were the fitting out of expeditions to 
 capture Forts Hatteras and Clark, on the North Carolina coast, and Forts 
 Beauregard and Walker, defending the fine harbor of Port Royal, both of 
 which proved successful during the autumn. The Burnside expedition, 
 which had for its object the capture of Roanoke island, Plymouth, New- 
 bern, and Fort Macon ; and the New Orleans expedition of Farragut and 
 General Butler, both initiated during the autumn, though not carried to a 
 successful termination till the next year, belonged to the same system. 
 Key West and Fort Pickens, Florida, had been held from the beginning 
 of the war, and the occupation of the Atlantic coast of Georgia and Florida 
 was to be accomplished by a subordinate expedition, to be fitted out from 
 Hilton Head. All of the Atlantic and Gulf coast, then, was provided for 
 in the contemplated movements, except the four prominent ports of 
 Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, and Mobile. The blockade of these 
 ports was maintained, though not with any great strictness, and the 
 blockade runners managed, in spite of the utmost efforts of the blockading 
 squadrons, to run into them with an annoying frequency. 
 
 In the interior, the anaconda movement, though as yet not very formid- 
 able, yet promised fairly. General Halleck, who had succeeded General 
 Fremont in command of the Western Department, liad his armies in three 
 columns, in connection with the upper Mississippi squadron, preparing to 
 move forward over a line more than three hundred miles in breadth, from 
 the Mississippi river on the west to eastern Kentucky on the east, under 
 command of his faithful lieutenants. Grant, Buell, and Thomas, with Flag- 
 Officer Foote in command of the naval force. 
 
 In the East, there seemed a reluctance on the part of the general-in- 
 chief to move forward. Until November or December the large force under 
 his command were not perhaps sufficiently organized or trained, to be 
 regarded as in fighting condition. After that time the condition of the 
 roads was made the excuse for delay, though hardly a sufficient one, for 
 the enemy, in greatly inferior numbers, lay less than thirty miles distant, a 
 part of them, indeed, within less than ten miles, yet there was no forward 
 movement. The order for an advance on the 22d of February, 18(32, was 
 given by the President, but no advance was made till the 8th of March, 
 when it was ascertained that the Confederates had abandoned their camps 
 at Manassas Junction and its vicinity, and moved southward toward the 
 Rapidan. The lower Potomac had been blockaded, by the Confederates 
 through the autumn and winter, and though the Union forces held 
 
REVIEW OF THE WAR. 1006 
 
 Fortress Monroe, Hampton, and Newport News, they had not been able 
 to gain any further foothold on the adjacent coasts. Maryland was, as yet 
 in some portions, quasi rebellious and was held by Union troops near 
 Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore. 
 
 Returning from the fruitless march to Manassas, General McClellan 
 embarked his main army on transports to descend the Potomac and 
 Chesapeake bay to Fortress Monroe, and the Peninsula. A garrison was left 
 for Washington. A small corps with General Banks in the Shenandoah 
 valley, and another, under McDowell, marched toward Fredericksburg, to 
 menace Eichmoud from the north, while a considerable body of troops 
 from the west, under the command of General Fremont, in the Moun- 
 tain Department of Western Virginia, threatened the communications with 
 that city from the west. 
 
 The plan for the capture of the Confederate capital seemed to be judi- 
 cious and well arranged, and high hopes were entertained of its success. 
 Yet the campaigns which followed daring the spring and summer proved 
 complete failures, from several causes. General McClellan took with him 
 to the Peninsula, about one hundred and ten thousand men, and found at 
 Yorktown, to which he presently advanced, some not very strong earth- 
 works, garrisoned by a Confederate force not exceeding, at first, twenty thou- 
 sand men. It would not have been difficult to have carried the position 
 by assault, and then a rapid march on Richmond would have found it com- 
 paratively weak, and it would have fallen an easy prey to the captor. 
 But he preferred the slower operations of the siege, and the Confederate 
 General Johnston had thus the opportunity to collect his forces for its 
 defence, and the protection and fortifications of Richmond, which had 
 been confided to General Lee. A month was consumed in the siege, and 
 then Johnston finding that the place would soon be untenable, evacuated 
 it, and retreated to Williamsburg. Here, on the 5th of May, a battle 
 occurred between the Union and Confederate forces, in which from the 
 want of proper. reconnoissance in the beginning; the Union troops were 
 caught in a slaughter pen, where they experienced fearful loss. The fol- 
 lowing morning, the Confederates had retreated toward Richmond, leaving, 
 however, a considerable force near West Point, Virginia, who fought, on 
 the 7th, a severe battle with the Union troops of Franklin's division. The 
 pursuit of the Confederates, toward Richmond, was conducted very lei- 
 surely, three weeks having elapsed before the Chickahominy was crossed, 
 though, in that malarious region, sickness was making sad havoc with the 
 Union army. On the 30th of May, a small force having been thrown 
 across the Chickahominy two days before, the Confederates came out of 
 Richmond, and attacked them. The first day, the Union forces were 
 repulsed and forced back with heavy loss, but reinforcements having come 
 over in the evening, they aSsumed the offensive the next day, and drove 
 the Confederates within two miles of Richmond, wounding Johnston 
 
1006 THE CIVIL WAR IN THK UNITED STATRS, 
 
 severely, and, it was subsequently ascertained, could have oii'ered that citv, 
 had they not been recalled by General McClellan. For nearly four weeks 
 more, General McClellan continued to fortify the banks of the Chicka- 
 hominy and to strengthen his position. M( anwhile, in other portions of 
 Virginia, important movements were taking place. General Banks, in the 
 lower Shenandoah valley, had driven the small Rebel force before him, and 
 ascended the valley as far as New Market, but subsequently fell back to 
 Strasburg and Front Royal. Here, on the 23d of May, he was attacked by 
 "Stonewall " Jackson with a large force, and compelled to make a hasty, 
 though skilful retreat to Martinsburg, and Williamsport on the Potomac. 
 The object of this expedition of Jackson was not so much to punish 
 Banks, as to create a panic in Washington, and compel the withdrawal of 
 McDowell's and Fremont's forces from their position, which threatened, 
 and endangered Richmond. It produced its intended effect. McDowell 
 and Fremont were both ordered to go instantly in pursuit of Jackson. 
 They did so, McDowell sending Shields, and Fremont going in person, 
 came upon his rear near Front Royal, and followed him in his masterly 
 retreat up the Shenandoah valley, where twice he paused to fight them 
 and secure the safetx' of his trains, and the battles both being indecisive, 
 he withdrew and made good his escape, having delayed an attack on Rich- 
 mond till Lee was largely reinforced and having recruited his own corps 
 much beyond its losses, on his rapid march. General McClellan's army 
 at this time numbered one hundred and fifty-eight thousand men, but 
 thirty-eight thousand were sick, wounded, or deserters, and but one hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand effective. He had in some way gained the 
 impression, since proved to be erroneous, that Lee's army greatly outnum- 
 bered his, and that, aside from Jackson's force, which he estimated at fifty 
 thousand, Lee had two hundred thousand effective troops in Richmond 
 and its vicinity. In fact, the Confederate army in and about Ri('liniond, 
 at this time, exclusive of Jackson's corps, did not much if at all exceed 
 fifty thousand effectives, to which, on his return, in the latter part of June, 
 Jackson added about forty thousand more. But, fully impressed with this 
 belief, General McClellan, instead of using his fine army to carry Rich- 
 mond by assault, suffiired it to lie idle in those malarious swamps, and 
 constantly importuned the Government to send him more troop.s, a matter 
 of impossibility to them, beyond the few who could be spared from 
 McDowell's corps, who were sent promptly. After wa.sting much valua- 
 ble time in these useless complaints and importunities, he. on the eve of 
 Jackson's return, fought two battles, in the second of which Jackson par- 
 ticipated, employing less than half his force in cither, and when his troops 
 were defeated in the second, put in execution a plan he had for some time 
 contemplated, of raising the siege of Richmond, and retreating with his 
 army across the Peninsula to Harri.son's LaWing, fifteen miles by land 
 from Richmond. The retreat was conducted with skill, but vast quanti- 
 
REVIEW OP THE -WAR. lOOT 
 
 ties of stores were sacrificed, very many of the wounded left in the Lands 
 of the enemy, and a number of severe battles fought, before the Union 
 army could gain its new position, where it was covered by the gunboats. 
 The loss of the army of the Potomac, in these seven days of fighting and 
 retreating, in killed, wounded, sick, stragglers, and deserters, did not fall 
 below thirty thousand men. 
 
 The new position was not less sickly than the old, and though General 
 McClellan received a large part of Burnside's corps as reinforcements, he 
 did not deem them sufficient to enable him to attack Richmond, and called 
 for more. ' General Halleck, who had been, meantime, appointed general- 
 in-chief, finally ordered him to remove his army to Aquia Creek and 
 Alexandria, where their services were needed. General McClellan pro- 
 tested, but, after some weeks' delay, finally embarked with his army. 
 
 Meanwhile, after Jackson's escape from pursuit, the Government decide4 
 to consolidate Fremont's, Banks', and McDowell's corps, or rather the 
 remaining fragments of them, with Bayard's cavalry and some new 
 recruits, into the army of Virginia, under the command of Major-General 
 Pope, and this army, numbering not more than forty thousand troops, was 
 sent forward to threaten Richmond from the north, and thus, by diverting 
 Lee's attention, to give General McClellan a better opportunity to capture 
 Richmond. General Pope issued a somewhat grandiloquent proclamation 
 to his troops on taking command, but his handling of the troops was 
 remarkably skilful and able. He advanced to the Rappahannock, and 
 threatened Lee's communications, but soon found that the Confederate 
 general, entertaining no fears of an attack by General McClellan upon 
 Richmond, was marching with his whole force, of between ninety thousand 
 and one hundred thousand men, upon him. The delay in the embarkation 
 of the army of the Potomac, from which alone he could receive any con- 
 siderable reinforcements, compelled him to fight, with his greatly inferior 
 force, a series of retreating battles, while with so great disparity of force, 
 there was danger of his losing his trains, or being surrounded and com- 
 pelled .to surrender. The retreat was a masterly one, and though his 
 losses were heavy, and he was not so well supported as he should have 
 been by the array of the Potomac, he succeeded in bringing his wearied 
 and half-starved, but not demoralized heroes into the fortifications around 
 "Washington, in perfect order. Lee, having succeeded in pushing Pope's 
 army out of his track, moved, by way of Leesburg, into Maryland, in- 
 tending to carry the war, which had hitherto, on his part, been defensive, 
 into the Northern States. 
 
 The army of the Potomac having reached Alexandria in the last days 
 of August, was ready, in connection with the remainder of the army of 
 Virginia, to pursue the invader, and the whole force, being put under 
 the command of General McClellan, marched northward. Harper's Ferry 
 was shamefully surrendered to the Confederate General Hill by its gar- 
 
1008 THK CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rison, but the pursuing army overtook a part of the invaders at South 
 mountain, on the 14th of September, and after a severe battle, drove them 
 over the mountain. On the 17th, a severe battle, the bloodiest of the war 
 thus far, w;is fought on the banks of Antietam creek. It was indecisive, 
 though the advantage was slightly on the side of the Union army, which 
 was, moreover, within reach of large reinforcements. On the morrow, 
 Lee could not, and McClellan would not renew the battle, and on the day 
 following, Lee withdrew across the Potomac, and made his way leisurely 
 toward the Eapidan. General McClellan followed very slowly, and it was 
 nearly three weeks before his army had wholly crossed the -Potomac. 
 His delays occasioned much dissatisfaction on the part of the Government, 
 and on the 7th of November he was removed from command, and General 
 Burnside appointed his successor. The selection was unfortunate, for 
 General Burnside, though an excellent corps commander, and a man of 
 great moral worth, was not so pre-eminent above the other corps com- 
 manders of the army, that they would receive bis promotion without 
 jealousy. He accepted the command with great reluctance, and moved 
 forward, embarrassed and delayed from the first by jealousies, bickerings, 
 and misunderstandings, and having determined to fight the Confederate 
 army at Fredericksburg, crossed the Eappahannock on the 12th of De- 
 cember, and on the 13th, fought the disastrous battle of Fredericksburg, 
 in which his troops were hurled repeatedly against the massive walls of 
 the Kebcl defences, with no other result than their slaughter in fearful 
 numbers, and were finally withdrawn across the Rappahannock to Fal- 
 mouth. 
 
 The gloominess of this picture of the results of the war in the East, is 
 somewhat relieved by the larger measure of success which had attended 
 the Union armies in the West. The armies of the Western Department 
 moved forward early in the year, in their work of forcing back the Rebel- 
 lion from Kentucky, which its waves had partially overflowed, and from 
 Tennessee, which was completely submerged by it. The left wing of the 
 grand army, under General Thomas, moved first, repulsing the Rebels at 
 Camp Wildcat, and on the 19th and 20th of January, defeating and rout- 
 ing their forces at Logan's Cross Roads and Mill Spring, under Zollicofler 
 and Crittenden, the first of these commanders being slain in the battle. 
 The right wing, under Grant, and the naval force, under Flag-OfBccr 
 Foote, moved next, capturing Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, after a brief 
 action; compelling the "unconditional surrender" of Fort Donelson, on 
 the Cumberland, with its garrison of thirteen thousand men, after a four 
 days' siege; flanking Columbus, Kentucky, where the Confederate General 
 Polk had fortified himself till the place was a complete Gibraltar, and also 
 rendering Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the Confederate commander- 
 in-chief, General Albert Sydney Johnson, had gathered his principal 
 army, untenable. As Polk retreated down the Mississippi, the squadron, 
 
REVIEW OP THE WAR. 1009 
 
 undfer Flag-Officer Foote, pursued, and laid siege to Island Number Ten, 
 wliere he again took possession of strong works ; while Buell, with the 
 centre of the western army, pursued Johnston, who fled to and through 
 Nashville, at whose gates Grant was already demanding admittance. The 
 Confederate army found no resting place in Middle Tennessee, but passed 
 on to Corinth, Mississippi, a point which, from its railroad connections, 
 possessed great strategic importance. Thitherward the grand army fol- 
 lowed, the right wing, still under command of Grant (now major-general, 
 for bis brilliant victory at Fort Donelson), was in the advance, and 
 ascending the Tennessee, disembarked at Pittsburg Landing, near Shiloh 
 church, about twenty miles from Corinth. Buell's army and Thomas's 
 followed, marching across the country, and greatly delayed by the very 
 heavy condition of the roads. Johnston, the Confederate general, a very 
 able commander, had collected the fragments of his army at Corinth, and 
 gathered there a large body of new troops, and as his force largely out- 
 numbered Grant's, he resolved to attack him before Buell and Thomas 
 could come up, and having crushed his array, repeat the operation with 
 Buell when he came up. Buell was, however, nearer than he supposed, 
 and the delay of one or two days, in consequence of the badness of the 
 roads, rendered his skilfully planned attack a failure. His first onset was, 
 however, successful ; approaching cautiously, and under the cover of a 
 heavy fog, he struck the left flank of Grant's army on the morning of the 
 6th of April, and capturing a part of Prentiss's division, rolled up the 
 left wing, and drove that and the centre back from their camps toward 
 the river. There was severe fighting through the day, and a part of the 
 Union troops stood their ground manfully, while others fled and skulked ; 
 but when the Rebel force had driven them within half a mile of the river, 
 and were exulting in their victory, they came within range of the Union 
 gunboats, which opened a most destructive fire upon them, and the Union 
 troops rallying and massing their artillery, returned to the charge, and 
 forced the Confederates back in turn. During the night, a part of Buell'a 
 troops and other reinforcements were brought up, and in the morning. 
 Grant assumed the offensive, and drove the Confederate army back toward 
 Corinth. Their commander, Johnston, was killed in the first day's fight, 
 and General Beauregard had taken his place. 
 
 General Halleck now took command in person, and after a siege of 
 several weeks, Beauregard evacuated Corinth as a matter of strategy, in- 
 tending to compel a distribution of Halleck's army, which could not, in 
 consequence of the unhealthiness of Corinth, be long retained in that 
 vicinity, and then it was his purpose to strike them at one or more points 
 above Corinth, and defeating them in detail, repossess Middle Tennessee. 
 This plan was frustrated by the order of Jefferson Davis, relieving Beau- 
 regard from command, and appointing Braxton Bragg his successor. 
 Corinth was not long occupied, however, by any large body of troops. 
 64 
 
1010 THE CIVIL WAR IfT THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The command of General Grant, under the name of the army of the Ten- 
 nessee, was stationed near the Mississippi, where Island Number Ten, and 
 Forts Wright and Pillow having been reduced, the Rebel fleet destroyed, 
 and Memphis surrendered, the Union troops held with but little opposition, 
 the whole of West Tennessee. General Buell's army, with which 
 Thomas's had been consolidated, now called the " Army of the Ohio," was 
 stationed along the line of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, occupying 
 Huntsville, and the towns east as far as Stevenson. A part of the Rebel 
 forces, under Van Dorn and Sterling Price, made a desperate effort to regain 
 luka and Corinth in September, and the early part of October, but were 
 defeated and routed with terrible loss by General Grant's army, and 
 especially by the corps of Rosecrans, and McPherson's division. In Sep- 
 tember, Bragg resolved to make the effort to regain Middle Tennessee, 
 cut Buell's communications, and lay Kentucky under tribute, and perhaps 
 capture Louisville and Cincinnati. Sending his able lieutenant, E. Kirby 
 Smith, in advance — who passed through the Blue Grass region, established 
 a pretended Confederate government at Frankfort, plundered Lexington, 
 Winchester, Georgetown, and Cyuthiana, and then threatened Cincinnati — 
 General Bragg followed, and approached Nashville, but was compelled to 
 forego his siege of it by the closeness of Buell's pursuit. The Confederate 
 force pushed on to Kentucky, doing a vast deal of mischief and compelling 
 the smaller garrisons of the towns in their way to surrender. Buell pursued 
 as rapidly as he could, but never overtook the Confederates, and finally 
 passed on to Louisville. Bragg now turned back, to return with his 
 plunder to Tennessee, and Buell again pursued, and at Perryville, Kentucky, 
 pressed him so closely that he was compelled to give battle in order to 
 give his trains time to escape. The battle was severe, but indecisive, and 
 Bragg returned to Middle Tennessee, without further annoyance, while 
 Buell fell back to Louisville, where he was relieved of command, and 
 General Rosecrans appointed his successor. The new commander soon 
 moved with his army to Nashville, and at the close of the year, marched 
 upon Murfreesboro, where Bragg held a strong position, and near that 
 town, the battles of Stone river were fought, and though at the first Rose- 
 crans' right wing was crushed and his centre partially driven back, yet 
 the sturdy valor of his troops enabled him to reform them in a new and 
 impregnable position, and on the third day of the battle, to visit Bragg's 
 right wing with such terrible destruction, that his army hastily withdrew 
 from Murfreesboro, and retreated toward Shelbyville. 
 
 The programme of the coast expeditions devised in the closing months 
 of 1861, had been successfully carried out. Roanoke island, Newbern, 
 Plymouth, Washington, North Carolina, Beaufort, North Carolina, More- 
 head City, and Fort ALicon, surrendered to the Union troops, and while 
 an assault on the Confederates on James island, one of the outer defences 
 of Charleston, had been badly managed, and proved unsuccessful, Fort 
 
REVIEW OP THE WAR. 1011 
 
 Pulaski, below Savannah, had been reduced by General Gillmore by a 
 bombardment, at a range hitherto considered impossible. 
 
 The greatest exhibition of naval prowess of the year, and one of the 
 greatest of modern times, was the naval battle on the 24th of April, near 
 Forts St. Philip and Jackson, on the Mississippi, seventy miles below New 
 Orleans. After six days' bombardment of the forts by his squadron, of 
 seventeen gunboats and about twenty mortar schooners, Flag-Officer Far- 
 ragut resolved to run past them, though in so doing he must encounter a 
 boom and chain stretched across the river, floating torpedoes, and fire 
 rafts, sent down by the Rebels for the destruction of his fleet, and the 
 Confederate squadron, about equal in numbers to his own, and several of 
 its vessels iron -clad. The battle was one of terrific grandeur and severity ; 
 but, at its close, thirteen of the Rebel vessels were sunk or destroyed, 
 including their most formidable iron-clad ram, the Manassas, while Far- 
 ragut had lost but one vessel, though two others were partially disabled. 
 Pursuing his way up the Mississippi, New Orleans surrendered to his 
 squadron, and a day or two later the forts also capitulated. He ascended 
 the Mississippi above Vicksburg, and, after an interview with Flag-OSicer 
 Davis, returned. Late in the year he captured Galveston, Texas, but it 
 was retaken by the CJonfederates on the 1st of January, 1863, and two of 
 the Union vessels and many brave men lost in the conflict. Arkansas 
 had been the scene of several desperate battles, in. which, however, the 
 Union troops had been uniformly successful. The year 1863 opened with 
 better auspices. The Union army was greatly enlarged, and more vigorous 
 measures for the prosecution of the war resolved upon, and though the 
 anaconda theory still held sway over the Government, there seemed a 
 better prospect of success than at any time before. 
 
 In the army of the Potomac, after making a plan for another flanking 
 movement against Lee's army, which was thwarted by the intrigues of 
 some of his jealous subordinates, General Burnside offered the Govern- 
 ment the alternative of sanctioning his removal of several of the corps 
 and division commanders or relieving him of the command, and the latter 
 alternative having been accepted. General Hooker was appointed to the 
 command. Hooker greatly improved the morah and discipline of the 
 army; organized, for the first time in its history, a really efficient cavalry 
 corps, and planned a movement very similar to Burnside's to turn Lee's 
 left flank at Chancellorsville, while at the same time he demonstrated on 
 his right at Fredericksburg, and sent Stoneman with his cavalry to cut 
 bis communications with 'Richmond in rear. The plan was admirably 
 conceived; but Lee was fertile in resources, and met it by a counter-flank 
 movement, sending " Stonewall" Jackson to pass around Hooker's right 
 flank near Wilderness church, and roll up his right wing, crowding his 
 centre from the Chancellorsville road toward the Rappahannock. This 
 movement proved Buccessful, the eleventh corps, which formed the right 
 
1012 THE CIVIL TVAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 wing, being partially panic-stricken, and the whole line forced back and 
 away from the Chancellorsville road, so that Lee's army could pass and 
 repass ; and Hooker's sixth corps, commanded by the lamented Sedgwick, 
 after carrying Fredericksburg by assault, were compelled to fight the 
 whole of one day with Lee's entire army. Hooker finally returned across 
 the Kappahannock after sustaining heavy losses, and without the gain of 
 a foot of land. His cavalry had performed a successful raid, destroying 
 a large amount of Confederate property, and penetrating within two miles 
 of Richmond, but they were too late to be of any service to the Union 
 arrny in the battle. 
 
 Flushed with his success, Lee determined to try again the experiment 
 of invading the northern States, and, early in June, commenced moving 
 northward for that purpose. Hooker kept informed of his progress, and 
 moving on interior lines, and having a strong cavalry force, he could, and 
 did, crowd him west of the Bull Run range, and compel him to cross the 
 Potomac high up. All along his route, Hooker's cavalry harassed and 
 annoyed him constantly. At last, it became evident that the two armies 
 would come in collision at or near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. General 
 Hooker was relieved of his command on the 27th of June, and General 
 Meade appointed his successor ; and, on the 1st of July, the great battle 
 commenced, and lasted for three days. The first day, the Rebels were 
 partially successful ; but on the second and third days, though figliting 
 with tlie utmost desperation, they were repulsed at all points, and finally 
 compelled to retreat toward the Potomac, having suffered a loss of nearly 
 or quite one third of their entire army of about one hundred and twenty 
 thousand men. The pursuit on the part of General Meade was not so 
 prompt, resolute, and persistent as it should have been, and, except a 
 skirmish at Falling Waters, Lee was permitted to retire in safety to his 
 former position on the Rapidan. Once during the autumn, an effort was 
 made by each side to break the other's lines and sever the connection of 
 their two wings, but in both cases it proved futile. 
 
 On the coast, aside from some slight affairs in North Carolina, there had 
 been an attempt to pass Fort Sumter and capture Charleston, by Rear- 
 Admiral Dupont, in April, which proved a failure, and the occupation of 
 Morris Island, the substantial reduction of Fort Sumter, the two bloody 
 assaults, the siege and evacuation of Fort Wagner, and the bombardment 
 of Charleston, by General Gillmorc, in the summer. This campaign was 
 brilliantly conducted, but it is a question if it was not a serious mistake. 
 James island was at the time weakly defendeil ; it was more accessible 
 than Morris island, and once captured, Charleston was at the mercy of its 
 captor, and must have surrendered, while from its batteries, opposite 
 Charleston, all the forts of the harbor were seen in reverse, and the city 
 once taken, must have surrendered at discretion. It was found impossible, 
 even after Sumter was only a heap of ruins, to move up the bay to assail 
 
REVIEW OF THE WAR. 1013 
 
 Cbarleston with the iron-clads, and General Gillmore was obliged to con- 
 tent himself with a bombardment of the city, five miles distant. This was 
 quite destructive, but the stubborn garrison would not surrender. 
 
 In the West, Grant, after the unfortunate attack of Sherman upon 
 Chickasaw Bluffs, a part of the defences of Vicksburg, just at the close of 
 1862 (an unfortunate attack, because, through the cowardice of one of 
 Grant's officers in command at Holly Springs, that great depot of supplies 
 for Grant's army was captured by the Rebels, and Grant was thus pre- 
 vented from co-operating with Sherman), the important post of Arkansas 
 was captured by McClernand and Sherman, and the returning troops were 
 landed at Milliken's Bend, where, and at Young's Point, Grant tasked his 
 ingenuity to find a successful plan of operations against Vicksburg. At 
 length, canals, passes, and attempts to enter the Yazoo, or its tributaries, 
 higher up, having all failed. General Grant determined to run some of 
 the gunboats and a number of transports past Vicksburg, and marching 
 his men down the west side of the Mississippi, to cross at Briansburg, 
 thirty miles below Vicksburg, and moving first upon the capital of the 
 State, approach the city from the east. The campaign which followed 
 was one of the most brilliant in history. Fighting six important battles 
 in seventeen days, and defeating the enemy in each he sat down before 
 Vicksburg, on the 18th of May, assaulted the city on the 19th and 22d, 
 but without success, besieged it with great vigor till the 4th of July, and 
 at last compelled its surrender with thirty thousand prisoners, and nearly 
 four hundred guns. Port Hudson followed four days later, after a some- 
 what shorter siege by General Banks, and by the 9th of July the Missis- 
 sippi was once more open to navigation along its whole extent. Arkansas 
 was, during the spring and summer, almost wholly cleared of Confederate 
 troops, either as armies or garrisons. Rosecrans, after the battle of Stone 
 river, remained for some months at Murfreesboro, recruiting bis army, 
 improving his cavalry, and preparing for another campaign. Early in 
 June, he began to advance, drove Bragg's army out of the passes of the 
 mountains, through Shelbyville, Decatur, and Tullahoma, toward Chat- 
 tanooga. He then commenced repairing thoroughly the railroads and 
 bridges leading to Chattanooga, and in the latter part of August was 
 ready to move forward. Chattanooga was too strongly fortified to be taken 
 by any other than a flanking movement, and, therefore, moving his army 
 by the right flank, he sent the three corps to cross Lookout mountain, by 
 three passes, more than forty miles apart, and thence to ascend McLamore's 
 cove from the south, and thus compel its evacuation. The plan succeeded, 
 Bragg evacuated the city, and the Union troops occupied it, but Bragg 
 having been largely reinforced from Virginia, resolved to attack Rose- 
 crans' corps separately, before they could form a junction, and having 
 defeated them, regain possession of Chattanooga. Rosecrans comprehend- 
 ing his intention, succeeded, by almost superhuman exertions, in bring- 
 
1014 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ing the three corps together in McLamore's cove, and there, on the 19tli 
 and 20th of September, occurred the terribly destructive battle of Cbicka- 
 mauga. On the first day, the Union forces held their ground, though 
 opposed by a largely superior force, and the fighting, though severe, was 
 indecisive ; but on the second day, an unfortunate misunderstanding of 
 an order left a gap between two divisions, of which the Confederates 
 promptly took advantage, and a considerable portion of the array, includ- 
 ing General Rosecrans and Generals Crittenden and McCook, corps com- 
 manders, were cut off from the remainder of the army, and being unable 
 to force their way through, were compelled to fall back to Chattanooga. 
 The Confederates now hurled themselves against the remainder of the 
 army, commanded by General Thomas, in full confidence that with their 
 superior force they should easily capture his small force, but the sturdy hero, 
 setting his back against the mountains, fought them all day, and at last, 
 bringing up his reserves, drove them back in a final conflict, and having 
 witnessed their repulse, withdrew his little army to "Ro.ssville, where, the 
 next morning, he drew them up in line of battle and awaited in vain, an 
 attack, all the next day. 
 
 But though Chattanooga was saved, by this desperate fighting, from 
 again falling into the hands of the Confederates, the condition of the troops 
 which held it was, for the next two months, precarious. They had been 
 compelled, from want of sufficient force, to relinquish a position west of 
 the city, which commanded the Tennessee river, and the Confederates had 
 at once occupied it. A part of the railroad to Nashville was also in posses- 
 sion of Bragg's troops, who had captured a portion of their train ; they 
 were compelled to haul their supplies sixty miles over the worst roads in 
 the world, and were in serious danger of starvation, while their animals 
 were perishing for want of forage. Two corps were sent to them from the 
 army of the Potomac ; and two, constituting the army of the Tennessee, 
 now commanded by General Sherman, from the Mississippi. General 
 Rosecrans was relieved from his command. General Thomas appointed 
 commander of the army of the Cumberland, and General Grant was made 
 general of the grand military division of the Mississippi, and took com- 
 mand, in person, at Chattanooga. The battle of Wauhatchie, in October, 
 restored the Tennessee river to the Union troops, and reduced the trans- 
 portation by wagons to ten miles. General Grant had brought his large 
 army into working order, when Bragg, who had just despatched twenty 
 thousand of his troops to besiege Knoxville, which had been occupied by 
 Burnside since early in September, haughtily demanded the removal of 
 the non-combatants from Chattanooga, as he was about to bombard the 
 city. Grant replied by sending Hooker to drive the Confederates from 
 Lookout mountain, and fight the battle " above the clouds ;" suggesting to 
 Thomas the seizure of Orchard Knob; directing Sherman to demonstrate 
 Btrongly and persistently against Fort Buckner, and the cavalry to cut the 
 
EEVIEW OF THE WAK. 1016 
 
 railroads above and east of Chattanooga; and when Sherman's demon- 
 stration had drawn the Confederate troops from Forts Bragg and Breckin- 
 ridge, hurling the fourth corps like a thunderbolt upon Fort Bragg, and 
 driving the enemy from every part of Mission Ridge, and the next day 
 over Pigeon mountain, till they took refuge in the fastnesses of the 
 Chattooga or Rocky Faced Ridge. There had been no more complete 
 and signal victory during the war. 
 
 The year 1863 closed amid brighter prospects, and better hopes for 
 success, but the "anaconda" policy was losing favor, from its immense 
 cost of money and men, and its meagre results. As yet, Tennessee and 
 Arkansas were the only States wholly rescued from the Confederates, and 
 even these were held by a frail tenure. Portions of Virginia, North 
 Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were, 
 indeed, held, but the Government was only secure of these while they were 
 actually occupied by its troops, and the Confederates had not yet relin- 
 quished their expeditions, yearly or oftener, into Missouri, Kentucky, Mary- 
 land, and Pennsylvania. General Grant, whose brilliant victories had made 
 his opinion of great value in all matters pertaining to the conduct of the 
 war, was understood to be strongly opposed to the anaconda system, and 
 in favor of a policy of concentration ; striking directly at the vital seats of 
 power in the Confederacy, and compelling the insurgents to bring their 
 troops from all points for the defence of these. Crushing blows upon 
 these large armies would, he contended, cripple the Confederate govern- 
 ment so much as to lead to its speedy overthrow. 
 
 Still, the advocates of the old policy, who had hopes of benefit from it, 
 were strong enough to compel the Government to fit out two expeditions 
 in furtherance of it, in 1864. One that, terminating in the battle of 
 Olustee, Florida, had for its object not only the crushing in the folds of 
 the anaconda all the Rebels in Florida, but coralling their cattle in the 
 same capacious receptacle. The expedition was initiated and ordered at 
 the instance of some ambitious politicians, and proved a most cruel and 
 disastrous failure. The other, the stupendous and disgraceful blunder of 
 the Red river expedition, was ordered by the Government, on the decep- 
 tive and false representations of men interested in cotton speculations, and 
 who sought to make of the national army a guard and safe-conduct for 
 their successful transmission of cotton purchased from Rebel owners. 
 The advance of this great army into the heart of the cotton region of 
 Louisiana ; its trains, transports, and gunboats laden with cotton ; the 
 bickerings among its officers ; its badly managed battles, and its hasty re- 
 treat, with the sacrifice of some of its transports, gunboats, and its woundoji 
 men, all constituted a record which, for the honor of the country, we re- 
 joice to say, has had no parallel in its history. The expedition of 
 General Sherman into the heart of Mississippi and Alabama, in February, 
 186-4, did not belong to this policy. It was rather a reconnoissance in 
 
1016 THE CITIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 force into the enemy's country ; and if, owing to the untoward circum- 
 stances which prevented the junction of the cavalry with it, it did not 
 accomplish all that was expected from it, it was the precursor of other and 
 more successful advances of the movable column in the heart of the 
 enemy's country. With the promotion of Grant to the rank of Lieutenant- 
 General and the virtual command of all the armies of the Union, and that 
 of Sherman to the command of the military division of the Mississippi, in 
 the spring of 186-4, ended all new enterprises under the old policy, and 
 the adoption, henceforth, of the policy of concentration. Henceforth, the 
 destruction or capitulation of the great armies of the Confederacy was the 
 one object sought. The armies of the east were concentrated on Kich- 
 mond and Petersburg, in order to hold Lee's army there until, by sturdy 
 and oft repeated blows, it could be brought to surrender ; and Richmond, 
 though the Rebel capital, was held to be of less importance than the army 
 which defended it. Sherman's objective was Johnston's army, and the 
 auxiliary forces which, from time to time, reinforced it. These he sought 
 with the most indefatigable energy, and finally, having shattered them by 
 his heavy blows and his matchless strategy, swept through the States of 
 Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, drawing them after him, 
 until they had collected in sufficient force for him to strike them the final 
 blows which led to their capitulation. Grant had requested Sherman to 
 move as nearly as possible simultaneously with him ; and while the 
 Lieutenant-General broke camp on the Rapidan, on the fifth of May, 
 Sherman followed his example on the 7th. The two campaigns which 
 followed, in Virginia and Georgia, were terribly destructive of human 
 life, but every blow told on the final result. 
 
 The fearful battles of the Wilderness, where, amid the low tangled 
 undergrowth, the use of artillery was impossible, and the men of the two 
 armies fought hand to hand for days ; the successive movements of the 
 Union army by the left flank, to Spottsylvania Court House, to the North 
 Anna, to Cold Harbor, to Mechanicsville, to the Chickahominy, each met 
 promptly by counter-movements on the part of Lee, and each attended 
 with a more terrible slaughter than has marked any series of battles in 
 modern times, were yet necessary portions of the plan of operations by 
 which the Lieutenant-General had undertaken to break the power of the 
 Rebellion. He was criticised, by those who supposed Richmond to be the 
 sole end and aim of the Union army, for attacking Lee on the Rapidan, 
 and driving or pressing him southward, when, it was said, he might have 
 reached his final position on the James more easily, by embarking his 
 troops and commencing his warfare there, and thus have avoided the 
 terrible slaughter of the May battles ; but it was Lee's army, not Rich- 
 mond, which was Grant's objective, and it was his plan to find the enemy 
 and strike him blow after blow, till he compelled him to yield, whether 
 
REVIEW OF THE WAE. lOlt 
 
 the point where he yielded was at Richmond or in Florida. By pursuing 
 this policy he effectually protected the Union capital from invasion. 
 
 After crossing the James with the greater portion of his army, 
 Grant, who had already crippled Lee's strength in men greatly by the 
 losses he had inflicted (for though Grant's losses in these battles were 
 heavier than Lee's, he could replace his men, which Lee could not, to any 
 considerable extent), commenced harassing his enemy by his constant 
 activity, striking sometimes the right, sometimes the left flank, sometimes 
 both simultaneously, and always moving upon the point where he was 
 least expected ; now sending his cavalry to cut Lee's communications, 
 anon pushing forward his infantry to feel for them ; seizing and fortifying 
 one railroad, which he had snatched from Lee, only to make it the base 
 for reaching forward for another ; exploding a mine under his forts, 
 and when that failed of expected success, from the mismanagement of 
 some of his subordinates, pushing his cavalry suddenly up to the inner 
 lines of the Richmond fortifications ; and all the while holding, as in a 
 vice, Lee's troops, so that he could not send the needful aid to Johnston 
 or Hood. 
 
 The pressure upon the throat of the Rebellion began to be so severe as 
 to be intolerable, but in vain Lee tried to shake it off. In despair he 
 took advantage of a brief lull in Grant's activity, to send a few troops to 
 join the irregular bands of northern and northwestern Virginia, in a 
 raid upon Maryland and Pennsylvania, to threaten Washington, Baltimore, 
 and Philadelphia, in the hope that, alarmed for the safety of the capital 
 and the northern cities. Grant might relax his hold ; but he had mistaken 
 his man. Grant sent the nineteenth corps, just ordered on from the De- 
 partment of the Gulf, to the Shenandoah valley, and reinforced it tem- 
 porarily with the sixth corps, which he could well spare, and as soon as 
 practicable nominated Sheridan for the command of the army of the Shen- 
 andoah ; but he, himself, did not relax the pressure upon Lee's lines for 
 an hour. Sheridan, after thoroughly reconnoitering his field, struck 
 Early's army a succession of fearful blows, sending him " whirling" 
 through Winchester, on the 19th of September; driving him out of his 
 strong position on Fisher's Hill, on the 22d ; pressing his pursuit up the 
 valley, till Early's men were fain to take to the mountains ; routing and 
 forcing him back on the 8th and 12th of October ; when, reinforced, he 
 again ventured into battle with him, and on the 19th of October, sending 
 him back in utter confusion, retreating twenty -six miles at night from the 
 camp where, in the morning, he had fairly won a victory. Early completely 
 discomfitted, Sheridan desolated, as with the besom of destruction, the 
 fertile valley of the Shenandoah, and the adjacent Luray and Little Fort 
 valleys, the inhabitants of all of which had sustained and encouraged the 
 guerrillas in their acts of plundering and murdering unarmed Union men. 
 
 Lee found that this attempt to shake off his persistent adversary did 
 
1018 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 not succeed. He had, indeed, plundered a part of Maryland and southern 
 Pennsylvania; had burned Charabersburg ; and had brought oS a large 
 number of horses and cattle ; but what had he gained ? Ewell's corps, or 
 so much of it as Early had taken north, was almost destroyed, and the Small 
 remainder thoroughly demoralized. He had lost some hundred cannon 
 and thousands of small arms, the latter a very severe loss, as he could 
 not replace them ; the plunder Early brought into Virginia had most 
 of it been recaptured, and the valley of the Shenandoah, his principal 
 dependence for supplies, bad been thoroughly stripped of its horses, 
 cattle, and grain. 
 
 Every battle (and the battles were frequent), but diminished his 
 strength, even though he might be successful in repulsing the attacks of 
 the Union troops, and when, on the 15th of January, after one unsuccessful 
 attack, Grant had found the men who could carry Fort Fisher by assault, 
 and thus hermetically seal the port of Wilmington, on which he was 
 largely dependent for arms and munitions of war, brought in by the 
 blocliade runners, the Rebel general felt that the end was approaching. 
 He notified the Rebel government that unless extraordinary measures 
 were adopted, he could not hold out six months. The measures proposed 
 were, forced levies of men, supplies, and money, and the arming of the 
 negroes ; but the delay had already been fatal, and the proposed measures 
 were resolved upon too late to be of service. Once more he succeeded in 
 repulsing (February 4-6) Grant's efforts to reach the Southside railroad; 
 once more he seized a favorable opportunity (March 25) to gain possession 
 of a Union stronghold (Fort Stedman), only, however, to be driven from 
 it with terrible loss, and his right pushed back, till the coveted railroad 
 was almost within reach ; and then came the end. 
 
 The left and left-centre of Grant's army, making a grand left wheel, 
 swung round upon Dinwiddie Court House, Hatcher's Run, Quaker Road, 
 and the Five Forks, and, after four days of hard fighting, isolated and 
 routed the Confederate troops from all their strong positions, and drove 
 them westward thoroughly, demoralized ; and, on the ensuing morning, 
 the right and right-centre flung themselves with great fury upon the 
 strong defensive works of Petersburg, breached and seized them, and 
 reaching the Southside railroad, tore it up effectually. Lee had now no 
 alternative; Richmond and Petersburg must both be evacuated instantly, 
 and a desperate effort made to reach Danville. But here Grant had out- 
 generalled him ; from Knoxville, a strong cavalry force, under General 
 Stoneman, was proceeding eastward to check his retreat in that direction, 
 and Sherman's great army was capable of preventing his progress south- 
 ward. The struggle which followed, though sharp, was short ; the pursuit 
 was commenced on the morning of the 3d of April, and after skirmishing 
 at various points, and severe battles at Deatonsville, Farmville, the high 
 bridge over the Appomattox, and Appomattox Court House, Lee surren- 
 
REVIEW OP THE WAR. 1019 
 
 dered the remainder of his army, and one of the two great objects of the 
 long campaign was gained. 
 
 Sherman's career in the accomplishment of his share of the work was 
 more brilliant, though, perhaps, no more sure of ultimate success. Break- 
 ing camp on the 7th of May, 1864, he found Johnston occupying an 
 almost impregnable position at Buzzard Eoost Gap, in the Chattooga, 
 or Kocky Faced Ridge, with his rear resting on Dalton. Leaving Thomas 
 to demonstrate on this, he moved by the right flank on Resaca, some 
 miles below, and compelled Johnston to fall back to save this important 
 position, though not without severe fighting ; he repeated the same move- 
 ment on Kingston, to compel the evacuation of Resaca, and giving him 
 no rest till he had crossed the Etowah, and fallen back to Allatoona Pass, 
 he directed his own march on Dallas. Threatening thereby the railroad 
 nearer the Chattahoochie, after two sharp battles near Dallas, and a series 
 of actions (one a somewhat disastrous assault) at Kenesaw and Little Kene- 
 saw mountains, he again flanked and drove the Rebels from their position 
 to and across the Chattahoochie, and, meantime, maintained his railroad 
 communications to Chattanooga. Crossing the Chattahoochie, he drew 
 nigh to the Rebel stronghold of Atlanta, which Hood, who had superseded 
 Johnston, " thanked God could not be flanked." After three severe bat- 
 tles, in which Hood lost very heavily, and Sherman's ablest lieutenant. 
 General McPherson, was killed, he attempted to reach the communications 
 of Atlanta from below, by extending his right flank ; but failing of suc- 
 cess in this, as well as in his cavalry movements for the same purpose, he 
 apparently raised the siege of the city, and, sending his reserves to the 
 banks of the Chattahoochie, moved south with his main army, and 
 destroying the railroad from Rough and Ready to Jonesboro, and defeat- 
 ing the two corps Hood had sent to fight him, compelled the Confederate 
 general to abandon Atlanta. 
 
 Removing the inhabitants from the city, and making it a military post, 
 he brought thither large quantities of supplies, and when Hood, recover- 
 ing from his defeat, sought to destroy his communications with Chatta- 
 nooga and capture his garrisons, he pursued him as far as Gaylesville 
 Alabama; defeating him at Allatoona Pass, and driving him well west- 
 ward; then sending Schofield's and Stanley's corps to General Thomas, 
 at Nashville, and ordering other troops to his support, he left him to take 
 care of Hood, and himself returned, with four corps, to Atlanta, from 
 whence, on the 14th of November, he set out, after destroying the rail- 
 road behind him, and dismantling and partly demolishing Atlanta, for the 
 sea coast, with a force of sixty thousand men. The distance was two hun- 
 dred and ninety miles, and the march of a movable column of this size, 
 without a base, for that distance, through the heart of an enemy's country, 
 was an enterprise unprecedented in history. It was safely accomplished, 
 however, with very slight loss, and no serious fighting, and in thirty days 
 
1020 THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the coast was reached at Savannah, Fort McAllister carried by assault, 
 and, a week later, Savannah evacuated and surrendered. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hood had advanced northward toward Nashville ; Schofield, 
 who was at Pulaski with an inferior force, skilfully opposing and delaying 
 his advance, yet luring him on ; resisting him at Columbia and Duck 
 river with great tenacity ; fighting a very severe battle with him at 
 Franklin, where Ilood lost thirteen generals, and finally falling back by 
 a night march to Nashville, which Hood, following, attempted to invest. 
 After a fortnight, General Thomas, coming out of the city, completely 
 defeated and routed Hood in a two days' battle, and pursued him for thir- 
 teen days, till his army, which, all but a small rear-guard, was a mere 
 disorganized mob, had made its escape across the Tennessee. 
 
 Sherman remained for a month at Savannah, recruiting and supplying 
 his troops, arranging for the future condition and comfort of the freed- 
 raen, and preparing for a still more gigantic enterprise with his fine army. 
 About the middle of January, he moved northward with his army, in two 
 columns, Goldsboro, N. C, four hundred miles distant, being his objective. 
 By a series of feints, he deceived the Confederate forces at Augusta, Charles- 
 ton, Columbia, and elsewhere, in regard to his plans, and avoided them while 
 he prevented their junction ; captured Orangeburg, Columbia, and Winns- 
 boro, and compelled the evacuation of Charleston, which the Union armies 
 had so long labored in vain to conquer ; occupied Cheraw and Fayette- 
 ville, fought and defeated a part of the Confederate army, now again under 
 the command of Johnston, at Averysboro, and the whole of it at Benton- 
 ville, and reached Goldsboro on the 24th of March, near which town he 
 was joined by Schofield and Terry, who had captured Wilmington. 
 Remaining here till the 10th of April, to refit and supply his troops, he 
 moved forward again that day, and entered Smithfield on the 11th, and 
 Raleigh on the 12th ; and the news of Lee's surrender reaching him there, 
 he pushed on, determined to overtake and capture Johnston's forces. On 
 the lith, overtures were made by Johnston for surrender, and after two 
 interviews, on the 17th and 18th, a memorandum was drawn up between 
 the two generals, it regard to the surrender of the entire Confederate 
 army in the field, and sent to Washington for approval. Being rejected 
 there, the surrender of Johnston was arranged, on the 26th of April, on 
 the same terms as Lee had received. Meantime, Mobile (the defences at 
 the mouth of its bay having been captured in August, 1854:, by the squad- 
 ron of Rear, now Vice-Admiral Farragut and General Gordon Granger's 
 corps, in a most remarkable naval battle) was besieged in the latter part 
 of March, 1865, by General Canby's army and Rear-Admiral Thatcher's 
 squadron, and after a siege of somewhat more than two weeks, Spanish 
 Fort was captured. Fort Blakely carried by assault, and the city evacuated 
 and surrendered. Shortly after. General Richard Taylor, who commanded 
 the remaining Rebel troops in Alabama, and Admiral Farrand, who com- 
 
REVIEW OF THE WAR. 1021 
 
 manded the Eebel squadron, signified their desire to surrender. Terms 
 were granted them similar to those accorded to Lee and Johnston. Major- 
 General Wilson, commanding the cavalry corps of Thomas's army, had, 
 in March, moved with a force of thirteen thousand five hundred cavalry, 
 .through Central Alabama and Georgia, capturing Selma, Montgomery, 
 Griffin, Columbus, West Point and Macon, the whole campaign forming 
 the most brilliant cavalry campaign in history; and on the 10th of May, 
 a detachment of his troops arrested the Rebel President, Jefierson Davis, 
 who was endeavoring to escape from the country. 
 
 There remained, at this time, but one more Eebel army in existence, 
 that of General E. Kirby Smith, in Texas; and on the 26th of May, this, 
 together with the Rebel naval squadron in the waters of that State and 
 the Red river, also surrendered. 
 
 A large part of the army of the Union was now mustered out of ser- 
 vice, not more than two hundred thousand troops being still in the service 
 on the Isl of August, 1865, and the number being still further reduced by 
 the 1st of September. The army was reorganized, and the entire country 
 laid out in five grand military divisions — the Atlantic, the Mississippi, 
 the Gulf, the Tennessee, and the Pacific — under the command of Generals 
 Meade, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Halleck ; each subdivided into 
 two or more departments (there were eighteen departments in all), over 
 which able generals were appointed. 
 
 Thus closed a war, which, extended over a period of four years, had 
 caused a more lavish expenditure of money, and had called into the field 
 larger forces, than any war of modern times. The fighting had been 
 desperate on both sides, and officers and soldiers had exhibited a courage 
 and prowess equal to any on record. The war commenced with slavery 
 in the ascendant, the great southern staple ruling the commercial world, 
 the South boastful and defiant, and the governments of Europe predicting 
 the speedy downfall of the American Republic, and its division into a 
 number of petty states. It closed, with slavery effectually annihilated, 
 the nations of the world freed from their thraldom to the southern staple, 
 the South humbled, and though somewhat sullen, yet improving in tem- 
 per, and the European governments ready to acknowledge the power of 
 republican institutions to pass through an ordeal which would have in- 
 volved any government in Europe in ruin. 
 
^ 
 
AGSNTS ITITANTSD. 
 
 We desire that every family in the United States should be 
 supplied with the standard History of the War. It is better 
 adapted to the wants of the people than any other work on the 
 subject. It imparts a vast amount of information, and is Sifair 
 and impartial record of events, entirely divested of political 
 bias. Not a sentence was put in type for months after the close 
 of the war, thus affording to the Author full, reliable and official 
 data for the basis of the work. 
 
 THE SECOND CANVASS. 
 We are satisfied that the second Canvass will in many places 
 be more successful- than the first ; for, after this work has been 
 distributed through the country, the public will have an oppor- 
 tunity to compare it with other Histories, and finding it so much 
 more reliable, especially, than the first volume of the two volume 
 Histories, that were so extensively circulated during the war, that 
 they will lay these inferior works aside as unreliable and worth- 
 less, and secure this great History. We want reliable Agents to 
 Canvass every county, township, and village, for this and other 
 popular works, to whom the most liberal commission will be given. 
 Send for Circulars and see our terms. Address as follows : 
 
 For the New England States, Canada East and the British Pro- 
 vinces, 
 
 JONES BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 For New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, 
 Virginia, Western Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Florida, California, and Canada West, 
 
 JONES BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 Philadelphia, Penn'a. 
 
 For Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, 
 
 JONES BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 For Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Northern Illinois, 
 
 ZEIGLER, McCURDY & CO., 
 
 Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 For Southern Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, and all territory West, 
 
 ZEIGLER, McCURDY & CO., 
 
 St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 \ 
 
AGENTS WTANTED 
 
 . FOR 
 
 THE SECRET SERVICE, 
 
 THE FIELD, 
 
 THE DUNGEON, a^o 
 
 THE ESCAPE. 
 
 BY ALBERT D. RICHAEDSON. 
 
 (Special War Correspondent or the N. Y. Tribune.) 
 
 The most thrillingly interesting and exciting book 
 of Army experience ever published. 
 
 Abounding in personal adventures, deeds of noble daring, 
 anecdotes, touching incidents, ingenious stratagems, life in 
 camp and bivouac, &c. More absorbing in interest and re- 
 plete with useful information than any Historical work 
 extant. 
 
 Embracing Mr. Richardson's unparalleled experience for four 
 j-ears ; travelling through the South in the secret service of the 
 " Tribune" at the outbreak of the war, with our armies and fleets, 
 both East and West, during the first two years of the Rebellion ; 
 his thrilling capture ; his confinement for twenty months in seven 
 different rebel prisons ; his escape, and almost niiraculou.s journey 
 by night of nearly 400 miles. It abounds in stirring events, and 
 contains more of the fact, incident, and romance of the war than 
 any other work published. 
 
 Horace Greeley says : 
 
 " A preat many books will yet be written concerning this War, in addi- 
 tion to the many already in print; but not one of them will give within a 
 similar compass a clearer, fuller, more readable account, entirely from personal 
 observation, of the nature, animus, purposes, tendencies, and instrumentsliiies 
 of the Slaveholders' Rebellion than does the unpretending narrative of Mr. 
 Richardson." 
 
 Disabled ofhcers and soldiers, teachers, and energetic young 
 men, in want of profitable employment, will find this a rare 
 chance to make money. For proof of the above send for Circu- 
 lars and see our terms. 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 JONES, BROTHERS ^ CO, Publishers, 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa. ; Cincmnati, Ohio ; or Boston, Mass. 
 

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